The Call to Vengeance

  THE CALL TO VENGEANCE

  CHAPTER 1

  The light tubes in the large dwelling were powered down to half

  strength and set to a faint blue hue. The hallways were hushed and dim.

  Beyond a pair of opaque glass double doors, a single glass column stood, as

  tall as a human figure. It gave off a soft, steady glow.

  Blue was the color of mourning on the planet of New Apsolon. Glass

  columns were used to commemorate those who had lost their lives to

  injustice. This slender shaft of pure light was for the Jedi Knight Tahl.

  Manex, the brother of Roan, the late ruler of New Apsolon, had

  offered the Jedi his own home in which to mourn Tahl. Manex had tried to

  save Tahl by summoning the best med team in New Apsolon to treat her. When

  she had died, he had made the appropriate arrangements. He himself had gone

  to find the column of light to mark her spirit.

  Obi-Wan Kenobi struggled to feel grateful. He did not trust Manex. He

  did not trust the man's great wealth or his character. Manex was not

  interested in anyone's well-being but his own. Why was he being so kind to

  the Jedi?

  Obi-Wan wished he could talk to his Master about it. But Qui-Gon Jinn

  was unreachable. He had gone inside the room with Tahl and had remained

  there ever since.

  Obi-Wan sat on the floor outside. He had begun by standing, but

  exhaustion finally forced him to sit. He wanted to lie down, but he would

  remain upright as long as he could. It was the only thing he could think of

  to do for his Master.

  The shock was wearing off, but Obi-Wan still had difficulty

  understanding that Tahl was gone. It meant looking ahead to a future that

  did not hold her spirit, her humor, and her fierce intelligence. There had

  been so many times that a kind word or a quick smile had restored him. Tahl

  knew his Master, Qui-Gon Jinn, better than anyone else. She had helped Obi-

  Wan to understand Qui-Gon. Obi-Wan even suspected that she had played a

  role in bringing the two of them together after he had left the Jedi order.

  That had been a deep rift, hard to heal. Yet Obi‑Wan had always taken great

  comfort from the feeling that Tahl wanted Qui-Gon to take him back. She had

  comprehended more clearly than anyone why he had done what he did. She knew

  he had truly learned an important lesson about his own character, and she

  wanted Qui-Gon to give him a second chance.

  He had learned many things as a Jedi student - how to turn fear into

  purpose, how to deepen discipline into will. But how could he turn grief

  into acceptance? There could be no acceptance of this. Yet somehow he must

  keep going until he found it.

  At first he had been filled with such pain that he could hardly

  think. Tahl had been kidnapped by Balog, the Chief Security Controller of

  the planet. He had drugged her and imprisoned her in a sensory deprivation

  device used for torturing political prisoners. She had been weak when they

  had released her. But Obi-Wan had felt certain that Tahl's great strength

  combined with her Jedi powers would save her. Never for one second had he

  considered the possibility that she would die.

  Neither, he was sure, had his Master. When he had run into Tahl's

  room at the med center, he had seen Qui-Gon bent over Tahl's still body. He

  saw the sensors stream by in flat, crisp lines, showing that her vital

  signs were gone. Still Qui-Gon did not move. He held Tahl's hand and

  pressed his forehead against hers. Obi-Wan had not only seen his grief, he

  had felt it like a living shadow in the room. He realized at that moment

  that Qui-Gon's feelings for Tahl were deeper than friendship. They were as

  deep and complex as the man himself. Qui-Gon had loved her.

  There was nothing Obi-Wan could do to help his Master now. Qui-Gon

  had not responded to his words or his presence. Obi-Wan desperately wished

  he were older than sixteen. Maybe with more maturity he would know how to

  comfort someone whose world had collapsed.

  It hurt him to see Qui-Gon suffering. His Master had only left Tahl's

  room once, to rush out on a mysterious errand. He had tersely told Obi-Wan

  when he returned that he had managed to find two more probe droids. He had

  sent them to track down Balog. Now he would return to Tahl's side.

  "Is there anything I can do, Master?" Obi-Wan had asked.

  "Nothing," Qui-Gon had replied, and closed the door behind him.

  Obi-Wan was used to silence between them. It was often a form of

  communication. He had come to understand that his Master was a man of few

  words. But this silence was different. He could not read it. Over and over

  the words Qui-Gon had spoken at Tahl's deathbed ran in his head: There is

  no help for me now. There is only revenge.

  Revenge. Obi-Wan had never heard Qui-Gon use that word. It was not a

  concept the Jedi would ever endorse. No revenge, only justice. That creed

  was written on the heart of every Jedi. Revenge led to the dark side. It

  twisted the mind and crippled duty into something full of ego and darkness.

  Was Qui-Gon battling the dark side inside himself? Balog had taken

  away what was most dear to him. He had done it in the most cruel way

  imaginable. He had drained Tahl minute by minute of her strength.

  Had Qui-Gon sent out the probe droids in order to find Balog so that

  he could kill him?

  Obi-Wan pushed the thought away. He had to trust his Master. Qui-Gon

  would find the calm center he needed to proceed. They must find Balog, but

  in the interest of justice, not revenge.

  If a Jedi died during a mission, the Jedi Council was supposed to be

  contacted immediately. Obi-Wan, in the first period of deep shock after

  Tahl's death, had roused himself to ask Qui-Gon about this. Qui-Gon had not

  answered. Obi-Wan could see how little procedure meant to Qui-Gon now. So

  the apprentice had been the one to contact the Jedi Council and inform them

  what had happened.

  Yoda had been shocked and deeply distressed, for he had cared about

  Tahl, too. A Jedi team would be sent immediately. Over the course of the

  day, Obi-Wan had wondered who it would be. If they had left immediately and

  taken a fast ship, it wouldn't be long until they reached New Apsolon. He

  wasn't sure how he felt about that. A Jedi team would be reassuring... but

  would they notice that Qui-Gon was not acting like himself?

  Manex appeared in the hall, and Obi-Wan scrambled to his feet.

  "Has he come out?" Manex asked, his plump face creased in worry.

  "Not for hours," Obi-Wan replied.

  "Please let me know if I can be of service. I must go to the United

  Legislature. They've called for me. Things are very unsettled in the

  government right now. I will be back as soon as I can. I've given

  instructions to security to show your Jedi team in as soon as they arrive."

  "Thank you," Obi-Wan said.

  Qui-Gon stepped into the hall seconds after Manex left.

  "I heard vo
ices," he said heavily.

  "Manex has gone to the United Legislature," Obi-Wan said. "Is there

  anything I can get you, Master?"

  "No. Have the probe droids returned?"

  Obi-Wan shook his head. "I'll notify you as soon as they do, of

  course. But I think there are other things we can do to capture Balog,

  Master. We don't have to wait for the probe droids." He spoke hurriedly,

  before Qui-Gon could turn away and go back inside the room. During the long

  wait, Obi-Wan had been thinking about their next step. It was the only

  thing that pushed away the pain.

  "Eritha is still staying with Alani in the Supreme Governor's

  Residence," he went on. "She is concealing the fact that she knows her

  sister is in league with the Absolutes, hoping to gain more information.

  She promised to be a spy for us. Alani might know where Balog is."

  "So we must wait for that, too," Qui-Gon said.

  "But we could investigate the tie between them," Obi-Wan pointed out.

  "How was the alliance formed? What does Alani expect from Balog? What does

  he want in return? Where did the Absolutes retreat to after their base was

  destroyed in the quarries? And what about the list of the Absolutes' secret

  informers? Balog doesn't have it, because he's looking for it. We know that

  the Worker Oleg might have had it before he disappeared." O bi-Wan

  swallowed. Qui-Gon's gaze went dim. The reason they knew that was because

  Tahl had told them. He pushed on.

  "If we can find the list first, we can set a trap for Balog. And what

  about Manex? What reason does he have for being so kind to us? There are

  many leads to investigate. I'm sure there must be rumors swirling at the

  United Legislature. Some of them should be followed up on - "

  "We are here to find Tahl's killer, not get involved in politics,"

  Qui-Gon said sternly. "Our main object is the pursuit of Balog. As soon as

  we get information on him, I can leave."

  "You mean we can leave," Obi-Wan amended, watching his Master

  carefully.

  Neither one of them had heard the footsteps approaching.

  "We came as soon as we could," a deep familiar voice said.

  Obi-Wan turned. The Jedi team had arrived. To his relief, he saw his

  good friend Bant. But his relief turned to disquiet when he saw the Jedi

  Master was next to her. It was Mace Windu.

  CHAPTER 2

  Mace Windu took only the most crucial missions now. His duties on the

  Jedi Council were many. Obi-Wan realized more fully how important the loss

  of Tahl was to the Jedi. He had been thinking of himself and Qui-Gon only,

  of the friend they had lost. But Tahl's influence ran much deeper and

  wider.

  Mace gave both Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan a long, measured look. He seemed

  to capture their weariness and grief as well as the tension between them.

  Obi-Wan wondered how much of their discussion Mace had heard. He grew

  uncomfortable under that all-seeing glance.

  He turned with relief to his friend Bant. They had gone through

  Temple training together, and she was the being he most relied on for her

  support and understanding. But there was something cool in the way Bant

  returned his regard. Obviously, she was upset. She had been Tahl's

  apprentice.

  "We are sorry to be here under such tragic circumstances," Bant said

  to Qui-Gon.

  Obi-Wan even picked up a hint of coolness in her greeting to Qui-Gon.

  That was a bigger surprise. Bant revered Qui-Gon, and Qui-Gon had a special

  place in his heart for Obi-Wan's friend.

  Qui-Gon did not seem to notice the change. He was too consumed by his

  own grief, Obi-Wan knew. He nodded at Bant.

  "Tahl is inside," he said.

  "We will see her for a moment," Mace said. "Then I would like a

  briefing on where we stand."

  Qui-Gon gave a heavy nod. Mace and Bant disappeared inside. They

  returned after a few minutes. Bant looked shaken. Mace closed the double

  doors behind them quietly and moved farther down the hall.

  "This Chief Security Controller, Balog, was responsible," Mace said.

  "We know this for sure, yet we don't know where he is. Correct?"

  Qui-Gon did not speak, so Obi-Wan said, "Yes."

  "Tell me what happened," Mace said, his eyes on Obi-Wan. He seemed to

  understand that Qui-Gon did not want to talk. Qui-Gon's eyes were on the

  door to the room where Tahl was, as though only the slimmest whisper of

  respect was keeping him in the hall.

  "Once we knew that Balog had captured Tahl, we obtained two probe

  droids to track him," Obi-Wan explained.

  Mace frowned. "Aren't probe droids now illegal on this planet?"

  "Yes," Obi-Wan said, swallowing. He was well aware that Jedi were not

  supposed to break laws on other worlds. "But you can buy them on the black

  market. It was our only chance to find Tahl. We had good reason to believe

  she would be in a sensory deprivation device, so we knew that the longer it

  took to find her, the more danger she would be in. The probe droids told us

  that Balog had struck out across open country and entered the quarry region

  of the planet. Eritha, one of the daughters of the late ruler, Ewane,

  followed us. She had discovered that her twin sister, Alani, was in league

  with the Absolutes. This was a shock, because both Eritha and Alani are

  Workers. When the Civilized were in power, they used the Absolutes for

  surveillance and torture of Workers - including Alani and Eritha's father."

  "I know the Absolutes were the secret police of New Apsolon," Bant

  said hesitantly. "I didn't get a chance to be thoroughly briefed. Weren't

  they outlawed after Ewane was elected?"

  "Yes. But the Workers suspect that the secret police never disbanded,

  " Obi-Wan said. "We discovered that they are right. But we never suspected

  Balog was in league with them. He's a Worker and was a prot©g© of Ewane.

  Now we know from Eritha that Alani arranged the kidnapping of herself and

  her sister to throw us off the track and gain public sympathy. At the same

  time, we believe it was a trick to lure Roan into the hands of the

  Absolutes. Roan was elected after Ewane was killed."

  "Roan was a Civilized, not a Worker," Bant said.

  "Right. But he had great sympathy for the Worker cause and worked

  closely with Ewane to bring about justice for all the people of New

  Apsolon. He even took in the twins when Ewane was murdered."

  "And Alani betrayed him," Bant said slowly. "She must be very

  corrupt."

  "We stumbled onto a village of Rock Workers while we were pursuing

  Balog," Obi-Wan went on. "Their entire village was destroyed in a raid,

  except for one Rock Worker, Yanci. She's the one who helped us find the

  secret headquarters of the Absolutes. That's how we rescued Tahl. But it

  was too late. Qui-Gon brought her back here, but the damage to her internal

  organs was too severe...."

  "Balog killed her slowly," Qui-Gon said. His voice sounded hoarse and

  rusty.

  "He escaped in an underwater aqua skimmer," Obi-Wan added. "He was

  impossible to track, and we needed to get Tahl to safety."

  "And now?" Mace asked. "We see on the streets that there is unrest

/>   here. If Alani is planning some sort of takeover, it will be soon.

  Immediate pursuit of Balog is wise."

  "That is what we think," Qui-Gon said.

  "Yet attention to the mission at hand will also bring results," Mace

  went on. "If Balog is now in hiding, we'll need to track him by his

  ambitions. Ambitions reveal direction."

  "The Workers contacted me," Obi-Wan said. "They investigated all the

  file systems in the Absolute headquarters. Everything had been wiped clean.

  We don't have much to go on."

  "We have our instincts," Mace said. He turned to Qui-Gon. "Is there a

  place we can speak alone, Qui-Gon?"

  Reluctantly, Qui-Gon nodded. He turned and led the way down the hall.

  As soon as they were alone, Obi-Wan turned to Bant. "I'm so sorry

  about Tahl," he said in a rush. "I know how you must feel - "