The Moment of Truth

  down before they could reach it. Obi-Wan swept his lightsaber down the door

  and the metal peeled back. But he was too late. Mezdec blasted out into

  space.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  "We should have been prepared for this," Obi-Wan said.

  "He won't get very far very fast," Anakin said. "I disabled half the

  power. I also cut the comm unit. I'd better get to the pilot seat."

  Anakin whirled and charged back toward the cockpit. Obi-Wan followed.

  Their best chance of escaping the Vanqor bombardment lay with his Padawan

  at the controls.

  Their chances weren't good. At half-power, the ship could not possibly

  outrun the Vanqor ship, and it would also be hard to maneuver.

  Obi-Wan hurried back to the cockpit, where the others stood nervously

  around Anakin as he took over the controls. The Vanqor ship was behind

  them, a monster assault ship clad in black and silver. A flash came from

  the side of the ship.

  "Torpedo," Obi-Wan said.

  Anakin made a hard right. The ship shuddered as it turned. The torpedo

  missed them.

  Laser cannonfire began to boom. Anakin put the ship into a dive, but

  Obi-Wan could feel how the ship trembled. He exchanged a look with his

  apprentice. Anakin's lips thinned. Obi-Wan knew he was determined to get

  them through. But even Anakin couldn't work miracles. Obi-Wan began to

  study the map charts, looking for a place to set the ship down.

  Unfortunately, the closest planet was Vanqor itself. "Hang on!" Anakin

  shouted.

  The ship staggered from a direct hit. Blue lightning skittered along

  the console.

  "Ion blast," Anakin said. "We've lost most of our computer systems."

  He turned the ship again, trying to stay a moving target. He threw a glance

  at Obi-Wan. "We've got to get the ship down."

  Obi-Wan looked at the others. "Our only choice is Vanqor."

  The group exchanged glances. They had been through so much and

  accomplished so much. Landing on Vanqor and being captured could mean the

  end for all of them. But when they turned to Obi-Wan, not one of them

  looked afraid.

  "If it is our only choice, let us take it," Thik said.

  Anakin dipped the ship into the planet's atmosphere. "Can you give me

  a coordinate?" he asked Obi-Wan. "I don't have much time to maneuver, but

  I'll do what I can."

  Obi-Wan didn't have time to consult the onboard references. He thought

  back on the holomaps he had studied. "Our best chance of evading capture is

  to land on the outskirts of the Tomo Craters," he said. "It's rugged

  terrain. We might be able to lose them there, if you can guide us to a safe

  landing." Obi-Wan quickly sat down at the computer and brought up the

  coordinates.

  Anakin nodded briefly, too intent on keeping the ship on course to

  waste any movement. The ship rocked and shuddered under his hands. Suddenly

  it began to list to one side.

  "The left stabilizer is failing," he muttered. "Everyone strap in.

  We're going to have to crash-land."

  Vanqor loomed below, a large, multicolored planet. Obi-Wan knew from

  his research that it was primarily made up of deserts and dry, high

  plateaus. Cities were midsize and strung out along the few fertile valleys.

  The Tomo Craters area was a remote section that thousands of years ago had

  been hit by a meteor shower. Deep craters and fissures marked the dry land.

  Suddenly an alarm began to sound. Red lights flashed in the cockpit.

  Another bank of lights lit up. Anakin didn't say a word. He didn't have to.

  Everyone knew what it meant: The ship was failing.

  Instead of slowing, Anakin pushed his speed. Obi-Wan admired his cool.

  He knew what Anakin was counting on. The faster they got down, the better.

  He just wasn't sure what would happen when they got closer. Anakin would

  try to hug the surface, hiding from the ship above until he could land.

  Normally, Anakin would relish this challenge and perform it flawlessly. But

  with a wounded ship, he was taking big chances.

  Obi-Wan prepared himself. They passed over a green valley, and Anakin

  brought the ship closer to the surface. The entire frame was shaking.

  Sirens blared and red lights flashed. The surface loomed closer. Red dirt

  was kicked up by their turbulence. It looked as though they were about to

  crash into boulders as big as buildings. The ship rolled to one side,

  nearly sending them into a massive rock formation. Anakin corrected it.

  Sweat beaded his upper lip.

  Obi-Wan saw a smooth plateau ahead. Anakin would try to land there. He

  slowed his speed, and the ship wobbled, rolling from side to side. If they

  hadn't strapped in, they would have been flung against the walls.

  "I've lost the left stabilizer completely!" Anakin shouted. "Hang on!"

  The ship slammed into the unforgiving ground. Obi-Wan felt his body

  rise up as though it weighed nothing. He came down, jarring teeth and

  bones. He tasted blood in his mouth. The ship careened down the plateau,

  tearing chunks of vegetation and knocking into small boulders. The noise

  was tremendous. The ship suddenly seemed a fragile thing, shaking so hard

  Obi-Wan wondered if it would simply fall to pieces.

  The end of the plateau was less than fifty meters away. If the ship

  didn't stop moving, they would careen right off it, straight into the

  canyon bottom hundreds of meters below. Anakin frantically worked the

  controls. Obi-Wan saw the lip of the plateau approach. Slowly, slowly, the

  ship began to slide. A terrible groaning noise, worse than the harsh

  grating of the crash, rose in the air around them, battering their ears

  like a physical force. The ship suddenly tipped almost all the way to one

  side, slamming Obi-Wan against the console.

  Then the ship crashed against a boulder and stopped.

  Obi-Wan looked around. Thik looked pale. No doubt the bumpy landing

  had been hard on his injury. Shalini's forehead was bleeding. Olanz and

  Rajana looked shaken but all right.

  "We've got to get out of here fast," Obi-Wan said.

  He unbuckled himself and Anakin did the same. They helped the others

  to quickly extricate themselves from their seats. The landing ramp wouldn't

  engage, and the door had been mangled from the landing. Obi-Wan and Anakin

  set to work with their lightsabers to cut a hole through the hull.

  Anakin suddenly stopped. He bent over to look through the viewport.

  "They must have contacted Vanqor planetary security. Guard ships are

  approaching," he said. "They've located us."

  "Do you have any smoke grenades and air masks aboard?" Obi-Wan asked

  Shalini.

  "I'll get them," Rajana said. She hurried down the aisle of the ship,

  holding on to seat backs to stay upright.

  Obi-Wan spoke even as they continued to peel back the hull with their

  lightsabers. "Our best chance is to launch down that canyon on cables.

  Anakin, you take Shalini and Olanz. I'll take Thik and Rajana. We'll use

  the smoke grenades for cover. Turn on your tracking device in case we lose

  each other."

  The hole was big enough now. Obi-Wan tossed out two smoke grenades.

  The acrid smoke billow
ed out.

  Without much wind, the smoke hung in the air, a perfect cover. One by

  one, wearing air masks to protect their lungs, they slid through the hole.

  They were still out of range of the starship's weapons. They had only

  minutes now. They began to run toward the edge of the plateau.

  Shaken from the landing, some of the group could not move fast. Thik,

  with his bad knee, was especially slow. Obi-Wan and Anakin helped them

  along, but within seconds, Obi-Wan did a quick calculation and realized

  they couldn't make it. The starships could begin shooting through the smoke

  at any moment. The Vanqors might not be able to pinpoint their location,

  but they certainly could figure out where they were headed. It was the only

  avenue of escape.

  Obi-Wan felt desperate. The question was, would the ships try to kill

  them or take them prisoner?

  They couldn't see the starships, but the first fire tore up the ground

  in front of them. They jumped back. The fire was constant, preventing them

  from reaching the edge of the plateau.

  "Back to the ship!" Obi-Wan called. It would at least offer some

  cover.

  They ran, the fire behind them now. Shalini tripped, but Anakin picked

  her up and dove underneath the belly of the ship. Thik was still moving too

  slowly. He was not keeping up with the others and would be a prime target

  when the smoke cleared. Obi-Wan grabbed him. He ran forward to push Thik

  into an empty space where crushed metal had created a cubbyhole.

  He saw too late that there was only room for one. Obi-Wan pushed Thik

  into the space and kept on going. The smoke was starting to clear. Obi-Wan

  dived for a boulder and took shelter behind it. He was wedged in between

  the boulder and a larger one behind him. There was barely room, but he

  doubted he could be seen from above.

  The starships landed. The group huddled under their own ship. Obi-Wan

  saw Shalini move toward Anakin. She handed him something and spoke rapidly

  in his ear.

  The disk. She had handed him the disk.

  Obi-Wan realized that the Vanqors had decided on capture. They could

  have easily blown up the ship by now if they'd wanted.

  Dozens of troops exited their ship. A squad headed for the downed ship

  while another peeled off to search the area.

  Obi-Wan searched his hiding place. He realized that if he could

  squeeze a bit further behind the boulder, it opened up into a small

  cavelike opening impossible to see unless you were right on top of it. It

  offered a perfect place to hide.

  He could not do them any good by being captured too. It tore at him to

  leave his Padawan, but it was his only hope.

  He squeezed back into the hole, then doubled over to fit himself into

  the space. From here he could see through a crevice in the rock out to the

  ship.

  Soldiers rounded up the group and herded them onto their starships.

  Obi-Wan's heart ached. There was no way he and Anakin alone could fend off

  dozens of soldiers and well-armed enemy ships.

  The starships took off and shot away into the distance. Slowly, Obi-

  Wan hauled himself up. He panted out his exhaustion and his frustration.

  Then he made himself stand and turned his thoughts toward rescue.

  CHAPTER SIX

  The soldiers had bound their hands behind them and pushed them aboard

  the starships. Anakin felt the disk burn against his skin. So far he had

  not been searched, but he would use the Force to divert attention. Shalini

  had entrusted the disk to him, and he wouldn't fail her.

  She had spoken rapidly in his ear. "Take this. It will be safest in

  the hands of the Jedi. For the safety of my people, please get it back to

  Typha-Dor."

  "I pledge my life on it," Anakin had said.

  The starships flew over the deep fissures of the Tomo Craters. On the

  lip of a crater, a small compound huddled. Out of the viewport, Anakin

  glimpsed gray buildings, energy fences, security towers, and a small

  landing pad.

  "Welcome to paradise," one of the soldiers snickered. "The Tomo Camp."

  Dressed in his survival suit like the others, with his lightsaber

  safely hidden, Anakin was not identified as a Jedi. Shalini refused to give

  her name, along with the others. The admitting guard didn't seem to care.

  They were searched, but Anakin was able to use the Force to confuse his

  guard, and his cable launcher, his lightsaber, and the disk were not taken.

  They were stripped of their survival gear and given rough brown tunics to

  wear. Then they were herded out into a small yard surrounded by energy

  fencing. The wind was cold and tore at their clothes. Around them swirled

  other prisoners from other worlds in the Uziel system, planets already

  conquered by Vanqor.

  Anakin looked around. The walls of the crater were sheer and hundreds

  of meters tall. It was clear that the only way into the camp was by air.

  How would Obi-Wan rescue him? The ship had been destroyed in the

  crash.

  The answer was that Obi-Wan most likely would not be able to get to

  him. It was all up to Anakin. Anakin did not mind this knowledge. He didn't

  mind depending on his own skill.

  He had a time limit. Shalini had told them that the invasion was due

  in only three days. He would have to find a way to escape soon. The key to

  the survival of the entire planet of Typha-Dor lay hidden in his tunic

  pocket. He had managed to conceal the disk from the guards, but he didn't

  kid himself that he would be able to evade the heavy security measures by

  the Force alone.

  He had made the mistake once of thinking he was more powerful than he

  was. He would never do it again. He would not make a move until he was

  sure.

  An Uziel prisoner in a faded uniform drifted near them. "What's the

  news? Have the Vanqors invaded Typha-Dor?"

  Shalini's eyes glinted. "No. And if they do, we will drive them back."

  The prisoner looked weary. "That's what we said on Zilior."

  "Have there been any escape attempts here?" Shalini asked.

  "One. He's dead. My advice is to accept your fate." The prisoner

  drifted away.

  "I make my own fate," Shalini said to her cohorts. She looked at

  Anakin. "Do you have any ideas?"

  "Not yet," Anakin said easily, sitting down on the cold ground.

  "What are you doing?" Shalini asked. "Aren't you going to do

  something?"

  "I am," Anakin said. Tuning out the others, he began to watch.

  There was only one solution. Anakin had to get to the transport pool.

  The question was when. There were four groups of guards on eight-hour

  shifts, so that overlap guaranteed that one group was always relatively

  fresh. In addition, sentry droids constantly buzzed the compound. It wasn't

  impossible. But it would take the right timing.

  Anakin still had his lightsaber and his cable launcher. He could

  launch over the energy fence, but then he would have to cross thirty meters

  of open space to get to the transport pool. The transports were heavily

  guarded, but not the ones needing repair. If he made it to the repair shed,

  he could slip inside. He would just h
ave to hope that he could fix a

  transport and take off before his absence was noted.

  He couldn't take the others. He would have to escape alone, and hope

  to return for them.

  There was no sense waiting. He would escape that night.

  The gate door slid back. An officer entered, surrounded by guards and

  droids. He began to walk through the crowd as the prisoners shrank back.

  "What's going on?" Shalini whispered.

  "A sweep," a prisoner muttered next to her. "They come every few weeks

  and take several of us."

  "No one ever comes back," someone else murmured. "They take them to an

  unmarked building. There are rumors of medical experiments."

  The officer pointed a finger at one prisoner, then another. The guards

  surrounded them and herded them together.

  Then the officer wheeled about and pointed directly at Anakin. "Him."

  "No," Shalini whispered.

  Anakin considered resisting. With a glance at the others the guards

  had herded together, he decided he could not. He knew that if a battle

  ensued, others would die.

  And there were reasons to submit. Security could be a bit more lax at

  the facility where they were taking him. Anakin fell into step behind the

  others.