Obi-Wan looked back and forth between Anakin and Dr. Lundi. He knew
that Anakin's outburst was not appropriate. It was not the Jedi way, and
Anakin seemed to let anger overtake him too easily. Obi-Wan could still see
a flicker of fury in his eyes. As his Master, it was his duty to reprimand
the boy for his behavior. To counsel him about the danger of negative
emotions.
But the outburst seemed to have an effect on Lundi. For the first
time since they'd left Coruscant, the professor appeared cowed. The young
Jedi had actually managed to intimidate Professor Lundi. For this Obi-Wan
was grateful.
Obi-Wan watched his Padawan return to the controls and start the
gravsled engine.
He is so different from me, he thought. Our relationship is so
different from the one I shared with Qui-Gon.
Of course with Anakin, Obi-Wan was no longer the Padawan. He was the
Master, and it was his job to lead, to teach. He often found himself
wondering if he was ready for this awesome responsibility. It had all
happened so fast - one day he was a Padawan learner himself, and the next
he was Anakin's Master. He could not help but feel that it was really a
role for Qui-Gon.
Like Qui-Gon, Anakin had a tendency to break the rules. He often
chose to follow his instincts instead of the Jedi code. But his decisions,
while sometimes rash, almost always got results. They almost always put the
mission a step ahead, and often left Obi-Wan at odds.
This is not the time for a reprimand, Obi-Wan thought as they sped
back toward shore. They had to get to the hangar before Norval rounded up
transport and left the planet altogether.
Within a few minutes the gravsled was at the hangar. But their hired
ship and its pilot were nowhere to be seen.
"He's fled," Obi-Wan said, grimly looking around the hangar.
"That coward," Anakin said with disgust. "I never should have fixed
his ship. The next time I see him - "
"We don't have time to deal with that now," Obi-Wan interrupted.
"Let's find out who has left the planet in the last few hours and see if we
can track them."
After securing the still-silent Lundi's cage to a hangar wall, Obi-
Wan and Anakin split up to search the hangar. Obi-Wan had seen Norval ten
years earlier, and had described him to his Padawan. But aside from an
average-sized young man with dark hair, they didn't have much to go on.
The hangar was not particularly busy, and none of the pilots Obi-Wan
approached had seen Norval - or at least they said they hadn't seen him. If
they said anything at all. Disappointed, Obi-Wan decided to check the
hangar records.
Only one ship had left in the last few hours. It was headed toward
the Ploo Sector. But no planet was specified.
"Did you find anything?" Anakin asked as he approached his Master.
"Nobody would talk to me."
"Just this," Obi-Wan said, tossing Anakin the records. It seemed that
the Holocron had eluded him a second time. Trying to find a mystery ship in
a vast sector was a long shot, and it was all they had to go on.
"Why would he go to the Ploo Sector?" Anakin asked.
Several meters away, Lundi stuck his narrow head through the bars of
his cage. "Norval was a good student. A great one. In fact the only thing
that surpassed his desire for knowledge and power was his greed." Dr. Lundi
stood up as straight as he could inside his cage. "I was offered vast
riches by several anonymous parties to turn over the Sith Holocron should I
ever capture it. One of the parties wanted to rendezvous beside my home
planet of Ploo II."
The Jedi exchanged glances. Should they believe him? Lundi had
several reasons to thwart their progress. He probably enjoyed the idea of
take pride in that. Norval was, after all, Lundi's prize student.
But for the first time Obi-Wan felt he had some insight into Lundi's
thoughts. It was as if a wall had been torn down, and Obi-Wan sensed that
the professor was telling the truth. The Quermian wanted to go after the
Holocron himself. He wanted a chance to see it again, to be close to its
power.
"We need a ship to get us to Ploo II," Obi-Wan said. "Quickly."
CHAPTER 22
According to the flight records, the ship that left for the Ploo
Sector was very large and not particularly fast. Anakin knew that if they
were going to catch it, they'd need a fast vehicle with a powerful
hyperdrive.
There was only one such ship in the hangar. The pilot looked at the
Jedi warily as they approached.
"Ploo II?" he repeated with disdain. "No thanks. I just got here, and
won't be doing anything but taking a nice long rest."
"I can pilot," Anakin said. "You can even stay here and rest. We'll
bring the ship back when we're finished."
The pilot looked at Anakin as if he were crazy. Anakin couldn't blame
him. If it were his ship, he wouldn't let some stranger take it off planet,
either. Not even a Jedi.
But they needed the ship. Badly.
Obi-Wan waved his hand in front of the pilot's face. "You can trust
us to borrow the ship," he said slowly.
"I guess I can trust you to borrow the ship," the pilot said.
"We will bring it back when we are finished," Obi-Wan added.
"Just bring it back when you are finished," the pilot echoed.
Anakin grinned. They weren't lightsabers, but Jedi mind tricks really
came in handy sometimes.
"I'll get Lundi," Obi-Wan said.
Anakin nodded and boarded the ship. From the pilot's seat he plugged
in the coordinates for Ploo II. Minutes later Obi-Wan and Lundi were on
board, and the ship was heading into the atmosphere.
Anakin thought he might have a chance to talk to Obi-Wan on the way,
but Obi-Wan silently left the cockpit shortly after they had taken off.
Anakin guessed that he was still upset.
Trying not to think about it, Anakin studied the computer's
programmed hyperdrive route. If there was a faster way to get there, he
wanted to know about it. They had to catch the Holocron thief.
There appeared to be only one direct route, and the computer had
chosen it. Anakin engaged the hyperdrive, and the nearby stars streaked by
in flashes of blinding light.
Once the ship was safely in hyperspace, Anakin could step away from
the controls and relax a bit. Moving into the hold, he saw that the
professor was sound asleep. He'd been sleeping a lot lately, and as Anakin
studied him he appeared older and more frail. His body shuddered with every
breath. It seemed as if his life forces were ebbing.
Asleep and helpless in his cage, the professor seemed more pitiful
than threatening. Anakin almost felt sorry for him. But then, the Quermian
had not made this mission an easy one. He had been difficult from the
start, and the way he'd treated his Master had infuriated Anakin.
Now, under his direction, they were chasing a ship on its way to Ploo
II. Was it the right planet, or were they simply on a fruitless chase? It
would be so easy for Lundi to lead them astray. After being locked up by
Jedi for ten years, it was entirely possible that he was out for revenge.
Anakin couldn't really blame him for wanting to take his imprisonment out
on someone.
Anakin watched Lundi sleep for a long time and tried to meditate. He
was left with many questions about Dr. Lundi and the Holocron.
But he didn't think that the professor was lying to them about
following Norval. Anakin sensed that they were closing in on something
powerful and evil... and believed it to be the Holocron.
Anakin got to his feet and moved toward the pilot's seat. It was
almost time to bring the ship out of hyperspace. Sitting down at the
controls, he suddenly felt a ripple in the Force. He quickly brought the
ship out of lightspeed. The familiar starriness of space came into view
around him.
But that was not the only thing Anakin saw.
Obi-Wan was beside him in an instant. "I felt a wave in the Force,"
he said.
Anakin pointed to a sleek gray ship visible in the viewscreen.
"It just passed us," he said.
"Whose ship is it?" Anakin asked, wide-eyed.
Obi-Wan sighed. "I don't know," he confessed. "But I have a feeling
we'd better get to Norval's ship before it does."
The large ship shuddered. Anakin had been pushing it hard since
they'd sighted the sleek gray vessel, and wasn't sure how much longer it
would hold up. The speed they were flying at was certainly faster than the
craft was accustomed to. By the time they landed somewhere it would
probably need repairs.
The mysterious gray ship was now in front of them and had slowed
down.
Anakin's Master stood beside him with his eyes closed. "I feel
something powerful, but it could be coming from that ship and not the
Holocron. We've got to locate Norval quickly. I have a hunch that whoever
is aboard that ship is after the Holocron too.
"I'll keep an eye out," Anakin assured his Master. "Why don't you
prepare a shuttle. When I find his ship you can be ready to board
immediately."
Obi-Wan nodded at Anakin gratefully. "Monitor all ship-to-ship
communications and let me know if you sense anything unusual."
While Obi-Wan prepared a shuttle, Anakin carefully circled the gray
ship in a wide arc.
Anakin was just coming around the gray ship when another, larger ship
came into view in the space lane. Anakin felt instantly certain that it was
Norval's. There was a strange flutter in his stomach, like nausea.
Anakin switched on his comlink. "I see another ship," he reported.
"And I'm feeling kind of weird. I'll bet the Holocron is in there."
"Good. I'm closing the shuttle hatch now," Obi-Wan said. "Activate
the shuttle bay doors immediately."
Anakin pressed a button on his control panel and Obi-Wan's shuttle
shot out of the ship. It looked tiny as it hurtled toward Norval's massive
vessel. Anakin hoped it would land safely on Norval's ship without being
detected by the mysterious gray craft.
As Anakin watched the shuttle approach Norval's ship, a voice spoke
up behind him. Lundi.
"Too late, too late," he murmured.
Anakin turned around and saw that Lundi's eyes were closed. Was he
asleep, or awake? Too late for what? Anakin wondered.
He didn't have long to ponder. Just then a huge blast rocked the
ship.
CHAPTER 23
From the small window in the tiny shuttle, Obi-Wan saw a red blast
explode against Anakin's ship. The gray vessel had finally detected their
ship and was clearly not pleased about its presence.
The sight of the red laser triggered something in Obi-Wan's memory,
and a familiar feeling of helplessness washed over him. But there was no
way he could get back to the ship fast enough to help his Padawan. And
there was the Holocron. He had to go after it while he had the chance. He
would not leave it behind again.
Obi-Wan quickly sent a mental message to his Padawan. You can do it,
Anakin, he told him. Just think carefully...
Within minutes the shuttle locked into the docking bay on Norval's
ship. After powering down the tiny craft, Obi-Wan quietly slipped out into
the bigger ship.
As he moved down a glistening white corridor, the sound of more laser
fire echoed in Obi-Wan's ears. Anakin's ship was getting pounded. Obi-Wan
suddenly wished he and his Padawan had resolved their discussion on Kodai.
You can't do anything about that now, he told himself. He had to
focus and think clearly if he was going to find the Holocron on this giant
craft.
Obi-Wan hurried down several sterile corridors. As he reached the end
of one he suddenly felt something evil washing over him. He knew exactly
how his Padawan had felt a few minutes earlier. The Holocron was close.
Obi-Wan rounded a corner and spotted a large room at the end of the
passageway. A humanoid figure stood with its back to the door, waiting. And
there, on a transparisteel table, sat the glowing red Holocron.
Obi-Wan approached the room carefully. But before he was through the
door the figure turned toward him.
"I have been waiting for you," Norval said.
Obi-Wan focused hard on the dark-haired man in front of him as
queasiness threatened to overtake him. He sensed that, in fact, he wasn't
the person Norval had been waiting for. He'd been expecting someone else -
Lundi, perhaps. Or whoever was piloting the sleek gray ship.
"Powerful, isn't it?" Norval cackled. "The nauseous feeling takes
some getting used to. When you are comfortable with the power, it
disappears."
Obi-Wan dove for the Holocron, but Norval quickly stepped in front of
it.
"This information would be wasted in the hands of the Jedi," he spat.
"You have no idea what to do with power."
Obi-Wan could see that Norval was not going to give up without a
fight. Reaching down to his utility belt, he unhooked and ignited his
light-saber.
I must end this quickly, Obi-Wan thought. He hoped the sight of his
lightsaber would make Norval back down and hand over the Holocron. I must
get back to help Anakin before it is too late.
But Norval did not back down. He simply reached for his belt and
ignited a lightsaber of his own.
CHAPTER 24
Anakin unleashed another round of laser fire. He'd been circling the
sleek gray ship, pummeling its hull. Every blast appeared to find its
quick-moving target. But they didn't seem to have any effect.
I should have chosen a ship with decent firepower as well as speed,
Anakin thought grimly. I should have known I'd need to be prepared for
battle.
Anakin had taken several hits without sustaining much damage. Only
that first firing had created a problem, and losing the hyperdrive was
minor compared to what could have been damaged.
Still, the ship could be hit again at any moment - and with dire
results. He had to get out of there. But where could he go? The large gray
craft clearly had a long firing range. It would take se
veral minutes to get
far enough away to be safe....
Thinking fast, Anakin turned the ship around and headed straight for
Norval's behemoth. If he could just keep the giant vessel between him and
the mystery ship, he'd count on the gray ship not firing on him. The pilot
wouldn't want to risk the Holocron - he hoped.