he'd been troubled by the dark side. He'd felt frustrated, vulnerable, and
afraid.
Anakin did not appear to be feeling any of these things. No, it was
something else.
Obi-Wan saw the boy walk up to Lundi's cage and stare at the
Quermian. He did not show any fear. Instead he seemed... fascinated.
His Padawan was extremely curious about Lundi and what had turned him
into an insane criminal. In fact, he seemed drawn toward the power that had
corrupted Lundi and Omal.
This curiosity worried Obi-Wan.
Of course Anakin had not seen the power of the dark side the way that
Obi-Wan had. He had not witnessed his Master being cut down by a Sith Lord.
He had not been nearly killed himself.
After such a close experience Obi-Wan was well aware of the threat
the Sith posed if they regained all of their ancient power. And recapturing
the knowledge contained in a Sith Holocron would be a large step in that
direction. It could be devastating for the entire galaxy.
Obi-Wan shuddered at the thought before letting it fade to the back
of his mind. He needed to sharpen his focus and bring his attention back to
the moment, and his Padawan.
The boy needed guidance, Obi-Wan knew. A decade earlier, his own
Master had skillfully led him in the right direction - away from anger and
frustration. It had kept Obi-Wan firmly on the Jedi path. When Qui-Gon
died, Obi-Wan had promised to give that guidance to Anakin.
Obi-Wan remembered Anakin's angry outburst at Lundi when they were
first on the ship. Anger was dangerous. Perhaps he should be warning his
apprentice about the dark side - that it was an easy path to power, but
also to self-destruction.
The problem was, he did not know how to put the words together. He
did not know exactly what to say. And whenever he offered Anakin this kind
of guidance, the boy brushed it aside. It was almost as if Anakin thought
that the things Obi-Wan was trying to warn him about did not apply to him.
With a sigh, Obi-Wan wished that Qui-Gon were still alive. He would
know just what to say, what to do. He would be able to get through to
Anakin.
"I think we're being followed," the pilot said after they came out of
hyperspace, breaking into Obi-Wan's thoughts.
Obi-Wan rose and approached the controls. It was not unlikely, he
realized. Whoever sabotaged the ship could easily be on their tail.
Obi-Wan carefully searched the ship's detection system. He found
nothing.
Soon they landed safely on Kodai. After instructing the pilot not to
leave the planet, Obi-Wan led Anakin downtown.
"We need to get to the water soon," Obi-Wan explained as they made
their way up the main street. The tide was already going out, but they
weren't going to wait for it to hit its lowest point. If they did, they
might be too late; they had to beat Norval, or whoever was after the
Holocron. This time they had to get there first.
Anakin looked around. "There's not much here, is there?" he asked.
"No," Obi-Wan replied. "There was a huge tidal wave several hundred
years ago, and many Kodaians were killed. Most of the survivors fled the
planet. Those who remain await another giant wave, and in their minds,
certain death."
Anakin grimaced. "That's pretty bad," he said.
Obi-Wan laughed. "I agree, Padawan." Then his expression grew
serious. "I would not choose to live my life in such a way. But the
Kodaians did not choose, either. It would be difficult to have a history of
loss."
Anakin was thoughtful as they scoured the town. "You'd think there'd
be diving shops everywhere," he finally said. "Practically the whole planet
"True. But the people are afraid of it," Obi-Wan reminded him.
"They seem afraid of us, too," Anakin said. "Whenever we pass
someone, they move more quickly and look away."
"You are observant, Anakin," Obi-Wan said proudly. "Kodaians do not
feel comfortable around strangers."
After checking the tide and finding it was not yet the right time to
dive, the Jedi made their way back to the ship. Many Kodaians went out of
their way to avoid them on the streets. Others stopped to stare at them.
And a few shouted warnings about the deadly sea and its hidden evils.
"Master," Anakin suddenly said. His voice was quiet, almost hesitant.
This was unusual for the boy. "I have something to tell you."
Obi-Wan stopped and turned toward his Padawan. "What is it?" he
asked.
"I found a holoprojector when we were at Omal's apartment. It... it
had a message on it, one of the messages Master Ki-Adi Mundi told us about.
"
Obi-Wan's eyes widened. "A message showing a Jedi being killed?" he
asked.
Anakin nodded.
For a moment Obi-Wan did not know how to respond. This was important
information - not something an apprentice should keep from his Master.
"Why didn't you tell me before?" he asked in a raised voice.
"I... I didn't think it was important," Anakin mumbled. "We already
knew the messages existed, and you wanted to get back to the ship."
Obi-Wan stared at his Padawan. He never would have considered keeping
this kind of information from Qui-Gon. As a Jedi team, it was essential
that they share every piece of knowledge they gathered. They had to trust
each other. Completely.
With a jolt, Obi-Wan realized that Anakin might not totally trust
him. Why else would he keep something like this from him?
As Obi-Wan stared down at his Padawan learner, an awful thought crept
into his mind: He wasn't sure he completely trusted Anakin, either.
"You should have told me immediately," Obi-Wan said sternly. "Be sure
that you do so next time."
Anakin looked down at his feet. "Yes, Master," he said.
Without another word, Obi-Wan turned away and continued down the
street.
The Jedi were silent as they walked back to the ship. Inside, Dr.
Lundi was asleep in his cage, his loud snores filling the hold. He woke
abruptly when the Jedi entered.
"Can't a prisoner get some sleep around here?" he grumbled, wiping a
line of drool off his chin with one hand and rubbing his eye with another.
"Not when he has agreed to provide important information," Obi-Wan
replied flatly. "I need you to answer some questions about your last
journey to the bottom of the Kodaian sea. It's time for you to tell us what
you know."
The professor glared at Obi-Wan for several long seconds. It was true
that he had agreed to answer questions in exchange for the chance to look
upon the Holocron once more. "Go on," he finally said.
"Ten years ago you came to Kodai to go after the Holocron," Obi-Wan
said. "And one of your star pupils came after you."
"Norval," Lundi said, nodding. "He was my star pupil. Had such a
hunger for knowledge."
"Dark knowledge," Obi-Wan noted, looking pointedly at Dr. Lundi.
Lundi shrugged. "It is not my responsibility how the boy used what he
learned. I was only the teacher. I simply passed the information along."
Lu
ndi's casual response made Obi-Wan angry. He obviously took his
powerful position as a teacher very lightly. Didn't he understand the
destruction of at least one young life?
"But Norval was strong - stronger than even I knew," Lundi went on.
"He got to the Holocron first. He brought it up still inside its vault. We
fought over it, and it fell into the geyser crater."
Obi-Wan closed his eyes as disappointment surged inside him. Though
he'd known that the Holocron could have fallen deeper into the pocketed
seafloor, he'd hoped it wasn't true. It meant that the Holocron was very
far down.
And located inside a gushing geyser that was incredibly treacherous,
even at the lowest tide. The Holocron could easily be so far down that no
one would be able to retrieve it. But what if it wasn't?
Obi-Wan was not feeling confident about anything on this mission. Yet
he had no choice but to move forward - before someone else did.
CHAPTER 20
Anakin squinted into the darkness as the loaded gravsled zoomed over
the exposed sea-floor. The tide was already partially out, and soon they
would be traveling over the water.
"That way," Obi-Wan said, pointing off to the left. They were the
first words he'd spoken to him since their argument. Anakin felt badly
about not telling his Master about the hologram message sooner, but wasn't
sure why it was such a big deal. He did tell him, didn't he?
Anakin turned the vehicle. Beside him, Dr. Lundi was staring through
the bars of his portable cage. His eyes were wide, and he couldn't sit
still. He seemed like an excited child.
He can't wait to see the Holocron, Anakin thought. The ancient
artifact had quite a reputation to live up to. As he increased the
gravsled's speed, the young Jedi secretly hoped that it would.
The gravsled zoomed over the water, heading straight toward the
crater. Anakin thought he saw something sticking up above the shallow sea.
It looked like a diving platform.
"Just ahead," Obi-Wan said. Anakin could hear the disappointment in
his Master's voice. He pulled the gravsled up beside a platform piled with
equipment and cut the engine.
Obi-Wan stared down at the water suit and air tank. "Someone has
already been here," he said. "I only hope they haven't found the Holocron."
Anakin scanned the surface of the sea. He could feel a powerful, dark
energy surrounding them. But he wasn't sure if it was because the Holocron
was still below, or because it had been there for years.
"The Holocron is gone," Lundi cackled. He waved his arms, smacking
several against the top and sides of his travel cage. "He came back.
Norval's got it."
Obi-Wan pulled on his breather and gestured for Anakin to do the
same. In spite of Lundi's words, the Jedi couldn't leave this time until
they were certain that the Holocron was not still under the sea. After
checking to make sure that
Lundi's cage was anchored securely to the gravsled, they dove into
the water.
Obi-Wan led the way down the side of the crater to the rocky shelf
below. It was a long way down and Anakin felt a surge of excitement as they
dropped lower and lower. This was a mission.
Once they were on the shelf, it was easy to locate the geyser - a
huge mass of hot water gushed out of it every several minutes. That didn't
leave them much time to investigate what was below.
Anakin dove down into the crater after his Master, kicking as hard as
he could. There was nothing in front of him except the inky blackness of
the deep sea. He could barely see his Master's legs moving back and forth
just a few meters in front of his face. At last Obi-Wan lit a glow rod.
Down, down, down they swam. Anakin's ears popped several times from
the pressure, and the water got warmer and warmer.
After what seemed like several minutes, Anakin caught a glimpse of a
sinister red glow several meters in front of them, rising from the
seafloor. His breath caught in his throat as he came to a halt. The water
here seemed to pulsate with energy, and he had to concentrate to stay in
one place. The same appeared to be true for his Master.
Obi-Wan gestured for Anakin to stay put and cautiously swam forward
toward a glowing vault. Anakin saw his legs move back and forth, then stop.
Obi-Wan thrust his glow rod into the tomblike box. It was empty. A second
later Obi-Wan had turned around and was pointing up. He wanted Anakin to
head back to the surface.
Anakin wondered how long they'd been down there. Five minutes? Six?
There wasn't much time before the geyser would blow again.
Turning around as quickly as he could, he bolted for the surface. But
swimming up was not easy. It almost felt as if something was holding him
down, keeping him in the geyser. Kicking hard, he moved slowly upward.
Anakin's legs were aching when he felt a small gush of warm water
rush past him. With a series of furious kicks, he surged ahead. He did not
want to be anywhere nearby when the geyser erupted.
Finally the geyser walls disappeared and the Jedi were once again in
open water. Sprinting forward, they moved away from the geyser mouth just
as a giant burst of scalding water shot out.
The Jedi wasted no time getting back to the gravsled. Now that they
knew the Holocron was not there, they had to get back to civilization as
soon as possible.
Anakin pulled off his breather and started the gravsled. They were
practically moving when Obi-Wan climbed out of the water.
"It was gone," Lundi declared, looking at the Jedi's empty hands.
"Clever. The boy is clever - more clever than I thought. I should have
suspected. Yes, suspected. He almost had it the last time, he did. Until
Omal got in his way. Lucky for me. Unlucky for him. Omal gave me a chance
to attack - to get the Holocron for myself. But Norval was a formidable
opponent. I have to hand it to him..."
Lundi's voice trailed off as he lost himself in the ten-year-old
memory.
"Where would Norval take the Holocron?" Obi-Wan asked.
Professor Lundi crossed several arms across his chest. "A deal, a
deal," he said defiantly. "We had our deal. I told you secrets for a chance
to see the Holocron. But I didn't see it, did I? The game is up, up, up.
And you lost. The boy has the Holocron. The boy. Ha!"
Anger swelled inside Anakin. He waited for his Master to do
something, to shake some sense into the old loon. But Obi-Wan was silent as
he stared glumly at the professor.
Wearing a sinister smirk, Lundi looked from Anakin to Obi-Wan.
"Though I doubt the boy actually knows what to do with it," he added under
his breath. "But at least he's not cowardly like you and the rest of your
robed friends."
That's it. Anakin switched off the gravsled and lunged at the
professor. He could smell the old Quermian's rancid breath as he leaned in
close to his face.
"This isn't funny, wormhead," he said furiously. "Your boy may not
know what to do with t
he Holocron, but the Sith will."
The smile disappeared from Professor Lundi's face as he stared back
at Anakin. He dropped all of his gangly arms to his sides.
"I suspect you know your history, professor," Anakin shouted, forcing
the Quermian's long neck farther and farther back. "And that you're well
aware if the Sith gain power it's not just the Jedi who will die."
CHAPTER 21