aside. Now Obi-Wan could see Mezdec in the middle of the group. When he saw
Obi-Wan and Anakin, he paled.
"This is a high-security meeting," he said. "You have no clearance."
"Mezdec, these are Jedi," Binalu said. "We asked the Senate for help."
Obi-Wan gave Mezdec a cool glance, then ignored him. He glanced at the
strategy map. He saw that the Typha-Dor had massed all their weaponry and
their fleet to the south.
He and Anakin had studied the invasion plans during the flight.
Shalini had been right. Mezdec had given the generals false plans. They
were massing troops and ships to meet an invasion that would not arrive.
Meanwhile, the Vanqors would take over the capital cities in one thrust,
unopposed.
"I have met Mezdec before. We were the team that was sent to rescue
the crew at the outpost," Obi-Wan said. "Have you moved your ships to
attack?" he asked the generals.
"We are moving them now," one of the generals said grudgingly, as
though she saw no reason to tell the Jedi. "The Vanqors will attack our
factories in the south."
"Is it too late to recall them?"
"Why should we?" the general answered. "With all due respect to the
Jedi, we did ask for your help, and we are grateful for your response. But
we can handle this. We are going to surprise the Vanqors when they invade
our airspace."
"You, generals, will be the ones who will be surprised," Obi-Wan said.
"That is not the true invasion plan," Anakin said. He set Shalini's
holofile spinning. It unfolded in pulses of light, showing detail after
detail of the Vanqor invasion. "This is the real invasion plan. If you mass
your forces there, the Vanqors will simply sail in and take over without a
fight."
"But the Vanqors have already sent their ships," Binalu said,
indicating the map.
"I see evidence of only two destroyers in the south," Obi-Wan said.
"Mezdec explained that more are coming. The crew intercepted the
Vanqor invasion plans," a general said. She was tall and imposing, with
multicolored medals on her shoulders. "He came to me personally. I am the
high general of Typha-Dor, General Bycha."
"That's right," Mezdec said. "We have the plans. I was the only one to
make it out alive."
"On the contrary," Obi-Wan said. "The others made it out, too. You'll
be sorry to hear that, Mezdec."
"Mezdec is a spy, General Bycha," Anakin said. "I suggest you give an
order for his immediate arrest."
The generals exchanged glances. Talus and Binalu looked at the Jedi.
"This is a grave charge," Talus said.
"They are lying!" Mezdec cried.
"You must trust us," Obi-Wan said. "The fate of your world lies in
your hands. The Vanqors are not going to attack your factories. They are
moving to attack the twin capital cities. Can you move the fleet to these
positions?" He took a laser pointer from a general and indicated the map.
"Look. The Vanqors are invading through this corridor. I've studied the
star charts. Your moons will align to give them cover, but it will also
create a window for you to attack. You can trap the majority of the fleet
between the two moons. Even with a smaller force, you could defeat them.
They will be vulnerable right here."
The generals looked at the map. They looked at each other.
"Don't listen to them!" Mezdec cried again. "They are lying!"
Slowly, General Bycha turned to him. "And what reason would the Jedi
have for lying?" She held Mezdec's gaze. "I hereby issue an order for
Mezdec's immediate arrest."
Then General Bycha turned back to the Jedi. "We don't have much time,"
she said.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Mezdec was taken away. The room exploded into activity. Obi-Wan was
impressed with how quickly the generals grasped the situation and
formulated a response. The fleet sped to the other side of Typha-Dor and
lurked behind the string of moons, effectively concealing themselves and
ready to attack.
General Bycha spoke to the Jedi. "We were unprepared for war. Our
planet has no planetary defensive shield, and only one planetary
turbolaser. It's all up to our fleet."
"You have the strategic advantage," Siri said.
"Which means there is another option," Obi-Wan pointed out. "Within
seconds of the Vanqors invading your airspace, you will be able to surprise
and surround them. They know their entire fleet can easily be destroyed. It
is a perfect opportunity for you to force a surrender without losing lives.
"
General Bycha looked interested. "Most generals are primed to fight. I
will do so if necessary. But on Typha-Dor we always seek to avoid conflict
if we can."
"A truce would make sense for Vanqor as well as Typha-Dor," Obi-Wan
pointed out. "Typha-Dor has vast resources. Vanqor has factories and
technical innovations. The other planets in your system each have something
unique to contribute. If there was a strong alliance between your planets,
you would all be interdependent. You would learn and profit from one
another."
"You could become one of the strongest systems in the galaxy and a
boon to the Republic," Siri said.
Binalu shook her head. "But we don't trust the Vanqors. How could we,
after what they have done?"
"Alliances are rarely built on trust," Clee Rhara said. "They are
built on mutual advantage."
"One of your conditions would have to be complete disarmament," Garen
said. "Vanqor might choose that rather than complete annihilation."
"It all depends on you," Obi-Wan said. "You have the advantage of
surprise. When you don't fire on the Vanqors, they might hesitate to fire
on you. You'll need to speak to the ruler of Vanqor and explain that you
have his fleet surrounded. The Vanqor fleet captains will confirm. You have
a chance to win a war without a battle."
Binalu and Talus gazed at the blinking lights on the holomap, each
representing a ship with hundreds of lives aboard. They had a wordless
communication with each other, then nodded.
"Tell the fleet to get into position but not to fire a shot unless
ordered," Talus said.
"We will talk to Van-Ith, the ruler of Vanqor," Binalu said.
It was a tense time in the operations room. The generals, the Jedi,
and the rulers watched the blinking lights on the map. They saw the Vanqor
fleet approach. At the last possible moment, General Bycha gave the order
for the Typha-Dor coalition forces to surround the Vanqor fleet. The
movement was executed perfectly.
"Arrange for a comm transmission to the head of the fleet," General
Bycha ordered.
While General Bycha spoke to the Vanqor captains, Binalu and Talus
spoke to the Vanqor leader. The Jedi watched and waited. After a long
negotiation, the Vanqors agreed to surrender and enter peace talks.
The Vanqor fleet slowly followed the Typha-Dor escorts to the surface
of Typha-Dor, where they would remain for the duration of the talks.
"This will take some time to accomplish," Talus said to the Jedi.
&nbs
p; "Thank you for your help. We are in your debt."
"Shalini and her crew were responsible for obtaining the invasion
plans," Obi-Wan told them. "They risked their lives. They entrusted the
disk to us while they were interred in a prisoner-of-war camp."
"Are they in danger?" General Bycha asked.
"Anakin was also a prisoner," Obi-Wan said. "There's a camp in the
Tomo Crater region on Vanqor."
General Bycha focused her intense gaze on Anakin. "We've heard of this
camp. Rumors have reached us of medical experiments being performed on
prisoners. This is against Republic law. If we knew this for certain, it
would help us in negotiations with the Vanqors. Did you see anything like
that?"
Obi-Wan saw Anakin hesitate. Why? What had happened to him? Why hadn't
he told Obi-Wan? He'd had plenty of opportunity aboard Garen's ship.
"I underwent the procedure," Anakin said. "It is called the Zone of
Self-Containment."
He saw the Jedi turn and look at him. Ferus's gaze was sharp. He had
seen that Obi-Wan hadn't known this.
"What happens to you?" General Bycha asked. "You become... content,"
Anakin said. "You have complete mobility and your thought processes are
sharp. It doesn't feel as though you're drugged. But the things that
normally torment you don't bother you at all."
"Crowd control," General Bycha said. "It's a way to subdue
populations. I can't believe we must form a partnership with those who
would do this."
"The partnership will ensure that they won't," Clee Rhara said.
"How was the substance administered?" Obi-Wan asked.
"I don't know," Anakin said. "That was the strange thing. We weren't
injected. And we ate with the med care workers and personnel, fed from a
communal pot. Our water source was the same as theirs, too."
"It is possible they were all drugged," General Bycha said.
"I don't think so," Anakin said. "I felt that they were... envious of
the prisoners."
"When did you first feel the effects?" Obi-Wan asked.
Anakin thought back. "They gave us a paralyzing drug, but that didn't
make a difference to my mind. It was after a bath."
"It was transmitted through water," Obi-Wan said. "That is a very
difficult way to transmit a drug," General Bycha said. "Water transmission
hasn't been perfected." He frowned. "These are dark days. There are too
many scientists with no scruples, willing to poison bodies and minds."
Obi-Wan suddenly leaned forward toward Anakin. "Did you ever see the
doctor in charge?"
"Yes," Anakin said. "I was brought to her because in the beginning I
was able to resist the paralyzing drug somewhat, with the help of the
Force."
"Do you know her name?"
Anakin thought back. "She never told me." Odd. He hadn't noticed that
at the time.
"Do you remember what she looked like?"
"A woman in late mid-life," Anakin said. "Light-colored hair.
Distinctive green eyes. She had a strong face." He thought back. "The
strange thing was that she guessed that I was Force-sensitive. She seemed
to know a great deal about the Force."
Obi-Wan closed his eyes. "Jenny Zan Arbor," he said.
Clee Rhara, Ry-Gaul, and Garen looked at him in surprise.
"She is on a prison planet," Clee Rhara said. "So we thought," Obi-Wan
said.
"Who is she, Master?" Anakin asked.
"Someone who has hurt the Jedi and the Republic in the past," Obi-Wan
said. "She kept Qui-Gon prisoner in order to study the Force. She was a
brilliant scientist who began her career after she found cures to several
plagues and saved whole planets. But then she grew corrupt. She began to
introduce plagues or viruses so that she would be hired to cure the
populations. She was adept at using water systems or air systems. She made
a great fortune. But the Jedi caught her in the end." Obi-Wan turned to
General Bycha. "May I use your database?"
General Bycha showed him to the console. Obi-Wan did a quick check of
the prison world he knew Zan Arbor had been exiled to.
He whirled around in his chair. "Escaped. She is now a wanted
criminal." He stood. "We must get to the Tomo Crater Camp right away."
"You will meet resistance," General Bycha warned him. "The surrender
is not complete."
Obi-Wan looked at Clee Rhara, Garen, Siri, and Ry-Gaul, a question in
Ry-Gaul nodded. "We are at your service, Obi-Wan."
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
After receiving clearance from the Senate for their operation, they
flew to Vanqor. They met no resistance from the Vanqor ships. The Jedi
cruiser flew over the rugged landscape of the Tomo Craters, and then the
camp appeared ahead. Then resistance exploded in the form of laser-
cannonfire. Apparently General Bycha had not underestimated the resistance
they would meet on the ground.
Garen dived and twisted, piloting the ship expertly through the fire,
never wavering from his destination.
They landed amid heavy fire and charged out, lightsabers at the ready.
The security droids were taken care of with quick thrusts and backhanded
swipes. The Vanqor guards were armed with blaster rifles, wrist rockets,
and stun batons. The Jedi advanced as a solid flank that broke and re-
formed as they leaped and twisted, using their lightsabers and occasionally
Force-pushing a Vanqor guard who decided today was his day to seek glory.
Instead he ended up with a throbbing skull as he was thrown against a wall.
It was at times such as these that Anakin felt something close to what
he'd felt in the Zone of Self-Containment. It was not that he enjoyed
battle. Battle was a necessity to an end. It was that battle filled his
mind in a way that other things could not. Focus was absolute. He felt in
the midst of the Force. With the other Jedi around him, the Force was
especially powerful. It made every decision easy, every move fluid.
He even felt a kinship with Ferus. He did not want to be Ferus's
friend, but he was glad to have him at his side during a battle. Ferus was
known for his strength and agility. His moves were flawless. Yet he did not
fight only for himself, but cast his battle mind like a net, ready to
respond to the others if they needed him. When four sentry droids bore down
on Anakin, it was Ferus who leaped, smashing two of them to the ground with
one stroke.
Soon the droids had been reduced to scrap and the Vanqor guards
decided that facing a squad of Jedi had not been in their job descriptions.
They threw down their weapons and surrendered.
"Zan Arbor," Obi-Wan said to Anakin.
"We'll free the prisoners," Siri said. "You might meet more resistance
there. Ferus, go with them."
The three Jedi raced to the medical building where Anakin had been
held. No ships had taken off since they arrived. No doubt Zan Arbor had
heard the battle. She could be hiding. Or she could decide to make a last
stand. Anakin was prepared for anything.
The halls were empty. Doors were flung open, and there were signs of
disarray in the trailing linens on the slee
p couches and the discarded food
on trays. The warming lights in the courtyard had been turned off, and the
leaves looked shrunken and yellowed. It appeared that the entire operation
had been hastily abandoned.
Anakin led the way to Zan Arbor's office. They did not need to break
in. The door was wide open. Drawers hung open, empty. Her desk had been
cleared. Even her septsilk curtains had been taken down.
Anakin felt relief move through him. But why? He wasn't sure. He only
knew that he did not want to face Zan Arbor again. Especially not in front
of his Master. It was as though she held a secret to a part of him he did
not want to share.
When he turned, he saw that Ferus had seen his relief. Anakin hid his
exasperation. No matter where he turned, Ferus was there, eager to see what
Anakin wanted to conceal. Ferus's ability to tune in to his fellow Jedi
might have been helpful in battle, but Anakin found it deeply annoying at
other times.
"Too late," Anakin said to Obi-Wan. "She must have heard about the
thwarted invasion."
"She couldn't have hidden all the evidence," Obi-Wan said. "We'll need