Jude Watson: Jedi Quest 10: The Final Showdown

Anakin found it difficult to keep his face neutral as excitement surged through him. He knew what was coming. He was going to be allowed to undertake the trials!

He was ready. He was more than ready.

"This is a major decision, and so we have decided to proceed cautiously, with one test case," Mace went on.

Anakin's heart swelled. Of course it would be him. He was the Chosen One, the one with the greatest skills, the greatest Force connection.

"After much discussion, and consultation with all Jedi Masters, the Council has chosen Ferus Olin as the first Padawan to undergo the trials.

After this mission, he will begin the trials."

For a moment, Anakin heard nothing, just a blank where his name should have been. The words Ferus Olin seemed to have no meaning, like they were part of a language he hadn't learned. That was how unreal it felt.

He wanted to move, wanted to cry out. This couldn't be true! It couldn't be happening!

He glanced at his Master. Obi-Wan was looking at Yoda.

"We want to make it clear that our decision, while unanimous, doesn't reflect on any Padawan's fitness to be a Jedi Knight. We believe in each of you. Yet we had to choose someone, and this is a way to begin. You will each be ready in your own time."

My time is now! Anakin wanted to shout. Disbelief and anger coursed through him.

Mace rose. "The ships are ready for your journey to Korriban. May the Force be with you."

Anakin did not know how he was going to get out of the room without exploding. His emotions were too wild to control. It was only by hanging on to the habit of a life of discipline that he was able to turn and follow his Master out of the room. Ahead of him strode Ferus, the thick gold stripe in his hair catching the light of the glow rods overhead. First out of the Council room. First on the list.

Ferus.

"Don't say anything," Obi-Wan said in a low tone. "Follow me."

Anakin's face was hot. He followed his Master through the hallway and onto the turbolift. He watched the levels count off as he slowed his breaths, fighting for control.

Obi-Wan led the way out of the turbolift and into the Room of the Thousand Fountains. Anakin knew his Master had chosen this site deliberately. The soft splash of the fountains were a calming aid to all Jedi. The room smelled of green growth, and the refracted light of the water gave the air a soft radiance.

None of this worked to calm him. He wanted to fight against it.

"How did it happen?" Anakin asked, as soon as he was sure they were alone. "How could it happen? I don't understand!"

"Anakin, of course you're disappointed," Obi-Wan said. "It is natural to want to be first."

"I am first!" Anakin exploded. "I was always first in my class. First in lightsaber training. First in the Force."

Obi-Wan frowned. "There is no such thing. We don't rank students at the Temple."

"That is what is said," Anakin answered. "But it's not the reality, and you know it."

Obi-Wan took a breath. "How good you are is not the point."

"What makes Ferus better?"

"That is not the point either. The fact is he is ready!" Obi-Wan's voice was raised, and that didn't happen very often. Anakin could see that he was pushing his Master to the limit.

But he couldn't stop. Not on something that was this important to him.

"I'm ready!" he insisted. "I'm just as ready as he is."

"That is something you cannot know," Obi-Wan said, shaking his head.

"It is not for the Padawan to know. It is for the Master and the Council."

Obi-Wan's words stopped Anakin in his tracks. A sudden knowledge seared his brain.

"You agreed with them," he said. "You voted for Ferus!"

"It was not a vote…" Obi-Wan began.

"You agreed — "

"It was a discussion," Obi-Wan interrupted. "To which all Masters were invited."

"You're not answering me."

Obi-Wan paused. "Yes. I agreed with the Council's choice."

Anakin felt as though he had received a sharp prod from an electrojabber.

"Anakin." Obi-Wan made a move to put his hands on Anakin's shoulders, but did not actually touch him, knowing somehow that Anakin would push him off. "This is not about your skills, your commitment, or your abilities.

This is about whether you are ready. There is a difference."

"You don't think I'm ready." Anakin could hear how wooden his voice sounded.

"I think Ferus is. That does not mean I think he will make a better Jedi. It only means that I think he is ready now."

Ferus had manipulated them. Ferus had somehow made this happen. He had voiced his doubts about Anakin aloud, sometimes in front of his Master, and somehow he had corrupted their opinions of him.

Anakin's fury grew until it was something wild, something he did not know if he could contain. He looked at his Master, and suddenly Obi-Wan was a stranger to him "I can feel your anger," Obi-Wan said. "Take care." He did not want to take care. He wanted to punch something.

"Your focus on who gets to be Master first is only reinforcing the rightness of the Council's decision," Obi-Wan went on. "You're treating this like a contest. You are not emotionally ready to be a Jedi. Decisions like this must be accepted."

"You do not need to quote Jedi teachings," Anakin said through his teeth. "I know them well. Better even than Ferus, though that doesn't seem to make a difference."

Obi-Wan's face was tight. "You need a little time to compose yourself.

We can discuss this further if you like. I'll leave you now."

Obi-Wan turned away. His shoulders were tense. He took a few steps, then relented. He turned back. "I believe in you, Anakin," he said.

Anakin had turned, too, and now kept his back to his Master. He could not answer him. He could only think of Ferus. After a moment, he heard Obi- Wan leave the room.

Ferus had plotted. Ferus had beaten him. Ferus had won.

And now he had to work with him on this mission. He had to help Ferus achieve what he, Anakin, deserved. He imagined Ferus's smug face as he accepted the praise of the Council. As he took his place as a Jedi Knight.

He imagined Ferus as a Knight and himself still a Padawan.

It can't happen that way.

Anakin took his anger and focused it. For a moment, the water from the many fountains around him hung suspended in the air. He used the Force to keep the water frozen in midair, just to prove he could do it. The silence filled his ears. Then he let it fall, all the fountains gushing, trickling, racing once again. The noise seemed enormous now, a torrent. As though he could hear every drop of water hit every pebble.

Anakin felt a surge of power. This was only a part of what he was capable of. Soon they would all know it. He would show them that they had made a serious mistake. He should be the first apprentice to move up to Jedi Knight. He knew it. And soon everyone else would know it, too.

He would make them know it.

The Jedi assembled in the vast hangar in front of the two Republic cruisers they would take to Korriban. They split up the teams, with Siri and Obi-Wan in one cruiser with their Padawans, Soara and Ry-Gaul and their Padawans in the other. That way, the two best pilots in the group — Anakin and Ry-Gaul — would be in different ships.

Obi-Wan wished it could be otherwise. He didn't think it wise to put Anakin and Ferus together in a small cruiser until Anakin had cooled down.

He had no choice, however; every decision they made from now on could be a crucial one. They had to think every step through. It was entirely possible that they would be attacked on the journey. They couldn't take anything for granted anymore.

While Anakin and Ry-Gaul did a flight check on their vehicles, Obi-Wan studied his fellow Jedi. It had been six years since they had all been together on a mission. The past years had been long and hard, and they all looked more focused, more intent, than they had all those years before when they went to patrol the Galactic Games.