Jude Watson: Jedi Quest 1: The Way of the Apprentice

Dol Heep had a point. Even the rumor of another rescue fleet could calm the population. But Obi-Wan felt uneasy. He wasn't about to accept the offer until he knew more. He gave a quick glance to Siri. He could see the same doubt in her eyes.

"We will get back to you," he said.

"My planet appreciates your consideration," Dol Heep said.

With another bow, he left the room.

Obi-Wan turned to Siri. "What do you think?"

"There's something about this that isn't right," Siri said. "I just have a feeling about it." Her blue eyes gleamed at him in a way he hadn't seen since they'd arrived on Radnor. There hadn't been much call for Siri's quick wit.

"I trust my instincts, but you know how I occasionally like to back them up with facts."

"Until we have facts, let's hold off, then," Obi-Wan agreed. "We should investigate the offer further."

Curi poked her head in the room. "Are you finished? I have some medics who need to eat or they'll collapse."

"Tell them to come in," Siri said. "What do you know about Dol Heep, Curi?"

Curi tried to scratch her scalp through her bio-iso suit.

"Not much. But what I know I don't trust. Radnorans don't trust the Avoni. They are aggressive colonizers. I made it a rule not to do business with them. I wouldn't sell them weapons. Of course, there are many others, even on Radnor, who will." Her face changed. "There were many others," she added softly.

"Avon has offered a fleet of evacuation ships for Radnor,"

Obi-Wan told her. "I don't feel we should take the offer at face value."

Curi looked puzzled. "What are you getting at?"

"For one thing, the offer could be a smokescreen for a planned takeover," Siri said.

Curi frowned. "Why would Avon want to take over a planet where you can't breathe the air?"

"A good point," Obi-Wan said. "Maybe Avon doesn't want to colonize Radnor. But they might be planning a temporary occupation. There are many tech labs on Radnor that can be plundered for data. Sometimes data can be more important than land."

Curi just looked tired. "I can't worry about this. I have sick people to take care of."

Siri put a gloved hand on her shoulder. "We will handle it."

Curi nodded and left. Obi-Wan and Siri headed out of the med center. He hoped it would not be a waste of time to investigate the Avoni.

The offer seemed a simple offer of help from a neighbor.

But he had been on enough missions to know that there were veils behind veils, where somewhere the truth would lie.

The Padawans were heading into the Emergency Command Center when Ferus held up a hand. The Padawans stopped.

Anakin nearly bumped into Darra. Annoyed, he stepped back.

"Before we meet with Galen, I suggest that only one Padawan conduct the questioning," Ferus said. "We don't want him to think we are accusing or bullying him. This should be done carefully."

"You should do it, Ferus," Darra said. "You have the most experience."

Ferus nodded. "All right."

Wait a second. Don't I get a vote? Anakin wondered. What happened to Jedi cooperation?

But Tru was agreeing as well, so Anakin nodded.

Ferus led the way into the room, which had been a minister's office before all the government officials had fled the planet. Now a row of datascreens glowed faintly as Galen sat on a repulsorlift chair, moving from screen to screen as he checked and matched lists.

"How is the evacuation coming?" Ferus asked politely as they entered.

Galen passed a harried hand through his hair. "All right.

There are so many details. And I don't have much help."

"We'd be glad to assist you," Ferus said. "How many workers do you have here?"

"Just me at the moment," Galen said. "I had a staff, but they all left when the ministers did." He gave the Padawans an impatient glance. "I can handle things here. You go ahead and keep patrolling the streets, or whatever you're doing."

He turned back to the datascreens, dismissing the Padawans as though they were naughty children who had interrupted his work.

"Can you tell us who has access to this information?"

Ferus asked. Anakin was surprised at his polite tone. How could he let Galen get away with patronizing them?

"The upper ministers of government had access," Galen answered without turning. "And now I do. Why?"

"Is there anyone who would release that information?"

Ferus asked.

Galen gave a weary sigh and turned around in his chair.

"No, of course not," he said. "It's classified. Sensitive.

If people knew in what order they would be evacuating, violence could erupt. The people at the bottom of the list will try to push themselves forward. I won't post the lists until immediately before the ships arrive." Galen looked at the Jedi curiously. "If there is something wrong, you must tell me. I am in charge of the city's security. I don't want the job, but I'm the only qualified one left."

"I'm afraid we have reason to believe that the raiders have information about the evacuation," Ferus answered. "We believe they are planning to plunder the homes of those who are leaving the planet."

Galen looked at them sharply. "Are you sure about this?"

At Ferus's nod, he shook his head. "Still, at least they will have their lives."

"But they will return to nothing," Darra said.

"If we can return." Galen looked away. "I have a feeling our beloved planet is lost to us for good."

"You don't know that," Ferus said. "The toxin could have a half-life."

"We don't have time to investigate that," Galen snapped.

"Don't you think we have enough to do?"

"We are not accusing you," Ferus said politely.

"Maybe not. But you are wasting my time. I am trying to save lives here." Galen waved at the datascreen.

"We need to find out who passed the information along,"

Anakin said in a forceful tone. He was tired of letting Ferus ask all the questions. He was getting nowhere with that polite tone. "Whoever it was wanted to foster instability on the planet. I don't call investigating that a waste of time. Do you?"

"Hey, there's no reason to jump down my throat, kid."

Galen held up two hands, as if to fend Anakin off. "Look, I'd like to help. But there's really no way to tell who passed on the information. Many of the ministers have gone to Coruscant. Some have scattered to other worlds to wait out the catastrophe in comfort." He frowned at them. "You're not thinking of leaving now that you've lost your Masters, are you?"

"We haven't lost them," Anakin snapped.

Ferus interrupted smoothly. "No, we're not leaving. We're to remain until the evacuations take place. Don't worry. And we've destroyed many of the Prototype Droids that the raiders were using."

"You kids did?" Galen looked impressed. "Maybe things are looking up." Suddenly the communicator sputtered to life. It crackled and buzzed, but they could hear a voice calling for Galen to answer.

He quickly adjusted the chair to swing over to the comm unit. "Galen here. Galen here. Do you read? Do you read?"

"Ships. . evacuation. . engine shutdown needs repair. ." The words came out in bursts of static "Delay.

Do you copy?"

"The ships are delayed? How long?" Galen asked desperately. "How long?"

But the comm unit went dead.

Galen turned to the Padawans. His face was pale. "That was the communication line of the Senate ship. Even a short delay will be fatal. The winds will shift in twelve hours.

Without those ships, we're dead."

In the Isolation Sector, the Jedi Masters met outside the med center to check in. Soara and Ry-Gaul were also hesitant about Dol Heep's offer.

"The planet is extremely vulnerable now," Soara said. "One day the survivors will want to return, if they can. They should return to intact homes and businesses."