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

"Going somewhere?" Anakin asked.

"Of course I am," Galen answered. "As soon as everyone is safely off the planet."

"You seem to be in a special hurry," Darra observed.

Galen gave an exasperated sigh. "What are you getting at now?"

"We have solid information that the planet Avon was behind the raids and also the theft of those Prototype Droids,"

Anakin said. "And we think you know something about it."

Galen chuckled, shaking his head. "You kids sure come up with some incredible theories. I've been trying to help the citizens of Radnor!"

"What about the original toxic accident?" Ferus asked.

"And the theft of the droids? Both things happened at your facilities."

"It's called bad luck," Galen said. "I'm one of the top scientists on Radnor. Maybe someone targeted me. And as soon as all this is over, we'll be going over our safety procedures very carefully. But I'm not responsible. I've been risking my life by staying here. I could have left long ago. I had the money. My sister and I decided to stay to help our fellow citizens. Why are you accusing me?"

Now Galen looked hurt, not angry. Anakin did not pick up anything amiss. He wished Obi-Wan were here. He was not yet adept at reading the true motives of other beings.

Anakin remembered Ruuin's anxiousness to get away. No doubt he had a rendezvous time with the Avoni as well as a rendezvous point. Maybe Galen had the same problem.

"I say we just hold him until the Avoni ships take off,"

Anakin told the others. "He can wait here with us for the Senate ships."

Tru's silver eyes flickered as he understood Anakin's strategy. "I agree."

"This is ridiculous!" Galen exploded. Finally they had cracked his wounded composure. "I refuse, after all I've done, to subject myself to these suspicions."

He jumped inside the airspeeder and revved the engine. But he hadn't counted on the quick reflexes of the Padawans.

Anakin reached over and shut off the engine as Tru jumped in and accessed the onboard computer. He read out the coordinates that flashed on the screen. They were the same as Ruuin's.

"I'm sorry, Galen," Anakin said. "We now have proof. Those are the coordinates of an Avoni landing site. You are going to be airlifted off-planet."

"Yes, so what?" Galen bellowed. "Along with everyone else!"

"I don't think so. I think you cut a special deal with the invaders. You and your conspirators would have had new lives on Avon — thanks to your betrayal of your planet."

A small, shocked voice came from behind them. "No."

Anakin turned. A small woman with features similar to Galen's stood in the doorway. He recognized Galen's sister Curi from the hologram Galen had received the day they'd arrived. "It can't be true. Galen? Is it true?"

"Of course not, Curi," Galen said. "These Jedi are children. What do they know?"

Darra ignored Galen's comment. "Did you leave our Masters in the Isolation Sector?" she asked urgently.

Curi tore her sorrowful gaze from her brother and faced the Padawans. "They were on their way here. The toxin is no longer dangerous. It has a short half-life, we've just discovered. The winds will bring no danger to Tacto."

"And our Masters?" Darra asked. "Where are they, now?"

"They are in great danger," Curi said. "They are pinned down by the Avoni invaders outside the city of Aubendo in the ground canyon fields. Dol Heep had them under surveillance. I discovered that he had placed tracking devices in my transports. When I found out I went after them. I was just in time to see a large vessel force them down. They are under attack from a platoon of Battle Droids.

Our Battle Droids," she added, with a glance at Galen.

"How can we trust her?" Ferus asked the others in a low tone. "What if she and Galen are in league together? What if they're trying to get us out of the Clear Sector so they can take off?"

The Padawans looked at one another, confusion on their faces. Yes, Curi could be lying. Galen definitely was. Who could they trust?

Trust yourself. Breathe in your instinct. Then act.

Anakin closed his eyes for a moment. He touched the river stone in his pocket, sliding his fingers over its warmth. He reached out to the Force, to a place that he knew well. He felt a distant tug — Obi-Wan. Yes, his Master was in danger.

And Curi. . Curi was telling the truth.

Unease was still on his fellow Padawans' faces. But Anakin locked eyes with Ferus. "We can't take a chance with our Masters' lives."

Ferus hesitated only a fraction, surprised at the depth of Anakin's contact with the Force. "You're right. Let's go."

The Padawans commandeered Galen's airspeeder. The four of them squeezed inside. Curi gave them the coordinates of where she had last seen the Avoni transport and the Jedi.

"Look at all these Radnorans in bio-isolation suits,"

Darra observed. "I sure hope Curi is telling the truth, or we'll be in for a big surprise when the winds shift."

Darra spoke lightly, but no one felt entirely easy about their decision. Even Anakin was a little worried. He was betting everything on his intuition. If he was wrong, the consequences would be severe. He could die, along with the other Padawans.

I'm not wrong.

He could feel Ferus's eyes on him. He kept his gaze forward as he piloted the craft. He wasn't about to retreat now.

Ahead they saw the energy gate that led to the Isolation Sector. Curi had given them the coordinates to bypass it.

Anakin entered them into a signal beam and the energy gate opened. They zoomed through.

For a moment, they all held their breath. Then Ferus took a deep breath. Darra did the same.

"Well, there's no turning back now," she said.

Ferus accessed the mapping device on the shipboard computer. He studied the ground canyon site. "There are several access points," he said.

"We have to assume that they're probably still very close to where Curi saw them," Darra said. "She said their speeders were destroyed."

"She also said the transport following them was quite large," Tru added. "So if we take a narrow route through the canyons, we might have the element of surprise."

"We're going to need more than surprise if that transport was filled with Prototype Droids," Ferus remarked. "Not only that, the transport probably has some sort of blaster cannons."

"If you're trying to raise our confidence level, it's not working," Darra said.

"We're coming up on the ground canyons," Ferus warned.

Anakin slowed down slightly. Ahead he only saw what looked like scribble markings on the ground. Then he realized the markings revealed deep cracks in the ground surface.

Ferus read out a coordinate. "Take that route," he said.

"It will bring us close to where Curi saw our Masters."

Anakin zoomed down the canyon. He hugged the canyon walls, going as fast as he dared. By the look on Ferus's face, it was faster than the other Padawan would like. Anakin pushed the engines up a notch. He knew he was in complete control.

Ahead he saw the large, hulking shape of the Avoni transport ship. It was idling, its repulsorlift engines on low, keeping it a few meters off the ground. Dust rose around it in a filmy cloud. Anakin grew excited.

"I've seen that kind of transport before," he said. "It was years ago, in the Trade Federation battle for Naboo.

This is a slightly smaller version of an MTT — a Multi Troop Transport. They store Battle Droids and are usually piloted by two droids."

"They also have heavy frontal armor. The ship itself can be a weapon." Tru looked uneasy. "They can go through rock walls."

"It looks like this one already did," Darra said, swallowing hard.

A solid wall of rock had been splintered into fragments.