Джуд Уотсон - Jedi Apprentice Special Edition 2 - The Followers

"So glad to see you are maintaining a sense of humor," Qui-Gon said as they stepped back into the turbolift.

Back outside, it quickly became clear that it would be nearly impossible to get Kodaians to talk to them openly.

"Excuse me," Obi-Wan said, trying to appear friendly as he approached a Kodaian woman.

The Kodaian stopped but did not look up at the Jedi. She stepped from one foot to the other as if unable to stand still. "Yes?" she whispered.

"We are looking for information about a Quermian visitor. A professor. He is here to dig up an artifact at the bottom of the sea — "

At the mention of the bottom of the sea the woman looked up, clearly alarmed. Her eyes were as large as saucers and her hands began to tremble.

"I cannot help you," she said. "I must go now."

Watching her hurry away, Obi-Wan wondered if her fear was caused by interaction with outlanders or the mention of the sea, the current state of the moons, and the impending low tide. Or perhaps Kodaians simply lived in a constant state of fear because of their difficult past. Whatever the reason, she clearly did not want to share information.

Obi-Wan was looking around for someone else who might talk to them when he spotted a young boy watching them from several meters away. Unlike the other Kodaians, he looked right at them and did not seem afraid.

"Have you seen a visitor with a long neck and many arms and hands?"

Qui-Gon asked, approaching the boy.

The boy nodded and pointed to the lodging quarters. "He's inside. But hasn't come out. If you want information, go to the cantina and ask for Reis. He'll tell you whatever you want to know."

Obi-Wan smiled down at the boy, grateful for the tip. "Thanks," he said.

Reis was not hard to find. He sat in a bare, dingy corner sipping a mug of drale, the only humanoid in the place. His gray hair was matted against his head and his face was unshaven.

But his dark eyes were sharp as he took in the approaching Jedi.

"Mind if we sit down?" Qui-Gon asked.

Reis continued to size up each of the Jedi in turn, pausing where their lightsabers hung from their utility belts. "Not at all," he said.

"I've always got time to talk to Jedi. Suppose you want to know all about the Holocron, eh?"

Obi-Wan felt a wave of shock at the mention of the word Holocron.

Finally, someone else said it first. Perhaps now they would get the answers they so desperately needed.

The Jedi were quick to sit down, and Reis smiled. "Thought that might get your attention," he said. He took a long swig of drale.

"It's there, all right," he said, putting the mug down. "Been there for thousands of years. Problem is, no one can seem to get it. Everyone wants it, but no one can get it. They try, but turn up dead or crazy every time."

"Yet attempts are still made to retrieve it?" Qui-Gon asked.

"Of course. People can't leave that kind of power alone," Reis replied with a wave of his grubby hand. He leaned toward the Jedi, and Obi- Wan could smell the stale drale on his breath. "I've heard that somebody, somewhere has offered to pay an incredibly large fortune for the Holocron.

Nobody knows who it is. Still, it makes going after it a pretty desirable propo — "

Obi-Wan suddenly stopped listening when a familiar figure entered the bar. It looked like Omal, from Dr. Lundi's lecture on Coruscant. The younger Jedi squinted, but the cantina was dark and he couldn't be sure.

With a pang of guilt he realized that his observation abilities hadn't been their strongest at the lecture. Things had been a little hazy.

"Excuse me," Obi-Wan said, getting up from his chair and ignoring Qui-Gon's quizzical look. If it was Omal, Obi-Wan wanted to talk to him.

Obi-Wan crossed the cantina quickly, but not quickly enough. Whoever was at the bar saw him coming. With a panicked glance over his shoulder, the person disappeared out the door and into the street.

Obi-Wan rolled over on his sleep couch for the hundredth time. He could not rest. He wasn't sure if the synchronizing moons were the cause of his restlessness, or if it was just the ominous feeling he hadn't been able to shake since he first encountered Murk Lundi. Either way, he could not sleep.

Giving up entirely, Obi-Wan left the lodging quarters and wandered down to the beach. Perhaps the rhythmic sound of the waves would soothe him. He needed to get some rest before taking a turn watching Lundi's door.

Qui-Gon's shift was nearly up.

Obi-Wan's steps echoed in the still night as he walked. The darkness seemed to swallow him. After donning his night goggles he walked and walked, expecting to see and hear the water at any moment.

I'm sure the sea was much closer to the main street than this, he thought. Obi-Wan suddenly felt confused, as if he had walked onto a completely different planet. Wasn't Kodai covered by a vast sea?

Obi-Wan stopped and stared ahead, concentrating hard. At first he could not see any water. Then he thought he saw a liquid shimmer, but it was far away. He suddenly realized that the water had receded hundreds of kilometers since that afternoon.

Peering in the other direction, he spotted a large group of Kodaians farther down the beach. They carried torches and hovered around what appeared to be an ancient ruined structure, frantically digging at the seafloor. They were obviously trying to scavenge parts of the city that were lost in the flood hundreds of years ago.

Watching them from a distance, Obi-Wan was suddenly filled with a deep sense of sadness. It would be awful to lose so much of your history to a raging sea. And to be tortured every ten years by the opportunity to find the broken pieces of it.

Obi-Wan turned back to the water — or lack of it. In the near darkness he could not even be sure that the reflections he saw were, in fact, the sea.

An image and a voice flashed in Obi-Wan's head — Lundi storming out of the storehouse on Nolar. "I just have to time it right," he had said.

With a jolt, Obi-Wan knew that Lundi had been waiting for the water to recede so that he could get the Holocron. The Kodaian sea would be at its lowest tide in a decade in just over an hour.

Obi-Wan raced through the darkness back to the lodging quarters.

Outside the building he spotted someone racing away. Omal? Unfortunately it was too dark to tell, and he had no time to go after the figure. He had to get to Qui-Gon. When his comlink wouldn't go through, he headed back.

"Master!" Obi-Wan shouted, but stopped short. Qui-Gon was not at his lookout post and the door to the professor's room was wide open. No one was inside.

Suddenly Qui-Gon was behind him assessing the situation. "I was only gone a moment," he breathed. "I got a communication from Jocasta Nu and stepped away. He can't be far."

Once again Obi-Wan felt frustration well inside him. How were they going to locate Lundi and the Holocron now?

"We'll have to go on our instincts," Qui-Gon said, as if reading his Padawan's mind. "If we listen carefully the Force will guide us."

Obi-Wan knew his Master was right. And anyway, they had no other choice.

Silently, Obi-Wan led Qui-Gon toward the water. The seemingly endless beach was now teeming with Kodaians and their digging tools. Pausing for a moment to close his eyes and focus, Obi-Wan sensed that there was a deserted area farther north on the sand.

The Jedi walked out for several kilometers, moving as quickly as they could. All around them Kodaians were uncovering artifacts from the infamous flood. Some held their newly discovered treasures high above their heads with glee, while others fell to their knees in tears. Obi-Wan felt for them.

Up ahead was a strangely deserted strip of sodden land. Kodaians worked busily on either side of it, but the raised area was completely empty.