Джуд Уотсон: Jedi Apprentice 18: The Threat Within

Chairman Port's antennae moved so furiously they looked as if they would tie themselves in knots. "Not working?" he asked, puzzled. "We eat.

We sleep. Nothing more."

The chairman was clearly frustrated with the Jedi's thought process.

He wanted immediate action. "I will take you to the homespace when the workday is — "

Chairman Port was cut off when a laborer rushed into the room.

"Vorzyd 5!" she said. "Another attack!" Her high-pitched voice revealed her distress. "Productivity status monitors are registering erroneous data."

Port rushed from the room and glanced at the nearest datascreen. "Six days behind schedule on hard goods distribution," he mumbled. "It cannot be."

Everywhere laborers stood up from their stations and looked around, bewildered. Qui-Gon noticed that when their eyes rested on the Jedi in their flowing brown robes, their already vibrating antennae would wave even more wildly. In this environment even the subdued Jedi dress made them stick out like pulsating beacons.

Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan followed Chairman Port to the turbolift. As they made their way through the maze, Qui-Gon noted a few of the laborers rocking back and forth. Others appeared to be physically ill, grasping their stomachs and leaning on their desks.

As the turbolift doors closed, Qui-Gon heaved a deep sigh. Obviously the Vorzyd 4's were un? able to handle anything outside of their normal work routine. Only the chairman seemed to maintain relative calm, though he didn't look particularly well, either.

This was going to be a very interesting mission.

Obi-Wan sat in front of the mainframe computer. He had been there for almost an hour. The Vorzydiak technician assigned to the station paced behind him, stopping regularly to peer over Obi-Wan's shoulder.

Occasionally the tech's antennae grazed the back of Obi-Wan's head and neck and he could be heard mumbling something about Vorzyd 5.

Obi-Wan's Master had gone with Chairman Port to try to calm the laborers. The threat to the Vorzydiaks' physical and mental health was equal to their technical difficulties. If the chairman could not get the laborers to calm down, he would have a health crisis on his hands. Judging from the stress level Obi-Wan still felt in the building, he did not think Qui-Gon was having much luck.

Obi-Wan wasn't having much luck, either. The problem with the computer system was not a simple one. Obi-Wan knew he couldn't clear it up quickly, but was hoping to learn something about who had started it while he tried.

Then, as quickly as it had appeared, the anomaly was gone. All of the computers in the building were back on-line, running as if the bug had never been there. And there was no trace of what had happened on any of the machines.

Obi-Wan motioned to the nervous tech, who nodded and spoke into a comlink on the wall. "Back on-line. Laborers to resume work immediately."

A few of the techs nearby looked at Obi-Wan gratefully as they settled back into their workstations. They thought he had fixed the problem.

The rest of the Vorzydiaks busied themselves, relieved to have things functioning normally once more. Even the very sick Vorzydiaks struggled to their data stations.

Obi-Wan stayed where he was. He wanted to continue to search the systems, to see if he could determine what had caused the mysterious problem and maybe come to understand the Vorzydiaks. But the tech standing beside him clearly wanted Obi-Wan to move out of his spot.

"To work, then?" the tech asked, agitated.

Obi-Wan stood with a sigh. His curiosity was not reason enough to cause the Vorzydiak discomfort.

On his way back to the twenty-fourth floor, Obi-Wan considered what he knew. Unfortunately, it wasn't much. The saboteur had been someone who knew the computer system as well as or better than the techs who ran it.

But there was definitely no evidence that the Vorzyd 5's had planted the bug. Obi-Wan suspected that the culprit was an insider — or at least a spy.

Before Obi-Wan could share his suspicions with Qui-Gon and the chairman, a long, dull tone sounded in the building. The Vorzydiak laborers groaned in unison, echoing the tone. It was a strange, disappointed sound that penetrated Obi-Wan's skin. Obi-Wan wasn't sure if the laborers were frustrated that their workday had been cut short due to the interruption, or if the sad sound was one they made every day when it was time to leave.

Like the other laborers, Chairman Port seemed to struggle to tear himself away. At last he stood and motioned for the Jedi to follow him.

Vorzydiaks poured en masse from buildings like slow-moving liquid.

Though they stood very close to one another, they gave Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan a wide berth, even aboard the packed shuttles they all rode to the Vorzydiak home-space. Obi-Wan was sorry to see that his presence made the Vorzydiaks uncomfortable, but was grateful for the space just the same. It allowed him to look out the transparisteel sides of the shuttle.

As they left the city workspace, Obi-Wan waited for the landscape to change. He'd assumed that the identical buildings would fall away and reveal the natural planet landscape, or at least some parks and open spaces. But he was wrong.

On the outskirts of the city the workspace turned to homespace. But if Chairman Port had not announced that they were in Vorzydiak homespace, Obi-Wan would not have known. The homespace buildings were slightly smaller and stationed around hubs where automated shuttles and airbusses picked up and dropped off passengers. Otherwise it looked exactly like the workspace.

There were no yards. No pads for private vehicles. No Vorzydiaks relaxing outside.

In light of this, the Jedi were not surprised to see that the chairman's home, like his workstation and dress, did not differ from the rest of the population's. He lived on a single floor of one of the high- rises.

"My wife, Bryn," the chairman said, introducing them to a slight Vorzydiak wearing a blandly colored jumpsuit. "The Jedi, Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi," Port gestured.

Bryn's antennae fidgeted as she looked the Jedi over.

"We appreciate your hospitality." Qui-Gon offered a hand. "Chairman Port has kindly invited us to share a meal in your home."

Bryn nodded again but did not take Qui-Gon's hand. Instead she turned toward the galley. After pressing a few buttons, she placed two more settings at the table that was already set for two.

"Grath will not be eating," she said. Chairman Port nodded.

"Will he be home later?" Obi-Wan asked. He was anxious to meet the Ports' fifteen-year-old son. Vorzyd 4 seemed so… boring. He couldn't imagine what life must be like for the teenagers on the planet, and was hoping that they would be easier to talk to than the Vorzydiaks he'd already met.

"After mealtime. He is working," Bryn replied flatly.

While they waited for the meal to be served, Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon looked around the small residence. It was furnished and reasonably comfortable, but revealed nothing about the inhabitants. It reminded Obi- Wan of the sterile spaces travelers could rent on Coruscant. With so many different species coming through, the quarters were designed to be nothing more than clean and inoffensive.

"Is Grath away from home often in the evenings?" Qui-Gon asked when they sat down to dine. "It must be disappointing when you cannot share your last meal of the day together."

Obi-Wan knew that Qui-Gon was also looking for a sign of emotional connection in the family.

"It is an honor to work," the chairman said tersely.

His wife nodded. "May he be as productive tomorrow as he is today,"

she said.

Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan exchanged a look as the table fell silent.

Obi-Wan chewed a particularly tough and flavorless bite of whatever food was in his bowl. "What do you do in the evenings, to entertain yourselves?" he asked, still hoping to spark some conversation. Though he was getting the feeling that the endeavor was useless, he felt he had to try.