Джуд Уотсон: Jedi Apprentice 18: The Threat Within

"Time to get up," Qui-Gon said. "The Ports will be waiting."

Obi-Wan got up and dressed quickly. But when they arrived at the Ports' dwelling the family had already left for the day. Cold kibi and patot panak were on the table, and the Jedi dutifully sat down to eat despite the fact that the food did not look particularly appetizing.

A message on the databoard asked the Jedi to come to Chairman Port's office in the workspace as soon as they could. He wanted to contact Vorzyd 5 immediately.

"I'll have to find a way to stall him," Qui-Gon said aloud as he bit into a panak.

Obi-Wan nodded. "I'd like to visit the Vorzyd school today, Master,"

he said. "There's no point in waiting for another secret meeting to occur — it would waste valuable time."

"That is probably wise. But be careful, Padawan." He paused, then added, "And I suppose I do not need to tell you to keep your eyes and ears open at all times, since that's exactly what got us to where we are right now."

Obi-Wan thought for a moment that his Master was scolding him, but his eyes showed amusement as he looked across the table at his apprentice.

"No, I suppose you don't," Obi-Wan agreed.

When Qui-Gon had left the homespace, Obi-Wan found his way to Grath's clothing container and borrowed a drab, one-piece jumpsuit. Then, to conceal the fact that he didn't have antennae, he made a makeshift turban using the hood from his robe.

"It's not exactly high fashion," he told his goofy-looking reflection. But some of the kids he'd seen the night before had been wearing doctored outfits and homemade hats — attempts to make themselves stand out and look different. If he was lucky, his hat would pass for an example of self-expression and would not be suspected as a coverup.

With a last once-over in the reflector, Obi-Wan left the dwelling and made his way to the shuttle platform. It was mid-morning, and most of the laborers were already at work. The shuttle car was nearly empty.

The city was neatly organized, so it was not difficult to find the schoolspace. Obi-Wan had assumed that the educational buildings would look like all the other buildings on Vorzyd 4, and he was right. Three identical and dull-looking structures stood in a row, housing students of different ages.

As he circled the buildings, Obi-Wan peered into as many classrooms as he could. With the exception of the students' ages, they all looked the same. Glazed eyes stared at large screens placed in the front of the rooms.

Adults stood by, drilling what could only be work techniques into the students' heads. The institution looked more like a work-training facility than an actual school.

But then, Obi-Wan knew from experience that there were all kinds of schools in the galaxy. He was suddenly reminded of the awful Learning- Circle on the planet Kegan. In spite of the warm day, he shivered at the memory of the "school" where he and Siri, another Padawan, had been imprisoned.

At the School for the Learning, kids were brainwashed to believe things that were not true, and difficult or ill children were locked away — for good. Vorzyd 4 was certainly not the only place where kids were discouraged from developing their own ideas. For the second time that morning Obi-Wan felt grateful that his Master was allowing him the freedom to determine the course of this mission. To try to solve a problem on his own, in his own way. He did not want to let himself or Qui-Gon down, and he felt more determined than ever to make his plan work.

Obi-Wan turned a corner and peered into a small, square portal.

Inside was an austere room. Grath and a few other kids from the previous night's meeting were inside, sitting on sleep couches. The room appeared to be an infirmary, but none of the kids inside looked sick.

In fact, they were all sitting up and chatting animatedly.

Obi-Wan stepped closer to the portal, hoping to get a better look and possibly hear what the kids were saying. But just then the door slid open and an adult Vorzydiak entered the room. Right away the kids all lay back, feigning weakness and sleep. The adult looked each student over carefully, standing over Grath for a particularly long time. Then, apparently satisfied, she turned and left the room.

No sooner had the door closed than the kids sat up again and began to talk. One of them jumped to her feet, using hand gestures to emphasize her point. Obi-Wan recognized her as the girl who had spotted him outside the meeting the night before.

It looked like the kids were planning something, and Obi-Wan wanted in on it.

Moving away from the portal, Obi-Wan focused on his body temperature.

Soon he began to feel warmth tingling through his limbs — he had given himself a fever. A Vorzydiak fever, he hoped.

Making his way around the side of the building, Obi-Wan found the door to the infirmary, opened it, and stepped inside.

"The button!" someone shouted.

"Quick!" yelled another voice.

"The door!"

After a moment of confusion, Obi-Wan understood. The kids wanted him to keep the door open — they obviously couldn't get out from the inside. By pressing a button, Obi-Wan was able to keep the door from closing. The four kids leaped off their sleep couches and charged out into the sun's light.

"What happened to Tray?" Grath asked, turning toward Obi-Wan.

Obi-Wan shrugged, hoping it would be enough of a response.

"Well, I'm glad someone came to let us out," the hand-gesture girl said. "It was getting hard to convince the medic that we were actually ill.

" "Come on," Grath said, looking around. "Let's get out of here before someone sees us."

As the kids ran down a duracrete walkway away from the schoolspace, their conversation continued.

"I think we should try to get more kids out of class next time," one of the kids — a younger boy — said. "Trainer Nalo is so obsessed with his instructuals he would barely notice."

"We can't risk being discovered," a girl replied. Obi-Wan thought she was the shuttle driver from the night before, but wasn't entirely sure.

By now the group was a fair distance from the schoolspace, and they slowed to a quick Vorzydiak walk.

"This new plan is complicated enough without getting more Freelies involved in implementing it," Grath explained. "We need them to focus on their part of the plan — getting the rule-following kids to think differently, too."

Grath stopped and turned toward the boy. "But it's good to keep thinking ahead, Flip," he added.

Grath smiled at the boy, and Flip beamed. He obviously looked up to the Freelie leader.

Grath ran a few steps and spun around, still moving backward. "To work, then?" he called with a smile.

The group erupted into giggles and broke into a run after their leader. Obi-Wan felt a surge of energy as he hurried to catch up.

Drab hexagonal buildings whizzed past the windows as Qui-Gon's shuttle made its way back to the city workspace. The view was uninspiring, and Qui-Gon's thoughts drifted back to Obi-Wan.

Qui-Gon had waited outside Port's dwelling and watched his Padawan board the shuttle to the schoolspace. He hadn't meant to spy on the boy, but something had held him there. As he watched Obi-Wan confidently board the shuttle, secure in his skills and his plan, Qui-Gon felt the same pang of emotion he'd felt the night before.

The feeling was new to him, and so unfamiliar that it made him uneasy. He was not sure why he was reluctant to let Obi-Wan take charge of the mission on his own. Was it because he was afraid of losing him, or because he was worried about the boy's safety? "Production Sector seven," a voice droned.

Qui-Gon was startled to hear his stop — and grateful for the announcement. There were no other landmarks to help him find his way back to the Multycorp office he'd visited the day before. Exiting the shuttle behind several other laborers, Qui-Gon cleared his mind. He needed to focus on the mission at hand.