Джуд Уотсон - Jedi Apprentice 8 - The Day of Reckoning

"The court may have listened to your lies," Qui-Gon said quickly, sensing Obi-Wan's distress and trying to deflect Xanatos. "But when the Temple learns?"

Xanatos laughed. "By the time the Temple learns of your fate, you will already be dead. That is your punishment, Jedi. You have been sentenced to death."

Suddenly Xanatos leaned forward. His blue eyes burned like the hottest part of a flame. His pale skin seemed to tighten over his bones. His face looked like a skull with eyes of fire.

"And I will be there to watch you die," he hissed in Qui-Gon's face.

They did not get a chance to say another word, or call for help. Xanatos made sure that an entire troop of guards surrounded them. They were led through the prison corridors to the courtyard in front.

The sun was low in the sky. The two adjacent prison towers cast two long ominous shadows across the courtyard. A crowd filled the yard and spilled out into the street. When they saw the prisoners, they erupted in catcalls and jeers.

"They love the executions," one of the guards murmured to the other.

Qui-Gon felt a sinister energy emanating from the crowd. Telos had never had public executions. Such displays were limited to more primitive worlds. What had happened to peaceful Telos? It only took one man to corrupt it, if that man was as sly and powerful as Xanatos.

Qui-Gon felt reassured by the presence of his lightsaber underneath his cloak. Still, he did not know when he would get a chance to use it.

A scaffold slowly rose on repulsorlifts until it floated high above the crowd. Two burly guards stood next to two durasteel hinged slabs. A chute ran from the slabs to the edge of the platform. Vibro-axes were leaning against the slabs. Qui-Gon saw in an instant how the execution would take place. He and Obi-Wan would be forced to lie on the slabs. They would be beheaded by the vibro-axes, the hinges would drop, and their heads would roll down the chute and come to rest facing the crowd.

It was gruesome, but quick.

Qui-Gon saw Obi-Wan swallow. For the first time, he was seriously worried. He had thought that at any moment an opportunity would come for them to escape. But how could they make their way through the crowd? Even if they could deal with the guards and Xanatos, the crowd would rise against them.

They were placed in an energy cage that was hoisted up above the mass of people. The angry crowd shouted for their deaths to be painful and slow. Xanatos stood at the top of the stairs, watching the cage rise with avid eyes.

It was the duty of every Jedi to accept death when it came. Yet Qui-Gon could not be calm. It not his time. It was not Obi-Wan's. He saw that Obi-Wan was struggling to contain his fear.

"Kill them! Kill the murderers!" the crowd shouted.

Anger surged in Qui-Gon. Xanatos had done this. He had inflamed the crowd. He had filled their minds with hatred and lies. If Qui-Gon died, Xanatos would win. He would corrupt Telos even more. He would destroy it.

Qui-Gon couldn't let that happen.

Yet he must not fight with anger. He must fight with justice.

"We must not give up," Qui-Gon told Obi-Wan urgently over the noise of the crowd. "They will need to retract the energy bars for the executioners to get us on those slabs. That's when we will fight. All is not lost. Stay calm and alert."

Obi-Wan nodded.

Qui-Gon noted the steady resolution in Obi-Wan's eyes. They had little chance of escaping this fate, but Obi-Wan accepted this. The boy was never cowed by odds against him.

The energy cage slowly lowered toward the scaffold. Security police on swoops hovered near in case the prisoners tried to escape.

The cries of the crowd came to Qui-Gon faintly. All his attention was now focused on the guards on the scaffold. He was confident that he and Obi-Wan could take them. But what then? They would have to leap to the ground, even as blaster fire pounded them from above and below. Perhaps the surprise of their move would increase the likelihood of escape. Perhaps the crowd was not as bloodthirsty as it appeared. But he did not like these odds. Even Den would not take this bet, Qui-Gon thought ruefully.

The guards on the scaffold walked forward. Qui-Gon waited for the energy bars to lower. As soon as they did, he would spring forward.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noted an erratic movement from one of the swoops. He looked to the side without turning his head. The rider was hooded. In only the split second he allowed himself to glance, Qui-Gon recognized who it was. The surprise hit him broadside. Andra.

"Behind you, Obi-Wan," he said in a low voice. "Be prepared."

The energy bars retracted. The guards rushed forward. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan activated their lightsabers simultaneously and leaped toward them. Blaster fire pinged around them, and they deflected it, swinging in a blur of motion faster than the eye could follow.

Another swoop joined Andra. The two crafts dived toward them, engines screaming.

"Jump!" he called to Obi-Wan. He leaped off the scaffold as the swoop dived to scoop him up. The other vehicle did the same for Obi-Wan. Qui-Gon caught a quick flash of a determined

Den.

Qui-Gon landed on his feet. He held on to the driver's shoulders and lowered himself into the seat as the swoop dived, turned, climbed, hovered, and turned again, trying to evade the guards giving chase.

Qui-Gon still had his lightsaber in his hand. He deflected blaster fire as the craft darted around the guards. He saw Obi-Wan doing the same. It was hard to keep his balance on the agile swoop, but he managed.

In a daring move, the swoops headed straight for the prison towers. Qui-Gon saw the towers grow closer and closer, so close he could see the cracks and pits in the surface. At the very last moment, Andra turned sharply. They came so close that Qui-Gon's hand was scraped. Two of the swoops pursuing them crashed into the towers. Andra and Den zoomed away.

Qui-Gon allowed himself one glance back. The last thing he saw was Xanatos, standing straight and tall and unmoving, watching him go. He could feel the coiled hatred spring at him from across the distance. They would meet again, he knew. Xanatos would make sure of it.

When she was sure they were away from their pursuers, Andra loosened her hood.

"Thanks for not falling off," she called back to Qui-Gon.

"Thanks for rescuing us," Qui-Gon responded. "I was almost starting to worry."

She grinned and gunned the motor. In another few minutes, they landed in the alley near her house. Den and Andra concealed the swoops behind a pile of rusty abandoned floaters.

"Whoa!" Den called as he swept off his hood. "Did we beat those odds, or what? The next time I'm outrunning some security police, I want a Jedi at my back!"

Obi-Wan didn't respond to Den's friendly grin. "You wouldn't have had to rescue us if you'd warned us back at UniFy," he pointed out.

"I was about to," Den protested. "I didn't get the chance. At least I came through in the end."

"Only because I insisted," Andra said. "I'm the one who proposed the rescue."

"Kill me now if I wasn't going to! You didn't give me a chance!" Den protested.

"I suggest we continue this inside," Qui-Gon said, his eyes sweeping the sky overhead with a glance. "In my experience, security on Telos doesn't give up easily."

They climbed up the drain and entered Andra's snug home. Andra began to heat some drinks and set out a plate of bread and fruit. Obi-Wan reached for it hungrily.

"I don't know what to do now," Andra said worriedly. "We can't break into UniFy again. I'm sure they plugged the holes in their security. We'll never be able to get the proof we need that UniFy is tied to Offworld."