Джуд Уотсон: Jedi Apprentice 7: The Captive Temple

"What's it to you?" she asked.

Her rudeness surprised him, and Obi-Wan struggled not to snap back. "I want to help Qui-Gon find Bruck and the intruder — " he began patiently.

"Wait a second," Siri interrupted. "I thought Qui-Gon Jinn dumped you.

And you dumped the Jedi."

Annoyance filled Obi-Wan. "I didn't 'dump' the Jedi," he said irritably. "And as for Qui-Gon, we…" Obi-Wan stopped. He didn't owe Siri an explanation! She stood there, chewing on her fruit and staring at him as though he were a lab experiment. "You shouldn't listen to gossip," he told her.

"So why do you want me to gossip about Bruck?" Siri shot back coolly.

She took another bite of the muja.

Fuming, Obi-Wan took a breath. The interview wasn't going well, that was for sure. "The Temple is under siege," he said, struggling to keep his voice even. "I'd think you'd want to help."

Siri's cheeks flushed. "I don't have to help you, Obi-Wan. You're not even a Jedi. But for your information, I wasn't a friend of Bruck's. He just used to hang around, trying to copy my lightsaber moves. He knew I was a better fighter than he was. So does the rest of the class. I thought he was a bore. He was always trying to impress me. That about sums up our supposed 'friendship,' all right?"

"All right," Obi-Wan said. "But if you think of anything — "

"And another thing," Siri interrupted, her eyes shooting sparks at him.

"I do care about the Temple. You're the one who left the Jedi. When you did that, you cast doubt on the commitment of all Padawans, present and future.

You made all Jedi Knights question whether we're as committed as we should be. You're almost as bad as Bruck!"

Siri's words hit his cheeks like slaps from an open hand. Color rushed to Obi-Wan's face. Was this what the other students felt? That he had betrayed them?

Obi-Wan hadn't considered before that his action could cast doubt on the commitment of all Padawans. Faced with a similar situation, would he offer to help someone who had done what he had done?

With every encounter at the Temple, Obi-Wan received a wider picture of the consequences of his decision to stay on Melida/Daan. Now he realized that his action had left a wider pool of ripples than he'd thought.

A decision is yours alone to make. Yet remember you should that you make it also for the silent ones who stand at your shoulder.

How many times had he heard Yoda say that? Now the meaning was so clear that it mocked him with its simplicity. He understood completely what Yoda had meant. He should have understood it before.

Siri seemed to regret her words. Her cheeks flushed almost as deeply as Obi-Wan's.

"If you can think of anything that might help, please see Qui-Gon,"

Obi-Wan said stiffly.

"I will," Siri murmured. "Obi-Wan — "

But he couldn't bear to hear an apology or an excuse. Siri, he knew, had blurted out exactly what was in her heart.

"I have to go," Obi-Wan interrupted, and hurried away.

Qui-Gon stood in the tech center next to Miro Daroon. Around them curved a blue screen that ran along the wall in the circular room. The screen flashed diagrams of every tunnel, service hallway, catwalk, and duct in the Temple.

At first, the schematic drawings had seemed like a maze to Qui-Gon. But with Miro's help he had soon understood the logic of the diagrams.

But logic hadn't helped to find the intruder. There were dozens of tunnels tall enough for someone Bruck's height to walk upright inside. Ducts were placed conveniently on every floor, giving outlets to every area of the Temple except those under the most severe security restrictions, such as the treasury room.

The problem wasn't discovering a way for the intruder to navigate. The problem was narrowing it down. Qui-Gon had already called the Jedi Knight Tahl, his partner in the investiga- tion, to send out search teams to comb the infrastructure. But that would take time — time they didn't have. He was still hoping for a clue.

Behind them, the door hissed open. Qui-Gon saw Obi-Wan in the reflection on the screen. He saw the boy catch sight of him and pause.

"Have any additional problems cropped up?" Qui-Gon quickly asked Miro.

He wanted Obi-Wan to remain, but couldn't ask him. That would violate the wishes of the Council. But he felt that if he and Miro discussed Temple problems and Qui-Gon didn't ask him to leave, Obi-Wan would stay.

So this is what Yoda meant, Qui-Gon thought.

Miro sighed. He was a tall alien from the planet Piton, thin as a reed, with a high forehead and pale, almost white eyes. Pitons lived underground on their own planet. They had little pigment in their skin that was almost translucent. They were hairless, and Miro wore a cap and tinted eye shields to protect his eyes from glare.

"When I tried to restore power to the service lift tubes in the lake area, the air circulation failed in the north wing. We have to move all the students to temporary quarters in the main building."

In the screen reflection, Qui-Gon saw Obi-Wan studying the diagrams.

"So now two wings of the Temple have been shut down," Qui-Gon murmured thoughtfully. "You must be very frustrated, Miro."

Miro's mournful face collapsed in a deeper frown than the one he already wore. "Frustrated doesn't cover it, Qui-Gon. I know this system inside and out. But when I fix one problem, three more pop up. It's difficult to keep up. I've never seen such intricate sabotage, not even in hypothetical models. My last resort would be to shut the whole system down to run my own program. That's something I don't want to do."

Qui-Gon felt bothered by this news. Miro was a brilliant, intuitive tech expert. Anyone who could confound him must be a tech genius. Bruck certainly wasn't capable of this. It seemed he was searching for a slippery being with a hatred of the Jedi, a knack for subterfuge, and now a technological wizard as well.

Qui-Gon drew in a quick, startled breath. The knowledge had been in the back of his mind for some time, cold and insidious, like water seeping into the cracks of a boulder. Now it froze into certainty, blasting the rock to smithereens.

"Xanatos," he murmured.

Obi-Wan gave a start. Miro looked at Qui-Gon, shocked. "You think Xanatos is involved?"

"It's possible…" Qui-Gon murmured.

The clues had ticked away for a while now. He had sensed a vengeful, personal motive in this operation. Xanatos held an implacable hatred for the Jedi — a hatred that was only surpassed by his hatred for Qui-Gon.

And then there was that feeling he'd had in the Room of a Thousand Fountains.. could Xanatos have been nearby?

Disruption + Demoralization + Distraction = Devastation. During that mission, Xanatos had been his Padawan. He had been a boy of sixteen. He could have easily remembered the formula.

"I remember him," Miro said quietly. "He was a year behind me. But he was the only Jedi student who was better at constructing tech infrastructure models."

Qui-Gon nodded. The young Jedi student's mind had been what had first attracted Qui-Gon, first made him wonder if he would make a good Padawan.

In that instant, Qui-Gon made a decision. He was not allowed to involve Obi-Wan in the investigation. But things had changed.

He turned and acknowledged Obi-Wan for the first time.

"I need your help," he said.

Obi-Wan stood frozen, surprised at Qui-Gon's words.

"I need to see Tahl and report all this," Qui-Gon said. "I'd like you to come along."

"But the Council — "

"It is my investigation," Qui-Gon said firmly. "You have faced Xanatos before. You could be helpful. So come."

Obi-Wan followed Qui-Gon into the corridor. He walked beside him, feeling a surge of contentment as their footsteps matched in their own rhythm. Not only could he redeem himself by helping the Temple, he would work with Qui-Gon again. Even if he were confined to the fringes of the investigation, he'd take what he could get. It was the first step toward reestablishing the trust between them.