Джуд Уотсон - Jedi Apprentice 2 - The Dark Rival

Obi-Wan dived to the floor, hoping to slash at Xanatos' legs and get him down. But Xanatos sidestepped and somersaulted over him. He felt the brush of air as he went by.

Obi-Wan tried to push away his own anger and use the white light of the Force. His mind had been too clouded by anger. He needed to get clear. It was their only hope. He drew on the living Force to guide him.

Suddenly, he saw Qui-Gon take a step back. His lightsaber flickered for a moment. Had he felt Obi-Wan's shift?

Obi-Wan felt Qui-Gon's Force energy suddenly flow into his, melding and pulsing in a white heat. Qui-Gon's lightsaber glowed green again, so bright it illuminated the shaft. Together, they sliced through the air, never stopping, moving, sliding, swerving. Xanatos was driven back, back, until they had him cornered against a tunnel wall. But suddenly the wall turned transparent, and a door opened. Xanatos sprang inside.

"It's a lift tube!" Qui-Gon cried, rushing forward. But the transparent door closed. Qui-Gon struck at it with his lightsaber, but the light only sputtered.

Xanatos' voice echoed through the cavern through some sort of amplification device. "It doesn't matter what you do now. The mine is about to blow. I've created the same conditions for explosion as I did last time. Except more so. Gases are mixing wand will combust. I have enough time to get to the surface. You do not."

They heard the lift shoot up out of the mine.

The voice of Xanatos echoed in the darkness.

"Goodbye, my old master. May your death be as painful as my father's."

"The crosscut tunnel," Obi-Wan gasped.

Together, they ran back to the entrance. But, as they suspected, it was sealed. Qui-Gon put his hands against it. It was coated transparisteel. In the dimness, it would look like a wall. The entrance to the tunnel from the main shaft would be concealed that way, too.

"It's sealed," Qui-Gon said. "And I cannot open it. Not with the Force."

"Together, then," Obi-Wan suggested. They concentrated, drawing the Force to bear on the door. It did not open, or even turn transparent.

"There is a stronger lock on this one, I think" Qui-Gon said. "Xanatos wouldn't risk our being able to open it."

"There has to be a way," Obi-Wan cried in frustration. He struck the door with his lightsaber, but felt only a painful shock move through his arm.

"There is a panel here," Qui-Gon said. He opened it. Several buttons glowed. He pushed them, but nothing happened. "Some sort of locking device," he muttered.

"He said we didn't have much time," Obi-Wan glanced around the tunnel. "Qui-Gon, he said the blast will be more powerful…"

"Yes," Qui-Gon answered. "And I'm sure he was sincere."

The exchanged a look. Both of them though of the miners above, and Clat'Ha and VeerTa. Many lives would be lost. The dream of Home Planet Mine would die. Bandomeer would be lost as well.

"There's only one thing to do," Obi-Wan said. "I can get us out of here. I'm the only one who can."

Qui-Gon felt deep unease stir within him. "What do you mean?"

Obi-Wan touched the electro-collar around his neck. "I have the transmitter," he said. "I can reactivate it. If I push myself up against the door, the explosion should open it. You might have time to evacuate the mine."

"But you'll never survive the blast!" Qui-Gon exclaimed.

Obi-Wan reached into his tunic for the transmitter. "Stand as far back as you can," he instructed Qui-Gon.

"No, Padawan. There has to be another way."

"There is no other way, and you know it," Obi-Wan said steadily. "Now stand back."

"No!" Qui-Gon cried. "I will not! And I order you not to do this."

"Qui-Gon, think of the many who will lose their lives," Obi-Wan said urgently. "Think of what Xanatos will win. Think of Bandomeer. Our mission was to protect it. If I don't do this, we fail."

"This is not the way," Qui-Gon said grimly.

Obi-Wan's face was white and still. Determination tightened every muscle. "Yes, Qui-Gon. I can do it. I will do it."

Qui-Gon was back in the nightmare. He felt the same horror, the same despair. The same sense that he must prevent this thing, even as he admired the sheer courage of the boy who had suggested it.

"I won't allow it," he told Obi-Wan. "I'll use the Force to neutralize the collar."

Obi-Wan shook hid head, a small smile on his face. "You won't be able to. I know I can fight you and win. Maybe just this one time. But this time I'm right, are you are not."

Qui-Gon was taken aback. He felt the Force emit form Obi-Wan like a breaking wave. The power of it astonished him. He locked his gaze with Obi-Wan. Their wills slashed silently in the dark tunnel.

Obi-Wan pressed himself against the seal, holding the transmitter against himself. "Let me go, Qui-Gon," he said. "It is my time."

Desperately, Qui-Gon looked at the seal panel. He wanted to smash it with his lightsaber. Wanted to slam his bosy against the door. He could not let this happen!

He would not let the nightmare win.

The nightmare…

He broken circle glowed at him. Why hadn't he noticed them before? The Offworld secret logo was on the seal panel.

The circle that brings the past to the future, yet does not meet. He must make the circle meet. He must bring the past forward. He must…

"Wait." Qui-Gon quieted his mind, letting the Force fill him. He drew from Obi-Wan's power as well, concentrating on the broken circle. He envisioned the circle moving, meeting, becoming whole once more. The past would meet the future and create the present. That was what mattered. Xanatos was past. Obi-Wan was now.

Slowly, the separate strands moved, making a perfect circle.

The door slid open.

"I told you there was an easier way," he said to Obi-Wan.

Obi-Wan grinned in tired relief. Perspiration streaked his face from the heat and effort. "We'd better hurry."

They raced back up the tunnel, following the twists and curves to the main shaft. Qui-Gon remembered an emergency siren near the south lift tube. He activated it, and pulsating sound filled the tunnels.

"Evacuate," a voice said calmly. "Evacuate."

"That means us, too, Obi-Wan said, pressing the button for the lift tube.

But Qui-Gon hesitated. He glanced around the tunnel. They had been working down here to clear it. Boxes of explosives stood stacked against the walls. And one box rested on top.

"Obi-Wan," Qui-Gon said. "Is that the box you saw?"

Obi-Wan turned. "Yes," he said. "but there's no time to find out what's in it." The lift tube arrived with a whoosh. "Let's go, Qui-Gon!"

Qui-Gon didn't answer. He walked over to the box. He unsheathed his lightsaber and, with great precision, cut the lock.

"He always had more than one trick," me murmured. "He always had a back door." He lifted the lid carefully. Just as he'd thought. It was an ion bomb, the most destructive explosive in the galaxy.

Obi-Wan stood by his shoulder. "He said he had mixed gases."

"He lied," Qui-Gon said. "This bomb is on a timer. And my guess is that all those boxes stored around Bandomeer are set to blow at the same moment." He turned to Obi-Wan. "The chain reaction will be enormous. The entire planet could blow."

Obi-Wan went pale. "Do you know how to dismantle it?"

"The Force won't work," Qui-Gon said, crouching. "This is a trigger so delicate that the Force itself might set it off. I can do it, but I need time. More time than I have." Qui-Gon bent closer. "This appears to be the master control. Xanatos must have set it when he left. That's the good news. If we can disarm this one, none of the others will blow."

Obi-Wan swallowed. "What's the bad news?"

"It's set to blow in three minutes," Qui-Gon said. "I need fifteen."