Part 5 (1/2)

”Don't worry, ” said Rex, and dragged a hand down his face. ”Stang. ”

Torrent Company was so cheerful. It broke her heart to see them laughing, teasing, roughhousing, as though they didn't have a care in the world. Because if they knew what she knew...

Rex sat back, pretending he wasn't upset. ”What have you seen, Ahsoka? What's the Force shown you?”

She was under strict instructions never to discuss how the Force was getting harder and harder to read. She mustn't mention it even to Rex and Coric, whom she trusted with her life. Of course, this once she didn't have to lie. She hadn't seen anything, though she'd nearly pa.s.sed out trying.

”All I get is a feeling, ” she said, keeping her voice low, though there was so much noise in the room. ”Like I'm about to be sick, all the time. ”

”I know that feeling, ” said Coric, trying to joke. ”D'you reckon I could be a Jedi, too?”

Rex stuck an elbow into his ribs. ”Some Jedi you'd make. You'd give the other Padawans nightmares. ”

”Now look what you've done, Captain, ” said Coric, miming heartstruck sorrow. ”You've gone and hurt my tender feelings. ”

They were trying to cheer her up. Distract her. Distract themselves, too. For all they were hard men, seasoned soldiers, not given to softness or sentimentality of any kind, they adored their general.

Because she couldn't tell them any more, and because she was so very tired of thinking about it, of worrying about Skyguy, Ahsoka changed the subject.

”So are you hoys on furlough?”

Rex nodded. ”Don't know for how long. n.o.body's told us. ” And they knew better than to ask. ”We'll take another day or two of R and R, then we'll get back to training while we wait for the next deployment. But if General Skywalker's not back by then... ”

Ahsoka felt her guts tighten. ”I don't know. n.o.body tells me anything, either. ” She nearly added, And it's not fair, but caught herself just in time. She had no business whining about not fair to these clones.

”Ah well, little'un, ” said Rex, with his most sardonic grin. ”This is the life, isn't it? This is what we signed up for. Hurry up and wait.

Long stretches of boredom punctuated by moments of sheer terror. ” Leaning forward again, he patted her on the knee. ”So I say we play darts. What d'you reckon?”

And there was her heart, breaking all over again for love of him. Such a decent man, he was. She bounced to her feet, determined not to disappoint him.

”I reckon I can take you. Captain Rex. ”

” Yeah, well, we'll see about that, ” Rex retorted, a twinkle in his eyes. And then it faded and he was the serious clone captain again.

”But little'un-when the time comes? When you and the general need us?” He jerked his thumb at Coric, equally somber by his side.

”Just say the word and we'll be there. ”

She had to wait a moment, swallowing hard. ”I know you will. And so does he. ” She leapt up. ”Now come along and get thrashed at darts. ”

23.Early the next morning Jedi Master Taria Damsin tracked Ahsoka down in the Temple arboretum, where the gra.s.s was cool and moist and the tumbling waterfall filled the warm air with spray and bright sound.

Discreetly inspecting the Jedi Master, Ahsoka thought she seemed perfectly recovered from their wild mission on Corellia.

Either Taria was an excellent actress, or her Boratavi syndrome was back under control.

My guess is it's a bit of both.

”Ahsoka, ” said Taria, as cheerful as ever. ”I've been thinking. ”

Unfolding from her final meditation pose-a flower stem bends and does not break in the wind-Ahsoka treated the older woman to a grin.

”Thinking? That's dangerous. Should I be afraid?”

”Cheeky brat, ” said Taria. ”Now listen. I know you hate that you're stuck here, waiting for word from Masters Ken.o.bi and Skywalker.

There's nothing worse than being left behind when your Master's off on a mission that doesn't require a Padawan's presence. And the Force knows that after Corellia my appet.i.te's been whetted for something a little less sedate than research in the library. So what do you say we get a nice little compet.i.tion going? Something to challenge the senior Padawans that'll challenge us at the same time. ”

”That sounds intriguing, ” Ahsoka admitted. ”What kind of compet.i.tion?”

Taria's tawny eyes were alight with mischief. ”A race through the new training dojo. Two teams-we lead one each. First team to light the beacon at the top of the mini city's central tower wins. ”

”Wins what?”

”Bragging rights, of course, ” said Taria, grinning. ”What else?”

The new training dojo, completed a few days before the mission to Kothlis, took up all of the Temple's ma.s.sive sublevel nineteen.

Tricked out with artificial atmospherics and randomly generated zero-g pockets, terraformed into marshy quagmire, thick foliage, a ravine, a cliff, a stretch of wide-open quake- ground, a very small and self-contained river, and four large blocks of streets complete with buildings and towers, it was also populated by a panoply of actual Sep battle droids-salvaged from real battles-which had been modified to shoot stingers instead of blaster bolts. In short, it was the ultimate in urban and natural habitat warfare training terrains.

The poor little Padawans were going to get their b.u.t.ts kicked.

But better they were kicked in the safety of the Temple than out there in the real war, where second chances were rare and dead really meant dead.

”So, ” said Taria, teasingly taunting. ”Are you game? Say yes. This could be the start of a Temple tournament. ”

”It sounds like fun, ” Ahsoka said slowly. ”But-a tournament means winning and losing, doesn't it? The Jedi philosophy discourages pride. ”

”True, ” said Taria, her amus.e.m.e.nt fading. ”But this isn't about pride, Ahsoka. It's about finding a way to train without dwelling on what we're training for. War. Padawans learn better when they aren't afraid. When they're actually enjoying themselves? That's when the lessons stick. ”

And that was true, too. As for me, this might he the perfect thing to take my mind off Skyguy. ”Then what are we waiting for? Let's go get our teams!”

Twenty minutes later Ahsoka stood outside the dojo with eleven eager senior Padawans. They were the Green team. Taria had won the toss, so her Blue team had twelve. The Blues were now their enemy-at least for the next hour or so. Given that this was these Padawans* first time in a war zone, all were wielding training lightsabers designed to stun instead of kill. They wore colored bibs to identify one another, too, although the fluctuating light levels and sudden bursts of storming rain would make it tricky to see anything clearly.

Green team entered the dojo first, its consolation prize for losing the toss. Ahsoka's Padawans were entirely trusting and alarmingly impressed because she was Anakin Skywalker's apprentice and knew the best clone soldiers by nickname and had crossed lightsabers with the likes of Asajj Ventress-and lived to tell the tale.

24.Hey, Skyguy. Don't let me mess this up.

”Right, ” she said, raising her voice over the dojo's first computer-generated cracks of lightning and howls of wind. ”Focus on the objective, people: reaching the tallest tower in the center of the mini city and lighting its beacon. That means you keep your eyes peeled, and if you get into trouble then you rely on the Force... and each other. Understood?”

”Understood!” the Padawans shouted.

The rules only gave them a three-minute head start on the Blues. Since the opening terrain was the dreaded quake-ground, it was time to get cracking. First of all, though, she had to inspire her team. Captain Rex's Hints for Leaders #4: If they think you're having fun, they might forget to be terrified.