Part 7 (1/2)

”They said to us in the s.p.a.ceport Lanteeb's joined the Confederacy, ” said Obi-Wan, his eyes wide as though he found such a notion impossible to understand. ”And how the Republic's our enemy. ”

”That's politics, ” said Teeba Jaklin. ”Not for my kitchen. Teeb Markl, you've done with those eggs? You've not eaten half. You had an appet.i.te. What happened to it?”

”Ah-yes, ” Anakin said, after a moment. ”Sorry. The groundcar tumble we took. Seems I'm a bit addled, Teeba Jaklin. ”

”You're a lummox to be addled, ” she said, and took the plate for herself. ”Food's rationed here like the water. You come up hungry an hour from now you'll not he moaning to me. ”

”Of course not, ” he mumbled.

This time Obi-Wan trod on his foot, his message perfectly clear. Shut up, for pity's sake, before you shove us out in the street. ”It's a fine breakfast, Teeba Jaklin. We're sitting here most grateful. ”

”Where did you tumble your groundcar, Teeb Yavid?” said Rikkard, his own plate empty. ”We've good men and better tools in Torbel.

Fixing machines is a thing we do here. ”

Obi-Wan shook his head, regretful. ”The groundcar's not for fixing, Teeb. Bought sloppy, we did. Young Markl here acted without thought. The engine ran wild on us in the dark, took us over bad ground and off a cliff. Broken to pieces it is, klicks and klicks from here, and nearly us with it. ”

”Then lucky it is you've a seat at this table eating Jaklin's eggs, ” said Rikkard. He was smiling, but his gaze was wary again. ”Though if you're on to Voteb, this is a strange place to find you. ”

31.”Oh, we're not going back to Voteb, ” Anakin said. ”Our farm's dust and bones. Me and Yavid thought to wander until we found a new home. ”

Smoothly taking his cue, Obi-Wan smiled. ”Would there be a welcome for us here, Teeb Rikkard? Teeba Jaklin? We have money saved and want only to build a good life. ”

”Yes, ” Anakin said earnestly. ”And truly Yavid will shave off the beard. ”

Teeba Jaklin glanced at Teeb Rikkard. ”It's not ours to say entirely, ” she said, guarded. ”We've not so many here that you Teebs wouldn't s.h.i.+ft the ground if you stayed. So it's a village thing to talk on. ” Another glance at her fellow leader. ”Best you sleep under this roof another night or so before you dream more of stopping. Give us time to get a good look at you. ”

”That's fair, ” said Obi-Wan. ”But we'd not put you to trouble. ”

”You're no trouble on the storeroom floor, ” said Teeba Jaklin, shrugging.

Anakin swallowed a groan. The floor? Great. ”Thank you, Teeba. ”

”There'll be thinking you need to do, ” said Rikkard. ”We're miners in Torbel. Damot.i.te. Tricky stuff. Men die. But there's no other work. ”

”Work is work, ” said Obi-Wan, smoothing his beard. ”My cousin's young but he knows how to sweat a full day. I'm not young but I work hard, too. We could learn damot.i.te. Only...” He frowned. ”When Markl and I left Lanteeb there were rumors about it. ”

”Not rumors. Truth. ” Rikkard rubbed his scarred nose again. ”Demand for damot.i.te stalled disappearing three, four seasons ago. A lot of mines closed-but not ours. Torbel's damot.i.te is the best and what little need there is for it, we mostly supply. And now the government wants it, too, as much as we can pull out of the ground and make safe for transport. Every week they send a droid convoy from the city to take what we produce. ”

”A droid convoy?” said Anakin. ”No regular men?”

Rikkard shook his head. ”It's not safe for men to ride the s.h.i.+pment so far. For the government we take out only base impurities. Good as raw our damot.i.te is, for them. ”

”Raw?” said Obi-Wan, pretending surprise. ”There's a use for it raw in the Confederacy?”

”They don't say why they want it and we don't ask, ” said Teeb Rikkard, brows lowered. ”It's the government. We send them damot.i.te, they send us food and leave us alone to mine. To live. More, more, more. That's all they say. ”

Anakin felt his belly heave, protesting the implications as well as Teeba Jaklin's eggs. More, more, more meant Dooku and Durd planned to produce huge quant.i.ties of the bioweapon- and that meant the entire Republic was in danger. He imagined Padme writhing and dying like Bant'ena's lab rodent and came close a second time to losing what little breakfast he'd eaten.

”You've never asked why they suddenly want so much?” He knew he sounded critical, accusing, but he couldn't help it. Bad things happened because questions weren't asked. Because people preferred to close their eyes and turn away. ”You've never wondered what they're going to do with...”

Rikkard's fist thumped the kitchen table. ”I don't care about that, Teeb Markl. This village was dying. No future. No hope. All we have is damot.i.te. All we know is mining. But the Republic didn't care about that. The Republic didn't care about us. Every day Teeba Jaklin and me, we watched the children's faces growing thinner and thinner and we knew we couldn't help them. We couldn't help ourselves.

Almost n.o.body wanted our damot.i.te anymore. We were facing the end. ”

”And then came word from Lantibba City, ” said Teeba Jaklin. ”From the government. They offered to help us. Food for damot.i.te. We said yes. ”

Teeb Rikkard was still frowning. ”This is how we live now, in Torbel. Almost every hour mining and cleaning damot.i.te. The government says when it has money again we'll have money. Until then we have food. I won't take food from a hungry child's mouth.

If you're the kind of man who could do that, Teeb Markl, then Torbel is not the village for you. You and your cousin can find another...”

32.”No, no, ” said Obi-Wan hastily. ”Teeb Rikkard, you mustn't have a care for Markl. His tongue rattles. Of course you're mining the damot.i.te. Your people must eat. We have no quarrel with that. We have no quarrel with you. ” He turned. ”For shame, cousin, when these good people gave us shelter. ”

Blinking, Anakin stared at him. ”I'm sorry, Yavid, I...” Obi-Wan cuffed the back of his head. ”Don't apologize to me, Markl.

Apologize to the Teeb and Teeba and then hope we are still welcome in Torbel. ”

Anakin dropped his gaze to the table. ”I'm very sorry. I was wrong. Please don't send us away. ”

”Rikkard...” Teeba Jaklin took a light hold of the man's arm. ”Let them stay. Let them earn their keep. Bohle's sick and Dahm's overgreen, remember, and Brinnie with his wrenched ankle's no use, either. We're behind in the mining and the convoy's only three days away. The government won't be pleased if the delivery is underweight. They might not send food next time, to punish us. ”

”You're shorthanded?” said Obi-Wan, before Rikkard could answer. ”Then please, let us help. You took us in though we are strangers and times are hard. Let us work in the mine to earn our keep while we're here. ”

”Rikkard, this is a sensible plan, ” said Teeba Jaklin. ”You know it is. A man shows his true face while he's sweating. We'll feed and water and shelter these cousins and they'll prove themselves in the mine and then, after the convoy has come and gone, taking the right weight of mineral back to Lantibba, then we'll decide if they can remain in Torbel. ”

Teeb Rikkard tapped his fingertips over the scars on his scalp, thinking. ”It's a good argument, ” he said at last. ”If they're telling the truth. If they can learn fast and work hard. ”

”We are, ” said Obi-Wan. ”And we can. ”

”I think they're truthful, Rikkard, ” said Teeba Jaklin, ignoring him. ”But you're the head miner. You'll know within an hour if they've lied. And if they've lied we'll run them our. ”

Anakin glanced at Obi-Wan, feeling his tension, his concern.

We can't afford to get bogged down here. But at least if we stay another day or so we can catch our breath, contact Yoda, maybe even come up with a plan to stop Durd before be launches his first attack... or if we can't do that, get off this dusty ball of dirt, come back with reinforcements and end him.

The thought of seeing Lok Durd dead gave him an almost physical pleasure. Next to Grievous and Dooku and, of course, the unknown Sith Lord behind all their troubles, Durd was his most hated enemy.

I'm coming for you, General. That cold s.h.i.+ver you feel is my breath on the back of your stinking neck.

He felt Obi-Wan's foot nudge him again. It was a warning- and an offering of comfort, which meant he was forgiven his rash display of temper.

Teeba Jaklin and Teeb Rikkard, who'd been staring at each other in a kind of communal silence, nodded. ”Yes, ” said Rikkard. ”I agree. You're sure you can keep them here?”

”As I said, in the storeroom, ” said the Teeba. ”Safest that way, I think. ”

Teeb Rikkard raised a spa.r.s.e eyebrow. ”If we're thinking of safest, Jaklin... ” His hand covered hers. ”They'll be mining. ”