Part 21 (2/2)
”General?” The colonel stared about, blaster drawn. ”Are you under attack?”
The fool. The stinking human fool. ”You have to stop the droid army heading for Torbel. It must be reprogrammed. I want the Jedi taken alive. ”
Slowly Barev lowered the blaster. ”Alive?”
” Yes, you incompetent moron! Alive!” he shouted. ”Dooku knows. Do you hear me? He knows. And we will be dead unless we can appease his wrath. I want the Jedi alive, to give him as a gift. The droids must be programmed with the Jedi's holoimages so they know who not to kill. And I want-I want...” He beat his fists against his chest as though that could force the words from his body. ”I want to show Count Dooku my value. I want to prove my weapon to him. ”
”You want to test it now?” said Barev, surprised. ”Are you sure? Do you have permission?”
”This is my Project!” he spat. ”I do not need permission. I will choose a target in the heart of the Republic and you will see that our demonstration is executed perfectly. Everything is in place to launch an attack, isn't it? Or have I been deceived in that, too?”
Barev wasn't really a moron. He knew perfectly well his own life was on the line. ”No, General, you're not deceived. Give the word and an attack will be launched. ”
”Then why are you still standing there?” Durd demanded, close to screaming. ”First the droids and then the attack. Get out. Get out!
There's no time to lose!”
CHAPTER TWELVE.
”Obi-Wan... ”
Anakin's voice, and a touch to his shoulder, brought him from meditation into full awareness. Obi-Wan opened his eyes and looked up. ”Another problem?”
”On the contrary, ” said Anakin. Though clearly tired, he was smiling. ”Rikkard says the theta emissions are falling at last. The storm's pa.s.sing. ”
An oddly watery daylight poured in through the charter house's open doors and unshuttered windows. The cool air still reeked of smoke and scorched metals, but it smelled of freshly cooked food, too. And there were voices, blended into an indistinct hubbub. In the Force he sensed lingering anxiety, but no more overwhelming fear.
”That is good news. ” Cross-legged on the floor, his back braced against the wall, Obi-Wan eased his shoulders and looked at the burned-out communications hub. ”Any luck?”
Anakin's smile vanished. ”No. It's fried. There's no chance of getting it operational again. ”
”And our scrambler chip?”
”Is completely scrambled. ” Anakin fished in his filthy trouser pocket and pulled out a sad little lump of circuitry that had melted, then hardened. He held it out. ”Which is going to make things interesting. ”
Inspecting the ruined chip, he pulled a face. ”More interesting, you mean. ”
Anakin shrugged. ”Everyone knows a quiet life is a boring life. Our only consolation is the diatium cells weren't damaged. ” He patted his s.h.i.+rts s.h.i.+elded pocket. ”I've put my lightsaber back together. ”
Nodding, he tossed the ruined chip aside. ”Good. I'll get on to mine in a moment. ”
91.”No need, ” said Anakin, pleased with himself. ”Here you go. ”
Obi-Wan plucked his lightsaber from the air. ”Thank you. ”
”You're welcome. Oh-and if you're hungry?” Anakin jerked a thumb behind him. ”There's a kind of communal breakfast happening out on the square. ”
He was famished, but- ”I'll eat once I've looked in on Teeba Sufi's patients. Have you had something?”
”Yeah. It wasn't too bad. ” Another swift smile. ”Mind you, I made sure to steer clear of Teeba Jaklin's eggs. ”
He really wasn't in the mood for jokes. ”And the villagers? How are they?”
”Subdued, ” said Anakin, sobering. ”They know how close they came to destruction last night. And now, with the refinery blown to bits-they know they're still in trouble. ” His lips tightened. ”I meant what I said, Obi-Wan. About getting them help. ”
”I know you did, ” he said, gently, because they were both tired. ”And we will. But for now we must remain focused on the mission. ”
”Speaking of the mission, ” said Anakin, ”when do you want to tell Jaklin we're leaving?”
He hesitated. ”Oh. Yes. About that... ”
”What?” Anakin stared. ”You want to wait for the convoy after all? Obi-Wan...”
”I know, ” he said, as Anakin turned away in frustration. ”But the fact is, nothing's changed about the challenges we face in returning to Lantibba. Traveling out in the open, in broad daylight, unprotected, with our false ID chips useless...” He shook his head. ”We'd be asking to get caught. Better that we're delayed than we fall into Durd's hands. ”
”And whatever it is that's hunting us?”
”I can't feel it now, ” he said. ”I've been trying for more than an hour but I get no sense of its presence anywhere in the Force. ”
”Meaning what?” said Anakin, unconvinced. ”It's lost us? It's given up?”
”Possibly. ”
”Obi-Wan, that's a big gamble. What if you're wrong? What if waiting here gives it a chance to find us?”
He'd been asking himself the same difficult question for the past half hour. ”You're right. It's a risk. But I still believe not waiting for the convoy is the greater danger. ”
”I'm not saying you don't have a point, ” Anakin said, shoving his hands into his pockets. ”It's just-it means being stuck here for another day, Obi-Wan. And that gives Durd more time to launch his first attack. ”
He pushed to his feet, feeling his muscles drag subtly, reminding him that he was far from his best. ”For all we know he's launched it already. Our escape could easily have panicked him into making a move. But we don't know for certain-and we can't let our fears panic us into a bad choice. ”
Anakin considered him. ”Are you saying you were feeling panicked last night?”
”I'm saying that important decisions should be made in a calm state of mind, ” he retorted. ”Raging theta storms, failing power grids and exploding refineries are not, in my estimation, conducive to tranquillity. ”
”No kidding, ” said Anakin, drily amused. Then he shook his head. ”I guess it all comes down to timing. Maybe it doesn't matter if we're here another day. If the Republic can get a battle group together fast enough, launch an all-out a.s.sault on Lanteeb...”
”We can hope for that, certainly, ” he said carefully. ”But Anakin...”
”Yeah, ” said Anakin, scowling again. ”Since we never made real-time voice contact with the Temple, there's no way of knowing if they even got our message. In which case, Obi-Wan, don't you think we should...”
”What I think, ” he said, slipping his lightsaber back into his s.h.i.+rt's s.h.i.+elded pocket, ”is that we can't go anywhere until the storm s.h.i.+eld's down. So I'm going to look in at the sick house, then swallow some breakfast. What about you?”
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