Part 24 (2/2)

”But you're a man, aren't you?” she demanded. ”You have a heart? You have feelings?”

Looking at Obi-Wan, recognizing his withdrawn expression, Anakin hit his lip.

Come on, Obi-Wan. Give a little. She needs to know you 're more than a mysterious Jedi, that you know what it's like to feel alone and afraid. She won't ask her people to risk themselves for us if she thinks we're no better than droids ourselves.

”I know what you want from me, Teeba, ” Obi-Wan said at last. ”And I know why. But I won't claim to be something I'm not simply to placate you. That would be an insult. I understand your fear and I will do everything in my power to see that what you fear does not come to pa.s.s. ”

”There, Jaklin, ” said Rikkard. ”You can't ask for more than that. ”

Looking at Jaklin, Anakin thought she could, and wanted to, but Rikkard's glower changed her mind. ”Our poor village, ” she whispered. ”Will the bad times never end?”

”Yes, they will, ” said Rikkard, his voice unsteady. ”They have to. Nothing bad lasts forever. ”

Anakin felt a little catch, underneath his ribs.

No. It just feels that way sometimes.

Rikkard and Jaklin stared at each other, lost in a private, wordless conversation.

Aware of Obi-Wan's simmering displeasure, Anakin considered the storm s.h.i.+eld pulsing above their heads. The design dynamics a.s.sured them of an osmotic oxygen supply. Was it possible for the droids to somehow tamper with that? Was there a way to seal the s.h.i.+eld from the outside so they could suffocate Torbel into submission?

Maybe. But they'd have to think of it first. Droids aren't big on thinking.

Right. So, what else could go wrong?

Aside from us running out of liquid damot.i.te, another crisis in the power plant, more generators fusing, using up all our water and food and our message not getting through to the Temple... or if it did, help not getting here soon enough. Or not getting here at all.

He was starting to tire of discovering new and more interesting kinds of trouble.

Stirring out of silence, Jaklin folded her arms. ”Even if we thought the same on this, Rikkard-and we don't-it's not a choice you and I can make for the village. ”

”I agree, ” said Obi-Wan. ”Call a meeting, Rikkard. Give your friends and neighbors all the facts and let them decide what's to be done. ”

”And you'll abide by our choice?” said Jaklin, belligerent again. ”No fancy Jedi tricks to get your own way?”

Anakin watched Obi-Wan recoil, almost imperceptibly. Despite their efforts to help Torbel, despite the lives they'd saved, Jaklin was still so angry. Terrified of the danger they'd brought to her village, offended they'd come to her under false pretenses, and mortified that she'd let herself be deceived. He understood how she felt. He could feel how she felt. So could Obi-Wan. Sometimes that was the problem with being a Jedi.

Obi-Wan exhaled slowly. ”Of course not, Teeba. Whatever you decide will be binding upon us. Now, if you'll excuse me, while you and your people are debating the problem I'll return to the sick house. Send for me when a decision has been reached. ”

103.

With a shallow bow, he turned and walked away. Watching him, knowing that a confrontation between them was only postponed, not avoided, Anakin breathed out a sigh of his own.

”You've displeased him, ” said Rikkard. ”He wanted you to follow his lead. ”

Obi-Wan entered the sick house and closed its door behind him.

Glancing at Rikkard, Anakin nodded. ”I was his student for many years. He taught me almost everything I know about being a Jedi.

Yes. He wanted me to follow his lead. ”

”But you didn't, ” said Jaklin. ”Some would call that disrespectful. Arrogant, even. For all you're tall and have a way with machinery and a few clever Jedi tricks stuffed into your pockets, you're a boy still. Who are you to ignore what he thinks? Anyone can see he's a man of experience. ”

”Yes, he is, ” Anakin agreed. ”He's a great man, Teeba Jaklin. And it may turn out that he's right and I'm wrong and we do have to surrender to those battle droids. But like I said-that's not my first choice. ”

Rikkard dragged a hand down his scarred face. ”He's trying to protect us. ”

”I know. ” And that's the trouble. ”So am I. ”

”Anakin... ” Rikkard stared as though he could see inside him to some hidden, unspoken truth. ”Are you afraid?”

”Yes, ” he said simply. ”I'm afraid that because we came here, more of your people will get hurt, or worse. I'm afraid that while we're stuck behind the s.h.i.+eld something will go wrong that I can't fix. I'm afraid that in disagreeing with Obi-Wan I've hurt him, and our friends.h.i.+p. ” I'm afraid that I'll die on your horrible planet and never see Padme again. ”I'm a man, Rikkard. I feel fear. But I choose not to let it rule me. ”

Some of the tension in Rikkard's tired eyes eased. ”The honesty's appreciated, young Teeb. If we can't speak our hearts to each other, we'll not survive. That's what you learn in the mining life. What a man like you learns in yours? Most of it I'm not about to understand.

But I'll tell you what I do know, for you and Arrad are of an age and I know a bit of what you're feeling-and what he's feeling, too. ”

He nodded toward the sick house.

”Sort yourself to a comfortable place, then find your common ground with him and stand on it. You and him, you need each other.

And Torbel needs you standing shoulder to shoulder if we're going to survive this. ”

”Rikkard's right, ” said Teeba Jaklin roughly. ”So here's a question I want answered, young Jedi. Can you untangle what's tangled between you and your friend so the people of this village pay with no more of their blood?”

”Yes, ” he said, and hoped he was telling the truth.

Jaklin sniffed. ”Then best you get to untangling, while Rikkard and I call our village meeting. ”

Teeba Sufi worked alone in the sick house, struggling to settle the last of the wounded onto their cots. The small main ward was crammed with patients, most of them sleeping or unconscious. Anakin stared at them, appalled. Even he, with his conspicuous lack of talent for healing, could feel their discordant pain in the Force. Their breathing was slow and heavy, ragged exhalations on the borderline of moans. The air smelled thickly of stale blood and fresh poultices. He was abruptly, unpleasantly, reminded of the aftermath on Kothlis, of the countless triage staging areas he'd faced since the start of the war. Pain and loss and terror, everywhere he turned. The cruel difference was that those casualties of war, be they civilian or Republic- troops, had access to the very best in medical expertise.

And what have these poor people got? Some bandages, some ointments, a scattering of third-rate pills, and Obi-Wan, who's exhausted and doesn't really know what he's doing.

Obi-Wan, who hadn't looked around when the sick house door opened. Who was ignoring him as though he didn't exist.

Stang.

104.

Caught drifting dangerously close to despair, Anakin throttled any further dark thoughts and instead counted the occupied cots. There were twenty-three casualties-a handful from the refinery explosion and the rest from the droid attack. Oh, and Bohle, that little girl's mother, whose life Obi-Wan had managed to save. The girl-Greti-wasn't here. She was an odd child, strong with the Force, and wasted in Torbel. It was a pity. Obi-Wan should keep her out of the sick house. It was no place for a young girl. Greti wasn't Ahsoka.

Seated on a stool beside a laden cot, holding the hand of a villager caught in the open by one of Durd's mosquito droids, Obi-Wan was doing his best to give the woman strength to overcome her agony. Anakin could feel his struggle in the Force. When it came to medicine Torbel was practically primitive. There was a good chance people here would die of shock and pain, from wounds that a med droid could easily fix.

Mom and I and the other slaves got better medical treatment on Tatooine. But then that was a matter of protecting invest- merits.

These people aren't anyone's investments. n.o.body cares about them except them. And me now.

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