Part 34 (1/2)

”And if it's not soon enough?” said Jaklin, lifting her own voice above the murmurs and soft sobs in the crowd. Despair was a m.u.f.fling shroud, threatening to smother them all. Her finger jabbed upward again. ”Any moment, Jedi, any moment, that s.h.i.+eld could fail. ”

”No, it won't, ” said Anakin. ”I'm not going to let it. The s.h.i.+eld will hold, Jaklin, and so will the power plant. If I have to pour blood into them, they will hold. ”

And still she didn't want to believe them. Her eyes were cold and unforgiving. ”Or we could end this siege here and now. We could give you to the droids so they'll leave, and leave Torbel alone. ”

”No!” cried a child's voice. ”No, we can't do that!”

It was Greti. Pus.h.i.+ng her way through the crowd, she halted before Jaklin and glared up at her.

”Teeba, it's not right to...”

”Hold your tongue, Greti, ” said Jaklin, impatient. ”This business is for the adults to meet on and decide. You should go sit with your mam. ”

”Bohle's good without me, she is, ” Greti retorted. ”Thanks to Teeb Ken.o.bi. She'd be planted if he'd not saved her. So would Arrad. So would lots of us. He's helped Rikkard and poor Brandeh's daughter Moyjn and-and-oh, everyone! I know, I've been helping him. He hardly sleeps or eats, Teeba Jaklin. He's so tired he cries but he doesn't stop. ”

141.

Obi-Wan swallowed a curse. One moment of weakness. One moment where he let the enormity of the task overwhelm him. He'd thought the child was asleep. Feeling Anakin's accusing stare, he shook his head in warning. Not now.

Small fists on her skinny hips, an echo of Sufi, Greti trembled with anger. ”How can you talk of throwing him to the droids, Teeba?

That's bad, that is. That's a shameful thing. ”

”I agree, ” said another voice, soft with its own weariness. A familiar broken, grinding sound, and then the crowd was parting to let Devi through in her rickety antigrav harness. Every awkward step clearly pained her, but she gritted her teeth and kept coming.

”Devi...” said Anakin, startled. ”What are you...”

”Don't fret, ” she said, finding a shaky smile for him. ”Poolin's watching the monitors. She knows to comm me if she sees a red needle.

It's the red needle here I want to fix. ” Like Greti, she turned and glared at Jaklin. ”A short memory you've got, Teeba. Anakin nearly killed himself saving us from the theta storm. ”

”And you think we should repay that debt by laying down our lives?” Jaklin shook her head. ”If you're greensick for the young one, Devi, that problem's yours. Don't go making it ours. ”

Devi's cheeks flushed. ”I'm greensick for no one. Jaklin, the Jedi didn't steal Lanteeb. The Seps did that. The Seps plan on using our damot.i.te to murder innocents. Anakin and Obi-Wan are just trying to stop them. You saw that before. You can't not see it now. ”

Turning, she stared at her gathered friends and neighbors. ”It's easy to stand for what's right when there's no cost but hot air and brave words. So is that the kind of people we are? People who'll let wrong be done to save ourselves a little pain?” She turned back to Jaklin, then spat in the dirt. ”And you call yourself a teacher. ”

It was Jaklin's turn to Hush. ”Devi...”

Obi-Wan held his breath, feeling Anakin tense beside him. At a touch on his hand he looked down to see Greti, who would have made such a magnificent Jedi. Solemnly she curled her fingers around his, her too-old eyes bright.

If I'm wrong, she'll die. If I'm wrong, they'll all die. I can't hear it.

”Hey, ” said Anakin under his breath. ”Don't give up now. ”

”I say we stand firm, ” said Devi, when Jaklin didn't speak again. ”I say we hold on. ”

”For how long?” said Jaklin... but the fight had gone out of her. Now she looked old and tired and sad.

”Until help gets here, ” said Devi. ”And it will get here. I can't prove it but I believe it. I believe them. ”

Jaklin stared at her, saying nothing. And then she walked away. Uncertain, the crowd of villagers watched her retreat, babbling in consternation and confusion.

But Devi wasn't giving up, or walking away. ”Listen to me, everyone!” she shouted. ”We've come too far to turn back. Yes, we're on our knees, but we're not beaten yet. Not unless we surrender. And then we'll have beaten ourselves. ”

Silence. Then someone in the crowd called out: ”You promise this is nearly over, Jedi? You promise we won't have sheltered you for nothing?”

Feeling the sea change in the villagers' volatile emotions, Obi-Wan took a deep breath. ”You have our promise that we'll defend you to the death. And yes, this is nearly over. ”

Another groundswell of muttered comments-and then, to his surprise, the people of Torbel began drifting away from the square, heading back to their homes and their children to wait out the siege.

Anakin smiled. ”And the Negotiator strikes again. ”

He breathed hard for a moment. ”No. We owe our reprieve to Greti and Devi. ”

”Well, yeah, ” said Anakin. ”Them, too. Devi...”

She slapped Anakin's chest, her face crumpled into a pretend- scowl. ”You can thank me by taking another look at Bay Six's main feed line. Whatever you did to it last night, it's not holding. ”

142.

Anakin's amus.e.m.e.nt vanished. ”All right. Just-give me a minute, would you?”

”One, ” Devi said, then jerked her thumb toward the street. ”I'll meet you at my groundcar. ”

As she headed for her vehicle, each step a challenge, Obi-Wan looked down at Greti. ”Time for you to go home and get some sleep.

Your mam will be wondering where you are. ”

”Bohle knows where I am, Teeb, ” said Greti, shrugging. ”She knows I can help you in the sick house. Wants me to, she does. ”

Oh, but she was a glorious soul. Her strength had saved him, and so many others. He did not want to leave her behind when they left.

If they left.

”You've helped me enough for now. Greti, you must rest. How will I manage if you make yourself sick?”

Her urchin face dimpled. ”You won't. ”

”No. I won't. So off you go. ” He brushed his fingers over her dirty, ragged hair. ”And thank you, Greti. ”

The child retreated, unwilling but obedient, leaving him and Anakin alone on the village square. In silence they looked at each other.

”Stang, ” Anakin said at last. ”That was close. ”

Obi-Wan nodded. ”Very. ”

Nearly fourteen hours had pa.s.sed since they first felt the stirring in the Force that heralded the arrival of more Jedi. Fourteen hours of nursing sick people and balky s.h.i.+eld generators and the power plant in its slow, inevitable decline. Fourteen hours that had culminated in this desperate confrontation with Torbel's villagers.