Part 43 (1/2)

Obi-Wan turned. ”That's Generator Six. We'd better look at it, in case Anakin can't get there in time. ”

Another hollow boom. Another s.h.i.+ver through the s.h.i.+eld. And then, as though Durd's army had only been clearing its throat until now, every battle droid and swarming mosquito opened fire with the SBDs-and the afternoon's daylight turned scarlet.

”Well, ” said Taria. ”I guess they finally got the message the Republic means business. ”

Obi-Wan nodded. ”I guess they did. ”

He grabbed her hand, and they ran.

At some point Anakin stopped hearing the noise of the attack, He could feel the blaster concussions against his skin, feel them violently humming through his muscles and bones and his prosthetic arm and hand, but he ignored them. He had more important things to worry about. How long since the SBDs had opened fire? Two hours? Three? He had no idea. He'd lost track of time.

As far as he knew, Obi-Wan was still at the power plant with Devi, making sure the creaky machinery didn't fall apart. Taria was working the fuel supply line, keeping the liquid damot.i.te coming, keeping the power plant and the s.h.i.+eld alive. And he was running the s.h.i.+eld's groaning perimeter, around and around and around each generator without stopping, because the moment the s.h.i.+eld failed the village was dead. Sure, he had a handful of helpers, Tarnik and Guyne and their friends, doing what they could to keep the generators going, but they were ordinary men and women. Machines didn't speak to them, didn't whisper in their blood.

He'd forgotten what it felt like to breathe without pain, run without pain, use the Force without pain. His whole world was pain... and he couldn't imagine a world without it.

The rest of Torbel's people were gathered on the square under Rikkard's stern eye. The commando teams, with their few blasters and their dangerous homemade grenades and their vibro-picks and axes and crowbars and rigged-up blasting caps, huddled together and waited for the worst to happen-for the s.h.i.+eld to fail, and the droids to advance. Everyone else-the mothers, the fathers, and the children-waited for the order to flee underground. Sufi's patients were loaded onto stretchers and antigrav sleds, ready for a swift evacuation.

174.

Their fear was oppressive. Fighting it, Anakin gritted his teeth.

We've done everything we can for them. We couldn't have done more.

As he reached Generator Eight for the fifteenth time, or the twentieth, who knew anymore, he saw a villager on her knees with its housing sprung free, frantically pulling out its wiry entrails. There were sparks and spits of smoke, and the bleeding edge of the s.h.i.+eld was starting to melt...

”Get out of the way!” he said, and half dragged, half Force- pushed the woman aside. Plunging his hands into the generator's innards he let that strange instinct guide him, let it show his fingers where to go, what to heal.

And then the villager-Chiba, that was her name- screamed and pointed and he looked, and saw the same melting along the edges of sections ten and twelve.

Oh, stang. This is it.

”Chiba!” he shouted, so she'd hear him over the endless booming blasts. ”Run to the power plant and tell Obi-Wan the s.h.i.+eld's failing.

And then tell Rikkard it's time to get down the mine, as deep as you can go. ”

Chiba was young and terrified. ”But-but...”

”Go. '” he howled, and used the Force to make his point. Chiba ran.

Dizzy, he could hear the escalating sound of wrongness in the s.h.i.+eld, in the generators. He took a deep breath, banished all thought and fear of what this was going to cost him... and plunged himself into the Force to buy them more time.

As he finished unblocking yet another fuel line, Obi-Wan heard Devi screaming his name. He slammed the levers back into position and ran to the monitoring station.

”Chiba was here!” said Devi, sweat pouring down her face. ”Anakin says the s.h.i.+eld's failing. ”

He shoved his way outside. The noise of the bombardment was overwhelming, beating and battering and echoing in his skull. The sky was bloodred with plasma fire and the s.h.i.+eld- well, it was holding, but he could see an ominous sparking across its surface and suspicious ripples in the plasma.

They had minutes, that was all.

Villagers were streaming toward the mine entrance, the oldest and the infirm being carried on stretchers or pushed on antigrav sleds.

No groundcars; they'd all been driven into the streets and flipped onto their sides. Obstacles for the droids, hopefully, and maybe some shelter for the village commandos. Pitiful, to be sure, but it was better than nothing.

He ran back into the power plant. ”All right, Devi. That's it. Put the plant on auto-run and get yourself down the mine. ”

She shook her head, weeping. ”No, Obi-Wan, I'm staying. I can't leave you to face them alone. ”

”Devi!” he said, and grabbed hold of her shoulders. ”No. You said when the time came, you'd go. You promised. ”

”I know, but I can't, ” she sobbed. ”How can I run away? What kind of a person does that make me?”

”A person who keeps her word, ” he said, and hugged her. ”Please. Devi. Rikkard will need you. ”

Still weeping, she switched the plant's machinery to auto- run then turned back to him, ready to argue some more. Mindful of her broken-down antigrav harness, he summoned a smile and gave her a little push.

”Go on. I'll be fine. ”

Her plain face tear-streaked and tight with grief, she shook her head. ”Liar, ” she said, and left.

175.

He took a moment, just a moment, to listen to the power plant. It was rough, but it was running. It was the most he could hope for.

Leaving it to run or die, he went in search of Taria.

Taria slotted the last four fuel containers into their feed lines and opened the spigots. When she was sure the fresh fuel was flowing unhindered, she took a moment to ease her aching hack and stepped outside the stinking, fume-laden fuel house to s.n.a.t.c.h some fresh air before going in search of Obi-Wan.

As she took her first breath, the Force slapped her with a stunning sense of danger. She looked up and saw the s.h.i.+eld overhead sparking and sputtering and oddly crawling, as though the plasma were alive and trying to shed its own skin.

Oh. I've got a had feeling about this.

And then she registered the stream of villagers heading for the mine. Someone had signaled the evacuation. Good. But there was n.o.body to rally the village commandos-they were milling in the street looking uncertain and confused.

She ran for them.

”All right, all right, settle down!” she shouted. ”Into your teams, people. No talking. Come on!”

It was like herding Padawans before a tournament in the large dojo. There you go, Ahsoka. I knew our little compet.i.tion would come in handy. When the villagers were split into their ten teams of three, silent and staring at her, she gave them her best no-nonsense Jedi stare.

”I know you're frightened, but I also know you can do this, ” she said, raising her voice above the droids' constant bombardment. ”This is your home you're defending. It's your friends and your mothers and your husbands and your children. So everyone take a deep breath, get focused, and we'll run through the drills one more time. ”

Trying so hard to control their fear, Torbel's commandos stumbled through the range of offensive drills they'd been taught. When they were done, she smiled at them.

”Excellent work, people. You'll do fine, I know you will. Just remember-keep your heads. Don't get carried away and waste a bomb or a shot on a single droid. Not unless you absolutely have to. Aim for them in groups-you'll take out more of them that way. Don't use your vibro-weapons until you're sure your target's down and disarmed. And do remember to pick up their blasters if you can. Throw them out of reach if you're not able to use them yourselves. And...”