And Obi-Wan.

For all his frustration, and his fear that Obi-Wan would never see him as an equal no matter what he did or how many battles he won, he was moved by the depth of compa.s.sion he could feel in his former Master.

Why do I keep forgetting that he was raised a Jedi? That he'll never understand what it is to feel any strong emotion without feeling guilty about it straight after? Everything I was taught to rely on, he was taught to repress or deny. I keep forgetting that.

Looking up from a patient, Teeba Sufi saw him and frowned. "Are you hurt, young Jedi?"

"No, Teeba. But you're wanted on the square for a village meeting. "

"Don't be a fool, " she said, fisting her hands on her hips. "We can't..."

"You should go, Sufi, " Obi-Wan said quietly. "I'll care for your people. "

"Fine, " Sufi said, reluctant. "But for a few minutes, Obi-Wan, no longer. And while I'm gone you should dose your friend. He's greensick too, though he probably won't admit it. "

As the front door closed behind her, Obi-Wan eased out of his healing trance. Then he released his patient's hand and glanced up. "If you've come to say sorry merely to smooth things over, don't. "

Deep breath, deep breath. "I haven't. "

"Our presence in Torbel poses a clear and present danger to these people, Anakin. "

"I know. And I don't like it any more than you do, " he retorted. "But leaving aside the real chance of them being slaughtered if we lower the shield, consider this. If us holding out against those droids for even a few days gives our side a chance of getting here with a battle group, then how can we not do it?

In my opinion, the harm is in giving Durd two p.a.w.ns to use against the Republic. "

Obi-Wan smoothed the sleeping woman's hair back from her forehead and stood. "In your opinion. "

"That's right. I do have opinions, Obi-Wan. And every so often they're not going to he the same as yours. "

"Yes, Anakin, " said Obi-Wan, giving him the kind of look that had shriveled him when he was still a boy. "You've made that abundantly clear. "

So much for finding common ground. At the rate he was letting his temper get the better of him they'd soon be standing on opposite sides of a canyon. With a wrenching effort he pushed emotion aside.

"What's greensickness?"

"Damot.i.te poisoning, " said Obi-Wan, and pointed to a cupboard against the back wall, beside the sink. "You'll find a bottle of medicine and a dosing cup in there. Top shelf on the right. Help yourself. "

Anakin did as he was told, gagging as the vile concoction slid down his throat. Ignoring him, Obi-Wan moved to Arrad's cot, dropped into a crouch and rested his hand against the young man's forehead. Arrad looked peaceful enough-but was it the calm of healing or 105 the dreaded sloth of impending death? Obi-Wan's expression, remote and withdrawn, gave nothing away as he focused his energy inward.

Which I'm pretty sure means he's done talking to me right now.

And that meant the finding of common ground would have to wait. Perhaps the whole question would soon be irrelevant anyway. The villagers might vote to expel them.

Except I want to ask him if he's sensed anything in the Force. Does he have one of his bad feelings? Can be see bow this madness is going to unfold?

Apparently he'd have to wait for answers.

He rinsed the dosing cup in the sick house's basin, then returned it and the bottle to their rightful place. "For what it's worth I am sorry, Obi-Wan. I never meant to disrespect you. I just-I need to honor my own truths. "

Obi-Wan looked up. The light shafting through the window fell full across his face, bleaching him sand-pale. "I know you do, Anakin.

And I know you want to save these people. But the truth is not everyone can be saved. "

Anakin shook his head. "I don't believe that. "

"I know that, too. " Obi-Wan frowned, very faintly. "It's your greatest weakness... and your greatest strength. "

And just like that he was ambushed by regret. I can't leave it like this. I can't. "I don't want you angry with me, Obi-Wan. We won't get through this if you-if we..."

"I'm not angry. I don't get angry. Anger is a counterproductive emotion. "

Yeah. Right. "Disappointed then, " he said, because there was no use arguing. "Displeased. Whatever word you like. "

"Anakin. " Obi-Wan rubbed his temple. He had another headache brewing, bright sparkles of pain dancing in the Force. "As you say, we had a difference of opinion. And now the matter is out of our hands. Why don't you go and get started on your shield modifications, just in case? When I'm finished here I'll join you. "

He was right, they both had work to do. Only... "I really do think our message got through, Obi-Wan. I think Yoda's going to send help. "

Not looking at him, Obi-Wan nodded. "I hope so. "

The village square was crowded with people, arms waving and voices raised as they argued over what to do about the Jedi. Pausing on the sick house step, Anakin watched as Rikkard and Jaklin moved among them, soothing, nodding, trying to be the calm voices of reason. Then he headed for the power plant. The Force was bright with the villagers' emotions-anger and fright, uncertainty and resentment. And these were the people who would in the next short while decide his and Obi-Wan's fate, either granting them a reprieve or sending them to face imprisonment and probable death.

His life in the hands of strangers was bad enough. But worse was the ominously silent and motionless pack of droids on the other side of the shield. They didn't show any sign of firing. Oddly, he'd have been happier if they started shooting again.

To his surprise he found Devi still in the plant's monitoring station. After the long night and the terrible morning, she looked fragile with weariness. Only her rickety antigrav harness was keeping her upright.

"I thought you'd be out there with the others, " he said. "Debating what to do with me and Obi-Wan. "

She shrugged, one hand balancing her slight, ungainly body against a bank of monitors. "Rikkard knows what I think. "

Reading her was easy: fear and fury and grat.i.tude in equal measure. She was smiling. He smiled back. "Thank you, Devi. I wish I could promise nothing bad will happen to Torbel if we do stay, but..." His turn to shrug. "I can't. "

"Something bad will happen everywhere else if you don't, won't it?" she said. "Something bad is happening everywhere else, with the war. "

He was sick of painful truths. "It is. "

106.

Sighing, Devi smoothed her hand over the ranks of lights and switches that told her the story of Torbel's tenuous lifeline. "People say it doesn't matter, what's happening out there. They say it's got nothing to do with us on Lanteeb. Would you hate me if I said I used to say the same thing?"

"No. Of course not. "

"Well, I did, " she said softly, shame in her voice. "And then I met you and Obi-Wan. Now things are so complicated. "

So was that how it worked? Was that how history was altered? A chance meeting... a sudden crisis... two men in the wrong place at the right time, following their consciences and changing minds...

Is it as easy as that, to change the fate of a galaxy ?

"Nothing's ever as simple as it looks on the surface, Devi, " he said. "If I've learned nothing else as a Jedi, I've learned that. "

"Anakin..." She hesitated. "What's it like, being a Jedi?"

"Wonderful, " he said. "Terrifying. Overwhelming. "

"Oppressive?"

The question startled him. "Why would you say that?"

"I don't know. Just..." She blushed. "Sometimes I feel oppressed, knowing everyone relies on me to keep this power plant running. I thought maybe sometimes you felt like that, too. Everyone in the Republic expects you to save them, don't they?"

Her awkward, unexpected sympathy touched him. "I'm fine, Devi. Don't go losing sleep over me. " He tapped the nearest bank of monitors. "I've thought of some tricks to strengthen the storm shield. I'd like to get started, if it's all right with you. "

She smiled again, tired but willing. "Sure. I'll give you a hand. "

Nearly an hour later, Obi-Wan found them in the plant's substation, reconfiguring the liquid damot.i.te's flow pattern. Feeling his approach, catching a swift sense of his habitually disciplined emotions-worry, guilt, uncertainty, determination- Anakin turned. The look on Obi-Wan's face said it all.

"We can stay?"

"Yes, " said Obi-Wan, subdued. "Now- it's our job to see that the villagers don't regret their decision. "

"We won't, " said Devi. "We..." And then she gasped. "Oh, no... "

The droids were firing again.

Anakin turned to her. "We're safe, Devi. They can't get in. "

"For now, " she muttered. Then she straightened. "All right. Let's get back to work. "

Eventually they stopped listening to the relentless, crumping thud-thud-thud of blaster bolts. .h.i.tting the shield.

After several hours of checking the primary power conduits for short circuits and replacing the most suspect wiring, Obi-Wan returned to his self-imposed duties in the sick house. Three hours after that, Anakin sent Devi off to get some rest.

"We can't afford you collapsing, " he said, when she protested. "Now do as you're told. Please. "

It was the kind of high-handedness Padme deplored. Had she been here, she'd have scolded-but Devi gave in.

"Fine. I'll take a couple of hours, " she said. "And then I'll be back!"

Welcoming the solitude, keeping one eye on the monitors, he started the tedious task of cleaning yellow section's corroded secondary fuel-injection valves. As far as he could tell, they hadn't seen an oil bath in months. But even though the task was important, more than 107 anything he wanted to seek for Padme in the Force, to make sure she was all right. He didn't dare. Not with Obi-Wan so close. Her absence was an ache in his chest. Sometimes, missing her, he found it hard to breathe. And the thought of dying here, of leaving her alone in a dangerous galaxy, frightened him so much, his fingers fumbled the dirty- valves. Eyes closed, he conjured her beautiful face and the feel of her skin warm against his.

Be safe, my love. Stay out of trouble.

Devi made good on her threat and returned two hours later. "They've stopped firing, Anakin. Did you realize? What a relief. Now get some rest-and eat. I'll manage without you. "

He found a tired smile for her. "Yes, Teeba. "

Outside, the night air nipped at his face. Thin and cool, it reminded him of Tatooine after sunset. He looked up at the distant stars, widely scattered in this part of the galaxy. And then, anger stirring, he looked at the battle droids ma.s.sed beyond the storm shield. Had they run out of ammunition? Or did they now think their presence alone was enough to frighten Torbel into surrender?

Prowling toward the shield perimeter, Anakin raised his fist.

I wonder... I wonder...

"Don't, " said Obi-Wan, emerging from the shadows. "Not even you can destroy an entire army. And it's best we leave them unprovoked. "

Regretful, he relaxed his fingers. "I know. I just wish I could..."

"So do I, " said Obi-Wan, and smiled at him.

"Obi-Wan..."

Another smile. "Yes, Anakin. We're fine. Now come and eat, then get some rest. "

They turned their backs on Durd's army and walked away.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN.

Bail was bogged down in a finance subcommittee meeting when word blasted across the HoloNet News network.

Chandrila's Haiuta City suffers devastating bioweapon attack.

The machinery of the Senate came to a shuddering halt. Senators and their aides and their staff and their staff's staff milled in circles, dazed by the ferocity of the unexpected a.s.sault. In stunned silence they gathered in front of the sprawling Senate Building's enormous flatscreens and holoimagers and watched in horror as the HNE droidcams faithfully recorded and tight- beamed around the Republic images of suffering that made the service's war footage look like a romp in the park.

Standing with his senatorial colleagues in one of the open meeting areas near his office, Bail could feel nothing but a deep and freezing grief. The Separatist bioweapon was a monstrosity he was having difficulty comprehending, even as he witnessed its results-sentients of at least seven different species, of all ages, reduced to b.l.o.o.d.y slime and gritty froth. Beside him, his personal a.s.sistant began to weep.

Heedless of protocol, he slid his arm around Minala's shoulders. In all the years he'd known her, during all the crises they'd shared, she had never shed a tear in front of him. But this attack was unprecedented.

And then his comlink sounded. Answering it, he heard the blandly autocratic voice of Mas Amedda, summoning him to the Supreme Chancellor's office.

"Minala, " he said softly. "I have to go. And there are things I need you to do for me. "

She pulled herself together, breath by breath becoming the woman he relied on every day: rigorously efficient and self- contained Minala Lodilyn.

108.

"Of course, Senator. "

He and Minala returned to his offices. With the door closed and his privacy screens engaged, he turned to her. Stunned grief was fast surrendering to rage.

"Eyes only to Agent Varrak, " he said. "I want her on a needle job. I want to know how this happened before sundown today. Then contact Nathe at the Special Operations Brigade. I want the securecam footage from both of Chandrila's public s.p.a.ceports and all of its private docking bays-I don't care who owns them-as well as the footage of every street in a five-klick radius of the dead zone, deconstructed frame by frame. "

Minala nodded. "What about any incidental HoloNet News footage?"