"Jinzler," his father said. "Jinzler."

"Jedi Jissler," the boy tried again.

"Or we could just make it Jedi Lorana," Lorana suggested. "You have a question for me?"

The boy threw an uncertain look up at his mother's face. Then, steeling himself, he looked back at Lorana. "Master Ma'Ning said only the people he called were going to be Jedi," he said. "I wanted to know if I could be one, too."

Lorana glanced up at the woman, noting the tight lines in her face. "I'm afraid it's not something any of us has a say in," she said. "If you aren't born with Force sensitivity, we can't train you to be a Jedi. I'm sorry."

"Well, what if I got better?" Jorad persisted. "He said the rest of us were close, and it's been a long time since they tested us. Maybe I got better."

"Maybe you did," Lorana said. In theory, of course, he couldn't. Force sensitivity could be nurtured, but not created.

On the other hand, C'baoth had said these were the families who had low but non-negligible sensitivity. It was at least theoretically possible that the boy's testing had been inaccurate. "I tell you what," she said.

"I'll talk to Master Ma'Ning about having you tested again, all right? If you've gotten better, we'll see if we can get you into the program."

Jorad's eyes lit up. "Okay," he said. "When can I do it?"

"I'll talk to Master Ma'Ning," she repeated, wondering if she'd already promised more than she could deliver. "He'll set it up with your father."

"Jorad?" the boy's mother prompted.

"Thank you," Jorad said dutifully.

"You're welcome," Lorana said, standing up and looking at the baby in her mother's arm. "Is this your sister?"

"Yes, that's Katarin," Jorad said. "She mostly just cries a lot."

"That's what babies do best," Lorana agreed, looking at the mother and then Dillian. "Thank you all for coming."

"No problem," Dillian said, taking his son's hand and stepping to the door. It opened, and he ushered the boy out into the corridor. "Thank you again, Jedi Jinzler."

"Jedi Lorana," Jorad corrected him.

Almost unwillingly, Dillian smiled. "Jedi Lorana," he amended. Holding out a hand to his wife, he led her out behind Jorad-"There you are," an irritated voice called down the corridor.

Lorana stepped out into the corridor behind the others. Striding toward them was a young man with dirt.w.a.ter-colored hair, his mouth set in a thin line as he glared at Dillian. "What the brix are you doing here, Pressor?"

"It was a special meeting," Dillian said, gesturing toward Lorana. "This is Jedi Lorana Jinzler-"

"Since when do you skip out in the middle of a duty shift for a meeting?"

the man cut in. "In case you've forgotten, it's a little difficult to do a hyperdrive reactor communication deep-check without the hyperdrive man actually being there."

"I know," Pressor said, giving Jorad's hand to his mother. "Sorry-I thought we'd be done sooner than this."

"Well, you weren't." The man shifted his glare to Lorana. "Is this going to be a regular occurrence around here, Jedi Jinzler?"

"What do you mean, ah . . . ?"

"Chas Uliar," the man said shortly. "I mean you Jedi coming in and messing with our work schedules."

"I'm not sure what you mean," Lorana said.

"Two days ago Master Ma'Ning pulled everyone off systems control for a coolant-leak drill," Uliar said. "Never mind that we've already done five of them in the past month. Now you're calling special bounce-of-the-moment meetings that pull people off important duty stations. What's on line for tomorrow? Escape pod practice?"

"Is there a problem, Uliar?" Ma'Ning's voice came from behind them.

Lorana turned as Ma'Ning stepped out into the corridor. "I just want to get my day's work done in peace so that I can sleep the sleep of the virtuous," Uliar said with a hint of sarcasm. "Or do I need to make a formal requisition for that?"

"Not at all," Ma'Ning a.s.sured him. "Pressor, you're free to return to your station."

"Thank you," Pressor said.

"And in the future we'll try to be more considerate of the various work schedules," Ma'Ning added to Uliar.

"Fine," Uliar said, a little less truculently. "Come on, Pressor. Let's try to get this done before the next shift comes on."

He headed back down the corridor at a fast walk. "See you later," Pressor said, touching his wife's arm and then hurrying after him.

"Good-bye, Jedi Lorana," Jorad said gravely, looking up at her. "I hope we'll see you again."

"I'm sure you will, Jorad," Lorana said, smiling at the boy. "You take good care of your little sister, okay?"

"I will." Holding his mother's hand tightly, he headed the other direction down the corridor.

"Sounds like an irritable sort," Lorana commented to Ma'Ning.

"Who, Uliar?" The Master shrugged. "A bit. Still, he's got a point about us changing things around with no notice. You might want to speak to Master C'baoth about that."

"I thought he said you'd called for the coolant-leak drill."

"Under Master C'baoth's orders." Ma'Ning smiled wryly. "And he's right-we do have an escape pod drill scheduled for later this week."

Lorana nodded. "I'll talk to him," she promised.

They were six standard days out of Yaga Minor and had stopped for a routine navigational check in Lonnaw system when the trouble started.

A crowd had already gathered in the Dreadnaught-2 aft pa.s.senger section when Obi-Wan arrived. "Let me through, please," he said, starting to ease his way through the ma.s.s of people.

"Look-there's another one," a Rodian voice muttered.

"Another one what?" Obi-Wan asked, turning in that direction.

"Another Jedi," the Rodian said, looking him square in the face.

"Easy, Feeven," a man nearby cautioned. "Don't start pointing blame."

"Can you tell me what happened?" Obi-Wan asked.

"What happened is thieves in the night," the Rodian bit out. "Thieves with robes and lightsabers."

"Feeven, shut up," the man said. He looked at Obi-Wan, lowered his eyes.

"They came for someone's kid, that's all."

"In the middle of the night," Feeven insisted.

"What night?" the man scoffed. "This is s.p.a.ce. It's always night here."

"The family was sleeping," Feeven countered. "That makes it night."

"Thank you," Obi-Wan said, easing away from them and continuing on through the crowd. Middle of ship's night or not, perhaps he ought to give C'baoth a call.

There was no need. He reached the open area in the center of the crowd to find that C'baoth was already there. "Master C'baoth," he said, taking in the rest of the scene with a glance. Standing in the doorway to one of the rooms was a hulking figure of a man, his hands gripping the sides of the doorway as if daring anyone to pa.s.s. Behind him in the room was a frantic-eyed woman kneeling on the floor clutching a young boy tightly to her. The child himself looked frightened but also oddly intent.

C'baoth half turned to frown at him. "What are you doing here?" he demanded. "You should be sleeping."

"I heard there was some commotion," Obi-Wan said, crossing to the doorway. "h.e.l.lo," he said to the man.

"You're not taking him," the other said flatly. "I don't care how many of you there are, you're not taking him."

"You have no choice," C'baoth said flatly. "As Jedi Master Evrios explained to you nearly a week ago. Your son is a potential Jedi, and he's agreed to enter training. That means he comes with us."

"Says who?" the man retorted. "Ship's law says decisions about children are made by their parents. I looked it up."

"Ship's law wasn't written to cover this situation," C'baoth said. "It therefore doesn't apply."

"So now you just throw out the law when it doesn't suit you?"

"Of course we don't throw it out," C'baoth said. "We merely rewrite it."

"Who does?" the man demanded. "You Jedi?"

"Captain Pakmillu is the final legal authority aboard Outbound Flight,"

Obi-Wan put in. "We'll call him and ask-"

"He may be the final legal authority," C'baoth said, cutting him off with a warning glare. "That remains to be seen."

Obi-Wan felt an uncomfortable tingling across his skin. "What do you mean?"

"Outbound Flight is first and foremost a Jedi project," C'baoth reminded him. "Jedi requirements therefore supersede all other authority."

Obi-Wan took a careful breath, suddenly aware of the people silently pressing around them. "May I see you for a moment, Master C'baoth? In private?"

"Later," C'baoth said, craning his neck over the crowd. "Captain Pakmillu has arrived."

Obi-Wan turned to see the crowd opening up to let Pakmillu through. Even dragged out of bed as he must have been, the Mon Cal's uniform was still immaculate. "Master C'baoth," he said, his voice even more gravelly than usual. "Master Ken.o.bi. What is the problem?"

"They want to take my son away from me," the man in the door bit out.

"The boy is to enter Jedi training," C'baoth said calmly. "His father seeks to deny him that right."

"What right?" the man snapped. "His right? Our right? Your right?"

"The Jedi are the guardians of peace," C'baoth reminded him. "As such-"

"Maybe in the Republic you are," the man cut in. "But that's why we're leaving the Republic, isn't it? To get away from arbitrary rules and capricious justice and-"

"Perhaps we should wait until morning to discuss this," Obi-Wan interrupted. "I think we'll all be calmer and clearer of mind then."

"There's no need for that," C'baoth insisted.

"Master Ken.o.bi speaks wisdom," Pakmillu said. "We'll meet tomorrow after morning meal in Dreadnaught-Two's forward command conference room." His eyes rolled to first the man and then C'baoth. "There you'll both have an opportunity to present your arguments, as well as relevant articles of Republic law."

C'baoth exhaled loudly. "Very well, Captain," he said. "Until tomorrow."

With a final look at the man and boy, he strode off, the crowd opening up even faster for him than it had for Pakmillu. Obi-Wan followed, making it through the gap before it closed again.

For the first hundred meters they walked in silence. Obi-Wan was starting to wonder if C'baoth even knew he had tagged along when the other finally spoke. "You shouldn't have done that, Master Ken.o.bi," C'baoth rumbled.

"Jedi should never argue in public."

"I was unaware that trying to clarify a situation qualified as arguing,"

Obi-Wan said, stretching to the Force for patience. "Though if it comes to that, a Jedi should never deliberately antagonize the people he's supposed to be serving, either."

"Taking a child into Jedi training is not antagonism."

"Doing so in the middle of the night is," Obi-Wan countered. "There's no reason that couldn't have waited until morning." He paused. "Unless, of course, you were deliberately trying to force the issue of control."

He'd hoped the other would instantly and hotly deny it. But C'baoth merely looked sideways at him. "And why would I do that?"

"I don't know," Obi-Wan said. "Particularly since the Code specifically forbids Jedi to rule over others."

"Does it? Does it really?"

Obi-Wan felt a tingling at the back of his neck. "We've already had this discussion," he reminded the other.

"And my position remains the same as it was then," C'baoth said. "The Jedi Order has acc.u.mulated many rules over the centuries that are clearly erroneous. Why should this not be one of them?"

"Because Jedi aren't equipped to rule," Obi-Wan said. "Because seeking power is the dark side."

"How do you know?" C'baoth demanded. "When was the last time we were ever given the opportunity to try?"

"I know because the Code says so," Obi-Wan said flatly. "We're here to guide, not become dictators."