friend.
"What? No..." The comlink crackled again. "... can't talk about it
over a comlink. We must meet. This involves the highest level... great
evil..."
"I know, Tyro!" Obi-Wan hissed into the comlink, exasperated. "Sano
Sauro!"
". only you can truly understand..." Tyro said through the static.
"Tyro? I can't pick up what you're saying! I'll get back to you as
soon as I can." Obi-Wan shut off the transmission. He saw a schematic
blueprint on the side of the tunnel, and he hurried over to examine it.
The blueprint was fashioned by raised laser lines that responded to
touch. When Obi-Wan touched one part of the blueprint, it lit up in far
more detail.
Just like the blueprint at the factory on Falleen.
They had used the same system to map the tunnels. Did that mean that
the tunnels in the factory on Falleen corresponded to the Senate tunnels?
Obi-Wan touched the area he was standing in. The tunnel design
appeared, with all the different branches.
He didn't recognize the design. It was different from the one on
Falleen. But that didn't mean that another quadrant wouldn't match. If he
found the quadrant that they'd built on Falleen, he'd know which way Zan
Arbor and Omega were going.
Which meant he would have to flash through each quadrant of the Senate
water system until he found the one that matched. Obi-Wan scanned the menu.
There were five hundred and seventy-two separately designated quadrants to
the system. It would take too long for him to stand here and try to match
them.
Obi-Wan studied the tunnel around him in frustration. The answer was
here. Somewhere. There was something he wasn't seeing.
He closed his eyes, remembering the tunnel on Falleen. Had there been
a clue there that he had missed?
In his mind, he saw the tunnel he was standing in and matched it to
the one on Falleen. Something was different, he knew. What? Suddenly, he
realized something crucial.
Vents.
The Senate water tunnel had no vents. Of course not. It had valves to
regulate water flow.
The tunnel on Falleen had vents.
Obi-Wan bent forward and accessed the grid again. He saw on the menu
that the air and water tunnels were stacked on top of one another. There
were several linking passageways for workers to get from one to the other.
He pressed the key for the air tunnel quadrant nearest to where he was
standing.
It was the same grid.
Obi-Wan realized then what he should have realized on Falleen. Zan
Arbor had attempted to transmit the Zone through water to a large
population. She had failed.
TRACK A EXPERIMENT VOIDED.
TRACK B EXPERIMENT BEGUN.
Track A had been transmission through water. It had failed. Four
deaths were the result.
Track B had been transmission through air. Obi-Wan's conclusions
thudded through his brain with sickening logic.
Zan Arbor and Omega knew he was expecting them to attack through
water.
They had wanted the Senate water tunnels to be shut down.
It was their way in. And while the water tunnels were being searched,
they would release the Zone into the air.
He studied the blueprint again, then whipped out his comlink as he
ran. He could not get through. He was too deep in the system now.
He ran along the tunnel until he saw the light indicating a pass-
through to the air tunnels. He accessed the door and rushed through, then
jumped on a constantly moving platform that took him up to the air
transport systems. Obi-Wan raced through a circular door into the air
tunnel.
He remembered the blueprint perfectly. If he took a left turn, then a
right, he would arrive in the main air tunnel. The one that went to the
main Senate chamber.
He ran down the tunnel, his footsteps making no noise. Before long he
heard a faint humming noise.
A speeder bike.
He took the next turn and saw them. Zan Arbor and Omega, traveling at
low speed through the tunnel.
He accessed the Force and leaped, throwing himself through the air,
straight at the speeder.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Obi-Wan hit the end of the vehicle and grabbed on to the edge of the
backseat. The speeder lurched with the impact and collided with the wall in
a shower of sparks.
In the pilot seat, Granta Omega took a backward glance and saw him. A
look of rage transfixed his features into a snarling mask.
"Grants, watch out!" Zan Arbor screamed.
The tunnel curved and now the speeder was heading straight for the
wall. Omega jerked the controls. The rear fishtailed wildly, tossing Obi-
Wan back and forth. He scrambled toward the third seat in the rear.
Zan Arbor took out a blaster. Obi-Wan activated his lightsaber while
she lifted it to aim. He swung, deflecting fire, but it was hard to hold on
with one hand and he knew he wouldn't be able to do it for long.
"Faster!" she shouted to Omega. With the other hand, she took another
blaster out of her belt. "Just drive!"
To his surprise, she did not aim the second blaster at him. Omega
piloted the speeder bike closer to the walls of the tunnel, and she took
aim at the side.
At the vent.
Obi-Wan realized she wasn't holding an ordinary blaster. It was likely
packed with pellets. She was going to shoot into the vent. And right about
now, if he remembered the blueprints correctly, they were on a direct line
to the main Senate chamber.
"Get closer!" Zan Arbor screamed. She half-stood, half-crouched on the
seat, lining up her shot, ignoring Obi-Wan for now. She would only get one
chance at the vent.
But Obi-Wan was well aware that Omega had two problems: He had to get
close enough for Zan Arbor to shoot, but he had to keep Obi-Wan off balance
enough to prevent him from reaching Zan Arbor.
The Force hummed in the tunnel and around him. Time slowed down. Only
a second remained until Zan Arbor would take her shot, but that second
broke down into smaller pieces of time that Obi-Wan could use.
He could see the vent approaching. He waited until he knew Omega would
have to get the speeder closer to the wall. At the moment Omega made the
adjustment, Obi-Wan threw himself forward, knocking Zan Arbor off position.
With a swift, precise kick, Obi-Wan dislodged the blaster from her hand. It
flew out, bouncing against the tunnel wall.
Zan Arbor crouched in the bottom of the speeder, her face contorted in
a scream.
"Do it now!" she screamed at Omega.
Of course. Omega would have a blaster, too. He always had a backup.
Omega threw the speeder into reverse. It was careening now, almost out
of control, but his arm was steady as he aimed the blaster at the vent.
Again, time moved for Obi-Wan just as he wanted it to move, with
spaces in between the seconds for him to exploit. He reached over and
pushed the speed lever forward. The speeder went into maximum velocity in
resverse.
Obi-Wan was prepar
ed, but Omega and Zan Arbor were thrown forward with
the lurch of speed. Omega let go of the blaster. Obi-Wan reached up and
snatched it out of the air, then tucked it into his utility belt.
Omega tried to push the engines into forward again, but the speeder
finally protested and stalled. The engine cut out and the speeder spun
crazily, then bounced on the bottom of the tunnel and slammed against the
wall.
Omega was already jumping out as the speeder bike died. Obi-Wan leaped
after him, but found himself suddenly contending with a dozen miniature
seeker droids hammering blaster fire at him. Omega had released them from a
compartment on the speeder even as it came to its final stop.
The first dozen were joined by another dozen. Then another. And, Obi-
Wan saw in dismay, another. The blaster fire kept Obi-Wan moving, but he
could not get anywhere. He had to leap and defend himself against the
blaster fire while taking down the elusive droids, who were now between him
and the two criminals.
Zan Arbor ran toward Omega. "Let's move on to the exit plan."
Omega stood, watching Obi-Wan contend with the droids. Obi-Wan heard
him clearly. "I want to see him die. Not even a Jedi can escape this many
seekers."
"Don't be a fool. Come on! Security will be all over us in another
minute!" Zan Arbor started to run.
Taking a last look at Obi-Wan, Omega grinned. "Have fun."
Then he turned and started after Zan Arbor. Obi-Wan leaped into the
air, barely missing blaster crossfire. The tunnel was filling with smoke
from the heavy fire. He began to regret charging off alone to hunt Omega.
Maybe he'd been wrong not to wait for backup...
Jedi do not second-guess.
Especially when they are in a tunnel with thirty-three flying, firing
droids.
Three droids in one blow. But there were thirty others, and it would
take time.
Instead of running forward, Obi-Wan retreated. He dashed back to the
speeder and threw himself underneath it. His face was directly against the
hot metal, his arms and legs squeezed inside so that the blasters could get
not direct shots at him.
He heard the blaster fire rake the speeder, front to back, searching
for his position. He waited until he heard the distinctive sound of several
rounds of blaster fire penetrate the fuel tank.
He had enough time, he had more than enough time, thanks to the Force,
but Obi-Wan felt the hair on the back of his neck singe as he flew through
the air, escaping the exploding speeder bike. The fireball took out twenty-
eight seeker droids at once. Obi-Wan slashed the remaining two as he moved
through the air, propelled by the Force and the extremely hot air thrown
off by the explosion.
He landed on his feet - singed, but fine.
He started to run, whipping out his comlink as he moved. He knew where
they were going. The Senate landing platform.
He tried his comlink, but the heat of the blast had fused it. Obi-Wan
tossed it away as he doubled his speed. The landing platform must be ahead.
Omega and Zan Arbor had mapped out a plan that would get them inside the
air tunnel and then out of the Senate as fast as possible.
Obi-Wan saw an air vent dangling off its hinges. He rushed forward and
peered inside. Only a few meters of crawl space separated him from the vast
landing platform. He crawled through.
The landing platform was kilometers long, big enough to park space
freighters in, though most often it was used for the smaller transports of
the Senators and important guests. Vehicles were parked in orderly rows.
There was no sign of Omega or Zan Arbor. They were undoubtedly racing
toward their transport and he could waste an hour looking for them and
never find them. Omega would escape again. He had prevented the Zone from
penetrating the Senate, and had stopped the assassination of Palpatine - he
hoped. Omega was leaving in defeat.
None of that mattered. Defeat or not, Omega was still escaping.
Obi-Wan gathered the Force around him. He had never needed it more. To
his surprise, he felt it move like a gathering storm, already powerful but
hinting at the greater strength to come.
Anakin.
His apprentice moved out from an aisle of transports, racing toward
him. Siri was by his side. "Palpatine?" he asked Anakin.
"I left him with Ferus," Anakin replied. "Omega?"
order! Of course, Ferus must have arrived, and the situation had changed.
But he had wanted Anakin to stay with the Chancellor because if he had
missed something, Anakin would still have a chance to foil an attack.
"We tracked you through the tunnel," Siri said.
Anakin was turning, his eyes raking the platform. Obi-Wan felt the
Force build. He reached out, looking at the platform, searching for the
dark Force that was here, concealed, trying to hide.
"There." Anakin pointed. "Third aisle over. Thirty-seven transports
down."
They raced down a parallel aisle, hoping to surprise them.
They stealthily moved around a gleaming transport. Across the aisle,
Omega and Zan Arbor were already seated in the cockpit of a sleek space
cruiser. Omega was quickly instituting takeoff procedures.
No time for delay or to make a plan. The Jedi charged. Anakin accessed
the Force and leaped straight onto the windscreen, startling Zan Arbor, who
screamed. Obi-Wan landed on the roof and leaned over. He withdrew his
lightsaber, ready to cut a hole in the door panel below. Siri leaped up
next to him.
"It really gets tiresome to be continually underestimated."
The voice was Omega's. He was transmitting outside the cockpit.
Grimly, Obi-Wan started to cut.
"Do you really think you have foiled my plans, simply by showing up
here? If you cut through that door panel, Obi-Wan, you will kill thousands
of Senators."
Obi-Wan continued to cut.
"Obi-Wan," Siri whispered.
"That's right, Master Tachi. This will be a day the Senate will long
remember. A bloodbath."
"He has a transmitting device," Anakin said from his position outside
the windscreen.
Obi-Wan stopped his effort.
"Ah, better. Let me explain. I have programmed hundreds of seeker
droids with the vital information to key Senators as well as to Palpatine.
All I have to do is push the button."
Obi-Wan felt rage build up inside him. He could not, would not let
Omega blackmail him into letting him escape. But he had no doubt that Omega
was telling the truth. It was similar to the way he had orchestrated the
death of Jedi Master Yaddle.
He felt the Force move, a boiling mass that caused him and Siri to
jump to their feet on top of the cruiser. Anakin was up, hanging in midair
for the second it took him to slash through the windscreen directly in
front of a shocked Omega. He jumped directly on top of the melted material,
material that must have been too hot to stand on. Zan Arbor screamed as the
melted windscreen fell into her lap.
Obi-Wan had never seen such speed. Even he could not fully track his
apprentice's movement. Balancing on the lip of the cruiser, faster than
sight, Anakin reached in and grabbed the transmitter from Omega's clutches.
"Whoops, no more button," he hissed at Omega.
With a cry of rage, Omega triggered the powerful engines. The cruiser
shot up so fast all the Jedi slipped off. They fell to the ground as Omega
took off in a burst of speed, clipping a cruiser's wing as he went and
knocking over a row of swoops and disrupting traffic in the nearest sky
lanes.
Obi-Wan watched from the floor, momentarily stunned.
Anakin looked at the transmitter in his hand.
"He lied," he said. "The transmitter is locked in position. He has
already programmed the droids."
CHAPTER TWENTY
"The fastest way back to the Senate chamber is though the tunnels,"
Siri said.
"We don't know the way," Anakin said.
"If I know Ferus, he does," Siri said crisply.