bother him as it would have the day before. He would get there.
They had walked to the training site, and Soara had already left for
the Temple. She rarely said good-bye. Anakin looked down at his tunic and
made a face. There was a ragged tear down the side, and it was stained with
sweat and filth. He had already gone through five tunics since he'd begun
training with Soara.
He started to trudge toward the lift tube that would bring him to the
Senatorial level. From there he could take a series of connecting walkways
to the Temple. It would be good to walk and see the morning bustle begin.
He felt as though he had been facing nothing but a blank wall for hours.
Anakin grinned. He had.
Soara seemed to know every hidden corner of the seamier side of
Coruscant. Over the past few days he'd climbed over junk heaps and through
half-demolished buildings, crawled through tunnels, and even fought a
battle with training droids in an airspeeder garage. He'd fallen into a vat
of oil. That was a lesson he wouldn't forget.
Anakin zoomed up on the turbolift with a crowd of workers. At least he
was too tired to dwell on his disappointment that Obi-Wan had left for
Nierport Seven without him. His Master had assured him that he was going
only for research purposes. When and if Obi-Wan decided to pursue Granta
Omega, he would bring his Padawan with him. Obi-Wan had promised that.
Yet Anakin knew that Obi-Wan might run into surprises on Nierport
Seven. He might find a clue he had to pursue immediately. He might not have
time to send for Anakin. He could be left behind after all.
There was nothing he could do about it, however. The turbolift doors
opened and Anakin stepped out, carried along with the crowd for a few steps
until he broke away. The sun was rising now, the pink rays flashing on the
cruisers in the space lanes and the buildings surrounding him.
He chose the least crowded walkway, the one that would bring him down
the center of the fountains that lined one quadrant of the Senate complex.
The coolness of the water freshened the air. He felt the droplets hit his
skin. His weariness lifted, and he began to think about the morning meal
ahead of him at the Temple.
A man sat on the edge of the fountain, his face lifted toward the
spray. Then he turned and saw Anakin and waved.
For a moment, Anakin couldn't place him. Then he realized it was Tic
Verdun, one of the scientists from Haariden. Verdun was now dressed in a
cloak made of deep blue veda cloth. He looked completely different from the
weary scientist he had met on Haariden.
"I'm so glad to see you!" Tic said, hurrying toward Anakin. "At this
exact moment I was thinking of you. I didn't want to be forward, but I was
wishing I could go to the Temple and inquire about the young girl."
"Darra will be fine," Anakin said. "The blaster bolts carried a
chemical compound, but the medics were able to find the antidote."
"That's good news," Tic said warmly. "I will see the others at the
hearing, and they'll be happy to hear it, too. We've submitted our final
report and now we have to answer questions from the committee." He sighed.
"Too bad the expedition ended badly. We didn't get to do the experiments on
Haariden that we hoped. We could have put a stop to that bloody civil war
if we had."
"How?" Anakin asked.
"The two tribes are fighting over possible titanite deposits," Tic
explained. "If we had found exactly where the titanite was and how much
there was, the Senate might have been able to come up with a plan to divide
it equally. Instead, the two tribes are fighting over something that might
not even exist."
"That's too bad," Anakin said.
Tic nodded, discouraged. "The worst part of it is, there was another
scientist on Haariden who was also conducting experiments. If we could talk
to him, maybe he had found out more. But nobody can seem to locate him."
"Another scientist? Who?" Anakin asked.
"Granta Omega," Tic Verdun said. "We ran into him on Haariden."
"You mean you know him?" Anakin asked, amazed.
interest on Anakin's face. "Why do you ask?"
"Because we're looking for him," Anakin said. "The Jedi would like to
talk to him, too."
"Popular fellow." Tic frowned. "You know, I'm here on Coruscant with a
group of friends. Some of them are scientists, some involved in business.
We're having a kind of reunion. Most of them know Omega, too. Or they've
met him, at least. Maybe if we put our heads together, we could come up
with a lead for you. There's a chance we could know things you don't know."
"That wouldn't be hard," Anakin said ruefully. "We don't know much."
"I'll talk to them and see if I can come up with anything," Tic said.
"They would be happy to help the Jedi, I am sure."
Anakin agreed enthusiastically. He said good-bye to Tic and hurried
toward the Temple. He wouldn't contact Obi-Wan about this, he decided. Not
yet. First he would compile information.
Wouldn't it be amazing if he were to be the one to find Granta Omega?
CHAPTER TEN
Nierport Seven was within the Core, but its desolation reminded Obi-
Wan of an Outer Rim planet. It was a cold, barren moon with only one small
settlement. Nierport's meager vegetation appeared to be a wild bush with
red thorns well over a meter long. It was said the bushes bloomed with
beautiful violet flowers in the summer, but the summer only lasted a month.
The rest of the year was numbingly cold and bleak. The buildings were built
with thick blocks of stone designed to keep out the cold wind.
Nierport Seven was one of seven moons in a small system that was
notable only because it was a convenient refueling stop on the way to
Coruscant. Most of the intragalactic travelers chose to refuel on the
planet Eeropha, which at least had several small cities. But Nierport Seven
was able to support a refueling stop of its own and a few small
guesthouses, all serving the kind of pilots who could not afford to
scrounge up even the low prices Eeropha charged.
At least the moon was small, Obi-Wan told himself. The population was
clustered around the refueling station. It did not take him long to locate
several people who had known Granta Omega.
That was the good news. The bad news was that no one knew very much
about him.
There was only one caf© on Nierport Seven, and it was next to the
refueling station. The caf© was called Food and Drink, and the owner turned
out to be as cut and dry as the title of his establishment.
"Never knew him personally. Heard of him. He left." That was all the
owner had to say.
"Is there anyone else who would know him?" Obi-Wan asked. "Anybody who
still lives here? He left seven years ago."
"Most folks leave in three years," the owner said. "Can't take any
more."
Obi-Wan waited. He had learned this from Qui-Gon. Most beings would
come up with additional information if you just stayed quiet.
"Might try tha
t trio in the corner," the owner said gruffly. "They've
stuck around. They were born here and they'll die here."
The three natives of Nierport sat around the table. They were wearing
grease-stained clothes that told Obi-Wan they had just finished a shift at
the refueling station.
Obi-Wan nodded a hello. They looked at him warily. "Jedi?" one of them
said. "Never seen your kind here."
Obi-Wan eyed their empty glasses. "Anyone for a refill?"
Their empty glasses were pushed away and they looked at him hopefully.
Obi-Wan signaled for another round. "And I'll have the same," he told the
bartender.
The drinks arrived. They clinked the smeared glasses.
Obi-Wan peered at the red liquid. "What is this?"
"Claing juice," one of the men said. "It's native to the system. We
extract the juice from the thorns of the native bush."
Obi-Wan took a small sip. The juice seared his lips and tongue and
then burned like blazing fire going down. He managed not to cough, but his
eyes streamed tears.
The three men laughed uproariously.
"Claing can even bring a Jedi to his knees," one of them chortled.
"I'll say," Obi-Wan choked out.
His streaming eyes and burning throat were worth it. He had passed a
test. The trio decided to befriend him. He asked about Granta Omega, and
they nodded.
"He was a boy when he left," one said. "Went to study somewhere, I
think. His mother Tura died two years later. He never came back to see her.
"
"Not even for the funeral," someone else said. "What about his father?
" Obi-Wan asked.
"Never knew him," the first man said. "Tura Omega showed up one day,
got a job at the refueling station, had this three-year-old boy. Nobody
asks questions on Nierport Seven."
"Except for Jedi," another one said, and this caused them great
amusement.
"I could show you his house," the first man offered. He licked his
lips. "I could use another claing, though." "I'll buy you one afterward,"
Obi-Wan said.
They walked out into the numbing cold. The ground was brittle with
frost. They walked through the main street and then turned down a smaller
road. It wasn't far to the outskirts of the settlement. The man pointed to
a small house. It looked no different from the others. It was built with
rounded walls and seemed to hunch against the wind.
"That there is his house. A space pilot owns it now. Uses it on
stopovers. Lots of pilots do that here. It's cheap and convenient."
Obi-Wan peered into the window. The house was empty except for a stove
and a bedroll. The room was small and low-ceilinged. Even with furniture it
would look bleak. There was nothing to see here. There was nothing to
learn. It was typical of his search for Granta Omega.
"You said his mother worked at the refueling station?" Obi-Wan asked.
"Did she have a good job?"
The man laughed. "If you call hauling lubricant hoses around all day
for no money a good job."
"So how did she manage to send her son to study off-planet?" Obi-Wan
wondered.
"She had nothing to do with it," the man said. "The boy had
brilliance. Everybody knew that. She found him a sponsor on Eeropha. He
sent him to a scientific institute."
"Do you know who the sponsor was?" Obi-Wan asked. "Does he still live
on Eeropha?"
"He lives on Coruscant now. Big fancy person now. He's the Senator
from Eeropha. Name is Sano Sauro," the man said.
Obi-Wan felt a chill. He knew Sano Sauro. He was once a prosecutor.
Ten years before, Obi-Wan had to undergo an investigation into a fellow
Padawan's death.
Sauro had grilled him mercilessly about Bruck Chun's fall.
Obi-Wan had since found peace about Bruck's death, but he wasn't
looking forward to meeting up with Sauro again.
He pressed some credits in the man's hand. "Thank you. Buy your
friends another claing."
The man grinned. "Sure you don't want to join us?"
Obi-Wan winced. "I don't think I'd survive."
The man took off. Obi-Wan looked down the street, then across the
frozen wasteland. He could understand a boy wanting to leave this place. He
could understand how poverty might mark him. But why Granta Omega wished
harm on the Jedi, he still didn't know. He had a feeling that if he solved
that mystery, he would find the man.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Anakin had expected that after his breakthrough his next practice
session with Soara would bring him to the next level. Instead, she had him
do more simple drills. At least this time he did not have to leave the
Temple.
He had to activate his lightsaber from different positions, again and
again. He had to practice a midair thrust. He had to practice a double
reversal. He had to practice moves he had done a thousand times before.
Not once did Soara mention the spaces between particles, or
concentration, or the Force. She just repeated, "Again," over and over
until he thought he would break his lightsaber hilt in two.
And then the session was finished. Anakin leaned over, trying to catch
his breath. Disappointment swelled in him and he felt as though he were
choking on it.
After getting a glimpse of the fighter he could be, he was reduced to
being a student again.
He slammed his training lightsaber back in his belt. What he needed
was something to eat and a fresh tunic. He took the long way back to his
quarters in order to compose himself.
The illumination banks were mimicking dusk as he passed by the lake.
The green water looked inviting. The splash of the waterfall in the deep
pool was tinted pink. He thought about taking a quick swim, but he was too
hungry. Soara had kept him a long time, and he had missed the midday meal.
He had a feeling she had kept him deliberately. She wanted him to feel
hungry and empty. She wanted to see how far he could push himself. He hoped
he had passed the test.
Then he realized that his test was yet to come.
He was tired. So tired that he almost missed the blur at the corner of
his vision. A lightsaber had been activated and someone hurled at him from
a tree branch above. It was another one of Soara's sudden attacks. She had
enlisted another Padawan to surprise him
Anakin forgot his fatigue and jumped back just in time. To his dismay,
he saw that his attacker was Ferus Olin.
If only it had been anyone else! Anakin didn't like to see Ferus under
the best of circumstances. He certainly didn't want to fight him when he
was tired and hungry.
Soara appeared on top of the waterfall where she could watch. He knew
he had no choice. As Ferus came at him with a somersaulting reversal,
Anakin kicked into fight mode. She had sent the best Padawan fighter in the
Temple against him. She wanted to see what he would do.
He would win.
What Soara could not know was that this time, friendship would not
gentle him. Not with Ferus.
Ferus was starting out slowly. He would fight smart. He would save his
energ
y and pace himself. Anakin decided to surprise him.
He launched an assault so fierce that he saw Ferus's eyes flare with
astonishment. Ferus retreated fast, needing to collect himself. Anakin came
after him, swinging his training lightsaber without pause. He almost
touched him, but Ferus twisted away just in time, turning the movement into
a twisting leap. He surprised Anakin by immediately swinging back a
backward blow. Anakin ducked, feeling the whistle of air created by the
power of Ferus's swipe.
Ferus was tall and solid, but he was also agile. He was expert at
using the ground.
Unlike Tru, he used both hands equally well. The rocky terrain was
perfect for his style.
He jumped, spun, and leaped, keeping Anakin off guard. Now he was
driving the battle. Anakin did not know how Ferus had regained the upper
hand, but he wasn't happy about it. He was reacting to Ferus's moves
instead of the other way around. What was Soara thinking?
Anakin feinted to his left and then leaped straight ahead. To his
dismay, Ferus dropped to the floor and rolled underneath Anakin, then
sprang up in one smooth movement. He was behind him now. Anakin had only a