Jedi Apprentice(10)

“You gave up so much for us,” she said sadly.

“And look what I received,” Obi-Wan replied, swinging his arm to encompass Zehava.

Laughter bubbled out from Cerasi. “Sure. A destroyed city, bad food, no heat, a home in a tunnel, a job disarming fanatics, and -“

“Friends,” Obi-Wan finished.

Cerasi smiled. “Friends.”

The large, two-story building where some of the Melida holdouts were living seemed peaceful under the sharp blue sky. It looked perfectly intact from the front, but as they carefully circled it, keeping out of sight, they saw that the back had been completely demolished. A repair job had been attempted with a combination of boards and tough plastoid sheets.

There was one thing odd about the house, Obi-Wan noted. There was no back door. He pointed it out to Cerasi.

“Only one entrance to defend,” she said,

squinting up at the roof. “That way we can’t surprise them.”

“I don’t want to surprise them,” Obi-Wan said. “I have to give them the chance to surrender their arms. I can’t go in shooting.” He looked at the house, his hand drifting toward his belt. It was still a surprise to feel a vibroblade there instead of a lightsaber.

“We need a lookout on the street,” Obi-Wan continued. “That’s you.”

For a moment, Cerasi seemed about to protest. Then she nodded. She held out her hand, palm out. Obi-Wan put his up against hers, as close as he could without touching. “Good luck.”

“We don’t need luck.”

“Everybody needs luck.”

“Not us.”

Obi-Wan ducked around the corner, followed by his squad of six boys and girls, the best fighters the Young had.

He knocked on the door. He heard movement behind it, but nothing happened. He leaned closer to the door and shouted, “We are the Young Security Squad. You are ordered by the acting governor of Melida/Daan to open the door.”

“Come back when your voice changes,” someone shouted from inside.

Obi-Wan sighed. He had been hoping for cooperation. He nodded at Deila, their explosives expert. She quickly set explosive charges near the lock of the heavy door.

“Stand back from the door,” she shouted to those inside.

The Security Squad had done this before. Many Melida and Daan Elders would not open their doors to them or recognize their authority. This was a quick way to show them who was in charge. No lives were lost - just doors.

Deila motioned to all of them to step back, then set the charge and jumped back with them. A muffled boom split the silence. The door shook. Deila stepped forward and nudged it with a toe. It fell with a loud thud, and the Security Squad rushed in, with Obi-Wan leading the charge.

At first, he couldn’t see anything. But he hadn’t forgotten his Jedi training. He let go of the urgent need to see and accepted the darkness. In only seconds, he could make out shapes.

Shapes with weapons …

The Melida Elders stood at the end of the long hallway. Their backs were to a stairway leading upward. They all wore battered plastoid armor and held their weapons pointed at the squad.

Obi-Wan saw his problem at once. He would have to end the conflict here. The group had access to the stairway. More lives could be lost if his squad was forced to follow them upstairs. There could be booby traps. At the very least, it would be a dangerous exercise to try to locate all six Elders upstairs.

One of them spoke. “We do not recognize your authority.”

Obi-Wan knew the voice. It belonged to Wehutti, Cerasi’s father. Cerasi had not seen him in years. Obi-Wan was glad that she was outside.

“It doesn’t matter if you don’t recognize it,” Obi-Wan answered in a steady tone. “We have it. You lost the war. We’ve formed a new government.”

“I do not recognize your government!” Wehutti cried sharply. His powerful hand gripped a blaster. He had lost his other arm in an earlier war, but Obi-Wan had seen firsthand that Wehutti could inflict more damage with one arm than most warriors could with two.

“Young fools!” Wehutti continued harshly. “You talk of peace with weapons in your hands! You are no different from us. You wage war to get what you want. You oppress the people to keep what you have. You are hypocrites and fools. Why should we bend to your authority?”

Obi-Wan began to walk forward. His squad followed him. “Drop your weapons or we’ll arrest you. We’ve called for reinforcements.”

At least he hoped so. The standard operating procedure was for the last one in to signal the lookout to call if it looked as if there would be resistance. Cerasi should have contacted Mawat on her comlink by now.

“If you take another step, Jedi, I’ll fire,” Wehutti said, leveling his blaster.