[Jedi Apprentice] - 18(15)

Qui-Gon took a deep breath and flipped a switch. The screen in front of him went blank, then blinked back on. Down the hall the shrieking finally stopped. The break had been successful. The circuits stopped shorting, and the children’s hospital was safe. But it had been close - too close.

Qui-Gon sighed. He knew the next thing he had to do was to tell Chairman Port about the near disaster, a prospect he did not relish. Perhaps he had been wrong to give Obi-Wan three days. After this latest Freelie prank it was going to be harder than ever to stall the nervous Vorzydiak.

Maybe even impossible, he thought as he made his way back up to the twenty-fourth floor. He was not prepared for what he saw when he walked into the meeting room.

Chairman Port stood before a large projection of a regal-looking Vorzydiak wearing a turban. It was Felana, the leader of Vorzyd 5.

“What is the meaning of this?” Felana demanded. “You dare to accuse Vorzyd 5 of sabotage after you have already insulted us by banishing our ambassadors? I do not understand you, Chairman Port.”

“Here is the J-J-Jedi,” Chairman Port stammered. He motioned Qui-Gon to join him in front of the holoprojector. “He knows the truth. He will tell you.”

Felana looked even more aghast. “You have called in outside counsel? Do you think this will make your baseless accusations stronger?”

For a moment Qui-Gon was not sure what to do. This was certainly not the way mediation was supposed to work. Chairman Port had put him in an awkward position, and now it would be impossible to establish himself as a neutral party. All he could do, he realized, was try to keep the damage to a minimum.

“Tell her,” Chairman Port screeched at the Jedi. “Tell her what she has done to our planet!”

“That is enough!” Felana seethed. “We have been under your thumb for a long time, Chairman. And now you accuse us wrongly. We will not tolerate your accusations.”

Qui-Gon put a hand on Chairman Port’s shoulder. Using the Force, he calmed the distraught Vorzydiak enough to prevent him from saying anything else he would regret. Then he turned to the image of Felana.

“Please accept the chairman’s apologies,” Qui-Gon bowed. “Vorzyd 4 has been experiencing some terrorist activity and he meant only to alert you to that fact so that you may be on the lookout for similar activity on your planet.”

Qui-Gon could tell by the look on her face that Felana did not believe him. But she was not going to contradict him, either.

“Please tell the chairman that I appreciate his concern and assure him that Vorzyd 5 is prepared to fight,” Felana replied in a cool tone. “Vorzyd 5 will not be humiliated. We are not the weak planet in the system any longer. We need only the opportunity to show our strength.”

Qui-Gon thanked Felana and ended the transmission. He recognized her last statement for exactly what it was: a threat.

If Vorzyd 4 persisted in accusing Vorzyd 5 of illegal activity, the likely result would be devastating.

War.

Qui-Gon paced the long hall of the retirement home while he waited for his Padawan. He realized that he could simply summon Obi-Wan on his comlink, but he did not want to destroy the young Jedi’s cover or put him in danger. Besides, he needed some time to think about what he was going to say when Obi-Wan did appear.

Qui-Gon reached the end of the hall and turned on his heel. If he did not give Obi-Wan the three days he’d promised, the boy would lose confidence. But things were getting out of hand. If Qui-Gon kept silent…

Suddenly Qui-Gon’s thoughts were interrupted by a timid woman’s voice. “Excuse me,” she said.

With his long strides Qui-Gon had covered the distance of the hallway nearly a dozen times without giving any notice to the one open door. Now he stopped in front of it and gazed at the elderly Vorzydiak woman who beckoned him.

“I am sorry,” she said, looking nervously up at Qui-Gon’s imposing figure. “You are not a laborer are you? I thought maybe you were a laborer coming to visit. The laborers seem to think life ends when the work is finished. They are too busy to visit. But I heard someone out here and I thought - “

“I would be happy to visit with you,” Qui-Gon said gently. Even in his distracted state, his heart went out to this woman.

“Oh, would you? I do not get many visitors. And do not get me wrong - I do not blame them. It is the Vorzyd way.”

Qui-Gon followed the woman into her small room and sat across from her on a chair. She did not ask him who he was, but continued to talk, simply enjoying the fact that there was someone there to listen.

“We live to work, you know. Nobody realizes that there is life beyond the work. Nobody knows. Sometimes I wish there was not. The life, I mean. I wish I could die like the others. But there is Tray. Tray still comes. She says things will change. That everything will be different. I want to believe her, but they are just children…”