[Jedi Apprentice] - Special Edition - 01(31)

“I have, too,” Anakin volunteered. “I was a slave, remember, and the son of a slave? I was not brought up in theTemplesurrounded by fountains and peace and gentleness. I think I know better than anyone what fear and anger can do.” Anakin’s voice was suddenly harsh.

Obi-Wan paused, letting the tone remain in the air between them. “I have not forgotten that, Anakin,” he said quietly.”Nor should you. It is part of what shapes you. But if that memory always brings you back to your anger, you must find a way to think of it differently.”

A soft knock came at the door. “Are you in there?” Den called softly.

Obi-Wan quickly crossed to the door. “We’ve been locked in. Can you get us out?”

Den chuckled. “Does a dinko bite? Does a howl runner howl? Does a nightcrawler—”

“All right, Den,” Obi-Wan said through the door. “But first we need a comlink. I have to contact theTemple.”

“No problem,” Den murmured. “I’ll be back before you notice I’m gone. Don’t go anywhere.”

They heard his footsteps recede.

“Let’s get back to Vox Chun,” Obi-Wan said. “If we both picked up that it was odd he wasn’t nervous about the Senate reaction, we should wonder why.”

“I don’t know,” Anakin confessed.

“There are two possible answers,” Obi-Wan said thoughtfully. “One, that Vox has a powerful ally in the Senate who will smooth over any difficulties for the BioCruiser. Or two—and this is more disturbing—that Vox is allied with an organization that is even more powerful than the Senate.” Obi-Wan stood up and began to wander around the room. “The galaxy has changed. It’s full of criminal organizations. Some of them are enormously powerful. With the Senate mired in debate, there is little they have done to control this. Even Chancellor Palpatine is powerless to stop their growth.”

“If the second guess is true, do you think this powerful organization is interested in the BioCruiser?” Anakin asked.

“Well, it does have a large treasury,” Obi-Wan mused. “But attacking a ship this large has logistical problems. They wouldn’t want to destroy the ship—they’d lose the treasury. There could be another reason, something else we don’t know yet.”

They heard a series of beeps at the door, and it slid open. Den jumped inside quickly and the door hissed shut behind him. He tossed Obi-Wan a comlink.

“You see? I can always get you out of trouble,” he beamed.

“You got us into trouble,” Obi-Wan pointed out. “Vox and Uni figured out that someone had broken into the text-doc files.”

“Kill me now!” Densaid, his hand over his heart. “I did my very best. Nobody’s perfect.”

Obi-Wan signaled Tnani at theTemple. A moment later his voice came through. “Obi-Wan, I have been trying to signal you. Someone answered but they did not use the coded frequency.”

“My comlink was confiscated,” Obi-Wan explained. “What do you have?”

“The text-doc for Kern checks out on all the normal channels for deep background,” Tnani said. “But a little further digging tells me that Kern is actually a fabricated identity. This being called Kern died eight years ago. Here is the odd thing—he was a Senate operative.”

“A no-name,” Obi-Wan said.

“Yes, that is the term. Those names are retired, but someone has resurrected this one.”

“Thank you, Tnani.” Obi-Wan turned to the others. “If Kern is in league with Vox, they must be planning something. And if they suspect that we are close to exposingthem, that might step up their timetable.”

“Right now there is a General Meeting taking place in the great hall two levels down,” Den told them. “Everyone is required to attend, except for skeleton staff. Vox’s quarters are empty.” He held up the small device he had used to circumvent the door’s security system. “I can break in.”

Anakin jumped up. “What are we waiting for?”

They met no one as they hurried to Vox’s quarters. It only took Den three seconds to break into the room. Vox had plush, comfortable quarters twice the size of Uni’s. Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Den searched the room and went through Vox’s holofiles. They found nothing suspicious.

“Well, of course he wouldn’t leave anything incriminating out in the open,” Den said, his gaze roaming the room. “Let’s see. Beings usually hide things according to their natures. Vox is vain, lazy—never seen him volunteer to help a soul on this ship—and frail.” Den crossed to Vox’s sleep-couch and lay down on it experimentally. “You see? Everything is right here, so he doesn’t have to get up. Comlink, monitor, light, mirror—I told you he was vain …” Den flipped over in order to examine the buttons on a console. “Why are there so many buttons on this thing?”