“Each of the stops the BioCruiser has made has been to a planet targeted by Offworld for development,” Obi-Wan noted. “Vox Chun is always in the landing party.”
“And up to no good, I’m sure. Bribes or intimidation, who knows,” Den said. “And look how successful he’s been. BioCruiser shows up at aplanet, and a few weeks later they allow Offworld development. It’s a beautiful system. Kern is in the readout room. He triggers the need for fuel or repairs. It’s not done often enough to cause suspicion. We orbit the planet, and Vox goes down to do Offworld’s dirty work. No wonder his secret drawer was filled with crystalline vertex. He probably uses it for bribes.”
“Do you think Uni knows?” Anakin asked.
“No way to tell,” Den said. “I don’t think so, though. I may not agree with Uni, but I don’t think he’s a crook like his father.”
“I don’t either,” Obi-Wan agreed.
“But why was Kern heading to the docking bay now?” Den wondered. “Is he planning to leave the ship?”
Obi-Wan leaned forward again and studied the list of planets where Offworld had mining operations. “What system are we near now, Garen?” he asked.
“Tentrix,” Garen answered. “It’sa few hours away.”
“That must be TRX. It’s the only system that’s coded.” Obi-Wan accessed the name, and a new file appeared. Once again, they all leaned forward to study it.
After a moment, Den let out a long breath. “Kill me now,” he breathed. “I can’t believe this. Let me look at those evacuation plans again.”
Den activated the evacuation file. He carefully studied the blueprints for long minutes.
“This is different from the official plan,” he said finally. “The official plan calls for an escalating series of emergency codes so that we don’t panic anyone. We would need organization and control to offload so many beings. This plan calls for an immediate Code Five. That means the vessel is breaking up, and evacuation has to proceed immediately. And the code is instituted in the tech readout room—not the bridge.”
“Kern,” Anakin said.
“It’s clever,” Obi-Wan said. “A false Code Five will be instituted. A fake distress signal will be sent. And who will answer it?”
“Offworld ships,” Garen said grimly.
“According to theBroken Circleplan, all the beings will be evacuated,” Obi-Wan continued. “Offworld droids will board the vessel and remain — only they won’t be helping with the rescue effort, they’ll be stealing the treasury. Then Offworld will blow up the BioCruiser. None of Uni’s followers will realize that the ship was blown up intentionally. Offworld will look heroic, and no one will know it stole the entire treasury.”
“How will Offworld blow up the ship?” Anakin asked.
“It must be already set to blow,” Densaid, his face white. “It’s already been sabotaged.”
“We did find out that Kern knows his way around a starship engine,” Anakin said.
“Kern!”Garen burst out. “I know where I’ve seen him before. His name was Tarrence Chenati. He sabotaged the Jedi starfighters twelve years ago. He disappeared without a trace.”
“And was given a new identity,” Obi-Wan said. “Strange that both times Vox has been around, isn’t it?”
“Do you think he was behind the sabotage of the starfighters?” Garenasked, his face grim.
“It’s a big coincidence if he wasn’t,” Obi-Wan pointed out. “Vox wanted to discredit the Jedi and distract us—” Hefrowned. “That reminds me of something Qui-Gon told me when Xanatos was sabotaging theTemple. The keys to destroying something are disruption, demoralization, and distraction.” He exchanged a glance with Garen. “Vox wanted to win in that hearing. He certainly managed to distract and disrupt us. I think we solved the mystery of who was behind the sabotage of your starfighters.”
“Can we get back to the present?” Den asked. “Uh, I hate to remind you, but the ship might blow up.”
“We must go to see Kad now,” Obi-Wan said. “He needs to hear this information. Den, you try to find Kern.”
“Do you think Kad will listen?” Anakin asked doubtfully. “You’re his worst enemy.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Obi-Wan said. “We have to try.”
CHAPTER 20
Kad’s face was pale. He was so furious he could barely form words. “How dare you accuse my father of this?”
“We have the holographic files,” Obi-Wan said. “And your father has a pouch full of vertex. If you would only look …”