The words stung. Anakin felt his face grow hot. The evening wind was cool and drying his sweat.
Soara whirled and kicked backward at his hand. He did not even feel the blow, but his lightsaber was suddenly shooting out of his hand and clattering to the stone pavement.
“And another thing,” she said. “Never let down your guard.”
Anakin picked up the hilt of the lightsaber and stuck it in his belt. He vowed to himself that Soara Antana would not take him by surprise again. He would use what she gave him. He would absorb her hard words and her lessons. By the end of this tutorial, he would change her opinion about him. He would be the best Padawan she’d ever taught.
He slipped into the med clinic. The light tubes were powered down to a soft glow. He walked as quietly as he could to the side of Darra’s med couch. She looked small and helpless, still hooked up to monitoring machines. Her eyes were closed.
Her mouth curved into a smile. “Hello, Anakin,” she said without opening her eyes.
“I came to say good night. Are you feeling better?” “Yes. Much.” She opened her eyes and glanced at him. “Better than you look, anyway. What have you been doing?”
“A private tutorial with your Master.”
She gave a sympathetic groan. “Ooh. Sorry.”
He crouched down so that they were at eye level. “She’s very tough.”
“The toughest.”
“But I can learn.”
“If you listen. She’ll push you hard, and then she’ll tell you something strange, something you don’t want to understand. That’s what she wants. The more tired you are, the emptier you are. That’s when she really starts to work.”
“Lucky me,” Anakin said with a grimace. “Look, I’m sorry about what happened on Haariden. She told me it was my ego. She was right.”
“It’s okay,” Darra said. “Now I have something to impress the younger kids with. I was wounded in battle.”
“I’m here to make you a promise,” Anakin said.
“Don’t,” Darra said, rising on her elbows. “I know what you’re going to say, and you can’t promise such a thing. Besides, I can get my lightsaber back myself.”
“But I’m the reason you lost it.”
“I’m the reason I lost it,” Darra said firmly. “I’m the one who dropped it. Did you ever think it was your ego that wants to get it back?” Suddenly she slumped against the pillow. “Do me a favor. Don’t argue with me. I’m too tired.”
Anakin saw the exhaustion in her face she had tried to hide. “Is there anything I can do for you? Would you like some juice, or some food, or some music?” Darra’s eyelids fluttered closed. “Just one thing,” she said. “Stay with me until I fall asleep. It’s lonely here.”
“I will.” Anakin shifted his weight so that he was sitting on the floor. He leaned against the sleep couch next to her head. He knew she could feel the pressure of his body, and that would make her feel safe. He sat there until her breathing slowed and he knew she was asleep.
“I promise you, Darra,” he whispered. “I will return your lightsaber to you. It is not my ego. It is my promise.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
Obi-Wan hurried into the library. It had been restored to its usual pristine state. Jocasta Nu was at a datascreen, working.
“What is it?” she asked, looking up for a moment and then back down at her screen.
“You sent for me,” Obi-Wan said.
“Right.” Jocasta clicked off the screen. “I have good news and bad news. Good news - I found out Granta Omega’s listed birthplace. It’s Coruscant.”
“Coruscant?” Obi-Wan grew excited. That meant he could investigate a good deal of Omega’s background without leaving the planet. A being’s records were always stored on his or her home planet, and Coruscant was especially careful about storing every scrap of information. Thousands were employed in record-keeping.
Then he remembered Jocasta had said there was bad news as well. “And?”
“I can find no record of his birth. Nothing. And you know Coruscant is very organized about these things. So either he lied and was born somewhere else, or he lives under an assumed name.”
“In other words, we know nothing more,” Obi-Wan said, sinking down in a chair. “Every time I think I have a lead, it disappears. I’m left with nothing.”
Suddenly holofiles began to zoom from Jocasta’s fingers toward him.
“What is this?” Obi-Wan said.
“You say you have nothing on Omega,” she said. “I’m showing you differently.”