More information for Jocasta Nu. Anakin took another sip of the excellent tea Mellora had brewed. He felt warm and comfortable. Night had fallen, and the stars twinkled like hard points outside in the cold night. He thought about reaching for another piece of fruit, but he felt too lazy.
Just at the very moment he settled into his contentment, he felt a warning. There was a disturbance in the Force here. He realized that it had been there for some time. Anakin felt slow surprise trickle through him.
Here? But he was among friends. Perhaps he was confused. Perhaps he was wrong. Soara had showed him that his connection to the Force was not as clear as he’d once supposed.
He tried to focus on his feelings, but they seemed to run off his body like water. He blinked several times and realized he was sleepy. He had to struggle to stay awake. Mellora was speaking again, and he had to focus in order to hear her. Had his fight with Ferus tired him out so?
“.. more tea? No, I don’t think you should.” She laughed, her red lips parting. Her dark hair was as sleek as the pelt of a water animal.
“Anakin?” Tic’s face seemed to loom in front of him. He patted Anakin’s arm gently. “Are you all right? I have to tell you something. Are you listening?”
Anakin focused on Tic. “Yes?”
“Everything we told you about Granta Omega is a lie,” Tic said, still smiling.
Anakin struggled to understand his meaning. “I… don’t… understand. “
“Oh, don’t worry. You will.”
“But we do have something to show you,” Mellora said. “Something he owns.” From beneath the folds of her white tunic she brought out a small pyramid. “Omega gave me this.”
It was a Sith artifact. Now Anakin knew the origin of the disturbance he had detected. It grew stronger, and he felt nausea rise in his throat. He tried to sit up, but the chair now seemed to hold him down.
Mellora turned the cube in her hands. “At first I found the images disturbing. But Granta talked to me about them. Power can be disturbing. That’s where its beauty lies. Do you understand?”
Anakin’s tongue felt thick. “No.” He had been so foolish. So incredibly foolish and naŻve. He saw the mug on the table in front of him. He had drained every drop. He wasn’t tired. He was drugged.
“Don’t worry, we didn’t poison you,” Tic said. “It’s because we have respect for the Jedi that we did this. We know it’s the only way to slow you down.”
Tic’s voice had not changed. He still sounded friendly and warm. “We’ve immobilized you in order to talk to you. We don’t wish to harm you.”
“We only wish to discuss the Force,” Mellora said.
The other faces turned to him. Now their bright interest, he saw, was not interest at all. It was not so simple. It was greed. They were ravenous for information about him. He had thought he was learning from them, but all the time, they were studying him.
“Mellora and I are the only scientists here,” Tic said. “I’m afraid I lied to you about my friends. We are simply a group of ordinary beings who are interested in the extraordinary. We have a common interest in the Force.”
“We wanted to find a Force-sensitive being to talk to about it,” Mellora said.
In other words, Anakin thought, they were a Sith cult. No matter how friendly they seemed. No matter how much they wanted him to think they were harmless. He had tangled with a Sith cult before. Although they weren’t Force-sensitive, they were drawn to the dark side and they could be dangerous.
But why Tic Verdun? He was a respected scientist.
And how do you know that? You don’t know anything about him except that you liked him.
Anakin thought back to the mission on Haariden. He had liked Tic because Tic had seemed to understand him. He had been the bravest of the scientists, too. He had been the one to go off and scout for patrols. He had risked his life, they said..
He had been gone for hours, they said..
“Do you understand?” Tic asked him softly. “Do you, Anakin Skywalker?”
“You are Granta Omega,” he said.
“Very good.” Tic turned to the others, pleased. “You see how his mind continues to work? On an ordinary being, that drug would immobilize his thoughts as well as his legs.”
Anakin thought about trying to rise. He thought he would have enough strength to reach the door. He had not begun to tap into the Force yet.
Wait. That’s what Obi-Wan would say. He had enough strength for one try. He knew that. And if he had enough strength for only that, he had better plan it.
“Back on Haariden, you said the Force frustrates you,” Tic said.