“That doesn’t mean we should be invaded,” Rajana said sharply.
Shalini turned to Obi-Wan. “We’ve been cooped up together for too long,” she said. She gave a tense smile. “When we haven’t been trying to find a way to get off this moon, we’ve been arguing about the best way to do it. Thik has a point.”
“TyphaDor is lucky,” Thik said. “We are rich in resources. We have abundant sunshine and water. Our world is large and varied. We have a large workforce. Yet we have never learned how to truly manage our resources and turn them into the wealth we need.”
“Yes, yes,” Rajana said impatiently. “And Vanqor is a small, dusty planet. Yet they have learned how to get the most out of what they have. Their industries are booming. They are wealthier than us, despite their small size. That does not mean they deserve to conquer our star system!”
“I am not defending Vanqor’s aggression,” Thik said. “You know that, Rajana. Why am I here, if not to sacrifice my life if I must for my homeworld? I am just saying that even Vanqor could have lessons to teach us.”
“The Vanqors are greedy and ruthless,” Mezdec said darkly. “If they have something to teach us, I have no desire to learn it.”
“It is that attitude that sets us up for conflict in the first place,” Thik said. “If we had been more willing to negotiate years ago, we would not be facing invasion now.”
Mezdec stood. “I am beginning to wonder who the traitor is here!” he bellowed.
Shalini put her hand on her husband’s arm. “Sit,” she said softly.
After a moment’s deliberation, Mezdec sat down. “Would anyone like another protein bar?” Obi-Wan tried. Everyone ignored him again.
The tension was thick in the room. It was no wonder, Obi-Wan thought. They had been together for over a year. They had been hunted by the Vanqors. There had been a saboteur in their midst. They were afraid they would never make it off-planet.
He understood their testiness, but he wasn’t too excited about having to listen to it.
“I think I’ll check on Anakin,” he said.
The hangar was located in the back, past the utility rooms. There was only one transport and a few speeder bikes that had been dismantled for parts. All Obi-Wan could see were Anakin’s legs, sticking out from underneath the transport. Obi-Wan leaned down.
“Any luck?”
Anakin’s voice was muffled. “Maybe. But what I wouldn’t give for a pit droid.”
“Consider me a pit droid,” Obi-Wan said. “What can I do?”
Anakin slid out. “You need some servodrivers for hands and a grease pump instead of a nose.” He said the words grumpily.
“Well, let me do something,” Obi-Wan said. “Have you pinpointed the problem?”
“Sure,” Anakin said. “That’s the easy part. It’s the power generator. The transfer wires from the sublight engine are fused together, which means that the fusion system is completely blown.”
“Can you replace the transfer wires?”
“Sure. But then the backup from the power feeds would trigger a response.”
“And that response would be.. “
“The ship would blow up.”
“Not optimum,” Obi-Wan said.
“I can see where Mezdec tried to improvise. But he keeps running into the same problem.” Anakin tapped his finger on the shell of the ship. “Here’s what I can’t figure,” he said. “Why would Samdew disable the ship completely? If he killed all the crew here, how would he get off-planet?”
“Maybe he didn’t need the ship,” Obi-Wan said. “The Vanqors would pick him up.”
“Okay,” Anakin said. “But if I were a spy stuck on a remote moon, I’d want a back door, just in case. I wouldn’t assume that everything would go as planned.”
“Things rarely do.” Obi-Wan nodded thoughtfully. “Meaning there must be a way to fix the ship.”
“I just don’t know what it is yet.” Anakin ducked back under the ship. “But I’ll find it. Hand me that fuse-cutter, will you?”
Obi-Wan reached for the tool. For the next hour, he silently helped Anakin try one route, then another, to fix the ship. He admired Anakin’s focus. It was as though the engine were an ailing organism that he was coaxing back to life.
Mezdec wandered out to help, and he and Anakin conferred. Obi-Wan lost the thread of the conversation, which skimmed over fuse switches, overrides, and surges. He knew something about engines, but not nearly as much as Anakin.
At last Anakin replaced the engine plate, entered the ship, and eased into the pilot seat. He hesitated before firing the engines.