[Junior Jedi Knights] -05(20)

Uldir frowned at the boast. Now he wanted to see how far the Mage was willing to go.

“And of course you could teach me to use a lightsaber.”

“Of course,” the Mage agreed. “And to build your own.”

Aha, Uldir thought. Orloc can hardly hold a lightsaber. I doubt that he could teach me to use one. But before he could speak, Orloc continued.

“Why, my boy, once I find the other object I came here for, I’ll teach you-“

“What other object are you looking for?” Uldir interrupted.

“Why, the Holocron, of course, lad. And once I get to Vader’s private quarters and take the Holocron out of its special vault, I’ll be able to teach you anything-anything at all-about being a Jedi. With that and my own magic, we’ll be invincible. We can conquer any power in the galaxy.”

Now Uldir was interested again.

“What’s so special about this Holocron thing?” he asked.

“It contains all the recorded lessons of a great Jedi Master.” Uldir wavered. “I don’t know. If two living Jedi Masters can’t teach me to use the Force, I’m not sure that a Jedi recording in a box could do it.” He looked again at the clumsy way the Mage held the lightsaber. “And if you don’t have any Jedi powers, that thing probably won’t help you much,” he said.

“Why don’t you leave the lightsaber with me so I can give it to a real Jedi, someone who can use it?”

His voice squeaked at the end of his speech, ruining the effect of his brave words.

Orloc shook his head.

“Doesn’t quite fit in with my plans, boy. Either come with me to Exis Station and learn what I can teach you… or, if you won’t join me”-he took a step toward Uldir and waved the lightsaber menacingly - “why, I’ll be forced to consider you an enemy.” The Mage took another step closer. “And I’ve found that if my enemies want what I have, it’s never wise to let them live.”

Tahiri sighed and looked down the seemingly endless corridor.

“Well, at least it’s not stairs anymore,” she muttered to herself.

“I sure hope Uldir’s all right,” Anakin said.

“Me too. I have a feeling he’s in some sort of trouble,” Tahiri said, and quickened her pace.

Both she and Anakin had wanted to explore Vader’s private chambers further, but once it was clear that the Mage was not hiding there, they knew they would have to continue their search elsewhere, and quickly.

“I think we’re headed the right way, though,” she said. “This corridor runs the same direction as the one Uldir took. And I think I can feel him up ahead of us somewhere-though I can’t really sense him as well as I can sense you. I suppose that comes from knowing; you so much better.”

She chattered on, covering her worry with a stream of words. “But once we find Uldir and Artoo, we’ll still have to find Orloc, and once we find him and get the lightsaber back, there’s Tionne and Ikrit to locate too.”

The passageway grew wider and they could see a bright light not too far ahead. Anakin glanced at her with one eyebrow raised.

“You forgot to mention what comes after we find Tionne and Ikrit,” he said.

“What’s that?” she asked.

“We’ll need to get back to the ship.”

“Oh no,” Tahiri moaned. “More stairs.”

They were almost to the end of the corridor when Anakin stopped short and held up one hand, as if listening. Tahiri stopped talking and listened too. Voices.

She heard voices. They sounded far away, but she was certain one of them belonged to Uldir. She mouthed his name silently at Anakin. He nodded. A loud laugh rang out.

“And Orloc,” Anakin whispered. Pressing a finger to her lips, Tahiri carefully crept forward into the light. Anakin stayed close beside her. Soon they found themselves on the topmost level of a gigantic, airy room, three stories high. Keeping their heads down, Anakin and Tahiri crawled over to the edge of the walkway onto which they had emerged.

Far beneath them, on the bottom level, stood the purple - robed Orloc with Obi-Wan Kenobi’s lightsaber, waving it back and forth at Uldir.

“We’ll have to help him,” Anakin whispered.

Tahiri nodded. “Is there a turbolift?” she whispered back. She looked around the high metal catwalk and saw to her dismay that the only way to the bottom level was down a dozen flights of metal mesh steps. A network of plasteel poles supported the slender stairway.

“I’m not sure we can make it down there in time,” Anakin said, looking at the stairs.

“Oh, yes we can,” Tahiri said. “We’re a team, remember? I have an idea, but there’s no time to explain. You make a distraction and then follow my lead. I just hope Orloc doesn’t have a blaster.”