[Legacy of the Jedi] - 02(40)

“Jedi do not deal in ifs.”

Siri shook her head, exasperated. “Obi-Wan, for star’s sake, you can irritate me like nobody else. Jedi don’t become Generals in galactic-wide wars, either. Jedi don’t watch their fellow Jedi be blown apart in great battles. Things have changed. Have you noticed?”

“Yes,” Obi-Wan said quietly. “I’ve noticed. But I still don’t believe that looking back and questioning decisions you made twenty years ago is helpful or fair.”

“Once, for me, there were no questions, only answers,” Siri said. As her mood altered, her brilliant blue eyes shifted to navy. He had forgotten how that happened, how the color of her eyes could deepen with her feelings. “I’ve changed. Now I question everything. I’ve seen too much, I fear too much of what the galaxy is becoming, ” She turned her direct gaze to him. “Don’t you ever look back and question what you did about something? Wonder if there was something you could have done differently?”

“That is a dangerous place for a Jedi to be,” Obi-Wan said. “We do what we do, as Qui-Gon used to say.”

“Qui-Gon lived in a different time,” Siri said. She leaned her head back against the wall. “When Ferus was still with me, we went on a mission to Quas Killam, out in the very edge of the Mid-Rim. We were to oversee peace talks between two government factions who were trying to form a coalition. One side was a cartel that controlled much of the planet’s supply of trinium, a mineral used in the manufacturing of weapons systems. Very important, and it made many Killams very rich. We oversaw the talks, saw a coalition government formed. A very successful mission. But Ferus said to me, Something isn’t right here. The cartel made too many concessions. It’s as though they know something we don’t. And I said, What can we do? Our mission is done. Jedi do not interfere in planetary politics. And we have many places to go. I’m sure you’ve said the same to Anakin.” Siri stopped. She sighed. “At the start of the Clone Wars, the Trade Federation worked in alliance with the head of that cartel to take over the government

????? f Quas Killam. Now they own all the factories, all the mines of trinium. The Killams who were not in the cartel - many of them were killed. Many of them were forced to work in the factories.”

“I’ve heard this of Quas Killam,” Obi-Wan said. “Are you saying you could have prevented it?”

“I don’t know,” Siri brooded. “But what if I had stayed? What if I had observed a little more closely, wondered a little more? We know the Separatists and Count Dooku plant seeds. They’re willing to wait years for results. They were preparing for this, while we were going on peace missions. What if we had listened better and did more years ago, when it would have had an impact? “

Obi-Wan shook his head. “Sin, you are asking too much of yourself. Of us all.”

“You didn’t answer my question,” Siri said.

“Question?”

“Do you look back?”

Did he look back? Of course he did, all the time. Mostly about Anakin. At a time they should be closest, they were further apart than ever. What could he have done differently? Had he turned his face away from what he did not want to see? Anakin was still his Padawan, but Obi-Wan was hardly his Master. Anakin had gone to a place where Obi-Wan could not reach him. He had the sense of a creature held in check by a harness that was long-worn. One of these days Anakin would break free… a thought that chilled Obi-Wan. But Obi-Wan chose to ignore those thoughts - out of friendship.

But he didn’t want to tell Siri these things. What had she said, so many years ago? We will be comrades. Not best friends. She was not available for confidences. If he poured out his heart to her, where would he stop?

“I look back,” he said, trying to find the words he wanted. “But I tell myself that the galaxy will be made safe with deeds, not regrets.”

For some reason, his answer saddened her. He could see it in her eyes. “Yes,” she said. “I hold onto duty. That’s always saved me.”

She jumped to her feet. In a flash, her mood had changed and she was back to the purposeful Jedi he knew best. “Speaking of which, we have twenty-four hours. We’d better get started.”





CHAPTER 25


With access to Taly’s records and a quick tour of the complex, the Jedi soon reached the conclusion that it was not going to be easy to solve Taly’s problem.

“All of his employees are well paid,” Anakin said. “They even own shares in the company. It would make no sense to throw it into disarray.”