Qui-Gon smiled. “While I was at the Temple, I took sensory lessons from Jedi Master Tahl. When she was blinded, she learned to improve her other senses. I’m following my sense of smell.”
Adi concentrated. “Food. Something is cooking.”
“And where there is food, there is waste. Where there is waste, there is usually an exit,” Qui-Gon explained.
“And I always look for a window,” Adi said, hurrying beside him.
The kitchen was empty except for a cook who was grinding a vegetable into a paste, his back to the door. Qui-Gon and Adi Gallia moved swiftly and silently past him and slipped out the door into a small area with waste bins. They skirted them and headed back in the direction they had come.
The distance wasn’t far, and soon they stood
at V-Nen and O-Melie’s door. Qui-Gon knocked softly.
V-Nen opened it. The hopeful expression on his face faded when he saw the Jedi.
“I thought there was word of Lana,” he said.
“You must trust us,” Adi told him. “We can help you protect your daughter.”
O-Melie joined her husband at the door.
“We have nothing more to say,” V-Nen said. “I must head for work at the Communications Circle now.”
“We are late and must be going,” 0-Melie said. “Please do not follow us.”
O-Melie’s words were cool, but her eyes pleaded with them. What was she asking?
Before they could react, she shut the door in their faces.
Adi looked at Qui-Gon. The glance they exchanged was full of meaning. They did not speak for a moment as a skyhopper buzzed overhead.
“I suppose we should head back,” Adi said.
“Yes,” Qui-Gon agreed. “We can do no good here.”
They turned and left the Dwelling Circle. But hope rose in Qui-Gon’s heart. At last he was beginning to understand.
Siri heaved another tub of dirty dishes into the sink. Sudsy water slopped on the floor.
“What slab-brain decided that turbo dish-cleaners were bad for the General Good?” she asked, picking up a cleaning rag.
“Menial labor attentively completed adds to the General Good,” Obi-Wan said.
She shot him a sidelong look. “You sound like one of them.”
“It’s starting to sink in.” Obi-Wan dried the last dish from the enormous rack and placed it on a pile.
Siri gazed out at the narrow band of windows that ran along the top of the wall. All the windows at the Learning Circle were set high in the walls. They allowed light in, but restricted a view of outside. They had been told that afternoon that contemplation of the outdoors was a waste of time they should be devoting to The Learning.
“It’s getting dark,” Siri said. “I say we break out tonight. We still have our lightsabers.”
“I think we should wait,” Obi-Wan said.
“For what?” Siri asked, rinsing off a plate. “The breakfast dishes?”
Obi-Wan spoke calmly. “For several things. One, we don’t know what kind of security the Learning Circle has. We should discover that before we try. Remember that Qui-Gon and Adi told us not to cause disruption.”
“But that was before we were captured,” Siri argued.
“I know,” Obi-Wan said. “No doubt they are worried by now. But that’s still not a reason to try a risky escape. If we plan it, we might be able to avoid a fight.”
Siri gazed at him in disbelief. “Is that all you care about? Avoiding a fight?”
Obi-Wan struggled to hold on to his temper. “I’ve learned on missions with Qui-Gon that it is always best to avoid a fight if you can. You should have learned that at the Temple.”
Siri flushed pink. She knew that Obi-Wan was right. A Jedi always sought to avoid a conflict. Infinitely more ways there are to reach a goal, Yoda had said many times. Try them all you should.
“You seem to forget that we’re Jedi,” she said. “If we just reveal that we are, they’d let us
go. They’d know that we aren’t Keganites then.”
“But we don’t know that they’d let us go,” Obi-Wan countered. “It’s an option, but I still think we should wait. Qui-Gon told us not to reveal that we are Jedi. And Yoda told us to avoid disruption at all costs. Until we absolutely have to, I say we stay undercover. What if we’re really being held because we are Jedi? Or what if we get Qui-Gon and Adi Gallia in trouble by proving that we’re Jedi? We don’t know what our Masters are up to right now.” Obi-Wan shook his head. “There are too many questions. Unless we can find a way to leave quietly, we should remain for the time being. Think of it this way - we can learn about Kegan society here. This is like an indoctrination camp.”