The door was slightly ajar. Qui-Gon hesitated outside.
“Come in quickly please,” V-Nen whispered.
“And please close the door,” 0-Melie added.
“This is a safe room,” V-Nen said as soon as the Jedi entered and shut the door behind them. “Melie and I have installed anti-surveillance devices. The skyhoppers you may have noticed overhead are actually unpiloted autohoppers that contain audio and visual surveillance devices. Everything we say and do is recorded. There are transmitters in our homes that beam up to them.”
Qui-Gon and Adi exchanged glances. “We thought that might be the case,” Qui-Gon said. “How did the citizens of Kegan allow this?”
“It began as an anti-crime measure,” 0-Melie explained. “Society was stable, but petty theft and pilfering was common after we changed to a bartering system. V-Tan and O-Vieve proposed we use autohoppers as security devices, and we all voted on it. Originally they were supposed to patrol the market only. Then it was extended to the Dwelling Circle and beyond. No one expected that it would be used to monitor conversations and activities. It happened slowly, and now we are watched all the time.”
“But if every citizen on Kegan gets a vote, couldn’t you vote them out?” Adi asked.
V-Nen shook his head. “Every citizen gets a vote, but V-Tan and O-Vieve decide what we should vote on.”
0-Melie gave a sad smile. “We have the illusion of democracy. Not the reality.”
“Tell us how we can help you,” Adi said gently. “What do you think happened to O-Lana?”
0-Melie and V-Nen exchanged a frightened glance. “We are worried about her safety,” V-Nen said quietly. “There are whispers and rumors about children who vanish.”
Qui-Gon recalled something that had bothered him at the time. “Is that what O-Yani meant when she said O-Lana would not disappear!”
0-Melie nodded. “Some children enroll at the Learning Circle and are never heard from again.”
“The Learning Circle?” Qui-Gon asked quickly. “Where is that?”
“That Circle is not in the city of Kegan, but in an outlying area,” V-Nen explained. “The
Learning is a course of teaching developed by O-Vieve and V-Tan. It was introduced about fifteen years ago. Before that there was no central authority and children were schooled at home.”
“We don’t know where it is, only that it is in the open country,” 0-Melie answered. “It is thought better for the children if parents are not allowed there. Children attend the Learning Circle from the age of four. There are no exceptions. Truants are dealt with harshly.”
“That’s why there are no children on the streets,” Adi said.
“Obi-Wan and Siri!” Qui-Gon exclaimed. “Could they have been taken there by mistake?”
“It’s possible,” V-Nen said. “We hear that the Truant Guides take action first and ask questions later. And they might not believe your Padawans if they say they are not from Kegan. There are very few citizens who know the Jedi are here. O-Vieve and V-Tan thought it best if your arrival was kept secret.”
“You see, we contacted you without V-Tan and 0-Vieve’s permission,” 0-Melie said. “We took the chance that our Benevolent Guides would not dare refuse the Jedi. They did not. They allowed you to come. But they would not let us see you alone.”
“They claim it is for our protection,” V-Nen
told them. “They believe that darkness surrounds the Jedi.”
Qui-Gon was startled. “I don’t understand.”
“O-Vieve has prophetic visions,” O-Melie explained. “V-Tan has dreams. Many of their predictions have come true. That is why the people of Kegan trust them. O-Vieve had a vision of the Jedi. She claims that an evil force will engulf those who are close to the Jedi. All Keganites are afraid of the Jedi.”
So Adi was right. That was what she had picked up from V-Haad and 0-Rina. Fear.
“But we doubt O-Vieve’s vision,” V-Nen said. “We want what’s best for our daughter. We had to contact you. We know Lana wasn’t taken for routine testing. We would have heard something by now.”
A sob broke loose from O-Melie.
V-Nen put his arm protectively around his wife. He laid his hand on her hair, holding her head against him gently. He spoke with his cheek resting against her hair. “I’m sorry to say these things out loud, Melie, but I know you are thinking them, too. We must be strong for Lana’s sake. We must allow the Jedi to help us. We can’t do it alone.”
Slowly, O-Melie raised her head. Tears sparkled in her eyes. “Men is right,” she said shakily. “We need your help.”