The Fight for Truth(24)

“If it’s not valuable, why are ten Security Guides guarding it?” Siri asked.

Obi-Wan looked in the distance. Siri’s sharp eyes had noted the Guides lined up in a field.

“Let’s get closer,” he suggested.

Using the field of grain as cover, they moved toward the Guides. When they got closer, they

took out electrobinoculars from their utility belts.

The Guides stood ten paces apart. They looked bored. One of them yawned. Another stamped his feet.

“I don’t see anything unusual,” Siri said.

“Look at the dirt near the third guard, the one who stamped his feet,” Obi-Wan said.

Siri trained her electrobinoculars on the loose dirt that had been disturbed. “Something is buried there,” she said excitedly. “I see metal.”

“Hold on,” Obi-Wan said. The ground was moving. The guard stepped quickly away as a panel slid open and a ramp leading downward was revealed.

A Kegan woman emerged, wearing the white tunic of a medic. The door closed behind her and she hurried down the path in the direction of the Med Dome.

“That’s got to be it,” Siri said. “But how can we break in? We have to find a way to activate that ramp.”

“I know how to get in,” Obi-Wan said. “It’s all up to you. And it will be easy.”

“Me? How?” Siri asked warily.

He grinned. “Just do what comes naturally.”

Qui-Gon and Adi stood in the center of the coliseum. Opposite them was a circular table full of Keganites in red tunics. They were Judgment Guides.

“You have been found guilty of mind control in the case of 0-Melie and V-Nen,” an elder Keganite said. “The penalty is deportation. Your ship is fueled and ready. Escort starfighters will accompany you to the outer atmosphere.”

Qui-Gon and Adi said nothing. They knew that V-Tan and O-Vieve were behind this. It would be wasted effort to argue. But that did not mean they would submit.

They were led to the landing platform by a platoon of Security Guides.

One of them spoke. “We have taken the liberty of disabling all weapons and defense systems. We wish you good travel.”

A door hissed open, and V-Tan and O-Vieve appeared. They walked toward the Jedi, kind smiles on their faces.

“Before you leave, we wish to assure you that we mean you no harm,” O-Vieve said.

“Where are our Padawans?” Qui-Gon asked.

“We think they were taken in a Truant Sweep,” V-Tan answered. “We will locate them at the Learning Circle and send them back to Coruscant. We give you our personal assurance that this will be so.”

“I’m sorry, that isn’t good enough,” Qui-Gon answered politely.

“You do not trust us. Yet you should.” O-Vieve leaned closer to Qui-Gon and touched his shoulder reassuringly. Suddenly, her face drained of color. Even her bright blue eyes seemed to fade. She weaved unsteadily.

“Are you all right?” Qui-Gon asked, touching her hand. It was ice-cold.

O-Vieve dropped her hand from Qui-Gon’s shoulder. “It is nothing. Sometimes I see things. They come without warning. This is why we’ve done what we have done. We only serve to protect our people.”

“We agreed to your coming with friendship in our hearts,” V-Tan said. “What we cannot tolerate is interference in our affairs. It disrupts the

General Good. You pushed the limits of what we were willing to give. Kegan is not interested in other worlds. We want to be left alone.”

“You told the people that if one person left Kegan, the planet would be destroyed,” Adi said. “Surely you don’t believe that.”

“But we do,” 0-Vieve said gently. “I have seen it.”

“We understand your concern,” Qui-Gon said. “And we recognize your right to evict us. But you must know that if you force us to leave without our Padawans, we will return with an investigative team from the Galactic Senate. Kegan will no longer be able to isolate itself.”

V-Tan and 0-Vieve exchanged a nervous glance.

0-Vieve tucked her hands into the wide sleeves of her white tunic. “If you would indulge us, kind Jedi, and listen. I have seen visions of the future since I was a little girl. V-Tan has dreams in which he sees things, too. When we met each other, we discovered that our visions matched. That convinced us of the truth of them. We have predicted things that have taken place. Now we see an invasion of evil on Kegan. We created a way of living that might avoid what we see.”

“Everything we have done is to protect our citizens from a fate they cannot imagine,” V-Tan

said. “Perhaps some of our measures seem harsh, but they are only for the General Good.”