The Fight for Truth(26)

“It sure beats sitting in class,” Siri shot back.

This time, Obi-Wan heard a few students stifle a giggle.

“Two more marks,” O-Bin said. “Getting back to the lesson, the freedoms we enjoy here on Kegan are unparalleled -“

Again, Siri interrupted. “Is that why all the children are confined to a walled compound and can’t leave without triggering an alarm?”

“0-Siri!”

“And why aren’t citizens free to travel off-planet?” Obi-Wan chimed in.

“V-Obi! Four marks for both of you!”

“But Guide O-Bin, they have a point,” 0-lris said. “Can you address it?”

0-Bin’s lips thinned. “No, I cannot. It is not a valid observation.”

“It seems valid to me,” V-ldo said hesitantly.

“And if we’re free, why can’t we choose what jobs we want to do?” another student asked.

“My father wanted to work in the Tech Circle, but was assigned to Traffic Control,” someone said. “He hates it.”

“They say they are not of our world,” 0-lris said. “You call them liars. Yet we saw how they ran the course. No one on Kegan has that kind of skill.”

“That’s enough!” 0-Bin’s face was red. She turned to Siri and Obi-Wan. For once, her anger was evident, not covered up with a bland, false smile. “This is all your fault!” she said shrilly. “Yours is not to question The Learning! It has

been devised by those far wiser than you. It is taught by those who know more than you.”

“Then you should be able to explain it,” Siri pointed out.

“If we are so free, why can’t we speak out?” O-lris asked.

“Enough!” O-Bin shouted. She stabbed at a red button by the door. Seconds later, Security Guides burst in.

She pointed to Obi-Wan and Siri. “Take them away! They have disrupted my class! They are enemies of the General Good!”

Obi-Wan and Siri were pulled out of class and taken to the admin center. There, a stern Control Guide told them that because of their repeated disruptions, they were being reassigned.

Their destination was the Re-Learning Circle.

Obi-Wan and Siri exchanged a glance of satisfaction. It was exactly as they’d hoped.

They were marched across the yard and into the field, then down the ramp into the facility. Immediately, all air and light were blocked out. The Re-Learning Circle was dank and cold, the walls and floors the same shade of dull gray. >

They were separated immediately. Obi-Wan was taken to a cell and locked inside. The light was dim. There was a mat on the floor to sleep on. That was all.

He did not know what he had expected. But he had not expected this.

Within minutes, his door hissed open. A Guide in a navy chromasheath tunic and pants walked in, a bundle in his arms.

“I am the Guide who will start you on the path of Re-Learning,” he said. “Put this on.” He held out a sensory-deprivation suit.

Obi-Wan knew he had to go along for now, until he could find Davi. He climbed into the suit and the Guide fastened it securely. He could not see or hear. The world around him dropped away. He could only hear his own breathing.

A lecture began in the padded earphones that covered his ears. He could not dislodge it no matter how he twisted. It was similar to the blackout hood he had worn at the Temple for the cooperation exercise. The difference was he could not remove this himself. He was trapped.

Kegan is a perfect society dedicated to the General Good. The Guides are here to help you. Do not trust others. Only trust your Guides.

The Inner Core worlds are full of dangers…

Travel is difficult and unnecessary…

Kegan medicine is the most advanced in the galaxy…

“Wrong!” Obi-Wan screamed despairingly. “It’s all wrong!”

But he could not block out the voice.

Qui-Gon and Adi entered their transport. Adi took the controls. She coolly eyed their starfighter escorts as she fired up the engines.

“Those are so old they should be junked,” she said. “We won’t have any problem outrunning them.”

“Let’s hope those laser cannons are just as old,” Qui-Gon remarked mildly.

They rose smoothly and headed for the

upper

atmosphere,

the starfighters flanking them closely. Adi was one of the best Jedi pilots Qui-Gon knew. Her response time was amazingly fast, and her feel for her craft was instinctive. If anyone could lose four starfighters without risking damage to their craft, it was Adi.

Because they knew one thing: They would not leave Kegan without their Padawans.

Qui-Gon had thought Adi too cautious at

times during this mission. Now he saw how determined she could be.

“Ready for a ride?” she asked Qui-Gon.