The Fight for Truth(28)

“I can see.” Obi-Wan’s eyes were adjusting now. The gray walls and gray floors were like an extension of the darkness he had been plunged into for so many hours.

He walked next to the Guide down the corridors, passing a Medic Guide, this one different from the one he’d seen aboveground so many days before.

No. Today. I saw that Medic Guide earlier today.

He had to hold on to his sense of time. He would find a way to mark it in his room.

won’t be here that long. We came for Davi. We’ll find him and get out.p>

They had come because they felt they owed Davi. They had come to help a friend. They had thought it would be easy to rescue him and get out. They were wrong. This would not be easy.

It had been impulsive, Obi-Wan realized. And he had promised himself back at the Temple

that he would not be impulsive again. He would be careful.

Maybe he’d been influenced by Siri. She was always ready to jump, to move, to take action. He shouldn’t have listened to her.

Do not listen to others. Listen only to the Guides.

Obi-Wan shook his head, blocking out the memory of the voice.

The Guide ushered him into the cleansing room. He pointed out the heating spray and cooling spray, towels, and a fresh tunic.

“I will be back in three minutes,” he said.

Obi-Wan felt the pulse of the warm water against his back. He felt a sudden connection to the land above him, the living creatures, the beings around him. Qui-Gon was here. He was searching.

He knew it. He felt the strong, sure connection.

I’m here, Qui-Gon. I am below. Don’t stop searching.

They had this connection once, but it had frayed. Would Qui-Gon hear him? Would he answer him?

He felt nothing.

Obi-Wan moved to the cooling spray, then toweled himself off and dressed.

He was on his own. He could trust no one.

Only the Guides could be trusted for truth and …

Obi-Wan stopped in the middle of buckling his utility belt. He had not heard those words as spoken by the voice in his ear. He had heard the words in his own voice.

Fear snaked through him. They had gotten to him in only one session.

Obi-Wan took a breath. He summoned up his training. He focused on the calmness within. It drove out the fear.

am not alone, he told himself firmly. have Siri. And I trust her.

Food service took place in a large hall filled with students. Obi-Wan could not see their faces. Like him, they wore concealing hoods. Strict silence was maintained. Security Guides patrolled the aisles between the long tables, making sure no one started a conversation.

The Learning Circle had been strict. Friendships were discouraged. If one student got too close to another, they would find themselves transferred to a different quad. But conversation was allowed at food times, and students did interact.

Here, everything was designed to break a student down. Isolation was the tool.

Obi-Wan tried to peer under hoods to see if Siri was looking for him. He searched for a small, slight form that could be Davi. He could not tell if either of his friends were here.

A harsh buzzer sounded, and there was a

loud scrape of chairs against the floor as everyone stood, finished or not. Obi-Wan lined up with the others. How would he be able to make contact with Siri? He would have to find a way. Perhaps he could fake an illness. There seemed to be many med wards in this building…

Ahead of him, his sharp eyes had caught a slight movement. A slender tail flicked out of a tunic pocket. The student quickly put a hand inside.

Davi!

They marched down the long gray hallway in a row. One by one the students split off into separate cells. Obi-Wan kept his head down but his eyes fixed on Davi. He made a note of the cell Davi had disappeared into. There were no numbers on the doors, so he counted the doors until he got to his own.

He would contact Davi tonight. There was no time to lose. Davi was sensitive. He was afraid of being alone. What was this place doing to him?

And how would he find Siri? Obi-Wan pondered the problem. He would have to trust the Force to guide him. He could not delay any longer. He would use his lightsaber to cut through his cell door after lights out.

That night, he timed the regular stroll of the Security Guides. He calculated the distance

down the hall. He would have just enough time to get Davi, pause inside his cell for the next patrol, then take off and look for Siri. It would be risky. He would have to count on the Guide to not notice the damaged cell doors. The lighting was low enough that he just might get away with it.

A buzzer announced lights out, and three seconds later his light was extinguished. Obi-Wan sat cross-legged on the floor of his cell. He would wait until he was sure that most students were asleep.

He had waited only a few minutes when a whisper came to him faintly.

“Obi-Wan! What are you doing? Catching a nap?”