The Fight for Truth(29)

“Siri?”

“Who do you think it is, V-Tarz? Stand back.”

The glow of molten metal illuminated his room. Siri was cutting a hole in the door with her lightsaber. Obi-Wan sprang forward to help. Soon they’d cut an opening big enough for him to squeeze through.

Siri’s bright eyes gleamed at him. “What were you waiting for? Are you starting to like it here?”

By now Obi-Wan was used to her sense of humor. “Come on,” he said. “I know where Davi is.”

They hurried down the hallway. “I think Qui-Gon is somewhere in the Learning Circle,” he said. “I feel it.”

“I don’t feel anything,” Siri said. “But I don’t have that kind of connection to Adi yet. Maybe someday we’ll work together as well and you and Qui-Gon.”

It was a backhanded compliment, but it was the first time she’d acknowledged that Obi-Wan had more experience than she did.

They reached Davi’s door. Quickly, they cut a hole and climbed through. Davi rose on his elbows, shocked to see Obi-Wan and Siri climb into his cell.

“What are you doing here?” he whispered. “You’ll get us all in trouble.”

“It could get worse than this?” Siri asked, waving her lightsaber at the bare cell.

Davi didn’t smile. He lowered back onto his sleep mat and curled into a ball. “I’m sure it could,” he said. “Go away.”

“Davi, you have to come with us,” Obi-Wan said urgently.

“You have to trust us,” Siri added.

“I only trust the Guides,” Davi said. “They show me the way to the General Good. They monitor it. They know it. I trust them.”

“That’s the voice talking,” Obi-Wan said.

“I do not trust my friend or neighbor,” Davi

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whispered. “I trust the Guides.” He looked at them pleadingly. “This is all I know. Please go away.”

Siri stepped forward and sat on the floor next to Davi. “There are many things in the galaxy that are good, Davi. If Kegan let in the good things from outside, it would be a better place. Perhaps some of the illnesses you have here are now curable. Like the Toli-X Virus.”

Davi rose on his elbows again. “B-but that is incurable. My parents died of it.”

“A cure was discovered shortly after the virus began to sweep the galaxy,” Siri said gently. “If Kegan had been in touch with the rest of the galaxy, many would have been saved. I’m sorry to tell you this.”

“I don’t believe you.” Davi shook his head back and forth. “The Guides don’t lie. The Guides don’t lie.”

“Davi, why are there so many med facilities here at the Re-Learning Circle?” Obi-Wan asked him.

“Because the children cannot be cured,” Davi said. “If they are in sight of others, it is bad for the General Good.”

“If an animal was hurt, would you lock it away, or would you try to cure it?” Obi-Wan asked. “This place is wrong, Davi. You must know that.”

Davi looked up at them, stricken.

“We are your friends,” Siri said urgently. “We would not lie to you. You know that we come from another world. We have seen these things.” She stood. “Will you come with us?”

Davi hesitated. Outside in the hall, they heard the footsteps of a guard. Would Davi turn them in?

They heard the footsteps walk by, then fade.

Davi stood. “I’m coming with you.”

Obi-Wan and Siri reached out and each put a hand on Davi’s forearm. They smiled at each other.

“Wait.” Davi looked at them hesitantly. “Can I take Wali?”

Siri and Obi-Wan exchanged a glance. Rescuing someone else would take time and could endanger them. But they couldn’t refuse Davi.

They nodded.

Davi squatted by the wall. Carefully, he eased out a stone from the wall. He plucked out a small furry creature and slipped it into his pocket.

“All right. I’m ready.”

They moved quietly down the hall. Suddenly, a faint, mewing cry split the silence.

“Davi, you have to make Wali be quiet,” Obi-Wan advised him.

“That wasn’t Wali,” Davi whispered.

They heard the cry again. It was muffled, and Obi-Wan realized now that it came from one of the rooms off the hall. Then he felt it -

“It’s a baby,” Siri breathed.

“It’s 0-Lana,” Obi-Wan declared.

They were almost to the wall when Qui-Gon felt the surge in the Force. But all he saw was a field of green grain.

“They are here,” he said to Adi.

She nodded. “I feel it, too. But where?”

Qui-Gon crouched down. He put his hands on the dirt. He closed his eyes. “Here.”