Star Wars - [Jedi Quest 08] - The Changing of the Guard (by Jude Watson)

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Star Wars

Jedi Quest

Book 8

The Changing of the Guard

by Jude Watson

source: IRC

uploaded: 09.I.2006

CHAPTER ONE

Senate aide Tyro Caladian winced at the look of frustration on the

face of his friend Obi-Wan Kenobi. "I'm sorry," he said for the third time.

"There is nothing I can do."

Obi-Wan wanted to groan. He wanted to kick a hole through the rare

laroon wood paneling of Meeting Room A3000291 in the Senate. He wanted to

react like a privileged, arrogant Senator used to getting his way. He

wanted to lash out.

But he was a Jedi. Jedi did not do such things. They accepted even the

most nerve-torturing frustrations with calm focus and unswerving direction.

He must look for the flaw in the logic, discover the opening in the locked

gate. Find the way. Petty emotions would only divert him. Obi-Wan took a

deep breath and searched for his calm center.

He looked over at his apprentice, Anakin Skywalker. If Obi-Wan merely

felt like kicking a wall, it appeared that Anakin would do so at any

moment. His gaze was turbulent, boiling. Then, as Obi-Wan watched, a mask

slid over Anakin's frustration. He looked composed now, perfectly in

control.

An impressive achievement. Obi-Wan had noted Anakin's growth over the

past six months while they had been tracking the evil scientist Jenna Zan

Arbor from her last known stop in the Vanqor system. Anakin was seventeen

now. He was becoming a man as well as a Jedi.

Together they had followed Zan Arbor's trail, tracing rumors and

finding clues. They knew the scientist did not have access to her large

fortune, which the Senate had confiscated and then dispersed among the many

planets she had wronged. They knew what the Vanqors had paid her would soon

be depleted. But they also knew that she had a taste for extravagance. She

liked to live well. Perhaps she would leave a trail that way.

Obi-Wan and Anakin had found other missions along the way, places

where they were needed that couldn't be ignored. Still they continued to

search the galaxy for clues to Zan Arbor's whereabouts, occasionally

diverted but never deflected from their goal.

The big break came when Anakin discovered she had bought a limited-

production cruiser called a Luxe Flightwing. The ship was so rare and

beautiful that everyone remembered it - fuelers on obscure spaceports,

repair personnel in busy capital cities, customs officials, and especially

other pilots. It had been an unwise move, typical of her greed and

arrogance. She wanted what she wanted, then she acquired it. But it was a

bad mistake. Bit by bit, information trickled in, and at last they had

tracked her to Romin, a small planet in the Mid-Rim.

Before traveling there to arrest her, Obi-Wan asked his friend and

fellow Jedi, Siri Tachi, to help. Siri and her Padawan, Ferus Olin, had

been involved in the search from time to time but had been called on by the

Jedi Council for other missions. Still, Siri had pledged her support to

Obi-Wan. Whenever he needed her for the final capture of Zan Arbor, she

would be there.

Now in Meeting Room A3000291, Siri didn't show her frustration, but he

sensed it in the taut lines of her muscled body. Obi-Wan knew all too well

how Siri despised having to deal with the bureaucracy of the Senate. She

was always geared for action. In many ways, she was like Anakin.

"Look," she said to Tyro, "we're not stupid. We know it will be

tricky. Romin is ruled by Roy Teda, who by all accounts is an evil

dictator. It's not like he's going to invite the Jedi in. But the Senate is

committed to arresting Zan Arbor. Why won't they give us permission to go

in?"

"It's more complicated than that," Tyro said. Clearly uncomfortable

under the scrutiny of Siri's blazing blue eyes, the Svivreni fiddled with

the thick metal clasp that held his long black hair in a plume that ran

down his back. Then he smoothed the glossy fur on his small, pointed face.

"Senate procedure always is. Teda himself is in violation of several

galactic laws. He imprisons without trial. We are certain he uses torture

to extract information. He has shut down the information bureaus and

controls the only communications system on the planet. He has even raided

his planet's treasury for his own personal use."

"Exactly," Siri said impatiently. "He is a criminal. So why do we have

to listen to him?"

"Because he is a duly elected ruler," Tyro said. "But he rigged the

elections!" Anakin burst out. "That makes no difference," Tyro answered.

"We must still obey the laws of Romin. And there is a law forbidding any

bounty hunters to enter."

"We are not bounty hunters," Ferus said. His dignity rang through his

words. "We are Jedi."

Tyro swallowed. "Yes," he said, "but the law says that no one can

arrest or transport a galactic criminal off Romin. And that's what you mean

to do. Teda has made himself wealthy by offering his planet as a refuge to

the most-wanted criminals. They're happy to pay him a hefty bribe in order

to relocate to his planet. In return, he makes sure that any bounty hunters

are forcibly expelled. If his security police find them, they are made to

`disappear.'"

"Then we'll just go to Romin without Senate approval," Anakin said.

Ferus frowned. Obi-Wan noted how Anakin bristled when he saw it. The

two had never gotten along, and Obi-Wan wasn't surprised. Ferus followed

the rules. Anakin had no hesitation about bending them to get a job done.

"Ah," Tyro said carefully, "I'm afraid that you do need approval.

Without legitimate cause, you will be asked to leave the planet. And if you

do not leave, it is likely you will be imprisoned - if you are lucky. Teda

has been known to execute without trial."

"But the Senate cannot shield a criminal like Zan Arbor!" Obi-Wan

leaped to his feet and began to pace out his frustration. Now he knew why

Zan Arbor had risked buying such a showpiece transport. She didn't care,

because she knew she would be protected. That infuriated him. No one was

above galactic law. "There has to be a way."

Tyro shook his head. "If there is, I can't think of it. The Senate

looks the other way when it comes to Romin. The Romin Senator wields great

influence. He is a favorite of Sano Sauro - who as you well know is the

leader of a large voting bloc."

Obi-Wan groaned. "Not him again." He had tangled with Sano Sauro

before.

"If you land on Romin secretly, you will be in violation of Senate

laws," Tyro said. "And I assure you, the Senator from Romin will not

hesitate to prosecute even a Jedi," Tyro spoke softly. "I'm afraid this is

typical of the Senate these days. I am so sorry, my good friend Obi-Wan,

that I cannot help you."

"I am grateful for what you've done," Obi-Wan said woodenly. He

refused to accept that Zan Arbor was untouchable. As his Master, Qui-Gon

Jinn, had said, There is always another way.

Tyro sighed. "I come from a peaceful world. The growing lawlessness in

the galaxy troubles me greatly.

The prison worlds are not well maintained. Just recently there was yet

another escape from a high-security prison, the Greylands Security Complex

on Tentator. It was a notorious gang who broke free. Luckily the gang

members were tracked and apprehended just hours ago. But such successes are

rare, I must admit."

Obi-Wan stopped pacing and fixed Tyro with a keen gaze. "Who are they?

"They are called the Slams," Tyro said.

"Species?"

"Humanoid. From Mamendin, in the Core. They started there with con

jobs, ID thefts, things like that. Then they roamed the galaxy, mostly in

the Core, pulling scams. They were the gang who heisted the entire treasury

of Vuma. The leaders are fairly young - a man named Slam and a woman named

Valadon. Slam is a con man and Valadon is an ID theft expert. They have

only two other members - they keep their numbers small to maintain loyalty.

The Slams were caught when they tried to break into a security vault of the

Commerce Guild. You just don't go after the Commerce Guild without major

consequences."

"I remember the Vuma affair," Siri said. "We heard about it at the

Temple. It just about bankrupted the planet. The crystalline vertex they

stole is still missing." She gave Obi-Wan a curious glance. "What is it?

You've got that look on your face."

"What look?"

"That look that says, You're going to hate this idea, Siri, but I'm

going to do it anyway," Siri said dryly. Obi-Wan grinned. "Relax. You're

going to love it."

CHAPTER TWO

Anakin looked over at his Master. They had grown even closer over the

past months. Anakin had broken down after the mission on Vanqor and

confessed his fears to Obi-Wan. He had been afraid to tell his Master how

there were times he no longer wanted to be the Chosen One. He realized that

he had been walking around with a nameless dread in his heart. He didn't

know what he feared, but he knew that he lived with the fear every waking

moment. Saying this out loud had shocked his Master, but it had freed

Anakin in a way he still didn't understand.

Perhaps it had been his experiences in the prisoner of-war camp on

Vanqor that had caused him to unburden his heart to Obi-Wan. Whatever the

reason had been, it had changed something between them. They had grown

closer. They were truly Master and Padawan now.

He knew what had happened was a classic step in the Master-Padawan

relationship. The apprentice invites the Master, and it begins. As

learners, they had all wondered what the expression meant. The Master was

the one to invite a Jedi student to be his or her apprentice. That was how

it started. So what was the meaning of The apprentice invites the Master?

Now he understood. He had been Obi-Wan's apprentice for years before

he had truly trusted him with the inner workings of his heart and mind.

Once he had invited Obi-Wan to share his deepest fears, his worst

nightmares, their relationship had shifted and deepened. It was as though

they were starting again. It begins. Obi-Wan had told him that the same

thing had happened with him and Qui-Gon. "In the middle of our journey

together, we began again," he'd told Anakin.

It was mysterious and wonderful. They knew what each other would do

before it was done. They knew what was in each other's thoughts. Whereas

before Anakin would worry about what was on Obi-Wan's mind, now he accepted

that some things he knew, and some things he didn't, and that many things

on Obi-Wan's mind had nothing to do with him.

He could not read Obi-Wan's thoughts right now. He had no idea what

his Master was planning. He felt just as puzzled as Siri. But where Siri

felt worried, Anakin felt excited.

Siri raised an eyebrow. "I'm listening."

"We have a way to land on Romin and get to Jenna Zan Arbor, then get

her off-planet without violating any Senate regulations or the laws of

Romin," Obi-Wan said. "Technically."

"Technically?" Tyro asked.

"We enter legally," Obi-Wan said. "As criminals."

Siri sat down and slung one ankle over her knee. "Well, that's a

relief. For a minute there, I thought you actually had a plan that made

sense."

"We take on the identities of the Slam gang," Obi-Wan said. "I'll be

Slam, you'll be Valadon. Anakin and Ferus can be the other two."

"Waldo and Ukiah," Tyro supplied. "But technically - " "So, we land on

Romin and find Zan Arbor," Siri said. "What next?"

"Well, I haven't planned it out completely," Obi-Wan said. "We find a

way to lure her off-planet. That can't be too hard."

"Sure," Siri said. "One of the shrewdest scientific minds in the

galaxy is going for a joyride with us. As Garen would say, piece of

sweetcake."

"We'll think of something to tempt her to join us," Obi-Wan said. "The

point is to land on Romin and contact her. We can only do that as

criminals."

"Can I return to 'technically'?" Tyro asked. "Technically, you'd still

be in violation of several laws I can easily think of. If you get caught."

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