Star Wars - [Jedi Apprentice Special Edition 01] - Deceptions (by Jude Watson)

VIP免费
2024-12-20 0 0 169.39KB 73 页 5.9玖币
侵权投诉
Jedi Apprentice
Special Edition #1
Deceptions
by
Jude Watson
.lit by DrB 12/04
CHAPTER 1
The water was cool and green. Light trickled down and made shifting patterns on the bottom. Ripples
of gentle waves were formed from the force of the waterfall hitting the surface high above.
Obi-Wan Kenobi followed the shimmering tunic of his friend Bant, who swam ahead. He was wearing a
breathing tube, but she was not. As a Mon Calamari, she could stay underwater for long periods of time.
Bant navigated the deep pool with grace and ease.
There had been a time when he hadn't enjoyed swimming with Bant that much. He had felt clumsy in the
water next to her. He hadn't liked that she was better at something. But his Master, Qui-Gon Jinn, had
taught him that to value a friend's better ability was to be a true friend. Once Obi-Wan realized that, he
had looked forward to their swims as much as Bant.
Bant turned and smiled at him, her arms waving softly. It was always amazing to Obi-Wan that Bant
could feel so peaceful in this pool. It was here that she had almost died, chained to the bottom by the evil
Xanatos. Yet here was where she always chose to swim. She wanted to remember, she told Obi-Wan.
The day she had felt her life ebb was the day she had felt closest to the Force.
Bant pointed to the surface, and Obi-Wan nodded. They burst upward into the bright sunlight. They
knew the sun was artificial, created by vast illumination banks overhead, but they welcomed its warmth
on their cool skin.
Obi-Wan hauledhimself up on the grassy bank facing the waterfall. Although Bant found peace in this
place, he did not. Here he had battled the former Jedi student Bruck Chun for Bant's life. Here he had
seen Bruck fall to his death. It had not been his fault that Bruck had died, but he still felt responsible.
"Thank you for coming here," Bant told him. "I know it is hard for you." A glint of mischief lit her eyes.
"Maybe I ask you to do it because I know that."
He nudged her with a shoulder. "Oh, am I your Padawan now?"
Bant's gaze clouded, and Obi-Wan realized he had made a mistake. He had reminded her of what they
had come here to forget.
"I'm sorry," he said quietly. "I didn't mean—“
"Don't be silly." Bant hugged her knees. "I have to face my disappointment. Didn't you come here to
talk to me about it?"
Bant had been hoping to be accepted by Jedi Master Tahl as her Padawan. Tahl had seemed to take a
special interest in Bant, giving her projects to do and tracking her progress. Yet just yesterday, Tahl had
taken off on a mission and told Yoda and the Council that she had decided to take no Padawan at all.
Obi-Wan knew that Bant was upset by Tahl's decision.
"Yes," Obi-Wan admitted. "I know how it feels to be rejected. Even though Qui-Gon took me as
Padawan in the end, he said no at first, and it hurt."
"I don't think there is any hope that Tahl will change her mind," Bant said sadly.
"There are other Masters," Obi-Wan said gently. "You have done well as a student. You will get the
Master you were meant to have."
Bant brooded as she stared at the green water. "Yes, I know that is Jedi wisdom. But what do you do
when you feel it is wrong? I felt so strongly that Tahl was the right Master. Do you know what I mean,
Obi-Wan? Didn't you have the same feeling about Qui-Gon?"
"I did," Obi-Wan admitted. He did not know what to tell Bant. Jedi students were taught to trust their
feelings. They were also instructed to be certain that those feelings were pure. That meant that a feeling
could have more to do with what you wished could be, rather than what was meant to be. The feeling
must rise in you like something that breaks loose from a deep place and floats to the surface, where it
touches the sun.
Was Bant's feeling like that? He couldn't say. He could only trust his friend's judgment.
"Then maybe it's meant to be," Obi-Wan said.
"Still, I must not wait for it," Bant said. "I know that much."
Obi-Wan spied the tall form of his Master, Qui-Gon Jinn, approaching along the winding path to the
pool. He stood in expectation.
Bant rose as well. "I have stolen Obi-Wan's time away from you," she said to Qui-Gon as he walked
up. "I'm sorry. I needed his counsel."
Qui-Gon gave Bant the special warm smile he reserved for her. "I'm glad Obi-Wanhas you as a friend,
Bant. You may take all the time you wish. But right now, the Council requests Obi-Wan's presence."
"The Council?"Obi-Wan asked in apprehension. Being summoned by the entire Council was an unusual
event. In Obi-Wan's experience, it was never good. Bant gave him a concerned look.
Qui-Gon nodded. "Dry yourself off, Padawan, and come. They want us immediately."
Obi-Wan quickly toweled off his hair and buckled his utility belt. He wished he had time to change into
a fresh tunic. He hadn't done anything wrong ... lately. Why did he suddenly feel as though he had?
CHAPTER 2
Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon stood in the center of the round Council Room. A steady rain beat against the
windows that offered a panoramic view of the busy space lanes of Coruscant.
Qui-Gon had noted Obi-Wan's nervousness and now was proud of the way his Padawan stood, erect
and seemingly at ease in front of the scrutiny of so many Council Masters.
Only Qui-Gon knew how nervous Obi-Wan reallywas . He had faced the Council before. His Padawan
had reason to be apprehensive. He knew how firm the Jedi Masters could be.
As usual, Mace Windu opened the meeting. He always looked grave, but today Qui-Gon sensed an
uncharacteristic disquiet. He had hoped that this sudden summons meant that the Council had decided to
send them on a special mission. But now he feared there was something wrong.
"Do not be nervous, Obi-Wan," Mace Windu said, fixing him with an intent gaze. "You are not here to
be reprimanded."
It was unusual for Mace Windu to reassure anyone. Qui-Gon's concern shot up a notch. He glanced at
Yoda, but he could never tell what Yoda was thinking. He turned his quick gaze to Adi Gallia. Her
bearing was as regal as ever, but her eyes were full of compassion for Obi-Wan.
Mace Windu placed his hands on the arms of his chair. "We have received a communication from Vox
Chun, Bruck Chun's father."
Obi-Wan gave a start. Qui-Gon was just as surprised.
"He has recently been pardoned of his crimes against the state on Telos," Mace Windu continued.
"Now he wishes to come to theTempleto receive a report on the death of his son. This is his right, and
the Council has agreed."
Obi-Wan nodded. His skin had gone pale. "I must speak with him?" he asked.
"You must relate the details of the death of his son, yes," Mace Windu said in a voice that held a rare
gentle quality.
"Know we do that this is not easy for you, Obi-Wan," Yoda said.
"He arrives in two days," Mace Windu said. "Qui-Gon will be by your side. May the Force be withyou.
"
They were dismissed. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan bowed, turned, and walked from the room. As soon as
the door slid shut behind them, Obi-Wan's step faltered.
"Must I do this?" he asked Qui-Gon.
"You know the answer to that question," Qui-Gon said. "I know this will be hard. But I feel it could be
helpful, Padawan. You will have to speak of something you think you cannot, something deep in your
heart. Perhaps if you see this thing plain and honest in front of you, it will cease to plague your dreams."
Obi-Wan gave him a startled glance.
"Yes, I know how much it still troubles you," Qui-Gon said gently. "Isn't it time to put an end to it?"
Obi-Wan's face was still drawn. Qui-Gon put a hand on his shoulder. "Find Bant and get some food. It
is past time for themiddaymeal." Food always revived Obi-Wan somewhat. Qui-Gon did not want the
boy to worry too much about the upcoming interview. No doubt it would be rough, but Obi-Wan was in
the right, and so he would survive it.
After Obi-Wan headed for the turbolift, Qui-Gon lingered outside the Council Room.He hoped to have
a talk with Yoda. Tahl's decision not to take a Padawan and her sudden disappearance troubled him. It
was always helpful to have Yoda's perspective.
The door slid open noiselessly, and the Council members filed out. Yoda spotted him and nodded.
Qui-Gon had an idea that Yoda knew exactly why he was waiting.
"Worried you are, Qui-Gon," Yoda said as he walked toward him, his robe rocking with his sideways
gait. "Yet not just aboutyour Padawan, I think."
"Tahl," Qui-Gon said shortly. "Why did she not take a Padawan? And why did she leave so suddenly?"
Yoda leaned on his staff. "Should I be the one you ask this?"
Qui-Gon sighed. "You mean I should ask Tahl. I wanted your opinion first."
Yoda nodded. "Think I do that Tahl did not want to burden Bant with a blind Master. Afraid she was
that it would limit Bant's experience."
"Burden!Limits!"Qui-Gon exclaimed incredulously. He could not associate those words with Tahl.
"That's ridiculous!"
"Yet not think so, Tahl does. Time she needs, Qui-Gon. Help her with this, you cannot. Her decision, it
is." Yoda's wise gaze rested on Qui-Gon. "And time it was she left theTempleto take on wider duties.
We sent her to the pilot program on Centax 2."
Qui-Gon was surprised. Centax 2 was a satellite of Coruscant. Transports and spaceliners often
docked there in order to ferry goods and passengers to Coruscant on smaller ships. The Jedi had chosen
Centax 2 to set up their new pilot program, run by Jedi Knight Clee Rhara.
"Is there a problem?" Qui-Gon asked.
"That we do not know," Yoda answered, blinking his large eyes. "We only suspect. Aware you are that
this project does not have the full support of the Council. Clee Rhara believes that the Jedi should have a
squad of starfighter pilots. Some agree. Some do not."
Qui-Gon knew the project was controversial. The Council had finally agreed to the operation, but only
on a trial basis. Some of the gifted older students, like Obi-Wan's friend Garen Muln, had been chosen
for it. There were some on the Council who believed that Jedi should continue to take rides on consular
ships or haulers, or borrow small transports for short flights. They believed that Jedi pilots would lead to
a Jedi fleet, a complex operation that would divert their attention from peacekeeping efforts in the galaxy.
"Clee Rhara, you know," Yoda said. "Charismatic, she is. A following among the young pilots, she has.
Many are delaying their Padawan status. Allow this, the Council does, but many are uneasy."
Qui-Gon nodded. He had gone throughTempletraining with Clee Rhara. She had a bright wit and a
fierce will that had attracted followers even then.
"What is Tahl's mission there?" Qui-Gon asked curiously.
"A grave problem we have," Yoda said. "Until now, the Senate donated the starfighters for Jedi pilots.
Outmoded or damaged, the starfighters are. Clee Rhara has her own shipyard for refitting. Worked well,
this system has. But mechanical failures lately there have been.One quite serious. A Coruscant air taxi
was almost hit. Aboard, an important Senator was."
"Does Clee Rhara suspect sabotage?" Qui-Gon asked.
Yoda nodded. "Tahl has gone to investigate. Some there are in the Senate who resent the Jedi.
Whispers there are about our taking advantage. Track these whispers, we cannot. Concerned, the
Council is. Clee Rhara must make the program work, or abandon it we must."
"I see," Qui-Gon said. "So if Tahl can discover that the ships were sabotaged, the program can
continue."
"Perhaps."Yoda straightened and began to move toward the turbolift. "Watching us some in the Senate
are. Hoping to see us fail, perhaps. And watching they will be the investigation of Bruck's death. Also,
forget we should not that Vox Chun was once in the employ of one who plotted to destroy us."
"Xanatos," Qui-Gon said. His former Padawan was dead. Yet the evil he spread lived on.
CHAPTER 3
Qui-Gon decided that the most courteous thing would be to meet Vox Chun at the landing platform as
he arrived. Obi-Wan knew his Master was right, but he wished he could postpone seeing Bruck's father
for a while longer.
"Here he comes." Qui-Gon indicated a silver transport heading toward them. He eyed the sleek lines of
the ship. "How does someone who just got out of jail afford a transport like that? Perhaps Vox still has
powerful friends."
Obi-Wanwas too nervous to answer. Moments later, the transport glided to a stop, and the ramp
lowered and the exit door slid open. A figure stood at the top. Obi-Wan gasped. It was Bruck.
He took a step backward, and Qui-Gon put a hand on his arm. "No," Qui-Gon told him in a fierce
undertone. "It is not him, Obi-Wan. The boy only looks like Bruck."
The boy had a shock of white hair, like Bruck. He was dressed in a rough tunic similar to a Jedi's. But
as he descended, Obi-Wan began to breathe again. He saw that the boy's features were softer and that
he was a few years younger than Obi-Wan.
"A brother," Qui-Gon murmured. "They wanted to unsettle us. That is why he went first."
Behind the boy, Vox Chun walked slowly down the ramp, his deep purple cloak swirling around the
tops of his boots. The last passenger followed a step or two behind, and Obi-Wan glanced at him
curiously. Vox Chun had not indicated that he was bringing anyone with him, and the Jedi had assumed
he was coming alone. This man was shorter than Obi-Wan. He could be Qui-Gon's age, or he could be
older. It was impossible to tell. He had a smooth, unlined face and dark hair cut short. He wore an
austere black jacket and trousers.
Qui-Gon nodded as the three approached. "Welcome to theJediTemple. I am Qui-Gon Jinn, and this is
my Padawan, Obi-Wan Kenobi."
Vox Chun's eyes were the same blue-frost color as Bruck's. They slid over Obi-Wan like a coating of
ice over water. He returned Qui-Gon's nod of greeting.
"I am Vox Chun, and this is my son, Kad Chun. This is a family friend, Sano Sauro. He has come to give
us emotional support."
Obi-Wan glanced at Sano Sauro. His opaque black gaze and severe, expressionless manner gave no
hint of his feelings. Obi-Wan couldn't imagine going to him for anything involving emotions.
"This way," Qui-Gon said, indicating the passage into theTemple. "We have refreshments waiting, if
you--was "I've come for answers, not for tea," Vox Chun said brusquely.
"Fine.We have prepared a conference room—“
"Take me to the place where my son was killed."
Qui-Gon bristled at his choice of words, but answered carefully. "You may see where your son died."
Obi-Wan trailed after Kad. From behind, the boy's stocky build and stance brought Bruck back to
Obi-Wan vividly. Bruck had been a bully who had tormented Obi-Wan during his years at theTemple.
For some reason, Obi-Wan had gotten under his skin. He did not have any good memories of the boy.
Yet Bruck had developed a close core of friends at theTemple. He had inspired loyalty. There had been
a side of him that Obi-Wan hadn't seen. That was what tormented Obi-Wan. There must have been
good in Bruck.
They did not speak in the turbolift or during the walk through the corridors to the Room of a Thousand
Fountains. Usually, visitors were immediately struck with a peaceful feeling as they entered the vast space
filled with fragrant greenery and hidden trickling fountains. The air smelled fresh and cool. Kad stopped
for a moment, but Vox pushed him along. Sano Sauro's dour expression did not change.
"Let us begin," Vox Chun said abruptly. "How exactly did my son die?"
"TheTemplehad been under siege from an unknown assailant," Qui-Gon began. "We knew that your
son was involved—“
"I am not interested in your Jedi history," Vox Chun interrupted rudely. "I want to know facts." He
turned to Obi-Wan. "Where did you engage with him? Who drew his lightsaber first?"
"I followed him here from outside the Council Room," Obi-Wan said. "We both already had our
lightsabers drawn."
"You mean your lightsaber magically appeared in your hand? You did not draw it in attack or defense?"
Vox Chun asked sarcastically.
"I drew it when Xanatos and Bruck came through the vent outside the Council Room," Obi-Wan said.
"Did Bruck have his lightsaber drawn?"
"No," Obi-Wan answered. "He was hiding in a vent, waiting to steal--“
"Jedi history," Vox interrupted, waving his hand. "Not relevant to my question. So he drew his lightsaber
when he saw yours?"
"Yes," Obi-Wan said. "We battled, and Xanatos ordered him to go make sure Bant was dead. He ran,
and I followed."
"Did you attack him from behind?"
"No, he turned and came at me. We fought. We ended up near the fountain."
"Show me this fountain."
Obi-Wan led the way down the winding paths to the thundering waterfall and deep green pool.
"The waterfall was not operating at the time, since theTemplesystems had been shut down," he
explained. "But there was water in the pool. I saw Bant chained to the bottom. Her eyes were closed.
She was alive, but barely. We fought all the way up that hill," Obi-Wan said, pointing to the rocky slope.
"When we got to the top, I realized that in a few seconds all the water systems would be reactivated in
theTemple. They had been shut down because of a bug Xanatos had planted in the system. I drove
Bruck into the dry waterfall bed. My plan was that when the water came back on, Bruck's lightsaber
would short out. That would disarm him, and I could then free Bant."
"And leave your enemy standing?" Vox Chun asked. "That does not sound like a Jedi warrior."
"On the contrary," Qui-Gon broke in. "We avoid death at all cost. To disarm our opponent is our first
objective."
Vox Chun shrugged, as if Qui-Gon had just spouted empty words. "Obviously, this plan did not work
out," he said evenly to Obi-Wan.
"His lightsaber did short out," Obi-Wan said. "He was knee-deep in water. He scrambled to get his
footing nearer the bank, where the rocks are. He picked them up and began to throw them at me. In his
struggle to get the rocks, he went too close to the edge of the waterfall. The rocks are very slippery
there." Obi-Wan paused. His throat felt dry. "The current was pushing him. He lost his balance. I reached
out a hand ... it was too late. He fell below and hit his head. I ran down. I checked his vital signs, but he
was already dead. He died as soon as he hit, I am sure. He did not ... suffer."
"So that is your story," Vox Chun said.
"It is the truth," Obi-Wan said quietly.
"We are leaving now." Vox turned to go. Kad and Sano Sauro followed. Then Sano Sauro turned back
and fixed his dark, opaque gaze on Obi-Wan.
"In your opinion, did Bruck Chun really intend to kill Bant?" he asked softly.
"Xanatos ordered him to," Obi-Wan replied.
"That does not answer my question. Did Bruck intend to kill Bant?"
"I believe he did."
"You believe or you know?"
"I ... believe."
"What do you know? Did he take any action to kill Bant?"
"He didn't have to! She was chained underwater!"
"A Mon Calamari underwater is not so unusual."
"She was almost out of her store of oxygen."
"You know this? Or is this something you believe?"
"I know it. She told me so after I rescued her."
Sauro nodded thoughtfully. "How do you know that Bruck would not have dived down and saved her
himself , if more time had gone by?"
Obi-Wan stared at him. How could he know the answer to that question? He didn't think Bruck would
have saved Bant. But that was what he believed. He didn't know.
Sauro waited, but when Obi-Wan said nothing, he gave his first smile. It made Obi-Wan shiver.
He turned back to Vox Chun. "I'm ready."
"There is one last thing," Qui-Gon said. "The Jedi would like to present you with this, with our sorrow.
Bruck was one of us, and we mourn him."
He reached into his tunic and withdrew the hilt of Bruck's lightsaber. The crystals had been removed,
but the hilt still bore the markings Bruck had carved. Qui-Gon bowed and presented it to Vox Chun.
Vox Chun shoved it in his tunic pocket without looking at it. Then he turned and walked off without
saying good-bye. Kad Chun and Sano Sauro followed.
With a glance, Qui-Gon told Obi-Wan that he would show the visitors out. Obi-Wan could remain.
As soon as they were out of sight, Obi-Wan sank onto the soft grass of the bank. He felt emptied out
and light-headed, as though he'd been sick with a fever. He had told the truth, and they had not believed
him. He tried to take comfort in the fact that at least it was over.
Yet deep insidehe feared that it was only beginning.
CHAPTER 4
Qui-Gon watched Vox Chun's sleek transport rise in the sky. The meeting had not gone well. In fact, it
could not have gone worse. He had seen in Obi-Wan's face that meeting Vox and Kad Chun had only
increased his feelings of guilt. Yet guilt must ease for Obi-Wan so that sorrow could take its place.
He had spoken to the boy, but the words had not reached him. Life needed to teach him.Time.
Experience. These he could not hand over like a piece of advice.
But he could do something for his Padawan. He could distract him.
Obi-Wan had returned to his quarters. He lay on his sleep-couch, staring at the ceiling.
Qui-Gon leaned against the door frame. "How would you like to take an excursion to Centax 2?"
Obi-Wan sat up. His troubled look vanished."Really? I can see Garen!And those starfighters!"
"Yes, I thought you would like that. Tahl is investigating some problems there. I thought she might be
able to use our help."
Obi-Wan gave a vigorous nod. He would do anything for Tahl. "When do we start?"
"Now, if you like," Qui-Gon said. "Get your gear together. We can take an air taxi there."
Obi-Wan grabbed his survival pack, and they headed for the landing platform. There, they boarded an
air taxi. It was a short flight to the upper atmosphere, where Centax 2 was located. The satellite was a
small, bluish moon with no vegetation or water. Its deep valleys and mountain ranges had been leveled in
order to accommodate huge landing platforms and various tech support buildings and hangars.
The landing platforms were busy with traffic, and the air taxi joined a line waiting to dock. At last they
were given clearance to land. They exited the air taxi, and Qui-Gon led the way to a covered moving
walkway that had exits for different landing platforms. They got off at the very end, where the walkway
looped around to return. Then they trudged along a windswept lane to a small, private landing area in the
distance. Obi-Wan could see five starfighters lined up outside a tech dome.
As he got closer, he saw two starfighters zooming overhead, just silver streaks in the sky. He kept his
eyes on them as they dove, screaming, toward the surface,then pulled up. They flew side by side in
mirror formation,then broke apart.
"I wish I could learn to fly like that," Obi-Wan said admiringly.
After the two starfighters landed, Obi-Wan recognized a familiar figure jumping out of one of the
cockpits. Garen Muln removed his helmet and shook out a head of thick, shoulder-length hair. To
Obi-Wan's surprise, Garen no longer wore the short hair and long braid of a seniorTemplestudent. He
saw that the other pilot had grown his hair as well.
Garen's keen gaze picked out the two figures approaching. After only a few seconds, he recognized
摘要：

   JediApprenticeSpecialEdition#1 Deceptions byJudeWatson .litbyDrB12/04                  CHAPTER1  Thewaterwascoolandgreen.Lighttrickleddownandmadeshiftingpatternsonthebottom.Ripplesofgentlewaveswereformedfromtheforceofthewaterfallhittingthesurfacehighabove. Obi-WanKenobifollowedtheshimmeringtunico...

展开>> 收起<<
Star Wars - [Jedi Apprentice Special Edition 01] - Deceptions (by Jude Watson).pdf

共73页,预览15页

还剩页未读， 继续阅读

声明：本站为文档C2C交易模式，即用户上传的文档直接被用户下载，本站只是中间服务平台，本站所有文档下载所得的收益归上传人(含作者)所有。玖贝云文库仅提供信息存储空间，仅对用户上传内容的表现方式做保护处理，对上载内容本身不做任何修改或编辑。若文档所含内容侵犯了您的版权或隐私，请立即通知玖贝云文库，我们立即给予删除！

相关推荐

更多
立即下载
分类：外语学习 价格：5.9玖币 属性：73 页 大小：169.39KB 格式：PDF 时间：2024-12-20

开通VIP享超值会员特权

  • 多端同步记录
  • 高速下载文档
  • 免费文档工具
  • 分享文档赚钱
  • 每日登录抽奖
  • 优质衍生服务

作者详情

相关内容

更多

热门标签

人际关系 配电装置 动力学连接体 力的合成 高考理综 全宋诗作者索引 公务员考试
/ 73
评分 收藏
分享
立即下载 VIP免费下载
客服
关注