Star Wars - [Jedi Apprentice 06] - The Uncertain Path (by Jude Watson)

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Jedi Apprentice
#6
The Uncertain Path
By
Jude Watson
.lit by DrB 11/04
Obi-Wan Kenobi paced between rows of tombs in a tunnel below the city ofZehava . Overhead, a
battle raged. The noise of the explosions was muffled. But every time Obi-Wan heard the faint thump of
a proton torpedo, he had to stop himself from wincing. His imagination supplied the damage the explosive
device had inflicted. The enemy had starfighters, and the ground forces of the Young were being
bombarded.
Around him, the shapes of other tombs loomed in the murky darkness. The Young had made their
headquarters in the tunnels below the city. They had chosen the vaulted space of an ancient mausoleum
as central headquarters.
"Obi-Wan, sit down," his friend Cerasi called. "You're making me dizzy."
In moments of crisis, Cerasi was always calm. Nield, a tall slender boy with dark eyes, was more
serious. Obi-Wan could see the strain on their faces. He could not remember the last time any of them
had eaten or slept.
They had been fighting aboveground for fourteen days. Now they waited for the news that seemed long
in coming.
The three had led the Young on a quest to bring peace to the planet of Melida/Daan. Their war with the
Elders was yet another war in the bloody history of Melida/Daan. The planet had been torn by conflict
for centuries, as the two tribes, Melida and Daan, struggled for control. It was the Young who had finally
called for peace. The Elders had refused, and now the children of Melida/Daan were battling to save
their planet.
Obi-Wan had never believed in a cause more. He had forsaken his Jedi training because of it. After
struggling to become Padawan to the great Jedi Knight Qui-Gon Jinn, he had turned his back on him to
battle for peace on a strange planet.
Sometimes, he could not believe that he'd made the decision. Then he would look at his friends and
remember why he had done so. He had never felt as close to anyone as he did to Nield and Cerasi.
Cerasi's crystal green eyes gleamed in a face streaked with dirt and sweat. She patted a space on top of
the tomb where she sat with Nield. "I'm sure Mawat will clear the tunnel to the spaceport any moment
now," she assured Obi-Wan.
"He has to," Obi-Wan said worriedly as he took his place between them.
"We have to strike when the starfighters are being refueled. It's our only hope."
Obi-Wan had been the one to notice that the fleet of starfighters all attacked in the same wave. Most of
the advanced weaponry on Melida/Daan had to be constantly retooled and refitted. The people had been
fighting so long that equipment was worn out. The aging starfighters had to be refueled and checked more
frequently. And the Elders' mistake was that they were refueling their entire fleet at the same time.
Which meant they were vulnerable.
Obi-Wan's plan was to invade the spaceport with a small team during the refueling process. While one
member of the team disabled the power converters on the starfighters, the others would serve as
lookouts. If a battle started, the first objective was to distract the guards.
It was risky, but if they were successful, victory would be assured.
Recently, the Middle Generation had offered their support to the Young. They would form an alliance,
but only if victory was in sight. If the Young gained the support of the few who remained of the Middle
Generation, the Elders would be outnumbered.
Mawat, the leader of the Scavenger Young, was now working to expand a small side tunnel into the
spaceport's power shaft. From there they would be able to enter the port through a grate in the floor.
"All we need is timing and luck," Cerasi said.
Obi-Wan grinned. "Who, us? We don't need luck."
"Everybody needs luck," Nield shot back.
"Not us."
They held out their palms toward each other, their hands as close as they could without touching. The
gesture was a ritual they'd developed through the many battles over the past weeks.
Suddenly, a small, slender girl rushed into the vault. "Mawat says we're clear."
"Thanks, Roenni," Obi-Wan said, springing to his feet. "Are you ready?"
She nodded and held up a pair of fusion-cutters. "I'm ready."
He hated to involve Roenni. She was younger and unused to battle, but her father had been a starfighter
mechanic. She'd grown up around every kind of air transport available. She knew how to use a fusion
cutter, and how to disable a power converter. Obi-Wan was counting on the fact that she was small and
agile. She could slip into the starfighter through the cargo hold below. With any luck, she could do it
without being seen.
Obi-Wan, Nield, Cerasi, and Roenni hurried through the tunnels. When they got to the new tunnel
immediately beneath the spaceport, they moved more carefully. They were now directly below the
guards.
Mawat came toward them. His lean face was completely covered in dirt and muck. His clothes were
filthy.
"Took longer because we had to work so quietly," he murmured to them.
"But, hey, you'll come up right behind the fueling tanks. Three of the starfighters are, bang, lined up next
to them. Two are close to the entrance. There are two utility droids and six guards. At least, blast, they
won't be expecting you to come from below."
Remember, Padawan, when you are outnumbered, surprise is your best ally.
Qui-Gon's calm voice entered Obi-Wan's mind, twining through his apprehension like a cool river. He
felt a pang. He had never carried off an operation like this without his Master by his side.
Obi-Wan reached out to the Force. He would need it in this battle. But the Force slipped away from
him like an unseen sea creature that brushed against him and then moved on. He could not reach it or
summon it. He could only imagine its great power.
The Force had left him.
Leave you, the Force cannot. Constant, it is. If find it you cannot, look inside, not out, you must.
Yes, Yoda, Obi-Wan thought. Look inside, I should. But how can I when I'm in the middle of a war?
"Obi-Wan?" Cerasi touched his shoulder. "It's time."
Obi-Wan moved the grate aside carefully. He boosted Roenni up and then followed. Cerasi swung
herself out with her usual agility. Nield clambered up a little clumsily, but without making a noise.
They crouched behind the fueling tanks. The utility droids, working busily to refuel the starfighters, didn't
notice them. Nor did the guards, who stood at the entrance of the spaceport, their backs to the grate.
Obi-Wan nodded toward the first starfighter, and Roenni streaked across to climb inside through the
cargo hold.
There were only five starfighters. Three were parked side by side. With luck, Roenni could disable them
quickly and quietly. The trick would be to get to the last two, which were parked closer to the entrance
... and the guards.
Cerasi, Nield, and Obi-Wan watched anxiously, their weapons at the ready, as Roenni ran from one
starfighter to another. After the third, she poked her head out and gestured to the group. What now?
Obi-Wan leaned close to Cerasi and Nield. "I'll go with Roenni," he whispered. He did not want to
send the girl across the expanse alone.
"Hopefully, the guards won't turn around. You cover us."
His friends nodded. Obi-Wan moved quietly past the three starfighters, keeping away from the utility
droids. He reached Roenni's side. The girl's dark eyes were fearful as she looked at the space they
would need to cross.
He squeezed her shoulder for reassurance, and she nodded with more confidence. They took off across
the empty space, running quickly and silently.
They might have made it if a utility droid hadn't knocked into an empty fuel barrel. It rolled noisily
across the floor and came to rest a few centimeters from their feet. One of the guards turned. Obi-Wan
saw the surprise on his face as he registered the two invaders.
"Hey!" the guard called.
In the split second it took for the guard to fully recognize the threat, Obi-Wan was already moving. He
gave Roenni a push toward the starfighters, then ran toward a stack of durasteel cargo boxes. He made
an enormous leap and landed on top of them, then used the momentum to hurl himself at the guard. As
blaster fire erupted around his head, he fervently wished he had his lightsaber. He had given it to
Qui-Gon to take back to theTemple . Only the Jedi could carry lightsabers.
He could see the guard's mouth drop in surprise as Obi-Wan hurtled toward him, feet first. He knocked
him down, then grabbed his blaster.
The second guard turned just in time to see the first go down. Obi-Wan was already whirling, coming at
the guard with a kick to the chin. The guard fell, cracking his head against the stone floor. His blaster rifle
skidded away, and Obi-Wan jumped back toward Nield. Nield and Cerasi had already begun moving
forward, firing at the guards.
The four remaining guards scattered. They were all wearing plastoid armor, but no one took chances
with blaster fire. They fired as they ran, and Obi-Wan leaped back around the boxes for cover. Nield
and Cerasi joined him a split second later.
"They've probably called for help on their comlinks," Cerasi said grimly as she took aim at the guards,
who were crouching behind a pile of disabled floaters. She fired rapidly over one guard's head as he tried
to take a clear shot.
Obi-Wan saw Roenni frantically signal from the starfighter. "We need to cover Roenni," he told the
others. "Keep firing."
They kept up a rapid stream of blaster fire. Roenni scooted under the belly of one starfighter and leaped
into the next.
"Last one," Obi-Wan said.
Two guards suddenly split off from the others and dashed to either side of the spaceport, ducking
behind pillars for cover.
"They're trying to get behind us!" Obi-Wan alerted Cerasi and Nield.
Then he ran to the other end of the cargo boxes, keeping under cover. Roenni hadn't seen the guards'
maneuver. She leaped down from the last starfighter at the same instant that the guard behind the pillar
stepped out to fire.
Obi-Wan saw him catch sight of the young girl, whirl, and aim.
Desperately, Obi-Wan reached out for the Force. This time, he felt it surge around him. He put out his
hand, and the blaster flew from the surprised guard's hand. The blaster fire went awry and pinged
harmlessly into the wall.
Roenni stood, paralyzed with fear. Obi-Wan dashed to her side while Cerasi and Nield kept up a
barrage at the guards. Panic swirled in Roenni's eyes as she gazed at Obi-Wan.
"I'm right here." Obi-Wan locked eyes with her, hoping to drive away the fear. "I won't let anything
happen to you."
Roenni's brown eyes cleared. Trust drove out fear. But Cerasi and Nield couldn't keep the guards
down forever. They were exposed. Obi-Wan spotted the empty fuel drum the droid had knocked over.
He reached out with the Force. Nothing.
Never gone. Always there, it is.
Obi-Wan groaned. You think so, Yoda? Not for me!
Blaster fire ripped into the fuselage of the starfighter over his head. Obi-Wan pushed Roenni down.
Keeping his body bent over hers, he ran, hunched over, to the barrel. Not the greatest protection, but it
would have to do.
"We're going to have to crawl," he told Roenni. "Keep yourself behind the barrel."
Roenni crawled in front of him as he pushed the barrel steadily toward Nield and Cerasi. Blaster fire
pinged off the metal. Obi-Wan could feel Roenni shaking. When they reached the pile of cargo boxes,
she slid behind them with relief.
Obi-Wan rolled the huge barrel toward the front guard. It smashed into his knees, and he fell backward
into the guard behind him. They teetered into the line of fire of the other guards.
The four friends took advantage of the moment and ran, firing as they went. They reached the safety of
the fuel tanks. Cerasi was the most nimble of them all. She hustled Roenni down, then followed. With a
last blast, Nield jumped down. Obi-Wan slid through the opening, then threw out a timed explosive
device.
"Run!" he yelled.
They all scrambled to safety - and then the tank exploded, taking most of the hangar with it.
"That should keep them busy," he told the others.
Nield raised Mawat on the comlink. "It's done," he said. "The Elders have no starfighters anymore. You
can contact the Middle Generation."
Mawat's voice crackled over the comlink. Though the transmission was faint, they could hear his glee.
"I think we just won the war!" he crowed.
The lightsaber came down, missing him by millimeters. Qui-Gon jumped away, surprised. The blow
came from nowhere. He hadn't been paying attention.
He whirled, raising his own lightsaber in defense. His opponent parried, then twisted away to come at
him from his left. Their lightsabers tangled, buzzing. Suddenly, his opponent shifted his feet and moved
right.
Qui-Gon hadn't expected the move, and his dodge was ill-timed. The lightsaber glanced against his
wrist. The burn was nothing compared to his annoyance at himself.
"Round three, it is," Yoda called from the sidelines. "Approach from opposite corners, you should."
Qui-Gon wiped his forehead with his sleeve. When he had agreed to take part in a training exercise with
the advancedTemple students, he hadn't expected to work so hard.
He could hear the murmur from the student onlookers as Bruck Chun bowed and retreated to his
corner. Bruck was doing better than anyone had expected. He had made it through all six rounds with
different opponents. This would be his final match.
Qui-Gon remembered Bruck from his last visit to theTemple . The white-haired boy had fought
Obi-Wan in a tough, long match. The two boys were fierce rivals. They had fought out of fury at each
other and a desire to win Qui-Gon's approval. Qui-Gon had been impressed with Obi-Wan's skills, but
not with his anger. Watching Obi-Wan fight, Qui-Gon had been determined not to take the promising
boy as his Padawan.
Why hadn't he listened to his instincts?
Qui-Gon wrenched his attention to the present moment. He must concentrate. Bruck's fighting skills had
improved tremendously. The duel should have been easy for Qui-Gon, but he found his distraction harder
to fight. Bruck had surprised Qui-Gon more than once. The boy fought doggedly, never tiring, and was
quick to take advantage of Qui-Gon's lapses in concentration.
Bruck circled him, his lightsaber held in a defensive attitude. The training sabers were set on low power.
A blow would cause a sting, not an injury. Blocks littered the floor to make the ground uneven. The lights
were kept at half-power to add to the difficulty. A blow to the neck would declare the winner.
Qui-Gon watched, waiting for Bruck to make his next move. Bruck began to fade to the left. Qui-Gon
noted how his hands tightened on his lightsaber. Impatience had always been Bruck's weakness, just as it
was Obi-Wan's....
Was his former Padawan's impatience getting him in trouble back on the treacherous world of
Melida/Daan?
Too late, Qui-Gon saw the flash of the lightsaber. Bruck had utilized a simple trick, a trick that never
should have fooled him. He had reversed direction. The blow came down as Bruck leaped into the air,
twisting to come at Qui-Gon's opposite side. The blow missed Qui-Gon's neck by a hair. Qui-Gon
ducked, and took the blow hard on his shoulder. As he staggered, he heard the onlookers gasp.
He'd had enough of this. He was tired of his own inattention. It was time to end it.
Qui-Gon allowed his body to ease into his misstep, fooling Bruck. The boy came at him too eagerly, his
balance off. Qui-Gon whirled and attacked. Bruck stumbled backward, surprised. He flailed at Qui-Gon
with his lightsaber. Another mistake. Qui-Gon's next blow had all his weight behind it. Bruck nearly
dropped his lightsaber.
Qui-Gon pushed his advantage. He attacked, his lightsaber now just a blur in the dusky light. Slashing,
parrying, whirling to come at Bruck from yet another angle, then another, Qui-Gon forced the boy back
into a corner. Now the murmurs he heard from the onlookers were of appreciation for the skill of a Jedi
Master. Qui-Gon tuned them out. The battle was not over until the final defeat.
Bruck tried a last assault, but the boy was tired. It was not hard for Qui-Gon to knock Bruck's weapon
from his hand and lightly touch the end of his own lightsaber to the boy's neck.
"End point, it is," Yoda announced.
The two exchanged the ritual bows and the customary eye contact. At the end of every match, each
Jedi showed respect to the other and gratitude for his lesson, win or lose. Qui-Gon had fought many
times in this way. Sometimes, Jedi students could not control their frustration or anger during the ritual
bow. But in Bruck's steady gaze Qui-Gon saw only respect. That was an improvement.
But he saw other things. Curiosity. Desire.
Bruck was going to be thirteen in a few days. He had not yet been chosen as a Padawan. Time was
running out. He was most likely wondering if Qui-Gon would choose him.
Everyone was wondering, Qui-Gon knew. Teachers, students, even the Council. Why had he returned
to theTemple ? Had he come to choose another apprentice?
Qui-Gon turned away from the speculation in Bruck's eyes. He would never choose a Padawan again.
He returned his lightsaber to his belt. Bruck replaced his in the rack where the senior students left their
weapons after training. Qui-Gon quickly walked through the dressing and washing rooms and activated
the door to the Room of a Thousand Fountains.
He felt the coolness of the air with relief. Here in the enormous greenhouse it was always refreshing. The
sound of rushing water and the many shades of green soothed a restless spirit. He could hear the trickle
of the small fountains nestled in the ferns, as well as the gentle thunder of the larger waterfalls down the
paths. Qui-Gon had always found the garden peaceful. He hoped that now it would calm his raging heart.
Privacy was greatly respected at theTemple .
Qui-Gon had not been confronted with questions since he'd arrived. Yet he knew that curiosity bubbled
beneath the calm surface of theTemple just as the hidden fountains flowed in the gardens. Students and
teachers alike wanted to know the answer to one question: What had gone wrong between him and his
Padawan, Obi-Wan Kenobi?
Even if someone asked him the question, would he be able to answer it?
Qui-Gon sighed. The situation whirled with cloudy motivations and uncertain paths. Had he misjudged
his Padawan? Had he been too firm with Obi-Wan? Not firm enough?
Qui-Gon didn't have an answer. All he knew was that Obi-Wan had made an astonishing and
bewildering choice. He had thrown away his Jedi training like it was a worn-out tunic.
"Troubled you are, if the garden you seek," Yoda said from behind him.
Qui-Gon turned. "Not troubled. Just overheated from the battle."
Yoda gave a slight nod. He did not fully respond if he felt a Jedi had dodged an issue. Qui-Gon knew
that well.
"Avoiding me, you have been," Yoda remarked. He settled himself on a stone bench placed near a
fountain that ran over smooth white pebbles. The sound of the water was nearly music.
"I've been watching over Tahl," Qui-Gon answered.
Tahl was the Jedi Knight who Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan had rescued from Melida/Daan. She had been
blinded in an attack and then held as a prisoner of war.
Again, Yoda only nodded slightly. "Better healers we have at theTemple than you," he said. "And in
need of constant care, Tahl is not. Welcomes it not, I think."
Qui-Gon could not suppress a half smile. It was true. Tahl was already impatient with the constant
attention. She didn't like to be fussed over.
"Time it is for you to speak your heart," Yoda said softly. "Past time, it is."
With a heavy sigh, Qui-Gon sat on the bench next to Yoda. He did not want to unburden his heart. Yet
Yoda had a right to know the facts.
"He stayed," Qui-Gon said simply. "He told me he had found something on Melida/Daan that was more
important than his Jedi training. On the morning we were leaving, the Elders attacked the Young. They
had starfighters and weapons. The Young were disorganized. They needed help."
"And yet stay you did not."
"My orders were to return to theTemple with Tahl."
Yoda leaned slightly backward in surprise. "Orders, they were? Counsel, it was. And always willing to
ignore my counsel you are, if suits you it does."
Qui-Gon gave a start. Obi-Wan had flung almost the same words at him back on Melida/Daan.
"Are you saying I should have stayed?" Qui-Gon asked irritably. "What if Tahl had died?"
Yoda sighed. "A hard choice it was, Qui-Gon. Yet willing are you to blame your Padawan. Place the
choice before him you did: forsake Jedi training, or children die, friends are betrayed. Thought you
understood a boy's heart, I did."
Qui-Gon stared stonily ahead. He had not expected this rebuke from Yoda.
"Impulsive you were yourself as a student," Yoda continued. "Led by the heart, many times you were.
And wrong, many times you were as well. This I remember."
"I never would have left the Jedi," Qui-Gon said angrily.
"True that is," Yoda said, nodding in agreement. "Commitment you had. Absolute it was. Does this
mean that to question, others must not? Like you always, they must be?"
Qui-Gon shifted on the bench. These conversations with Yoda could be painful. The Jedi Master had a
way of poking the deepest wound.
"So I should let him make his foolish decision," Qui-Gon said with a shrug. "Let him fight a war he can't
win. Let him stand and watch the massacre that will result. He'll be lucky if he escapes with his life."
"Ah, see I do." Yoda's yellow eyes gleamed. "Unbiased by your feeling, your prediction is?"
Qui-Gon nodded shortly. "I see disaster there. The Young cannot win."
"Interesting," Yoda murmured. "For win they did, Qui-Gon."
Qui-Gon turned to him, startled.
"Word we have received," Yoda said calmly. "Won the war, the Young have. Forming a government,
they are. Understand now do you, Obi-Wan's decision? Fighting for a lost cause, he was not. A planet
ruler, he has become."
Hiding his surprise, Qui-Gon turned away. "Then he is more foolish than I thought," he coolly replied.
Obi-Wan sat between Nield and Cerasi at a huge round conference table. The Young had taken over
the bombed-out Melida/Daan Unified Congress Building. It had stood intact for only three years, during
a period where the Melida and Daan had tried to rule together before war had broken out again.
摘要：

    JediApprentice#6 TheUncertainPath By  JudeWatson .litbyDrB11/04          Obi-WanKenobipacedbetweenrowsoftombsinatunnelbelowthecityofZehava.Overhead,abattleraged.Thenoiseoftheexplosionswasmuffled.ButeverytimeObi-Wanheardthefaintthumpofaprotontorpedo,hehadtostophimselffromwincing.Hisimaginationsup...

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