Moment of Truth (9781484719794) Read online

  He grinned back. “Thanks,” he said. “I just thought of it.”

  As they exchanged smiles, something changed. Something lightened, and the tension between them eased, just a bit.

  But then, just as the moment passed, Obi-Wan saw sadness in Anakin’s eyes. He caught the same feeling. It was no longer possible to fix things between them with a joke, a light moment. Things ran too deep for that now.

  “I’ll get the others,” Obi-Wan said.

  Shalini stood, her hands on her hips, surveying the main room.

  “I sure hope you can make that thing take off,” she said.

  There was nothing left of the shelter. It was now an empty shell. The team’s instructions were to destroy anything that could be of use to the Vanqors. Shalini and the rest had used soldering equipment and tools to fuse and destroy the comm and surveillance suites. They had destroyed all their files and everything they could not carry aboard ship.

  Anakin sat behind the controls, with Mezdec next to him. “The takeoff could be bumpy,” he told the others. “We don’t have enough power for a smooth ride. Once we get into the upper atmosphere we should be okay.”

  Anakin started the engines. The retractable roof of the hangar slid back. Watching the instruments carefully, Anakin gave the engines power and they rose, too slowly for Obi-Wan’s comfort. The ship shook with the effort.

  Anakin’s face was completely calm, but Obi-Wan noted the sheen of perspiration on his skin. The controls shook in his hands. The shuddering ship rose over the icy wasteland. It slid sideways, dangerously close to the side of the mountain. Obi-Wan saw Thik close his eyes. Shalini touched her belt, where the disk lay hidden.

  Anakin gave another boost to the power, and the ship shot up into the upper atmosphere. “That was the hard part,” he announced to the others. “Next stop, Typha-Dor.”

  If we are lucky, Obi-Wan thought. If we are very, very lucky.

  Chapter Four

  Anakin glanced at the radar. There was no traffic in the vicinity. Most transient ships stayed clear of the Uziel system, due to the troubles there. Now that Vanqor controlled the airspace, no one was eager to tangle with it.

  Safe for the moment, Anakin let Rajana take over the piloting. He needed to keep a closer eye on the instruments.

  Mezdec looked up from the navigation screen. “Everything all right?”

  “I just want to take a look at the stabilizer controls,” Anakin said. “Without full power, we’ll be in trouble if something malfunctions. I had to reroute the cables from the left stabilizer in order to get lift. I want to make sure we didn’t pull too much power on the takeoff. I’m going to run a full status check.”

  He set the status check in motion and watched as the computer ticked off the different indicators. Anakin decided to do a second check, this time manually. He couldn’t be too careful in a ship operating at less than full power. He scanned through the warning sensors.

  “That’s odd,” he said to Mezdec. “I’m getting an indicator green on three power feeds on the escape pod. I’m showing two anti-grav generators.”

  “The pod does have two anti-grav generators,” Mezdec said. “It was upgraded in case it had to be used as a primary transport to get all the way back to Typha-Dor. Samdew sabotaged the pod, too.”

  “I saw that,” Anakin said. “But there was no console indicator for an extra generator and three power feeds.”

  “The feed indicators are in the pod itself,” Mezdec said.

  “I see. I’ll check them there, then.” Anakin went back to the escape pod. He did a status check. Then he stopped by the small area where Obi-Wan had settled himself in the rear of the craft.

  Anakin eased into a seat next to him. He leaned over casually and spoke in a low tone. “The escape pod is double-boosted. Highly unusual for this model. The indicators don’t run through the sensor array in the main cabin. In other words, I found Samdew’s back door. If I’d checked the pod itself, I could have fixed the problem on the transport. All that needed to be done was a rewiring job to suck power from the pod and bring it to the transport. We could have taken off with full power.”

  “Can you do it now?”

  Anakin shook his head. “Not while we’re flying. But that’s not the issue. I have one question.”

  “Why didn’t Mezdec figure it out?” Obi-Wan interjected in a low tone. “Could it be an oversight?”

  Anakin shrugged. “Sure. If he’s not very bright. But he seems to know his stuff. And he had a month to try to fix the transport.”

  Obi-Wan frowned. “Something has been nagging at me. There were scorch marks on the comm console. Mezdec said that he came out of the sleeping quarters and saw Samdew at the comm unit. He saw that Samdew was sending a communication to the Vanqors.”

  Anakin nodded. “So he blasted the comm console to stop him.”

  “A blast from that distance shouldn’t have left scorch marks on the panel,” Obi-Wan said.

  “Not unless he shot from very close,” Anakin agreed. “Maybe he was mistaken about where he was standing.”

  “If he was close enough to blast the panel to leave scorch marks, wouldn’t you think he’d be close enough to stop Samdew without shooting? Why did he have a blaster, anyway? He said he’d been sleeping, and it was the middle of the night,” Obi-Wan said. “Anyway, the point is that he lied.”

  “But the others came out and saw what happened,” Anakin said. “And Samdew shot Thik.”

  “Think back, Padawan,” Obi-Wan said. “You are telling me the impression you got, not the words that were actually said.”

  Anakin thought back, annoyed at himself. He had spoken quickly, without reviewing the conversation in his mind. That wasn’t consistent with his training.

  He focused, as a Jedi should. He remembered the conversation clearly now, in the exact words and sequence the others had used. An exact memory was one of the tools of a Jedi mind.

  “Samdew was dying when he tried to shoot Mezdec,” Anakin said. “That’s what Rajana and Thik saw. Thik just got in the way. So Samdew could have been shooting at Mezdec because Mezdec was the spy. But what about Samdew activating the fire system?”

  “We only have Mezdec’s word for that, too,” Obi-Wan said. “We only have Mezdec’s word for everything, including the disabled transport.”

  “Do you think he’s the spy?” Anakin asked.

  “I don’t know,” Obi-Wan said.

  Shalini had seen them talking, and she slid into a seat next to Obi-Wan. “Everything all right?”

  Anakin glanced at his Master. Mezdec was Shalini’s husband. As the head of the group, she had a right to know what they were thinking. But where would her loyalties lie?

  “Fine,” Obi-Wan said. “Tell us something. Did you have any other evidence that Samdew was the saboteur?”

  “What more evidence did we need?” Shalini said. “He killed four of us.”

  “What do you think his plan was before he was interrupted?” Obi-Wan asked.

  “We knew he was beginning his transmission to the Vanqor fleet,” Shalini said. “Luckily Mezdec intervened before they got a lock on our position. I imagine that his message would be that we had the invasion plans. Then he would kill us and take off.”

  “In the disabled transport?”

  “The Vanqors would send a transport, I suppose,” Shalini said. “What are you suggesting?”

  “It seems an inefficient way for a spy to behave,” Obi-Wan said. “Far better to alert the Vanqors that their plans had been retrieved, then stay in place and hope for more chances to betray Typha-Dor.”

  “Maybe he was an inefficient spy,” Shalini said. “Maybe his mission was over. Maybe he was tired of the cold.” She eyed Obi-Wan curiously. “Why don’t you say what you mean?”

  “There could be another spy,” Obi-Wan said. “Or Samdew might have been innocent. He did not get a chance to defend himself.”

  “He shot Thik!” Shalini said.

  “He was aiming at
Mezdec,” Obi-Wan reminded her. “The only person who had identified him as a spy.”

  “What are you saying?” Hostility tinged Shalini’s words now.

  Shalini’s voice had risen, and Thik and Olanz looked over. Rajana and Mezdec could not hear.

  “We’re just going over what happened,” Obi-Wan said. “We want to make sure that what you think happened really happened.”

  “I know what happened,” Shalini insisted.

  “You know what Mezdec told you,” Obi-Wan said. “There is a difference. It could be a crucial one. Are you willing to gamble your planet’s freedom on your faith in him?”

  “Yes,” Shalini said with complete certainty.

  “I’m not,” Olanz said quietly, coming up with Thik. “The Jedi might have a point, Shalini. We are relying on Mezdec for our proof.”

  Shalini looked at the two of them with disbelief. “Mezdec is not a traitor. He is as loyal to Typha-Dor as I am, as committed to bringing the plans back as I am.”

  Anakin noticed that she touched her utility belt when she spoke.

  “May we see the disk?” he asked.

  Shalini looked at him angrily, but she reached into a hidden pocket on her belt and handed Obi-Wan the disk.

  Obi-Wan accessed it on his datapad. It was empty of information.

  Shalini stared at the disk in shock. “I don’t know how…”

  “Was the disk ever out of your sight?” Obi-Wan asked urgently.

  She bit her lip. “No, never. But Mezdec checked my blaster and my emergency supplies on my utility belt before we left. He said he wanted to do it, to make sure I would be safe.…” Her voice trailed off. “I have a second disk. I didn’t tell Mezdec. The invasion plans are safe.”

  Rajana’s voice rose. “I’m getting radar activity. I think it’s a destroyer.”

  “Where is Mezdec?” Shalini cried. Mezdec had disappeared.

  Anakin and Obi-Wan sprang up. “Emergency pod,” Obi-Wan said.

  They raced to the rear of the ship. Mezdec was accessing the emergency door. He ran inside.

  The ship suddenly shook as laser cannonfire erupted. “We’re under attack!” Rajana shouted from the cockpit. “I need help here!”

  Both Jedi leaped toward the closing door to the escape pod. It locked down before they could reach it.

  Obi-Wan swept his lightsaber down the door and the metal peeled back. But he was too late. Mezdec blasted out into space.

  Chapter Five

  “We should have been prepared for this,” Obi-Wan said.

  “He won’t get very far very fast,” Anakin said. “I disabled half the power. I also cut the comm unit. I’d better get to the pilot seat.”

  Anakin whirled and charged back toward the cockpit. Obi-Wan followed. Their best chance of escaping the Vanqor bombardment lay with his Padawan at the controls.

  Their chances weren’t good. At half-power, the ship could not possibly outrun the Vanqor ship, and it would also be hard to maneuver.

  Obi-Wan hurried back to the cockpit, where the others stood nervously around Anakin as he took over the controls. The Vanqor ship was behind them, a monster assault ship clad in black and silver. A flash came from the side of the ship.

  “Torpedo,” Obi-Wan said.

  Anakin made a hard right. The ship shuddered as it turned. The torpedo missed them.

  Laser cannonfire began to boom. Anakin put the ship into a dive, but Obi-Wan could feel how the ship trembled. He exchanged a look with his apprentice. Anakin’s lips thinned. Obi-Wan knew he was determined to get them through. But even Anakin couldn’t work miracles. Obi-Wan began to study the map charts, looking for a place to set the ship down.

  Unfortunately, the closest planet was Vanqor itself.

  “Hang on!” Anakin shouted.

  The ship staggered from a direct hit. Blue lightning skittered along the console.

  “Ion blast,” Anakin said. “We’ve lost most of our computer systems.” He turned the ship again, trying to stay a moving target. He threw a glance at Obi-Wan. “We’ve got to get the ship down.”

  Obi-Wan looked at the others. “Our only choice is Vanqor.”

  The group exchanged glances. They had been through so much and accomplished so much. Landing on Vanqor and being captured could mean the end for all of them. But when they turned to Obi-Wan, not one of them looked afraid.

  “If it is our only choice, let us take it,” Thik said.

  Anakin dipped the ship into the planet’s atmosphere. “Can you give me a coordinate?” he asked Obi-Wan. “I don’t have much time to maneuver, but I’ll do what I can.”

  Obi-Wan didn’t have time to consult the onboard references. He thought back on the holomaps he had studied. “Our best chance of evading capture is to land on the outskirts of the Tomo Craters,” he said. “It’s rugged terrain. We might be able to lose them there, if you can guide us to a safe landing.” Obi-Wan quickly sat down at the computer and brought up the coordinates.

  Anakin nodded briefly, too intent on keeping the ship on course to waste any movement. The ship rocked and shuddered under his hands. Suddenly it began to list to one side.

  “The left stabilizer is failing,” he muttered. “Everyone strap in. We’re going to have to crash-land.”

  Vanqor loomed below, a large, multicolored planet. Obi-Wan knew from his research that it was primarily made up of deserts and dry, high plateaus. Cities were midsize and strung out along the few fertile valleys. The Tomo Craters area was a remote section that thousands of years ago had been hit by a meteor shower. Deep craters and fissures marked the dry land.

  Suddenly an alarm began to sound. Red lights flashed in the cockpit. Another bank of lights lit up. Anakin didn’t say a word. He didn’t have to. Everyone knew what it meant: The ship was failing.

  Instead of slowing, Anakin pushed his speed. Obi-Wan admired his cool. He knew what Anakin was counting on. The faster they got down, the better. He just wasn’t sure what would happen when they got closer. Anakin would try to hug the surface, hiding from the ship above until he could land. Normally, Anakin would relish this challenge and perform it flawlessly. But with a wounded ship, he was taking big chances.

  Obi-Wan prepared himself. They passed over a green valley, and Anakin brought the ship closer to the surface. The entire frame was shaking. Sirens blared and red lights flashed. The surface loomed closer. Red dirt was kicked up by their turbulence. It looked as though they were about to crash into boulders as big as buildings. The ship rolled to one side, nearly sending them into a massive rock formation. Anakin corrected it. Sweat beaded his upper lip.

  Obi-Wan saw a smooth plateau ahead. Anakin would try to land there. He slowed his speed, and the ship wobbled, rolling from side to side. If they hadn’t strapped in, they would have been flung against the walls.

  “I’ve lost the left stabilizer completely!” Anakin shouted. “Hang on!”

  The ship slammed into the unforgiving ground. Obi-Wan felt his body rise up as though it weighed nothing. He came down, jarring teeth and bones. He tasted blood in his mouth. The ship careened down the plateau, tearing chunks of vegetation and knocking into small boulders. The noise was tremendous. The ship suddenly seemed a fragile thing, shaking so hard Obi-Wan wondered if it would simply fall to pieces.

  The end of the plateau was less than fifty meters away. If the ship didn’t stop moving, they would careen right off it, straight into the canyon bottom hundreds of meters below. Anakin frantically worked the controls. Obi-Wan saw the lip of the plateau approach. Slowly, slowly, the ship began to slide. A terrible groaning noise, worse than the harsh grating of the crash, rose in the air around them, battering their ears like a physical force. The ship suddenly tipped almost all the way to one side, slamming Obi-Wan against the console.

  Then the ship crashed against a boulder and stopped.

  Obi-Wan looked around. Thik looked pale. No doubt the bumpy landing had been hard on his injury. Shalini’s forehead was bleeding. Olanz and Rajana lo
oked shaken but all right.

  “We’ve got to get out of here fast,” Obi-Wan said.

  He unbuckled himself and Anakin did the same. They helped the others to quickly extricate themselves from their seats. The landing ramp wouldn’t engage, and the door had been mangled from the landing. Obi-Wan and Anakin set to work with their lightsabers to cut a hole through the hull.

  Anakin suddenly stopped. He bent over to look through the viewport. “They must have contacted Vanqor planetary security. Guard ships are approaching,” he said. “They’ve located us.”

  “Do you have any smoke grenades and air masks aboard?” Obi-Wan asked Shalini.

  “I’ll get them,” Rajana said. She hurried down the aisle of the ship, holding on to seat backs to stay upright.

  Obi-Wan spoke even as they continued to peel back the hull with their lightsabers. “Our best chance is to launch down that canyon on cables. Anakin, you take Shalini and Olanz. I’ll take Thik and Rajana. We’ll use the smoke grenades for cover. Turn on your tracking device in case we lose each other.”

  The hole was big enough now. Obi-Wan tossed out two smoke grenades. The acrid smoke billowed out. Without much wind, the smoke hung in the air, a perfect cover. One by one, wearing air masks to protect their lungs, they slid through the hole.

  They were still out of range of the starship’s weapons. They had only minutes now. They began to run toward the edge of the plateau.

  Shaken from the landing, some of the group could not move fast. Thik, with his bad knee, was especially slow. Obi-Wan and Anakin helped them along, but within seconds, Obi-Wan did a quick calculation and realized they couldn’t make it. The starships could begin shooting through the smoke at any moment. The Vanqors might not be able to pinpoint their location, but they certainly could figure out where they were headed. It was the only avenue of escape.

  Obi-Wan felt desperate. The question was, would the ships try to kill them or take them prisoner?

  They couldn’t see the starships, but the first fire tore up the ground in front of them. They jumped back. The fire was constant, preventing them from reaching the edge of the plateau.