Jedi Apprentice Special Edition 1: Deceptions

Chapter 23

The sun rose late on Tentrix. After their morning meal, Obi-Wan and Anakin went out on the main docking platform to watch the sun splash the deck with orange and touch the planet below with light. Anakin felt exhilarated. It was a good feeling to be halfway across the galaxy from Coruscant and theTemple, looking down at an unfamiliar planet after a successful mission. For the first time, he felt like a true Jedi.

"I don't care what Yoda says," Anakin remarked. "I think discovering sabotage, helping an evacuation, and guiding a crippled ship to safety counts as a mission."

Obi-Wan smiled. "It was a mission, Anakin."

"Good," Anakin said with satisfaction. "There are some things I don't understand about it, though."

"That is usually the case after a mission."

"How could Kad forgive his father at the end?" Anakin burst out. "He had betrayed him. He could have been responsible for countless deaths."

"Yes, he did many bad things," Obi-Wan agreed. "But he asked his son for forgiveness when he was dying. There must have been good in him. I think it is a mark of Kad's character that he was able to forgive his father."

Anakin shook his head. "I still don't understand it."

"Would you forgive Yoda if he did something terrible?" Obi-Wan asked.

"Yoda would never do something terrible," Anakin said firmly.

"No, I don't think he would," Obi-Wan said. "But you must remember always, Anakin, the strength of the dark side."

Anakin's mouth set in a thin line. He still did not understand. He decided to change the subject. "I just wish we'd been able to track Kern."

"Perhaps Garen will be able to." Garen had volunteered to search for the escape pod. They continued to havehope that the BioCruiser treasury could be returned.

"I don't understand what Kern was doing," Anakin said. "Was he working for Offworld or not?"

"I doubt it," Obi-Wan said. "I think he is working for a different gang. Or maybe Vox contacted him on Offworld's behalf and he decided to work for himself instead. That treasury was a great temptation. And Kad told me that Kern stole the blueprints of the BioCruiser. He has detailed plans of all their technological innovations."

"What do you think he wants with them?"

"He will sell them," Obi-Wan said. "A constantly traveling ship with a large population could be seen as a threat by an organization that seeks control of the galaxy. Whatever or whoever is guiding Kern was interested in destroying Kad's movements as well as stealing the treasury. If we can find Kern, maybe we can get some answers."

"You sound as though you don't think Garen will find him," Anakin guessed.

Obi-Wan looked out at the stars, which were beginning to fade due to the rising sun. "There are many places to hide in the galaxy. And Kern is used to deception. But it is a good ending for your first mission, Anakin. Sometimes evil beings escape. We do what we can."

"But I always want to win," Anakin said.

Obi-Wan frowned. "Missions are not about winning and losing. They are about leaving good behind."

They heard footsteps behind them. Kad came toward them.

"A beautiful world, Tentrix," he said, looking down at the blue planet.

"Will you stay here for a while?" Obi-Wan asked.

"The repairs will take some time, I'm afraid," Kad answered. "We are holding meetings to decide on our next step. It is not clear what that will be. I am reluctant to make the decision. Some talk of colonizing a new world or finding a planet in the Outer Rim that would welcome us. We shall see. I have led all these beings away from what they knew, but I cannot provide them with a future."

"I'm sure the path will become clear," Obi-Wan said.

Kad nodded. "I want you to know that if I am uncertain about the future, I have at least buried my past. I hope it is buried for you, too. You saved my life, but that is not why I can bury it. I know now that you didn't cause my brother's death. Bitterness was at our family's core. I know now that Bruck had it. My father had it. And the hardest thing I had to acknowledge is that I have it, too. I have based a system on rejection. I turned my face away from life. What else causes that other than a bitter heart? Funny how facing that has brought me peace at last."

Anakin watched carefully. His Master and Kad locked eyes. Something passed between them. He felt something ease in his Master, some heaviness lift from him.

"Then life has given you a gift," Obi-Wan said. "You get to begin again."

"I hear you have arranged transport back to Coruscant," Kad said. "Will you come and say good-bye to Andra and Den? They're waiting for you."

"Of course," Obi-Wan said."Anakin?"

"I'll be right behind you," Anakin said. He did not want to leave the loading platform just yet. His mind still teemed with questions and lessons. He longed to ask Obi-Wan, but he didn't think he would. Whatever was in Obi-Wan's past was a wound that went deep. He understood that. He had his own wounds. Maybe someday he would stand as a man, just like Obi-Wan, and feel the burden lift.

He thought again of Kad, cradling his father as he died, tears falling from his eyes. There were levels to compassion he still did not understand. How did a being go about transforming anger into mercy? Frustration bit inside him. Obi-Wan tried to understand him. He loved his Master for that. But no one could understand. Not his fellow students at theTemple, not his teachers, not even Yoda, who seemed to understand so much. Would he always feel apart from the others because of his background? And would that feeling of separation mean that he would never become as great a Knight as Qui-Gon or Obi-Wan? It was his greatest fear.

Anakin turned back toward the shelter of the spaceport, toward friends, warmth, light, and his Master. The future would come, he told himself.

At that moment, all he felt was grateful that he had Obi-Wan to show him the way.