Jedi Apprentice Special Edition 2: The Followers

Chapter 22

According to the flight records, the ship that left for the Ploo Sector was very large and not particularly fast. Anakin knew that if they were going to catch it, they'd need a fast vehicle with a powerful hyperdrive.

There was only one such ship in the hangar. The pilot looked at the Jedi warily as they approached.

"Ploo II?" he repeated with disdain. "No thanks. I just got here, and won't be doing anything but taking a nice long rest."

"I can pilot," Anakin said. "You can even stay here and rest. We'll bring the ship back when we're finished."

The pilot looked at Anakin as if he were crazy. Anakin couldn't blame him. If it were his ship, he wouldn't let some stranger take it off planet, either. Not even a Jedi.

But they needed the ship. Badly.

Obi-Wan waved his hand in front of the pilot's face. "You can trust us to borrow the ship," he said slowly.

"I guess I can trust you to borrow the ship," the pilot said.

"We will bring it back when we are finished," Obi-Wan added.

"Just bring it back when you are finished," the pilot echoed.

Anakin grinned. They weren't lightsabers, but Jedi mind tricks really came in handy sometimes.

"I'll get Lundi," Obi-Wan said.

Anakin nodded and boarded the ship. From the pilot's seat he plugged in the coordinates for Ploo II. Minutes later Obi-Wan and Lundi were on board, and the ship was heading into the atmosphere.

Anakin thought he might have a chance to talk to Obi-Wan on the way, but Obi-Wan silently left the cockpit shortly after they had taken off.

Anakin guessed that he was still upset.

Trying not to think about it, Anakin studied the computer's programmed hyperdrive route. If there was a faster way to get there, he wanted to know about it. They had to catch the Holocron thief.

There appeared to be only one direct route, and the computer had chosen it. Anakin engaged the hyperdrive, and the nearby stars streaked by in flashes of blinding light.

Once the ship was safely in hyperspace, Anakin could step away from the controls and relax a bit. Moving into the hold, he saw that the professor was sound asleep. He'd been sleeping a lot lately, and as Anakin studied him he appeared older and more frail. His body shuddered with every breath. It seemed as if his life forces were ebbing.

Asleep and helpless in his cage, the professor seemed more pitiful than threatening. Anakin almost felt sorry for him. But then, the Quermian had not made this mission an easy one. He had been difficult from the start, and the way he'd treated his Master had infuriated Anakin.

Now, under his direction, they were chasing a ship on its way to Ploo II. Was it the right planet, or were they simply on a fruitless chase? It would be so easy for Lundi to lead them astray. After being locked up by Jedi for ten years, it was entirely possible that he was out for revenge.

Anakin couldn't really blame him for wanting to take his imprisonment out on someone.

Anakin watched Lundi sleep for a long time and tried to meditate. He was left with many questions about Dr. Lundi and the Holocron.

But he didn't think that the professor was lying to them about following Norval. Anakin sensed that they were closing in on something powerful and evil… and believed it to be the Holocron.

Anakin got to his feet and moved toward the pilot's seat. It was almost time to bring the ship out of hyperspace. Sitting down at the controls, he suddenly felt a ripple in the Force. He quickly brought the ship out of lightspeed. The familiar starriness of space came into view around him.

But that was not the only thing Anakin saw.

Obi-Wan was beside him in an instant. "I felt a wave in the Force,"

he said.

Anakin pointed to a sleek gray ship visible in the viewscreen.

"It just passed us," he said.

"Whose ship is it?" Anakin asked, wide-eyed.

Obi-Wan sighed. "I don't know," he confessed. "But I have a feeling we'd better get to Norval's ship before it does."

The large ship shuddered. Anakin had been pushing it hard since they'd sighted the sleek gray vessel, and wasn't sure how much longer it would hold up. The speed they were flying at was certainly faster than the craft was accustomed to. By the time they landed somewhere it would probably need repairs.

The mysterious gray ship was now in front of them and had slowed down.

Anakin's Master stood beside him with his eyes closed. "I feel something powerful, but it could be coming from that ship and not the Holocron. We've got to locate Norval quickly. I have a hunch that whoever is aboard that ship is after the Holocron too.

"I'll keep an eye out," Anakin assured his Master. "Why don't you prepare a shuttle. When I find his ship you can be ready to board immediately."

Obi-Wan nodded at Anakin gratefully. "Monitor all ship-to-ship communications and let me know if you sense anything unusual."

While Obi-Wan prepared a shuttle, Anakin carefully circled the gray ship in a wide arc.

Anakin was just coming around the gray ship when another, larger ship came into view in the space lane. Anakin felt instantly certain that it was Norval's. There was a strange flutter in his stomach, like nausea.

Anakin switched on his comlink. "I see another ship," he reported.

"And I'm feeling kind of weird. I'll bet the Holocron is in there."

"Good. I'm closing the shuttle hatch now," Obi-Wan said. "Activate the shuttle bay doors immediately."

Anakin pressed a button on his control panel and Obi-Wan's shuttle shot out of the ship. It looked tiny as it hurtled toward Norval's massive vessel. Anakin hoped it would land safely on Norval's ship without being detected by the mysterious gray craft.

As Anakin watched the shuttle approach Norval's ship, a voice spoke up behind him. Lundi.

"Too late, too late," he murmured.

Anakin turned around and saw that Lundi's eyes were closed. Was he asleep, or awake? Too late for what? Anakin wondered.

He didn't have long to ponder. Just then a huge blast rocked the ship.