by Jude Watson
"Afraid of us?" Qui-Gon asked, startled. "Nervous, perhaps. But why would they be afraid of us?"
"That is something I do not know," Adi said. "Yet."
Qui-Gon paused. The reception area was just ahead, and he did not want the Hospitality Guides to see them. "We need to go back to the beginning. We need to talk to V-Nen and O-Melie. Perhaps Obi-Wan and Siri's failure to come back is linked to O-Lana's disappearance."
Adi nodded. "How can we avoid O-Rina and V-Haad?"
"This way," Qui-Gon said, turning and heading back down the hallway. He turned to the left, then the right.
"How do you know where to go?" Adi asked.
Qui-Gon smiled. "While I was at the Temple, I took sensory lessons from Jedi Master Tahl. When she was blinded, she learned to improve her other senses. I'm following my sense of smell."
Adi concentrated. "Food. Something is cooking."
"And where there is food, there is waste. Where there is waste, there is usually an exit," Qui-Gon explained.
"And I always look for a window," Adi said, hurrying beside him.
The kitchen was empty except for a cook who was grinding a vegetable into a paste, his back to the door. Qui-Gon and Adi Gallia moved swiftly and silently past him and slipped out the door into a small area with waste bins. They skirted them and headed back in the direction they had come. The distance wasn't far, and soon they stood at V-Nen and O-Melie's door. Qui-Gon knocked softly.
V-Nen opened it. The hopeful expression on his face faded when he saw the Jedi. "I thought there was word of Lana," he said.
"You must trust us," Adi told him. "We can help you protect your daughter."
O-Melie joined her husband at the door.
"We have nothing more to say," V-Nen said. "I must head for work at the Communications Circle now."
"We are late and must be going," O-Melie said. "Please do not follow us."
O-Melie's words were cool, but her eyes pleaded with them. What was she asking?
Before they could react, she shut the door in their faces.
Adi looked at Qui-Gon. The glance they exchanged was full of meaning. They did not speak for a moment as a skyhopper buzzed overhead.
"I suppose we should head back," Adi said.
"Yes," Qui-Gon agreed. "We can do no good here."
They turned and left the Dwelling Circle. But hope rose in Qui-Gon's heart. At last he was beginning to understand.
Siri heaved another tub of dirty dishes into the sink. Sudsy water slopped on the floor.
"What slab-brain decided that turbo dish-cleaners were bad for the General Good?" she asked, picking up a cleaning rag.
"Menial labor attentively completed adds to the General Good," Obi-Wan said.
She shot him a sidelong look. "You sound like one of them."
"It's starting to sink in." Obi-Wan dried the last dish from the enormous rack and placed it on a pile.
Siri gazed out at the narrow band of windows that ran along the top of the wall. All the windows at the Learning Circle were set high in the walls. They allowed light in, but restricted a view of outside. They had been told that afternoon that contemplation of the outdoors was a waste of time they should be devoting to The Learning.
"It's getting dark," Siri said. "I say we break out tonight. We still have our lightsabers."
"I think we should wait," Obi-Wan said.
"For what?" Siri asked, rinsing off a plate. "The breakfast dishes?"
Obi-Wan spoke calmly. "For several things. One, we don't know what kind of security the Learning Circle has. We should discover that before we try. Remember that Qui-Gon and Adi told us not to cause disruption."
"But that was before we were captured," Siri argued.
"I know," Obi-Wan said. "No doubt they are worried by now. But that's still not a reason to try a risky escape. If we plan it, we might be able to avoid a fight."
Siri gazed at him in disbelief. "Is that all you care about? Avoiding a fight?"
Obi-Wan struggled to hold on to his temper. "I've learned on missions with Qui-Gon that it is always best to avoid a fight if you can. You should have learned that at the Temple."
Siri flushed pink. She knew that Obi-Wan was right. A Jedi always sought to avoid a conflict. Infinitely more ways there are to reach a goal, Yoda had said many times. Try them all you should.
"You seem to forget that we're Jedi," she said. "If we just reveal that we are, they'd let us go. They'd know that we aren't Keganites then."
"But we don't know that they'd let us go," Obi-Wan countered. "It's an option, but I still think we should wait. Qui-Gon told us not to reveal that we are Jedi. And Yoda told us to avoid disruption at all costs. Until we absolutely have to, I say we stay undercover. What if we're really being held because we are Jedi? Or what if we get Qui-Gon and Adi Gallia in trouble by proving that we're Jedi? We don't know what our Masters are up to right now." Obi-Wan shook his head. "There are too many questions. Unless we can find a way to leave quietly, we should remain for the time being. Think of it this way - we can learn about Kegan society here. This is like an indoctrination camp."
"Are you always so cautious?" Siri asked him.
"I wasn't always," Obi-Wan answered. "But now I am."
He met her gaze steadily. She knew what he was referring to. He had acted impulsively once, and almost lost his way. Now he knew: It was always tempting to act. It was often wiser to wait.
Frustrated, Siri threw the cleaning rag into the sink. It slapped against the water and sent another shower of suds onto the floor. Obi-Wan sighed. After the dish cleaning, there would be plenty of mopping to do, too.
"So we have to stay and listen to lies while we clean up after the whole school?" Siri asked, disgusted.
"We wouldn't have been forced to clean up if you didn't keep correcting O-Bin," Obi-Wan observed mildly.
"And let that teacher fill the students' minds with lies?" Siri asked in disbelief. "How can we do that, Obi-Wan? You know that everything they teach here is wrong."
"What you said didn't make a difference," Obi-Wan argued. "No one believed us, and we got stuck with cleaning detail."
"So this is all my fault," Siri said.
"It's not up to me to assign blame," Obi-Wan said testily. "But if you insist, yes!"
"You're the one who didn't want to break out when we could!" Siri exploded. "We should have made a run for it."
Obi-Wan opened his mouth to refute her, but a hesitant voice came from behind him.
"That wouldn't have been a good idea."
They turned. V-Davi, the slight boy from class, stood in the doorway. His hands were stuffed in the pockets of his tunic.
"The Security Guides have great power here," he said. "It's not wise to oppose them. And besides, it's against the General Good."
"Thanks for the tip," Obi-Wan said.
Siri picked up a mop and began to clean up the water and suds she'd spilled. "Why are you here, V-Davi?" she asked in a kindly way. "You don't have punishment marks too, do you?"
"No. I have food preparation duty tomorrow. I thought I would get a head start tonight." V-Davi headed for a bin of vegetables. He started up a grinding machine and began to toss them in.
"You mean they actually prepare the stuff they serve?" Siri grumbled. "I thought they just scooped it out of the trash bin."
Obi-Wan grinned. It was true; the food at the Learning Circle was terrible. All vegetables and meats were ground into a paste and then formed into round disks and cooked. The disks were so tasteless and tough that they could be used for shockball. He glanced at V-Davi to see if he had taken offense.
V-Davi's face was frozen in surprise, as if he'd never heard a joke before. Then he laughed. "The food is bad, yes. But it's not my fault. They tell me how to cook it."
"I wasn't blaming you, V-Davi," Siri told him. "You'd have to be a genius to come up with food this bad."
"At least I can help you finish cleaning up," V-Davi offered. "I don't mind."
"Don't worry about it," Siri told him as she finished mopping. "I got us into this. But you can tell us more about yourself while we work."
"How old were you when you came to the Learning Circle?" Obi-Wan asked.
"It was seven years ago. I was two years old," V-Davi said as he ran more vegetables through the grinder. "My parents died during the great Toli-X outbreak. I was sent here. Most children on Kegan don't start The Learning until they are four years old."
Siri exchanged a glance with Obi-Wan. Toli-X had been a deadly mutated virus that traveled through asteroid molds from world to world ten years before. A vaccine had been developed shortly after it had appeared. In other words, if Kegan had been in touch with other worlds in the galaxy, no one need have died.
Between them, a silent message was passed: Don't tell him. Not if we don't have to.
"Do you like living here?" Siri asked, turning to dry the dishes on the rack.
"Of course," V-Davi responded. "Thanks to The Learning, I am preparing how to best serve the General Good."
It sounded like one of the rote responses they had listened to in class. Obi-Wan helped Siri dry the tall stack of dishes. "Do you ever get to leave the Learning Circle?"
"When your course of study is complete," V-Davi said. "Usually around sixteen. But you know this."
"We aren't from here, V-Davi," Siri said. "O-Bin doesn't believe us, but it's true. Where do you go when you leave the Learning Circle?"
"Where the General Good is best served," V-Davi responded promptly. He scraped the vegetable mush into a big container and placed it in the cooler that ran along one wall. Then he began to carry the dried plates to the racks. "When you are twelve, you appear before a committee in which your aptitude is assessed. Then you receive more specialized training in your area."
"But what if you're assigned to something you don't want to do?" Siri asked.
"You are happy, because you know you are contributing to the General Good." V-Davi mopped up a bit more soapy water that Siri had spilled. He leaned against the sink and put his hand in his pocket nervously. "I'll probably go into food service. There is a shortage."
Siri gave him a shrewd glance. "What do you want to do, V-Davi?"
"I want to work in the Animal Circle," V-Davi admitted. "But there is a surplus. So it wouldn't help the ..."
"General Good," Siri completed. "I get it."
Suddenly, Obi-Wan heard a peep peep. Was it a warning security device? He looked around quickly, but could see no lights or indicators.
V-Davi looked nervous. "We'd better go."
Again, Obi-Wan heard the peep peep. He realized that it was coming from V-Davi's pocket.
"What's that?" Siri asked bluntly.
V-Davi moved toward the door. "Nothing. I must go. Lockdown is soon." He hurried away, and something floated through the air back toward Obi-Wan. He caught it. It was a feather.
"V-Davi," he called. "Stop." V-Davi stopped. "What are you holding?"
Siri walked forward. She peered into V-Davi's cupped hands. "It's a humming peeper."
Obi-Wan stepped forward. V-Davi must have been hiding the tiny bird in his pocket. It perched in his cupped hands, a lovely creature with bright yellow and blue feathers.
V-Davi's eyes darted fearfully from Obi-Wan to Siri. "It has a hurt wing. I found it in the yard. I was going to turn it in. I swear I was!"
Siri reached out a finger and stroked the bird. "He's cute."
"I-I just rescued this one creature," V-Davi stammered. "I would never break the rules of The Learning."
Suddenly, Obi-Wan saw a tiny quivering nose stick out of V-Davi's other pocket.
"And what's that?"
V-Davi's eyes were wide. "That's a baby ferbil," he whispered. "Please don't turn me in, V-Obi."
"Of course we won't turn you in," Obi-Wan assured him. He stroked the furry creature's head.
"Is having pets against the rules?" Siri asked.
"Of course. There are no domestic pets allowed on Kegan," V-Davi said. "It is contrary to the General Good to lavish attention on a subspecies.
They are used for food products and cultivation only." His gray eyes studied them, suddenly fearful. "You are outsiders, aren't you?"
"Yes," Siri said. "But we're also your friends."
A relieved smile spread over V-Davi's face. "Students of The Learning are not encouraged to form personal attachments. If you make a close friend, you find he or she is moved to another Learning quad. So we must be careful. But you must call me Davi now. When one forms a bond on Kegan, the title letter of your name is dropped."
"Then you can call us Obi-Wan and Siri," Obi-Wan said.
Davi reached out and put one hand on Obi-Wan's forearm and one on Siri's. "You are my first friends. Maybe it does not add to the General Good. But I am happy. Now, since you are my friends, on Kegan we believe in trying to help our bonded friends achieve their hearts desire." He took a deep breath. "Therefore, Obi and Siri, I will help you escape. Tonight."
The constant buzzing noise should have alerted him. Instead, it had become background, and Qui-Gon had ceased to notice it. That was what they counted on, he supposed. A constant presence can be easier to ignore than a random one. There was complete surveillance on Kegan. The skyhoppers overhead had to be equipped with listening and watching devices. It was the only explanation.
V-Nen and O-Melie had asked for their help in the only way available to them: with glances and hints.
Qui-Gon and Adi did not dare speak, even in the open air. Without another word, they started toward the Communications Circle. Qui-Gon's keen gaze swept across the round buildings in the Circle. He saw one open window in the building to his left. He indicated it to Adi with a tilt of his head. She nodded.
They walked into the building and quickly made their way through a maze of corridors toward the room with the open window. They were sure V-Nen and O-Melie would be waiting.
The door was slightly ajar. Qui-Gon hesitated outside.
"Come in quickly please," V-Nen whispered.
"And please close the door," O-Melie added.
"This is a safe room," V-Nen said as soon as the Jedi entered and shut the door behind them. "Melie and I have installed anti-surveillance devices. The skyhoppers you may have noticed overhead are actually unpiloted autohoppers that contain audio and visual surveillance devices. Everything we say and do is recorded. There are transmitters in our homes that beam up to them."
Qui-Gon and Adi exchanged glances. "We thought that might be the case,” Qui-Gon said. "How did the citizens of Kegan allow this?"
"It began as an anti-crime measure," O-Melie explained. "Society was stable, but petty theft and pilfering was common after we changed to a bartering system. V-Tan and O-Vieve proposed we use autohoppers as security devices, and we all voted on it. Originally they were supposed to patrol the market only. Then it was extended to the Dwelling Circle and beyond. No one expected that it would be used to monitor conversations and activities. It happened slowly, and now we are watched all the time."
"But if every citizen on Kegan gets a vote, couldn't you vote them out?" Adi asked.
V-Nen shook his head. "Every citizen gets a vote, but V-Tan and O-Vieve decide what we should vote on."
O-Melie gave a sad smile. "We have the illusion of democracy. Not the reality."
"Tell us how we can help you," Adi said gently. "What do you think happened to O-Lana?"
O-Melie and V-Nen exchanged a frightened glance. "We are worried about her safety," V-Nen said quietly. "There are whispers and rumors about children who vanish."
Qui-Gon recalled something that had bothered him at the time. "Is that what O-Yani meant when she said O-Lana would not disappear!"
O-Melie nodded. "Some children enroll at the Learning Circle and are never heard from again."
"The Learning Circle?" Qui-Gon asked quickly. "Where is that?"
"That Circle is not in the city of Kegan, but in an outlying area,” V-Nen explained. "The Learning is
a course of teaching developed by O-Vieve and V-Tan. It was introduced about fifteen years ago. Before that there was no central authority and children were schooled at home."
"We don't know where it is, only that it is in the open country, ”O-Melie answered. "It is thought better for the children if parents are not allowed there. Children attend the Learning Circle from the age of four. There are no exceptions. Truants are dealt with harshly."
"That's why there are no children on the streets," Adi said.
"Obi-Wan and Siri!" Qui-Gon exclaimed. "Could they have been taken there by mistake?"
"It's possible," V-Nen said. "We hear that the Truant Guides take action first and ask questions later. And they might not believe your Padawans if they say they are not from Kegan. There are very few citizens who know the Jedi are here. O-Vieve and V-Tan thought it best if your arrival was kept secret."
"You see, we contacted you without V-Tan and O-Vieve's permission,” O-Melie said. "We took the chance that our Benevolent Guides would not dare refuse the Jedi. They did not. They allowed you to come. But they would not let us see you alone."
"They claim it is for our protection," V-Nen told them. "They believe that darkness surrounds the Jedi."
Qui-Gon was startled. "I don't understand."
"O-Vieve has prophetic visions," O-Melie explained. "V-Tan has dreams. Many of their predictions have come true. That is why the people of Kegan trust them. O-Vieve had a vision of the Jedi. She claims that an evil force will engulf those who are close to the Jedi. All Keganites are afraid of the Jedi."
So Adi was right. That was what she had picked up from V-Haad and O-Rina. Fear.
"But we doubt O-Vieve's vision," V-Nen said. "We want what's best for our daughter. We had to contact you. We know Lana wasn't taken for routine testing. We would have heard something by now."
A sob broke loose from O-Melie.
V-Nen put his arm protectively around his wife. He laid his hand on her hair, holding her head against him gently. He spoke with his cheek resting against her hair. "I'm sorry to say these things out loud, Melie, but I know you are thinking them, too. We must be strong for Lana's sake. We must allow the Jedi to help us. We can't do it alone."
