by Jude Watson
"The word is that the Leadership School serves as a training ground
for this squad," Windu continued. "The young mercenaries have already been
involved in several intra-planetary disputes and possibly even
assassinations. They are alleged to hire themselves out for various causes
around the galaxy. The disappearance of Gillam Tarturi could be related to
this secret squad. Their activities are beginning to worry the Council."
"So they must be investigated as well," Obi-Wan said.
Mace Windu nodded. "The Council has arranged for both Anakin and Ferus
to enter the school as new students. They are to find out who is behind the
renegade squad and investigate them. Their identities will be concealed -
no one must connect the Jedi to this operation if we are to succeed. Not
even the school officials will know that Ferus and Anakin are Jedi - they
have been given documentation as transfer students, Anakin on a scholarship
and Ferus as the son of a high official from a Mid-Rim planet."
"And meanwhile I will investigate Andaran system politics," Obi-Wan
said. He tried to keep the thud of disappointment from his voice.
Mace Windu nodded again. "This will mean a separation between Master
and Padawan. Not only for you, but for Siri as well. The Council is sending
her to do some follow-up work on a planet in the Core. The Council feels
that Ferus and Anakin together can handle this." He turned to the two
Padawans. "You will be undercover at all times, and that will prove
difficult in ways you have yet to foresee. You can set up a regular time to
communicate with Obi-Wan. Students are not allowed to use comm devices
during the school day, but they have a free hour in the evenings. You must
check in with each other as often as you can."
"Yes, Master Windu," Ferus said.
The doors hissed open and Siri walked in with her usual purposeful
stride. She bowed to the Council. "I have received my last instructions and
I'm ready to leave," she said.
"You will be responsible for another Jedi's Padawan," Mace Windu told
Obi-Wan. "You know what this means."
"It is as if he is my own," Obi-Wan said, looking at Siri. Her clear,
deep blue gaze told him that she trusted him.
"May the Force be with you all," Mace Windu concluded.
An hour later, the sky remained black and the clouds still refused to
release the rain as Obi-Wan stood on the landing platform with Anakin.
Ferus was already in the cruiser, doing a last-minute check. Obi-Wan would
remain on Coruscant to investigate Tarturi's rivals in the Senate. It was
the place he had to start, but he did not relish the idea.
"I'm sorry to leave you, Master, but I know how much you're looking
forward to returning to the Senate," Anakin said. The muscles around his
mouth twitched as he tried not to smile.
"Very amusing," Obi-Wan said dryly. "I admit I would rather not have
this particular assignment, but I recognize that it is necessary that it be
done."
Anakin sighed. "Always an opportunity to teach."
"Yes," Obi-Wan said, smiling now. "That is the role of a Master, my
young apprentice." He put his hand on Anakin's shoulder. "Remember, you are
not on a solo mission. You are with a fellow Jedi. Do your best with Ferus.
Try to get to know him. That might ease your irritation with him."
"I would rather not have this particular assignment, but I recognize
that it must be done," Anakin said with a straight face.
Obi-Wan laughed. He would miss Anakin's humor. Sometimes, he knew, he
could be too serious. He remembered how Qui-Gon would sometimes surprise
him on a tough mission with a sly joke.
I must remember to do those things for Anakin, he thought. His gifts
are so great that I work too hard to teach. He must learn to enjoy, as
well.
"Keep in close contact, Anakin," he said. "I will be on Andara as soon
as I can. May the Force be with you."
"May the Force be with you, Master." Anakin turned and strode toward
the Republic cruiser. Obi-Wan felt a tug at his heart that he recognized as
a reluctance he did not like to admit.
The Council believed that Anakin was ready for more independence, but
no doubt they had chosen Ferus as a counterbalance. His stability would
keep Anakin's impulsiveness in check.
Or so they believed.
Obi-Wan watched the cruiser shoot into a space-lane, suddenly reverse
engines, and drop into a lane several levels below between an airspeeder
and an air taxi with barely a millimeter to spare. Obi-Wan shook his head
ruefully. There was no doubt in his mind that Anakin had suggested the
close maneuver just to annoy Ferus.
He was glad Mace Windu had not seen it.
He watched the cruiser until it disappeared into the dusk. Yes, the
Council was wise. Wiser than him. No doubt about that. Yet he knew his
Padawan better than the Council, and his uneasiness gathered within him, as
dark and heavy as the coming storm.
CHAPTER THREE
Andara was a beautiful world, lush and green with a temperate climate,
tracts of wilderness, and wealthy cities. The Leadership School was on the
outskirts of its capital city of Utare. The campus of the school took in
rolling hills, green fields, and a lake. The grounds were ringed with an
electro-charged security wall with observation towers and a particle
shield. Roving surveillance droids made circuits of the property.
Electrobars covered the windows. Rich children usually attracted bounty
hunters and other threats; the school meant to keep them out.
Anakin gazed behind him at the city buildings of Utare as they passed
through the security checkpoint. He felt as though he were saying good-bye
to freedom and entering a prison. Although there was security at the
Temple, he never felt or saw its presence; he just felt safe.
Once they were inside the school and had received their class and room
assignments, the feeling of oppression was meant to lift. The Leadership
School was like a separate world. In many ways, it was more like a grand
hotel than a place of learning.
It was built with gray stone imbedded with chunks of rare minerals
that glinted blue and rose in the light. Costly woods were used for
counters and desks. Each student had his or her own small but luxurious
quarters. Expert chefs prepared the food. The students had extensive
exercise equipment and five pools of varying depths and temperatures.
Everything was arranged for their comfort. It was very different from the
Temple. The Temple was both grand and simple at the same time. Here, luxury
was everywhere.
"If the body is pampered, the mind is free to concentrate," Professor
Aeradin told them as they toured the compound. He was an assistant dean and
had been assigned to them for orientation. He was tall and thin, with a
narrow head and four antennae that quivered when he grew excited. He was
obviously proud of the school, and his antennae rarely stopped dancing.
But despite the teacher's enthusiasm and the gleaming hallways, Anakin
felt a steady pulse underneath it all that leadened the atmosphe
re with
dread.
"Can you feel it?" he asked Ferus as they made their way to their
rooms.
Ferus nodded. "Fear."
Anakin said good-bye and opened the door to his small but exquisite
suite. The sleep couch was piled with thick soft covers and a long counter
held a variety of the latest tech learning devices.
All of the luxury was nice, he had to admit, but it made him
uncomfortable. He liked simple things. And the luxury did not disguise the
lack of freedom. The students were subject to strict security regulations.
They could not leave the complex without authorization. The parents of the
students paid a small fortune in order to ensure their children's safety.
Security had been stepped up since Gillam's disappearance. Random checks
were conducted and the whereabouts of the students had to be known at all
times. Roving security droids zipped through the hallways, their cams
constantly sweeping the air.
Yet Anakin knew these students did not feel safe here. The heavy
surveillance didn't bother them. They welcomed it. Daughters and sons of
privilege, they were used to constant attention. One of them had
disappeared without warning. They all felt the chill of Gillam's absence.
He wasn't accustomed to keeping a low profile, but he tried to slip
unnoticed through the halls as he went through the first few days of
classes. He decided that his best strategy would be to cloak his abilities
as much as possible. The more invisible he was, the more freedom he would
have to examine others.
Slowly, he began to find it strange and liberating to be just another
student. From the moment he had arrived at the Temple, he was whispered
about. As the "Chosen One," the other students had kept an eye on his
progress. Some were envious, some polite, some friendly, and some steered
clear of him completely. But everyone noticed him. It was something that
had been difficult for him in the beginning, but he had gotten used to it.
Obi-Wan had told him that it was the best preparation for being a Jedi. He
had to learn to screen out what others thought or speculated. He had to
concentrate on his own path.
Around him were the elite leaders of tomorrow. They knew where they
were going - . on to positions of power in the galaxy, as Senators, rulers,
heads of galactic corporations. Anakin marveled at their assurance, their
expectation that their lives would be full of the same luxury and ease that
had been theirs since childhood.
At night, alone in his room, he admitted a strange new feeling into
his heart: envy.
Anakin sat in the Great Hall of Learning with the rest of the school.
Although individual classes were small, once a week the entire school would
gather for a General Information Contest. The students sat in rows
underneath a gilded dome. Professor Aeradin stood on a repulsorlift
platform, manipulating a holographic projector. The questions and problems
were presented as holograms, and the students answered on datapads at their
seats.
Like all of the desks and chairs at the school, these seats were plush
and comfortable. Anakin could press a button and the seat configured to his
body. It reclined and swiveled so that he did not have to move his head to
follow the holographic problems.
He glanced at the problem overhead but waited a few seconds before
entering his answer. There were many good things about Jedi training at the
Temple, but Anakin discovered another one - any other school was easy
compared to it. He had slipped into his classes with no problems. His
training at the Temple had included classes in galactic politics,
diplomacy, and extensive study of languages, system geography, and
astronomy. He could follow his classes at the Leadership School with less
than his full attention. Being at an elite school felt odd, but at least he
could keep up academically.
A hologram of a system spun over his head, while planet after planet
was highlighted with a bright blue light. As each world was highlighted,
the native language or dialect repeated the same sentence.
Anakin did not need to wait until the question was complete. He
already had figured out the Mid-Rim system. It was Rearqu 10.
"Name the system," Professor Aeradin said.
Anakin took his time entering his response. He watched the other
students, noting who immediately entered an answer, who stared blankly at
the system overhead, who tried to read what his neighbor had entered, and
who whispered the answer to another. Then he entered his own.
Rearqu 10 flashed holographically overhead. The professor repeated it
as the number of right and wrong answers appeared on a screen at the front
of the room.
"Only forty percent were correct," Aeradin said severely. "Shameful."
The next problem flashed overhead. Anakin noted Ferus entering the
answer before the question had even finished flashing. The student sitting
next to Ferus glanced at him enviously, but Ferus's datapad was angled to
prevent anyone from seeing what was on it.
Anakin sighed. Even undercover, Ferus had to be the perfect student.
Anakin entered his own answer. Across the room, a petite human girl
with dark hair twisted in a thick knot at the nape of her neck smiled at
him. He smiled back. She was in his Political Philosophies class and he had
already noticed how bright she was. She had a way of seeing all sides of an
issue and looking for the deeper meaning.
The contest wore on. At last the questions ceased. Professor Aeradin
totaled up the responses on his data-pad and looked up.
"And the First Student today is..."
The name flashed holographically: FERUS OLIN
"I'd like to congratulate our new student, Ferus Olin, for his perfect
score. His time was the best. Excellent work."
"Thank you, Professor Aeradin," Ferus said.
Suddenly another hologram rose next to Ferus's name. The light
particles formed themselves into words, shining bigger and brighter: IS A
SNOB
The auditorium exploded into laughter. Professor Aeradin looked up and
saw the words. His gaze swept the auditorium while his antennae quivered
with indignation.
"Who did this? Stand up this instant!"
The laughter slowly died, and the auditorium went still. Professor
Aeradin's severe look traveled from student to student, trying to flush out
the culprit.
Anakin drew on the Force to help him. He noted movement, whispers, a
shift, a squirm. He felt the undercurrents in the room - suppressed
laughter, nervousness. Impatience. Boredom. Hunger.
Triumph.
His gaze shifted to a short, scruffy human boy who sat staring
innocently at Professor Aeradin.
The professor hesitated. "If I ever find out..."
His words were drowned out by a soft dinging. A voice rose from the
hidden speakers. "End of contest. Five minutes to mod four. Five minutes."
"Dismissed," Professor Aeradin said helplessly, for the students had
already risen, grabbing their datapads and talking and jostling as they
&nb
sp; surged toward the doors.
Anakin headed in the direction of the short boy. His sandy hair stuck
up in bristles and it was easy to keep track of him. Anyone who could
infiltrate a professor's holographic projector in order to conduct a
practical joke might know something about bypassing security.
He noted that around him, students walked in groups or pairs. This boy
walked alone.
"That was pretty wizard," Anakin said, falling into step beside the
boy.
"What?" The boy shot him a surprised look from intelligent gray eyes.
"The hologram. You did it." Anakin waved a hand. "Don't worry, I won't
tell. I'm impressed." He gave the boy a friendly grin. "Anakin Skywalker."
The boy hesitated. "Reymet Autem."
"So how did you do it?" Anakin asked.
"It's all in the wrist." Reymet mimicked entering items in a datapad
and grinned. His gray eyes glinted. "Easy for a boy genius, my friend."
They headed down the hallway together. Anakin felt rather than saw
Ferus fall in behind them.
Reymet waved a hand around him. "Welcome to the comfiest jail in the
galaxy. It's not much, but we call it home."
"So how do you have fun around here?" Anakin asked.
Reymet shrugged. "I make my own fun."
The noise of the students anxiously hurrying toward lunch covered
