by Джуд Уотсон
"Obi-Wan," Qui-Gon said. "Is that the box you saw?"
Obi-Wan turned. "Yes," he said. "but there's no time to find out what's in it." The lift tube arrived with a whoosh. "Let's go, Qui-Gon!"
Qui-Gon didn't answer. He walked over to the box. He unsheathed his lightsaber and, with great precision, cut the lock.
"He always had more than one trick," me murmured. "He always had a back door." He lifted the lid carefully. Just as he'd thought. It was an ion bomb, the most destructive explosive in the galaxy.
Obi-Wan stood by his shoulder. "He said he had mixed gases."
"He lied," Qui-Gon said. "This bomb is on a timer. And my guess is that all those boxes stored around Bandomeer are set to blow at the same moment." He turned to Obi-Wan. "The chain reaction will be enormous. The entire planet could blow."
Obi-Wan went pale. "Do you know how to dismantle it?"
"The Force won't work," Qui-Gon said, crouching. "This is a trigger so delicate that the Force itself might set it off. I can do it, but I need time. More time than I have." Qui-Gon bent closer. "This appears to be the master control. Xanatos must have set it when he left. That's the good news. If we can disarm this one, none of the others will blow."
Obi-Wan swallowed. "What's the bad news?"
"It's set to blow in three minutes," Qui-Gon said. "I need fifteen."
Obi-Wan felt seconds tick by, precious seconds, while he absorbed this. To have come this far and have Xanatos win! He could not let it happen.
"His hatred has led him to destroy a planet just to destroy me," Qui-Gon mused. "Not to mention a sizable fortune. VeerTa said the wealth of the ionite vein alone is immeasurable."
"Ionite?" Obi-Wan asked. "I though this was an azurite mine."
"They found a vein after the explosion," Qui-Gon said. "The force blew rocks upward from the core." He gestured down the tunnel.
"Does the bomb have a clock?" Obi-Wan asked.
Qui-Gon nodded. "An ion clock. Precise to the second. Why?"
Obi-Wan didn't answer. He flew down the tunnel, toward the pile of debris. He picked up a rock and scraped a fingernail against it. He saw the glow of ionite. He picked up more rocks, stacking them in his tunic.
"One minute left," Qui-Gon called.
"We're not dead yet," Obi-Wan answered, running back to him. He placed the rocks carefully around the bomb.
"What are…?" Qui-Gon's question died on his lips. The digital readout had stopped functioning. "What — "
"Ionite," Obi-Wan said. "It has a neutral charge. Makes most instruments stop dead. Especially times. Miners fear it, but now, it will save them." He grinned. "You've got your fifteen minutes, Qui-Gon."
Qui-Gon blew out a long breath. "Then I'd better get started," he said.
Chapter 19
Covered with grime, their tunics stiff with sweat, the Jedi wearily made their way to the governor's palace. There, they found SonTag in conference with VeerTa and Clat'Ha.
"There was an emergency evacuation at the mine," SonTag told them, frowning worriedly. "Yet our sensors show nothing wrong."
"We just replaced and double-checked them yesterday," Clat'Ha put in.
"And we received word that Offworld had a problem on their deepsea mining platform," VeerTa added. "The miners' electro-collars all malfunctioned. They revolted and abandoned the mine. Their leader — a Phindian named Guerra — said to tell you that he's okay."
Obi-Wan felt a glow of satisfaction. Guerra was free.
"Not that we sympathize with Offworld," Clat'Ha added. "It's a good thing. Those miners were slaves. But why are we all having sensor malfunction?"
"Equipment failure is not your problem," Qui-Gon told them. "I'm afraid I have a more painful failure to to reveal."
Quickly, Qui-Gon told them what had happened at the mine.
"So Xanatos was behind the first explosion," SonTag said, grief in her face. "if only we hadn't trusted him!"
"I knew we shouldn't have!" VeerTa announced, her eyes flashing.
Clat'Ha simply watched Qui-Gon. "What do you mean when you say you must reveal a more painful failure?" She asked.
Leave it to Clat'Ha to jump to the next step, Qui-Gon thought admiringly. "Someone close to you has betrayed you," he said. "Someone was in league with Xanatos. They betrayed Bandomeer for personal gain and told him about the ionite."
VeerTa went pale. "But who would do such a thing?"
Qui-Gon let his gaze remain on her. Slowly, her paleness was replaced with a flush of color.
Clat'Ha turned to her. "VeerTa?"
"It was for the good of Bandomeer!" VeerTa cried. "That's what he told me. If Offworld was secretly behind the Home Planet Mine, it would be sure to be profitable."
"Did you really think that he would allow us to own the mine?" Clat'Ha asked her furiously.
"There is something else," Qui-Gon said. "Xanatos had a back-up plan. He wanted to blow up most of Bandomeer. Those black boxes were planted next to explosive is all the Enrichment Zones, plus the mining platforms. Somebody helped him smuggle those boxes into the domes."
"He said it was mining equipment for future operations," VeerTa whispered.
"Bandomeer was almost destroyed," SonTag said, her voice as sharp as the edge of a vibro-blade. "If it weren't for the Jedi…"
"There was no way I could have known!" VeerTa cried. "Why would Xanatos destroy Bandomeer? He would destroy his own profits!"
Qui-Gon said nothing. He knew that if there was one thing stronger than greed, it was revenge. Xanatos had plotted for this very day. He had used VeerTa. He knew that Qui-Gon would die knowing he had been unable to save countless lives. It was the most painful death Xanatos could arrange for him.
Qui-Gon had underestimated Xanatos once again. He had not realized that his former apprentice was just as much a slave to the past as he was.
No, Qui-Gon corrected. His own past would no longer hold him hostage. He would leave it on Bandomeer.
Clat'Ha rose and moved away stiffly, as if she couldn't breathe the same air as VeerTa. "Where is Xanatos now?" she asked Qui-Gon.
"He has escaped," Obi-Wan reported. "His plans were already arranged; he thought he would be leaving a destroyed planet."
"Perhaps he is at Offworld's home base," VeerTa said.
Clat'Ha shook her head in disgust. "No one knows where that is. Mark this, VeerTa. You will pay for your crimes. Your friend will not."
"Yes," Qui-Gon said softly, "he will."
Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan returned to their chamber to gather their belongings. There was a transport ship leaving in a few hours.
"Yoda has another mission for us," Qui-Gon explained to Obi-Wan.
Us, Obi-Wan felt a thrill at the word.
Qui-Gon stood unmoving, staring down at his sleep-couch. A piece of paper had been stabbed to the cushion with a vibro-shiv. Obi-Wan crossed the room to read over Qui-Gon's broad shoulder:
If you are reading this, I suppose I underestimated you. I won't next time. I enjoyed our adventure together, Master. I am certain you will have the pleasure of meeting me again.
Obi-Wan couldn't read his Master's features. He tested the Force, searching for the waves of Qui-Gon's anger. He felt nothing. Was Qui-Gon containing his anger, shielding Obi-Wan, once again, from his emotions?
"I'm not angry, Obi-Wan," Qui-Gon said. "Xanatos is gone from me. He is just another enemy now. The hate is all on his side. I am prepared to fight the evil he does. He may kill me one day, but he will never wound me again."
Qui-Gon turned. "You showed me this. In the mine, when you reached out with the Force and showed me how light can always battle dark. My anger left me. In the end, you taught me something about myself. And when the Padawan teaches a Master in turn, the partnership is right."
"You called me Padawan in the mine," Obi-Wan said hopefully.
"You would have died for me," Qui-Gon said. "Your courage is extraordinary, even for a Jedi. I would be honored to accept you as my Padawan, Obi-Wan Kenobi."
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Obi-Wan felt warmth fill him. He didn't feel the pride he thought he'd feel, hearing those words. But the Force moved around him, and he felt a deep sense of home. He swallowed. "I accept, Master Qui-Gon Jinn."
"Of course," Qui-Gon added, "you would not have succeeded with your plan. I would have stopped you from dying on me."
"You would not have been able to, Master" Obi-Wan replied serenely.
The exchanged a look, half-challenge, half-amusement. The Force pulsed between them. Both of them saw ahead to the long years and many missions to come. They knew they would debate this over those years, even as the memory of a planet called Bandomeer had faded. It would be a friendly disagreement between them, a bond of history and trust.
They smiled in recognition. Shared thought was one of the first bonding steps between a Master and Padawan. It let them know they were on a path together. They would stride toward a future, forged from their shared past.
Qui-Gon put a hand on Obi-Wan's shoulder and rested it there.
"We'd better go pack," he said quietly. "We have a long way to go."
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