to see things through their eyes. One thing I'm certain of, though: Uldir
is old enough to know right from wrong."
"Yes, the boy made his own choice," Ikrit agreed.
"You must let him bear the responsibility for his own actions." Tahiri
noticed that the Jedi Master's downy fur had a grayish tinge, as it
sometimes did when he was upset. "Are you angry with Uldir for stealing the
Sunrider?" she asked.
Ikrit cocked his head to one side and wheezed several times. With
surprise, Tahiri recognized the sound as the Jedi Master's laugh.
"The ship is a fine one," he said. "But it is, after all, only a ship.
I do not care about it as I do for some other machines." Here Ikrit patted
Artoo's domed head beneath him, and the little droid whistled softly. "Nor
do I care as much about my ship as I do about all of you. Or about the boy.
Even so, our young friend must accept the consequences for his own mistakes
and learn to make them right. That is not for us to do."
"But Uldir could be in danger," Anakin said.
"And we are his friends," Tahiri added.
"If he's in danger, we can't just leave him to face it alone."
Tionne turned her silvery head to look at her students. "Of course
not," she said firmly. "We won't leave Uldir out there alone."
No matter what their real reason was for being aboard the Lore Seeker,
Anakin had to admit it was a fascinating ship. He and Tahiri amused
themselves in the central crew cabin for a few hours as the ship sped
toward Exis Station. Tionne had stocked the Lore Seeker with a hololibrary
and decorated it with antique objects from a hundred different planets.
"Isn't it beautiful?" Tahiri asked. She held up a petrified kor egg
decorated with Bith story carvings.
Anakin looked at the glossy egg his friend held.
"It sure is. The Lore Seeker may be too small to qualify as a museum,
but it certainly comes close," he said. "We even get to handle the stuff
that's on display, if we want to."
"The best part is," Tahiri added, her green eyes twinkling, "that
Tionne likes it when we ask questions about her treasures."
"What questions?" Tionne asked, emerging from the cockpit with Ikrit
behind her.
Anakin grinned. "Oh, questions like, `What are those?'" He pointed
past her into the cockpit at a pair of fluffy objects that dangled from the
ceiling just above Artoo-Detoo's head.
"Oh, those? Those are Arkudan gaming cubes. They're supposed to bring
luck, but I just keep them because they're centuries old, and I like the
way they look. Do you have other questions?"
"Sure. What does Exis Station look like?" Tahiri asked. "On the
outside, I mean. We saw it on the inside when we watched Ash Krimsan
talking about it in the Holocron. Well, I doubt that it still looks exactly
like that, since the Holocron was recorded so long ago. Still, it was
enough to give us an idea of what it's like, but it really didn't show us
the size of the station or how it's shaped. So I'd like to know a bit more
before we get there." Tahiri finally stopped for a breath. "Well, aren't
you going to say anything?"
The silvery-haired Jedi instructor laughed a musical laugh. She went
to a panel on the wall and chose a recording from the holo library.
"I think I'll let this holo clip speak for itself," she said.
The lights in the cabin dimmed and a hologram flickered and then came
into focus in the center of the room. Anakin was entranced. The hologram of
Exis Station hung in midair at about waist level, making it easy for him to
study.
"Kind of weird, huh?" Tahiri said.
Access tubes spread out like the rays of a star from a solid center
hub, connecting it to satellite stations of all shapes and sizes. Anakin
guessed that these smaller satellites must have been added as an
afterthought to expand the original station, since no two of them were the
same shape or color. In the hologram, Exis spun slowly in the air,
reminding Anakin of a Randoni carousel he had once ridden on Coruscant.
"Definitely strange," Anakin agreed.
"We'll dock over here," Tionne said, pointing to a bay on the edge of
the central hub. "Last time we were there your uncle Luke and I programmed
a couple of the docking bays to respond only to our signal. That bay is the
closest one to Exis Station's main control center."
"It is a good place to begin," Tionne said.
"But begin," Master Ikrit said.
"Once we get there it will be a good place to begin," Tionne said.
"But for now, I think we'd all better begin with some sleep. If there's
danger waiting for us on Exis, I'll need you all as alert as possible."
Uldir wondered if he had made a mistake. Now that he'd found the Mage,
he felt more nervous than he had at any time since he had decided on his
bold plan of borrowing the Holocron. The Mage Orloc tilted his head back,
looked down his sharp nose at Uldir, and pointed a slender finger at him.
"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't drop you down the recycling
chute with the rest of my garbage."
"I-well, I...," Uldir stammered.
This was the moment he'd been waiting for, he reminded himself. He was
planning to become a Jedi, and Jedi must be bold. Uldir squared his
shoulders and lifted his chin.
"I've brought you the Holocron you wanted, and the lightsaber of Obi-
Wan Kenobi. They are yours-if your offer to train me still stands."
The Mage's tawny eyes blinked rapidly several times, as if Uldir's
courage had surprised him. Then his face took on a shrewd, suspicious look.
"Why, this is a trap, isn't it? Your friends at the Jedi academy were
probably worried that I'd return to steal their treasures, so you decided
to lure me into the open." Orloc's lips twisted in a sneer. "Why, of
course. I see it now. You arrive with the bait, and then your friends swoop
in to capture the Great Mage of Exis Station. Hah! Do you think me a fool?
Tell me, when do your friends arrive?"
Uldir was confused. As far as he knew, no one at the Jedi academy had
given any thought to Orloc since Uldir and his friends had returned from
Bast Castle. Did this magician really believe he was so important that the
Jedi academy would risk two great treasures in a complicated plot to
capture him?
"There's no trap," Uldir said simply.
The purple-robed Mage growled. Two Ranats in purple sashes moved to
his side, raising their blasters to point at Uldir.
"Why should I believe you?" Orloc asked.
"Coming here was my idea. I'm old enough to make my own decisions. No
one is following me," Uldir said. He tried to sound bold, though his voice
changed with an embarrassing squeak as he spoke. "They don't even know
where I went."
Orloc's tawny eyes narrowed.
"You'd better not be lying," he warned. "I feel it only fair to tell
you that I've reprogrammed all of the droids on this station to obey only
my orders." The Mage paused for emphasis, then lowered his voice to a
threatening growl. "Some of them are assassin droids."
He motioned to a droid behind Uldir. It trundled forward, pressed
a
probe into his back, and gave him a brief electrical shock.
"I'm telling the truth-I came here alone!" Uldir gasped in helpless
frustration, still smarting from the shock the droid had delivered. "I've
been studying at the Jedi academy for months," he rushed on, "but Master
Skywalker doesn't believe I've got any talent in the Force. Their way of
teaching just isn't working. After all this time, I can't even light a
spark or budge a speck of dust. Back in Bast Castle you said you could help
me, so I came here to study with you."
The Mage motioned for the two Ranats to put down their blasters. His
eyes narrowed shrewdly.
"Why, you want real power, don't you?"
Uldir nodded.
"Power like mine."
Uldir nodded again, afraid his voice would break if he tried to speak.
"Very well, then. I will accept the Holocron and the lightsaber from
you as a token of your respect for your new teacher." He snapped his
fingers and a purple-sashed Ranat scurried forward and held its tiny clawed
hands open.
Uldir reluctantly surrendered the Jedi treasures to the Ranat, who
scampered over and delivered them to Orloc. The Mage stretched out his
arms, the Holocron in one hand, Obi-Wan Kenobi's lightsaber in the other.
He stamped his foot and the glowpanels in the room flickered like
lightning.
"Behold," Orloc said, raising the Holocron high in front of him. The
entire room went dark.
Uldir expected at any moment to see Ash Krimsan's kindly wrinkled face
and to hear her say, "Welcome, my children. What may I teach you today?"
But no hologram blossomed in the air above Orloc's hand. Orloc blinked
furiously in the dimness.
"Why, it's ridiculous to begin with these lessons," he said. "I have
so many things to teach you first that you could never learn from some old
Jedi."
The Mage gave a careless laugh.
"Why, you haven't learned anything yet from all that Jedi teaching,
have you? You must let me teach you myself. Ask me anything, my student.
Where shall we begin?"
Uldir was excited. Now he would have the chance to learn. He would
become a great Jedi.
"Well, I could never even use the Force to turn on a light," he
admitted with a sigh.
The Mage chuckled, not unkindly. "Why, there's nothing simpler, my
boy," he said striding over to stand beside Uldir. "Just for a moment,
clear all thoughts from your mind. Don't concentrate on anything at all.
Not words, not pictures; no commands, no requests. Now, leave your mind
open and think of light. It only takes an instant."
Uldir swept all conscious thought from his mind, leaving it blank and
open. A split second later all of the room's glowpanels flashed and
returned to their full brightness. He was amazed. Just as he had always
suspected, it had been simple to use the Force-so simple that Uldir
wondered why he hadn't been able to do it before. Well, he could do it now.
This was real progress, he thought. Soon he would be a Jedi.
The Mage tossed the Holocron high into the air and easily caught it
with one hand. Then he tucked it deep into the folds of his purple robe.
"You see? You came to the right place after all," Orloc said with a
smug grin. "And that, my boy, is only the beginning."
Big didn't even begin to describe it. Huge...... colossal... enormous.
.. gigantic. Anakin thought through all of the words in his vocabulary, but
none seemed quite clear enough to express his first impression of Exis
Station. Beside him Tahiri whispered,
"Great Bantha!" 'Bonne's musical laugh filled the cockpit. "It's quite
a sight the first time, isn't it? Second time, too, come to think of it."
Artoo-Detoo bleeped once to show that he agreed.
"Mmmmmm. Most impressive," Ikrit wheezed.
Anakin was still trying to absorb what he was seeing. Exis looked like
its own little solar system, with seven satellites orbiting a slightly
flattened pewter-colored sun.
"Each part is so different," Anakin mused aloud.
He was already trying to figure out how each piece of the space
station's puzzle fit in and what purpose it served.
"That's because the satellites were added one by one as the need
arose," Tionne said.
"But why did they build the satellites?" Tahiri asked. "Did they need
more room?"
Tionne piloted the ship in closer to the huge space station.
"In the beginning there was only the central hub, which held the
libraries, the docking bays, and all of the living quarters. One company
sent miners to live on Exis and mine gases from the nearby star. As more
and more beings from across the galaxy arrived to visit Exis, mine star
gas, or study there, satellites were built on to provide living areas for
different species. See that one there?" The instructor pointed to a
satellite that looked like a shallow soup bowl with a domed lid. "That one
was filled with water for undersea dwellers."
"What about that one?" Anakin asked, indicating a rectangular
satellite with rounded corners. It was a murky yellow color and several
hundred meters long.
"From what I remember," Tionne said, "that one was filled with a
chlorine-rich atmosphere for chlorine breathers. And that next satellite,
the oval one, was built for visitors who needed a place with high gravity."
Artoo-Detoo warbled and trilled. Tionne looked down at the control
console in front of her.
"It's all right, Artoo, I've got it," she said. "We're headed for
Docking Bay 17. I'll transmit the code myself."
Soon the central pewter-colored hub loomed so close and large in the
front viewports that it was impossible to see the satellites or the arms
that connected them to the space station-or even the stars, for that
matter. Only the hull of the central hub was visible now.
Tahiri leaned over to Anakin.
"It gives me kind of a shivery feeling just looking at it," she
confided. "If you feel that way now," the silver-haired Jedi instructor
said, "just wait till we get inside."
"Mmmmmm," Ikrit said in his scratchy voice. "We must be cautious. We
cannot be certain what dangers may wait for us inside."
Directly ahead of them, Hangar Bay 17 yawned open. Landing lights
rippled to guide them in. Tionne retracted the Lore Seeker's solar sail
"wings" as they entered the cavernous bay. Anakin was amazed at the size of
the hangar. It could have held a dozen ships the size of the Lore Seeker
and still had room to spare. Tionne brought the ship down in the center of
the main landing pad. The hangar bay door sealed itself behind them, and
the interior landing lights went dark. The companions gathered their packs
of supplies while Tionne finished her shutdown of the Lore Seeker Before
they ventured forth, Artoo assured them that there was now sufficient air
in the hangar bay for them to breathe.
When they all stood outside the Lore Seeker in the fitful light that
flickered from glowpanels far overhead, Tahiri finally said what Anakin had
been thinking.
"I hate
to mention this, but this is a huge station. How can we hope
to find Uldir with so many places to look?"
Tionne smiled reassuringly. "This station was where I first met Master
Skywalker. He found me, even though I was the only other person on all of
Exis Station."
"Was he looking for you?" Anakin asked.
"Not exactly," the Jedi instructor replied. "He didn't even know I was
here at first, but he sensed me through the Force."
Anakin felt a tingling up the back of his neck. "Still," he said,
"even with the Force, it could take days to find anyone in this place."
"Then I guess we'd better get started," Tionne observed. "The exit to
this docking bay is up here." She climbed a short flight of stairs to a
raised metal mesh walkway.
The dim, flickering lights made it difficult to see, and Anakin
stumbled when he tried to follow her. He fell to one knee and then cried
out in surprise as something brushed against his face. Artoo-Detoo gave a
shrill whistle of alarm.
"It's all right," Anakin said, putting a hand to his face, "it was
only cobwebs."
He just hoped that no one could tell that his heart was racing and a
Kenobi's Blade Page 4
