by Джуд Уотсон
"Master." There was steel in Qui-Gon's voice. His lightsaber was already deactivated and at his side.
Dooku deactivated his lightsaber. He felt helpless rage take him over as the droids took them into custody. In his heart, he vowed revenge.
Chapter 12
Gray swirled before his eyes. Shadows that moved, that hurt as they moved, exploding inside his brain like pulses from a hot laser. Dooku tried to reach out and could not. He flexed and felt pressure at his wrists and ankles.
His vision cleared, and the shadows resolved themselves into objects.
A table. A chair. He saw that his wrists and ankles were encircled by stun cuffs.
He breathed slowly, accepting the pain in his head and telling his body that it was time to heal. He called on the Force to help him, and he felt the pain ease its grip.
They had been taken by the droids, and a paralyzing agent had been introduced through a small syringe. With a painful glance down at his utility belt, he saw that his lightsaber was gone.
Qui-Gon was beside him. They were lying on a cold stone floor, the laser cuffs binding them to durasteel hoops embedded in the stone.
Qui-Gon groaned and opened his eyes. His breath came out in a hiss.
"Breathe," Dooku said. "The pain will ease in a moment."
He watched as his Padawan closed his eyes again and took slow, heavy breaths. Color returned to his face. He opened his eyes. "Do you know where we are?"
"No idea." They could have been unconscious for hours and transported off Von-Alai. It didn't matter. Because Dooku had not contacted the Temple, no one had known they were on Von-Alai. There was no way to track them.
Lorian would not beat him. He vowed that it would not happen. Things didn't look good — he was bound and imprisoned at the moment — but Dooku would find his opportunity and he would use it.
"Perhaps Eero will find us," Qui-Gon said. "Or tell the Temple where we are."
"Eero is part of this," Dooku said. "He set us up."
"But he is your friend," Qui-Gon said. "And he was hurt in the invasion."
"So it seemed. Injuries can be faked. Eero was a good actor, nothing more. I was foolish not to think of it before. This should be a lesson to you, Padawan. Have as many friends as you want, but do not trust them. Believe me, I know what I am speaking of. The person who has imprisoned us was once in training with me."
"He is a Jedi?" Qui-Gon asked, shocked.
"He went through training but was dismissed. Never mind why. We were friends once. I am beginning to suspect that he might hold some kind of grudge against me. So there is more going on here than you know."
"You mean you knew he was the space pirate?" Qui-Gon said no more but the words hung in the air. And you did not tell me?
"I recognized him as he left Senator Annon's ship." "And you think Eero is in league with him?"
"I suspect so. Betrayal is part of life, Qui-Gon, and we can't always see it coming."
Qui-Gon strained against the energy cuffs.
"That won't do anything but exhaust you," Dooku told him. "You must accept that sometimes you are in situations over which you have no control. Accept the situation and wait for your opportunity. Besides, we are farther along than we were before."
"In what way?"
"We were looking for the space pirate, and now we have found him.
We'll get taken to him eventually. He won't be able to resist gloating — he never could. When we find him, we will wait for our opening, and we will not make mistakes."
Dooku closed his eyes. He did not like to feel anger and humiliation roiling inside him. He needed inner calm. He never acted out of anger.
Long minutes passed. He felt his heartbeat slow. Then he heard the swish of the doors opening.
"Old friend," Lorian said.
At the sound of his voice, rage spurted up in him again. He did not open his eyes until he had controlled it.
"I realized some time ago, Lorian, that we were never friends," Dooku said evenly.
Lorian had grown into a handsome man. He was all lean muscle. His thick gold hair was cropped short, throwing into relief the bold lines of his face and his green eyes. "You haven't changed," he said, then smiled. "Yet it's good to see you, even though it's unfortunate for me. If a Jedi had to be tracking me, I would've hoped for anyone but you. You knew me too well. Once."
"Yes," Dooku said. "I knew how you would lie and cheat to get your way."
"What is so bad about what I've done?" Lorian asked. "It was hard being in the galaxy all alone, trying to make my way. All I knew was the Temple. Did that ever occur to you, Dooku? We were raised in a bubble, and then everything I knew was taken away from me. I was forced out into the galaxy, a young boy with no Master to guide me."
"The Jedi hardly set you adrift," Dooku said. "They arranged a position for you in the Agricultural Corps."
Lorian snorted. "Tending hybrid plants on a Mid-Rim planet? Would you be satisfied with that life, after all the training we went through?"
"I had no reason to have to accept it," Dooku said. "I did not violate the Jedi Order. You did. You seem to forget that."
"I was young and made a mistake." Lorian's face hardened. "I paid dearly for it. Was I supposed to turn into a farmer? I was trained as a Jedi! So instead I went into business for myself."
"As a space pirate."
"Just temporarily. I started out kidnapping criminals, but that got risky. You'd be surprised how reluctant gangs can be to come up with the ransom. So I looked to Senators next. The only problem was, they had the best security. But what if their security wasn't as good as they thought it was? When I heard Kontag was sliding into bankruptcy, it gave me the idea. So I bought this factory and offered Kontag a deal."
"A factory that employs children." Qui-Gon's voice was flat. His gaze told Lorian that he held him in contempt.
Lorian strolled toward Qui-Gon, his face alight with curiosity. "So this is your apprentice, Dooku? Qui-Gon Jinn? Yes, I can see you in him. He is as sure of his own rightness as you are. What would you have me do, young Padawan? Fire the child workers? Many of them support families. Parents who are injured or too sick to work, or parents who have abandoned them so they are supporting their brothers and sisters. Would you have them starve?"
"I would find a better way," Qui-Gon said.
"Ah, he is unshakable. Well, I'll tell you this, young Jedi. I am planning to phase out the child labor. Improve conditions. But do you know what that takes? Money. The Jedi don't deal with credits. They don't speak of them. But the rest of us have to eat, you know."
"You are full of justifications," Qui-Gon said.
"They make the planets turn," Lorian said with a shrug. Qui-Gon's words did not sting. "Have you been to the Senate lately? It runs on justifications. I am not evil, Qui-Gon Jinn. I know this for certain.
I've seen the face of true evil," Lorian said, his voice dropping.
"And I have known the terror of it. So don't be too quick to judge me."
"True evil?" Dooku asked. Could Lorian mean the Sith?
Lorian turned back to him. "Yes, Dooku, I did access the Sith Holocron. I was curious. And what I saw chilled my blood and haunted my days for a long time. It haunts me still. And yet it is comforting somehow. Once you've seen true evil, you can be sure that you will never be able to fall that low."
"Don't be so sure," Dooku said. "You're a kidnapper. A criminal. How can you justify that?"
Lorian shrugged, smiling. "I need the money?" Dooku snorted.
"Look, so what if I kidnap a few corrupt Senators for a couple of weeks? Some of them even enjoy the attention. Nobody gets hurt."
"What about us?" Dooku asked.
"I'm not going to kill you, if that's what you're wondering," Lorian said. "I'm just going to hold you until the last job is done. I'm ready to retire anyway. I'd like to return to my homeworld and start a legitimate business. I still owe some credits to Eero for setting up the whole security thing, but I have enou
gh for myself."
"So Eero was in on your scheme from the beginning."
"Pretty much. We ran into each other on Coruscant. He was upset about his lack of a career. He was positive he'd be a Senator by now, but he didn't have enough money to really run an election. So he agreed to use his contacts in the Senate to recommend Kontag. Then once the kidnappings began, more and more Senators lined up for extra security.
It was a truly brilliant plan." Lorian sighed. "Too bad it all has to end."
The doors suddenly slid open, and Eero ran toward Lorian. "Now you've done it!" he cried. Dooku could now see that outside the room was some kind of office. Laying on a console were two lightsabers.
"Calm down, Eero," Lorian said irritably. "There's no need to shout at me."
"Yes, there is!" Eero said. "The Senator is dead!"
"Dead?" Lorian looked confused. "How? He's being held in comfortable surroundings. I even sent in pastries, for galaxy's sake."
"He had a heart attack. He died instantly."
"Ah. This isn't good," Lorian said.
"No, I'd say so," Dooku said. "It's murder."
"Exactly!" Eero said. "How did you talk me into this! We'll be tried for murder!"
"Only if they catch us," Lorian said.
"I just got into this for the credits," Eero said fretfully. "I'm a politician, not a murderer!"
"Yes, this certainly changes things," Dooku said smoothly. Eero was just as afraid of getting caught as an adult as he'd been as a young man. ''You've killed a Senator. The full might of the Senate security force will come down on you. Not to mention the Jedi. They are already looking for us. This will certainly give them a reason to hurry."
"We have to get out of here!" Eero said shrilly to Lorian.
"Calm down!" Lorian barked. "Can't you see what he's doing? Shut up and let me think!"
"Don't give me orders!" Eero suddenly drew out a vibroblade. "I'm sick of it. You've bungled everything!" "You fool!" Lorian hissed. "Put that away!"
But it was too late. Dooku summoned the Force. The vibroblade flew from Eero's unsteady hand and landed on the energy cuffs binding Dooku's wrists. The blade cut through the cuffs easily. With split-second timing, Dooku slipped out his hand before the vibroblade could injure him. He felt only a slight burn of heat.
Within seconds, he had released the other cuff and the ones binding his ankles.
Eero took one look at him and bolted out the door. Dooku reached out a hand and his lightsaber flew from the room next door into his palm.
When he turned, lightsaber activated, Lorian had Eero's vibroblade and a blaster in his hand. Dooku smiled. This time it was not a game.
Lorian backed up toward the door. Dooku saw that he meant to escape.
He would try to avoid the battle if he could. Dooku leaped, blocking his exit. Lorian would not leave this room alive.
He had never forgotten Lorian, and he had never forgiven him. It was not in Dooku's nature to forgive or to forget.
"You betrayed me once, and now you've tried to make a fool of me,"
Dooku said.
"So glad to see you haven't changed," Lorian said, giving his vibroblade a twirl. "Can I point out again that the galaxy doesn't revolve around you, Dooku? The kidnapping wasn't personal. I didn't know you were on that ship." He grinned. "But I have to admit, I enjoyed winning."
The light mockery that danced in Lorian's eyes inflamed Dooku. The old resentment balled up in his chest, the choking rage he had felt as a boy. Now it joined the fury of a man. Dooku felt it surge, and he didn't fight it.
He was older now, and wiser. Anger no longer had the power to make him sloppy. It made him more precise.
"Talk all you want. You will never leave this room," he said with such icy control that the smile faded from Lorian's eyes.
"Let's not be so dramatic," Lorian said uneasily.
"Master give me my lightsaber!" Qui-Gon called.
The words only buzzed faintly, as if they came from a long distance away. Dooku did not need his Padawan. Qui-Gon would only get in his way. He needed to finish this alone.
Lorian had seen his intent in his eyes. Between them now was the knowledge that Dooku would not allow him to surrender. He fired the blaster. Dooku deflected the fire easily. There was no way that Lorian could win this battle. Dooku could see the desperation in his eyes, the sweat forming on his brow. He enjoyed seeing it.
Lorian kept up a steady barrage of fire while he swung the vibroblade, using the same Jedi training he had absorbed so long ago. Dooku kept advancing. He knew perfectly well where Lorian was headed — to Qui-Gon's lightsaber. Dooku decided to speed up the process. He lunged forward and with an almost casual swipe severed the vibroblade in two.
Then he whirled and kicked the blaster out of Lorian's hand.
Lorian sprang and fumbled for Qui-Gon's lightsaber. Dooku allowed him to pick it up. He had no reason to fear.
Qui-Gon cried out, but Dooku didn't hear what he said. All his focus was on Lorian now.
"Go ahead, attack me," Dooku said, holding his lightsaber at his side, letting it dangle casually. "Show me how much you've forgotten."
Lorian activated the lightsaber. Even in the midst of a battle Lorian could not win, Dooku could see the pleasure the former Jedi took in holding a lightsaber again.
He leaped at Dooku. The first strike was easily deflected. Without his connection to the Force, Lorian could not handle the weapon as he once had. Dooku enjoyed this humiliation the most. He parried Lorian's attacks, barely moving.
"Pity," Dooku said. "You were a worthy opponent once.
Now a flare of anger lit Lorian's gaze. He suddenly shifted his feet, moved unexpectedly, and came close to landing a blow.
Dooku decided it was time to stop playing with him. It was time to show him what fear was. Time to show him who the winner was.
He moved forward in perfect form, gathering the Force and molding it to his desires. His lightsaber danced. Lorian managed to evade one strike and parry the next, but it cost him. He stumbled with the effort.
"Master!"
Qui-Gon's voice cut through the heart of Dooku's concentration with the same annoying buzz.
" Master. Stop."
Qui-Gon did not shout this time. Yet his tone penetrated Dooku's concentration better than his cry had. Dooku looked over. Bound and helpless, Qui-Gon looked back.
That gaze. Dooku almost groaned aloud. He saw integrity and truth there, and he could not hide from it. He saw himself through Qui-Gon's eyes, and he could not do it. His Padawan had revealed to him what he should have known already. He could not go down this road.
He deactivated his lightsaber. Lorian took a deep, shuddering breath.
"It's over," Dooku said.
Chapter 13
Dooku handed over Lorian and Eero to Coruscant security. He didn't speak much with Qui-Gon on the journey back. Dooku knew that there were things that needed to be said, but he wasn't sure what they were.
He knew that Qui-Gon had saved him from something, and he was grateful. Yet he did not want to admit that he had come so close to violating the Jedi code he was so proud of upholding.
They walked past the rows of cruisers in the Temple landing area, the place where he had said good-bye to Lorian so long ago, for what he thought was forever.
"So what did you learn from the mission, Padawan?" he asked Qui-Gon.
"Many things," Qui-Gon answered neutrally.
"Name the most important one, then."
"That you will withhold facts from me that I need to know."
Dooku drew in a sharp breath. He did not appreciate a rebuke from his apprentice. This natural assurance of Qui-Gon's could get out of hand.
What Qui-Gon needed was a little more fear of his displeasure.
"That is my decision," he answered severely. "It is not for you to question your Master."
"I am not questioning you, Master. I am answering you." Qui-Gon's gaze was steady.
Angrily, D
ooku walked a few more steps. "I will tell you the lesson you should have learned." He stopped outside the landing bay doors.
"Betrayal should never take you by surprise. It will come from friends and enemies alike."
He left his Padawan and walked down toward the great hall. He drank in the sounds and sights of the Temple. He was glad to be back among the Jedi. Seeing Lorian again had disturbed him greatly.
