The door opened noiselessly. A ramp
slid down. A driver dressed in a navy tunic and
pants scrambled out, then waited by
the open door. Inside, Obi-Wan glimpsed a
luxurious interior.
"Queen Veda has sent her personal transport for the Jedi," the driver announced.
"Please thank the Queen for her hospitality,"
Qui-Gon said with a small bow. "It is
such a fine day. We prefer to walk
to the palace."
The driver looked startled. "But the Queen instructed me to - "
"Thank you," Qui-Gon said firmly, and walked past the driver.
Obi-Wan followed his Master. He knew
that the weather had nothing to do with why
Qui-Gon had decided to walk. A Jedi
mission began the moment a Jedi's feet
touched the surface of a new planet.
Every sense her or she had was to be focused
on the surroundings. Attunement to
sight, smell, sound, and touch helped to bring the
Force to bear. It was said that some
Jedi Masters could see all the way to the end of
a mission just by taking a few short
steps on a new world.
Thirteen-year-old Obi-Wan wasn't a Master
- or even a Jedi Knight - yet. As an
apprentice, he had a long journey ahead.
But even an apprentice could feel the dark
tremors rippling under the calm surface
of Galu, the capital city of Gala. Obi-Wan
couldn't see to the end of the mission,
but he could already sense that success would
be hard-won, and far from assured.
They exited the space port and entered
the wide boulevards of the city. Galu was a
city built on three hills. On top of
the tallest hill was the gleaming white palace, visible
from any point on the city streets.
Gala had once been a prosperous planet,
the jewel of its system. It still had its share
of rich citizens, but the gap between
those with wealth and those without was wide.
Even as cloud cars almost as luxurious
as the Queen's hummed by, beggars
groveled for credits and food on the
city streets.
Obi-Wan had been to Galu on his last
mission. He had already seen the decay
behind the once-grand buildings. The
stone was chipped and weathered, and had
not been restored. Graceful lindemor
trees had once bloomed along the wide
boulevards, but now they stood abandoned,
dead, and twisted, rising up from the
ground like clawing fingers.
"The Queen had made the right decision,"
Qui-Gon remarked. "Elections should
stabilize the planet. It is time for
democracy to come to Gala."
"Past time, it seems to me," Obi-Wan
agreed. "Why do you think Queen Veda made
the decision now?"
"There was a great danger of a civil
war here," Qui-Gon said. "The Tallah dynasty
has ruled for a thousand years. They
were successful at one time. But power can
corrupt. After King Cana died, the
Queen knew that the power of the monarchy was
slipping. She gave into the people's
wishes and opened the government to
elections."
"Which is why her son, Prince Beju,
may be dangerous," Obi-Wan said. "How do you
think the Prince will react when he
sees us?"
Just days ago, the Jedi had thwarted
the Prince's scheme to become a hero to the
Galacian people. Prince Beju had caused
a bacta shortage on Gala. Bacta was a
substance used to heal wounds and regenerate
damaged flesh. Its miraculous
properties saved lives. After he created
the fake shortage, the Prince had made an
agreement with the Syndicat, an illegal
political group on neighboring Phindar, to
bring some of the bacta home with him.
Obi-Wan had foiled the plan by posing as
the Prince and helping Phindar's citizens
remove the Syndicat from power.
"I don't think he'll greet me with open
arms," Obi-Wan continued. "After all, I did
kidnap him."
"He has much to lose if he opposes us,"
Qui-Gon pointed out. "He might have had
help with the bacta scheme, but I'm
fairly certain it wasn't from Queen Veda. If we
keep silent about what we know happened
on Phindar, no doubt the Prince will as
well."
"Good," Obi-Wan said.
"But he will still see us as the enemy," Qui-Gon added.
Inwardly, Obi-Wan gave a sigh. Qui-Gon
often told him reassuring news, only to
contradict it in the next sentence.
It was his way of telling Obi-Wan that situations
were not fixed, but fluid. "Count on
nothing. Only change," Qui-Gon had told him
several times. He was always right.
Suddenly, Obi-Wan felt a disturbance in the Force like a dark wave.
"Yes," Qui-Gon murmured.
They stopped for a moment. The street
they had turned down was deserted. And
then they heard the sound of shouting.
They moved together, without speaking,
toward the sound. Neither one reached for
his lightsaber, or even rested a hand
on the hilt. But every nerve was poised, on alert.
Suddenly, a crowd surged around a corner,
heading for them. They carried
laser-pulsating signs that spelled
out DECA.
Obi-Wan relaxed. It was a political
rally, he realized. Deca Brun was one of the
candidates for Governor of Gala.
"Already democracy is working," he observed.
The people cheered as the laser sign
flashed gold, then blue.
Qui-Gon was still on alert. "Something else," he murmured. He turned to look back.
From an intersecting narrow street behind
them, another crowd suddenly spilled onto
the boulevard. They bore signs reading
WILA PRAMMI.
"Wila Prammi, the third candidate,"
Obi-Wan noted. Yoda had briefed the Jedi on
the two candidates opposing Prince
Beju.
The Deca Brun crowd surged forward,
and the Prammi supporters ran to meet them.
Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon were caught in
the middle. All of a sudden, signs were used
as clubs, and fists and feet flew as
the two groups attacked each other.
Obi-Wan looked at Qui-Gon. This was
not a time for lightsabers. Neither of the two
groups had blast weapons. But still,
the Jedi were in danger. They were in the middle
of a brawling mob.
A burly Galacian man holding a laser
sign suddenly lunged at Obi-Wan, his sign held
high. Leading with his left shoulder,
Obi-Wan went into a roll. He sprang to his feet
only meters away as the sign glanced
off someone else's shoulder.
Two Deca supporters held Qui-Gon's arms
as a third pulled a fist back to strike him.
Qui-Gon employed a classic Jedi escape
technique, twisting his body and striking
upward with his head. The two Deca
supporters were left with sore arms and ringing
ears. They looked around for Qui-Gon,
but he was already gone, heading for
Obi-Wan at the sidelines.
"We can't do anything here," he told Obi-Wan. "Let's keep moving."
They dodged a Wila Prammi supporter
as she tripped a Deca supporter, then
smashed him on the head. "The road
to democracy can be a rough one," Qui-Gon
observed as they hurried past. "But
on Gala, it seems rougher than most."
