But now the peace is gone, Obi-Wan thought.
The quiet felt ominous. It wasn't the
quiet of busy souls going about their
day. It was the wary hush of a sanctuary under
siege.
Obi-Wan stood with his former Master,
Qui-Gon Jinn, outside the closed door of the
Jedi Council room. At any moment they
would be summoned inside. They had been
called back to the Temple for the most
devastating of reasons – an attack on Jedi
Master Yoda's life.
Obi-Wan glanced at Qui-Gon. To an observer,
Qui-Gon would seem to possess his
usual composure. But Obi-Wan knew better.
He could sense the sharp distress that
ticked underneath the control.
The Temple was on high security. As
always it was completely closed to outsiders.
But now even Jedi Knights had been
ordered to stay away until further notice. All
arrivals and departures were monitored,
and no one was allowed to leave except on
the most pressing of missions. Even
though most of the Jedi knew Qui-Gon by sight,
both he and Obi-Wan had to undergo
a retinal scan before entering the Temple from
the spaceport level.
Qui-Gon's finger tapped the hilt of
his lightsaber, then stopped. His face smoothed
out, and Obi-Wan knew that Qui-Gon
was reaching out to the Force to find his center
of calm.
Obi-Wan tried to control his own apprehension.
He was burning with questions and
speculations, but he did not dare break
the silence. Relations between him and his
former Master had been strained since
Obi-Wan decided he couldn't be Qui-Gon's
Padawan any longer. He had renounced
his Jedi training in order to help the young
people of Melida/Daan bring peace to
their planet. Obi-Wan realized now what a
mistake he had made. He was a Jedi
to the bone. All he wanted was to be accepted
back into the order and be Qui-Gon's
Padawan again.
Qui-Gon had told Obi-Wan that he'd forgiven
him for leaving the Jedi. But if Qui-Gon
had truly forgiven him in his heart,
why was there this awkward silence between
them? Qui-Gon was a reserved man, but
Obi-Wan had come to count on the respect
and warmth he often saw in his former
Master's eyes, as well as his occasional
flashes of humor.
Obi-Wan knew that once he was called
inside the Council chamber, his own fate
might be decided. His heart rose at
the thought that perhaps the Council had already
voted to accept him back. He had told
Yoda that he deeply regretted his decision.
He hoped that Yoda might have pleaded
his case.
Obi-Wan pressed a hand to his forehead.
His increasing anxiety had caused him to
perspire. Or was the Temple warmer
than normal?
He was about to ask Qui-Gon when the
door to the Council room hissed open.
Obi-Wan stepped into the room behind
Qui-Gon. The twelve Council members
ringed the chamber in a semicircle.
Gray light flooded the room from the large
windows overlooking the white towers
and spires of Coruscant. Outside, the wispy
clouds looked like thin metallic sheets.
An occasional flash of silver shimmered, the
wings of a spacecraft catching a ray
of sunshine as the clouds momentarily parted.
Obi-wan had only been in the Council
room a few times. He was always awed by the
depth of the Force here. With so many
Jedi Masters in one space, the air seemed
charged.
Immediately his eyes sought Yoda. He
was relieved to see the Jedi Master sitting in
his usual place, appearing calm and
healthy. Yoda's gaze passed over him neutrally,
then focused on Qui-Gon. Obi-Wan felt
a twinge of worry. He wished Yoda's glance
had been more reassuring.
Qui-Gon took his place in the center of the room, and Obi-Wan joined him.
A senior member of the Council, Mace
Windu, did not waste time on preliminaries.
"We thank you for coming," he said
in his dignified way. His eyebrows knit together
worriedly. "To be frank, this event
has shaken us. Master Yoda rose before dawn to
meditate, as is his custom. He went
to the Room of a Thousand Fountains, again as
is his custom. Before reaching a footbridge
he sensed a surge in the dark side of
the Force. He hesitated, listening
to the Force, and in that heartbeat a device
planted underneath the footbridge exploded.
The intention was to kill Yoda. Luckily
he is not so easily fooled."
Mace Windu paused. A collective shudder
seemed to run through everyone in the
Council room. So many depended on Yoda's
wisdom.
"Mace Windu, here with you now am I,"
Yoda said gently. "Dwell on the could haves,
we must not. Focus on the solution,
we must."
Mace Windu nodded. "Master Yoda saw
the flicker of a meditation robe as
someone hurried away. This person ducked
underneath a waterfall, then
disappeared in the churning surf."
"Strong in the dark side, he was," Yoda said, nodding.
"We know that Bruck Chun hasn't left
the temple since you discovered he was the
culprit in the thefts," Mace Windu
said to Qui-Gon. "We still do not know who he has
allied himself with. We only know there
is an intruder in the Temple."
"Has the person been spotted again?" Qui-Gon asked.
"No," Mace Windu said. He reached for
a data sheet on the arm of his chair. "But
just this morning, a student found
this. It was left outside a meditation chamber."
Qui-Gon took the data sheet from Mace
Windu's outstretched hand. He read it, then
handed it to Obi-Wan.
MEDITATE ON THIS, MASTERS:
NEXT TIME I WILL NOT FAIL.
Mace Windu placed his hands on each
armrest. "Naturally, this has been the focus of
consideration and debate. We feel the
dark side working. Not only that, but it
appears the invader has managed to
sabotage our central power structure. You may
have noticed the warmer air. We have
a perplexing problem with the air cooling unit.
Every time Miro Daroon fixes something
in the tech center, there is another
malfunction elsewhere. There have also
been various problems with the lighting and
communication systems in some of the
wings of the Temple. Miro is hard-pressed to
keep up."
Obi-Wan was puzzled. Mace Windu had
not looked at him once during his briefing.
Why was he here? He wasn't technically
a Jedi, since the Council had not extended
the offer to take him back. And he
certainly wasn't Qui-Gon's Padawan any longer.
At that moment, every face on the Jedi
Council turned to him. Mace Windu's intense
gaze studied his face. Obi-Wan struggled
to remember his Jedi training composure.
It wasn't easy to have twelve Jedi
Masters staring at him. And the penetrating gaze
of Mace Windu was the most rigorous
of all. His dark eyes had a way of making you
feel he had seen into the very heart
of you, ferreting out secret feelings you weren't
even aware you had.
"Obi-Wan, we are hoping that you will
have insights into what Bruck Chan can and
will do," Mace Windu said heavily.
"I wasn't his friend," Obi-Wan said, surprised.
"You were his rival," Mace Windu said. "That could be even more valuable to us."
Obi-Wan was at a loss. "But I didn't
know Bruck well. I knew how he would move in a
lightsaber dual, yes. But not what
was in his mind or heart."
No one said anything. Obi-Wan struggled
not to betray his apprehension. He had
disappointed the Jedi Masters once
more. Looking around the room, he did not
meet one friendly eye. Even Yoda gave
him no encouragement. He wanted to wipe
his damp palms on his tunic, but he
didn't dare.
"Of course I'll do whatever I can to
help," he added quickly. "Just tell me what you
want me to do. I can talk to his friends
– "
"No need," Mace Windu interrupted. He
laced his long fingers together. "Until a
decision is made by the Council, we
must ask you not to interfere with Temple
business unless we ask you otherwise."
Obi-Wan felt stung. "The Temple is my home!" he cried.
"You are welcome to remain here until
your situation is resolved, of course," Mace
Windu said. "There is still much discussion
to take place."
"But there is a real threat to the Temple,"
Obi-Wan argued. "You need help. And I
wasn't here during the petty thefts.
I'm one of the few Jedi students who can be ruled
out as a suspect. Someone could have
helped Bruck. I could investigate."
Obi-Wan saw with a sinking feeling that
he had made a mistake. He should have
known better than to ask the Council
to take him back based on the fact that he could
be of use to them in a crisis.
Mace Windu's sharp gaze cut him like
ice. "I think the Jedi can manage to solve the
crisis without that kind of help from
you."
"Of course," Obi-Wan said. "But I wish
to tell all the Jedi Masters that I feel genuine
remorse for my decision. It felt right
at the time, but I've come to see how wrong it
was. I want nothing more than to have
back what I once had. I want to be a Padawan.
I want to be a Jedi."
"Have again what you had, you cannot,"
Yoda said. "Different you are. Different is
Qui-Gon. Every moment makes you so.
Every decision a cost it has."
Ki-Adi-Mundi spoke up. "Obi-Wan, you
have violated not only the trust of Qui-Gon,
but the trust of the Council. You seem
not to recognize this."
"But I do!" Obi-Wan exclaimed. "I take responsibility for it and I'm sorry for it."
"You are thirteen years old, Obi-Wan.
You are not a child," Mace Windu said with a
frown. "Why do you speak as one? Sorry
does not make the offense disappear. You
interfered in the internal affairs
of a planet without official Jedi approval. You defied
the order of your Master. A Master
depends on the loyalty of the Padawan, just as
the Padawan depends on the Master.
If that trust is broken, the bond shatters."
The sting of Mace's words made Obi-Wan
wince. He did not expect the Council to
be so severe. He couldn't look at Qui-Gon.
His gaze found Yoda's.
"Unclear your path is, Obi-Wan," Yoda
said with more gentleness. "Hard it is to wait.
But wait you must to see your way revealed."
"You may go, Obi-Wan," Mace Windu said.
"We must speak with Qui-Gon privately.
You may go to your old quarters."
Well, at least that's something, Obi-Wan
thought. He struggled to maintain his dignity
as he bowed to the Council. But he
knew his cheeks burned with shame as he left
the room.
