Jedi Apprentice_ The Defenders Of The Dead Part 4

Cerasi turned. "No," she said curtly. "We don't need any help."

"Another opinion can only strengthen your odds," Qui-Gon said quietly.

This time, Cerasi didn't bother to turn. Nield did not even look up.

"We do not want your help, Jedi," Cerasi said, even more sharply than before.

Obi-Wan glanced at Qui-Gon to gauge his re- action. He saw his Master struggle with his irritation. But although Qui-Gon could be impulsive, he was never petty. The irritation left him, and his usual mask of calm returned.

"Padawan, I am going to explore the tunnels," he told Obi-Wan in a low voice. "It is better not to rely totally on the Young to guide us.

You remain here."

Obi-Wan nodded. For once, he didn't want to accompany Qui-Gon. He wanted to stay and watch the Young plan the battle.

Cerasi divided the young people into teams and a.s.signed them tasks.

They worked on makes.h.i.+ft weapons fas.h.i.+oned from sc.r.a.ps. Their most prominent weapon was a powerful slingshot that threw laserb.a.l.l.s. The b.a.l.l.s could only sting a life-form if they connected, but if they hit a hard object, they made a sound like blaster fire.

Over the course of the afternoon, Obi-Wan tried to grow used to the m.u.f.fled sound of explosions. War toys were part of the childhood of both Melida and Daan. The Young were modifying them to amplify their sound effects. They worked in the rooms branching off the main tunnel on missile tubes, packing them with pebbles and paint.

Cerasi worked on a pile of slingshots in a corner, honing them with a sharp knife and testing their accuracy with wadded up flimsiplast. The flimsiplast winged across the high s.p.a.ce, hitting the same stone block with deadly accuracy. Cerasi worked tirelessly, without a break.

"I'd like to help," Obi-Wan said, approaching her. "Not with strategy," he added quickly. "I know you have that under control. But I can help with this."

Cerasi pushed a lock of hair from her eyes and smiled slightly. "I guess I was hard on your Boss-Master, huh?"

"He's not my boss, really," Obi-Wan said. "That's not the Jedi way.

He's more of a guide."

"Sure, whatever you say. But if you ask me, elders always think they know best. They just get in the way." She handed a knife to Obi-Wan.

"If you can hone it to the same thickness as the ones I did, we could get these done in a flash."

Obi-Wan sat and began to sc.r.a.pe the knife against the supple wood.

"What do you think our chances of success are tomorrow?"

"Excellent," Cerasi said firmly. "We're relying on the hatred of the two sectors. All we need to do is create the illusion of battle. Both sides will react without bothering to verify reports of blaster fire and torpedo launches. They expect warfare at any moment."

"Your battle may be an illusion, but the danger is not," Obi-Wan pointed out. "Both sides will have real weapons to fire."

Cerasi shook her head. "I'm not afraid."

"Awareness of fear can protect you if it does not overtake you,"

Obi-Wan replied.

Cerasi snorted. "Is that one of your Boss-Master's Jedi sayings?"

Obi-Wan flushed. "Yes. And I have found it to be true. Awareness of fear is an instinct that warns you to be careful. Anyone going into battle who says they are not afraid is a fool."

"Well, call me a fool, Pada-Jedi," Cerasi said flatly. "I'm not afraid."

"Ah," Obi-Wan said lightly. "You go into glorious battle without fear, confident that your filthy enemy will collapse."

He was repeating the vain boasts of the dead in the Halls of Evidence, and Cerasi knew it. She flushed as Obi-Wan had a moment before.

"More Jedi wisdom. It's a wonder you manage to survive this long, if you keep pointing out what foolish things people say," Cerasi finally said with a half smile. "Okay, I get your point. I'm no better than my ancestors, marching blindly into a battle I will lose."

"I'm not saying you will lose."

Cerasi paused, fully seeing Obi-Wan for the first time. "Well, maybe I'll feel afraid on the day of the battle. But today I feel ready.

This is the first step toward justice. I can't wait to take it. Do you have any wisdom about that?"

"No," Obi-Wan admitted. Cerasi was unlike anyone he'd ever met before. "Justice is something to fight for. If I didn't believe that, I wouldn't be a Jedi."

Cerasi put down her slingshot. "Being a Jedi is as much a part of you as being part of the Young is to me," she observed, her crystal green eyes studying him. "I guess the difference is that the Young don't have any guides. We guide ourselves."

"Being an apprentice is a journey that is an honor to undertake,"

Obi-Wan replied. But he feared his words were weak. He was used to saying them and believing them with his whole heart. Being a Jedi was at the core of him. But in just a few hours with the Young, he had seen a commitment that had confused him as much as it had stirred him.

Of course, he had seen deep commitment at the Temple among the Jedi students. But with some students, there often seemed to be pride mixed in. They were the elite, picked out of millions to be trained.

Whenever Yoda saw pride in a Jedi student, he found ways to expose it and put the student on the right path. Pride was often based in arrogance, and had no place in a Jedi. Part of the Jedi training was to eliminate pride and subst.i.tute sureness and humility. The Force only flour- ished in those who knew they were connected to all life-forms.

Here in the tunnels, Obi-Wan saw a pureness he had only glimpsed in his talks with Yoda, or his observance of Qui-Gon. That pureness was in people his own age. They did not have to strive for it. They possessed it. Perhaps because the cause they believed in was more than a concept in their minds. It was bred in their blood and bones, born in their suffering.

He felt defensive, as though Cerasi had attacked his dedication to the Jedi way. "Nield is the leader of the Young," he pointed out. "So you, too, have a boss."

"Nield is the best at strategy," Cerasi said. "If we didn't have someone to organize us, we would fall apart."

"And someone to punish you?" Obi-Wan asked, remembering how Nield had almost strangled a boy.

Cerasi hesitated. Her voice softened as she continued. "Nield may seem harsh to you, but he has to be. Hatred was taught to us before we could walk. We have to be firm to stamp it out. Our vision of a new world can only survive if our hatred dies. We must forget everything we were taught. We must begin again. Nield knows this better than anyone. Perhaps because he's had it harder than any of us here."

"In what way?" Obi-Wan asked.

Cerasi sighed. She put down the slingshot she'd been working on.

"That last hologram he triggered -the one he mocked -was Nield's father.

He went into battle with Nield's three brothers. They all died. Nield was five years old. One month later his mother made preparations to be part of the next great battle. She left him with a cousin, a young girl who was more like a sister to him. His mother went off to fight, and she was killed, too. Then the Melida invaded his village. His cousin escaped and took him to Zehava. He had a few peaceful years, but then the Daan attacked the Melida sector, and his cousin had to fight. She was seventeen, old enough then. She died, too. Nield was left on the streets to fend for himself. He was eight years old. There were those who tried to care for him. He wouldn't live with anyone, but he did take shelter and food when he needed it. He didn't want to depend on anyone ever again. Can you blame him?"

Obi-Wan pictured all those people who loved Nield - all of them dying, one after the other. "No," he said softly. "I don't blame him at all."

Cerasi sighed. "The point is, I was raised to think of the Daan as beasts, barely human. Nield was the first Daan I knew. He was the one who united both the Daan and the Melida or- phans. He walked into the care centers and gathered them up, promised them freedom and peace. Then he made sure they had it. If they had stayed in the care center, eventually they'd be taken in a sweep."

"A sweep?" Obi-Wan asked.

"Both Melida and Daan rely on the orphaned children for factory work or conscription, if they're old enough," Cerasi said flatly. "They either work or fight. It's easy to find them in the city care centers. In the towns and villages, the children just run away."

"Where do they go?"

Cerasi frowned. "They live off the land and scavenge. There are whole tribes of children beyond the city's walls. Nield has worked hard to organize them, too. They keep in contact with stolen comlinks. They don't want any more war." Cerasi turned to him. "So you ask me what our chances of success will be, and I know I answered you. But truly, I can't even think of chances or odds. We will succeed because we have to. Our world is becoming a wasteland, Obi-Wan. Only we can stop it."

Obi-Wan nodded. He felt himself beginning to understand Cerasi. He saw that her brusque-ness masked deep feeling.

"We could use your help, though," Cerasi went on. "You have ties to the Jedi Council, and they have ties to Coruscant. You can show the entire galaxy that our cause is just. Jedi support means everything."

"Cerasi, I can't promise you Jedi support," Obi-Wan said quietly.

Surprising himself, he put his hand over hers. "I can only promise you mine."

Her bright gaze held his. "Why don't you come with Nield and me tomorrow? We're doing the first raid into Daan territory."

Obi-Wan hesitated. As a Jedi apprentice, he would be breaking the rules if he agreed without asking Qui-Gon's permission. But if he asked, Qui-Gon would most likely refuse.

He had already broken the rules by pledging his own support to Cerasi and her cause. That promise could conflict with the Jedi mission.

But he couldn't help himself. The cause of the Young spoke directly and urgently to his heart. As a Jedi, he didn't fight for his own family, his own world, or his own people. He fought for what Yoda and the Council - and Qui-Gon - decided he should fight for.

Cerasi and Nield had defined their own struggle. Obi-Wan was struck with a pang of deep envy for them. He had spent so much time with those older than himself. He had listened so often to their wisdom. Now he felt welcomed back into something different. He could be a part of a community here - he hadn't realized how much he missed a community of boys and girls his own age.

Cerasi's hand felt warm beneath his own. Her fingers were slender and delicate. Suddenly they intertwined with his and squeezed, and he felt their strength.

"Will you come?" she asked.

"Yes," he said. "I will."

That night, the Young rolled sleeping quilts onto the tombs. Qui-Gon found an open s.p.a.ce near one of the adjacent tunnel entrances, where the air was fresh.

Obi-Wan approached him awkwardly. "Nield and Cerasi have asked me to share their quarters," he said. "They watch over the youngest children."

Qui-Gon gave him a questioning look, but he nodded. "Sleep well, Padawan."

Obi-Wan picked up a sleeping quilt and returned to Nield and Cerasi. They slept in a small anteroom off the vault. Nield put a finger to his lips as Obi-Wan entered.

"The children are asleep," he whispered. "We should be sleeping as well. We'll need all our rest for tomorrow." He put his hand on Obi- Wan's forearm. "Cerasi told me you will join us. I'm honored."

"It is my honor to help you," Obi-Wan answered.

He settled himself on the floor next to Nield and Cerasi. He thought he wouldn't be able to sleep, but the children's quiet breathing lulled him.

It was hard to tell what time it was when he awoke. Cerasi rose from her sleeping area and leaned over Nield to touch his shoulder. Nield was already awake and stood immediately.

Obi-Wan stood as well. He was ready. He was acting not as a Jedi, but as a person - a friend. He grabbed his lightsaber and the slingshot Cerasi had given him the night before. There was an entrance from the anteroom directly into the tunnel toward Daan. Qui-Gon wouldn't see him leave.

Obi-Wan knew he was wrong not to ask permission, but he wasn't sure how angry Qui-Gon would be when he discovered he was gone. After all, Qui-Gon himself had offered to help with strategy for the battle.

Obi-Wan was glad he'd made the decision as he joined Nield and Cerasi on the deserted streets of the Daan-controlled Outer Circle. The three moved as one unit in the chilly early morning air. They walked purposefully down the deserted streets, their soft footfalls barely making a sound. Nield and Cerasi had already decided on their first targets.

They s.h.i.+mmied up a pipe and climbed onto the roof of a dwelling.

From here, they could see the sun, more a suggestion of gathering light than a source of radiance.

"I hate to wake everybody up," Nield said, flas.h.i.+ng a grin.

"It's time they were out of bed anyway." Cerasi held up a toy missile tube. "I'm ready."

Obi-Wan had clipped various projectiles onto his belt. He stuffed one into the missile tube. The projectiles had been fas.h.i.+oned around tiny amplifiers so that the sound they made when they hit would mimic the sound of a real proton missile. Cerasi and Nield had chosen a street that would echo the sound.

"Let's go," Obi-Wan agreed.

Cerasi aimed the toy missile at the abandoned building across the street. She fired.

The loud sound of the explosion surprised them.

"Listen to that. It worked!" Nield exulted.

He fit a laserball into his slingshot and fired at the wall across the street. The unmistakable ping ping ping of blaster fire erupted. Obi-Wan quickly stuffed another projectile into the tube and Cerasi shot it off. The blam echoed off the building fronts below.

Nield continued to shoot laserb.a.l.l.s from his slingshot, and Obi-Wan followed suit. They shot ball after ball, reloading and firing rapidly.

The sound of blaster fire echoed down the street. Someone emerged from a door across the way and looked up and down the street quickly. Nield and Obi-Wan shot a rain of laserb.a.l.l.s into an abandoned building, where no one would see them land.

Crackcrackcrack! The laserb.a.l.l.s. .h.i.t the solid surface, making an even louder sound. The Daan quickly ducked back into the building.

"He'll sound an alert," Nield said. "We're done here. Let's go."

Jumping from building to building, they made their way to another quiet street. They repeated the procedure, then moved on. Racing now, they fired down randomly with laserb.a.l.l.s while Cerasi shot projectiles where their explosive sound would echo the most. While they moved from block to block, they s.h.i.+fted barricades where they could to block any military vehicles. At checkpoints, they rained their false weapon-fire over the heads of the guards, who took defensive postures, sweeping the empty streets with infrared electrobinoculars to look for the unseen attackers.

The sun rose, and sirens began to sound over the city. Nield turned to them. The rising sun reflected red off his dark hair. "Now for military headquarters."

Excitement coursed through Obi-Wan. It was almost like a game, this ruse that Nield and Cerasi had concocted. But now the game would get serious. Hitting a military target, even with fake explosives, would be dangerous.

Nield led the way across the rooftops to the Daan military headquarters. From the roof of a building across the street, Obi-Wan could see soldiers running toward landspeeders, carrying blasters and torpedo launchers. Obviously, they were hurrying to investigate the many alarms that had sprung up.

"So far, so good," Cerasi breathed. "There won't be as many soldiers around."

This part would be tricky. They would not be firing at houses full of sleeping civilians. The military would react swiftly. But Nield had pointed out that if they did not convince the military that an attack had been launched, their plan wouldn't work. If the military thought they were under fire as well, they might conclude that this was not random sniper fire, but a full-scale attack.

In addition to Nield, Cerasi, and Obi-Wan, other groups of the Young should have been heading out to other Daan and Melida neighborhoods. Their attacks would be launched simultaneously with the attack on military headquarters.

They waited until the soldiers had taken off in their speeders. Two guards stood outside behind transparent armored s.h.i.+elds. Cerasi loaded her beam tube. Obi-Wan and Nield placed laser-b.a.l.l.s in their slingshots.