Lives & Adventures Read online

  Constructing a lightsaber on Ilum was not regarded as the most challenging trial for a Jedi apprentice, but to Obi-Wan, it was confirmation that he would become a Jedi Knight. And if anyone appreciated the opportunity to become a Jedi, it was Obi-Wan. Less than a year earlier, when he was still just a few weeks shy of his thirteenth birthday, he was nearly convinced that no Jedi Knight or Master would ever choose him as an apprentice.

  But those days were behind him now. The Jedi Knight Qui-Gon Jinn, with some encouragement from Master Yoda, had taken Obi-Wan as his Padawan. Granted, they had gotten off to a rough start, and it only became rougher when Obi-Wan temporarily renounced the Jedi Order to join the revolution on the planet Melida/Daan, a decision that he quickly came to regret. Qui-Gon had forgiven him and accepted his return, but there remained an uneasiness between them. Still, despite their disagreements and conflicts, a bond had developed, and both were confident this bond would grow stronger over time.

  And so it was that Obi-Wan and his Master, traveling in a small transport ship on loan from the Galactic Senate, had made the pilgrimage to the snow-covered world of Ilum. As Obi-Wan meditated over the blue crystal he had just harvested from the frigid cavern, Qui-Gon stood a short distance away, watching.

  Using the Force, Obi-Wan Kenobi maneuvered the components of his lightsaber so that they hovered in the air in front of him. The blue crystal rotated slowly, then drifted into place within the lightsaber’s energy chamber. Focusing all his attention on the components, he sealed the compartment, and then adjusted a locking mechanism. The lightsaber’s assembly was complete.

  With his lightsaber still floating before him, Obi-Wan shifted his gaze to his Master. Like Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon was wearing an insulated robe to protect him from the cold. Qui-Gon’s eyes were on the floating lightsaber, but Obi-Wan thought he detected something distant in the man’s expression, as if his thoughts were elsewhere.

  Obi-Wan’s lightsaber wavered slightly. Obi-Wan waited a few seconds, then said, “Are you not supposed to say a few words, Master?”

  Qui-Gon’s eyes flicked to Obi-Wan’s. “Ah, yes,” he said. Returning his gaze to the hovering lightsaber, he recited, “The crystal is the heart of the blade. The heart is the crystal of the Jedi. The Jedi is the crystal of the Force. The Force is the blade of the heart. All are intertwined: the crystal, the blade, the Jedi. You…are one.”

  Obi-Wan heard Qui-Gon’s hesitation in the final sentence, and thought he detected a hint of sorrow or regret in his Master’s voice. As he reached out to grasp the floating lightsaber and lower it to his side, he said, “Have I done something wrong, Master?”

  “No, Padawan,” Qui-Gon answered. “You’ve done well. I regret it is I, for a change, who is not being mindful of the moment.” Then Qui-Gon looked away, letting his gaze sweep over the cavern’s interior. “It is unfortunate that such wondrous surroundings could become diminished by foolish memories.”

  Obi-Wan shook his head. “I am sorry, Master, but I don’t understand.”

  Qui-Gon returned his gaze to Obi-Wan and said, “The last time I stood in this chamber, it was with Xanatos.”

  Obi-Wan swallowed hard. Xanatos had been Qui-Gon’s previous Jedi apprentice. Strong with the Force and a brave warrior, Xanatos had served alongside Qui-Gon on numerous missions, but ultimately left the Jedi Order to ally with his biological father, a corrupt governor who had initiated a civil war on their homeworld, Telos IV. Qui-Gon had been forced to kill Xanatos’s father, an act that did nothing to stop or divert Xanatos on his path to the dark side.

  For years afterward, Qui-Gon had maintained that he might never take another apprentice, and that he eventually did was much to Obi-Wan’s credit. But shortly after Obi-Wan became Qui-Gon’s Padawan, Xanatos reemerged, seeking revenge against his former Master—and nearly destroying the Jedi Temple in the process. Obi-Wan had been with Qui-Gon when they caught up with Xanatos on Telos IV, and neither was able to stop the dark, former Jedi from deliberately ending his own life by plunging into a boiling black pool of acid.

  “Xanatos wasn’t your fault,” Obi-Wan blurted out without thinking. Qui-Gon had not asked for his opinion, and he felt his face flush.

  “Perhaps you’re right,” Qui-Gon replied. “But for a time, Xanatos was my responsibility. And he was also my friend.”

  Obi-Wan had no response for this. He had come to regard Xanatos as an embodiment of evil, and had a hard time believing that he could have ever been a friend to anyone.

  Obi-Wan also felt a bit stung. The trip to Ilum was important to him, and he hadn’t expected his Master’s thoughts to dwell on Xanatos. He almost wished that Qui-Gon’s memory of the failed apprentice had dissolved along with Xanatos himself on Telos IV, but he immediately buried the thought and banished it from his mind. Such a line of thinking could only lead to the dark side—Obi-Wan didn’t need Master Yoda, Qui-Gon, or anyone else to remind him of that.

  Qui-Gon sighed. “You have worked very hard toward this day, and I regret I allowed unpleasant memories to intrude. Forgive me, Obi-Wan.”

  Obi-Wan was taken aback by his Master’s request for forgiveness. Although he wasn’t sure whether to speak, he said, “I…I forgive you, Master.”

  “Then all is well,” Qui-Gon said, smiling as he placed his broad hand on Obi-Wan’s shoulder. “Come now, let us see the result of your handiwork, this blade you have created by the will of the Force.”

  Stepping back from Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan held his lightsaber out in front of him and thumbed the activation switch. The beam ignited, and the cavern’s crystal-lined walls reflected its brilliant blue light as they magnified the sound of the weapon’s distinctive hum.

  Obi-Wan had been raised at the Jedi Temple and had more experience with lightsabers than many Padawans his age. Still, his eyes went wide with surprise as he beheld the brilliant beam that extended before him. He had expected that the Ilum crystal would produce a more intense beam than the weapon’s previous crystal, which he had selected from a supply at the Jedi Temple’s lightsaber crafting facility. But he was not prepared for the way the Ilum crystal would make the weapon feel in his grasp.

  It was different somehow. He tested it, sweeping the blade through the air. The blade was still pure energy and without weight, but it seemed more precise and focused.

  Obi-Wan looked to Qui-Gon, who smiled as if he could read his Padawan’s thoughts. Qui-Gon said, “Some Jedi claim that Ilum crystals make one feel more connected with the Force.”

  Before Obi-Wan could comment, a beeping sound came from the comlink at Qui-Gon’s belt. Obi-Wan deactivated his lightsaber as Qui-Gon removed the comlink, listened briefly, and then said into it, “On our way.”

  “What is it, Master?”

  “A mission,” Qui-Gon said, returning the comlink to his belt. “We’re to go to Ord Sigatt.”

  “Ord Sigatt?” Obi-Wan shook his head. “I’ve never heard of it.”

  “It’s in the Outer Rim Territories.”

  Obi-Wan lifted his eyebrows. It wasn’t every day that Jedi were assigned to the Outer Rim. He said, “Isn’t that a little out of our usual jurisdiction?”

  “Not when a Republic refinery ship and its crew goes missing there.”

  Qui-Gon turned and headed for the mouth of the cave. Obi-Wan clipped his lightsaber to his belt as he followed, walking fast to keep up with his Master’s long strides. They returned to their transport, set the coordinates for Ord Sigatt into the navicomputer, and lifted away from the frozen world. Minutes later, they were racing through hyperspace to the Outer Rim.

  Twelve thousand years before Obi-Wan’s lifetime, when the Galactic Republic was attempting to expand its government beyond the more traveled trade routes, the Republic established advance military and scout bases on several remote worlds. These planets and moons were designated as Ords, an abbreviation of Ordnance/Regional Depots. Over time, the Jedi Order replaced the Republic milita, and some of the Ords evolved into weapons disposal centers and storage facilities, whi
le others were adopted by colonists.

  Ord Sigatt was a small, rocky planet with mostly barren terrain and a few scattered lakes. For centuries, its modest population consisted of people who stayed only until they found somewhere else to go. Some longtime colonists lived on the outskirts of the main settlement, but most lived close to the spaceport, the energy station, or the water treatment facility that made up the main settlement. As for tourism, most travelers regarded Ord Sigatt as little more than a place to rest or refuel their ships. But all that changed after a prospector’s recent discovery of a large deposit of carvanium, a metal used in alloys such as durasteel.

  Almost overnight, Ord Sigatt was transformed into a mining world. Many colonists became instantly wealthy when they sold their properties to offworld consortiums. Mammoth vehicles were delivered to excavate the carvanium, and the spaceport expanded to accommodate the refinery ships. The settlement’s population increased rapidly with migrant laborers and soldiers of fortune, and a sprawl of temporary housing had sprung up for the new arrivals.

  Obi-Wan reviewed these details during his journey with his Master through hyperspace, the time-space dimension that allowed for faster-than-lightspeed travel between planets. Studying transmitted data from the Jedi Temple, Obi-Wan said, “The missing refinery ship was the Hardy Harrow from Denon, and is owned by Denon-Ardru Mutual. The ship had been scheduled to pick up a shipment of carvanium two days ago, but when it failed to return to Republic space, a Denon Senator notified the Council.”

  “Any comment from Ord Sigatt Spaceport?” Qui-Gon asked.

  “They say the Hardy Harrow never reached Ord Sigatt.”

  “What about recent acts of piracy or space weather anomalies in the system? Has anything been reported?”

  “No, Master.” A signal light flashed on the transport’s console and Obi-Wan looked to a sensor screen. “We’re coming out of hyperspace.”

  There was a slight shudder as the transport dropped out of hyperspace and entered realspace. Outside the transport’s cockpit transparisteel window, a rush of bright light washed away from view and was replaced by a solitary planet amidst a field of distant stars. Obi-Wan confirmed that the planet was Ord Sigatt, then said, “I’ll notify the spaceport that we’ll be arriving in—”

  “Easy, now, Padawan,” Qui-Gon interrupted. “For all we know, the spaceport authorities may have something to do with the missing refinery. Let us arrive unannounced. We’ll land in one of the public hangars on the outskirts.”

  After gaining clearance from the spaceport, they landed their transport in an open-roof hangar. Obi-Wan was somewhat relieved to learn that Ord Sigatt’s climate was considerably warmer than Ilum, but as they stepped down the transport’s landing ramp, he realized the air was not nearly so clean.

  A starship maintenance droid directed them to the hangar’s exit. They had almost reached the exit when two uniformed security guards stepped out from the shadows to block their path. Both guards had blaster rifles slung over their shoulders, and their hard expressions indicated that they were prepared to use the weapons if necessary. One of the guards looked at Qui-Gon and snarled, “Either of you carrying weapons?”

  Qui-Gon raised his right hand slowly and made a slight sweeping gesture with his fingers as he said, “We don’t have any weapons.”

  Both guards were unaware that Qui-Gon was using the Force to manipulate their minds. The guard who had addressed Qui-Gon nodded and said, “No, you don’t have any weapons.”

  “We’re just harmless traders,” Qui-Gon added. “You can let us go on our way.”

  “Totally harmless,” the guard answered. “Go on, then.” He and his partner stepped aside, allowing the two Jedi to move through the exit.

  They stepped out onto a busy street, filled with pedestrian traffic and lined with merchant stalls. They walked past the stalls, keeping their lightsabers concealed within their robes. As they moved along, Qui-Gon leaned close to Obi-Wan and said in a low voice, “Notice anything unusual about the locals?”

  Obi-Wan surveyed the area. He saw a mix of humans and aliens from various worlds, and most wore work clothes and coveralls. Some were seated at tables with food set out in the shade of a nearby hangar. All of the merchants seemed very focused on their customers.

  Obi-Wan shrugged. “Well,” he said, “it doesn’t seem much different from any other spaceport on a backwater world. Except that people around here look glummer than most.” It was true. No one appeared to be very happy about being on Ord Sigatt.

  Qui-Gon said, “There’s also the fact that no one is carrying any weapons.”

  As Obi-Wan’s eyes flicked from one person to the next, he quickly confirmed his Master’s observation. Except for the security guards that they’d left behind in the hangar, not a single being was wearing a holster or bearing weapons of any kind.

  “That is unusual,” Obi-Wan said. “Nothing in the report from the Jedi Council mentioned that blasters were prohibited. Maybe it’s just the way the locals maintain peace.”

  “Maybe,” Qui-Gon said, but Obi-Wan could tell that his Master was skeptical.

  A trio of spacers walked by, and the Jedi watched the men enter a nearby bar, one of the older-looking buildings on the block. Qui-Gon said, “I might be able to pick up some information in there. You wait outside. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

  A few seconds after Qui-Gon entered the old building, Obi-Wan heard a loud crash. It had sounded from the alley right around the corner, which ran perpendicular to the main street. After a quick glance back toward the door of the bar, he walked around the corner and found himself looking at a burly Besalisk. The four-armed alien wore a stained apron and held two trays in his lower hands. A clutter of empty bottles lay scattered around his wide feet. It appeared he had just accidentally dropped the bottles.

  Obi-Wan was about to turn back when the Besalisk, grumbling to himself, stooped down and began loading the bottles onto the trays with his upper arms. Obi-Wan was amazed at how fast the alien’s hands moved. The Besalisk was reaching toward the last cup when he looked up at Obi-Wan. Eyes wide with surprise, the alien said, “Aw, nuts.” Then he lowered the trays to the ground, raised all four of his meaty, four-fingered hands in the air and said, “I surrender.”

  Confused, Obi-Wan said, “You do?”

  “I know better than to mess with Jedi,” the Besalisk said, his bristly whiskers trembling slightly. “Even youngsters like yourself.”

  Suddenly self-concious, Obi-Wan glanced down to make sure his lightsaber had not accidentally become exposed. Seeing that it was still concealed beneath his robes, he returned his gaze to the Besalisk and said, “Who told you I was a Jedi?”

  Arms still raised, the Beslisk chuckled, “You did, son. For one thing, you’ve got a Jedi apprentice’s braid dangling down your shoulder. Also, maybe you don’t know this, the weave of Jedi robes is pretty distinctive. The real giveaway was when you looked to your hip to make sure your lightsaber wasn’t showing. Anyway, you caught Dexter Jettster fair and square.”

  Obi-Wan was astonished by the Besalisk’s powers of observation. Taking a step into the alley, he kept his expression neutral as he said cautiously, “So…Dexter Jettster…you must also know why I’m here.”

  “Gotta hand it to you,” Jettster said, winking at Obi-Wan. “I knew I couldn’t keep running blasters out of my bar forever. I just never imagined Jedi would come after me.”

  Running blasters? Obi-Wan was baffled by Jettster’s admission.

  The Besalisk continued, “I won’t beg for mercy. I know I done wrong. But I swear, Denon-Ardru Mutual and their security goons are the real troublemakers. Bad enough they take over the local government and confiscate everyone’s weapons in the name of their law, but when they go stealing land from colonists here, well, I just had to do something. You’ll find all the blasters in the back room of the bar. Hadn’t begun distributing them to my friends yet.”

  As he listened, Obi-Wan’s nimble mind began sifting throug
h the information, connecting details that he already knew. He said, “Where is the Hardy Harrow?”

  “Hidden in a valley, about twenty kilometers north of here,” Jettster said. “It’s not damaged. My friends and I here, we captured the ship shortly after it arrived in orbit and removed its transponder. We just wanted Denon-Ardru to know that we weren’t going to leave Ord Sigatt without a fight.”

  “Did you harm the crew?”

  “The crew?” Jettster wrinkled his brow at this, then said, “Come on, you know as well as I do that the Harrow is a drone barge, doesn’t have a crew except for the droids that…that…” Jettster gasped, then he narrowed his gaze at Obi-Wan.

  “Go on,” Obi-Wan said.

  Jettster shook his thick head. “Son of a gundark,” he said. “You got me, Jedi. You tried to hide it, but I can see it in your eyes right now. You had no idea that I was up to anything but dropping bottles before I opened my big mouth. Until one minute ago, I prided myself on how well I kept secrets, but now—”

  “Help!”

  The cry—it sounded like a child’s voice—came from outside the alley, behind Obi-Wan. He turned his head fast to see three security guards, carrying blaster rifles and clad in the same uniforms as the pair who’d stopped him and Qui-Gon at the hangar. One of the guards was gripping the collar of a young boy, who looked about nine years old. A younger child, a girl, clutched at the boy protectively.

  Obi-Wan shot a severe glance at Jettster and said, “Stay here!” Then he ran out of the alley, where pedestrians had already formed a small crowd around the guards and the two children.

  The guard who had grabbed at the boy growled, “I saw you throw that rock at me, whelp! Now you’re going to pay for it!”

  “Unhand him,” Obi-Wan said as he moved toward the guards.

  Keeping one hand on the boy’s collar, the guard glanced at Obi-Wan and barked, “Back off, kid!” And then he shifted his blaster rifle, bringing it up toward Obi-Wan.