Star Wars Jedi Apprentice #2: The Dark Rival

Chapter 13

For two nights and two days, Obi-Wan struggled to use the Force to override his electro-collar. His wounds were healing slowly. His body was worn down by work in the mines.

The miners were kept in half-starved condition, but if anyone faltered, the guards beat them savagely with an electro-jabber. All of the guards were Imbats, creatures known for their size and cruelty, not their intelligence. They were tall as trees, with leathery skin and massive legs ending in broad, grasping toes. Their heads were small for their bodies and dominated by large, drooping ears.

Lift tubes took the miners below the sea floor. The small tunnels were hazardous. There were frequent leaks, and occasionally a tunnel would burst, drowning everyone inside. But what the miners dreaded most was a backflow of bad air into the tunnels. It was a slower death by suffocation.

"I've been looking forward to today," Guerra remarked as they waited for their turn on the lift tube.

Obi-Wan's heart dropped. Whenever Guerra was especially pleased, he knew he was in for trouble. Guerra dealt with the terrors of mining by treating it as a huge joke played onthem all.

"Why?" he asked warily.

"You there!" a guard shouted. Obi-Wan stiffened, but the guard crossed to a Meerian who had stopped to adjust his servo-tool belt.

"Stop holding up the line!" he bellowed, lashing out with the jabber. The miner cried out and crumpled to the floor. The guard kicked him aside. "No food for three days for that!"

Nobody tried to help the Meerian. They all knew that they would get the same treatment. Obi-Wan squeezed into the tube with Guerra.

"Today we go to the deepest sublevel," Guerra said. "Traces of ionite."

"What's wrong with ionite?" Obi-wan asked.

"Even traces of the mineral carry an alternative charge," Guerra explained. "Not positive, not negative, void. So! The instruments can go dead. If bad air backflow happens, no warning. Makes the work fun. Ha! Not so." His yellow eyes stared bleakly at Obi-Wan amid the white circles.

"Last week Bier's warning timer went dead because of high ionite concentration," another miner said. "He was in an aqua-suit, out mapping the sea floor. Ran out of oxygen and didn't make it back to the tunnel."

Obi-Wan watched the indicator lights tick down their descent. He felt like a void himself. He had absolutely disappeared. He was deep under the sea floor, in a place where Qui-Gon would never think to look.

And even if Qui-Gon could trace him . . . would he actually save him? Xanatos' mocking words sang in Obi-Wan's mind. Would Qui-Gon betray Obi-Wan as Xanatos claimed he had betrayed his former apprentice? Would Qui-Gon leave him to die?

Obi-Wan thought nothing could be worse than the grinding hard work during the day but at night, the guards loosened their controls. The miners needed some sort of outlet. Fighting was their amusement of choice. They had nothing to loose, and bets were placed according to a complex system of how badly someone would be maimed. The night before, a miner had lost an eye. Obi-Wan learned to stay out of the way.

He left the miners' quarters and found Guerra out on deck. It was bitterly cold, but Guerra didn't seem to feel it. He lay stretched out on the metal deck, watching the stars.

"Someday I'll get back up there," he told Obi-Wan.

Obi-Wan sat on the deck next to him. "I'm sure you'll make it, Guerra," he said.

"So! I'm sure, too" Guerra said. Then he murmured "Not so," softly under his breath.

"Guerra, you've been all over the rig. Have you ever seen a box with a broken circle on it?" Obi-Wan asked.

"So, sure," Guerra answered to Obi-Wan's surprise. "I just had inventory detail. They rotate the job so no one gets a chance to steal. There was a box like that in the explosives room. It wasn't listed on my sheet, but the guards told me to shut up about it. So I did. I'm not stupid!"

"Do you think you could get me into the explosives room?"

Guerra bounced up. "I hope that's a joke, Obawan. You get thrown off the platform for stealing!"

"I'm not going to steal anything," Obi-Wan promised. "I just want to look."

Guerra smiled. "Great idea, Obawan! Let's go!" He lay down again. "No so, I lie. I stick out my neck for nobody, remember?"

"What if I knew a way to dismantle your electro-collar? We could steal a boat and make it back to the mainland."

Guerra gave him a sidelong look. "If this is true, why does your collar hum, my friend?"

"I can do it," Obi-Wan said. "I'm waiting for the right moment." He knew that as soon as he recovered completely from his injuries, he would be able to harness the Force. He had to. "Trust me."

"I trust no one," Guerra said softly. "Ever. That's why after three years I am still alive."

"Well, what do you have to loose?" Obi-wan asked urgently. "Just bring me to the guard, then show me where you saw the box. I'll take all the blame if I get caught."

Guerra shook his head. "The guard will never give up the keys. It's against regulations."

"Just leave that up to me," Obi-Wan said.

"I need to do some extra checking," Guerra told the guard. "I need the keys."

The guard rose his electro-jabber. "Get lost or you're over the side!"

Obi-Wan summoned the Force. He knew he didn't have the power to alter physical objects. But he was counting on the fact that the small, limited mind of an Imbat would bend to his will.

"That might not be a bad idea," Obi-Wan said. "We should check the supplies again."

"Might not be a bad idea," the guard said, tossing Guerra the electronic keys. "check the
supplies again."

Guerra stared at Obi-Wan. "What did you do, Obawan?"

"Never mind," Obi-Wan said. "Hurry."

Guerra led him to the explosives' room. He opened the door and Obi-Wan hurried inside.

"Where's the box?" he asked. "Guerra? Just show me and then you can go."

Guerra paused in the doorway. His yellow eyes went wide. "I hear footsteps," he whispered. "they're running. It's the guards! Must be a silent alarm on the door."

"Come in and close the door!" Obi-Wan hissed.

But instead, Guerra began to shout. "He's in here! I found him!" He turned to Obi-Wan sadly. "Even though I'm in danger, I would never betray a friend. So –"

"Not so," Obi-Wan finished for him as the guards rushed in.

Guerra pointed, and the guard brought his electro-jabber down on Obi-Wan. Pain sent him crashing to his knees. He felt himself being carried to the lockup and thrown in.

Penalty for stealing is being thrown overboard," he heard a guard say.

"My shift is over," the other one replied with a yawn. "Tomorrow morning is soon enough."