He clearly saw every irregularity in the seemingly smooth walls. He searched for a hidden seam, sure now that they would find one. All he had to do was trust the Force.
As a student at theTemple, he had been mystified by the Force. He knew he was Force-sensitive — it was why he had been chosen to study at theTemple as a child. But throughout his training, he often found the Force elusive and unreliable. He was able to tap into it, but not every time he wanted to. When he did, he could not control it.
With Qui-Gon, he had learned that it was not his job to control it, but to join it. Now he could rely on it to guide him, give him strength and vision. He was beginning to understand how deeply it pulsed, how steady a presence it was. As a Jedi, he had constant access to it It was the greatest gift he could imagine being given.
'Here,' Qui-Gon said quietly.
At first, Obi-Wan could not see anything. But then he noticed the tiny hairline crack in the even surface of the wall.
Qui-Gon moved his hand over the seam. 'Of course the locking device is on the other side,' he mused. 'I'm assumingit's blast-proof. But I'm also assuming that no Jedi has ever been trapped here before.'
Together, Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon moved the beams of their lightsabers down the outline of the door. The sabers cut through the metal, which curled back like a tender green leaf. A small opening was exposed.
Qui-Gon squeezed through, and Obi-Wan followed. He found himself in a short, narrow tunnel, which led to what he sensed was a huge space. It was pitch-dark, a darkness so black it held no shadows. Even the glow of his lightsaber seemed swallowed up by the absolute darkness.
They stopped, listening carefully. But not a sound moved through the space. Obi-Wan could not even hear his breathing, or Qui-Gon's. Jedi are trained to slow their breath so they make no sound, even when they are under pressure or stress.
'I think we are alone,' Qui-Gon said quietly. His voice echoed, confirming Obi-Wan's belief that they were in a wide, open space.
They moved forward cautiously, lightsabers held in defensive position. Obi-Wan felt a trickle of perspiration snake down the back of his neck. Something was wrong here. He could feel it.
'The Force is dark,' Qui-Gon murmured. 'Angry. Yet I don't feel a living Force here.'
Obi-Wan nodded. He could not have put his finger on what he felt, but Qui-Gon had been able to. Some deep-rooted evil was here, yet he did not feel a living pulse around him.
Obi-Wan's foot hit a ledge that he hadn't been able to see. He reached out to steady himself against a stone column. In that split-second of lost concentration, a flicker of movement came from his right.
He whirled, lightsaber held high. A warrior appeared, moving quickly toward him from the deep shadows, his blaster aimed straight at Obi-Wan's heart.
Obi-Wan sprang, his lightsaber slashing forward. The beam did not meet flesh or bone, but passed harmlessly through the figure.
Surprised, Obi-Wan whirled to the left to launch another attack, but Qui-Gon stopped him.
'You cannot fight this enemy, Padawan,' Qui-Gon said.
Obi-Wan looked closer. The warrior, he realized, was a hologram.
Suddenly, a voice boomed out. 'I am Quin-tama, Captain of the Melida Liberation Force.' The hologram moved his blaster to his side. 'Tomorrow will commence the Twenty-First Battle of Zehava. It will doom our Daan enemies to destruction once and for all, and we shall achieve glorious victory. We shall recapture the city that we founded a thousand years ago. All Melida will live in peace.'
'Twenty-FirstBattle of Zehava?' Obi-Wan whispered to Qui-Gon.
'The city has changed hands many times over the years,' Qui-Gon remarked. 'Look at his blaster. It's an old model. I'd say fifty years or more.'
'I look forward to glorious total victory,' the ghostly figure continued. 'And yet there is a chance that in achieving that victory I will die. I accept my death willingly, as does my wife Pinani, who fights by my side. But for my children…' The booming voice faltered for only a moment.'… My children, Renei and Wunana, I leave the memory of the ancestors I have shared with them, the stories of our long persecution by the Daan. I saw my father killed, and I will avenge his death. I saw my village starved, and I will avenge my neighbors. Remember me, my children. And remember what I have suffered at the hands of the Daan. If I die, pick up my weapon and avenge me as I have avenged my family.' Abruptly, the hologram disappeared.
'I guess he didn't make it,' Obi-Wan said. He crouched down to a stone marker. 'He died in that battle.'
Qui-Gon moved past the marker and came to the next. A large golden ball was mounted on a column next to it. He placed his hand on it.
Immediately, another hologram rose from its marker like a ghost.
'I must have triggered the first one when I stumbled,' Obi-Wan said.
The second hologram was a woman. Her tunic was torn and stained, her hair clipped short. She carried a force pike and had one blaster strapped to a hip, another to a thigh.
'I am Pinani, widow of Quintama, daughter of the great heroes Bicha and Tiraca. Tonight we march on the town ofBin to avenge the Battle of Zehava. Our supplies have been depleted. Our weapons are low. Most of us died in the glorious battle to retake our beloved city ofZehava from the ruthless Daan. There is no chance that our battle will succeed, yet we will fight for justice and vengeance against the enemy who persecutes us. My husband died before my eyes. My father and mother died when the Daan marched into our village and rounded them up and killed them. And so I say to you, my children, Renei and Wunana, do not forget us. Fight on. Avenge this great terrible wrong. I will die bravely. I die for you.'
The hologram blinked out. Obi-Wan crossed to the next marker. 'Renei and Wunana both died only three years later in the Twenty-Second Battle of Zehava,' he said. 'They were barely older than me.'
