Gon.
Of course with Anakin, Obi-Wan was no longer the Padawan. He was the Master, and it was his job to lead, to teach. He often found himself wondering if he was ready for this awesome responsibility. It had all happened so fast — one day he was a Padawan learner himself, and the next he was Anakin's Master. He could not help but feel that it was really a role for Qui-Gon.
Like Qui-Gon, Anakin had a tendency to break the rules. He often chose to follow his instincts instead of the Jedi code. But his decisions, while sometimes rash, almost always got results. They almost always put the mission a step ahead, and often left Obi-Wan at odds.
This is not the time for a reprimand, Obi-Wan thought as they sped back toward shore. They had to get to the hangar before Norval rounded up transport and left the planet altogether.
Within a few minutes the gravsled was at the hangar. But their hired ship and its pilot were nowhere to be seen.
'He's fled,' Obi-Wan said, grimly looking around the hangar.
'That coward,' Anakin said with disgust. 'I never should have fixed his ship. The next time I see him — '
'We don't have time to deal with that now,' Obi-Wan interrupted.
'Let's find out who has left the planet in the last few hours and see if we can track them.'
After securing the still-silent Lundi's cage to a hangar wall, Obi- Wan and Anakin split up to search the hangar. Obi-Wan had seen Norval ten years earlier, and had described him to his Padawan. But aside from an average-sized young man with dark hair, they didn't have much to go on.
The hangar was not particularly busy, and none of the pilots Obi-Wan approached had seen Norval — or at least they said they hadn't seen him. If they said anything at all. Disappointed, Obi-Wan decided to check the hangar records.
Only one ship had left in the last few hours. It was headed toward the Ploo Sector. But no planet was specified.
'Did you find anything?' Anakin asked as he approached his Master.
'Nobody would talk to me.'
'Just this,' Obi-Wan said, tossing Anakin the records. It seemed that the Holocron had eluded him a second time. Trying to find a mystery ship in a vast sector was a long shot, and it was all they had to go on.
'Why would he go to the Ploo Sector?' Anakin asked.
Several meters away, Lundi stuck his narrow head through the bars of his cage. 'Norval was a good student. A great one. In fact the only thing that surpassed his desire for knowledge and power was his greed.' Dr. Lundi stood up as straight as he could inside his cage. 'I was offered vast riches by several anonymous parties to turn over the Sith Holocron should I ever capture it. One of the parties wanted to rendezvous beside my home planet of Ploo II.'
The Jedi exchanged glances. Should they believe him? Lundi had several reasons to thwart their progress. He probably enjoyed the idea of Norval having the Holocron, of his using it for his own evil uses. He would take pride in that. Norval was, after all, Lundi's prize student.
But for the first time Obi-Wan felt he had some insight into Lundi's thoughts. It was as if a wall had been torn down, and Obi-Wan sensed that the professor was telling the truth. The Quermian wanted to go after the Holocron himself. He wanted a chance to see it again, to be close to its power.
'We need a ship to get us to Ploo II,' Obi-Wan said. 'Quickly.'
Chapter 22
According to the flight records, the ship that left for the Ploo Sector was very large and not particularly fast. Anakin knew that if they were going to catch it, they'd need a fast vehicle with a powerful hyperdrive.
There was only one such ship in the hangar. The pilot looked at the Jedi warily as they approached.
'Ploo II?' he repeated with disdain. 'No thanks. I just got here, and won't be doing anything but taking a nice long rest.'
'I can pilot,' Anakin said. 'You can even stay here and rest. We'll bring the ship back when we're finished.'
The pilot looked at Anakin as if he were crazy. Anakin couldn't blame him. If it were his ship, he wouldn't let some stranger take it off planet, either. Not even a Jedi.
But they needed the ship. Badly.
Obi-Wan waved his hand in front of the pilot's face. 'You can trust us to borrow the ship,' he said slowly.
'I guess I can trust you to borrow the ship,' the pilot said.
'We will bring it back when we are finished,' Obi-Wan added.
'Just bring it back when you are finished,' the pilot echoed.
Anakin grinned. They weren't lightsabers, but Jedi mind tricks really came in handy sometimes.
'I'll get Lundi,' Obi-Wan said.
Anakin nodded and boarded the ship. From the pilot's seat he plugged in the coordinates for Ploo II. Minutes later Obi-Wan and Lundi were on board, and the ship was heading into the atmosphere.
Anakin thought he might have a chance to talk to Obi-Wan on the way, but Obi-Wan silently left the cockpit shortly after they had taken off.
