door.
'Now what?' Adi Gallia asked. 'No doubt they are calling for help on their comlinks.'
'We find the way in,' Qui-Gon said.
Obi-Wan and Siri quickly cut a hole in the door.
They found themselves in an infirmary. Children and young people lay on sleep couches. Some were hooked up to monitors. Others were attached to tubes. Some of them opened their eyes as the Jedi passed, only to stare at them dully. Obi-Wan wondered if they were given sleep potions.
O-Lana lay in a crib with high sides. Crying softly, she pulled herself to her feet when she saw Obi-Wan and Siri.
'You must not cry, O-Lana,' Obi-Wan told her soothingly.
She stopped crying. Then she held out her arms and looked directly at Davi.
After a glance at Obi-Wan and Siri to make sure it was all right, Davi picked up the child and cradled her against his chest.
'I'll protect her as we go,' he promised.
They hurried out of the infirmary and headed for the exit ramp. The next guard patrol was moments away.
But luck wasn't with them. They turned the corner and ran straight into a group of Security Guides about to change shifts.
Surprised, the Guides fumbled for their weapons. Obi-Wan and Siri activated their lightsabers. They glowed in the dim hallway, and the Guides stopped momentarily, even more surprised. They had never seen lightsabers before.
'Stay behind us, Davi,' Obi-Wan ordered.
He and Siri moved forward. This time he knew she would not fight for herself. She would fight with him, for all of them.
Blaster fire pinged around them, and their lightsabers met it, a blur of speed and motion. They covered each other and leaped high, dropped to one knee, reversed direction, changed hands, all without pausing. Protecting O-Lana and Davi was their only objective.
An alert sounded. One of the Guides must have activated it. The halls rang with a clanging alarm. Obi-Wan heard footsteps pound behind them. Soon they would be surrounded.
'This way,' he called. He pushed Davi and 0-Lana gently down an adjacent corridor.
The Guides followed, a mass of bodies in chromasheath armor, blasters firing. The small missiles fired by the beam tubes thudded into the walls around them. The air began to fill with smoke.
Obi-Wan and Siri pressed on. They could see the exit ahead. But Obi-Wan didn't know whether they could protect Davi and 0-Lana, continue to fight the Guides, and activate the ramp. It would take time to figure out how the ramp was operated. There was most likely some sort of key or code. Their backs would be against a wall. Siri glanced over at him, and he knew she had thought of the same problems ahead.
More Guides suddenly appeared, running down an adjacent corridor.
Obi-Wan felt sweat trickle down his back as he deflected a sudden burst of blaster fire. Would the battle end here? Would they have to surrender in order to save 0-Lana and Davi?
Just then he heard a whirr and a clicking sound. The door slid open. A ramp shot up to the surface and fresh air flooded the hall. A split second later, Qui-Gon and Adi raced down the ramp, their lightsabers activated.
With one quick glance they took in the situation, then leaped into the fray.
The Security Guides had gained confidence as their numbers increased.
But four Jedi were too much for them. Their blaster fire was deflected back relentlessly. They had to keep diving to the floor or ducking behind carts to avoid it.
Finally, they simply dropped their weapons and ran.
The Jedi turned to one another. The battle was over. Obi-Wan took O-Lana from Davi's arms. He handed her to Qui-Gon.
'I bet you've been searching for this,' he said.
Qui-Gon looked over 0-Lana's head at him. 'I have been searching for you, too, Padawan. I am glad to have found you.'
[Image001] When the citizens of Kegan found out what was happening in the Re-Learning Circle, they revolted. They were horrified that children were hidden away and put in solitary confinement for questioning authority or having a chronic ailment. It violated everything O-Vieve and V-Tan had claimed Kegan valued.
Every citizen packed the Gathering Circle to debate the problem.
Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, Adi, and Siri observed as V-Tan and O-Vieve were voted out as Benevolent Guides. A new council was swiftly appointed. Soon debate raged regarding travel outside Kegan. At last a vote was taken. A majority favored sending an envoy to the Galactic Senate. In the meantime, they would petition the Galactic Senate to send medical and scientific advisors to the planet to bring Kegan up to date.
Soon after, the Learning Circle was closed.
Students returned home to their families. They were given a short vacation until a new schooling system could be set up. People opened their homes to the orphans from the Re-Learning Circle, and the rest returned to their parents.
