in work training, or at work.'
Obi-Wan tried to look more optimistic than he felt. It wouldn't do any good to have Grath more worried than he already was. 'Let's go,' he prompted.
The meeting was held in the refuse facility. Grath managed to pull himself together, and once again looked like a leader as he stepped up on a pile of rubble to call the meeting to order.
'We have a problem,' he began. 'The explosives did not go off last night as planned. Instead they exploded during the morning commute.'
There was a concerned murmur among the students, but an excited voice rose above the rest. It was Flip.
'And the city is in chaos!' he exclaimed. 'We knew we could make a bigger bang if we just put our minds to it and waited until people were paying attention. Now our parents will really have to take notice!'
The group was silent as everyone stared at Flip.
'You did this?' Grath asked the boy. 'You tampered with the remote?'
Flip nodded proudly. 'Yes!' He looked up at Grath expectantly. It seemed to Obi-Wan that the younger boy was waiting for Grath to shower him with praise. But the Jedi was certain that no praise was coming.
Grath's mouth hung open for a moment before he snapped it closed. His antennae hung low over his forehead and his mouth contorted into a scowl of fury. But his eyes revealed another emotion: guilt.
Obi-Wan was not sure which of Grath's emotions was going to win out.
Then Freelies all over the room began talking.
'What are we going to do now?'
'I hope my parents are okay.'
'It's about time somebody took some real action.'
Obi-Wan turned to see who had made this last remark. But the facility was crowded and it was impossible to tell.
Grath cleared his throat and calmed everyone down — at least for the moment.
'Many people were hurt this morning,' he said gravely, 'and some may not live. Our mission is to wake people up, make them see what is happening. It is not to kill them.' Grath looked directly at Flip. 'You should not have altered the plan,' he said flatly. 'It was wrong.'
There was a brief moment of silence. Everyone looked at Flip. The boy looked confused, then angry. He glared up at Grath. 'It was necessary,' he said. 'And it was the right thing to do. Now they're really paying attention.'
The group erupted. Obi-Wan could see a split beginning to develop.
Some of the kids felt that Grath was right. Acting peacefully was the only way. Others had had it with the peaceful tactics. They felt violence was a necessary part of revolution.
'The adults will never pay attention to us if we continue to act peacefully,' Flip shouted. 'What we've been doing so far is not working.
Our pranks need to become tactics.'
'We don't want to start a war!' someone shouted back. 'We're talking about our parents.'
'We're talking about adults who ignore us!' yelled another.
Soon everyone was shouting so loudly that Obi-Wan couldn't understand much of what was being said. He could only tell that everyone felt strongly, and that the group was divided. Then a voice rang out over the rest. It was Flip's.
'Only cowards are afraid to stand up and fight for what they need!'
he shouted.
This set the Freelies off again. The camaraderie that Obi-Wan had admired in the group completely disappeared. Kids who had worked together peacefully began to shout in one an-other's faces. Antennae jabbed wildly in aggressive movements. The room was in chaos.
Finally Nania jumped onto a tall pile of rubble. 'Stop!' she screamed. The group quieted instantly and turned to look at her. Some of the kids looked annoyed by the interruption, but nobody said anything.
'This fighting is useless,' Nania said. 'We need to work together or we will accomplish nothing. Let's report to our work training spaces before we are missed. Then tonight we can meet as planned.'
Some of the Freelies grumbled aloud, but the group slowly made its way out of the facility. There was little discussion, and Obi-Wan could feel the tension in the air.
He could also feel the knot in his stomach. The division in the group was not a good sign. lithe Freelies wanted to be taken seriously, they would have to come forward peacefully and talk to the adults as a cohesive group. It looked like the chances of that were getting slimmer by the minute.
Obi-Wan decided to find Grath and see what he was thinking. He circled a pile of rubble near where he had last seen him, but instead spotted Flip and a dark-haired girl he didn't recognize.
The two were clearly deep in conversation, and Obi-Wan tried to look casual as he tuned in to what they were saying.
'It's not enough,' the girl said. 'Grath is on their side.'
He saw Flip nod slowly, and the girl leaned in closer. She spoke almost in a whisper.
