He almost felt sorry for them.
Chapter 47
Anakin, fully recovered now, could feel the ship's immediate response, the wonderful surges of instant power, the way she cut through die air almost as effortlessly as if they were in a vacuum. The hull created subtle lift and was remarkably stable. On any world with an atmosphere, she would land sweetly. It took very little of his attention to fly the ship. Information arrived in comfortable flows through his contact with the ship's mind. She truly was a dream, alive to his touch.
But any joy he might have taken in this first flight was tainted by his concern for Obi-Wan. His face was deeply carved by a grim frown.
The Blood Carver stared at the young human, nose flaps closed, sharp as a blade. 'I did not kill your master,' Ke Daiv said. 'It would have served no purpose.'
'But you would have killed me, once,' Anakin said through clenched teeth.
'I follow orders,' the Blood Carver said.
'So you're an assassin. Do you even know my name?'
'You are the only one named Skywalker.'
'If you're going to kill me, I'd like to know your name.'
'Ke Daiv.'
'I've never met a Blood Carver before,' Anakin said. 'I can't say it's a pleasure.'
'Just fly. We need to find fuel.'
'I don't know where to get any!' Anakin lied. The seeds knew-they were talking with other parts of Sekot.
And something or someone else flowed through his fingers where they were enmeshed by the controls. Anakin kept seeing misting ghosts around the cabin, like afterimages from bright sun-he had to work to concentrate on the scene around him.
'I have been busy in Middle Distance,' Ke Daiv said. 'I have learned where secret reserves of fuel are kept. Fly due south.'
'Why would they need secret reserves?' Anakin asked. He turned the ship.
'There are mysteries on this planet,' Ke Daiv said with a slight hiss. 'Not long ago, there was a great war.'
'We saw the damage.'
'Did you learn what caused the war?'
'I really don't think I should be talking with you.' But I should see how well he reacts to Jedi compulsion. I've never been trained in mind tricks, but I know I can do it. Maybe even better than Obi-Wan.
The boy shook his head, distracted by seeing a vague image wrap over the Blood Carver's features. The wraithlike form drifted with his attention to different parts of the cabin.
'Who are you, really?' Anakin asked to hide his confusion.
'I am from an old clan, an even older nation, swallowed by the Republic, taken in after our defeat at the hands of the Lontars.'
Concentration was becoming increasingly difficult. Anakin fumbled to keep up the conversation, to keep it away from his main concerns.'That was hundreds of years ago. The senate forced the Lontars to stop their aggression.'
'Not before my people had been nearly wiped out,' Ke Daiv said. 'The few survivors were taken to Coruscant and kept in seclusion. We were warriors. We were called allies, but we could not be trusted. Few understood us. In time, when the rulers of the galaxy lost interest, we made our livelihoods selling crafts.'
So you've lived on Coruscant all your life.'
'You said you should not be talking to me,' Ke Daiv reminded him.
'What else is there to do? Why didn't you get a ship for yourself?'
The wraith took on form-an oblong head, torso shifting, still too vague to be identifiable. Then he made out the feathers, the elliptical eyes. Anakin held back an exclamation, and sweat broke out on his forehead. I don't need this now!
'I am not appealing to the seed-partners,' Ke Daiv said.
'Too bad. These ships are really great.'
'I have always hoped for independence,' Ke Daiv said.
'Yeah, me too,' Anakin said sharply. 'Fly all over the galaxy. . Freedom to see everything, no obligations, no. .'
'No history, no future,' Ke Daiv said.
'Right,' Anakin said. He's losing focus. He's weak. Now's the time to move on him. I have to keep control. No distractions.
But he could not push aside the feathered being's image. She was trying to say something, repeating
