' Obi-Wan asked.
'Never knew him,' the first man said. 'Tura Omega showed up one day, got a job at the refueling station, had this three-year-old boy. Nobody asks questions on Nierport Seven.'
'Except for Jedi,' another one said, and this caused them great amusement.
'I could show you his house,' the first man offered. He licked his lips. 'I could use another claing, though.' 'I'll buy you one afterward,'
Obi-Wan said.
They walked out into the numbing cold. The ground was brittle with frost. They walked through the main street and then turned down a smaller road. It wasn't far to the outskirts of the settlement. The man pointed to a small house. It looked no different from the others. It was built with rounded walls and seemed to hunch against the wind.
'That there is his house. A space pilot owns it now. Uses it on stopovers. Lots of pilots do that here. It's cheap and convenient.'
Obi-Wan peered into the window. The house was empty except for a stove and a bedroll. The room was small and low-ceilinged. Even with furniture it would look bleak. There was nothing to see here. There was nothing to learn. It was typical of his search for Granta Omega.
'You said his mother worked at the refueling station?' Obi-Wan asked.
'Did she have a good job?'
The man laughed. 'If you call hauling lubricant hoses around all day for no money a good job.'
'So how did she manage to send her son to study off-planet?' Obi-Wan wondered.
'She had nothing to do with it,' the man said. 'The boy had brilliance. Everybody knew that. She found him a sponsor on Eeropha. He sent him to a scientific institute.'
'Do you know who the sponsor was?' Obi-Wan asked. 'Does he still live on Eeropha?'
'He lives on Coruscant now. Big fancy person now. He's the Senator from Eeropha. Name is Sano Sauro,' the man said.
Obi-Wan felt a chill. He knew Sano Sauro. He was once a prosecutor.
Ten years before, Obi-Wan had to undergo an investigation into a fellow Padawan's death.
Sauro had grilled him mercilessly about Bruck Chun's fall.
Obi-Wan had since found peace about Bruck's death, but he wasn't looking forward to meeting up with Sauro again.
He pressed some credits in the man's hand. 'Thank you. Buy your friends another claing.'
The man grinned. 'Sure you don't want to join us?'
Obi-Wan winced. 'I don't think I'd survive.'
The man took off. Obi-Wan looked down the street, then across the frozen wasteland. He could understand a boy wanting to leave this place. He could understand how poverty might mark him. But why Granta Omega wished harm on the Jedi, he still didn't know. He had a feeling that if he solved that mystery, he would find the man.
Chapter Eleven
Anakin had expected that after his breakthrough his next practice session with Soara would bring him to the next level. Instead, she had him do more simple drills. At least this time he did not have to leave the Temple.
He had to activate his lightsaber from different positions, again and again. He had to practice a midair thrust. He had to practice a double reversal. He had to practice moves he had done a thousand times before.
Not once did Soara mention the spaces between particles, or concentration, or the Force. She just repeated, 'Again,' over and over until he thought he would break his lightsaber hilt in two.
And then the session was finished. Anakin leaned over, trying to catch his breath. Disappointment swelled in him and he felt as though he were choking on it.
After getting a glimpse of the fighter he could be, he was reduced to being a student again.
He slammed his training lightsaber back in his belt. What he needed was something to eat and a fresh tunic. He took the long way back to his quarters in order to compose himself.
The illumination banks were mimicking dusk as he passed by the lake.
The green water looked inviting. The splash of the waterfall in the deep pool was tinted pink. He thought about taking a quick swim, but he was too hungry. Soara had kept him a long time, and he had missed the midday meal.
He had a feeling she had kept him deliberately. She wanted him to feel hungry and empty. She wanted to see how far he could push himself. He hoped he had passed the test.
Then he realized that his test was yet to come.
He was tired. So tired that he almost missed the blur at the corner of his vision. A lightsaber had been activated and someone hurled at him from a tree branch above. It was another one of Soara's sudden attacks. She had enlisted another Padawan to surprise him Anakin forgot his fatigue and jumped back just in time. To his dismay, he saw that his attacker was Ferus Olin.
If only it had been anyone else! Anakin didn't like to see Ferus under the best of circumstances. He certainly didn't want to fight him when he was tired and hungry.
