high skull. 'That is the difficulty.'
'I can bring him back to Coruscant for questioning by the Senate,'
Obi-Wan said. 'At least we can prevent what he plans. He wants to gain even greater power and wealth in order to attract the hidden Sith Lord. He admitted this to Anakin.'
'Perhaps he would attract him,' Mace Windu said. 'If we let him, if we stood back and watched, we would be able to track the Sith Lord ourselves.
He would be flushed out of hiding before he is ready.'
'Are you saying we should not stop Omega?' Obi-Wan asked in disbelief.
Mace Windu looked at him sharply. 'We are not drawing conclusions. We are speculating.'
'All sides of the issue we must examine,' Yoda said.
Mace Windu swiveled in his chair to look out over the twinkling lights of Coruscant. 'Darkness lies ahead. We can all feel it. Is this a place where we can turn? Where we can flush out our enemy and expose him?'
'But if we don't go after Omega, he will control the market on bacta,'
Obi-Wan said. 'He could do anything. Raise the price too high. Create shortages. I have no doubt he would do these things. Millions would suffer.
' 'More millions suffer in our visions of the future,' Mace said. He was still looking out at the lights. He seemed to be speaking to himself. 'We see much pain.'
'Visions can only show us what may be,' Obi-Wan said. 'Granta Omega can do great harm now.'
A buzz of conversation began among the Council Members. Mace Windu consulted with Yoda. Adi Gallia leaned over to speak with Even Piell. It was highly unusual for the Council to break into private consultations. The gravity of the issue caused it. There were too many important questions connected with it.
'Go, Obi-Wan must.' Yaddle's soft voice stopped the Council Members.
Everyone turned to her with great courtesy. Yaddle rarely spoke, but when she did, she always seemed to sum up the conclusions they would have reached eventually.
She blinked her light gray-blue eyes, which were so like Yoda's.
'Suffering we cannot allow in order to prevent what we fear. Stop it we must when we can.'
Yoda leaned forward on his gimer stick. 'Correct, Yaddle is. Has your Padawan recovered, Obi-Wan?'
Obi-Wan nodded. 'I have arranged transport. I can be on Haariden by sunrise.'
'Dangerous it is,' Yoda said. 'Soon, the eruption will occur. Take chances you must not.'
'May the Force be with you,' Mace Windu said, concluding the meeting.
He still looked troubled.
Obi-Wan bowed. He left the Council chamber and hurried directly to the med clinic. Every moment counted.
Anakin was sitting up on the med couch, swinging his legs. He was pale, but he looked up at Obi-Wan expectantly.
'I hear you are cleared for duty,' Obi-Wan said. 'Are you sure you are fully recovered?'
Anakin nodded. 'Yes. Where are we going?'
'Back to Haariden,' Obi-Wan said. 'We're going to watch a volcano erupt.'
Chapter Fifteen
As the Galan starfighter shot through hyperspace, Anakin had some time to rest and think.
The rest he needed. He did not want to tell Obi-Wan that even though the drug had worn off, his senses still felt blurred, as if there were a veil between him and everything else. But he knew the veil would lift. He could feel clarity returning with every passing minute.
What he did not know was how to sort out his feelings about Granta Omega. He was not na?ve enough to think that evil announced itself by knocking on one's door with an iron fist. But he had not expected evil to come cloaked in quite so much charm.
He had enjoyed the earlier time he'd spent with Granta Omega. When he'd known him as Tic Verdun, he had laughed at the things he said and felt warmed by his friendship. They had not known each other long, but Anakin had to admit it: He'd felt kinship with Tic. On Haariden, he had offered him friendship. He had made him feel a little less alone.
How could he reconcile his feelings with the knowledge that Omega's one desire was to worship at the heart of evil? An evil that had murdered the one being who had saved Anakin from a life of slavery: Qui-Gon Jinn.
Obi-Wan had been in the small ship's library, checking the geological reports on Haariden. He came to sit by Anakin. 'Not too much longer. Is there something you want to discuss with me, Padawan?'
He wasn't ready to talk about it. 'No,' Anakin said. Obi-Wan hesitated. 'Before I arrived, did you talk much to the others?'
Anakin nodded. 'They fed me false information about Granta Omega. They were making things up to tease me even as he sat right in front of me. I see that now. I feel foolish.'
'It is not something to feel foolish about. Those who set out to deceive are the true fools.' Obi-Wan paused. 'And Omega himself? What did you think of him?'
