Obi-Wan raced toward it. He did not bother to search for the release, but plunged his lightsaber into the plastoid wall. He cut a hole in seconds and pushed his way through.
He found himself in what was obviously meant one day to be a transit tunnel. It had been blasted out of rock, but the job had not been completed. Razor-sharp shards of rock jutted out from the sides of the tunnel.
A small, sleek silver cruiser was parked in a flat area ahead. Obi-Wan did not recognize the make, but it was clear to him that Omega would be able to fly aboveground and then blast out of Mawan airspace into the galaxy. He would escape again. He was seconds away from doing it. Even now, he was accessing the cockpit shell to climb in, Feeana at his heels.
Not this time.
'Always have a second exit plan,' Omega said as he stood inside the craft, the cockpit dome still raised. 'My father taught me that.'
Something about the expression on Omega's face stopped Obi-Wan from moving forward. Omega would sacrifice Feeana in order to escape. Obi-Wan knew it, Omega knew it. The only one who didn't know it was Feeana. She was still on the hull of the ship, impatiently waiting for Omega to move so she could slide into the passenger seat.
Obi-Wan was also puzzled. In his investigation of Omega's background, he had learned that Omega never knew his father.
'Surprised?' Omega said. He was almost drawling now, as if he had all the time in the world. 'I had reasons to keep my father's identity a secret. But I think it's time I had the pleasure of telling you. I am the son of Xanatos of Telos.'
Xanatos! Obi-Wan felt as though he had been struck. The former Padawan of Qui-Gon's who had turned to the dark side. Qui-Gon's greatest enemy.
Obi-Wan had seen the evil that Xanatos had done. Xanatos had even invaded the Temple and tried to kill Yoda.
'You killed my father,' Omega said. 'He was greater than his Master, and Qui-Gon couldn't bear it, so he killed him — with your help.'
'He killed himself,' Obi-Wan said. 'He jumped into a toxic pool on Telos rather than be captured by Qui-Gon. Qui-Gon tried to save him.'
'My father would never have killed himself!' Omega shouted.
'You have spent your life constructing your own brand of truth,' Obi- Wan said. 'But it is not the real truth.'
'Granta, let me in,' Feeana said, an edge of pleading to her voice.
'We have to get out of here!'
'My father protected me,' Omega said. 'He told me tales of the Jedi and the Temple and how they misunderstood the Force.' A bitterness crept into his tone. 'He had hoped that I would inherit his gift. But he knew when I was an infant that I would never be Force-sensitive.'
Obi-Wan saw the opening. He saw the pain in Omega. 'And he was disappointed,' he said.
'He left me his company!' Omega burst out, as if he were bragging. As if his father had left him something better than love, better than approval. 'He left me his fortune in Offworld.'
Offworld was the corporation that Xanatos had formed, a mining operation that had used slaves and bribes and violence to build its wealth.
Omega didn't create his wealth out of nothing. He had started with it.
Obi-Wan wanted to kick himself down the tunnel. He should have guessed! He should have known that beneath the jibes and insults there was something personal, something bitter, in the way Omega felt about him and the Jedi. He should have known!
He had the clues — why else would Sano Sauro pluck the promising boy away and send him to school? Sauro was hardly a benefactor to the poor.
Sauro had known Xanatos well, had operated himself on Telos. And then there was the mystery of the boy's origins — why else were the mother and son on Nierport Seven, a moon that was basically a refueling stop? They were hiding, of course. Xanatos had sent them there. And after he died, they didn't have the resources to leave.
Omega blamed Obi-Wan for his father's death. He was bitter that he did not inherit his father's gift. So he would chase the Force all over the galaxy. He would grow even wealthier than his father had been. He would prove to a man no longer living that he was worthy.
Now Obi-Wan even saw Xanatos in his son. The eyes with the metallic glint of blue durasteel. The thick black hair.
He had every clue, and he had missed it.
'You are just like your Master,' Omega sneered. 'My father told me about Qui-Gon, how he held him back. You do the same with Anakin. Control is what you seek, and you hide it behind Jedi lessons.' He spat the word 'Jedi' like a curse. 'Why don't you let him be himself? Why don't you show him what power he can have?'
Obi-Wan didn't have to turn. The Force hummed in the tunnel, and he knew Anakin was behind him. Anakin had heard everything.
'It ends here, Omega,' Obi-Wan said.
'It will never end until you are dead,' Omega said. He reached out and grabbed Feeana's ankles. With a quick, powerful thrust, he threw her off the hull of the ship. Screaming, Feeana flew in midair, straight for the jagged, knife-edged rocks.
Anakin leaped. The Force added distance and precision. He caught Feeana in his arms just millimeters from