Tyro shook his head. 'If there is, I can't think of it. The Senate looks the other way when it comes to Romin. The Romin Senator wields great influence. He is a favorite of Sano Sauro — who as you well know is the leader of a large voting bloc.'
Obi-Wan groaned. 'Not him again.' He had tangled with Sano Sauro before.
'If you land on Romin secretly, you will be in violation of Senate laws,' Tyro said. 'And I assure you, the Senator from Romin will not hesitate to prosecute even a Jedi,' Tyro spoke softly. 'I'm afraid this is typical of the Senate these days. I am so sorry, my good friend Obi-Wan, that I cannot help you.'
'I am grateful for what you've done,' Obi-Wan said woodenly. He refused to accept that Zan Arbor was untouchable. As his Master, Qui-Gon Jinn, had said, There is always another way.
Tyro sighed. 'I come from a peaceful world. The growing lawlessness in the galaxy troubles me greatly.
The prison worlds are not well maintained. Just recently there was yet another escape from a high-security prison, the Greylands Security Complex on Tentator. It was a notorious gang who broke free. Luckily the gang members were tracked and apprehended just hours ago. But such successes are rare, I must admit.'
Obi-Wan stopped pacing and fixed Tyro with a keen gaze. 'Who are they?
' 'They are called the Slams,' Tyro said.
'Species?'
'Humanoid. From Mamendin, in the Core. They started there with con jobs, ID thefts, things like that. Then they roamed the galaxy, mostly in the Core, pulling scams. They were the gang who heisted the entire treasury of Vuma. The leaders are fairly young — a man named Slam and a woman named Valadon. Slam is a con man and Valadon is an ID theft expert. They have only two other members — they keep their numbers small to maintain loyalty.
The Slams were caught when they tried to break into a security vault of the Commerce Guild. You just don't go after the Commerce Guild without major consequences.'
'I remember the Vuma affair,' Siri said. 'We heard about it at the Temple. It just about bankrupted the planet. The crystalline vertex they stole is still missing.' She gave Obi-Wan a curious glance. 'What is it?
You've got that look on your face.'
'What look?'
'That look that says, You're going to hate this idea, Siri, but I'm going to do it anyway,' Siri said dryly. Obi- Wan grinned. 'Relax. You're going to love it.'
Chapter Two
Anakin looked over at his Master. They had grown even closer over the past months. Anakin had broken down after the mission on Vanqor and confessed his fears to Obi-Wan. He had been afraid to tell his Master how there were times he no longer wanted to be the Chosen One. He realized that he had been walking around with a nameless dread in his heart. He didn't know what he feared, but he knew that he lived with the fear every waking moment. Saying this out loud had shocked his Master, but it had freed Anakin in a way he still didn't understand.
Perhaps it had been his experiences in the prisoner of-war camp on Vanqor that had caused him to unburden his heart to Obi-Wan. Whatever the reason had been, it had changed something between them. They had grown closer. They were truly Master and Padawan now.
He knew what had happened was a classic step in the Master-Padawan relationship. The apprentice invites the Master, and it begins. As learners, they had all wondered what the expression meant. The Master was the one to invite a Jedi student to be his or her apprentice. That was how it started. So what was the meaning of The apprentice invites the Master?
Now he understood. He had been Obi-Wan's apprentice for years before he had truly trusted him with the inner workings of his heart and mind.
Once he had invited Obi-Wan to share his deepest fears, his worst nightmares, their relationship had shifted and deepened. It was as though they were starting again. It begins. Obi-Wan had told him that the same thing had happened with him and Qui-Gon. 'In the middle of our journey together, we began again,' he'd told Anakin.
It was mysterious and wonderful. They knew what each other would do before it was done. They knew what was in each other's thoughts. Whereas before Anakin would worry about what was on Obi-Wan's mind, now he accepted that some things he knew, and some things he didn't, and that many things on Obi-Wan's mind had nothing to do with him.
He could not read Obi-Wan's thoughts right now. He had no idea what his Master was planning. He felt just as puzzled as Siri. But where Siri felt worried, Anakin felt excited.
Siri raised an eyebrow. 'I'm listening.'
'We have a way to land on Romin and get to Jenna Zan Arbor, then get her off-planet without violating any Senate regulations or the laws of Romin,' Obi-Wan said. 'Technically.'
'Technically?' Tyro asked.
'We enter legally,' Obi-Wan said. 'As criminals.'
Siri sat down and slung one ankle over her knee. 'Well, that's a relief. For a minute there, I thought you actually had a plan that made sense.'
'We take on the identities of the Slam gang,' Obi-Wan said. 'I'll be Slam, you'll be Valadon. Anakin and Ferus can be the other two.'
'Waldo and Ukiah,' Tyro supplied. 'But technically — ' 'So, we land on Romin and find Zan Arbor,' Siri said. 'What next?'
'Well, I haven't planned it out completely,' Obi-Wan said. 'We find a way to lure her off-planet. That can't be
