temperature was blazing hot, too hot for a living being to stand, yet he stood it and it did not burn him. He was close to the edge of the landing platform here. He timed the move as the ship rose. With a grunt and a call to the Force for help, he tossed the tracking device as the ship lifted. He saw it catch on the underside. When the ship rotated, Anakin was already back behind the fuel pump, jumping down perfectly with not a millimeter to spare.
The Slams' ship shot out of sight.
Anakin rose. His legs felt slightly shaky at the dangerous maneuver.
His skin felt hot, but he knew he wasn't burned. Mace and the others walked toward him.
Mace looked at him, his dark eyes raking him. 'Impressive.'
'Are you hurt?' Obi-Wan asked him. 'I didn't mean for you to jump into the ship's exhaust funnels.' 'I'm not hurt.'
Mace looked up at the vapor trail the ship had left. 'I hope we made the right decision,' he said. 'Are you ready to track them?'
'Yes,' Obi-Wan said. 'Granta has always been one step ahead of us. He has always planned our meetings. Now I will decide how we next meet.'
'May the Force be with you.' Mace started away.
'Uh, Master Windu?' Obi-Wan said. Mace turned and gave him an impatient look.
'Just one more thing,' Obi-Wan continued. 'We need your ship.'
Siri sat at the controls. They had been traveling for days now, following the pulse of the tracking device. The Slams' ship was heading into the vast empty space of the Outer Rim.
Ferus had stretched out on his sleep couch. He would take the next piloting shift. Obi-Wan sat at the table in the eating area. He had spread out a number of holofiles, information about Granta Omega gathered by Archivist Jocasta Nu at the Temple. Obi-Wan knew the information by heart, but he still didn't believe it was possible to study it too deeply.
Anakin sat, staring out the viewscreen at the stars. He was in a place of deep quiet, not meditation, exactly, but open to the galaxy, to the energy that boiled from stars and worlds, satellites, matter and nonmatter, gravity, inertia, living beings.
Suddenly, he sat erect. Every muscle tensed. Obi-Wan looked up. 'What is it?'
Anakin turned to him.
'Omega. He knows we are coming.
