Jedi Voyage #5 - The Academy Of Fright

Chapter Eleven

  Anakin left his room well before the call for the morning meal. There was no hologram on Marit's door. He hesitated, fighting his urge to knock. It was unusual for the squad not to meet again. There had been several things to resolve. And he'd had the feeling that Marit was avoiding him.
  He felt without knocking, however, and continued down the hall. Maybe Ferus had some new information. Anakin was beginning to get impatient. Days were passing, and they were no closer to finding Gillam.
  He was almost at Ferus's door when he saw the door to the athletic storeroom slide open. Rolai stepped out.
  Anakin quickly retreated back around the corner. He peered around the wall and saw Tulah, Hurana, and Ze hurrying out behind Rolai. They all disappeared around the corner.
  Anakin strode forward and pushed open the door. Marit was just tucking her datapad under her arm. She looked at him, startled.
  "What's going on?" he demanded. "I thought I was in the squad. Why am I being left out?"
  "We don't know if we can completely trust you yet, Anakin," Marit said reluctantly.
  "You've accepted a new mission, haven't you?"
  Marit nodded, biting her lip.
  Exasperated, Anakin turned on his heel. "Fine. I'm out."
  "Anakin, wait!" Marit put her hand on his arm.
  "It's Rolai, isn't it? He doesn't want me in the squad."
  "No, Rolai is the one who wants you on the mission," Marit said. "It's just that I think it's dangerous, and it might not be the right way to start."
  "Just tell me, and let me decide," Anakin said.
  "It's a mission very close by," she said. "Right here in the Andaran system. You might not know this, but there's a countermovement here."
  "I've heard something about it," Anakin said.
  She gave him a keen look. "How do you stand on the issue?"
  Anakin shrugged. "I don't know enough about it."
  "Andara is the largest and richest planet in the system," Marit said. "As a result, it has grabbed the best trade routes and built up its manufacturing and exporting to the detriment of the other planets in the system. They aren't fairly represented by their Senator. They can't get what they need from the Senate because they don't have a voice."
  "That doesn't seem fair," Anakin said.
  "It's not. A representative of the countermovement came to us and asked for our help."
  "Who?"
  "You don't need to know that yet."
  Anakin started for the door again.
  "All right!" Marit's voice was amused, and she was smiling when he turned. "You're very tough."
  He grinned. "Yeah. But isn't that why you recruited me?"
  "It's Rana Halion, the leader of Ieria. She approached us through Rolai. The countermovement is willing to negotiate with Berm Tarturi, but the Senator hasn't taken them seriously enough. They want to show him how powerful they are."
  Rana Halion! This could be the connection Obi-Wan was looking for.
  "How?" Anakin asked.
  "They want to conduct a passive strike on the Andaran security transport landing platform," Marit said.
  "Passive strike?"
  "We're just going to penetrate their airspace and then get out. Buzz the starfighters. Show Tarturi that we could have destroyed his fleet if we'd wanted to. That way he'd be forced to join negotiations. We need to get in and get out quickly. There could be some antispacecraft fire." She hesitated.
  Anakin waited.
  "We were going to vote on whether to include you tonight," Marit said.
  Anakin said nothing. He had learned from Obi-Wan that not asking a question sometimes got you more information.
  "We need a pilot," Marit said. "Hurana is good, but she's not as good as she thinks she is. She takes too many chances. We need a lead pilot. But this won't be on a simulator. Ieria is loaning us the air transport. I don't expect you've ever flown a starfighter, have you?"
  "As a matter of fact, I have," Anakin said.
  "Are you as good in a starfighter as you are in a swoop?"
  "Better."
  "I can talk to them... convince the others... if you're sure you want to go."
  "I'm sure," Anakin said. He wanted to go on the mission. If the planets in the Andaran system were being exploited, they should have a voice in their destiny. Marit's ideas made sense to him. He had been a witness to the greed of Senators. It sounded as though Ieria needed help.
  "Well, I'm not authorized to tell you that you can go," Marit said. She grinned. "But you're on board. We're scheduled to leave tomorrow."
  Elation roared through Anakin. Then he realized something startling. He hadn't been glad because of the Jedi mission. He'd been glad because he wanted to go. Not for the Jedi. For himself.