Jedi Voyage #5 - The Academy Of Fright

Chapter Fourteen

  "If this doesn't work, I don't know you," Rana Halion said. Her spiky white hair seemed to bristle like fur as she surveyed the secret squad.
  Marit nodded. "Understood."
  "But it had better work," Rana Halion added.
  "It will," Rolai said.
  Rana Halion's transparent blue eyes swept the group. She sighed. "If you didn't come so highly recommended, I wouldn't believe it," she murmured. "You look like a bunch of kids."
  Anakin had to agree. Rolai was skinny and pale beneath his Bothan mane. Ze was plump. Tulah always looked as though he had just woken from a nap, and Hurana appeared slight and shy.
  But he had seen that Rolai was tough, almost ruthless, Ze could dissect and solve any technical problem in five minutes or less, Tulah had a brilliant mind for strategy, and Hurana had convictions and no fear. Marit was smart and resourceful. He would put his own trust in this squad.
  Rana pushed a contact button on her gold cuff and watched as a digital coded message flashed at her.
  "I don't have much time. Who is your lead pilot?"
  Anakin took a step forward. "I am."
  Rana looked at him intently. Anakin thought it could have been the most intimidating glance he'd ever experienced – if he hadn't grown up at the Temple. Once you've faced a Jedi like Mace Windu, no one else could intimidate you. He did not drop his own gaze and met hers without flinching.
  She gave a short nod. "You seem competent. Can you pilot a starfighter?"
  "I can fly anything."
  "I almost believe it," she murmured, giving him another glance. "Do you know how to fire laser cannons at a target?"
  Anakin glanced at Marit. "I thought there was to be no active firing."
  Rana looked exasperated. "Who's in charge here?"
  "We all are," Rolai broke in crisply. "And we all know how to fire laser cannons. We've been over this."
  "Have you thoroughly briefed the squad?" Rana asked, raising an eyebrow skeptically.
  "Not with the final details," Rolai said smoothly. "We were waiting for the exact time of departure and target details."
  Rana glanced at her cuff again. "Do it then. You can inspect the starfighters. You leave in thirty minutes."
  Marit exploded as soon as Rana was out of the room. "What was that all about? What do you mean, you haven't briefed the squad? What do you know that we don't know? We're supposed to vote on everything!"
  "Calm down," Rolai said with a glance at the door to make sure Rana was out of earshot.
  "Don't tell me to calm down," Marit answered hotly. "Tell me the truth!"
  "The mission just changed a bit," Rolai said. "We're supposed to fire on the fleet."
  "Fire on the fleet?" Anakin asked. "But that's a declaration of war!"
  "That's not our problem," Rolai said. "We're hired to do the job. That's all."
  "Wait," Marit said. "Why didn't you tell us this?" She looked at Ze, Hurana, and Tulah. Their gazes slid away. "You all knew, and I didn't?"
  "I didn't know, either," Anakin pointed out.
  But no one was paying attention to Anakin. "We all voted to wait to tell you until we got here," Hurana said. She didn't meet Marit's hot gaze.
  "We thought you might object," Rolai said. "After the last mission, you had some misgivings about organic damage."
  "Organic damage?" Marit said in disbelief. "Is that what you're calling it now? They were living beings!"
  "Marit, what do you think we're doing?" Rolai asked. "This isn't school. It isn't a game. We all agreed we would start this as a business and run it as a business. We all agreed that we would make our own destinies."
  "That's the point," Marit said angrily. "We all agreed. We didn't leave someone out."
  "I get your point, Marit," Rolai said. "Now let's move on. Here we are. Are you going to join us, or not?"
  Anakin watched Marit's torn face. He could see that she was torn. No one cared what he thought, but he would throw his support behind Marit if she voted back out.
  "I'm in," she said in a low tone.
  The group looked relieved. Even Rolai did, although he tried to hide it.
  "Hold on," Anakin said. "What about me? I'm part of the squad. Don't I get a vote, too?"
  Rolai gave him a glance that was so neutral Anakin felt a chill. It was as though Anakin wasn't even there.
  "We don't have time for this," Rolai said. "Let's inspect the starfighters."
  Rana Halion suddenly appeared again. "We have a slight change in timing of the attack. We need to go over the coordinates and warning systems now. You'll have to come to the briefing room."
  Rolai gestured to the group. "Let's go."
  "While you're doing that, I'll check out the starfighters," Anakin said. "I need to look at the controls and see if I can handle them."
  Rolai gave him a glance. "I thought you said you could fly anything," he hissed so that Rana could not hear.
  Anakin shrugged. "I sure hope I can," he murmured. "I don't tell you everything. But then again, you don't tell me everything, either. Do you?"
  Rolai shot him a murderous look. "We're coming," he called to Halion. "You," he whispered angrily to Anakin, "check out those starfighters. You're going to have to give the rest of us some quick lessons."
  Anakin waited until the group had left with Rana. Then he hurried to the hangar. There wasn't much time. He didn't have a choice now. He couldn't let the mission go through. He had to disable those starfighters. He knew that now. He was nowhere near discovering what happened to Ferus or Gillam, and he was about to start a war. He was probably breaking every Jedi rule in the archives.
  The Ierian starfighters were modifications of the Delta-6 Aethersprite that he was used to. Anakin knew every bolt on the engine. He thought for a minute. He needed to disable something that would show up as a warning light midflight but wouldn't put the ship in danger. He wanted to give the pilots plenty of time to turn around and land. It would have to be something that would immediately lead them to abort the mission.
  The laser cannon capacitors. Anakin swung open the maintenance panel. Small tools were snapped onto the panel within easy reach. He selected a small servodriver and within minutes had disabled the capacitors.
  He started toward the next ship, wondering if he should alter the engine cooling system just enough to cause the engines to overheat slightly. That might add a little urgency to the decision to abort the mission...
  "What are you doing?"
  Marit's voice echoed across the hangar. Anakin paused and peered around the control panel.
  "Just a little tweaking."
  She walked forward and peered into the system controls. "Do you think I'm stupid, Anakin? You've neutralized the laser cannon capacitors. I've studied the blueprints of this engine. I came back to see if you needed help. I guess you don't, do you?" She turned and looked at him. Their faces were very close. He could see the speculation and disappointment in her eyes. "Why?"
  "You don't think we should go on this mission, either," Anakin said.
  "I voted to go." Marit's voice was firm. "The group rules."
  "But I'm part of the group! The rule is that all decisions must be unanimous. Why isn't Rolai letting me vote?"
  Marit shifted from one foot to the other. "He says new members shouldn't have full voting privileges until they've completed a mission –"
  "And did you vote on that, or did Rolai just tell you?"
  Marit's silence told him what he needed to know.
  "So I'm supposed to risk my life without having a say in what we do? Do you think that's fair?"
  "Do you think it's fair to sabotage our engines to get what you want?" Marit's voice rose challengingly. "How could you do this? I trusted you! I brought you into the group!"
  Marit's brown eyes held anger and reproach. Anakin felt it was time for the truth. He owed her that.
  "I'm a Jedi," he said. "I'm not really a student at the Leadership School. I was sent there to investigate Gillam Tarturi's disappearance."
  "Gillam?" Marit was surprised.
  "Don't you wan to know what happened to him?" Anakin asked. "And before we left, Ferus Olin disappeared. What if Rolai had something to do with it? What if he's funding the squad with ransom money? He's the one in charge of your treasury, and he's the security expert. He's the one with the connection to Rana Halion. What if she got him to kidnap Gillam? All the pieces fit. Why did he lie to you about this mission? Don't you want to get to the bottom of it?"
  Marit looked sad. "I wish you'd told me."
  "I'm telling you now."
  "You don't understand anything. Gillam –" Marit hesitated.
  "So tell me," Anakin said, exasperated. "What about Gillam?"
  "What about Gillam?" A mocking voice suddenly came from behind him.
  Anakin whirled around. Gillam Tarturi stood, leaning against the wing of a starfighter. He was the same height as Anakin, and their eyes met across the space. Anakin felt shock and dismay ripple through him.
  Anakin looked back at Marit. She nodded slowly.
  "Gillam is the squad," she said. "It was his idea. He formed it. He made up the bylaws. He recruited us. We wouldn't have done anything without him. We would have been a bunch of miserable outcasts."
  "You faked your disappearance," Anakin said to Gillam. "Why?"
  "I have my reasons," Gillam replied lightly.
  Marit spoke into her comlink. "We need you," she said crisply.
  "What's going on?" Anakin asked.
  For his answer, he heard the soft sound of her blaster leaving its holster. He could have stopped her easily, but he didn't. Marit pointed the blaster at him, a reluctant look on her face. Within seconds, the rest of the squad rushed into the hangar. Their blasters were drawn. They were all pointed at Anakin.
  "I'm sorry," Marit said.