Chapter 14
Obi-Wan and Rhiannon looked at the archive map. "That's odd," he said softly. "Dex has never been wrong before."
"I don't think he was," she countered. "Look at this." She pointed to the blank area on the screen. "Kamino should be here, but it isn't. Gravity is pulling all the stars together toward this spot."
He looked closer and realized she was right. Gravity's silhouette remained, but the stars and the planet in question had disappeared. How can this be?
Rhiannon pressed the print button and a moment later, a tiny map reading ball came out of the printer and dropped into her hand. /I think we need to see Master Yoda,/ she said through their bond. /He'll be training with the younglings right now. We need fresh eyes on this, even if most of them are young eyes./
He nodded and the two of them left the archive room.
Anakin sat up in the narrow bed and rubbed his eyes. After the ship had taken off, Padmé had insisted he take a nap since he looked like he was ready to fall over any minute, and that since they had Artoo with them, he could look after her while the Jedi Apprentice got some much needed rest.
"Have a nice nap?" she asked.
He nodded, flashing a sheepish smile. "I guess Master Obi-Wan hasn't been the only one on the edge for the past day. Thanks, I really needed that." He then turned serious. "What's happened since I was sleeping?"
"We went into hyperspace an hour ago," she replied. "We should be coming up on Naboo in about another three hours. In the meantime, Artoo went to get us some soup from the food line."
He smiled. "I'm starving. I wonder what kind of soup they have here. I'd even take bantha stew."
Padmé laughed. It felt good to just laugh and kick back, especially with everything going on these past few days. Dallen was right, she thought. I did need this time away.
A minute later, Artoo had brought them their meals, serving up the soup into two bowls using one of his hoses that had stored the needed food. Another hose stored some Shuura fruit juice that had also been in the food line.
"Thank you Artoo," Padmé said and droid beeped happily and rolled away. She turned to Anakin as they both began to eat. "Must be hard, having sworn your life to the Jedi."
"Not as hard as you might think," he said. "Around the time I was born, the Jedi had made some changes to the Code, allowing attachments. In fact, I was the first baby born in the Temple to have my mother there to raise me. Rhiannon's mom would've been allowed the same right had she not died in childbirth. It wasn't until much later that Master Qui-Gon explained to me that up until then, attachments had been forbidden for a thousand years. We just have to be careful about where we let our attachments take us. For example, I have a close relationship with my mother, but I can't let my concern for her dominate my thoughts and actions, especially when I'm on a mission. It's the same with Rhiannon."
Padmé listened intently. Anakin had grown and changed so much. "You've changed so much," she murmured.
He smiled. "You haven't changed a bit," he countered, reaching out to pat her hand. "You're just as beautiful as you were back when we first met all those years ago."
"Flattery might get you somewhere, Ani," she teased, smiling back.
They held each other's gaze for a full minute, and Anakin didn't feel the apprehension of it. Something was happening between them, and he was more than willing to let it, especially if it was something she wanted too.
Obi-Wan and Rhiannon made their way to the Council chambers as they knew that was where Master Yoda would be training the younglings today.
When they got closer, they could hear the diminutive green master's voice instructing the children. "Sense the Force around you," he was saying. "Use your feelings you must."
The duo could see the younglings using miniature lightsabers and remotes to spar. They were wearing protective helmets that covered their eyes as well. Rhiannon remembered those exercises well. The object of the exercise was to completely depend on the Force to guide you in blocking the bolts from the remote. If you lost your concentration, the bolt would sting you.
And those bolts did sting, she remembered with a rueful smile. If she'd gotten excited about deflecting a bolt, she'd lose her concentration and get hit by the next one. It was embarrassing so she'd quickly learned to keep her excitement under control.
"Younglings, enough!" Yoda exclaimed as he spotted Obi-Wan and Rhiannon standing in the doorway. "Two visitors we have. Welcome them, we must."
"Hello Master Obi-Wan, Padawan Rhiannon," the children chorused cheerfully.
"What help can we be, Obi-Wan, hmm?" Yoda asked.
"We're looking for a planet described to us by an old friend," Obi-Wan explained.
"He's trustworthy, but the system isn't showing up on the archive map," Rhiannon added.
"Lost a planet, our master and Padawan have," Yoda chortled as the children giggled. "How embarrassing, how embarrassing. Liam, the shades." He watched as Rhiannon placed the map ball on the reader. "Gather 'round the map reader. Clear your minds, and find their planet we will."
The room was dimmed and then lit up as the copy of the map became visible. After the children playfully tried to grasp stars, they calmed down and began to concentrate. One by one, confusion furrowed their brows when they noticed the blank spot where the planet should be.
"It ought to be here," Obi-Wan said as he pointed to the blank spot. The children nodded as he went on, "But it isn't. Gravity is pulling all the stars together towards this spot. Padawan Kai pointed it out to me in the archive library. Master Nu told her that it was possible that the system was destroyed recently."
Yoda nodded. "Gravity's silhouette remains, but the star and the planet, disappeared they have," he pronounced and turned to his students. "How can this be?"
"Master?" young Sors Bandeem said timidly. "Because someone erased it from the archive memory."
All of a sudden, the other children began to back up his answer.
"That's right!
"Yes, if the planet was destroyed, the gravity pull would be gone!"
The diminutive Jedi Master smiled with approval. "Truly wonderful the mind of a child is, uncluttered. The Padawans are right.
"Go to the center of gravity's pull and find your planet, you will."
The duo nodded and Rhiannon called the ball to her hand, using the Force. Obi-Wan turned to the Jedi Master. "Master, who could empty information from the Archives? That's impossible, isn't it?"
"Dangerous and disturbing, this puzzle is," Yoda replied. "Only a Jedi could've erased those files."
"Excuse me, Masters," Rhiannon cut in. "It's not as impossible as you might think. If you both would be willing to humor me for about a half an hour, I'd like us to make a quick stop at the University of Coruscant campus."
Both Masters nodded, and after Yoda dismissed his class, the three of them left the Temple for the University of Coruscant.