Chapter 3
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The sun in the upper courtyard was warm and lulling as Jameh lay there on a stone bench beneath a green, leafy arbor. Her head was pillowed on her arms and her black braid brushed the ground as her eyes closed.
These gardens were Jameh's favorite place and her pride and joy, for they had been planted and grown by her own hands. Here she felt most removed from the worries and pressing issues of the world and the most at one with the Force. It was here that she could withdraw into herself, meditate, and just rest.
After a while, Master Zeklar found her there in the gardens. "I have business about the City. Would you care to join me?"
Jameh jumped up immediately. "Certainly, Master!" she replied. "The Zellan farm?"
Master Zeklar nodded, handing Jameh her robe, and they made their way through the Temple. The Zellan farm was the home of an old friend of Newan's who had many connections in the underworld of Coruscant, though he lived in a quieter hub of the City. His farm was situated in a huge vertical park south of the Jedi Temple. Gestel Zellan was a Besalisk merchant turned farmer in his old age, but many of his old contacts still remained. Though the extensive Temple library and the knowledgeable Jocasta Nu were a huge asset to the Jedi, they sometimes could not provide the information that a good pair of old eyes and ears were irreplaceable at gathering.
The dust swirled as Jameh landed the airspeeder before a house on the Zellan farm, and she and Master Zeklar exited the speeder.
"Newan! Is that you, you old rogue?" A large, hulking, six-limbed figure appeared in the doorway, its voice gruff yet welcoming.
Master Zeklar smiled. "It's good to see you, too, Gestel."
Gestel Zellan wiped his hands on a dirty rag and tossed it aside as he lumbered down the porch steps. He brushed some dust from his leathery brownish-green skin and offered one of his four arms in a hearty handshake to Newan, while clapping him on the back with a spare hand. Then he fixed his beady eyes on Jameh. "Is this your little Padawan, Newan? Man, she's grown!"
Jameh smiled and shook hands (only one out of the four) with the old Besalisk. "It has been a long time, sir."
"The kid will never drop the "sir", will she?" Gestel chuckled. "Well, come on in! I've got information for you, Newan. Jameh, I've got some new shaak out back, fresh from Naboo. Why dontcha help 'em feel at home?"
Jameh nodded and, as the two friends entered the house, she strolled round to the pastures and stables. There, she found about half-a-dozen large, brown shaak nosing about in the grass. Giving a low whistle to attract the attention of the cow-like beasts, she gathered some hay in her hand and beckoned the nearest shaak.
The quiet creature raised its large head and regarded her with a curious stare but, soon, its hunger overcame its caution and it shambled over to the Padawan and placidly took the hay from her hand, grinding it in its large brown maw slowly. Leaning her head on the fencepost, Jameh smiled and pet the docile animal quietly.Meanwhile, Master Zeklar and Gestel were discussing matters of quite a darker nature.
"A Sith? Here? Are you sure, Gestel?" Newan asked, pacing the long room quite distractedly.
"Yes, so my sources tell me. Now, I know what yer thinking, Newan; the Sith haven't been seen—or in your point of view, sensed—for over ten years. But, if my sources be right, there's one here on Coruscant this very minute!" Gestel asserted, watching his friend pace.
"Any word on what they look like? Male, female, species, anything?" Newan inquired.
Gestel shook his head. "I'm surprised that you Jedi didn't know first."
The seasoned Knight sighed. "This Sith must indeed be accomplished to hide his presence from us so well, or…"
"Or what, Newan?"
But Master Zeklar just waved his hand as though dismissing the unspoken idea.
Gestel settled back in his large armchair with a sigh. "Well, now you know. There is a Sith here. Although what they want here, I have no idea."
"A Sith only wants one thing, Gestel," Newan said gravely, "The destruction of all Jedi." Then he moved toward the door. "I must take this up with the Council immediately. Thank you, Gestel."
"Any time, Newan!" the old Besalisk replied with a wave as Master Zeklar exited the house.
"Jameh!"
She came running around the corner at his call. "Yes, Master?"
Newan jumped into the airspeeder. "We're going."
"But what has…?"
"Now!" It wasn't a request.
Jameh jumped in next to her Master and quickly piloted the airspeeder back into the city. "Master, what's happened? What did Gestel tell you?"
Master Zeklar frowned as the buildings of Coruscant whizzed by. "What Gestel told me greatly disturbs me, and it must be discussed with the Council this instant!" he replied.
Punching coordinates into the com-link, Newan contacted Jedi Knight Stass Ali. "Knight Ali, have the Council assemble immediately; I have business of urgent importance!"
"Yes, Master Zeklar." With that, Stass Ali's image disappeared.
Jameh kept her eyes on the City traffic as Newan sat back in his seat, his arms crossed over his chest. Whatever Gestel Zellan had told her Master, it must be very important…and very dangerous. And he would tell her when, and if, he deemed it necessary.
As soon as they arrived at the Temple, Master Zeklar disappeared into the Council chamber, leaving Jameh quite in the cold. But, all the time, the darkness was growing.
...................................................................................................."Master Zeklar, are you quite sure?" Master Depa Billaba questioned when the Jedi High Council was convened and the distressing information divulged.
"Yes, is there any way you could be mistaken about your informant?" Master Mace Windu joined the conversation.
"There is no mistake, my fellow Jedi. Gestel Zellan has always been undisputable in his information." Master Zeklar insisted. "There is a Sith on Coruscant!"
"Powerful are the Sith, and dangerous. Strong is the Dark Side in them. Find him quickly we may not, but stop him we must!" Master Yoda's voice held a sure urgency.
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The days that followed were tense ones and even the Younglings could sense the fell voice of worry amongst their Masters. Students such as Jameh, Pilae, and Anakin kept their wits about them, ready to catch the slightest overheard word or intuitive sense that might give them a hint as to what had caused the change in the Temple.
One day, Jameh was passing through the lower courtyard where two Jedi were deep in discussion when a whispered word reached her sharp ears: Sith. The very sound of the word sent a chill down her back and set her senses on edge. The Sith had not been seen since the loss of Jedi Knight Qui-Gon Jinn, Obi-Wan's Master. Could there really be one here, in the very shadow of the Jedi Temple?
Not sure that she should discuss what she had heard, Jameh returned to her quarters to ponder it. On one hand, if she told Pilae and, possibly, Anakin, there would be the opportunity to be ready in case of an altercation. On the other hand, if the news accidentally leaked out amongst the Padawans and Younglings, there was no telling what it might do to the decorum and discipline of the Temple. There was also the chance that the Sith might find out that his presence had been discovered, so Jameh kept the knowledge buried within herself.