Chapter 8 Sabotage
"No one; and I mean no one is to come near this bird until I have had a chance to look inside that engine." Anakin ordered authoritatively. "Is that understood?"
"Yes, Captain; I will see to it personally." The Chief engineer assured him.
"And I want to know who worked on it before I took it up. If it's shoddy maintenance, the mechanic is in real trouble, and if it's something else…." Anakin trailed off. "I'm going in to call my wife, and when I return, I'll have a look."
"Yes, Captain." The engineer replied.
"I'll stay out here, Anakin." Obi-Wan offered.
"No, you're spent; the best thing for you to do is sit down somewhere and rest." Anakin told him.
"Then I can do that out here." Obi-Wan insisted.
"I think Master Kenobi is right, sir; if this is something other than a mistake, we don't know who can be trusted." The Chief Engineer added.
"That's a good point, Killen; alright, have it your way, Obi-Wan, but Zak stays out here with you then." Anakin answered with this compromise.
"Yes, Master; I think that would be a good idea." Zak interjected.
"I have no objection to that." Obi-Wan agreed.
"That really won't be necessary, I can stay here." One of the mechanics said.
"I mean no disrespect to you…I'm sorry, I don't know your name." Anakin replied.
"Kev, sir." The mechanic answered.
"Well Kev, I would prefer Master Kenobi to stay out here." Anakin told him.
"As you wish, Captain." Kev replied.
Padme was almost dizzy with relief when Anakin's image appeared before her.
"I'm alright, my love." He assured her for the third time.
"But what happened, Annie?" She asked.
"We lost control because one the links was broken; I'm still not sure what caused that to happen, I'll have to have a look at the engine. But I wanted to let you know that Zak and I are both fine." Anakin answered.
"The whole thing was on the holo-net. I was terrified for you both." Padme informed him.
"On the holo-net? How did they know?" Anakin asked.
"The reporter said they had intercepted your transmission." Padme told him.
"Hmm…that must have been a glitch; our com system is secure." Anakin replied.
"Well, all I care about is that you and Zak are safe. Will you be home soon?"
"Probably; Obi-Wan overextended himself a little and Zak, I think, is a little unsettled. But I want to examine that cable first before anyone has a chance to tamper with it." Anakin answered.
"Are you thinking that this was deliberate? Why would anyone want to do that?" Padme wondered.
"I don't know anything yet. If it was sabotage, then I need to find out who is behind it; if it's not, then whoever worked on that trainer will have to be discharged. The only reason Zak and I are still here is that we're Jedi and Obi-Wan was there to help. An ordinary pilot would have been killed." Anakin said, "We're also going to have to check all the other fighters to be sure there aren't any others like this. It shouldn't take long."
"Alright, I'll see you soon; I love you, Anakin." Padme replied.
"I love you too." Anakin concluded.
When Anakin exited the hanger, he could see Obi-Wan sitting by the front of the fighter; his eyes were closed in meditation, but Anakin could feel that he had attuned his senses to detect anyone who approached the craft. Anakin could just make out the top of Zak's head as he stood on the other side. Several corpsmen surrounded the perimeter of the trainer. It was clear to Anakin that no one would have been able to get near it. As he drew nearer, Obi-Wan opened his eyes and stood up, but it was clear to Anakin that his brother still needed rest. He decided he would get this over with as soon as possible so that they could go home.
Anakin removed the control panel so that he could access the cable connections. The broken cable, however, was just out of his reach; his hand was too big to fit through the small opening. Tearing the whole thing apart would take time; it would have to be done eventually, but he wanted to return home.
"Blast, I can't get my hand in there." Anakin said in frustration.
"Zak can do it." Obi-Wan stated after he checked to see how big the opening was.
"Of course! I should have thought of that." Anakin replied. "Zak, come over here."
Zak, who had been talking with Killen, now turned back to Anakin. He stood next to him, waiting to hear what Anakin wanted.
"This opening is too small and I can't get my hand through. See if you can reach in there and pull out the damaged cable." Anakin instructed.
Without a word, Zak put his hand into the access panel, "I have it." He said triumphantly after a few moments. "Do you want me to pull it loose?"
"Yes, pull it all the way out so I can look at it." Anakin told him.
"Hmm…the end feels smooth, Master Anakin. It feels like it was cut." Zak informed them.
"Alright, pull it loose so I can look at it." Anakin told him again.
A few moments later, Zak had the free cable in his hand and gave it to Anakin. Anakin confirmed what Zak had uncovered; the cable had been cleanly severed, it was clearly sabotage. There was nothing to do now but check all the fighters; if any others had been damaged, the lives of all the pilots were at stake.
"All fighters and trainers are grounded until further notice." He announced. "If there are any fighters up now, they are to land immediately."
"Then we should begin to check every one of them." Killen said.
"Yes, are there any out there, Killen?" Anakin asked.
"Unfortunately, yes; Dav and Talme took up a trainer shortly after you did." Killen informed him.
"Well, call them back in, right now." Anakin told him.
Killen took off at a run toward the hanger and had just reached the door when the young corporal manning the communications center appeared in the doorway. He spoke to Killen for a moment and then went back inside. Killen rushed back.
"I'm afraid we're too late, Captain; Corporal Vaan has been monitoring the holo-net and it looks as if Dav and Talme are having the same trouble you did." He said.
"Oh, no." Anakin replied and headed at top speed to the hanger, following closely by Obi-Wan.
The image of a trainer, identical to the one Anakin had flown earlier, was visible on the screen. It was clearly out of control.
"Have they tried to reach us?" Anakin asked.
"No, Captain; I didn't even know they were in trouble until I saw this." Vaan answered.
"And have you tried to contact them?" Anakin questioned.
"Yes, unsuccessfully, their com must be down." Vaan replied.
"Anakin, can we help them?" Obi-Wan wondered.
"How?" Anakin asked.
"Maybe the same way I helped you." Obi-Wan answered.
"That was different, you and I were connected and we worked together. Talme and Dav aren't Force sensitive and we have no way to communicate to them." Anakin replied.
"We should try, though; shouldn't we?" Obi-Wan suggested.
"Yes, and maybe between the two of us, we can pull this off." Anakin replied.
"What about me? I can help too." Zak interjected.
"That's right, Padawan, you can help. The three of us might just be able to do this." Obi-Wan said.
"Do what?" Killen asked.
"Bring that trainer down." Anakin answered.
"That's ridiculous; how can you expect to do that?" Killen replied incredulously.
"The same way I landed; using the Force. Otherwise, we would have crashed." Anakin told him.
"Well, I can't deny that something prevented that; and I do know the power harnessed by the Jedi." Killen replied. "I wish you luck."
Zak, Obi-Wan and Zak were seated on the floor in a tight circle, hands touching palm to palm, Anakin to Zak, Zak to Obi-Wan, Obi-Wan to Anakin. Each of them took a deep centering breath and closed their eyes, merging their Force strengths together. For Zak, this was a new experience; he was in awe at the power each of his two mentors possessed and what great power the two of them combined could generate.
Together, they seemed to him to be invincible. As one, they reached out, through the Force, in search of the crippled fighter. Anakin's consciousness, knowing what to look for, took the lead…
"There she is." Anakin announced.
"Yes, I feel her. Can you see what's wrong?" Obi-Wan asked.
"The same thing; and the com link has been severed too; no wonder they couldn't contact us." Anakin answered.
"Well, since you don't have to fly this thing, we should be able to link up both systems." Obi-Wan suggested. "Zak, if we reconnect the com link, do you think you can hold it by yourself?"
"Yes, Master." Zak answered confidently.
"Alright, we can do that first." Anakin replied.
As they had done previously with Anakin's throttle cable, Anakin and Obi-Wan manipulated the severed com link cable back into position. With that accomplished, Zak focused on holding it in place.
"Base, this is Lieutenant Pangarrie; can you read me?" Dav's voice sounded over the com board.
"Dav, yes; we have been trying to contact you." Vaan replied.
"Our com link must have been down; we can't seem to control the throttle." Dav informed him.
"Yes, Captain Skywalker experienced the same problem." Vaan answered.
"Oh, I'm sorry; has he crashed yet?" Dav asked.
"No, he landed safely." Vaan said.
"But if he had no control over his speed, how did he manage to do that?" Dave wondered.
"Apparently, he had some help from his Jedi friend, Master Kenobi. Don't ask me how, but he managed to slow their trainer down enough to land." Vaan told him.
"Well, lucky him; but it looks as if Talme and I will not be that lucky." Dav replied pessimistically. "I don't know how the com link reconnected itself, but I don't think we'll be as lucky with the throttle."
"Don't be too sure. It seems you might have a little Jedi help very soon." Vaan assured him.
"That would be very nice, but we're not going to count on it." Dav answered skeptically.
"Well, they're certainly going to try; so don't be surprised if you get your throttle control back." Vaan said. "And then be prepared to land as soon as possible."
"Will do, Corporal." Dav replied.
Corporal Vaan turned to the chief engineer, "Well, it seems as if Captain Skywalker has fixed their com; let's hope he is just as lucky with the throttle control." He said.
"Yes, it's their only chance. I hope the Captain and his friend can pull them through." Killen answered.
And seated on the floor in deep meditation, they were doing just that. Within minutes, they had reconnected the severed end of the throttle cable to the control systems; between the two of them, they were managing to keep the cable in position.
"Well, that's it; all we have to do now is hold it until they land." Anakin said.
"That will not be a problem." Obi-Wan replied.
"Base, I can't believe this, but we have throttle control back. We are cutting our speed and will make our final approach momentarily." Dav announced.
"We will have the emergency equipment in place. You may land when you are ready." Vaan replied.
For the second time that day, the base personnel present held its collective breath and scanned the sky for the damaged trainer. When it finally came into view, the tension increased; no one said a word as the craft became larger as the distance between it and the base decreased. Everyone was well aware of the possibility of losing two of their own should the Jedi fail in their efforts to bring the ship down safely.
Their concentration centered on holding the cable in place, there was no more thought transfer between the two brothers. Bolstered by Anakin's Force power, Obi-Wan had little difficulty keeping the cable from slipping from its position, and Anakin, likewise, had no problem.
To anyone not aware of the problem, the trainer seemed to be making a normal landing; no one outside the base realized how closely the ship had come to a disastrous crash that had only been prevented through the intervention of the Jedi. The speed had decreased to an acceptable level; a safe landing was at hand.
"Base, we are making our final approach. Speed is at an acceptable limit." Dav said calmly. "We will be landing….now."
The trainer touched down lightly, as if there had been no malfunction at all and cheer went up.
"We did it!" Zak thought, his elation clearly showing.
"Was there any doubt?" Anakin asked as they broke their connection.