Chapter 22 For the Good of Belarid
Nearly an hour later, Obi-Wan caught site of the transport; slowing the truck, he steered into the clearing and turned the engine off. Anakin was waiting for him when he opened the door, "So, this is a truck." He said, "Not very impressive."
"I wasn't looking for impressive, Anakin; I was looking for something we could fit ten children in." Obi-Wan replied. "Where is Zak?"
"Sleeping; his leg was starting to bother him." Anakin answered.
Obi-Wan looked surprised, "He actually admitted that to you?" He asked.
"Well, no; I kind of cheated." Anakin admitted.
"Cheated; by reading his mind?" Obi-Wan asked.
"Yes, was that wrong?" Anakin asked, sheepishly.
"No, brother; it was actually quite brilliant." Obi-Wan answered, grinning, "But how did you get him to rest?"
"Well, I uh, cheated there too." Anakin replied, almost embarrassed.
"What did you do?" Obi-Wan asked curiously.
"Umm…a little mind control." Anakin told him.
"Mind control." Obi-Wan repeated, putting his hands on his hips.
"It was for his own good; he needed to sleep." Anakin said defensively.
"How? He should have been able to resist that." Obi-Wan asked.
"Well, I told him I was going to help him control his pain…I didn't exactly lie…" Anakin answered.
To Anakin's surprise, Obi-Wan burst out laughing, "He is not going to be happy when he figures out what you did." He replied.
Anakin grinned, "No, I'm sure he won't be." He chuckled and then sobered, "Did I do the right thing, Obi-Wan?"
"Yes, without a doubt; he needed to rest, if you had not done it, then I probably would have." Obi-Wan assured him. "And where is our bounty hunter?"
"Oh, I uh…" Anakin started, "He's busy."
"Doing what?" Obi-Wan asked.
"Sleeping?" Anakin admitted.
"Well, at least that has kept him out of trouble…but where is he sleeping?" Obi-Wan asked.
"Over there." Anakin answered and pointed toward a tree.
Sure enough, Boba was curled up underneath it, sleeping soundly, "Funny, I would have thought he was too strong minded for that." Obi-Wan said.
"Well, for that yes; but there are other ways." Anakin replied, cryptically.
Obi-Wan shook his head, "Why did you do it?" He asked.
"It was the only way to keep him from boarding the transport to be with Zak….and meeting Terak." Anakin answered.
"Oh, it appears you had no choice then; when will the effects wear off?" Obi-Wan asked.
"Well, he has been asleep for almost an hour, so….any time now." Anakin told him.
"Has Zak talked to Terak yet?" Obi-Wan inquired.
"No, I had Terak and his parents moved to the cargo hold. I think when that meeting happens, you should be there." Anakin replied.
Obi-Wan nodded, "Good thinking." He said.
When Boba stirred and awoke ten minutes later, the final preparations had been made and they were nearly ready to leave. Obi-Wan boarded the transport to wake Zak, but he first went to the cargo hold. The three of them were seated on the floor; Servus glared at him as he entered, "You can't hold us here; you have no right." He said angrily.
"Oh, yes I do. You have committed crimes against the Republic; crimes that you will have answer to." Obi-Wan answered.
"I have told you before, what happened to the boy…." Servus began.
"What happened to Zak is only part of it. You covered up the murder of children; that is what you have to answer for. Terak must answer for the incident with Zak." Obi-Wan stated, cutting Servus off.
"That boy got what he deserved; I had a right…" Terak started.
"Shut up, Terak." Sala ordered.
"He is your brother, Terak; what you did was reprehensible." Obi-Wan said and turned to leave.
"He's a freak." Terak replied.
"No, he's a Jedi." Obi-Wan corrected, left and entered the passenger compartment.
Zak lay in a reclined seat; eyes closed. Anakin had spread a blanket over him. Obi-Wan watched him for a few moments, and sighed sadly; there was a time, a recent time, when Zak would have sensed his presence and woken up on his own. Maybe that time would come again, "Zak." He said softly, touching the boy's shoulder.
Zak's eyelids fluttered and then opened; there was a fleeting look of pain and then it was gone, "Hello, Master; I guess I must have dozed….wait a minute." He replied.
"What?" Obi-Wan asked.
"Master Anakin was supposed to help ease the pain in my leg; I didn't want to go to sleep." Zak answered, "He tricked me."
"Yes, he did, for your own good." Obi-Wan told him. "You have been through a great deal in the last few days, you needed to rest."
"Well, I'm ready to go now." Zak said, reaching down for his crutches and pulling himself up.
"Your leg hurts." Obi-Wan stated.
"Yes, a little; but I still want to come along." Zak admitted.
"Alright; but you will ride in the back of a speeder and you will prop your leg up on the other side of the seat." Obi-Wan compromised.
"But I wanted to ride in the truck with you." Zak protested.
"Not this time; you are lucky I am letting you come along at all." Obi-Wan replied.
"Yes, Master." Zak answered obediently, but clearly not happy.
Leaving Cody and another Clone to guard the transport, the rest of the Clones, Zak, Boba and Anakin occupied the speeders with Obi-Wan driving the truck. Boba and the Clone who had accompanied him on his investigation took the lead and led them back to Dr. Orin's house. It took longer this time; the truck slowed them down. When they reached the edge of town, they halted; after a brief discussion, they agreed not to bother hiding the speeders, they would all go directly to the good Dr.'s home. It was close to dark and streetlights were starting to flicker on. Boba knocked on the door and Mara answered it, "Oh, it's you; would you like to see my husband again?" She asked.
"Yes, I have the test subjects he asked for." Boba answered.
"Oh, I see; yes, he will be very anxious to see them." Mara replied, just then noticing Anakin, Obi-Wan and Boba's partner Clone standing behind Boba. "But why are they willing to go along with this?"
"Well, they had to be persuaded." Boba told her, stepping slightly to one side revealing the blaster in the Clone's hand. "See?"
"Oh; well, come in." Mara said, opening the door wider and moving aside. "He is in his office."
They followed her back to the office where Boba had made the shocking discovery. Orin was sitting behind his desk, writing. When they walked in, he stood up, "Boba! I had not expected…that's a Jedi." He said, frowning.
"Yes, they both are. You said you wanted test subjects, didn't you?" Boba asked.
"Well, yes, but I thought…well I thought you meant children." Orin answered.
"That's not even possible. The Jedi keep their younglings safely locked up; no one can get in that Temple of theirs without the proper authority. Even I can't get in there." Boba explained, "These will have to do."
"Well, I suppose if that's the best you can do. Have your friend bring them this way." Orin said, moving toward the door at the far end of the room.
The Clone prodded his 'prisoners' toward the door behind Boba. The room had not changed; the cages containing the younglings still lined the wall. Obi-Wan could feel Anakin's anger; however, he could also feel his own coupled with disgust.
"Just put them over there; I'm sorry the cages are so small, I had not planned on working with adult subjects." Orin said, indicating two cages along the right wall.
Instead of complying with Orin's instruction, the Clone turned his weapon on Orin himself, "What's this? Have you come to steal my work then, Boba?" Orin asked.
"Uh, no; not exactly." Boba answered.
"Then what are you doing? Surely, you're not…but you said…" Orin stammered as he suddenly realized that Boba had been lying to him all along. "You lied then."
"Yeah, heh, heh, heh; I guess I did." Boba admitted.
"But why? I don't understand." Orin questioned.
"Well, heh; your little research here; aside from being cruel, ended up hurting a friend of mine. Your little experiments are finished." Boba replied, "You make me sick."
"Off worlders; interfering meddlers. You have no right to come here and dictate…." Orin protested.
"Oh, yes, we do; by order of the Supreme Chancellor of the Republic. And as for you, you are under arrest." Obi-Wan said.
"This is ridiculous; I have over a dozen children here. If you arrest me, who will take care of them? You certainly can't take them with you." Orin told him.
"We have already thought of that, doctor." Anakin replied.
The Clone then signaled to the other Clones waiting outside, and within minutes, they had entered the house with Zak bringing up the rear. Quickly, Obi-Wan moved toward the door, intent on preventing his apprentice from viewing the appalling sight of caged younglings. But Zak would not be deterred so easily and bumped past his master into the room. He stood there, unmoving for a moment, taking it all in. Obi-Wan put a hand on his shoulder, "I wish you had not seen this." He said.
"I…I had to." Zak answered quietly and then turned to look at Orin, with his hands now secured behind his back, "Why?"
"For the good of Belarid." The doctor replied.
"Yeah, well this is my friend; the one who got that drug you're so proud of." Boba told him, "I could kill you right now and never even blink."
"Then you should be happy to be free of your affliction." The doctor said, ignoring Boba's threat, "Don't you feel better?"
"No, I feel weak and blind; that's what your drug did to me. And now that I have seen what you have done to make it work…" Zak trailed off and turned away from him, ambling toward a cage occupied by a dark haired youngling, "Hello." He said.
She cocked her head, but did not answer.
"Hello, my name is Zak." He tried again.
And again, she only cocked her head at him.
"Can't you understand me?" Zak asked, frustrated.
"Probably not; that monster never bothered to teach them anything." Boba said from behind him.
Zak shook his head sadly, "Poor babies, they never had a chance." He said and then unhooked the latch on her cage and opened the door.
For a moment, she just sat there; Zak stood patiently coaxing her out and slowly, gradually, she crawled toward him, "That's it, come on; just a little further." He urged.
Then she stopped at the front of her cage and would not go any further.
Boba squatted down in front of her, "Come on, Baby; I won't hurt you." He said, slowly reaching out to her, "Come on."
She did not resist as he put his hands around her and pulled her the rest of the way out of the cage.
"How did you know to do that?" Zak asked.
"Gemma." Boba answered.
It took nearly an hour to bring all the younglings, there were fifteen in all, out of the laboratory and load them onto the truck. They were all trembling with fright at being outside so between them, Obi-Wan and Anakin sent waves of reassurance to them through the Force. For most of them, this worked, even though they had very little Force sensitivity left, they had enough to be receptive of the feeling those two were sending. Two of them, however, could not be comforted and trembled uncontrollably until Obi-Wan finally decided to sedate them. At last, the younglings were settled and Orin was placed in one of the speeders; Mara sobbed and begged them to let him go, until Obi-Wan willed her to sleep. Dr. Orin was sullen, but cooperative; obviously realizing he had no choice but to face the consequences of what he had done. Boba decided to ride in the back of the truck with the younglings and although Zak wanted to join him there, Obi-Wan would not allow it….he did, however, compromise and let him ride with him in the cab. They were halfway to the transport when they were stopped by the Belaridian authorities. Two vehicles blocked the road in front of them and Obi-Wan was forced to bring the truck to a sudden halt.
"Wait in the truck, Zak." He ordered as he opened the door and stepped down.
"Yes, Master." Zak replied without protest.
Obi-Wan was joined by Anakin, several Clones and Boba as they confronted the native police, "I should have known when I learned that a truck had been stolen that it would have been you, Jedi." The chief officer said.
"I borrowed the truck; when I am finished with, I will return it to the place I took it from." Obi-Wan replied.
"No, I think I should take the truck now and arrest you." The officer countered.
"I don't think so; I am acting under instructions from the Chancellor." Obi-Wan informed him.
"I don't care who you're working for; I'm arresting you right now." The officer said.
"Well, you see; I would have a problem with that." Anakin replied.
"And you are…?" The officer asked.
"Anakin Skywalker; and you are…?" Anakin asked.
"Melak Perrin; what's it to you?" Melak asked.
"Melak Perrin, another one of Zak's loving relatives?" Obi-Wan asked.
"If you are referring to that boy sitting in the truck; my brother's wife gave birth to him. He was a mistake and should have been dealt with." Melak answered. "Now, Anakin Skywalker, if you are with him, you are under arrest as well."
Anakin laughed, "You really have no idea how stupid that would be." He said and then silently to Obi-Wan, "Ready, Brother?" "Oh, yes."
"No, you are stu…." Melak stopped in mid word as soon it hit him; overwhelmed and overpowered, he staggered back into his men behind him, "What kind of sorcerer's trick was that?"
"It isn't a trick, Melak; and I'm sorry that you couldn't recognize it for what it was." Anakin answered.
"Only those who are incapable of it can't identify it. Now I can understand how you could condone killing your own children." Obi-Wan added, "You no longer have the capacity to love."
One of the children in the back of the truck began to cry, "So, you needed to steal a truck so that you could abduct children. And you dare to judge us?" Melak said.
"Those younglings were treated like animals. I have now taken custody of them in the name of the Republic. They will return to Coruscant with me." Obi-Wan told him. "Now, you WILL let us pass."
Knowing that the Clones would protect them, Melak had little recourse but to back down. He ordered his men back in their vehicles and moved them so that the rescue party could continue to the transport. The Belaridians watched as they passed, without warning, one of them raised a blaster and fired a round into the truck. Boba returned fire and the shooter went down. Obi-Wan stopped abruptly and leaped out; sensing that one of his young passengers had been hit.
