Chapter 14 Boba's Discovery
Present Time
During their journey to Corellia, Obi-Wan and Anakin had discussed how best to search for the extremist leader. It would not be easy, the spaceport was both large and busy; which was why, they realized, Melak had chosen it for his rendezvous with Telia. The odds of finding Melak in such a place were against them; but as Obi-Wan had reminded Anakin on many occasions, they were very good at beating the odds. Using a holographic map, the city was divided into nine sectors and twenty-four of the men sent with them divided into eight teams of three; each team was assigned a sector, with the remaining area left to be searched by the Jedi. The remaining six Clones would remain onboard the cruiser for security purposes. Now, as the Jedi gave final instructions to the search teams, Padme joined them, dressed in a jumpsuit with a blaster pistol strapped to her side. Anakin took one looked at her and shook his head, "No." He said firmly.
"Yes." Padme countered just as firmly.
"I agreed that you could come with us; but..." Anakin began.
"And so you just expected me to sit here and wait? I could have done that on Coruscant." Padme cut him off.
"Padme, Anakin is right; it's really much too dangerous." Obi-Wan told her.
"Well, I'll be with you; what could happen?" Padme asked.
"Padme..." Anakin tried again.
"Teams of three; isn't that what you said?" Padme persisted, "Well, I only see two of you."
"If I may." The Clone commander interjected and continued when both Jedi turned to regard him, "She does have a point."
Anakin huffed angrily while Obi-Wan, always the diplomat, smiled, "Why don't you and your men begin your search, Cody; keep in contact with us and let us know if you find anything and we will do the same." He instructed.
Cody nodded, "Yes, General." He answered obediently and then turned and gestured to his men, ushering them out and leaving the two Jedi alone with the former senator from Naboo.
Padme crossed her arms and tapped her foot on the floor, glaring at Anakin, "Don't look at me like that." Anakin admonished.
"You know very well, that I am capable of taking care of myself." Padme retorted.
"I thought you were here as the Chancellor's representative, Padme." Obi-Wan said.
"Well, I am; but that doesn't mean I can't help you search for Melak, does it?" Padme replied.
Obi-Wan sighed, rubbed his beard and then characteristically folded his arms across his chest; Anakin shook his head, "It's not safe, Padme." He objected.
Padme put her hand on Anakin arm, "I can't just sit here and wait, Anakin; I came here to help." She appealed, "Please, let me do that."
Again, Obi-Wan smiled as he diplomatically offered a solution, "And you can help us; but by remaining here and coordinating the search effort and directing the teams to search areas they may have missed." He suggested.
"But..." Padme started to protest.
"You wanted to help, Padme; Obi-Wan is giving you a way to do that." Anakin interrupted.
With a sigh, Padme bowed her head and then nodded reluctantly; Anakin lifted her chin and kissed her on the forehead, "I know it's not what you want, but it's better this way." He whispered.
Padme wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tightly, "I know," She replied, "I just feel so helpless."
"To a certain extent, we all do, Padme; but with you here keeping track of the search, I believe we may just have a better chance of catching Melak before he has a chance to flee." Obi-Wan told her, then smiled once more, "And you won't have time to feel helpless."
Padme sighed, squeezed Anakin a little tighter and then released him, "Alright, go; just don't forget to tell everyone to report to me or this won't work." She conceded.
Obi-Wan nodded in agreement and turned to leave; Anakin gave her a peck on the cheek before following his former master. Padme watched them for a moment and then turned her attention to the holographic city map; Melak would not escape, not if she had anything to say about it.
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Boba sat at one of the terminal stations in the Hall of Archives. When Jocasta Nu herself had appeared in the Temple map room, he had, at first, thought it was to reprimand him for accessing the information stored in the archive files under her supervision. He had quickly fumbled to explain that access had been granted by Master Windu himself, but the archivist smiled and waved her hand dismissively, telling him that it would be better if he and Dena used the stations in the Hall itself; in that way, if they needed to access something classified, they would not have to go in search of a master to do it. To his right, Dena stared intently at her viewscreen and beyond her, Del was equally intent studying his; somewhere in the vast hall, Master Nu was also busy searching files for some clue that might lead to the missing Jedi. Suddenly, Boba's screen went black, "Access denied." He was informed by a pleasant computer generated voice.
"Blast it." He muttered, slapping the side of the terminal.
"That will not help you gain access, young man." Jocasta Nu informed him, having appeared seemingly out of nowhere.
Boba shook his head, wondering where she had come from so quickly; as if reading his mind the archivist merely smiled and bent forward to see what he had been reading, "Hmm, what file did you try to open?" She asked.
"This one." Boba replied, pointing at the screen.
"How very odd; I would not think that one should be classified." Master Nu answered, "Before I open it for you, however, I should check with the Council."
"Why? It's only..." Boba objected.
"I know; but there must be some reason for it to have been sealed. It will only take a moment, Boba." Jocasta assured him and was gone.
Boba huffed in frustration, "What did you find, Boba?" Dena asked.
"I don't know, it wouldn't let me in; and now it appears Master Nu won't either." Boba told her.
Dena smiled, "She just has to be sure there isn't something in there you should be reading; it's her job, love." She replied.
"I know; but we're wasting time." Boba answered.
"Well, just go on to something else while you're waiting." Dena suggested.
"I should I guess, but there was something...I don't know maybe it was nothing." Boba said.
"What?" Dena asked curiously.
"I was reading about Bella; it's just a gut feeling really, but I wondered why it hasn't been colonized. I mean, it has a good climate, and breathable atmosphere. So why isn't anyone living there?" Boba explained, "And then I spotted a file about Belaridian colonization; I thought the answer might be there, so I tried to open it and..."
"And 'Access denied'. That is strange." Dena agreed.
Jocasta Nu returned a few minutes later and typed a code into Boba's keyboard, "When Zak Perrin was brought here, he was...emotionally fragile; to protect him from being hurt by what he might find, Master Yoda had all records concerning Belarid sealed to prevent Zak from accessing them until he was better prepared to face its history." She began and then sighed, "Taking into consideration what happened when Zak returned there, we realized that had been a mistake. Zak, as you know, was nearly killed and what was discovered...well, had we looked at those records before sealing them, we may have put a stop to it much sooner. In any case, with Zak having faced his past, all files dealing with Belarid were declassified; a glitch must caused that process to miss this one. You may think I was being overcautious by not just allowing you access; but I would not be doing my job very well if I did that, now would I. However, Master Windu has informed me that under the circumstances, he sees no reason why you should not be able to read it."
Boba shook his head at that but leaned forward as the data began to appear on his viewscreen, "Well I'll be a..." He gasped and turned to Jocasta, "Why didn't..."
"When the killing field was discovered, all our records on Belarid were studied intensely; perhaps the Jedi who tried to access this one and was denied thought it was not worth the trouble to do anything further. It was wrong not to report it, but he or she probably thought a file concerning colonization was unimportant." The archivist surmised.
"But it is now." Boba replied as both Dena and Del left their terminals to stand behind his.
"Yes, it appears to be. I will notify Master Windu." Jocasta Nu answered and was gone before any of them could respond.
"I wonder if there's any point in researching anything else?" Dena debated.
"Oh yes, it still doesn't mean the extremists couldn't have taken them somewhere else; we should make our report as thorough as we can." Del pointed out.
Boba nodded in agreement, "He's right; this is a good possibility, but it's still nothing more than that." He concurred.
With a sigh, Dena had to agree with them; while it was encouraging to think they may have discovered the whereabouts of the missing Jedi, it would be overly optimistic to abandon the other possible locations, "Well, I guess it's back to work then." She said.
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"Is anyone hurt?" Shel asked almost immediately.
There were quiet murmurs but no real answers and Shel quickly unfastened her own harness so that she could check them for herself. Releasing their harnesses, one by one, she checked each youngling and decided, with relief, that there was nothing more serious than a few bruises caused when they were thrown against the restraints keeping them in their seats. Although she would feel better once Ferri and Zak had a look at them as well. And then it dawned her where they were; and she wondered how badly damaged the front of the craft was. Quickly she moved toward the hatchway separating the passenger compartment from the cockpit and triggered the door. When nothing happened, she hit the button again before realizing that if there were no lights, there was no power; and if there was no power, then the door control wouldn't work. She tried throwing the Force into pushing the door open manually without success before resorting to pounding on it with her hands until a helpful youngling handed her the armrest of one of the seats.
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"Well, that was fun." Ferri stated dryly as the ship came to an abrupt halt.
Beside him, Zak took several deep breaths as he tried to control his trembling hands, "Zak?"
And then Zak laughed, "You have a strange idea of fun, my friend." He replied shakily.
"Are you alright?" Ferri asked.
"Yes, I think so; what about you?" Zak answered and asked.
"Well, aside from my leg, I think I'm alright." Ferri assured him, "It would be nice if we could see, though."
When the shuttle plunged into the mound, the forward section, namely the cockpit had buried itself in the dirt, blocking any light from entering through the front or side view ports, "Yes, that could be a problem." Zak admitted as he fumbled for his harness release, "Sit still and I'll see if I can't at least open the compartment hatch." He suggested.
"Alright; I hope Shel and the younglings are alright." Ferri replied.
"They should be." Zak said as he groped his way back, "I wish we had thought of keeping a beam up here."
After optimistically trying to trigger the door automatically, Zak threw his weight against it trying to push it open, "Blast this collar, I can't budge it." He mumbled more to himself than to Ferri.
"Well, this is a fine mess; we can't see to get the damned things off, and in order to see we have to force the door open, and to force the door open we need to get these collars off." Ferri chided.
"I'm sorry, Ferri." Zak replied.
"It's not your fault, Zak; besides, it's actually kind of funny, don't you think?" Ferri answered.
"We're trapped in a pitch dark cockpit, on a planet Force knows where with you barely able to stand and neither of us able to access the Force and you think that's funny?" Zak retorted.
"Well, yeah; kind of." Ferri replied, "Oh come on, Zak, lighten up; there's always a way out, aren't you the one who's always telling me that?"
"When you figure out what that is, let me know."
Ferri sighed and shook his head and then turned toward a sound at the back of the cockpit, "Was that you?" He asked.
"No, it sounded like it was on the other side; maybe Shel is trying to get the door open." Zak surmised.
The small sound was followed by pounding and Zak groped around for something loose he could use to answer; guessing his intent, Ferri fumbled around as well, finally locating a long rod that he managed to pull lose, "Here, I've found something." He announced and then heard Zak shuffling back toward him, "Wait, I don't want you to impale yourself on it." He warned, realizing Zak would not be able to see the end of it.
Zak stopped and waited until Ferri had maneuvered the rod into a less deadly position and gave the all clear before moving again. A few minutes later, he was rapping a response to Shel; and the pounding on the other side ceased, "Can you hear me, Shel?" He called out.
"Yes." Shel's muffled voice answered faintly.
"Is everyone alright?" Zak asked.
"I think so." Shel answered.
"Good; now listen, Ferri and I can't get this door to move with these collars on." Zak told her.
There was silence on the other side, "Shel?"
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Shel leaned her head against door, fighting her despair; if two senior apprentices couldn't budge the door, than what were they going to do? "Shel?" Zak's muffled voice inquired.
Shel felt tears welling up as despair began to turn to hopelessness, "Shel, listen to me, you must not give up." Zak told her, "You can do this."
"No, I can't; I've already tried." Shel sobbed.
"The younglings can help you; together, you can do it." Zak assured her.
"I...how? I don't know how to do that." Shel whined.
"You're a Jedi, so starting acting like one; stop crying and listen to me." Zak ordered.
Shel blinked and then shook her head; what was the matter with her? She was trained better than this; she took a deep breath and closed her eyes, "I'm sorry, Zak." She answered, "Tell me what to do."
"Good girl. Gather all the younglings to you; then have them sit down, join hands and start to meditate. If they do this right, all their sensitivity should merge and you can draw on their combined strength." Zak instructed.
Quickly, Shel gestured for the younglings to come to her, instructing them as Zak had instructed her. Without question, the younglings did as she asked and were soon joined together, "Alright, now what, Zak?" Shel asked.
"Now, sit down with them, close your eyes and open up to the Force and you should be able to connect with them. Once you do that, I won't be able to talk with you because I cannot feel it, so listen carefully first." Zak answered.
"Alright, but if I'm sitting down, how can I..?"
"Patience, just listen." Zak interrupted calmly.
"I'm sorry."
"It's alright; now once you are merged and connected with the younglings, reach out for the door controls, not the door itself. You'll never be able to push it open like that; but if you manipulate the controls, it will open automatically." Zak explained.
"I understand." Shel assured him, "I'm ready now."
"Go ahead then; Ferri and I are tired of being in the dark." Zak said jokingly.
Shel turned to look at the younglings, seated on the floor, eyes closed in concentration before taking her seat in the middle of them. Taking a deep breath and closing her eyes, she reached out for the Force and then beyond to find, just as Zak predicted, the collective consciousness of the younglings. With very little effort, she was able to merge with them. Another moment, and she could 'see' the door controls, and with a little manipulation, triggered the mechanism. The door hissed open and Zak stood, arms crossed in the now-open hatchway, "I knew you could do it." He said with a smile.