Chapter 14

The calm but menacing reprimand of Darth Sidious' voice made Daruc tremble as he kneeled before the holo.

"Prince Raifen is still alive?" he asked again, mocking Daruc's failure. "I believe that you have underestimated his abilities. He is Force sensitive and he has a Jedi with him."

"Yes, my lord, I know . . ."

A flickering blue finger jabbed at Daruc's face. He reflexively jerked backwards, as if Sidious could hurt him even in a holographic form.

Sidious continued his reprimanding. "I have the power to reveal this little underground movement if you fail again."

"I'm sorry, my lord. It won't happen again . . .I promise!"

"Just remember, when you overthrow the Raifen throne, your rule must answer to my demands, not yours!"

"Of course, Lord Sidious," Daruc answered, slightly narrowing his ice blue eyes. "You know that myself and my people are your servants!"

"Oh yes, Spion. I know," he intoned as the holo began to fade away. "Make sure that you do not forget.

Daruc remained silent for a few moments after the holo dissipated into nothing. Then he slowly stood and strode over to the computer terminal to devise the next phase of his plan to subvert the Raifen crown.

* * *

It was a sad sight that met Cort's eyes when he walked into the med room. Anakin had not woken since they had brought him there three days ago. Cort had tried to visit Anakin when he could, but he had his duties as a ruler to tend to as well.

Obi-Wan, on the other hand, had not left Anakin's side. He had a few days stubble on his face and was developing dark circles under his eyes, but he refused to leave his injured apprentice. One of the worst dishonors possible for a Jedi to suffer was the loss of his Padawan. Obi-Wan had come perilously close to losing Anakin in the blast at the banquet hall. No one could have known who the blast was going to affect. Obi-Wan still felt it was his fault that Anakin had been hurt, though.

What was I thinking? he reprimanded himself. Cort asked me here to help stop problems like this! And what was I doing? I was off dancing! Poor Anakin was doing a better job of being a Jedi than I was!

Obi-Wan sighed deeply. He was so tired, and berating himself while keeping his vigil was not helping him at all. He let his head sink down onto his chest and he closed his eyes.

Qui-Gon, he thought as he began to drift off, I don't know if I am the right person to train Anakin. I'm afraid of failing him, of failing you . . .I don't want to make a mistake . . .

A hand landed hesitantly on the tired Jedi's shoulder, snapping him back awake.

"Hi," Cort smiled down at his friend. Obi-Wan offered a weak smile in return. Cort reached over and pulled up a chair.

"So how is he?"

Obi-Wan sighed and rubbed his hands over his face. I must look like some distant cousin of that junk dealer that Anakin said used to own him, he thought, feeling the stubble on his cheeks. He looked at Cort and then at Anakin. "He hasn't woken up yet. I've been doing what I can to help him, but Force healing was never one of my strong points."

Cort nodded his head. "I've been trying to get him the best medics possible. It's hard though, Ben. So many people were hurt when the bombs went off. There were many more casualties than originally thought, too. They just pulled six more bodies out of the rubble this morning. And my intelligence teams still don't have an inkling as to who planted the bombs!"

The Jedi Knight raised his eyebrows in a confused manner. "But wasn't this the work of that same terrorist group, the one who attacked the other groups like the Community Medical Center?"

"Oh, I have no doubt that that was who it was." Cort shook his head tiredly. He had circles under his eyes that could almost compete with Obi-Wan's. "We need proof though. I have to find out who is doing this and put a stop to it. I was studying the previous attacks late last night and into early this morning. The attacks have been escalating all along, slowly being planted at places that are of greater and greater importance."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that I think whoever is leading this is working their way up to a grab for power, a coup d'etat if you will." Cort shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "I'm not surprised that this is what it seems as if the motive may be. I mean, with father sick, and myself left in charge. . .I just don't know what to do if it comes down to something like a civil war."

Obi-Wan folded his arms and looked Cort squarely in the eye. "Well, we just won't let it come down to that then, will we? Have some confidence, Cort. I've never known you to have a defeatist attitude."

Cort gave a wan smile. "Thanks. Say, Ben, why don't you go get some rest. I'll watch Anakin for a while."

"As if you are in any state to stay awake yourself?" Obi-Wan asked, reluctant to give up his post.

"It's useless to argue Ben. Just go, get out of here. Take a nap, get some food, have a shower and shave, just do something! You'll drive yourself crazy if you stay in here and keep berating yourself!"

"Hey, how did you. . .you weren't listening in on me, were you, Cort?" Obi-Wan asked with a small frown.

The prince gave a slight laugh in return. "Hardly! You get sloppy when you're tired Obi-Wan. You tend to broadcast more than you think you are."

"Oh."

"Now get out of here. Give yourself a break."

Obi-Wan could see that it was useless to argue. He promised himself that he wouldn't be any longer than half an hour. He nodded his thanks to Cort and went to find his room.

* * *

Obi-Wan woke up almost six hours later when R2-D2 rolled over to the Jedi's bed and kept beeping. The droid had known that Obi-Wan had been with Anakin and he did not want to disturb him. Now however, he thought that Obi-Wan should see this.

Obi-Wan rolled over and put the pillow over his head. "Go away," he mumbled, absentmindedly swatting his hand at the droid.

Artoo could easily tell that Obi-Wan was not fully awake. Growing impatient, he extended a small mechanical arm and sent a small jolt of electricity through the groggy Jedi's shoulder.

That woke up Obi-Wan immediately. He jumped up on the mattress with his lightsaber in his hands, his feet in a battle stance. He looked around to see where the attack had come from, but when his eyes landed on the astromech he found himself laughing. Then he looked outside. The sun was almost finished setting! I have to get back to Anakin!

He leapt off the bed and began to look for his boots when Artoo stopped him.

"What is it, Artoo? I'm kind of in a hurry." He sat down on the floor and began snapping the buckles on his boots into place. A noise from Artoo caught his attention though, and he looked up to see the holographic memory clip that Artoo was playing for him.

What he saw made him jump up once again.

"Artoo, you wonderful droid! Come with me right now! We have to show this to Cort immediately!"