The Defenders of the Dead

10

That night, the Young rolled sleeping quilts onto the tombs. Qui-Gon found an open space near one of the adjacent tunnel entrances, where the air was fresh.

Obi-Wan approached him awkwardly. “Nield and Cerasi have asked me to share their quarters,” he said. “They watch over the youngest children.”

Qui-Gon gave him a questioning look, but he nodded. “Sleep well, Padawan.”

Obi-Wan picked up a sleeping quilt and returned to Nield and Cerasi.

They slept in a small anteroom off the vault. Nield put a finger to his lips as Obi-Wan entered.

“The children are asleep,” he whispered. “We should be sleeping as well. We’ll need all our rest for tomorrow.” He put his hand on Obi-Wan’s forearm. “Cerasi told me you will join us. I’m honored.”

“It is my honor to help you,” Obi-Wan answered.

He settled himself on the floor next to Nield and Cerasi. He thought he wouldn’t be able to sleep, but the children’s quiet breathing lulled him.

It was hard to tell what time it was when he awoke. Cerasi rose from her sleeping area and leaned over Nield to touch his shoulder. Nield was already awake and stood immediately.

Obi-Wan stood as well. He was ready. He was acting not as a Jedi, but as a person—a friend. He grabbed his lightsaber and the slingshot Cerasi had given him the night before. There was an entrance from the anteroom directly into the tunnel toward Daan. Qui-Gon wouldn’t see him leave.

Obi-Wan knew he was wrong not to ask permission, but he wasn’t sure how angry Qui-Gon would be when he discovered he was gone. After all, Qui-Gon himself had offered to help with strategy for the battle.

Obi-Wan was glad he’d made the decision as he joined Nield and Cerasi on the deserted streets of the Daan-controlled Outer Circle. The three moved as one unit in the chilly early morning air. They walked purposefully down the deserted streets, their soft footfalls barely making a sound. Nield and Cerasi had already decided on their first targets.

They shimmied up a pipe and climbed onto the roof of a dwelling. From here, they could see the sun, more a suggestion of gathering light than a source of radiance.

“I hate to wake everybody up,” Nield said, flashing a grin.

“It’s time they were out of bed anyway.” Cerasi held up a toy missile tube. “I’m ready.”

Obi-Wan had clipped various projectiles onto his belt. He stuffed one into the missile tube. The projectiles had been fashioned around tiny amplifiers so that the sound they made when they hit would mimic the sound of a real proton missile. Cerasi and Nield had chosen a street that would echo the sound.

“Let’s go,” Obi-Wan agreed.

Cerasi aimed the toy missile at the abandoned building across the street. She fired.

The loud sound of the explosion surprised them.

“Listen to that. It worked!” Nield exulted.

He fit a laserball into his slingshot and fired at the wall across the street. The unmistakable ping ping ping of blaster fire erupted. Obi-Wan quickly stuffed another projectile into the tube and Cerasi shot it off. The blam echoed off the building fronts below.

Nield continued to shoot laserballs from his slingshot, and Obi-Wan followed suit. They shot ball after ball, reloading and firing rapidly. The sound of blaster fire echoed down the street. Someone emerged from a door across the way and looked up and down the street quickly. Nield and Obi-Wan shot a rain of laserballs into an abandoned building, where no one would see them land.

Crackcrackcrack! The laserballs hit the solid surface, making an even louder sound. The Daan quickly ducked back into the building.

“He’ll sound an alert,” Nield said. “We’re done here. Let’s go.”

Jumping from building to building, they made their way to another quiet street. They repeated the procedure, then moved on. Racing now, they fired down randomly with laserballs while Cerasi shot projectiles where their explosive sound would echo the most. While they moved from block to block, they shifted barricades where they could to block any military vehicles. At checkpoints, they rained their false weapon-fire over the heads of the guards, who took defensive postures, sweeping the empty streets with infrared electrobinoculars to look for the unseen attackers.

The sun rose, and sirens began to sound over the city. Nield turned to them. The rising sun reflected red off his dark hair.“Now for military headquarters.”

Excitement coursed through Obi-Wan. It was almost like a game, this ruse that Nield and Cerasi had concocted. But now the game would get serious. Hitting a military target, even with fake explosives, would be dangerous.

Nield led the way across the rooftops to the Daan military headquarters. From the roof of a building across the street, Obi-Wan could see soldiers running toward landspeeders, carrying blasters and torpedo launchers. Obviously, they were hurrying to investigate the many alarms that had sprung up.

“So far, so good,” Cerasi breathed. “There won’t be as many soldiers around.”

This part would be tricky. They would not be firing at houses full of sleeping civilians. The military would react swiftly. But Nield had pointed out that if they did not convince the military that an attack had been launched, their plan wouldn’t work. If the military thought they were under fire as well, they might conclude that this was not random sniper fire, but a full-scale attack.

In addition to Nield, Cerasi, and Obi-Wan, other groups of the Young should have been heading out to other Daan and Melida neighborhoods. Their attacks would be launched simultaneously with the attack on military headquarters.

They waited until the soldiers had taken off in their speeders. Two guards stood outside behind transparent armored shields. Cerasi loaded her beam tube. Obi-Wan and Nield placed laser-balls in their slingshots. On the whispered count of three from Cerasi, they fired.

The laserballs hit the building, sounding like blaster fire. The projectile boomed. Already, the three had loaded and shot again, then quickly scuttled back on their hands and knees and ran to the edge of the roof to jump to the adjoining building. They fired again.

Soldiers streamed out of the building in full plastoid armor, blasters in hand. Electro-binoculars were trained on the street and buildings above. Armored plates rattled down over windows and doors. A siren blasted insistently. Soldiers began to spread out down the street. Floaters took off for air surveillance. Armored vehicles poured out from an underground holding station.

“It’s time to get out of here,” Cerasi said.

Stuffing the toys and slingshots into their belts, they dashed across the rooftop and quickly shimmied down a drainpipe. When they hit the street, they slowed their pace, trying to look like Daan teenagers out for a morning walk.

“You there! Halt!”

They froze. The voice had come from behind them. Nield had already given them identity cards, so they thought they’d be able to pass. Cerasi slipped a package out of her tunic. Obi-Wan glanced at her, puzzled. Did she have a weapon? Of course, he had his lightsaber, but he would never be able to take on the troops swarming over the streets. He would only endanger Cerasi and Nield.

They turned and saw three soldiers approaching them, blasters aimed straight at their hearts.

“Identity cards,” one soldier said in a clipped tone. Quickly, the three handed them over. Nield had given Obi-Wan a disc from a Daan boy who was his age and weight. The soldiers inserted the discs into a readout machine. Obi-Wan waited for them to hand them back, but instead, the first soldier gave a look at the other two to keep them. He was still suspicious. He gave Nield, Cerasi, and Obi-Wan a hard look.

“Is there anything wrong?” Nield asked worriedly.

“What do you have there?” The first soldier pointed at Cerasi’s package with his blaster.

“M-muja muffins,” Cerasi stammered nervously. She held out the package.“For breakfast. We go every morning.”

“Let me see.” The soldier opened the top of the package. Inside, Obi-Wan saw a row of muffins wrapped in napkins.

“What’s on your belts?” the other soldier asked. “Aren’t you a little old for toys?”

“We’re practicing for the army,” Nield answered. He lifted his chin. “We can’t wait to fight the filthy Melida.”

“What’s that?” the soldier pointed to Obi-Wan’s lightsaber.

Obi-Wan held it up and activated it.“The newest toy on Gala. My grandfather sells them over on Victory Street.”

The soldiers eyed it. “We never had toys like that when we were young,” the first said ruefully.

“In the next battle of Zehava, the Daan will prevail!” Obi-Wan answered, waving his lightsaber.

“We might be in the next battle of Zehava right now, so hurry along and take shelter,” the third soldier said gruffly. He handed Nield back his identity card and motioned for the other soldiers to do the same. “You may be fighting with real weapons before long.”

The three soldiers marched off, their corn-links crackling with reports of more attacks in the city.

“That was close,” Cerasi breathed. “I’m glad I brought those muja muffins. It gave us a reason to be on the street so early.”

“And I thought you brought them in case I was hungry,” Obi-Wan managed to tease. His heartbeat was returning to normal. He didn’t want to think about how Qui-Gon would have reacted if he had been captured by the Daan.

“That was a smart move, to activate that lightsaber and call it a toy,” Nield said to Obi-Wan. “Lucky for you they were too dumb to realize you were a Jedi.”

Cerasi eyed him. “I have a feeling Obi-Wan was ready to use it.”

Nield grinned broadly. “I have a feeling he can save us all.”

The three laughed together in relief. Obi-Wan felt a current run between himself and Cerasi and Nield. Even though he was still in danger, he had never felt so free.