The Fight for Truth

19

Food service took place in a large hall filled with students. Obi-Wan could not see their faces. Like him, they wore concealing hoods. Strict silence was maintained. Security Guides patrolled the aisles between the long tables, making sure no one started a conversation.

The Learning Circle had been strict. Friendships were discouraged. If one student got too close to another, they would find themselves transferred to a different quad. But conversation was allowed at food times, and students did interact. Here, everything was designed to break a student down. Isolation was the tool.

Obi-Wan tried to peer under hoods to see if Siri was looking for him. He searched for a small, slight form that could be Davi. He could not tell if either of his friends were here.

A harsh buzzer sounded, and there was a loud scrape of chairs against the floor as everyone stood, finished or not. Obi-Wan lined up with the others. How would he be able to make contact with Siri? He would have to find a way. Perhaps he could fake an illness. There seemed to be many med wards in this building ...

Ahead of him, his sharp eyes had caught a slight movement. A slender tail flicked out of a tunic pocket. The student quickly put a hand inside.

Davi!

They marched down the long gray hallway in a row. One by one the students split off into separate cells. Obi-Wan kept his head down but his eyes fixed on Davi. He made a note of the cell Davi had disappeared into. There were no numbers on the doors, so he counted the doors until he got to his own.

He would contact Davi tonight. There was no time to lose. Davi was sensitive. He was afraid of being alone. What was this place doing to him? And how would he find Siri? Obi-Wan pondered the problem. He would have to trust the Force to guide him. He could not delay any longer. He would use his lightsaber to cut through his cell door after lights out.

That night, he timed the regular stroll of the Security Guides. He calculated the distance down the hall. He would have just enough time to get Davi, pause inside his cell for the next patrol, then take off and look for Siri. It would be risky. He would have to count on the Guide to not notice the damaged cell doors. The lighting was low enough that he just might get away with it.

A buzzer announced lights out, and three seconds later his light was extinguished. Obi-Wan sat cross-legged on the floor of his cell. He would wait until he was sure that most students were asleep.

He had waited only a few minutes when a whisper came to him faintly.

“Obi-Wan! What are you doing? Catching a nap?”

“Siri?”

“Who do you think it is, V-Tarz? Stand back.”

The glow of molten metal illuminated his room. Siri was cutting a hole in the door with her lightsaber. Obi-Wan sprang forward to help. Soon they’d cut an opening big enough for him to squeeze through.

Siri’s bright eyes gleamed at him. “What were you waiting for? Are you starting to like it here?”

By now Obi-Wan was used to her sense of humor. “Come on,” he said. “I know where Davi is.”

They hurried down the hallway. “I think Qui-Gon is somewhere in the Learning Circle,” he said. “I feel it.”

“I don’t feel anything,” Siri said. “But I don’t have that kind of connection to Adi yet. Maybe someday we’ll work together as well and you and Qui-Gon.”

It was a backhanded compliment, but it was the first time she’d acknowledged that Obi-Wan had more experience than she did.

They reached Davi’s door. Quickly, they cut a hole and climbed through.

Davi rose on his elbows, shocked to see Obi-Wan and Siri climb into his cell.

“What are you doing here?” he whispered. “You’ll get us all in trouble.”

“It could get worse than this?” Siri asked, waving her lightsaber at the bare cell.

Davi didn’t smile. He lowered back onto his sleep mat and curled into a ball. “I’m sure it could,” he said. “Go away.”

“Davi, you have to come with us,” Obi-Wan said urgently.

“You have to trust us,” Siri added.

“I only trust the Guides,” Davi said. “They show me the way to the General Good. They monitor it. They know it. I trust them.”

“That’s the voice talking,” Obi-Wan said.

“I do not trust my friend or neighbor,” Davi whispered. “I trust the Guides.” He looked at them pleadingly. “This is all I know. Please go away.”

Siri stepped forward and sat on the floor next to Davi. “There are many things in the galaxy that are good, Davi. If Kegan let in the good things from outside, it would be a better place. Perhaps some of the illnesses you have here are now curable. Like the Toli-X Virus.”

Davi rose on his elbows again. “B-but that is incurable. My parents died of it.”

“A cure was discovered shortly after the virus began to sweep the galaxy,” Siri said gently. “If Kegan had been in touch with the rest of the galaxy, many would have been saved. I’m sorry to tell you this.”

“I don’t believe you.” Davi shook his head back and forth. “The Guides don’t lie. The Guides don’t lie.”

“Davi, why are there so many med facilities here at the Re-Learning Circle?” Obi-Wan asked him.

“Because the children cannot be cured,” Davi said. “If they are in sight of others, it is bad for the General Good.”

“If an animal was hurt, would you lock it away, or would you try to cure it?” Obi-Wan asked. “This place is wrong, Davi. You must know that.”

Davi looked up at them, stricken.

“We are your friends,” Siri said urgently. “We would not lie to you. You know that we come from another world. We have seen these things.” She stood. “Will you come with us?”

Davi hesitated. Outside in the hall, they heard the footsteps of a guard. Would Davi turn them in?

They heard the footsteps walk by, then fade.

Davi stood. “I’m coming with you.”

Obi-Wan and Siri reached out and each put a hand on Davi’s forearm. They smiled at each other.

“Wait.” Davi looked at them hesitantly. “Can I take Wali?”

Siri and Obi-Wan exchanged a glance. Rescuing someone else would take time and could endanger them. But they couldn’t refuse Davi. They nodded.

Davi squatted by the wall. Carefully, he eased out a stone from the wall. He plucked out a small furry creature and slipped it into his pocket.

“All right. I’m ready.”

They moved quietly down the hall. Suddenly, a faint, mewing cry split the silence.

“Davi, you have to make Wali be quiet,” Obi-Wan advised him.

“That wasn’t Wali,” Davi whispered.

They heard the cry again. It was muffled, and Obi-Wan realized now that it came from one of the rooms off the hall. Then he felt it—

“It’s a baby,” Siri breathed.

“It’s O-Lana,” Obi-Wan declared.