"What about you, Ferus?" Anakin asked as he bent over to tighten a strap that didn't need tightening. "Nervous? Or is that not allowed for a Jedi Knight?"
"I'm not a Jedi Knight yet," Ferus answered.
"But you're closer than any of us," Anakin said, straightening. "Does that make you more nervous or less? I mean, let's face it, the Jedi Council's eyes are on you."
Ferus frowned as he picked up the taunt buried in Anakin's easy tone.
"I'm not thinking about that. I'm thinking about the mission."
"We're all thinking about the mission, Anakin," Darra said.
"Of course, we all want to capture Omega," Tru added. His eyes told Anakin to back off.
"But Ferus wants to be the one to do it, I'll bet," Anakin said. "Once you start impressing the Jedi Council, you have to keep on doing it."
"It doesn't matter who does it," Ferus said. "It matters that it's done."
"Spoken like a true Jedi Knight," Anakin said. Ferus's neck flushed red. "Just what are you trying to say?"
"Anakin — " Darra murmured warningly.
Anakin took a step closer to Ferus. He couldn't help himself. Despite his best intentions, the words spilled out in a torrent. "That you'll do whatever you can to succeed on this mission, but not because you want to catch Omega. You want to be a Knight."
"Anakin!" Tru exclaimed.
But Ferus and Anakin were past listening to their fellow Padawans.
They were careful to pitch their voices low, however, to avoid attracting the attention of their Masters.
Ferus's dark eyes flashed with anger. "That's a serious charge, and an untrue one."
"I've got news for you," Anakin said. "You won't be the one to find Omega. I will. I'd bet on it." The remark seemed to burst out of him without his directing it.
Darra sucked in a breath through her teeth. Tru shook his head.
Ferus turned away. "I'm not going to bet on a mission."
"Because you have too much riding on it? If you lose, you might lose the Council's favor," Anakin said. "No wonder you won't take me up on it."
Anakin had gotten to Ferus at last. He could see it. Suddenly Ferus spun around and came within centimeters of Anakin.
"Okay, sure, I'll take the bet," he said. "Whatever you say, Anakin. I wouldn't want to stand in the way of you and your ego."
"Ego? You're the one who spends all his time showing off!"
But if Anakin was heat, Ferus was ice. He buckled his utility belt.
"Someone has to teach you that you are not as powerful as you think you are."
Anakin saw the Masters looking over. He bent over and pretended to tighten the same tight strap so that Obi-Wan could not read his face. He had to control himself. He had gone farther than he'd meant to, but he didn't care. Now it was out in the open.
They followed their Masters out onto the main thoroughfare of Dreshdae, a narrow unpaved street. A light gray rain was falling, and it had an acid taste. Anakin felt foreboding settle on his shoulders.
Dreshdae was a hodgepodge, a drab spaceport that had grown and shrank without regard for utility or beauty. Until recently it had been a collection of temporary buildings made of plastoid blocks or cheaper metals that rusted with age. The Jedi could see these buildings in various states of disrepair. Sprung up around them was a collection of newer buildings, most of them clustered near the Commerce Guild's Dreshdae Headquarters. The Guild had spared no expense, building a multistoried edifice with durasteel facing in a multicolored iridescence that was supposed to sparkle in sunlight but instead looked cheerless in the drip of rain Although Dreshdae tried to present itself as a typical new, brash city struggling to grow, the strain showed. There was no disguising what the spaceport had been and would slide back into again — a dark, dangerous, lawless place. Undercurrents of its evil past bubbled up through the cracks in the stone facings and the hastily erected walkways. Beings hurried through the streets as if anxious to find shelter. No one lingered in the cafcs. Anakin didn't hear one snatch of conversation, or one burst of laughter.
"Our contact is a businessman named Teluron Thacker," Obi-Wan said.
"He's done favors for the Jedi in the past, and he agreed to help us if he could. The meeting place isn't far."
Anakin felt a touch on his shoulder and turned. No one was behind him.
Perhaps it had been a leaf brushing his shoulder — but he knew, of course, that there were no trees on Korriban.
Another touch — Anakin whipped around. He looked at Ferus, wondering if he was trying to play a trick on him, but Ferus was several meters back, talking to Soara.
He began to pick up a whisper. Then another. He couldn't make out the words, only the intent. Someone was baiting him, cajoling him, laughing at him… or was it his imagination? Was it just the wind whispering through the stones?
They crossed the street and he thought he saw a flash of something — blood coursing down a stone wall. When he blinked, it was gone.
"Master… "
"It is the dark side of the Force, Anakin," Obi-Wan said. "I'm picking it up, too. Ignore it."
But Anakin couldn't ignore it. There was something insistent about the voices. Something that urged him to answer. Although the feeling made him anxious, he also wanted to face it. He wanted to get to the root of this dark power… to match himself against it… to prove, once and for all, that he was as strong as it was.
Chapter Six
Obi-Wan stopped outside the small cafc. It fit the coordinates he was given, but still he hesitated. Was it even open? The cafc was small, dingy, and in serious disrepair. Half of the roof was caving in. It was a wonder anyone would go inside at all.
"What is it, Master?" Anakin asked.
"Teluron Thacker is a prosperous businessman," Obi-Wan said. "Why would he frequent this kind of place?"
"You think it's a trap?"
"I'm not getting a warning. But still…" Obi-Wan shook his head. The problem was the energy on this planet. Dark waves buffeted him from every side. It was like swimming in an evil sea. All that darkness made it hard to distinguish what was a true threat.
"It could just be a case of not wanting to be seen with us," Siri pointed out. "One of us should go in first to check it out."
"I'll go." Anakin and Ferus spoke the words together.
"I will." The words came from Ry-Gaul. He strode forward, pushed open the rusty metal door, and disappeared inside. No doubt Ry-Gaul's height and size would serve to deter anyone who wanted to challenge him.
The rest of them waited, every second wearing on their nerves. Finally Ry-Gaul emerged and said, "He's there. All clear."
They followed Ry-Gaul into the cafc. Apparently the sagging roof scared off customers, for only one man sat inside, at a table near the door. He hugged a mug with one hand and kept his eyes darting from the door to the roof, as if expecting it to crash down at any moment.
Teluron Thacker was a tall humanoid with pale skin and the soft look of a being used to spending time indoors, sitting down. He greeted the Jedi with a nervous nod and drew his red cape around his body.