He had a time limit. Shalini had told them that the invasion was due in only three days. He would have to find a way to escape soon. The key to the survival of the entire planet of Typha-Dor lay hidden in his tunic pocket. He had managed to conceal the disk from the guards, but he didn't kid himself that he would be able to evade the heavy security measures by the Force alone.
He had made the mistake once of thinking he was more powerful than he was. He would never do it again. He would not make a move until he was sure.
An Uziel prisoner in a faded uniform drifted near them. "What's the news? Have the Vanqors invaded Typha-Dor?"
Shalini's eyes glinted. "No. And if they do, we will drive them back."
The prisoner looked weary. "That's what we said on Zilior."
"Have there been any escape attempts here?" Shalini asked.
"One. He's dead. My advice is to accept your fate." The prisoner drifted away.
"I make my own fate," Shalini said to her cohorts. She looked at Anakin. "Do you have any ideas?"
"Not yet," Anakin said easily, sitting down on the cold ground.
"What are you doing?" Shalini asked. "Aren't you going to do something?"
"I am," Anakin said. Tuning out the others, he began to watch.
There was only one solution. Anakin had to get to the transport pool.
The question was when. There were four groups of guards on eight-hour shifts, so that overlap guaranteed that one group was always relatively fresh. In addition, sentry droids constantly buzzed the compound. It wasn't impossible. But it would take the right timing.
Anakin still had his lightsaber and his cable launcher. He could launch over the energy fence, but then he would have to cross thirty meters of open space to get to the transport pool. The transports were heavily guarded, but not the ones needing repair. If he made it to the repair shed, he could slip inside. He would just have to hope that he could fix a transport and take off before his absence was noted.
He couldn't take the others. He would have to escape alone, and hope to return for them.
There was no sense waiting. He would escape that night.
The gate door slid back. An officer entered, surrounded by guards and droids. He began to walk through the crowd as the prisoners shrank back.
"What's going on?" Shalini whispered.
"A sweep," a prisoner muttered next to her. "They come every few weeks and take several of us."
"No one ever comes back," someone else murmured. "They take them to an unmarked building. There are rumors of medical experiments."
The officer pointed a finger at one prisoner, then another. The guards surrounded them and herded them together.
Then the officer wheeled about and pointed directly at Anakin. "Him."
"No," Shalini whispered.
Anakin considered resisting. With a glance at the others the guards had herded together, he decided he could not. He knew that if a battle ensued, others would die.
And there were reasons to submit. Security could be a bit more lax at the facility where they were taking him. Anakin fell into step behind the others.
They were led to a gray building with no sign outside. When they were ushered inside, Anakin's nose twitched. It smelled like chemicals. So the rumors could be true. The prisoners exchanged uneasy glances.
They were prodded along the hallway and pushed into a bare white room.
There a holoscreen took up an entire wall. An image of a human male dressed in a med coat appeared on the screen. He smiled gently.
"Do not fear. You will not be harmed. On the contrary, you are about to enjoy the experience for which we have chosen you. Welcome to the Zone of Self-Containment. A doctor will be with you shortly to explain. In the meantime, relax."
"Relax," one of the prisoners snorted. "Good advice, med-head."
The holo image blinked off.
"What did he say?" another one of the imprisoned soldiers asked. "The Zone of Self-Containment? What are they going to do to us?" He pressed his fingers to his forehead. "I feel strange."
Anakin, too, felt light-headed. He suddenly realized why the information had been given to them by a holo image instead of a real person.
"The room is filled with some kind of gas. They've drugged us," he said as his vision blurred. He felt his knees turn to water. One of the prisoners slumped to the floor.
Anakin felt himself slipping downward. He fought the sensation of the gas. The others slipped into unconsciousness. He held himself in readiness.
He tried to move his legs and found that they were too heavy.
He was the only one conscious when the technicians entered the room in masks. He saw, but he could not move a finger. The technicians began to load the other prisoners onto repulsorlift stretchers.
"Look at this one, he's still awake," one of the technicians said, drawing closer to Anakin. "Never seen that before."
"He's not too happy about being here, either," another said.
One of them leaned closer to Anakin. "Don't fight it, friend. We just want some cooperation in the beginning. I guarantee you'll like your stay here."
Using every ounce of his will and strength, Anakin grabbed the technician by the collar and brought his face even closer. "Don't… bet…
on it."
The technician yelped and struggled to free himself. "Help! For galaxy's sake!"
The other two rushed over. Anakin could not fight the three of them.
He was thrown onto the stretcher and strapped down. He dipped in and out of consciousness as the stretcher was powered down the hall. A door opened.
The light hurt his eyes.
They began to undress him. My lightsaber, Anakin thought. The disk. He had retained his utility belt and concealed the disk inside a hidden slit.
He had concealed his lightsaber by lodging it against his body underneath the tunic, strapping the belt tight against the hilt.
He could not summon the Force enough to distract the technicians from finding it. He was helpless. Only luck could save him from discovery. The belt was unstrapped and hit the tiled floor with a soft thud. His tunic followed. The technician scooped up the bundle and tossed it in a storage box with clothes from the other prisoners.
Anakin shut his eyes against the harsh light. He felt himself being lifted and slipped into water. He tried to fight, afraid he would drown.
"Relax, friend," the technician said. "It's just a bath."
The water was warm. He slid against the side. He was strapped in so that his head wouldn't slip beneath the surface. Anakin's mind drifted as though he were floating off on a deep, dark lake.
He must have slept. When he woke, he was dry and was wearing a fresh tunic, this one a soft material, in dark blue. He was lying on a sleep couch. The sleep had refreshed him. He felt relaxed and energized. He stretched, marveling at how fluid his limbs felt. The paralyzing drug effects had worn off, but strangely, had left him feeling limber.