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"Almost there," Andra called back.
Obi-Wan followed Andra as she left the road, entering a forest glade so thick with tall trees that it blocked out the sky. Andra wove expertly through the trunks. Obi-Wan had to concentrate to keep up. At last she pulled over and waited for him to stop next to her.
"I think we should leave the swoops here," she said. "This glade adjoins the park. I know a way into the Mirror Caverns. Once we're through them, we'll be in the Park of Sacred Pools."
They covered the swoops with branches. Their footsteps made soft sounds on the carpet of leaves as they hurried through the glade. They came to a craggy wall of stone, and Andra followed it down a small hill to a fast-moving creek. She hopped from rock to rock in the creek, Obi-Wan following. The creek suddenly stopped at a sheer wall of gray stone.
"I think you can make it," Andra said, glancing back at him. "But you might have to wriggle a bit."
Obi-Wan saw that there was a slight fissure in the rock wall, almost invisible to the naked eye. It ran from the creek up the wall, as tall as he was. First, Andra pushed her survival pack through, then slipped inside. Andra was slender and was easily able to pass through, but Obi-Wan had a bit more trouble. He made himself as thin as possible and popped out, almost falling. He threw out a hand to steady himself and felt a smooth, polished surface.
Andra activated a glow rod. Obi-Wan saw that he was in a cavern with walls that arched over his head. The stone was deep black and so highly polished that he could see his reflection. Here the creek was just a trickle of silver snaking through the black floor. The beam of the glow rod bounced from wall to wall, multiplying its light. Obi-Wan felt dizzy, as though he were standing underneath a thousand stars.
"It's incredible," he said.
"Yes," Andra said quietly. "It's beautiful, isn't it? The stone is called malab. It's highly prized in the galaxy since it's so rare. Come on, the exit is this way. Watch your step, it's slippery."
She led him through twists and turns until they joined the main cave. At the entrance, the cavern widened and some light from outside illuminated the walls. Andra let out a small cry. She lifted the glow rod to examine the wall. Stone had been chipped away, leaving deep gouges in the smooth surface. The samples were piled on the floor next to scan grids. Splinters of the stone surrounded a jagged hole in the polished floor.
"They're going to mine it," she whispered to Obi-Wan, her eyes burning. "This is a sacred place for all Telosians. Look what they've done!"
With trembling hands, she removed the holographic recorder from her pack. She trained the lens on the piles of stone, pa
"Come on," Obi-Wan urged.
Carefully, they edged out of the cavern. The morning sun was strong, warming the cool rocks and lighting up golden sand that surrounded deep pools of steaming black water. A black hill rose in front of them. It glittered in the rays of the sun.
"That hill is made of malab," Andra said in disbelief. "They must be harvesting it from the caverns."
Obi-Wan looked at the heavy equipment and gravsleds surrounding the pools. He had spent time on the mining planet of Bandomeer and was familiar with mining machinery.
"Those are mole miners," he said, pointing. "They can dig hundreds of kilometers deep. If there are mole miners, there has to be a base where they unload. Those vehicles are TNTs."
"TNTs?" Andra asked.
"Treaded neutron torches," Obi-Wan explained. "They have fireball-shooting ca
He felt Andra stiffen beside him. "The pools…" she said. "The water used to be crystal clear."
Obi-Wan walked closer to examine a pool. As he leaned over, the cord on his survival pack dropped into the water. Steam rose in a hiss, and he pulled up the pack quickly. The cord had dissolved.
He looked up at Andra. "What happened?"
"I don't know," she said. "The pool must be contaminated. Let's look at the others."
They gathered a few long sticks and walked to the rest of the pools. When they submerged a stick in the black water, it was stripped of bark immediately. If they held it under longer, the stick itself dissolved.
"The underground spring that fed the pools must be contaminated with chemicals," Andra said. Her voice was thick. "My father used to take me here as a girl. We hiked every inch of the park and bathed in the steam pools. After he died, this was the only place where I could find comfort."
When she looked up, Andra's honey-colored eyes glittered with unshed tears. Obi-Wan didn't know how to comfort her. What would Qui-Gon do?
He remembered an incident back at the Temple. Jedi Knight Tahl had only recently lost her sight. She was feeling helpless and angry. He remembered how Qui-Gon had quietly acknowledged her pain, then given her something to focus on.
"I'm sorry, Andra," he told her. "If we expose them, we will stop them. It's not too late."
She nodded, biting on her lip to stop the tears from falling. "Let's do it."
Her mouth set in determination, Andra turned the holographic recorder toward the pools. Obi-Wan used his recording rod to sweep the area and record the equipment. He tried to find a logo or name on various items to indicate they were owned by Offworld, but he found nothing.
Obi-Wan frowned worriedly. "We can bring this back and show it to the citizens of Thani, but we need to co
"We can't let that happen," Andra said.
Just then they heard a noise. Someone was heading toward them. Obi-Wan gestured to Andra, and they quickly pressed themselves behind a gravsled.
Two surveillance droids rolled into view. Blasters were built into their hands. Their heads rotated constantly, infrared sensors glowing.
"All clear," one of them reported into a comlink. "Commence. Repeat, commence."
A loud noise suddenly pierced the air. The ground shook.
"What is it?" Andra asked, her hands against her ears.
"Let's take a look," Obi-Wan said. The droids had disappeared around the side of the malab slag hill.