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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 112 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 ca
"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 0-Lana," Obi-Wan declared.
They were almost to the wall when Qui-Gon felt the surge in the Force.
But all he saw was a field of green grain.
"They are here," he said to Adi.
She nodded. "I feel it, too. But where?"
Qui-Gon crouched down. He put his hands on the dirt. He closed his eyes. "Here."
He felt vibrations. Ru
"We've been spotted," Adi said.
They activated their lightsabers as the Security Guides thundered toward them. The Guides were armed with blasters.
The Guides were not used to skilled opponents. Qui-Gon and Adi used their lightsabers to deflect fire only. Working in perfect tandem, they flanked the guards and spun and evaded while they maneuvered them backward.
A utility shed stood at the edge of the field. Qui-Gon and Adi moved the Guides back toward it, step by step. The Guides stumbled, tried to rally, and fell back.
When they were almost to the shed, Qui-Gon circled around and opened the door. Then he leaped over the Guides to face them again. Together with Adi, he drove them into the shed. Then they closed and locked the door.
"Now what?" Adi Gallia asked. "No doubt they are calling for help on their comlinks."
"We find the way in," Qui-Gon said.
Obi-Wan and Siri quickly cut a hole in the door.
They found themselves in an infirmary. Children and young people lay on sleep couches. Some were hooked up to monitors. Others were attached to tubes. Some of them opened their eyes as the Jedi passed, only to stare at them dully. Obi-Wan wondered if they were given sleep potions.
O-Lana lay in a crib with high sides. Crying softly, she pulled herself to her feet when she saw Obi-Wan and Siri.
"You must not cry, O-Lana," Obi-Wan told her soothingly.
She stopped crying. Then she held out her arms and looked directly at Davi.
After a glance at Obi-Wan and Siri to make sure it was all right, Davi picked up the child and cradled her against his chest.
"I'll protect her as we go," he promised.
They hurried out of the infirmary and headed for the exit ramp. The next guard patrol was moments away.
But luck wasn't with them. They turned the corner and ran straight into a group of Security Guides about to change shifts.
Surprised, the Guides fumbled for their weapons. Obi-Wan and Siri activated their lightsabers. They glowed in the dim hallway, and the Guides stopped momentarily, even more surprised. They had never seen lightsabers before.
"Stay behind us, Davi," Obi-Wan ordered.
He and Siri moved forward. This time he knew she would not fight for herself. She would fight with him, for all of them.
Blaster fire pinged around them, and their lightsabers met it, a blur of speed and motion. They covered each other and leaped high, dropped to one knee, reversed direction, changed hands, all without pausing. Protecting O-Lana and Davi was their only objective.
An alert sounded. One of the Guides must have activated it. The halls rang with a clanging alarm. Obi-Wan heard footsteps pound behind them. Soon they would be surrounded.