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We're not home. If you wish to leave a text message, use the keypad."
"I have a message, all right," Obi-Wan said, drawing his lightsaber.
"We're coming in."
He plunged his lightsaber through the door. It disintegrated from the center out.
The house was dark inside. Obi-Wan stepped in.
Immediately, lights blazed. Sound blared. He heard the sound of rockets, and he fell to the ground and rolled, lightsaber ready to deflect.
Behind him, the Jedi moved in to flank him.
The walls flickered and pulsed with sound and light. It took a few seconds for Obi-Wan to make sense of it, then he realized every wall held a moving image, a holoprojection of a separate scene. One was a field with exploding novas in the sky — the famous shooting stars of Nantama. Another was of the mountains of Belazura. Another showed fireworks exploding over the translucent seas of Dremulae. All were popular vacationing spots.
The noise was at full volume — surf, fireworks, wind. So loud that at first he didn't hear the whirr of the seeker droids.
He was leaping before the others, cutting down two in a perfect swoop of the lightsaber. The droids peppered the walls with blaster fire. Smoke rose and the noise was deafening. The images flickered in beautiful colors of blue and rose and green while the shadows of the droids moved in menacing circles. The electric ping of the blaster fire crisscrossed the space, and each Jedi had to jump, whirl, and slash at the droids as they dived and circled.
Within minutes, the dozen or so droids were reduced to smoking scrap on the floor. Obi-Wan strode over to a panel behind the door and shut down the holoprojection system.
"Careful, that might be — " Siri started, as a secret blast door opened and three combat droids, the deadly droidekas, wheeled out and clattered to life. Blazing blasterfire raked the area where Obi-Wan had stood. Anyone but a Jedi would have been instantly a
"Booby-trapped!" Siri yelled, as she dodged the blaster bolts.
With deflector shields in place, droidekas were difficult to stop.
While the rest of the Jedi took a step backward, Anakin moved forward. He had studied the droids ever since learning about them, and knew the precise spot where their generators lay. He rolled onto the floor, for only an upward stroke could disable them.
The Force hummed in the room as Anakin deftly inserted his lightsaber once, twice, three times. The roar of blasters ended.
Now the floor was littered with droids. Other than that, the house was empty.
"Let's search," Obi-Wan said. "They might have left a clue."
Siri moved past a table. "The only thing they left was dirty dishes,"
she said, disdainfully pointing to several greasy plates on the table.
Other than the signs of a hastily abandoned meal, there wasn't a trace of the occupants to be found.
"We've come up empty again," Siri said in disgust after a few minutes of searching.
"It's Omega's style," Anakin said. "He knows how to leave without a trace."
Ferus nudged a half-open closet door with his foot. "Nothing."
Obi-Wan drifted to the table. He bent over the dishes. There was a scrap of roll on one plate, and a puddle of sauce on the other. He bent closer and sniffed.
"Gotcha," he murmured.
"What is it, Master?" Anakin asked, turning. Obi-Wan pointed to the plate. "That's Dexter Jettster's slider garnish. I'd know it anywhere."
Siri strode over and looked at the plate. "Congratulations. Our best clue is a garnish."
"It's a place to start," Obi-Wan said.
Siri nodded. "Why don't you and Anakin head over to Dexter's Diner and ask some questions. I think Ferus and I should study the water delivery system here on Coruscant. We know they're here. We'd better have a good idea of what damage they could do."
"Good idea. We'll be in touch."
Obi-Wan signaled to Anakin, and they left the house. Dexter's Diner wasn't far, lying in nearby Coco Town. They hurried through the crowded pedestrian ramps. The monorails were packed, and it was faster to walk.
They crossed through the plaza on the way to the diner. The buildings ringing the plaza were a mix of low-rent business and dilapidated industrial warehouses. Dexter's Diner crouched between the bigger buildings, its bright sign casting a red glow through the gray day.
Anakin started toward the door, but Obi-Wan stopped him. "Wait. Look who's inside."
Anakin peered into the window. Sitting alone in a booth, both hands cupping a mug, was Astri.
Chapter Eleven
Astri looked up, surprised, when Obi-Wan and Anakin slid into her booth. She had been so lost in thought that she hadn't seen them enter the diner.
"It's fu
"Well, he doesn't give away meals and drinks the way Didi did," Obi- Wan said.
She smiled. "That's true." She held up her empty cup. "He doesn't even give refills. But I like it here."
"Yes, those were good days," Obi-Wan said. "Things are more complicated now. Like the fact that your husband is trying to destroy the Jedi Order."
Astri's hands tightened on her cup. "I long ago made it a policy not to discuss Bog's politics."
"So what do you think about, then?" Anakin asked. His question wasn't confrontational. It was easy, interested. Obi-Wan was relieved that his Padawan had interfered so gracefully. He realized that he was deeply angry with Astri. He had expected better of her.
No expectations. Acceptance.
It was the Jedi way. And sometimes, so very hard to follow.
"My relief work," Astri responded promptly. "The economy of my adopted world, Nuralee, is failing."
"I didn't know that," Obi-Wan said. "The last time I was on Nuralee it was prospering."
She looked down into her empty cup. "That was probably some time ago."
Before Bog took office, Obi-Wan guessed.
"There are many too poor to buy food. I'm here on Coruscant briefly, just to attend a meeting to ask for help from the new All Planets Relief Fund and attend the inaugural ceremony. A Jedi team is acting as couriers and protectors for a shipment of food and medical supplies to Nuralee, and I must return to ensure it gets in the right hands."