"Visions can only show us what may be," Obi-Wan said. "Granta Omega can do great harm now."
A buzz of conversation began among the Council Members. Mace Windu consulted with Yoda. Adi Gallia leaned over to speak with Even Piell. It was highly unusual for the Council to break into private consultations. The gravity of the issue caused it. There were too many important questions connected with it.
"Go, Obi-Wan must." Yaddle's soft voice stopped the Council Members.
Everyone turned to her with great courtesy. Yaddle rarely spoke, but when she did, she always seemed to sum up the conclusions they would have reached eventually.
She blinked her light gray-blue eyes, which were so like Yoda's.
"Suffering we cannot allow in order to prevent what we fear. Stop it we must when we can."
Yoda leaned forward on his gimer stick. "Correct, Yaddle is. Has your Padawan recovered, Obi-Wan?"
Obi-Wan nodded. "I have arranged transport. I can be on Haariden by sunrise."
"Dangerous it is," Yoda said. "Soon, the eruption will occur. Take chances you must not."
"May the Force be with you," Mace Windu said, concluding the meeting.
He still looked troubled.
Obi-Wan bowed. He left the Council chamber and hurried directly to the med clinic. Every moment counted.
Anakin was sitting up on the med couch, swinging his legs. He was pale, but he looked up at Obi-Wan expectantly.
"I hear you are cleared for duty," Obi-Wan said. "Are you sure you are fully recovered?"
Anakin nodded. "Yes. Where are we going?"
"Back to Haariden," Obi-Wan said. "We're going to watch a volcano erupt."
Chapter Fifteen
As the Galan starfighter shot through hyperspace, Anakin had some time to rest and think.
The rest he needed. He did not want to tell Obi-Wan that even though the drug had worn off, his senses still felt blurred, as if there were a veil between him and everything else. But he knew the veil would lift. He could feel clarity returning with every passing minute.
What he did not know was how to sort out his feelings about Granta Omega. He was not na?ve enough to think that evil announced itself by knocking on one's door with an iron fist. But he had not expected evil to come cloaked in quite so much charm.
He had enjoyed the earlier time he'd spent with Granta Omega. When he'd known him as Tic Verdun, he had laughed at the things he said and felt warmed by his friendship. They had not known each other long, but Anakin had to admit it: He'd felt kinship with Tic. On Haariden, he had offered him friendship. He had made him feel a little less alone.
How could he reconcile his feelings with the knowledge that Omega's one desire was to worship at the heart of evil? An evil that had murdered the one being who had saved Anakin from a life of slavery: Qui-Gon Jinn.
Obi-Wan had been in the small ship's library, checking the geological reports on Haariden. He came to sit by Anakin. "Not too much longer. Is there something you want to discuss with me, Padawan?"
He wasn't ready to talk about it. "No," Anakin said. Obi-Wan hesitated. "Before I arrived, did you talk much to the others?"
Anakin nodded. "They fed me false information about Granta Omega. They were making things up to tease me even as he sat right in front of me. I see that now. I feel foolish."
"It is not something to feel foolish about. Those who set out to deceive are the true fools." Obi-Wan paused. "And Omega himself? What did you think of him?"
The gentleness in his Master's tone undid Anakin's reserve. "I liked him," he burst out. "How could I like such a being?"
"I would guess that is because he is likable," Obi-Wan said dryly.
His Master's calmness made Anakin feel better. "Shouldn't the Force have alerted me to the dark side in him?"
"Not necessarily," Obi-Wan said. "The Force is not a truth-detector.
We can rely on it, but we can't expect it to save us. We must save ourselves. We must use our own intuition, our own intelligence. Your feelings about Granta Omega don't have anything to do with the Force. They have everything to do with experience."
"Meaning I don't have enough?"
"Maybe," Obi-Wan said. "Perhaps I wouldn't have picked up on Omega's true character, either. But I have seen enough to know that evil can wear a charming face, my young Padawan. Charisma is not a virtue. It's a trait. It is not good or bad. Evil people can possess it. They often do and it is what makes them dangerous."
"He says he is a seeker, just as the Jedi are," Anakin said. "He says the Jedi fear the Sith, but they know nothing of them."
"He is wrong," Obi-Wan said. "The Jedi have deep knowledge of the Sith. Have you forgotten that one of them killed Qui-Gon?"
"That knowledge is with me every day," Anakin said quietly. "But it is also part of the problem. When I think of evil, I see that Sith Lord's face. I do not see Granta Omega's."
"Evil has many faces," Obi-Wan responded. "It can masquerade as vision. One must look beneath the words, beneath the mask."
An indicator light flashed. Obi-Wan sprang to his feet. "We've arrived."
Obi-Wan slid into the pilot's seat. Anakin sat next to him. The starfighter shuddered slightly as they came out of hyperspace. The planet of Haariden lay ahead.
Obi-Wan entered the coordinates for landing. He shot Anakin a quick questioning look. "Are you ready to face him again?"
He was not sure, but he knew he had to be. "I am ready, Master."
He felt the dark side of the Force gather as they entered the planet's atmosphere. As they drew closer they could see the large areas of land that had been laid to waste by war.
"I am not happy to see this place again," Obi-Wan murmured.
The craft skimmed over the foothills. Obi-Wan landed in a valley near an outcropping of trees.
"We need to keep clear of the eruption site," he said. "We'll track Omega on swoop bikes. According to Jocasta Nu, we have about an hour before the volcano begins to erupt."
"Not much time," Anakin said as they hurried toward the stowed swoops.
"It will have to be enough."
Anakin swung his leg over the swoop. He was feeling better, but heaviness still seemed to hang on him, clouding his mind. The med staff had assured him that the drug was completely out of his system. He was not sure why he wasn't feeling himself yet. He suspected it had something to do with the dark feeling of doom he received from this planet.
They took off on their swoops, gliding over the hills and heading for the rugged mountains ahead. One mountain pushed high above the rest, seeming to thrust itself out of the planet's core. It was topped with snow, its peak hidden in the clouds.
"That's it," Obi-Wan said. "That's Kaachtari."
They pushed the swoops to maximum speed. The air turned colder as they rose to higher elevations. Suddenly, Anakin saw a column of steam spurt from the ground below. He swerved the swoop just in time to avoid being scalded.
"We're in the danger zone now," Obi-Wan said. "Be careful."