"So that is why our mother sacrificed her life," Guerra said. "She thought even as a servant, she could give Terra love. Maybe bring back part of the girl she knew." Guerra shrugged. "Yet is was never so. Terra did not change. Duenna still remains. She will stay and watch over her daughter? no matter what she is. No matter what she has become."

Chapter 11

That night, Guerra and Paxxi shared their cramped quarters with Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan. It was a tiny room in the small house that Kaadi shared with her family. She had insisted the brothers stay with her once she'd found them, and she'd welcomed the Jedi just as warmly.

They bedded down for the night on blankets spread on the floor. Paxxi fell asleep immediately, and Qui-Gon was in the state the Jedi called restful-sleep-in-danger, his eyes closed but a corner of his mind alert at all times.

Obi-Wan could not sleep. He could not stop thinking about what it must be like to lose you memory. He could not imagine anything more terrible. He had worked so hard at the Temple, made deep friendships, learned so much from the Masters. What if all that was taken from him?

"Are you awake, Obawan?" Guerra whispered from the blanket nest to him.

"Yes," Obi-Wan answered softly.

"Yes so, I thought so," Guerra said. "I heard you thinking. You are still angry with me?"

"I'm not angry with you Guerra," Obi-Wan said. "Maybe I was impatient with you. You never tell the whole truth."

"Not so," Guerra whispered. "Oh, I lie. You are right, Obawan, as you are always. I sense that you do not agree with the decision of Jedi-Gon to help us."

"Not so," Obi-Wan said. "… Or so. Maybe I lie."

"Ah, you tease me," Guerra said mournfully. "And this I deserve from you, I know."

"Why didn't you tell me about your sister?" Obi-Wan asked.

"Terra." Guerra murmured. He let out a gusty sigh. "She is my enemy, is she not, and yours? Yet it was not always so. You must believe this. If you could have known her as a child! Sunny and bright and eager! And funny! She was our tagalong, we called her, my good brother Paxxi and I. Baftu took all that was good and erased it, then filled in the spaces with hate. You see why we must crush them, Obawan? That is why Duenna risks so much? she and Paxxi think if the Syndicat is no more, they can reach Terra again."

"Do you think so?" Obi-Wan asked.

Guerra sighed again. "No, friend," he said. "I do not. But I hope so. Just as my family does. In some cases, some strong-minded beings can resist the effects of the memory wipe. They can hold on to flashes of memory. Just scraps of things? a face, a smell. A feeling. I fear it is not so for Terra. It has been so long for her. I have not the belief that my good brother does. I have only this tiny hope in my heart."

"It's something to hold on to," Obi-Wan said.

"Yes so," Guerra said quietly. "So if I tricked my friend, if I maybe did not tell him everything in the beginning, maybe my good friend Obawan will understand and grant me help again."

A pause stretched out between them. Obi-Wan's irritation at Guerra left in a rush. He saw the terror and pain that Guerra had lived with. Just as on the mining platform, when Guerra had covered his fear of certain death with smiles and jokes, here on Phindar he would do the same. Qui-Gon had been right to help them. Obi-wan knew that now.

"Of course, I will help you," he whispered, but Guerra was already asleep.

* * *

The following night, Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon, Guerra and Paxxi slipped the armor coats over their clothes and donned visors. Under the shelter of the overhang, they watched the activity at the warehouse by the spaceport.

There didn't seem to be high security. Syndicat members entered and exited the buildings without showing passes. They would only have to pretend to be delivering a shipment for cover. Or at least the hoped so.

Paxxi and Guerra had worked all day to father authentic-looking supplies. Although their containers were marked "Bacta" and "Medpacs," they were actually filled with old circuit parts. But at least they would have something to carry inside.

"As soon as we're inside, we should split into two groups," Qui-Gon instructed. "Guerra, go with Obi-Wan, Paxxi with me. We'll start at opposite ends and meet in the middle, if we can. If you can locate your goods and find the anti-register device, leave. If we can't find it, we all exit the building in twenty minutes. We can't take any chances."

"But what if we don't find it?" Paxxi asked.

"We try again," Qui-Gon said. "We can't risk being discovered. The sooner we get out of there, the better." He turned to Obi-Wan. "Don't forget to keep your hands in your pockets so that no one can tell how long your arms are. We must look like Phindians."

Obi-Wan nodded. The four walked quickly across the courtyard. At the door of the warehouse, Qui-Gon barked out, "Delivering bacta," to the guard at the door. The guard waved them through.

Inside was a vast, high-ceilinged space. Row after row of transparent shelving units went from one end of the building to the other. Each shelf was piled with bins and cartons. Syndicat members in silver armor coats loaded supplies onto floaters, then headed for the large loading dock in the rear.

Paxxi and Guerra stopped, their faces registering shock. Obi-Wan knew why. Here was row after row of everything the Phindian people desperately stood in line for. Med supplies. Food. Parts to make their speeders run, their droids and machines operational. All hoarded by the Syndicat. The brothers had known this, but seeing it all with their own eyes must have been like receiving a blow.

"Keep moving," Qui-Gon said in a pleasant tone that hummed with urgency underneath.

Hands in his pockets, Obi-Wan headed off with Guerra to the far end of the warehouse. They quickly strode down row after row. Other Syndicat members sometimes passed them. They would nod and keep going.

"This is easy, Obawan!" Guerra whispered. "So glad we stole these coats!"

Suddenly, the comlink in Guerra's coat began to signal him.

"Guard K23M9, report in," a voice said. "Explain whereabouts."

"It's probably a routine check," Obi-Wan murmured.

Guerra activated the comlink. "Warehouse delivery," he said.

After a pause, the comlink crackled. "Unscheduled. Explain."

Guerra looked at Obi-Wan in a panic. "Tell him he's mistaken," Obi-Wan whispered.

"Not so!" Guerra said rapidly into the comlink. "Orders received." He shut off the comlink.