This was not a crime the Republic took lightly.

Lundi himself had confessed to the crime. In fact, during the trial he'd boasted about momentarily having the Holocron in his hands. It wasn't easy to get his statement. His rants sometimes lasted days, ending only when the mad Quermian collapsed. Even then, after he'd been bound and put in a cell so that he couldn't hurt himself — or anyone else — he continued to twitch and mutter angrily in his sleep.

"Weak child," Lundi growled, glaring at Obi-Wan through the bars of his cell. "You are nothing. Nothing."

Obi-Wan stared back at the professor. His feelings for Murk Lundi had not changed in ten years. The professor's evil and insanity thoroughly repulsed him, and Obi-Wan would have liked to remain as far from Lundi as possible. But he could not defy the Council's decision. An assignment was an assignment.

Obi-Wan had been surprised when he and his Padawan, Anakin Skywalker, were summoned to the Temple earlier that day. Out of the blue, the mission they were on was taken over by another Jedi team. This had never happened to Obi-Wan before. Whenever he and his deceased Master Qui-Gon Jinn or he and Anakin were assigned to a mission, they always saw it through to completion. At least until now.

As they'd made their way through the Temple corridors, Obi-Wan had noted that Anakin was annoyed by the abrupt shift in plans. The thirteen- year-old apprentice had clearly been enjoying himself on the originally assigned mission — it allowed him to tinker with the weapons systems on a sleek ship.

"This better be good," he'd grumped.

Obi-Wan had counseled the boy, telling him that even if it wasn't "good," it would certainly be important. Anakin had merely rolled his eyes as they'd entered the Jedi Council Chambers.

Obi-Wan had momentarily marveled at this. As a Padawan learner, entering the Council Chambers always made his palms sweat, his heart race.

An incredibly important place to be, it never failed to make him slightly nervous. Anakin never showed signs of nervousness upon entering the Council Chambers. He simply walked right in, as if it were the home of an old friend.

As soon as he and Anakin had entered the Chambers, Obi-Wan knew that whatever had brought them there was serious. All of the Jedi Masters were present, and the expression on Yoda's face was unusually grave.

"Rumblings once again about the Sith Holocron on Kodai there are,"

Yoda said, not wasting any time. "Planning to recover it someone is."

Obi-Wan had felt a wave of fear go through him. He'd been having troubling dreams and visions for several nights. At first he hadn't been sure why. Then he'd realized that almost exactly ten years had passed since he and Qui-Gon had first followed Dr. Murk Lundi to the Sith Holocron. The moons of Kodai would soon be in synchronous orbit, once again causing an amazingly low tide. And that was when attempts were made to recover the Holocron.

"That is not all," Master Ki-Adi Mundi added. There was a moment of silence in the Chambers before he went on.

"Jedi all over the galaxy have been receiving threatening messages about the Sith gaining power. Some of these messages contain images of Jedi being brutally killed."

Mace Windu cleared his throat. "At first we believed these threats to be the work of trivial criminals out for attention," he said. "But given the dangerous nature of the information in the Holocron and the fact that the Sith have returned, we must treat these threats very seriously."

"Take action immediately, we must," Master Yoda said, nodding slightly. "Fall into the wrong hands, the Holocron must not. Give the Sith such a victory, we must not."

Standing before the semicircle of Jedi Masters, Obi-Wan had briefly closed his eyes. He could feel his body filling with dread and wanted to let it wash through him. Doing so had not been easy.

Obi-Wan knew that he and Anakin were the obvious Jedi team for this mission. After all, he was more familiar with Lundi, the Holocron, and Kodai than any other living Jedi. But it was not an assignment he looked forward to — or even felt comfortable with. Not only was he without the help and guidance of Qui-Gon, but his Master had died at the hand of an emergent Sith Lord.

"What's the matter, Jedi?" Lundi spat. "Lost in a memory?"

Obi-Wan was jolted back to the moment. Something wet splattered across his face. Lundi's saliva.

"You'd better wat — " Anakin started to shout protectively. But Obi- Wan quickly raised an arm to quiet his Padawan.

Calmly wiping his face with the sleeve of his robe, Obi-Wan gazed back at the professor. He would not show anger or frustration. Though he desperately wished he could go on this mission without this crazed, evil being, he knew he could not. Their best chance of stopping anyone seeking the Holocron was to have Lundi's wealth of knowledge — however garbled and menacing — with them.

Obi-Wan stared into the old Quermian's visible eye, searching for a glimmer of repentance or sanity. Either one would grant him a small sense of hope.

But as Murk Lundi glared back at him, Obi-Wan saw neither.

Chapter 14

Anakin took a small step forward, trying to see into the Quermian's eye. It was a difficult task, since his head bobbed and weaved like a bird's. Anakin knew this to be a symptom of insanity. As a boy on Tatooine, he'd seen some of the street dwellers do the same thing.

But this was different. Standing in front of Lundi's cell in the mental hospital, Anakin felt intrigued. There was something strong here — something powerful.

Anakin noted how Lundi's uncovered eye narrowed to a dark slit as he glared at Obi-Wan. It burned with a fiery hatred. He'd never seen anyone look at Obi-Wan like that. It was a little unsettling. Of course, Anakin would have chosen unsettling and interesting over boring any day. Today someone had chosen it for him.

Suddenly Lundi lunged forward, thrusting his head and long Quermian neck between the bars. Anakin leaned back as Lundi began to rant about the Holocron yet again.

"Moons are moving. Tides are turning," he rambled. A few of his gangly arms waved in the air. "I knew you would not stay away. None have.

They all come to me. Crying. Begging. Screaming. 'Teach me, professor. Show me the way.' They think I have failed. But we know different, don't we?" He stared Obi-Wan down, then went on, almost as if he were talking to himself.

"Yes, of course we know different. We know I did not fail. I could not fail. I held the power. In my hands I held the power. That is different from failure. But then I was robbed! Robbed by robed thieves on a mission of peace. Here, Jedi. Have a piece of this!"