So that's it, Qui-Gon thought. The Council believes one of Dr.

Lundi's followers gathered the information that was found on Korriban.

Qui-Gon looked up to find Obi-Wan already gazing at him knowingly.

Neither of the Jedi needed to say a word — their next move was clear.

It was time for a crash-course on the Sith.

Chapter 2

Obi-Wan pushed his way through the crowd of students and toward the back of the room without worrying about being spotted. It was not hard to lose himself in the throng.

The students on Coruscant were so varied that you would have had to be on fire to get even a second glance. Besides, Obi-Wan and his Master were the only ones not desperately pushing forward, trying to get a word with Professor Lundi before class started.

From his spot against the wall, Obi-Wan could just make out the Quermian teacher's head swaying slightly on its long neck in the middle of the crowd. Apart from his advanced years and the small black apparatus covering one of his eyes, Murk Lundi looked a lot like the Jedi Master Yarael Poof. He was the same species, and had the same commanding presence.

But there was something very different about Dr. Lundi, something chilling that Obi-Wan couldn't put his finger on.

Across the room, Qui-Gon was also watching the professor, his eyes narrowed in steady focus. Had he noticed something else? In the din Obi-Wan considered contacting Qui-Gon on his comlink to hear his thoughts. But at that moment Dr. Lundi raised several of his arms, signaling that class was about to start.

More quickly than Obi-Wan could have imagined, the hoard of students found seats and the room fell silent. The course hall was enormous, yet every chair was taken. Every spot to stand or lean or sit was filled by a student, and at least a dozen hovercams recorded the professor's every word for the students who could not fit inside the room.

Obi-Wan surveyed the crowd. Not only was the turnout impressive, but each student sat with rapt attention. After half an hour they remained riveted — there was no sign of drifting or feeling drowsy. Obi-Wan had hoped to spot a few students who seemed unusually drawn in or somehow conspicuous. As it turned out, he was the conspicuous one for looking around while the professor was speaking.

At the front of the room, Dr. Lundi paced in the narrow space not taken up by students. Taking small steps on his long legs, his body seemed to float as he spoke. Every now and then he paused, clearly enjoying his position and his ability to make the crowd hold its breath in anticipation of his every thought.

Murk Lundi was not at all like the teachers Obi-Wan had at the Temple. In the Temple, Obi-Wan's instructors were like partners in learning, guides who wanted to help him discover things for himself and not just force their own opinions.

Obi-Wan did not appreciate the learning style he was seeing today.

Yet the more he listened to Dr. Lundi, the more he wanted to hear. Soon he, too, was waiting for the professor's next word.

"No being besides the Sith themselves has ever seen a Sith Holocron.

There are rumors. Yes. There are also drawings and legends and myths.

However, most historians believe that the Sith were so protective of their knowledge that they destroyed it themselves before letting it fall to the unworthy. After all, we are talking about beings who killed their Masters when they had learned all they could from them." Lundi paused and looked at his students with a sly smile. "Should I be nervous about graduation day?"

Then he went on.

"Some scholars contend that the Sith did not use Holocrons at all, that they would not have been so foolish as to store so much power in a crystal that I could hold in my hand." The professor paused, gazing at one of his outstretched palms. "More power than this galaxy has known in a long, long time.

"However, if there is one thing I have learned from my lifelong study of history, it is this: Every myth is based on a small seed of truth. One has to delve deeply to find it. But it is there, below the surface, waiting to be discovered."

Obi-Wan was not sure how much time had passed before he forced himself to close his eyes and bring his mind back to the task at hand. Murk Lundi made the Sith more real than any late-night ghost story, but that was not why Obi-Wan was here. He had to stay focused.

But by succumbing, even for a short time, Obi-Wan understood Murk Lundi's hold over his students. Dr. Lundi's fascinating subject was made even more so by his own intelligence and charisma. Lundi's power over the students was impressive. And more than that, it was dangerous. Lundi's students seemed likely to believe anything their teacher said without question, and the way he spoke about the dark side made it sound enticing.

Could they be inspired to delve too deeply?

Obi-Wan focused once more on the students. It had to be one of them, or someone like them, who had assembled the Sith lore on Korriban.

A small group in the first row captured Obi-Wan's attention. The four students sat front and center, leaning forward whenever the professor spoke.

The first, a dark-haired humanoid, nodded at the end of each of Lundi's statements. Next to him, a redheaded boy was so riveted that he held his hands just above his desk as if he had been about to fold them in his lap but froze when the professor began to speak. The third boy was transcribing every word on a datapad, in spite of the fact that he had his own small hovercam recording the entire lecture. Last was a girl who clung protectively to a coat and document case that Obi-Wan guessed belonged to Dr. Lundi.

Suddenly a yellow light went on over the desk of the dark-haired boy in the front row. Obi-Wan quickly realized that the light alerted the professor that a student wished to ask a question.

Dr. Lundi stopped in mid-sentence. His head swiveled on its long neck, and Obi-Wan caught an angry gleam in the Quermian's uncovered eye.

But the anger disappeared when the professor saw who had dared to interrupt him. The humanoid boy was obviously a favorite. Dr. Lundi even called him by name.

"Yes, Norval?" he asked.

Norval stood. "Please forgive the interruption, professor. I only want to know if it is true that the Sith were more powerful than the Jedi."

Dr. Lundi laughed lightly, as if Norval's question was childish. "Of course," he said. "Power and vengeance are much stronger motives than peace could ever be. The Sith could have easily controlled the entire galaxy had they not made their one mistake — "

Dr. Lundi was interrupted by a tone signaling the end of class.