"Senator Sauro has succeeded in utilizing a little-known procedural item called a sitting Senator's right of refusal," Mas Ameeda explained.

"This has allowed him to block the order to reveal for an indefinite period. Senator Sauro is on an important committee on redistributing trade routes, and he petitioned the Senate Procedural Committee on that basis."

Tyro Caladian bristled. His fur stood out in sharp points. "I have never heard of a right of refusal," he said. "This is outrageous!"

Mas Ameeda stared at Tyro. It was clear he did not appreciate being lectured to by such a young aide. "It is a little-known rule, rarely used.

The Committee had to go back three hundred years into the archives to find it."

"But procedural rules are discounted when they haven't been renewed and ratified within the last hundred years!" Tyro Caladian sputtered. "This is a clear violation!"

"It is a gray area," Mas Ameeda admitted. "Technically the Committee is in charge of interpreting all rules, so they have the right to enforce them. It is a… surprising decision." He turned to face Obi-Wan squarely.

"Senator Sauro must have wanted to block your order very badly."

"I'm sure that is so," Obi-Wan said.

Mas Ameeda inclined his head. "The Supreme Chancellor wishes me to tell you that he did everything he could. He regrets the decision of the Committee but cannot overrule it. He hopes that you will be able to track Granta Omega some other way. He realizes that it is in the best interests of the galaxy for you to do so."

"Please extend my thanks to the Supreme Chancellor," Obi-Wan said.

Anakin could not believe his Master could keep his composure. To have come so close, and to be defeated by such a petty rule! It was unfair. How could his Master accept this ruling?

Mas Ameeda bowed gravely, then walked slowly out the door, his heavy robe swinging.

Tyro's fur was still raised, and his small eyes snapped with fury.

"I'll fight this," he told Obi-Wan. "He won't get away with it. I'll draft an appeal."

"Do what you can, my friend," Obi-Wan said. "Yet I believe you will not succeed. My guess is that Sauro got to someone on that committee. I think that was what Mas Ameeda was insinuating." Obi-Wan put his hand on Tyro's shoulder. "Thank you for all your help. My Padawan and I will find another way."

Tyro looked crestfallen. "If ever you need me again, Master Kenobi, I am here for you." He raised a furred hand, fingers spread, in the Svivreni gesture of goodbye. Then he hurried from the room.

"Master, Tyro is right," Anakin said forcefully. "This is outrageous.

Can't we break into Sauro's files?"

Obi-Wan folded his arms in the way that let Anakin know that he had gone too far.

"If we were discovered, it would undermine the Senators' trust in the Jedi," Obi-Wan said.

"There's got to be something we can do!" Anakin exploded. "We can't let him win. He's probably laughing at us right now!"

Obi-Wan gave him a severe look. "You should not be concerned with Senator Sauro's reaction. What does it matter if a corrupt man laughs at us? It should be less than the whisper of a gnatfly's wings to us."

Anakin stared at him. "He has made fools of us."

"No, Padawan," Obi-Wan said firmly. "If your path is the right one, no one has that power. Those who seek to make fools of others are fools themselves."

"I don't understand you," Anakin said, shaking his head. "You are just as upset as I am. I can feel it, Master. I know how much you want to find Granta Omega."

"Cultivate outward calm and inward calm will come," Obi-Wan said.

"This is the time when the Jedi lesson of inner balance can help you.

Accept the setback, and move on."

"How?" Anakin asked. "Where?"

"That is a question that is easy for me to answer," Obi-Wan said. "The Council has called on us for a new mission."

Anakin felt his anger drain away. "Do you know what it is?"

"No," Obi-Wan said. "But I will admit this — wherever it takes us, I will be glad to take a break from Senatorial politics."

Chapter Two

To teach was easy. To be an example — well, that was another thing.

Obi-Wan had wanted to pound the floor and shake the very walls of the Senate. But with his Padawan by his side, he had too many reasons not to.

He had drawn on his years of training in order to present a serene face to his apprentice. He knew Anakin struggled with his own patience. It would be damaging for Obi-Wan to show his frustration in front of him.

Anakin was sixteen years old. Impatience was wired into his being.

Despite Anakin's strong Force connection, it would most likely take years before he developed true inner balance.

Obi-Wan, on the other hand, was supposed to have it already.

Obi-Wan drew a deep breath. It wasn't just the frustration of dealing with the Senate bureaucracy, blood-boiling as that was. It was the nagging feeling that if he didn't track down Granta Omega soon, their next meeting would be on Omega's terms. Obi-Wan didn't have anything concrete to go on.

Yet he felt strongly that the darkness he felt around Omega somehow had to do with Anakin. The sense of urgency he felt was very real.

As they accessed the turbolift to the High Council tower, Ferus Olin walked up and nodded a greeting. As usual, the Jedi Padawan looked impeccable, his tunic spotless, his dark, gold-streaked hair drawn back severely in his Padawan braid. Even his utility belt gleamed from a recent polishing.

Obi-Wan turned to him, surprised. "You have been called as well?"

"Yes. My Master will join us in the High Council chamber."

They stepped onto the turbolift. Obi-Wan noted the cool nod Anakin gave in response to Ferus's greeting. So the two were still rivals. Perhaps being thrown together again would be good for both of them.

The three stepped out and entered the Council chamber. A majority of the Council was there, surrounding the trio in a semicircle. Outside the floor-to-ceiling windows dark clouds collided, threatening rain. A sudden bolt of lightning flashed a jagged streak of blue against the dark gray sky.

Mace Windu turned from where he'd been contemplating the coming storm.