Covalent Bonds

Chapter 8

Anakin sprawled atop a boulder on the slope of the mountain where he had nearly lost Obi-Wan, unfeeling of the cold despite his scant attire. The clouds drew down again, shadowing the valley, making the whitest of nerfs into gray blobs. Their herding beast rested with its mate in the midst of the flock, always attentive, and a lone nerfherder sat playing reed pipes on another wide block of stone half the valley away.

Anakin could just hear the melancholy tunes. As if he could see through them physically, he stared toward the clouds in the direction of Siskeen, the gas giant in the system that also contained Olanet. He thought of the most precious thing he had lost, Shmi. She is under the sand, under a stone. It still hurts after three years, but I think it's hurting less today. Will I feel this way about Obi-Wan, if his time comes before mine? He is sixteen years older. He had lost Padmé, too, but Padmé still survived to do her work, more important work to the galaxy than his own. Jedi worked for all beings, true, but they saw wrongs and worked around them, coming back to the Temple for spiritual recharging, reporting the galaxy's woes in a dispassionate way, tempering their powers to aid a little bit at a time. Padmé started committees to end the wrongs on a grand scale. Padmé supervised the committees in all their mind-numbing diversity, Gran and Nubians and semi-transparent Praci that even he had problems with looking at straight on, and she remained strong and committed. If Padmé had the Force, or a Force-sensitive ally, she could rule the ga--- No. She wouldn't do it, for all her compassion. Her intelligence would warn her that the danger would be too great to become megalomaniacal if she would turn the Republic into an almost-theocracy, though that wasn't quite the right term. If I hadn't killed Palpatine, she'd still be Senator, that is if she hadn't decided to retire to ... to do ... What? And what would he retire to? Teach, probably. Obi-Wan's changed image in Anakin's imprinted version of him gnawed at his mind. Obi-Wan's going through some changes and it's something to do with Siskeen, or the Kaer orbital platform circling it. I feel it. A vision arose of Obi-Wan falling again, this time in clear space, dropping without Anakin to break his fall. Anakin gasped. He closed his eyes to regroup his senses. After a while he sat up to meditate. Years ago, he would have been off the mountain like a shot, seeing with his own eyes that his Master was safe, but now was different. Now he tapped their bond, felt it strong and sure, and relaxed. But not overly much. He crossed his legs in the lotus position and breathed deeply.

xxxxx

Ferus reached into the Living Force and meditated his tiny headache away. Atop another boulder twenty-five meters in the distance sat Anakin, looking similarly occupied. There was a cool green cast to his aura to Ferus' eyes, a ghostly echo of the planetary sky. On impulse, he scrabbled across the slope, his boots cascading small rivers of gravel downwards. He approached Anakin, a little abashed to interrupt the Chosen One's quietude.

Anakin's long lashes still shaded his cheeks. "Ferus."

"Anakin." Ferus settled against the boulder, crossing his long legs, folding his hands to tuck them into his armpits to warm them. "Colder today."

"Yes." Anakin broke the surface of his meditation, clearing his head and resting in a basal state. It was that state he treasured most, generally lasting less than one minute. Ferus was adding to his contentment, the way Obi-Wan used to after they had had a passion-filled night together. Anakin studied the young Knight from under his lashes, the Jedi his equal in physical stature, his superior in rank, near-equal in age. Their eyes met as Ferus endured the perusal and conducted his own. The clouds parted and the sun burst into brilliance, spotlighting the camp far below and making the small stream that supplied their water sparkle. Anakin has blue eyes with hints of hazel, never noticed that before.

"You can get your clothing back now."

"Yeah, I get that the med-techs were being super-cautious when they yanked away our robes and Obi-Wan's armor for fumigation."

"They looked panicked. If any Jedi so much as sneezes, the clones go into a tizzy." Ferus sighed. "Maybe they'll be cured soon. At least the damage wasn't fatal."

"Obi-Wan had been pessimistic before our laying on of the Force, then he brightened right up. I'm trying to figure it out."

"I'll leave."

"No, you don't have to. I've already worked on it. I do best in baby steps, sometimes. Think about things, meditate, put it away for awhile."

"How do you and Master Kenobi get along so well?" Ferus blurted.

Anakin saw how the gold streak in Ferus' hair was styled like Obi-Wan's auburn glory, falling forward in an endearing flop. For the first time, he spied a thread of silver in it. It's the war. We've changed. He stretched out a hand to his former and forever teammate and hauled him up to sit beside him on the boulder. "Who says we do?"

"Well, everyone. At least lately." Not when we were little.

Anakin's grin turned into a wide smile. "We're ordinary, Ferus. We have fights like all couples."

'Couples?' Oh. Oh! "Erm, well, uh, you handle them superbly. I never guessed."

Now I know how Master Yoda feels. Questions, questions. "All it's like is, is getting along together, give and take. Obi-Wan is better at some things than I am, well, nearly everything else, and I know better than he does about other ... stuff." My dream-purpose. Have not meditated on that in a long while.

Ferus lay back on the cool boulder, folding his arms under his head. "If things were now like they were years ago in the Order, you wouldn't be able to get away with calling him 'Obi-Wan' since you're still a Padawan."

"Thanks for reminding me."

"No, I didn't mean anything by --- "

"It hurts, sometimes. Other times, I don't really care. It happened because of some things two years ago that I did and I agree with Master Yoda's ... assessment of me and of the situation, I do." Anakin lay alongside Ferus. It helped that they looked up at the scattering flyaway clouds and not at each other. "But I'm human."

"You're our Chosen One." It was a statement of fact.

"Nevertheless, I'm human, I'm in the Order as the oldest Padawan." What could be wrong between you and Master Tachi that you've come to me? Better to go to Obi-Wan. "Something on your mind, Ferus?"

"This will sound stupid, but Siri thinks that you could have benefited by her or another female's influence when you first got here, at nine. I think you're all right, and I told her. I managed to hold in my temper."

"Temper, you?"

Why does everyone say that? "Yeah, me. Why do you ask that? I'm just as human as you are." What could have happened for him to be disciplined? Do I want to know? "Whatever it was two years ago, you won't be a Padawan forever. I've heard rumors that the war is winding down. Master Yoda is working very closely with the Supreme Chancellor and the Vice-Chancellor in particular to gain control over Dooku and Grievous."

"Grievous can't be controlled. The nanobots were his invention, I'm certain of it, and it was a public relations coup for the Separatists that they developed a weapon that uses our resources, clones and medical personnel, incapacitates them both so that med techs and medical centers must care for them longterm. Unless Master Koon discovers a cure, the troopers will never be able to return to combat, they'll live curtailed lives until the clones' lifespans end, maybe in as little as ten years. I don't think Dooku, for all his cruelty, could have thought up something that time-consuming or far-reaching. Dooku wants to win right now."

Ferus lay on his side, wrist propping up his cheek. Anakin smelled his aftershave. "Anakin, Dooku was a Jedi and now he's Fallen. He might want to win right now, but he's not above thinking evil thoughts that resulted in evil actions like condemning the clones to 'peripheral neuropathy,' I think I heard the med-techs call it. Grievous crushes his enemies to bits, Dooku hates them but he just wants them out of the way quickly so that he can push his so-called 'ideals' onto the Republic."

"So you think Dooku is worse than Grievous because Dooku was once Jedi?" Anakin found the cyborg worse than Dooku, merely because Anakin's own hand and arm made him realize how much he had in common with Grievous, the feel of metal where there once had been living flesh. Anakin experienced a grim sort of fun with his arm and his mods to it afforded his own imagination room to soar. From time to time he thought of wielding a built-in weapon so that he would never lose his lightsaber again; the thoughts of any circumstances where he would lose it made him shiver. Then there was the whole matter of relearning balance, implementing new katas to reinforce his style, coming up with a completely new form to utilize the strengths of the built-in aspect of the 'saber ... no. Maybe when the war ended, as it surely must this year, he would experiment in the salles like Plo Koon did in his laboratory.

Ferus threw his cloak over Anakin's bare calves. "Remember what Coach said, don't cramp up."

Anakin smiled into Ferus' eyes. "Thanks, Flank Middy."

Ferus smiled back, then sobered. "But about Dooku, I think his background as a wealthy person might warp his priorities. He'll want to keep most of that wealth for himself, even though he has billions of credits. He'll not want to spend much on anything to help his side if it will mean hurting himself."

"Or it might mean that all those years of Jedi parsimony burned into his habits."

"Ha, ha! I h-hadn't looked at that way, Anakin."

"Feel well enough to wrestle?"

"No, not real--- "

"We can be gentle. I could strengthen my back, got a little stiff --- "

"Basic stuff, okay, I can handle that."

The two Jedi slid down from the boulder onto a small level patch of velvety new grass. They squared off. "One for the credits, two for the show, three to get ready and go, Jedi, go!" They grappled at half-strength, tender with each others' limitations. Ferus did sweep a leg to knock Anakin off his feet, but Anakin bounced back up and headlocked Ferus, who elbowed Anakin in the stomach. From there on out, they worked up a light sweat before stopping, gasping for air, laughing like the two young warriors they were. "Come on, let's get your clothes, Anakin."

"All right. I am feeling chilled, now."

"Here." Ferus draped his cloak over Anakin's shoulders, just barely making a cover over his flesh arm while allowing the mechno-arm to fend for itself. He flung the rest of the cloak over himself. They started back down the mountain, pressed tightly together, walking in tandem. The nerfherder continued playing.

xxxxx
What are they doing up there? Our bond is flat. I know he touched it at one point. Obi-Wan strained his eyes towards the two young Jedi. Siri stepped up beside him. She had wrapped her cloak over her fumigated unisuit so that only her head and boots were visible. "It's cold. They need to come down before the sun sets."

"They're coming now."

Siri squinted. "Can you see that well? I can't."

"Maybe you're still a bit under the weather, Master Tachi."

"You can call me 'Siri.'"

Obi-Wan glanced sideways at her. "That will be a tough habit to break after all these years ... Master Tachi."

"Kenobi, I just realized something about how lucky we are to have those two young men in our lives. It gives us something in common."

"There's no such thing as luck."

"Have it your own way. They're the next generation of Jedi. I want to set a better example for Ferus. Help me out here?"

"He's not your Padawan any longer. He has other influences than you."

That's right, start a fight. Take us back to square one. Siri drew three calming breaths. "I might join the Force tomorrow. You might join the Force tomorrow. Think about that, Master Kenobi." She turned to go back inside the med-tech tent, where the techs wanted yet another blood sample for their ongoing stream of data to Plo Koon's lab.

I'm feeling better than I have in over two years. I'm not letting this throw me. "It's 'Obi-Wan.' If you wish it."

"Well, thanks." Siri resisted the urge to sniff. I'll take it. "Luminara, our mutual friend, pointed out something when I talked to her just now. We won't be taking on any new Padawans until the war ends. We can't bring 'tweens with us out here and it's not --- it wouldn't be right to pick them and then abandon them. It might be some time before we can be at the Temple for them in their first year or so, getting them used to training with us." Luminara, thanks for this tip on how to broach this subject.

"So we should be grateful for my Anakin and your Ferus?" Well, this is new, coming from you.

"Yes. And on Olanet, until we four leave it which should be soon, we can ... be comrades. Like Jedi ought to be." That's it. I've given in enough. Your turn, Kenobi.

Maybe. I'm not getting any younger and grudges take a lot of energy. "Here they come," he waffled. "They look like twins at this distance, don't they?"

"Remember their first trip to the scramball finals? They roomed together on Euceron." Ferus was seventeen.

Anakin caught a cold from Ferus. "Yes. Their first big trip with the team. You were chaperon."

"I like sports."

"I do, too."

Both young men had contented, pleasantly-tired auras, Obi-Wan noticed. "General Kenobi, where's Anakin's gear?" Ferus gestured towards Anakin's feet in their regulation sickcall slippers. "He's needing more than this --- "

"Here, I've got all of it. Padawan, they need another sample --- "

A swarthy face appeared at the open tent-flap. "General, sir, before you return to your cabin for the night, I'd like to discuss your bloodw--- "

"I am feeling just fine, thank you. Another time, please, tech. Anakin, give them what they want and let's leave."Meanwhile, in hyperspace ...

"Again." Grievous blanked all thought and pirouetted on one foot, raising his two lightsabers overhead in a whirling ball of light. He kept spinning like a gyroscope, the weight-bearing foot scraping the Sheathipede-class transport's durasteel deck in a way that he knew drove Dooku mad. He spun faster, nearly making sparks.

"And extend your extremities ... now."

I'll pretend I cannot hear over all the screeching. Grievous continued whirling, moving his lightsabers back and forth to create a mesmerizing effect. He added a graceful tilt.

"Extend extremities this instant." The command enhanced by the Force, there was no way that Grievous could deceive Dooku any longer. He extended one foot down low to build his equilibrium and then followed the movement with his arms also held low, but the balance was fatally compromised and he began a swaying back and forth that could only end in a topple, which it did. He pulled his dignity around him as he locked the upper set of arms into the lower ones. The duranium foot had gained friction heat during his many revolutions, but it would not do to hop about in front of the Count. A pointless exercise in my humiliation. Dooku, your time on this physical plane is limited. Grievous sketched a shallow bow.

"Milord, the maneuver was unique. May I ask what enemies we are anticipating by whirling in this fashion? Is the plan to mesmerize them with the lights, or induce neurological fits with the strobing?"

"It is enough that I ask you to do the exercise. I trained you and will continue to train you. You are at my disposal at all times, is that clear?" That's an entirely possible scenario. I had thought only to debase him, but his mind truly is inventive. The nanobots proved that. "You're to man the Kaer orbital platform. I've decided to implement the crystal cloning of droids whose plans the Kaminoans graciously donated to our grand Cause."

"Surely milord recalls that Kamino is now Republic territory. The cloners will not be on hand should we encounter problems, which is likely with any new project of this magnitude." Could I acquire an upgrade to crystal?

"I have faith in you. I trained you. You shall prevail." You're such a bore with your puny collection of lightsabers. Good riddance to you. "Take this transport. Drop me off at Serenno. A communique of the utmost urgency awaits me there." I made the list of privileged bidders in the select auction.

He's got that greedy gleam in his eye again. Lord Sidious, your evil was purer than his. "And your staff could not forward the message on to you here, while you are conducting my important training exercise? Shall I behead them for you, milord?"

"I shall consider it. Your devotion to duty is to be commended. You may pilot me to my home now." Time for a liedown. My age demands it, and Serenno's custom of afternoon naps I heartily condone. "I shall retire to study our battle strategy on Olanet. A great success deserves more study."

"By your command, milord."

TBC

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