The Rising Force by Dave Wolverton Page A

justice you seek, Jemba,‖ Qui-Gon tried to reason. ―You hope only to satisfy your greed. Nothing will be solved this way. Put down your weapons.‖
    Qui-Gon called on the Force, trying to coax the Hutt to stop this madness. But for hours now he‘d been focusing on his wound, trying to speed its healing, ignoring his own pain. He was too weak to persuade the
    Hutt.
    Jemba waved a hand, as if testing the air. ―Ooh, is that your powerful Force I feel? Ha!‖ he spat. ―Your Jedi tricks are so puny, they make me laugh. They cannot work on the great Jemba. And look at you,
    Jedi. You‘d don‘t have the sense to stay out of the way of a vibro-ax.
    Anyone can see you are too frail to fight. There is nothing you can do to
    stop me.‖
    Fury filled Obi-Wan at the Hutt‘s taunting. He leaped past Qui-Gon, directly in front of Jemba.
    ―I can stop you!‖ he shouted. He brought up his lightsaber.
    Jemba‘s huge eyes narrowed in anger. The thugs who surrounded him stood their ground. They weren‘t afraid of a mere boy.
    ―What, Jedi?‖ Jemba said contemptuously to Qui-Gon. ―You send a child to fight me? Is this some insult?‖ Jemba looked to his right and left, and raised a huge fist. If he let it fall, Obi-Wan knew that it
    would be the signal foe his men to open fire. Obi-Wan would not be able to deflect more than a few blaster bolts.
    Qui-Gon reached out and touched Obi-Wan‘s elbow. ―Put your lightsaber away,‖ he said calmly. ―You can‘t win like this. If he opens fire, people will die needlessly. A Jedi must know his true enemies.‖
    Obi-Wan was shaking. He suddenly felt confused.
    ―What do you mean?‖ he asked. Sweat streamed down his face. ―Which one of them is our enemy?‖
    ―Anger is our enemy,‖ Qui-Gon said reasonably. He shot a glare across the room to Jemba. ―Greed and fear are also our enemies. The Arconans can live without dactyl for awhile. You do not need to fight now. Haste is another enemy.‖
    Obi-Wan saw the wisdom in Qui-Gon‘s words. He powered down his
    lightsaber, bowed to Jemba as if to a worthy opponent, and stepped back.
    ―A wise move, little one,‖ Jemba said. Then the Hutt broke into a
    deep laugh.
    He shouted across the room to the Arconans, ―I want workers. And I
    am willing to pay well.‖
    The Hutt‘s voice created a small echo. Behind Qui-Gon, Arconans began to mutter restlessly, almost a humming sound.
    Clat‘Ha shouted, ―Offworld doesn‘t pay its workers well!‖
    Jemba pounded his chest. ―I will pay in food and dactyl!‖ he said.
    ―For a day of labor, I will give my workers a day of life!‖
    ―You offer to pay these people with dactyl that you stole from them?‖ Obi-Wan asked. He could not believe what he heard. It was all he could do to restrain from launching himself across the room to hack Jemba
    to pieces.
    Jemba smiled hugely. ―Indeed. Those who work for me will live. Those who do not will die. What better pay could I give?‖
    The Arconans had been talking softly. To Obi-Wan‘s further amazement, some of them immediately began to stride across the room toward Jemba. More followed.
    Si Treemba hesitated, then joined them.
    ―Wait!‖ Clat‘Ha commanded the Arconans. ―What re you doing?‖
    said.
    ?The Arconans stopped and looked back. ―We are miners,‖ Si Treemba
    ―Whether we live under Jemba, or under another, it matters not.‖
    ―But, Si Treemba, what of your freedom?‖ Obi-Wan asked. ―You can‘t just give it up!‖
    Si Treemba looked at him sadly. ―You are our friend, Obi-Wan. But you do not understand. Humans may value freedom as much as life. But we do not.‖ As a group, the Arconans turned and headed toward Jemba.
    Obi-Wan struggled to understand his friend‘s words. Arconans were hatched in nests where they shared everything. On Arcona, they dug in the soil for deep roots that held water and food. They relied upon one
    another wholly. Once on Bandomeer, they would mine for Jemba. As long as their community