The Clone Wars_ No Prisoners Part 24

"No, Master," said Geith. "I wish it were. It's about living the belief. I think our ascetic brethren have been co-opted by government. And government is usually about the exercise of power."

Ah, the little revolutionary firebrand; Geith had never trusted power. He didn't even enjoy using his own. That was what made him admirable. "And if the government had come to us for help instead of Yoda, would we have refused? We'll never know."

"This will end in disaster for all of us; you know that, don't you?"

Altis felt his stomach knot. Geith was always the one who thought the unthinkable. Someone had to.

"Then let's do the maximum good that we can while we still have breath in our bodies," he said.

Altis heard the crunch of boots behind him. Someone was steering a repulsor pallet, whistling tunelessly. Hallena Devis seemed a lot more at peace today than she'd been when he first met her. Had it only been a matter of days? They said a spy's life was nowhere near as glamorous as the holovids made out, but he doubted she'd ever set up field refreshers before. She seemed perfectly happy with the task.

Smart woman. Takes guts to walk out on the Republic. I do hope she remembers to take time to be with her gallant captain, though. In the meantime . . . she's safe with us.

"Where do you want this, then, Master?" she asked. The pallet was full of pails, drainage pipes, and duraplast containers of disinfectant. "We're setting these up outside the camp, yes?"

"Better make it thirty meters from the perimeter," Altis said. "Callista's in charge today. Perhaps we can reroute the water supplies from the town."

Hallena nodded and walked on with the pallet. Altis closed his eyes for a moment, remembered the intense pa.s.sions he'd felt in Anakin Skywalker, and hoped that someone would have the sense to channel those pa.s.sions rather than try to suppress them. He felt. . . foreboding. Anyone with that amount of raw power in the Force needed to be carefully directed, not put in harness.

Skywalker would have an unhappy future. Altis felt it. It was clear he already had an unhappy past. What that meant for the galaxy . . . but then one man couldn't change a galaxy.

I hope. Not even me.

There were no trees, just as Geith had said. So there was no firewood; funeral pyres were out of the question. The dead had to be buried, not only for disease control, but because Djinn Altis felt everyone had a right to end their time with dignity- even if in the rest of life it had been denied them.

"Please, fetch me a shovel, Geith," Altis said. "I have work to do."