Secrets and Suspicion (Book 1)

Jedi Camp

When they arrived at the blown-up base in Florrum, the Jedi eagerly got off of their ships for some fresh air.

Mace, Obi-Wan and Anakin all met in the center of the ships.

"Well, that quite a long ride," Obi-Wan said sarcastically. Anakin had, after all, beat Obi-Wan to the rendezvous point, and overall, beat him to the whole planet.

"Just a friendly little competition, Master. Nothing to worry about," Anakin said.

As Obi-Wan gave him a hard stare, Mace cleared his throat. "Business," he reminded.

"Right," Obi-Wan said. "Business. As you know, we'll be digging, of course, to extract more information about the base and Grievous's purpose for constructing it. So, Anakin brought the shovels, and some other supplies, as well as food and water for the 10 days we'll be here. Right, Anakin?"

Anakin nodded.

"Incase you weren't informed, Anakin, Mace and I decided to tag-team bringing the research books and holocomputers."

"So, do we start now?" Anakin asked.

"Yes. I say we start now," Mace replied.

Anakin ran to get the shovels. When he came back, he carried them in both hands. He handed them to both Mace and Obi-Wan, also keeping one for himself.

Anakin dug into the rocky, rough dirt. And by the time it was nightfall, the trio was hot and dripping sweat.

He sat back on his feet. "That was more tiring than I thought," he said.

"Wasn't that quite the fun and exciting day," Obi-Wan commented.

"Yes," Mace said. "Tomorrow, we jump down in this hole and research the leftover parts of the catacombs. They weren't very deep."

"Yes. I suppose. Well, I'm going to go set up to go to sleep." Obi-Wan stood up.

"Yeah. Sounds like a plan," Anakin grunted as he stood up also.

"I'll gather the last of the items around the makeshift campsite we've set up here...," Mace said, looking around at all 3 ships forming a circle, the Jedi having worked in the middle of it all day.

Anakin walked up the ramp of his ship and pulled a blanket out of a shelf over top of his bed. He unfolded the big blanket, shaking it out. It was thin, but he could make do. After all, Jedi Knights have other, worse things to worry about other than being cold.

He heard a noise in the cockpit and walked in to find an animal, a Kowakian monkey lizard, like the one Hondo Ohnaka keeps as a pet. Anakin hated those things. They were like humans, greedy, and they were pests.
"Come here," Anakin said gruffly. The creature tried to move away, but Anakin was to quick for it, grabbing it by the tail and dragging out from under the dashboard. He walked to the back door, still holding it by the tail, tossing it down the ramp. "Stay out," Anakin said, pressing the button which shut the door.

He grabbed the blanket from his bed, sitting down on the edge. It was getting late, and he would need plenty of rest for the next day. He laid down on his back, pulling the blanket over him. It had been a long day, but not anything out of the ordinary for Anakin.