For the first few minutes Jesson’s efforts were unrewarded; then a hologram blossomed before them. The glowing image was a schematic of the entire room, the chamber itself.

They could see a narrow shaft beneath the gold seal, and at the bottom of that shaft, behind a thick shield, lay two precious eggs surrounded by a laser array. Tentatively, he reached out through the Force . . . but the mechanism controlling the array was too complex for his understanding. His heart sank. There was little question that the array would defeat any efforts he might make to circumvent it. How he wished that Anakin were here! His Padawan learner was an intuitive genius with all things mechanical, and might well have devised a means of defeating this apparatus. Obi-Wan felt helpless.

Thankfully, his X’Ting companion had survived to enter the capsule. Their only hope of success lay in Jesson’s four capable hands.

Jesson took the controls as if he were playing some kind of complex musical instrument.

Obi-Wan could hear varying sighs and squeaks, and the X’Ting warrior answered the calls in a blur of finger-play across the control board.

Finally the schematic floated to the left. A spherical target shape appeared, its three layers rotating above a core resembling the egg chamber.

Three concentric layers. Obi-Wan’s mouth felt dry.

He glanced at his wrist chrono and was astounded. Had only an hour elapsed since they had first entered the catacombs? Since they had left the X’Ting council chamber? It felt like days!

An X’Ting voice with an interrogative intonation sounded, followed by a voice speaking in Basic. "Answer the following question: What is in the hive but not of the hive? What nurtures but is nurtured, what dreams but never sleeps? "

Jesson took a deep breath. From a belt pod he extracted a flat rectangle. "This is the last remaining key chip, " he said. "I have only three chances, but I think that we will succeed. "

"Do you know the answer to the riddle? " Obi-Wan asked.

"Yes, " Jesson said confidently. "It is the Zeetsa. They live in the hive but are not X’Ting. They give to us, but in turn receive nourishment and care. They dream but are aware. " His certainty increasing with every motion, Jesson placed the card in its slot.

There was a soft blur, and the voiced of the scanner said: "Your answer? "

"The Zeetsa, " Jesson said.

There was a pause. The sphere began to rotate more swiftly and the outer third began to peel away, the pieces dissolving as they did. Jesson sat, astounded, as the voice said, first in X’Tingian and then in Basic:

"Incorrect. "

Jesson stood from the chair, eyes wide and disbelieving. The voice said: "Sit down, or the session is terminated. "