The corridor was empty. The two thirteen-year-old boys paused outside the closed door. There were locks at the Jedi Temple, but they were rarely used. There was no need. There was nothing to hide. Nothing was forbidden. The Jedi's code of honor gave each individual the challenge and privilege of walking the Jedi path. It was assumed that the discipline needed for this would also prevail in one's private life.

So to enter another Jedi's room without an invitation would not violate a rule. Not one that needed to be spoken or written, at least.

Yet Dooku knew it was wrong. It wasn't terribly wrong. But it was wrong.

"Come on," Lorian said. "No one will find out."

Dooku glanced at his friend. Lorian's face was eager. A dusting of freckles scattered across his blunt nose like a dense constellation of stars. His eyes were warm, lit with mischief, a dark piney green with amber lights, like a forest shot with sunlight. Lorian had been suggesting schemes since they were seven, and he'd talked Dooku into exploring the garbage tunnels. The experience had left Dooku with a reeking tunic and a healthy respect for sanitation practices.

"Besides, he's your Master," Lorian said. "He wouldn't mind."

It was true that Thame Cerulian was Dooku's Master. The renowned Jedi Knight had chosen him last week. Dooku had just turned thirteen, and he was relieved that he wouldn't have to wait any longer to become a Padawan Learner. Yet he had not had time to get to know Thame at all.

Thame was in the Outer Rim completing one last mission before taking on a Padawan. Dooku was proud to have been chosen by such a legend.

The question was, could he live up to that legend? Dooku had to.

Getting a peek into Thame's personal quarters might give him a head start.

He nodded at Lorian and accessed the door. It slid open silently. He stepped inside. If he expected a clue to his new Master's inner character, he was disappointed. The sleep couch was narrow, pushed against one wall. A gray coverlet was folded neatly at the bottom. A data-screen sat on a bare table. No laserprints or holograms hung on the wall. No personal items were on the desk or the small table beside the sleep couch. There was a glass carafe with a small glass stopper.

The transparent vessel and the gray blanket were the only signs that someone actually inhabited the room.

"Wait," Lorian said. "I found something."

He slid his hands along a seam in the wall that was almost invisible.

He pressed a recessed button and the wall slid back to reveal shelves over the desk. They were filled with holobooks.

Dooku bent to examine the titles. Thame, he knew, was a historian, an expert in Jedi history. He had never seen most of these titles before.

Galactic history, biographies, the natural sciences of different atmospheres and planetary systems. It was an impressive library.

Lorian dismissed them with a glance. "You'd think he'd have had enough of studies after Temple training. I can't wait to get out into the galaxy and do things."

Dooku reached for a holobook with no title or author. He flipped it open and scanned a page.

Meditation beforehand is necessary in order to ready the mind. Some suffer from nausea or dizziness at first viewing. But primarily one must prepare for the effect of the dark side upon the mind, especially the young or weak. Nightmares and dark visions can result, lasting years…

"This is a manual about the Sith Holocron," Dooku said, his voice a whisper now. He handled the holobook carefully.

"The Sith Holocron? But no one can view it," Lorian said.

"That's not so. Jedi Masters are allowed. Not many are interested.

Most Jedi Knights think the Sith are extinct and will never return.

Except for my Master." Dooku gazed at the book. His stomach twisted, as though he'd gazed upon the Sith Holocron itself. "He believes there will come a time when the Jedi will have to fight the Sith again."

"Does this manual tell you how to access the Holocron?" Lorian asked, interested now.

Dooku flipped through it, his heart beating. "Yes. It gives warnings and instructions."

"This is so galactic," Lorian murmured. "With the help of this handbook, we could access the Sith Holocron ourselves!" He looked at Dooku, his eyes shining. "We'd be the first Jedi Padawans to do it!"

"We can't!" Dooku said, shocked at the suggestion. "Why not?" Lorian asked.

"Because it's forbidden. Because it's dangerous. Because we don't know enough. Because of a million reasons, all of them good ones."

"But no one would know," Lorian said. "You could do it, Dooku. You have a better Force connection than any Padawan. Everyone knows that.

And with the help of the holobook, you'd succeed."

Dooku shook his head. He put the holobook back on the shelf.

"It would be amazing," Lorian said. "You could find out Sith secrets.

If you really knew the dark side, you'd be a better Jedi Knight. Yoda says that we can't fight evil without understanding it."

"Yoda never said that."

"Well, it sounds like something he'd say," Lorian protested. "And it's true. Isn't that what Temple training is all about? All we do is study so we can be prepared. How can we prepare to meet evil if we don't understand it?"

That was the trouble with Lorian, Dooku thought. He had a way of putting things that made sense, even when he was asking you to break the rules.

He looked over at the holobook again. It was tempting. And Lorian had put his finger on Dooku's secret wish — to be the best Padawan ever.

He wanted to impress his new Master. Could the Sith Holocron be the key to his wish?

"We'll only take a quick look," Lorian said. "Just think, Dooku. The Jedi are the most powerful group in the galaxy. We could be the best of the best."

"A true Jedi does not think in terms of power," Dooku said disapprovingly. "We are peacekeepers."

"Peacekeepers need power, just like everybody else," Lorian pointed out. "If they don't have it, who will listen?"

Lorian was right, even though he wasn't expressing himself in what would be considered a true Jedi way. The Jedi did have power. Jedi did not use that word, but it fit. Lorian knew that, and he wasn't afraid to say it. Jedi were renowned throughout the galaxy. They weren't feared, but they were respected. They were asked by governments, by Senators, for their help. If that wasn't power, what was?