"Maybe not," Dooku muttered, his head bent over the map.
"Do you have a better idea?" Hran asked.
Dooku didn't answer. He was thinking. What would Lorian expect him to do?
He would expect me to race to get a muja fruit first. He would expect me to send three Padawans to retrieve the fruit, and guard them with the rest. If they all didn't make it, I'd send back two.
He looked at the map again.
"Do you have a plan or, what?" Galinda asked impatiently.
Dooku looked up at last. "Yes," he said. "We're not going after the muja fruit at all."
They looked at him skeptically. Dooku only smiled. He would bend them to his will. He would make them see his strategy. Because he knew one thing on this day: He had to win.
Chapter 5
"Why expose ourselves to get the fruit at the start?" Dooku asked them. "Why not let the Gold Team try for the fruit, and pick them off one by one? We might lose a few team members, but not as many as they will. When you are intent on getting something, you take more chances.
Then, when no Gold Team members are left, we can simply stroll to the market, pick a fruit, and head back to the Temple. Simple."
"Sure, if we're able to pick them all off," Galinda said. "What if one of them gets through and makes it back to the Temple?"
"That is not an acceptable outcome," Dooku said. His coolness made the others exchange glances. Dooku had learned early that in order to inspire confidence he should not admit doubt.
Galinda was still skeptical. "But where can we set up surveillance?
There's not much cover in the market. We need good sight lines."
"I have a plan for that, too," Dooku said.