Rating: PG
Disclaimer: The characters and venue of Star Wars belongs to Lucas Films Limited. I receive no profit from this story or its distribution.

Thus it was that Qui-Gon found himself seated at a table in a large conference room in an official building near the spaceport that he had landed at. The scene was very similar to the one that had transpired on Baroon. An aide to the governor had introduced Qui-Gon to the officer in the military force that oversaw the landing port. Upon hearing his story, the officer had left Qui-Gon in the room while he went to check out the available data on ship activity near the planet during the time in question. He sighed deeply. The officials did seem to be doing their job--efficiently and correctly--but slowly. Too slowly for the master's liking. However, he knew that his best chance of finding out if his padawan's ship was in the area, lay with the people who operated the sensing equipment in this system. So he sat back, closed his eyes and sought out comfort and peace from the Force.

****

Obi-Wan slowly drifted into a state of semi-consciousness. He didn't move, didn't open his eyes. The apprentice didn't do anything to help wake himself. As a matter of fact, he deeply longed to go back to sleep. In sleep there was relief from his suffering. In sleep he didn't feel the pain. In sleep he didn't remember that he didn't remember. However, try as he might, sleep was elusive and the pain demanded to be acknowledged. Finally Obi-Wan slowly opened his eyes. He was lying on his stomach under the rock ledge. He continued to lie there and just look out at his surroundings for several minutes. He recalled how stiff and sore he had become a night ago from sleeping on the hard stone and he was not anxious to begin another day of suffering. At last, however, the call of nature and his empty stomach convinced the apprentice that he would have to emerge from his rocky nest.

Oh so carefully and unhurriedly he drug himself from underneath the low shelf. Either his soreness was lessening or he was becoming used to it. The ache was still very much there, but it seemed as if he was somehow able to push it a little further back in his head. He didn't allow that to make him too confident, however. Obi-Wan was aware of the extent of his injuries and he wanted to do nothing that would worsen them. He could not afford anything else to hold him back. Soon he had to find someone to get help or food--or both--from.

As long as he made small movements and made them gradually, the pain seemed to stay at the same level of misery. It didn't feel any better--but it didn't make it worse. Obi-Wan got to his feet and sought out refuge from the sun so he could have something to eat and ready himself to continue on.

I guess I'm as ready as I'll ever be he said to himself a short while later. Hefting the pack to his back brought groans to his lips and tears to his eyes. Instead of lingering over the pangs that echoed through his body, however, the apprentice turned his thoughts toward evaluating his environment.

It was obviously a dry climate. There was only scattered vegetation and what trees were there were short and gnarled. The rolling hills that rose on either side of the rutted path were mostly bare rock. That reminded him of how important his water supply was. He had no idea where any ponds or lakes might be in this environment--indeed if there were any. However, if there were any creeks or rivers, the most likely place for them would be in a valley--where he was now walking. If there were naturally occurring water sources, Obi-Wan decided he was in a probable area to find one.

Having stumbled along the trail for as long as his battered body would tolerate, the padawan began looking around for a sheltered spot to rest when a glimmer caught his eye. Doing a double take, it was all Obi-Wan could do to keep himself calm enough not to break into a dead run. Hobbling along at as rapid a clip as he injuries would allow, he almost broke into tears of relief as he came closer to--a stream!! Water!!

The apprentice cast his pack aside and staggered to the edge and fell to his knees. The impact resounded through his assaulted body--however, right now, that was the last thing on his mind. He immersed his head into the cool water--washing away the sweat and dirt and drank until he thought he would burst. The water was so wonderfully chilly--and wet! Hmmm the padawan thought just the thing to soothe my hurts. If it's cold enough, it might even numb them some.

He gingerly removed his Jedi garments and stepped into the nippy brook. As he walked to the middle, the rising level of cold liquid caused him to catch his breath. Very slowly and carefully he lowered himself into the water. He found he could comfortably sit on the streambed with the water coming almost to shoulder level. It was invigorating to the poor abused padawan. He closed his eyes and just relaxed. As he hoped, the temperature of the rushing water did help to deaden the ache that racked him. That was just the bruises, swelling and abrasions however. The inner injuries still assaulted him. Any reduction in pain he was grateful for, so he didn't complain, but merely enjoyed the respite.

After awhile, Obi-Wan knew that he would soon have to get moving again. As much as he hated the thought of leaving the oasis behind, he recognized that he still had to get back to civilization. Reluctantly he hauled himself from his wet perch and waded back to where he had dropped his clothes.

Obi-Wan was glad to be putting his clothes back on while his body was still somewhat numbed from the cold water. He remembered the friction between his abraded skin and the garments when disrobing earlier. While replacing the belt about his waist, the apprentice was reminded of the metal cylinder he had pulled from the wrecked land speeder. He looked around for a place out of the sun and settled himself for a rest. He turned the cylinder around and around in his hands. There was that feeling in the back of his mind again--something just at the edge of his remembrance. There was something about this that he should recall--but it wouldn't come forward. He activated a switch on the side of the tube and blue flame shot forth. Startled, but somehow not totally surprised by what happened, Obi-Wan stared at the flickering blue column of droning energy that sizzled the air as he drew it back and forth before his gawking eyes.

Suddenly, the padawan dropped the weapon and grabbed his head--more out of astonishment than pain. The feeling he'd had the day before--like someone else being in his head--was back. It was as if someone were trying to put words into his head. There seemed to be a presence there that was different from his own. Something foreign, intruding. He tried to resist it--feeling that if he listened to it or gave ground to it, it would take him over. Losing his own memory was upsetting enough--this attempt of...whatever it was...trying to get into his head was terrifying. Obi-Wan forced himself to think on anything other than what was being fed into his head. Concentrate! Concentrate! You've got to beat this. Don't let it take you! By now the apprentice was rolling on the ground in his heated attempt to resist. Just as suddenly as it had come, the presence was gone. Gone without a trace. He was huffing and sweat was beaded on his forehead from his frantic battle. Obi-Wan just lay still on the ground to gather himself and to let his aching body relax.

****

Qui-Gon was startled out of his meditations. That was the strongest he had been able to sense his padawan in the force since this quest had begun. And what he sensed unsettled him greatly. Fear--intense fear was the only thing he had been able to sense. He felt more strongly now that wherever Obi-Wan was, he was in great trouble.

The governor's aide interrupted the Jedi's ruminations.

"Ah, we have some information for you now, sir. This is the chief of the crew that was working the sensory equipment on the shift when you project that your apprentice would have arrived in this system. He will be able to answer your questions."

The chief offered his hand to the Jedi and inclined his head in a bow. "Sir, I have rerun the data disks from my shift and we have no indication of a transport such as the Republic shuttle you mentioned. We have no record of such a ship landing at any of our spaceports. Neither is there a manifest on record of having come from Coruscant."

"How certain of you of your information?" Qui-Gon asked hollowly, his mind still on the fear he felt earlier.

"I thought you might be interested in that, under the circumstances. Here are the disks from the equipment check that my crew normally runs at the beginning of each shift. I have reviewed them and there were no equipment errors. Further, I looked at the equipment check run by the crew of the following shift. Again, everything checks out. I have examined every piece of data that I could think of to see if we could have missed the ship entering our atmosphere. I apologize for keeping you waiting, but with a missing person, I took the liberty of checking all possible sources of information to see if we could have missed his ship entering our atmosphere. I don't think we could have. We have extensive planet wide surveillance apparatus. It all checks out as being in proper operation." The chief hesitated and stole a glance at the aide before he continued. "I even checked our planetary seismography sensors."

"Seismography? What for?"

The chief coughed and cleared his throat, "Uh...in case there had been a...crash. Those sensors would have registered the impact." The sentence was left hanging.

"I see. It seems you have been very thorough in your investigation." Qui-Gon looked away as he weighed the implications. "I appreciate all you have done, chief. Thank you for your help."

The crew chief bowed shortly and hurried out without another word. Qui-Gon turned and walked to the window as he began to decide on his next course of action. He was having trouble seeing past the memory that had now burned into his mind of the pure horror that he had sensed from his padawan.

The aide was still present and he quietly asked, "Is there anything else that I can do to assist you, Master Jedi?"

"I can't think of anything, sir. It sounds as if your people have done all I could ask of them."

The aide paused to consider for a moment and then asked, "You are sure he came to this system? There are many systems in the galaxy and..."

"Yes," Qui-Gon interrupted, "I am quite sure he came here."

"I didn't mean to question the young man's integrity, it's just that..."

"No, you don't need to explain," Qui-Gon replied as he rubbed his drawn face with his hands. "I owe you an apology for being short with you. I'm just...worried." Now that he had put it into words for the first time, it seemed more real. It was no longer just an abstraction in his head, putting his apprehension in words had some how made it seem more likely. The Jedi closed his eyes and took a couple of deep breaths. He needed to refocus instead of letting himself get carried away with his emotions right now.

"I certainly understand your concern. You need not apologize. You seem quite tired. Can I provide you with quarters for a short rest?"<P. now."""

The aide crossed to a wall-mounted intercom and put in his request to the communications center for the required messages to be sent to the colonies. "Now we must wait," he said quietly, as turned back to the Jedi master.

Qui-Gon turned back to the window and closed his eyes, reaching out...

******