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.

Due to the fact that all types of emissions travel at the speed of light, communication with other planets is a quick process. For this, Qui-Gon was thankful. In only minutes the intercom was sounding. The aide punched a button next to it and exchanged words with the comm tech. Switching off the unit, he turned to face Qui-Gon.

"Asclu and Kavel both have reported no ship landings. As I said, they are sparsely populated. Most ships going there are supply or cargo ships which have very regularly scheduled runs. An unexpected ship would have stood out to them. I feel fairly certain that your apprentice isn't on either planet. I think we would know if he had landed at either spaceport."

Qui-Gon accepted the official's words without question. Then he pushed forward, "And what about the remaining two worlds?"

"It is as I feared. The coronal activity of our sun is disrupting our ability to contact Jastin and Narob. Storms in the atmosphere of the star cause immense clouds of ionized particles to be emitted into the space surrounding the body. It is a common phenomenon with stars. I'm sure you are familiar with it."

"Yes, I am. It is a problem all planets face because of the nature of stars." The Jedi turned and walked away from the aide as he thought. "I suppose I will be taking a trip across your system. I must go to these planets to see if Obi-Wan is there. Will there be a problem with that?"

"No, not at all. I will provide you with a letter of introduction to the governors of each planet. That should help things go more smoothly than if you just showed up unannounced."

"Thank you," Qui-Gon reached for the aide's hand. "You and your people have been very helpful to me. I appreciate the timeliness and magnitude of your assistance."

****

Once the apprentice had been able to collect his wits after that last assault on his mind, he had gathered his things and once more returned to the rugged pathway that he had been following for the last couple of days. He actually had been able to take his mind off his continued battle with pain. The memory of the battle that he felt he was waging for his mind was a fresh wound on his psyche. Obi-Wan had passed the time away wondering what that had been about. Was he losing his mind? Was it due to his concussion? Whatever the answer, it was a frightening prospect. Soon, however, his beaten body cried out for a rest and the physical pain once again took precedent. The exhausted and confused padawan located a cleft in one of the squat stony ridges and collapsed into a deep sleep without even taking the time for a meal.

Traveling in hyperspace was not the recommended practice inside a planetary system. Entering hyperspace and returning to normal space was a practice that required a lot of area to accomplish--one didn't want to enter normal space only to find a planet hanging in front of your windscreen. However, traveling at speeds just short of the speed of light still covered a lot of distance in a short time period. The millions of miles that Qui-Gon had to travel melted away like ice on a steamy Tatooine afternoon. He had chosen to visit Jastin, the second planet initially--simply because it was closer.

The Jedi had accepted the offer of a room for the night on Loard. He finally had to admit that he needed a decent night's rest. His conscience had pricked him at first--reminding him of the fear that he had felt from his padawan. However, he had been going at full tilt for 3 days with little rest and he knew that fatigue would soon begin to cloud his judgement. He certainly would be of no use to Obi-Wan if he started making major mistakes in the search for his apprentice. Having settled the argument with himself, the master settled into the room and meditated for a time to relax himself. Thinking sleep would come slowly he was surprised to find himself battling to keep his eyes open. The Jedi fell into a deep sleep almost immediately. When he had awakened this morning, Qui-Gon knew that he had made the right decision to take a break.

As Qui-Gon watched the tan, green, and blue sphere of Jastin grow larger in the viewing window of his ship, he thumbed the comm unit switch on the instrument panel and made contact with the spaceport. He received permission to land and was guided in quickly, since there was no other traffic waiting to make landfall.

The letter of introduction that had been provided by the government of Loard was very helpful to Qui-Gon. He found the local administration suspicious. As a colony, the majority of their off-planet contact was with Loard--and they had never met a Jedi knight before. The governor of the colony stared openly at the enigmatic tall figure in the flowing brown robe.

"I am Qui-Gon Jinn, a Jedi knight and representative of the Republic, from the planet of Coruscant."

The governor's eyes narrowed as he listened to the master's words. "A Jedi? The Republic? What are you doing out here? If you have business with this colony, you'll have to go through our home planet of Loard."

"I have just arrived from Loard. They were unable to make contact with you because of the solar storm."

"Yes, we've had problems contacting Loard. The storm should pass in a day or so. You'll have to wait until then..."

"That won't be necessary," Qui-Gon interrupted, producing the letter. "I have a letter of introduction that was given to me by the governor of Loard." He passed the letter to the colonial administrator and waited patiently while he read.

"Very well," the official conceded. "The governor says that I am to cooperate with you. What do you want?"

The Jedi knight explained yet another time about his padawan and his mysterious disappearance. The bureaucrat seemed unimpressed with the story.

"What do you want from us? We know nothing of apprentices or Republic transports."

"You've had no contact with a ship then, other than your regular cargo ships from Loard?"

"No, no, nothing. Until you showed up. We've not had any ship land here in a week now."

"And you've had no equipment problems? You can account for all ships coming and going from this planet?"

"From this planet?" the governor said almost in disbelief. "We don't monitor the entire planet. Just our sector. Baroon has colonies here too. We don't keep up with what happens on their part of the planet."

Qui-Gon felt a surge of hope rush through him. "But, for your sector. You are certain that there's been no unexpected traffic?" He considered for a moment. "How about if a ship crashed? Would you be able to detect it?"

"We would have picked up any ship in the atmosphere over our sector. And I can tell you without even looking that there has been no traffic in the last week. Ships are a big deal out here--especially unexpected ones. I would have known if anything had been detected."

I'm wasting my time with him Qui-Gon thought to himself. He has no desire to cooperate. "Very well, then, can you provide me with some form of transportation to the Baroon colonies?"

The governor sighed but thought that the best way to get this pest out of his hair was to give him what he asked for. "I can let you borrow a speeder. But not for long," he said shortly as he wagged a long bony finger at the Jedi. "I have a job to do, and I need that speeder to get it done." The administrator turned on his heel and said over his shoulder, "Wait here. I'll get someone to bring it round for you."

The master watched as the official stomped away and then he turned to attend his own worries. Once again Qui-Gon closed his eyes and concentrated on the force. Finally he had found a planet where there wasn't a definite "no" to the question of whether his padawan was on the planet or not. His hopes picked up a little at the thought that maybe he might finally be close to locating Obi-Wan.

As he sought the presence that he was so desperately pursuing, a surprise met him. The Jedi had located Obi-Wan's essence much quicker this time--and it was stronger than it had been before. Normally distance wasn't a determining factor in such. However, if it were true that the apprentice was not actively contacting the Force--and that he may be injured or incapacitated in some way, then Qui-Gon wasn't certain of the full ramifications of that. He had not faced such a circumstance before. He was hopeful that it might be an indicator that he was in close proximity to Obi-Wan.

Master Qui-Gon's ponderings were interrupted by a voice behind him.

"Excuse me, sir." A stout young man in a worn navy blue uniform stood stiffly, waiting for acknowledgement.

"Yes?" Qui-Gon replied.

"The governor asked me to take you to the shed and get a speeder signed out to you. It's just over here. If you'll follow me please." The youth turned and began walking away. He spoke again without looking to see if the Jedi was with him or not. "Here is your map. This is our colony." He pointed at a large red star near the center of the map. "The thick dark lines outline our sector of the planet. The first Baroon colony is here and there are two others farther out. When you get to Colony One, they can direct you to the other settlements."

By this time the two men had arrived at the shelter. The younger man proceeded to a desk and laid a data tablet on it. "Governor Tolu has authorized this man to be given loan of a speeder.

The desk jockey picked up the tablet and lazily looked it over with half-closed eyes. All he was looking for was the familiar scrawl of the head official of the colony. Once he confirmed that, he initialed the tablet and handed it back to the young man along with a key card.

The uniform walked to an aged vehicle without a word to the waiting Jedi. However, Qui-Gon followed at once, beginning to learn how things were done around here. Opening the door of the vehicle the youth dully said, as if it were a practiced speech, "The governor has authorized you two days use of the vehicle. Each speeder is routinely stocked with emergency supplies since this is a semi-desert environment and settlements are so distant from each other. There is a comm link tuned to our emergency channel should you need any help."

Qui-Gon listened carefully and looked at the map during the oration. Checking the scale of the map, he said incredulously, "Two days? It will take almost half that time just to get to Colony One."

"I have my orders, sir. If you require the speeder for longer than that you must see the governor."

"Which will, no doubt, take at least the same amount of time," Qui-Gon quipped, though he was far from a joking mood. Without another word he climbed into the vehicle and sped away thinking to himself if you want the speeder back in two days, Governor, then you may come and get it.

****

This morning had been the same for the padawan as the previous two. Awaking to renewed pain from sleeping on the cold hard rocks after a day of torturing his body rather than allowing it to heal. He was moving slower each day that passed. Instead of getting better, he was getting worse from the wear and tear of the journey. Obi-Wan found it very difficult to motivate himself this morning, so great was his pain and so fatigued was he. He thought about taking half a day to just rest. He knew it was risky. Limited supplies, no clue where the next village was--but he just couldn't encourage himself to go on. He soon quit thinking about whether to go or stay--and that made the decision for him. He pulled himself up for some breakfast and then just leaned back against the rock wall and rested. He would have liked to go back to sleep, but his aches wouldn't allow it. He just couldn't go on. What was he going to do? He was beginning to believe that he was going to die out here. His hope was slipping away fast, like the last sand in an hourglass.

He was content to stay where he was. He didn't move, not even a muscle twitch, for quite a long time. At long last the apprentice raised his head up and looked around. The sun was almost over head. Half a day was gone. He should get moving now. He'd had his rest, but his hope had not restored itself. There didn't seem to be any point in continuing and no amount of provocation seemed to be able to convince him to even get to his feet. The longer he stayed, the less he wanted to move. It was hopeless. He had no idea where he was or how to get to help. Even if he got help, then what? He didn't know who he was. What was he supposed to do with himself? Did he have a family? If so, where were they? He had no idea what kind of skills he had. What kind of living could he make? So his every thought was drawn into a whirlpool of despair--spiraling down and down--being sucked into an abyss of dark hopelessness. A single tear slid down his parched cheek as the padawan began to wonder what his life had been like.

******