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Chapter 10 - Now We See
Previously...
“What are we going to do about it?” asked Anakin, his blue eyes wide at the sound of adventure.
Qui-Gon recognized the look his Apprentice was giving the former slave: the look that was pure Obi-wan-annoyance.
“We will be patient,” the Jedi Master replied, letting the smile that had been growing slide across his face as he waved a hand to his Apprentice, “Anakin Skywalker,
meet Obi-wan Kenobi. Obi-wan is my Padawan-learner.”
The boy’s already wide eyes grew even bigger as he took Obi-wan’s hand in greeting.
“You’re a Jedi too, aren’t you?” At Obi-wan’s slight nod, Anakin grinned and shook his hand harder. “Pleased to meet you!”[i]
And now...
Though he was amused at how taken the boy seemed to be with his Padawan, something in Obi-wan’s eyes concerned him. Exhausted as he was, he allowed his student to assist him in standing, then turned and asked, “Where is Alia? I am certain she would like to meet our guest.”
Obi-wan’s face remained impassive, but his eyes glanced at the boy, and at his sharp intake of breath Qui-Gon’s unease returned. A loud rumbling saved him from having to get rid of Ani rudely, and the Jedi Master smiled as he looked at the boy.
“Go on Anakin,” he said, his eyes kind, “Find the galley. I believe there you will find something to tame that stomach of yours.”
Grinning sheepishly, the sandy-haired boy nodded and ran off down the corridor, poking his head into various rooms until it seemed he had found the galley. Turning to his Padawan, Qui-Gon looked at him sternly.
“Tell me everything,” was all he said, his voice demanding.
And to his immense surprise, Obi-wan simply shook his head and replied, “Come with me.”
Troubled by his Padawan’s unusual reticence, Qui-Gon could only follow his Apprentice as they walked down the ship’s corridor. The feelings of uneasiness that had plagued him while in the spaceport that he had attributed to the presence of the Sith now suddenly returned, gnawing away at his gut as they came to the medical bay doors. Obi-wan’s stony expression did little to ease his anxiety, and the doctor’s haggard face once they entered the medical bay worried him even more. His Padawan led him over to the far side of the room where the doctor seemed to operating a scanner of some kind, checking readings from a figure in an upright stasis chamber. The doctor remained oblivious to their approach until a monitor began to flash and as he looked up, he managed to catch sight of the silent Jedi.
Shaking his head at Obi-wan, the doctor said, “No change yet, Mister Obi-wan. You know I can’t wake her until we reach Coruscant.”
“I have brought my Master to see her, Doctor Navras,” his Padawan replied, bowing low.
The shorter man took a look at the older Jedi, seeing the dust and sweat staining his rugged face, his dirty clothes, his shoulders weary from exhaustion and the heat of the twin suns. He gave them a tired smile that seemed to ease some of worry lines on his face.
“You must be the one who went to the spaceport,” the medic said dryly, placing the medichart he had been holding onto the table at his side.
“Yes,” said Qui-Gon, his eyes on Navras, “To find a replacement for the hyperdrive.”
With a quick and quiet grace the medical officer walked toward them.
“And a new charge, I hear,” the doctor said, sticking his hand out in greeting, “Heyla, Jedi. I am Jorda Navras.”
As the two men shook hands in greeting, Jorda noted that though the Jedi responded accordingly, his words seemed automatic, and on catching the direction of the older man’s eyes, Jorda realized that he had at last seen Alia. [i]/ That poor woman, / he thought when he released Qui-Gon’s hand, his mind wandering as he watched the two warriors move toward the frozen woman. / I wonder how she met them. They seem so concerned for her, yet I distinctly remember Gramms telling me Jedi were never concerned with anyone but themselves. / He knew he would never have answers from the men; he didn’t have the courage to ask his questions. / Damn Jedi, always so mysterious. / Jorda shook his head slightly at his train of thought, remembering how they had rescued the Queen on Naboo, thus saving his life as well. / At least they’re good for something besides contemplating the meaning of life, / he thought, rubbing the back of his neck. A low rumble shook his mind from the wandering path it had laid, bringing his attention to the here-and-now.
“It’s been a few hours since I’ve had something to eat, and I’d imagine it to be the same for the both of you,” he said, glancing at the thus far silent Jedi, “I’ll buy you both a drink and a meal if you’ll keep me company.”
Jorda shrugged at Obi-wan’s sudden stare, nearly smiling as the man’s braid whipped around his head.
“There’s no alcohol onboard, not unless your Master happened to bring some back with him from Mos Espa; but all men need to eat. Especially,” he added with a sardonic glint in his eye, “If they plan on just visiting the sick bay, not becoming patients themselves.”
A tight grin stretched across his mouth as he spoke, and from the half-hearted smile on the younger Jedi’s face, Jorda knew his attempt at humor had been understood. Another low rumble sounded, and from the slight, nearly transparent flush stealing across the Padawan’s face, Jorda knew at least he was normal. For a human, at least.
“Come on,” he said, making a beckoning motion.
But Kenobi turned back to his Master, almost as if he were waiting for permission. Jorda watched the older man seem to incline his head slightly, as if dropping from exhaustion. Whatever it was, it satisfied his apprentice, who turned on his heel and walked toward the door. Both men exited the medical bay doors and turned right, heading for the galley.
As they walked in step, Kenobi with his long strides and he with his own shorter, quicker ones, Jorda asked quietly, “Will he be alright?”
The Jedi replied affirmatively, and once they had reached the galley and retrieved some food to eat, they sat together in silence, each nourishing his body while their minds wandered to the woman frozen in the medical bay.
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Fighting had done nothing to appease his rage; if anything, it had fueled his hate to an even higher degree, but Darth Maul’s Master had not taught his student patience for nothing. Instead of taking his anger out on something, anything, he forced himself to control that anger, to use his hatred…bit by bit, though his rage was still there, as it always was, Maul felt the degree of control he had been taught take hold. Satisfied, he moved to his ship’s control panel and entered the coordinates his Master had instructed him to use for communication.
Lowering himself to a knee before the holoplatform, Maul prepared himself to meet with his teacher. As the grey-blue shape of his Lord Sidious came into view, a gruesome smile stretched across Maul’s face: though the Jedi had escaped, the Sith had made certain their battle was one he would never forget.
X X X X
It was a long time before the Jedi Master joined them. Once he did, however, Jorda immediately finished what was left of his meal and stood, giving the two men their privacy as he left to return to the medical bay. Without a word Obi-wan rose to get his Master something to eat, and when he returned he waited in silence until Qui-Gon was finished. His Master’s pre-occupation was growing more and more apparent with each passing moment, and as he finished off the last of the guava slices Obi-wan had given him, Qui-Gon looked up at his apprentice, his voice quiet.
“Tell me."
Without preamble, Obi-wan told him about Alia’s condition, and of Navras’ suspicions. Qui-Gon stood still in shock, unable to take in his Padawan’s account at once. He hadn’t sense anything amiss with Alia once they had escaped the blockade, he reflected dazedly; he had assumed she would heal just like everyone else.
“We all did, Master,” said his Padawan, though Obi-wan noticed he was distracted.
{ How could this have happened? } Qui-Gon thought, feeling an emotion akin to grief begin to shade his heart.
“I don’t know, Master,” answered Obi-wan, shaking his head, relieved when Qui-Gon turned his eyes on him, “Doctor Navras is continuing his observations of her condition, but he seems certain that it is this drakar that is the cause of it.”
Qui-Gon watched as his apprentice tried to suppress to a shiver, but failed.
“I will not lie to you, Master: her screams were terrible,” continued Obi-wan, oblivious, for the moment, of anything save for the memory of her agonized cries,
“They were penetrating…piercing. It was like they were…alive, like they were attacking me.”
He looked at his Master for a moment before adding, “It was almost as if I could feel her screams inside my mind. As if they were touched by the Force.”
“She is more than she appears to be,” Qui-Gon answered before sighing. It was past time for meditation on the subject of Alia. He hoped that it wasn’t past time for answers, as well.
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