From: Katrinka Warnings and Notes are on Part One Part Two: Searching "Are they going to kill Master Qui-Gon?" Maybeus asked as they arrived at the Namur embassy. "I hope not." Obi-Wan said, willing any other possibilities out of his mind. The guard stopped them, and Obi-Wan showed her their passes. They were let inside, where she then called for Maybeus's parents. Obi-Wan and Maybeus waited inside the courtyard. A woman and a man entered the courtyard. The woman strongly resembled Maybeus. She looked at them strangely. "I am Brak Balan. Can I help you?" "Ms. Balan, I have a delivery for you." Obi-Wan explained. "It's Ms. Brak. On this planet, the custom is for the family name first." Maybeus took off his veil. "Maybeus!" Balan yelled. She ran over to him, and took her son into her arms. "Mother! I've missed you so much..." The boy began to cry. They were soon joined by Maybeus's father, Brak Juruta. Obi-Wan stepped back a few paces, meaning to slip away. Juruta looked at Obi-Wan. "Is there anything we can do to thank you?" "Seeing him back with you is enough." "He's lying Father." Maybeus said seriously. "His Master, Qui-Gon was arrested by the authories. They didn't believe he was a Jedi." "Is that true?" "Yes, it is." Obi-Wan admitted. "I'll take care of it then." Balan promised. ********************** "Lawbreaker!" the guard sneered at Qui-Gon as she gave him another hypospray, the fourth since his arrest. He had been awake in this holding cell for about two hours, and didn't know how long he had been sedated. Qui-Gon flexed his muscles. He was bound to a chair by his arms and legs. No matter how he tried to move, the bindings wouldn't come off. He tried to use the Force, but he couldn't feel the midi-chlorians. "Why do you give me injections?" Qui-Gon asked. "The authorities would like you still be here when your trial takes place." The woman smiled. "If we didn't give you the medication, you would escape." "It takes away my ability to talk to the midi-chlorians." "Exactly. But if we took away the midi-chlorians, then you would die. Then we could have no trial." "When do I go to trial?" "Tomorrow morning. Your verdict is guilty. You will be stoned a few minutes after the trial." The door to the holding area opened. A woman came in, followed by a police official and a man, heavily veiled. The man stood in the back, his head down. "How is the prisoner?" the official asked. "He just received his fourth injection." replied the guard. The woman whispered something to the official, who then said, "There is a 50 percent chance of his Jedi powers returning." The veiled man's head snapped up, his hand moving instantly to his belt. Underneath the robes Qui-Gon could see the bulge of a lightsaber. //Obi-Wan.// "The prisoner will be released immediately." ordered the official. "Ma'am! The execution has all ready been set!" the guard protested. "The Jedi has diplomatic immunity." "He is an official of the Namur government." the other woman said. "Who is this?" asked the guard. "This is the attaché for the Namur Ambassador." "She has a *man* working for her?" The guard couldn't keep the scorn out of her voice. "By treaty, my staff is no concern of the Ahwatukee government." The woman said. "May I please take my staff member with me?" "Of course. Make sure he is with a woman the next time he strays out of the international zone." said the official. "I will." the woman promised. ******************* //Master, are you all right?// Obi-Wan telepathed. It was odd, not being able to touch his Master's mind. Qui-Gon rode in the back of the aircar with Obi-Wan. The Padawan glanced at Qui-Gon several times, and tried to talk to him telepathically. "We will be staying at the Embassy for the rest of our visit." Obi-Wan whispered to Qui-Gon. Qui-Gon nodded. He hadn't talked since his release. What was Obi-Wan going to do if his Master's powers never came back? //A Jedi isn't a Jedi without special powers.// He remembered being told at the Academy. //They die without them.// Obi-Wan's fingers caressed his Master's leg gently. He glanced at Qui-Gon again. //Master, please answer me!// Qui-Gon took Obi-Wan's hand, and squeezed it. They were taken to their quarters at the Namur Embassy. The official asked if they would be interested in eating dinner with the Ambassador. Obi-Wan glanced at Qui-Gon, then spoke. "I think my Master needs time to recover, Balan, but thank you." The woman made her good-byes and left. Obi-Wan took off his veil, and ran his hand through his hair. "How are you feeling?" "Considering that I very close to be executed, very well." "Your powers!" "My powers will come back, or they won't. We must accept it." Qui-Gon sounded blasé. "Master! If your powers stay gone....." The Padawan was almost in a state of panic. "What will happen to us?" "If it's the will of the force for us to part, then we must accept it." "How can you be so calm???" Obi-Wan shouted. "I don't want to lose you!" Obi-Wan swung to hit Qui-Gon. The Master caught his wrist. "I don't want to lose you either, beloved." "Our Vaartuslik is gone!" Obi-Wan began to cry. Qui-Gon took him into his arms and stroked his lover's hair. //I just got him! I can't lose him.// Suddenly Obi-Wan could hear a voice in his mind. //I hope I won't lose you either.// Obi-Wan pulled away from Qui-Gon, and now his tears were tears of joy. //You heard me!// //Yes, my beloved.// He wiped the tears from Obi-Wan's eyes. //But the hypospray?..// //They gave me two an hour. If the effects were permanant, then I would have only needed one hypospray.// ******************* The Attaché had given Obi-Wan a terminal that was hooked into the Ahwatukee central computer, but it was beginning to annoy him. "I want you to list the addresses of residences that are owned by someone with the family name of Kenobi." "Negative. No residences are owned by any woman named Kenobi." the computer chirped. "Then give me a list of property rented by any woman named Kenobi." "There are no residences on Ahwatukee that are rented by any woman named Kenobi." "Stupid computer." "What's wrong?" Qui-Gon came into the shared sitting room. "This idiotic computer says there is no woman who have the name Kenobi living on the planet." Obi-Wan said, exasperated. "Perhaps there isn't." Qui-Gon looked over Obi-Wan's shoulder. "This system uses family name first, not last." "So Kenobi wouldn't be the family name..." Obi-Wan remembered. "Computer, describe the name Kenobi." Qui-Gon said. "Kenobi, ancient Ahwatukee word for miracle son. Kenobi is usually given to a son that is born after a difficult pregnancy." "Then my family name is Ben." Obi-Wan said softly. "Computer, list all residences on Ahwatukee that are lived in by women named Ben." The screen filled with names. Qui-Gon put his hand on Obi-Wan's shoulder, and squeezed it. "Your first clue." "There are so many of them." "I'll help you go through them." Qui-Gon promised. "This is my quest." Obi-Wan said firmly. "I understand." "Computer, eliminate all families that have more then one son." He was surprised when only seven names disappeared from the screen. "Computer, explain why most families have only one son?" "The Male tax makes it prohibitive for most families to afford more then one son." "Why did you eliminate the families that had more then one son?" Qui-Gon asked. "I was curious." Obi-Wan admited. "Since I was born on a different planet, I wondered if my family was well off." "Many people space travel that aren't well off. Look at us." Qui-Gon gave a half smile. He kissed Obi-Wan's cheek, and went back into his bedroom. "Computer, return all families named Ben that have more then one son." Obi-Wan sighed. "Then, list all families with the name of Ben, who lived on the planet Xiaodan." The computer listed fifteen families. A more manageable list. Obi-Wan asked for a hard-copy printout. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ How many communities do you think join ONElist each day? http://www.onelist.com More than 1,000! Create yours now!