Category: AU (Anne Higgins' Bonding Universe) drama
Rating: PG
Warnings: None so far
Spoilers: None, pre-TPM.
Summary: Qui-Gon and Xanatos find themselves tangled up in the
power struggles of the royal families of Siluria and Madlaria
and the intrigue somehow revolves around Xanatos' new friend
Truani.
Feedback: One can never have too much of a good thing!
Disclaimer: George, you taught me more of about life and hope
than my family ever did. It was your fault I became a writer.
Allow me to play with Qui-Gon and Ben and Yoda just a little, I
won't hurt them, I'll make them eat their veggies and I won't
even muss up Ben's braid. I do this for love. Taking money for
this would be obscene. Besides, this is Anne's universe and I
have the Get Out of Jail Free card.
A wave of prescience, unfocussed, lanced through Jedi Master
Qui-Gon Jinn as he stood before his apprentice, his lightsaber
raised at the ready, eyes locked with the glimmering
blue-violet of the sixteen-year-old before him. Sometime,
somehow, someday, they would be doing this for real in deadly
seriousness.
The thought rocked him, and for a moment a pain sharper than
any stab wound could be choked him with hopeless denial.
"Master?" Xanatos stopped and his blue-white lightsaber blade
disappeared as he moved to the side to avoid his Master's
lightsaber and came close, taking the humming green blade from
Qui-Gon's suddenly numb hands, switching it off. "What is it,
what is wrong?"
The touch of Xanatos' hands on his arms, holding him up,
brought him back to the present abruptly. He shook his head
free of the precognition and looked around, then down at his
apprentice. All was as it should be as he searched the boy's
eyes. A willowy, pale creature with straight jet-black hair, an
elfin face, the long-fingered slim hands on Qui-Gon's shoulders
now. Another growth spurt had recently added another few
centimeters and they would need to stop by Coruscant sometime
soon to replace his uniforms yet again. The usual reserved,
guarded watchfulness that broke only briefly for quick smiles
given only to his Master. Qui-Gon had to suppress a smile
himself then. Xanatos was completely unaware as of yet of the
admiring glances thrown his way by everyone from planetary
monarchs to housemaids.
Or perhaps not so unaware. Or so glacially calm that he could
prevent his own lingering looks. If there was anything to test
the control of a young Jedi Padawan it was the realization that
you were attractive to others who might want to act on that
attraction. Qui-Gon wondered how long it would be before he'd
have to give the Morning After lecture.
"I'm all right, Xani," he finally said, pulling himself from
his reflections and the lingering feeling of dread. "The Force
trying to tell me something, that's all." He gave his
apprentice a wan smile and a brief hug which Xanatos returned
after a moment. Qui-Gon could feel the worry radiating off his
apprentice before the emotion was released into the Force.
"Come, then, back to work."
Xanatos gave him one more worried look before nodding and
stepping away, activating his lightsaber again and going back
to the ready.
They were practicing this morning in the odd bell-shaped stone
building their Silurian hosts called the "Decision Hall". It
was open to the air on all sides, the dome of the roof
supported by the graceful archways of the outer walls. High
above, at the apex of the dome, a capstone carved from Silurian
rock crystal refracted the bright sunlight into millions of
prismed rainbows around the interior of the structure. The
floor was smooth flagstones, carefully joined and leveled so as
to prevent stumbles, worked in an intricate design of hexagons.
Birds fluttered through the dome at will. The dome was at the
top of a small hill on the palace grounds of the Queen of
Siluria. A broad tree-lined avenue led up the hill from the
river, acting as a natural funnel to channel the wind from the
plains up the hill and into the dome, providing an almost
constant cooling breeze. It was built to be the perfect place
to hold duels of honor.
Siluria had an active and thriving dueling tradition, though in
these more enlightened days they refrained from killing or even
drawing blood. Disputes were still decided at the point of a
sword, albeit the swords were wooden and the points and edges
on those swords were too blunt to hurt anything. Qui-Gon had
watched the Queen's Swordmaster the day before at practice with
his senior students and was quite impressed. If the man had
Force-talent he'd be Master-level with the lightsaber, that
much was certain.
[Your thoughts are wandering again, Master.]
[Then why haven't you swatted me, Xani?] Qui-Gon mock-growled
back.
The whirling blue flash came too fast to parry and Qui-Gon felt
the sting on his arm as Xanatos' low-power blade connected. [I
just did,] came the laughing mindvoice.
Qui-Gon ducked out of the way with a snort of laughter of his
own as his arm went numb. It was no worse than a light stun
charge but would take several minutes for the feeling to come
back. He quickly transferred his lightsaber to his right hand
and spun as Xanatos continued his attack, parrying the
apprentice's lightning-like flurry of blows, lightsabers
rasping together throwing shadows onto the stone floor.
Xanatos' eyes were almost glowing with the excitement of the
fight, getting much too involved in his emotions.
Qui-Gon gave a mental sigh and centered himself again, felt the
Force steady him, a welcome invasion. Xanatos' aggressiveness
sometimes got the better of him and he had to be reminded to
control his emotions. A looping, darting pattern of the green
blade as the apprentice pressed his attack forward hooked
Xanatos' blue lightsaber out of his hands to clatter to the
stone floor, deactivating as it left his hands.
Qui-Gon gave a small smile and a raised eyebrow at his
apprentice as Xanatos stopped, stumbling to a halt, suddenly
disarmed. Xanatos' hand reached out toward his lightsaber. As
his attention wavered Qui-Gon lunged forward at him again,
trying to catch him off-guard.
Xanatos yelped and dived sideways, tumbling in a somersault to
spring to his feet again as the blue lightsaber flew to his
hand and activated in one blur of movement. And suddenly it was
Xanatos on the defensive as Qui-Gon proceeded to chase
him around the Decision Hall.
[Payback's a bitch, isn't it?] Qui-Gon sent with a laugh as
Xanatos yelped again when the green blade connected with his
leg.
Xanatos fell to the floor as his leg went numb and refused to
hold him up any longer. [Just remember I cook your meals.]
Qui-Gon chuckled and turned off his lightsaber as Xanatos
rolled over and sat up, wincing as the movement made pins and
needles shoot through the numb leg. He dropped down to sit
beside his apprentice, trying to knead some of the feeling back
into his own benumbed arm.
They sat together in companionable silence for several minutes,
the birds flittering above them again now that the clash of
lightsabers had stopped for a few moments. They'd not had much
time to practice together lately in the press of events here on
Siluria. They had been sent here by the Council to enforce the
provisions of an arms control treaty, a hard-won treaty that
both sides already half-regretted signing. Siluria and her
sister world Madlaria had conducted a sporadic war with a
nomadic nation of ship-gypsies called the Druvan for several
generations. The Druvan mining ships gleaned metal ores and
valuable minerals from the vast asteroid fields between the two
systems and sometimes practiced a bit of opportunistic piracy
on the two allied planets' transport ships. The situation had
been relatively stable until a few years ago when the
ship-gypsies suddenly began using much more sophisticated
weaponry. An arms race ensued, and now Qui-Gon and Xanatos were
here to enforce the peaceful resolution of the conflict.
Xanatos wiggled his toes a little, testing to see if the
painful tingles were going away yet, glanced up at his Master.
Qui-Gon's eyes were distant, thoughtful, wistful. Xanatos could
all but hear what was on his mind without having to even peek.
[How is Obi-Wan today, Master?]
Qui-Gon smiled sadly. "He tells me he managed ten back-flips on
the balance beam today before Master Yoda caught him." The
sapphire eyes twinkled at this. "And that he passed his
hyperdimensional physics exam, but only just barely. And that
they're serving tanatha cake for dessert today." Qui-Gon sighed
and looked down at his hands rubbing on the silver of his
lightsaber. "We have been away from the Temple for so long...."
He didn't need to go on. They had been gone a long time.
Almost eighteen months. They'd been back to the Temple on
Coruscant once in all that time, a visit that lasted three
days, almost every waking moment of it spent reporting to the
Council on the missions they'd been involved in. Qui-Gon had
had a grand total of two hours with his bondmate.
So Xanatos had tried to help by asking about Obi-Wan nearly
every day, trying to keep his Master focussed on the living
reality of his bondmate and not the inescapable fact of their
long separation. Tried to keep Qui-Gon thinking about Obi-Wan
in the present tense rather than as something small and far
away.
The deep tones of the palace time-bell broke the peaceful
birdsong quiet. The birds flittering above them suddenly winged
out of the dome in surprise as the bell rang three deep chimes
and then fell silent.
Qui-Gon nodded and got to his feet, held down a hand to help
Xanatos to his feet again. "That's all the time we can practice
today, Xani. I'm to meet with the Queen's council at the fourth
hour and you must be there too. Let's go get cleaned up. Formal
uniforms tonight, the Druvan clan leaders will be there as
well."
Siluria's long purple twilight was falling as Xanatos escaped
the Queen's Meeting Hall at last with his Master's admonition
not to wander too far off in case he was needed.
He settled his cloak around him again and pulled the hood up as
he left the palace, heading for the grove of giant greeli trees
some distance out in the preserve lands surrounding. Soon after
arriving a month before he'd found the small spring and
trickling stream at the heart of the grove and ever since had
gone there to meditate. There were several small fountains and
pools within the grove that had been constructed of native
river stone, artfully made to appear natural while providing
privacy and shade. The Queen herself often came here for much
the same purpose that Xanatos did now: to escape for a few
minutes' peace.
However, peace looked to be the last thing he was going to find
here this night. As he crossed from the pastureland into the
shade of the trees he began to hear rowdy voices echoing in the
grove. Bright shapes flickered amidst the trees ahead of him,
jewel-tones of amethyst, ruby red, citrine yellow. Xanatos
paused for a moment and considered turning back before he
realized who it was. The Druvan clan leaders had brought their
children with them, a boisterous bunch of teenage boys and
girls who Xanatos thought privately acted far too young for
their ages. Even Obi-Wan was more mature in Xanatos' withering
estimation. Worse, the Queen's nephew and the son of the Prince
of Madlaria had fallen in with the wild bunch of ship-gypsy
children and now the dozen or so were inseperable. They made
any function they were forced to attend a trial for all
involved.
And, consequently, earned his Master a great deal of respect
for Xanatos' impeccable behavior while earning Xanatos himself
more than a few black glaring looks from the unruly bunch.
Qui-Gon was not fooled. He'd assigned Xanatos the topic of
pride for his meditations until further notice.
At any rate, peace would not be in this grove tonight. He began
to turn away--
"So, Jedi, running away?"
Xanatos turned back to find one of the group, the Prince of
Madlaria's son Jorn, jumping heavily from stone to stone in the
stream nearby. He was a large boy, much larger than Xanatos
himself, with an unruly shock of red-orange hair. Jorn was well
aware of his status as a future King and tended to back up his
bullying ways with strenuous swordwork as Madlaria shared their
dueling tradition with Siluria. As the young Prince approached
the others of the bunch behind him saw who he was talking to
and began to call each other and hoot with laughter.
Xanatos regarded the group converging on him expressionlessly.
Jorn was highest rank among them as a full heir presumptive of
Madlaria and so was their leader. Xanatos bowed to the Prince
briefly. "I did not wish to disturb you, Lord Jorn. My
apologies." He began to move away.
"Found someone else to pick on, Jorn? It doesn't surprise me."
Jorn's contemptuous laugh then, just a hair short of insulting.
"Should have known you'd show up here."
Another person came up beside Xanatos, a young lady perhaps his
own age, dressed in a simple emerald velvet dress, her long
straight brown hair gathered into a net of tiny crystals. She
carried a printed book in one arm and a small cloth bag in the
other hand. Xanatos couldn't place the rich alto voice, could
only recognize the soft burring accent of the coastal people of
Siluria.
The girl turned toward Xanatos then and nodded a greeting which
he returned with a small bow. "I'm Truani, daughter of Losani
of Tre'al Karth."
"Padawan Xanatos of Telos," Xanatos replied softly. He sensed
an open, generous spirit in her, something quite different from
the various shades of scorn and arrogance radiating from the
gathering group of rowdies. Her face was oval, thin, strong,
expressive. She might have been considered plain if not for her
smiling eyes.
Introductions made for the moment, Truani turned back to Jorn
and gave him a faint frown. "Must you and your friends disturb
the peace of the grove, Jorn? Why not take all that energy to
the Decision Hall and Master Warlan? I'm sure he'd say you all
could use more practice."
Xanatos had to supress a grin. The Queen's Swordmaster had made
a few pointed comments the day before to the Queen about the
truancy of her nephew and the heir of Madlaria in front of the
Druvan clan-leaders. Apparently the two royal children were
skipping sword practice to run wild with their new friends.
"At least I'll have some kind of honor to fight for when the
time comes for it," Jorn sneered, giving the girl such an
insulting look that Xanatos stepped forward involuntarily.
Jorn's attention transferred to the young Jedi then and he
laughed, sliding a look at Truani. "Figures you two'd get
along. Come on, let's let the two witches alone. Who wants to
go out to the river with me?"
A chorus of agreement from the rest of Jorn's gang and they
moved off out of the grove with laughs and knowing looks at the
young Jedi and the girl in green, the bright silks of their
clothing a blaze of colors in the gathering gloom of twilight.
When the last of them had passed beyond the boundary of the
trees Truani sighed for a moment and turned back to Xanatos
with a smile. "So, Jedi, what brings you to the grove? Are you
not needed at the talks?"
Xanatos tucked his hands back inside the sleeves of his cloak.
"My Master says not. I come here often to meditate. I find it
difficult to do so within the palace."
Truani nodded. "I can well believe that with all the guests
from Madlaria and the Druvan. Even when it is just the palace
folk and the family it can be a bit hectic. I find it hard to
concentrate myself." She lifted the small cloth bag in her hand
to show him. "Plus my grandmother has asked me to see to the
koi in the contemplation pool."
"The fish?" Xanatos asked.
"Yes, they were brought from the south and need certain
minerals that aren't found in the water here," Truani
explained. She was leading the young Jedi down a nearby
pathway. Xanatos hadn't yet explored this particular section of
the grove and blinked in surprise as they came out of the
overhanging greeli leaves into a tiny rock-strewn valley thick
with moss and ferns. A small waterfall bubbled at one end of
the valley down over a sizable chunk of granite into the deep
glass-green water of a shallow pond. The other larger boulders
had been sublty arranged to provide convenient places to sit
around the little valley. The fluffy white of hyacampa blossoms
seemed to float like clouds around the little valley, the soft
lemony scent pervasive but by no means unpleasant. The pathway
lead down a stairway of stones to the edge of the water and
across several stepping stones to curve around the other side
of the pond. It was almost a little world to itself here, cut
off from even the remainder of the grove.
Truani had stopped at the top of the stairway with him as he
looked at the little valley. "It's beautiful," Xanatos said
quietly. "The Queen's foresters and gardeners outdid themselves
here."
Truani gave him a sunny smile. "That they did." She started
down the stairway toward the pond. Xanatos followed after a
moment.
"I must tell my Master of this place," Xanatos said as Truani
put her book down on a nearby rock and began to open the bag
she carried. The koi were beginning to gather in front of her
in the water, obviously well acquainted with the routine.
"I'm sure my grandmother wouldn't mind if the Jedi came here to
meditate," Truani said as she sprinkled the fish food into the
water. "She knows you wouldn't do any harm, unlike those
vandals that hang out with Jorn."
"Ah. You are one of the Queen's grandchildren?" Xanatos asked.
Truani sighed a little and her expressive face became quietly
saddened. "In a way, yes." After a moment she continued. "My
father was Prince Risham."
"Ah. I see." Xanatos said in understanding. The Queen's first
son and heir, Risham, had died many years before in a skirmish
with the Druvan. Common knowledge had it that the young prince
had died without an heir, but a dozen years later a lady from
the coast had presented herself at court with a little girl she
claimed was Risham's illegitimate heir. As the royal family's
favorite summer manor house was only miles away from the
village the woman and child hailed from it was more than
possible. A genetic scan had confirmed it.
Jorn's enigmatic comment about honor became clear to Xanatos
then. "Why did Jorn say we were witches?"
Truani snorted a most unladylike laugh at that and tossed
another handful of fish food to the gobbling koi. She gestured
back at the book she had brought. "The Madlaria are a
superstitious people. Anyone who doesn't fit in is almost
always called a witch and treated with a great deal of
suspicion. I'm perhaps a bit stranger than most, and you Jedi
are of certainty considered dangerous and unpredictable."
One corner of Xanatos' mouth twitched upwards at that. "Yet
they are willing to accept my Master as enforcer of the
treaty?"
Truani shrugged one shoulder. "The Jedi are known to be honest
and impartial. And we need such in dealing with the Druvan."
Night-blooming flowers were beginning to unfold around them now
as the forest sank further into gloom and the first stars were
beginning to appear amidst the waving canopy of leaves above.
Birdsong and the chitters of insects began as the last light
slid behind the distant horizon. Xanatos closed his eyes for a
moment and breathed deep of the quiet and the coolness of the
rising breeze. When he opened his eyes again it was to find
Truani looking at him consideringly, her arms crossed on her
chest.
Xanatos raised an eyebrow. "Yes, my lady?"
Another unladylike snort of laughter at the title he had given
her. "I have often wondered what the life of a Jedi must be
like. I should be screaming mad before the year was out if my
lifework was playing duelmaster for every squabble in the
galaxy."
Another twitch that almost became a smile. "I have often felt
the same way. Were it not for the Force...well. Best not to
think on might-have-beens."
Truani arranged herself on one of the larger rocks. It was only
when she curled one leg beneath the other that Xanatos realized
she was barefoot. "Is it permitted to ask of the Force?"
"In some aspects, yes," Xanatos answered. "There are some
things I cannot tell you, but what I can say I will."
"Ah, good. How is it you feel this Force?"
Her sharp curiosity surprised him, the almost scientific order
of her thoughts and questions. The book she had been reading
proved to be a comparison of philosophies from many different
cultures of the Republic. As the granddaughter of the reigning
Queen she had been surrounded by tutors and teachers from the
moment she had been proved as her father's child. While no one
ever expected her to rule Siluria none would think of denying
her education and training. And Truani was the sort who
absorbed everything with which she came in contact.
"I have not seen you at the talks," Xanatos said, half a
question.
Truani shrugged and he could barely see it in the dark. "I did
ask to attend, but Grandmother asked me to watch from outside
the Meeting Hall. She says I have 'eyes to see with'. Her
words. I'm to be watching the Madlaria especially. That's why I
showed up here at the grove today, because I was following Jorn
and his gang."
"Not to feed the koi?" Xanatos asked.
"That too."
They sat in silence for a long moment as the wind rattled the
leaves of the trees and ferns around them and the small
waterfall chuckled. Xanatos felt something, some sort of
presence, unfocussed, gathering in the little valley, tendrils
of some sort of faltering power. He reached to touch the Force
and felt the answer.
"Does your grandmother realize your 'eyes to see with' is in
fact Empathy?" Xanatos asked quietly.
Truani turned to look at him and he felt the unfocussed power
brush about his mind, testing the truth of his words.
"Grandmother knows I have...insights. She finds those insights
of use, and I am happy to tell her of my thoughts. But Empathy?
I would call nothing so nebulous by so definite a name."
Xanatos nodded once. "It is Empathy. I have felt such many
times. Many Jedi also have this ability, though it is not
exclusive to us of course." He tossed back his Padawan braid
absently. "My Master has somewhat of the ability, among
others."
"And you?" Truani asked.
"I have other abilities," he said easily. "For one, a fine
sense of time. We have been out here far too long. It is nearly
midnight."
Truani snorted a laugh at this, looking away, and Xanatos
suspected she was blushing. "Well, a witch has no honor or
virtue so fear not for my reputation."
"If this is so it applies to me as well," Xanatos said with a
grin.
"Ah, we're as bad as that lot of vandals that follow Jorn
around!" Truani said with a fine show of disdain, imitating the
disparaging remarks of the Queen's Swordmaster. "Next it will
be playing pranks on the kitchen workers and hiding the
Chamberlain's keys!"
"Or souring the milk and turning new wine to vinegar," Xanatos
added. "As we are witches."
Truani hopped off the rock and scooped up her book and the bag
of fish food. "Happy to be one!"
Xanatos nodded again. "I too."
Qui-Gon sensed the tentative brush of the Force beyond the door
of their rooms, allowed the touch to slide over and around him
without resistance, hiding his presence. A moment later the
door opened silently and Xanatos slipped inside quickly,
glancing around in the dark of the suite. Qui-Gon didn't move
at his place in the shadows of the window seat in the corner of
the room.
Qui-Gon touched the small lamp on the table beside him and the
yellow light caught Xanatos halfway across the room. The
apprentice froze in midstep.
"What's her name, Padawan?"
A moment's pause, then, "Truani, Master. She is the Queen's
granddaughter, her father was Prince Risham, the one who died
many years ago."
Qui-Gon quickly hid his grin as Xanatos turned toward him
slowly, eyes focussed on the floor, obviously expecting to be
reprimanded. "I've met her. A charming young lady."
"You sensed her Empathic powers as well, Master?"
Qui-Gon raised an eyebrow. "No, I didn't. I have felt some sort
of presence occassionally at odd moments in the talks but it
was usually too fleeting to trace." Back to the lecture, he
reminded himself. One brush with the Force at his apprentice
and he reconsidered. "I trust you enjoyed yourself?"
Xanatos gave him a long expressionless look. Fatigue made his
mindshields shaky enough that Qui-Gon sensed the brief surge of
annoyance rising quickly to anger. But the voice was as
controlled as ever. "I did, but not in the way you were
obviously hoping." With that he gave his Master a brief bow and
turned toward his room. "Good night, Master." And the door
clicked shut behind him firmly.
Qui-Gon somehow managed to keep his laughter silent, but it was
a near thing.
The bright morning was noisy with songbird chatter as Xanatos
hefted his Master's pack and slung it over his shoulder for the
short walk to the landing grid behind the royal palace.
"Master?"
"On my way, Xani," Qui-Gon said as he came from his room,
swirling his cloak on as he walked, one hand holding a datapad
and the other a fruit pastry from their breakfast tray,
juggling both as he somehow got his cloak on without dropping
any of it. Nodding to his apprentice as he took another bite of
breakfast he followed Xanatos down the hallway toward the
courtyard and the landing grid. "I'm to inspect Clan Tsori's
transport first. A converted Aldharan troop transport. I have
the feeling all these Druvan ships are nightmares of
jury-rigging and kit-bashing. I've no idea how I'm supposed to
judge power readings and performance factors if they aren't
using standard equipment."
"I fear you shall have to investigate every power spike on the
ship, Master," Xanatos answered with a grimace. "If you do not
they may have hidden something that you cannot detect in the
background fluctuations." He glanced back at his Master
worriedly. "This is a job for a team of technicians, not one
Jedi Master."
"Unfortunately true, Padawan," Qui-Gon said with a nod. "But I
am the only one all sides trust to carry out these
inspections." They came around the corner of the Queen's armory
then and out onto the broad cobblestoned lane leading to the
landing grid. On the grid now sat a most improbable shuttle.
The small craft looked like someone had managed to weld a pair
of ion engines onto the underside of a squashed ovoid and then
painted the whole thing in a wild psychedelic patchwork of neon
colors.
[One wonders if the real 'secret weapon' is the Druvan sense of
artistic expression,] Xanatos sent with laughter in his
mindvoice. [Maybe that paint job is meant to have a stun
effect.]
[So long as stun is all it does I can't order it disarmed,]
Qui-Gon answered with mock-anguish.
Xanatos' mouth twitched but he caught himself just in time.
Turning, he handed his Master his pack as the Clan Tsori pilot
got up from his perch on his ship's landing gear, waiting for
the Jedi Master to board. "Be careful, Master. Remember these
are ship-gypsies."
Qui-Gon nodded and turned so that only Xanatos could hear him
as he lowered his voice. "Xani, I want you to stay close to the
Queen while I am gone. The other Druvan clans are still here
and these people have been at war for generations. Try not to
get in trouble." He gave Xanatos a knowing smile. "Perhaps you
can practice with Swordmaster Warlan while I am gone."
Xanatos gave his Master a raised eyebrow at that. "Are you
certain you wish me to, Master? When you return I may be able
to defeat you."
"That's the idea," Qui-Gon answered. He put a hand on Xanatos'
shoudler, gave him an affectionate squeeze, and turned to go.
[May the Force be with you, Master,] Xanatos sent as the tall
form walked up the rampway of the wildly-painted shuttle.
Qui-Gon sent a swift acknowledgement as the hatch closed behind
him.
Senara Queen of Siluria raised one spidery hand without taking
her eyes or attention from the elder Madlarian Prince as he
expounded to the room at large on the benefits the Madlarians
and Druvan would gain from this newest treaty. Xanatos came
forward instantly from behind the throne to lean close so the
Queen could speak to him in a whisper.
"Yes, my lady?"
"Fetch a page and send to find my granddaughter," the Queen
said softly. "I wish to see these proceedings through her
eyes."
Xanatos half-smiled. "I can go myself to fetch her if you wish,
Majesty."
The Queen glanced up at him at this with a fleeting smile. She
was on the far side of middle age, beautiful still though her
beauty was starting to fade, her famous natural silver-gilt
hair cascading around her in a waterfall of ice threads over
the dark blue Silthan silk of her simple gown. A lifetime spent
as Queen of a world at war had put steel in her carriage and
ice in her blood, but there were times when she was the doting
grandmother. "Yes, Jedi, go to fetch her yourself. Look for her
at the Decision Hall first, the youngsters should be taking
their lessons about now."
Xanatos bowed in acknowledgement and headed for the door
silently, nodding to himself in approval as Swordmaster Warlan
immediately moved to the Queen's side protectively, his hand
resting on the pommel-stone of his auralanium longsword.
As per the Queen's suggestion he went first to the dome-shaped
Decision Hall. There were far fewer young people taking their
lessons there than there should have been, only a double
handful where the floorspace should have been filled with sword
blades and darting bodies. And Truani was not one of those few
who practiced under the goad of Master Warlan's senior
assistant.
Neither was the young Prince of Madlaria, Jorn. Nor any of the
Druvan children.
Puzzled, Xanatos began to retrace his steps back toward the
palace, wondering where Truani might be if not in the Decision
Hall. He had not seen her at all today, but he had been with
the Queen since his Master had left earlier in the day.
For no reason he could put a name to, he felt there was
something very wrong.
He stopped at the elaborate and beautiful gateway entrance to
the preserve lands, looking up at the odd sinuous lines of the
woodworking, the way the figures in the carving seemed to twist
and writhe without moving. Tucking his hands inside his
sleeves, he began one of his Master's quick meditation
exercises and allowed his puzzlement and faint worry to dispel
into the Force, then allowed his inquiry to drift into the
Force as well.
The answer was definite. Go to the grove, to the koi pool.
He spun on his heel and was through the gate in an instant.
Qui-Gon glanced down at the readings on the sensorpad he held,
frowning at the irregular spikes of power. There was no
corresponding identification of the source, the sensors
couldn't pinpoint exactly what kind of device was pulling the
power. He glanced up at the cabling running down the
claustrophobic little corridor and took a handlight from his
toolbelt. As he'd suspected, the ceiling grates hid a
crawlspace above.
"Open this," he instructed the Druvan clansman who accompanied
him, gesturing up at the grating just above his own head. The
gypsy gave him another in the man's seemingly endless
succession of disgruntled grimaces and climbed nimbly up the
cabling brackets on the wall. A tug on a hidden release lever
and the ceiling panel was moved aside into the crawlspace
above. Qui-Gon pulled himself up through the opening revealed
easily, knelt just inside the space as he set his handlight to
illuminate the space before he tried to stand. Already he'd
bashed his head on things too much today.
He smiled a little as he felt a familiar inquisitive presence
impinge on his concentration, a feeling very much like a
curious eleven-year-old had just poked his head inside a
doorway to get a look at what was going on, hoping he wouldn't
be caught. [Yes, imp?]
A mental shiver of a giggle. [Sorry. Are you all right?]
[Quite all right, Obi-Wan. These Druvan ships would give the
shipwrights of Corellia nightmares.] Another smile then as he
swept the handlight around the irregular space filled with
humming enginery and shadows. [Not to mention their idea of
decoration.] He flashed his bondmate an image of the Druvan
shuttle he'd travelled in earlier and smiled as he felt Obi-Wan
having a giggle fit. [Xani thinks that's their real secret
weapon.]
[And you had to fly in that?] Obi-Wan sent, his mindvoice
breathless from his giggles.
[Fortunately the operational condition did not correspond to
the decoration,] Qui-Gon answered. [I love you, Obi-Wan, and I
will talk to you later.]
A sigh from the boy as he heard the unspoken order. [I love you
too, Quigee.] And his presence faded from Qui-Gon's thoughts.
Turning his thoughts back to the matter at hand, Qui-Gon soon
located the source of the irregular power spikes. There was
some sort of jury-rigged device wired into the the engine
components here, small indicator lights blinking erratically on
the control panel ziptied onto a support strut nearby. Wires
and chipboards had been secured into a gutted droid chassis,
connected by a dozen cables to various terminals on the
hyperdrive components.
I am not an engineer, Qui-Gon told himself for the thousandth
time that day. I am a Jedi Master who nearly failed starship
mechanics class thirty years ago.
He could all but see his old Master's small wrinkled green face
smiling up at him teasingly, expectantly, measuringly.
Damn. Admit it, Jinn, you're out of your depth, he grumbled to
himself.
It could mean another month or two of negotiation to get the
Druvan to allow independent engineering teams into their ships,
but Qui-Gon had to stop fooling himself that he knew what he
was doing. Too much was at stake here and he'd not allow the
Silurians or Madlarians to come to harm simply because his
stubborn pride would not admit he couldn't handle a simple ship
inspection. Xanatos had been right this morning, this required
a team of techs, not one Jedi Master.
He started back to the waiting Druvan clansman, recognizing his
own slight anger and disappointment. He had so much wanted to
get this over with so he and Xanatos could go home.
'Desire and fear, the ruin of man are these,' he quoted
to himself ruefully from his old Master. Well all I desire
is to go home to my bondmate. But duty must come first.
"Ah, but Lord Jedi, it was only a modification to the
hyperdrive." The Tsori clan chief had been trying to stall for
time for the last half hour. It was clear to Qui-Gon the Tsori
did not wish him to give up on the inspection. He felt a sort
of furtive anxiety well covered by the usual Druvan bravado and
evasion. But how much was typical ship-gypsy chicanery and how
much was outright cover-up?
"A modification I could not decipher," Qui-Gon said quietly as
he retrieved his cloak from where he'd thrown it over a railing
at the entrance to the ship's engineering section. "It is clear
to me that this ship has been modified for possibly several
generations of your clan, and I suspect that the great majority
of those modifications have gone undocumented. I am not an
engineer and I am unable to determine the function of many of
these devices. Therefore I will insist that your ships be
inspected by a team of technicians and engineers from the
Republic starfleet."
A vague wave of nervous denial swept through the dozen Tsori
clansmen gathered around him in the cramped engine room and
Qui-Gon suddenly sensed other presences moving in the
crawlspaces and catwalks around him. But the Druvan gave no
real outward signs of that nervousness and fear other than a
few quick furtive glances between some of the younger men at
the enginery consoles nearby.
Qui-Gon marked the reactions swiftly. So that was why the
Druvan had insisted he be the one to carry out the inspections.
They had taken the gamble that he would not know much about
engineering. They'd hoped he wouldn't know what the majority of
their modifications entailed and that he'd dismiss them as
harmless or unrelated to weaponry. But a team of starfleet
techs would not be so easily fooled.
Now it was imperative that he call for independent inspections.
"I wish to return to Siluria," he said, tucking his hands
inside his cloak sleeves. "The negotiations will continue--"
The green lightsaber blade flashed into existence, flaring
actinic light in the shadows, deflecting the stun bolts fired
from the crawlspace above and behind him. Too late, he realized
it was a distracting tactic as something sharp and heavy struck
unseen, and darkness clawed him down.
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