No Tears Left To Cry -- Page Two

By Cassia



PART EIGHT:

----

When life is empty with no tomorrow
And loneliness comes to call.
Baby don't worry, forget your sorrow,
Love's gonna conquer it all.

So don't surrender, 'cause you can win in this thing called life.

When you want it the most, there's no easy way out
When you're ready to go and you're heart's left in doubt
Don't give up on your faith, love comes to those who believe it
And that's the way it is.

("That's the Way it Is" by Celine Dion. Belongs to her and some record company, not me. I am doing the lyrics by memory, so forgive me if they are not exactly right.)

----

"Oh, and we're going to need three more sets of Hydro-fasteners. Some of the kids got oil down into the gears of the others and they won't work worth poodoo," Kire instructed as he walked, gesturing to the data pad listing the needed items that Cyndi had given him that morning.

Kire's Wookiee companion, Kurtanga, growled her understanding. Kurtanga was in charge of supplies and was going to be making a trip to the mainland to stock up.

"Okay," Kire scanned the list. "Looks like about all, other than..." he stopped. The passage was empty, but the sound of angry voices echoed softly through the blank, grey halls. The Calamarian halted, his bulbous eyes swiveling as he listened intently. The sounds were coming from further up the passage, but muffled as if through walls. Even so, over twenty years of working in prisons had taught Kire to know the sound of when something was getting out of control. And something was. Running down the passage, the Calamarian and the Wookiee came to a halt by the doors that lead out into the prison's exercise yard. It was from the other side of that door that the sounds were coming. What was going on out there? Kire tried the door, but found it locked. Circling around, the Calamarian peered out a force-field protected window into the yard.

Swearing violently in Calmariese he stepped back. There was a near riot going on out there, and someone was in the middle of it. Kire looked around. Blast it all, where were the guards?!

Kurtanga elbowed her way to the window for a look and her face contorted into a deep scowl.

"Kurtanga, somebody's going to get killed if this doesn't stop! We've got to find the-"

Kurtanga however, had her own plans. Grabbing the crossbars on the doors, the mammoth Wookiee ripped the locking mechanism apart with one mighty pull.

Kire's already large eyes widened a little more. "...Or we could just do that," he said softly, suddenly glad that he had never had occasion to get on Kurtanga's bad side.

The small host of X'diini looked up in shock when the door in front of them was literally torn open. Surprised, and not sure what to make of the hairy monster they found themselves suddenly confronted with, the teenagers hesitated in uncertainty.

Kire's eyes swept the crowd, the X'diin were sweating, panting and spattered with blood. Red blood, not the purplish-pink color of X'diini blood. Then he looked down. "By the Force," he breathed in quiet horror.

The X'diini youths quickly re-gathered themselves and looked ready to challenge the two, lone Hope workers. Kurtanga didn't give them the chance. With a roar, the enraged Wookiee lunged forward and Kire was suddenly afraid that this whole incident was about to turn into a terrible catastrophe.

However, the young X'diini scattered quickly back before Kurtanga, most of them never having seen a Wookiee up close before, and not wishing to get any closer.

Obi-Wan was barely conscious. He blinked groggily through badly swollen eyelids at the huge, hairy humanoid that bent over him. Kurtanga woofled softly. The young human was in bad shape and his blue-green eyes were glazed and dilated wide with pain. She noticed with alarm that their rate of dilation did not change when she bent over him, blocking the light of the sun from his young face. Probably a concussion. The huge Wookiee gathered the teenager up gently in her arms. Obi-Wan hissed softly between his teeth as his broken ribs grated on each other. By now, several dozen guards arrived on the scene, quickly taking the X'diini prisoners into custody. With a small snort, the Wookiee carried Obi-Wan back into the prison complex.

*****************

Soft, steady beeping monitored Obi-Wan's heart rate as he lay on a bed in the clinic's emergency ward. A medi-droid hovered over him. Obi-Wan had not wanted to end up in the clinic, but this time, there really was no option. The 16-year-old had already spent almost seven hours in a bacta tank. The bacta had healed many of his smaller bruises and abrasions, but the more serious ones were still visible, although much improved. The broken ribs and concussion had been tended, but would take longer to heal completely.

Cyndi resisted the urge to bite her lip. Laying there like that, Obi-Wan looked so vulnerable, so young... just like he did when he was little.

No. Not quite. When he was a child, even though vulnerable, there had been a strength in his stormy eyes that said he knew who and what he was and no one could take that from him. Now she saw nothing behind his pain-leadened gaze.

No, Cyndi didn't see defeat, or darkness, she just didn't see anything.

As if Obi-Wan had withdrawn deep inside himself and closed out the rest of the world. "Oh Stormy," her heart cried. "Did they take so much from you when they took away your Jedi-hood?"

Kire squeezed Cyndi's hand. It wasn't the first time he'd seen something like this, but he knew it was for Cyndi.

Cyndi squeezed back gratefully. "Hey Stormy," she said softly, gently stroking Obi-Wan's short, ginger hair.

"Cyn'i," Obi-Wan whispered through swollen, unresponsive lips, his hoarse voice causing him to lisp and drop letters in a child-like way that made Cyndi's heart contract painfully. The injured boy forgot to use Ms., but there was no one there to hear them but the medi-droid, so it didn't matter anyway. "They wanted to kill me," he said softly, his voice weak, but his blurry eyes trying hard to focus on the older woman. "Wasn't... wasn't a chance happening." Speaking was becoming increasingly difficult for him.

"Shh, shh," Cyndi soothed. "It's okay, just rest."

Obi-Wan tried to smile a little. "Can't rest Cyn'i," he whispered ironically, trailing off into a painful coughing fit.

Of course he couldn't, Cyndi realized. They had to keep him awake for a while while they made sure that his concussion was completely stabilized. "Well then just relax," Cyndi said in mock exasperation.

"Ms. Jancy? Mr. Bmun? Visiting hours are over," one of the droids informed them.

"See you later Stormy," Cindy gave Obi-Wan a quick, light kiss on his forehead before letting the droid lead them away.

********************

Obi-Wan stared up at the ceiling. Boredom, he decided, was white. Pure white like a Hoth blizzard. Cold white like a clinic ceiling. The lights were turned down low and he could feel the peaceful hum of the other patients sleeping around him. He had been given permission to sleep now that they were sure his concussion was healing properly, but now found that he couldn't. Obi-Wan wanted to toss and turn, but his battered body ached so every time he moved that the young man forced himself to lie still on his back and count the ceiling tiles. 238 that he could see in the dim light.

He was bone tired and his body screamed for rest, yet Obi-Wan couldn't sleep. It didn't make sense. He felt restless and disturbed. Underneath the hushed calm of the sleeping ward he could feel some darker, more sinister tendrils of the Force at work and it was making it impossible for him to rest. Instead, Obi-Wan decided to try to settle himself down into a healing trance. Because of his own inner turmoil, the trance was light and tenuous at best, but it still dropped his body functions down to levels that usually identified the sleep state.

As soon as his monitor showed that the young inmate was in what registered to be asleep for a human, the soft whir of a medi-droid approached his bed. Surrounded by the shadowy darkness, the droid moved with quick, quiet efficiency, doing as it had been programmed to do. Inserting a small tube of liquid into the control unit of Obi-Wan's fluid-infuser the droid pushed a button. A moment later the tube popped back out, empty. The droid retrieved it and moved away, leaving the young human in a slumber from which he would never awaken.

***********************

Qui-Gon sat bolt upright in his bed, ice cold but covered with perspiration. His heart hammered loudly in his ears and his mouth felt dry. It felt as if he had just awoken from the most horrible nightmare he had ever had, but for the life of him, he could remember no dream, nothing in his sleep which should have caused him to awake in such urgent distress. In his sleepy, not-quite-lucent state, Qui-Gon reflexively called out to Obi-Wan as he always did when something felt wrong. Padawan?

Nothing. Of course nothing. Qui-Gon scanned the area, but felt no danger, nothing that should disturb him this way. Lying back down on his pillow, the Jedi Master tried to center himself. It was the second time in the past 24 hours that he had felt something he couldn't explain, something highly disturbing. The Force swirled around Qui-Gon as if it was trying to tell him something.

Something bad.

What, the Jedi did not know, but he had the horrible suspicion that it was something to do with his Padawan. Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon reached out, even though he knew they could not connect. Still, if he tried hard enough, maybe something could bleed through. It was all he could do.

Feeling more helpless then he ever had in his life, Qui-Gon focused all his energy into one, steady call that he could only pray reached his apprentice, and only hope would somehow help whatever situation the boy was in.

PART NINE:

Obi-Wan floated in his healing trance, resting on a river of light, willing his body to heal. Somehow, he felt like he was getting lighter, like he was becoming part of the energy around him, beginning to fade into it. It was beautiful, welcoming, and so peaceful. Obi-Wan did not feel sorry to go, even though somewhere in the back of his consciousness, he knew that he must leave something behind to do so.

From somewhere on the far fringes of his awareness, Obi-Wan felt a ripple of something that seemed out of place. Someone was calling him. Someone he loved. He should answer, but he didn't seem to be able to do so. As he reached out, trying to find the source of the call, another sensation invaded his perceptions, one of incredible danger. The Force roiled around him, his body, which the healing trance had put him in close touch with, was screaming warnings. Something was invading it, something dark, something deadly. With an urgent push, Obi-Wan ripped himself away from the light he was disappearing into and jerked awake. Sitting up abruptly, Obi-Wan yanked the infuser tubes out of his arm without hesitation. The Force had already told him that they were the cause of his problem.

The monitors on his bed wailed alarms and the light over him switched on, triggered by the sudden disconnect of his infuser lines. Medi-droids and night-staff came hurrying. Obi-Wan was breathing hard, struggling against the poison that had already entered his system. The room spun around him and he fell back against his pillows.

"He's going into some kind of arrest!" he heard one of the X'diini clinicians call out urgently. They worked quickly to stabilize the young man.

Someone tried to re-connect the infuser tubes, but Obi-Wan pulled away, thrashing as hard as his weakened condition would allow. One of the medics had the presence of mind to check the medication in the infuser.

"Good gods," the X'diini muttered. "There's enough Precosortiliin in this to kill a Wampa!" Precosortiliin was a painkiller. "His dosage must have been over calculated or mis-administered. Get some blood cleansers going now!"

Obi-Wan lay dizzily on the bed, watching the medics and droids buzz around him. He was weak and sick, but not enough of the medication had made it into his system to kill him. It was not his time yet. He had won this time. Yet something was definitely wrong. This was becoming far too much to be coincidence. Somebody wanted him dead. Wanted him dead very badly; and they had very nearly succeeded.

********************

In the morning, the Precosortiliin overdosing incident was declared an unhappy accident, the result of some programming quirks and information that was not entered correctly into the main Clinic system. Cyndi didn't know what to think. Obi-Wan had told her point blank that someone was trying to kill him. She was deeply disturbed and concerned, but didn't know what to do. It didn't help that Kire had come right out and warned her that morning that her preoccupation with Obi-Wan was starting to get them all in big trouble. He was gentle, as usual, but she couldn't ignore what he said.

"Cyndi, I understand how you feel, I want to help him too! But there are seven hundred and thirty-four other inmates who need our attention."

"I know Kire! You can't say I haven't been tending to them too! You know I have!" Cyndi bit back with more vehemence then she intended.

"I know that Cyndi," Kire said, dropping his voice placatingly. "You have been doing a great job with these kids. All I'm saying is that there is talk going on among the prison officials that could damage our work here if we give it cause to grow."

Cyndi folded her arms and looked away.

"Cyndi, look at me," Kire pleaded. "It's terrible what's happened to him, and yes, it does look suspicious. I don't know what to do either. There's just no protocol to cover a situation like this. All I'm saying is be careful. Be very careful Cyndi, for all our sakes."

Kire was right of course, he usually was. But that didn't make Cyndi feel any better, or make any clearer just what she was supposed to do. It certainly looked like these had been deliberate attempts on Obi-Wan's life, but why? He was already 'out of the way' if that was the issue. Why try to kill him now? That brought up the whole matter of what he was doing here in the first place, and Cyndi didn't know what to make of that either.

Her heart wanted to believe the boy's story, yet it was quite a stretch logically.

Giving up on the data pads she was supposed to be working on, Cyndi took her head in her hands and leaned heavily against her desk. Who was she supposed to believe? What was she supposed to do?

*********************

Qui-Gon sat before the glowing data terminal, tapping away at the keypad with one hand and the touch-screen with the other. He supposed he should feel some sort of guilt for hacking into the consular building's main computer system, but it wouldn't be the first time. Security here had actually been much more lax then it had been at the now defunct UniFy company when he, Obi-Wan and a young man named Den had sneaked in and hacked their system several years ago while trying to find out what Qui-Gon's former, fallen apprentice Xanatos was up to on Telos.

Qui-Gon hoped that since the late Senator's apartments as well as the room they had been staying in at the time of the murder, where located within the consulate's grounds, there might be something in the system that would help him.

At the trial, part of the evidence submitted had been a message sent to Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan's rooms the morning of the murder after Qui-Gon had left that requested Obi's presence in the Senator's chambers. It was registered to have been sent from Iyana T'yln's personal account and bore her signature code. Qui-Gon searched back to that date, and found that such a message had indeed been logged into the system. That hadn't been fabricated, but it didn't necessarily have any sinister meanings either. Obi-Wan would have naturally responded to any summons from the Senator or a member of his family, after all, they were the reason for the two Jedi's presence. From there Qui-Gon turned to scanning the meeting schedule that day.

"Interesting," Qui-Gon thought, downloading the information. Personal memos, drafts of speeches, maintenance requests, and assorted notes and reminders by hosts of different bureaucrats, aides and workers scrolled across his screen. Apparently most of the diplomat's personal data-pads tied into the main system. From his vantage point, Qui-Gon could look into the files on any of the pads that were currently hooked into the system. There was everything from drafts of legislature, to an order for a new recorder droid used to take the minutes for official meetings. Someone had apparently vandalized the old one, leaving it completely ruined.

Qui-Gon found an old memo from shortly before the Senator's death and stopped. He re-read it again, slowly. From what this said, Senator T'lyn had withdrawn himself from the election two days before he died. So T'lyn had no intention of running again...

Intending to jump to another screen, Qui-Gon pressed a key, but it must have been the wrong one, because instead of the memo logs, he found himself accessing someone's personal data pad. It turned out to be a fortuitous accident. When the Jedi Master read one of the files, the pieces finally began to fall in place. One by one, the mysteries started making sense, especially something that Iyana said...

PART TEN:

Cyndi rubbed her eyes and entered yet another string of code into her data-recorder. Cataloging supplies and incoming shipments and purchases was not usually in her job description, but Shrel, the fellow who usually did this, was ill. Half the whole dang group seemed to be down with the X'iani flu. Cyndi, Kire, Kurtanga and a handful of others were working themselves into the ground keeping things running. The only bright side was that X'iani flu was a virulent, but short-lived bug. 48 hours and most all the stricken Hope Workers would be back on their feet again. Cyndi would be very glad when that happened. She intended to take a nice, looong nap.

Rubbing her eyes again to remove some of the blurryness from them, Cyndi rested her data-recorder on top of a stack of crates. However, the plastic casing of the crates turned out to more slippery than she had anticipated and the recorder slid easily off the other side, falling down among the boxes behind the wall of crates.

Cyndi swore silently under her breath and tried to push her arm between the crates to retrieve the lost item, but the space was too small. Climbing over the five-foot wall of crates with some difficulty, Cyndi dropped down into the narrow space behind. Extracting her recorder with more difficulty Cyndi leaned back against the row of boxes behind her, resting the recorder on her knees while she made sure it wasn't broken, which it wasn't.

Relieved, Cyndi leaned her head back and closed her eyes, just for a moment...

The sound of voices speaking not far away woke Cyndi up. Glancing at her chrono, the young woman winced. She had not meant to fall asleep. It hadn't been over a half-hour, but that was still twenty-five minutes that she couldn't spare. She was about to get up, when her mind registered what she was hearing and she froze.

"...Sure we should give them so many?" They were speaking X'diini.

"Yes, this has got to look real or we won't have a legitimate reason to fire upon them." the second voice agreed pragmatically. "And you're sure inmate Vrad won't spill to anyone how he really got his hands on these plasma torches and nail-guns?"

The other must have nodded the affirmative because the second speaker gave a satisfied grunt. "Good. Make sure it stays that way." Cyndi heard the scrape of boxes and the rattle of crate lids hitting the floor, then the clank of equipment being removed and the thud of the lids being replaced.

"And make sure your men don't get trigger happy," the second voice, who seemed to be giving the orders, added. "They're not to open fire until the main knot of the rioters reach the front gate. And don't let them hit too many. We don't want a massacre on our hands. Just a fair amount. Keep the killings down; no more than five, but no less either. After everything that's happened it would look too suspicious if that Kenobi kid where the only one killed."

Cyndi's heart froze in her chest. Someone was trying to kill Obi-Wan! Who? Why?! With questions pounding through her head, Cyndi quietly edged closer to the crates separating her from the two X'diini on the other side.

Pressing her eye to the space between the crates, she could just make out the form of... Asar Dr'l, Head Warden of Brl'yndria! She did not recognize his companion, but he wore the uniform of a top-ranking prison guard officer.

"He's already got that Humie lady from the rehab group on his side," the Officer said with a snort. "If she makes problems, we'll have to take care of her, but I want great steps taken to avoid that eventuality, do you understand? Messing with off-worlders that will be missed is messy. Make this look real, and there won't be any embarrassing questions to answer, got it?"

Apparently the Officer did, because the voices began to recede. There was the sound of a door opening and shutting and then silence claimed the storage room once more.

Cyndi sat, frozen rigidly in place until she was sure they had gone. Then she climbed to her feet and scrambled back over the wall of crates. The ID badge on the front of her shirt caught on the way down and she had to stop, laying aside her data-recorder and standing on tiptoe to extract it.

Suddenly she heard footsteps approaching from the other side of the door behind her. The room beyond that door was another storage room with no exit save through this room. Too late the horrible realization dawned on Cyndi that the door she had heard the Warden and guard go through was not the exit door, but the door to the adjacent store room!

Nearly ripping her badge free, Cyndi made a break for the exit. The Warden and his companion re-entered the room just as the doors swooshed shut behind the fleeing woman. They didn't see who it was, but the Warden didn't like it. It could just have been someone coming in to make a delivery and then leaving, but... Then he spied the data recorder that Cyndi had accidentally left sitting on top of the crates in her hurry to get her badge free.

Easily peering over the crate barrier, the tall X'diin saw that the thick layer of dust on the floor had been disturbed. Rushing to the door, he looked out, but there was no one in sight. "Tor!" Warden Dr'l rounded on his companion in alarm. "Someone was in here! Probably heard every word we said," the Warden swore and thrust the data-recorder into Tor's hands. "Find out who this belongs to, who was in here cataloging data last? Scan it for prints if nothing else, but do it and do it now! We haven't got much time!"

******************

"Kire! Kire!"

The Calamarian turned to see Cyndi hurrying toward him, out of breath and flushed from running, but also, from something else... "Cyndi, Cyndi what's wrong?" he asked quickly. The young woman looked quite upset.

"It's all true Kire," Cyndi gasped out, gulping for air. "They are trying to kill Stormy, I mean, Obi-Wan! Head Warden Dr'l and some of the guards are in on it! I just heard them planning down in the storeroom. They took a bunch of tools, nail-guns and cutting equipment, they're giving them to the prisoners to start a riot so they have a reason to fire on them and kill Kenobi. That's what they said!" Cyndi poured the whole tale out in a breathless rush.

Kire's large eyes turned deadly serious. "Calm down Cyndi, think about what you're saying. Are you absolutely *sure* about this?"

Cyndi did calm down, with a speed and seriousness that both surprised and alarmed Kire. "Yes," she was still panting slightly, but her voice was nearly perfectly calm now. "I overheard them myself Kire. I wouldn't mistake a thing like that. It was quite clear."

Kire shook his head and clicked softly in the back of his throat. "What are we going to do?"

"For all we know, the whole prison staff is in on it," Cyndi said grimly. "And I don't know how long until this riot is supposed to take place. We probably don't have much time. You've got to get out of here, off of Brl'yndria and tell someone what is going on!"

"What about you?" Kire wanted to know. "You're the one who heard it, aren't you coming?"

"I've got to warn Stormy." Cyndi shook her head, then raised her hand quickly before Kire could offer any protest, which, from the look on his face, he was about to do. "Listen to me Kire," the young woman said urgently, her emerald eyes burning intensely. "If we both suddenly up and leave, they'll get suspicious. I can cover for your leaving with some story about needing more medical stuff for the flu victims or something. But you've got to get out of here now. I'm not sure if they know someone might have overheard them or not, and you've got to get out in case they decide to stop letting people off and we all become prisoners on this miserable rock!"

"But Cyndi..."

"Don't argue with me Kire!" Cyndi was firm, but there was pleading in her eyes. "For once in your life, my friend, please, do as I say and don't waste anymore time! There are more lives then just Stormy's at stake here. A lot of inmates will be injured, and killed if this takes place. Please Kire! Go, go now!"

For a moment Kire just looked at her. Then he gave her hands a quick squeeze. "Be careful Cyndi," he said by way of parting and hurried off.

*******************

Tor scowled deeply and thumbed on his communicator. "Warden Dr'l?"

"Yes," the other responded over the link after a moment.

"We've found the owner of our mislaid data recorder," the officer reported.

"Oh?" Dr'l's voice gained a hard edge.

"Yes, sir," Tor nodded, even though he knew his superior couldn't see him. "But you're not going to like this..."

PART ELEVEN:

Obi-Wan moved slowly towards the cafeteria for the afternoon meal. The medics had released him from the clinic, but he knew he was still not quite up to par.

The young human studiously tried to avoid getting near any of the other inmates. After what had happened, he was understandably hesitant to be in close contact with any of his fellow prisoners. More than ever he felt alone, isolated and lost. He had no identity, no purpose, no reason and no future. On top of that, somebody wanted him dead.

Obi-Wan had lay awake a long time last night thinking about it, wondering why he was trying so hard to stay alive. What did life hold for him anyway? Why struggle so hard to hold onto it? Why not just give up and let what would happen, happen? Yet Obi-Wan's fighter's spirit would not let him simply surrender and a small voice in his heart told him that while there was life there was hope.

He had also given a lot of thought to what had happened the other night, when that call had brought him back to reality just in time to save his life. The voice had been familiar, and Obi-Wan could have sworn it was Qui-Gon's. For some time now, the young man had been feeling soft ripples in the Force that reminded him of his Master, but he had put it down to his extreme loneliness and turmoil. Now, Obi-Wan was beginning to wonder. He almost didn't dare to hope that Qui-Gon was actually on X'diin, but he was starting to consider the idea. Could that be the reason behind the attempts on his life? Yet Qui-Gon's words and actions at the expulsion over a month ago came back to haunt Obi-Wan and snuff his hope. If Qui-Gon truly thought him guilty, why would he be here?

"Prisoner 890, you will come with us," two guards pulled Obi-Wan out of line, breaking the reverie he was caught in.

"Is something wrong?" Obi-Wan asked, although following without protest.

"You've been accused of stealing supplies from the work-room," one of the guards said simply.

Obi-Wan resisted the urge to groan. What was it about his life lately?! He had done no such thing of course, but supposed he'd have to wait and see this out.

The guards brought him to a familiar office and Obi-Wan was surprised to see that Cyndi was there waiting for them. She sat at her desk, near a window, which overlooked the lower corridors of the prison. Even the windows in Brl'yndria rarely looked out to see the sunlight.

"Prisoner 890, Ms. Jancy," the guards reported mechanically, pushing Obi-Wan forward slightly.

Obi-Wan was confused. Cyndi was the one who had accused him of stealing?

"Have a seat Kenobi," Cyndi said coolly. "Thank you gentlemen, you may go. I'll handle it from here."

The guards nodded and withdrew to wait outside.

Obi-Wan looked at Cyndi with hurt, uncomprehending eyes. "Please Ms. Cyndi," his voice was tired; he was still feeling decidedly weak. "There's been a mistake, I haven't-"

"I know you haven't Stormy," Cyndi assured quickly, her cold act dropped the moment the guards were out the door. "It was the only way I could think of to get you alone," her voice had dropped to a whisper and Obi-Wan saw deep concern and fear etched into the woman's pretty features. "Obi-Wan, someone is trying to kill you, and it's the Head Warden. They're staging a riot-" The door swung open and Cyndi quickly clamed up, trying to settle back into her disciplinarian mode. A small thrill of terror shot through her when she saw it was Warden Dr'l. Five or six guards stood behind him.

Obi-Wan's senses screamed that this was not good.

"You could have knocked sir," Cyndi tried to act mildly put out. "Can I help you?"

"You should have been smarter than this Ms. Jancy," Warden Dr'l said coldly, completely ignoring her pretended innocence. The blaster that was suddenly in his hand aimed straight for the young woman's heart. "Too bad you let this young scum seduce you. Your affection for him has been quite well noted by many. Then he convinced you to help him run. No one will really blame you Ms. Jancy; you were just a victim of his mind-powers. One of those terrible things that happens when counselors get too close to their charges. So sad that you got in the line of fire too. We really tried to avoid it."

In an instant Cyndi realized what was happening. They knew. They knew that she had heard. Now both she and Obi-Wan were to die and unless Kire had managed to get away, no one would ever know the truth.

The blaster fired, but a quick burst of the Force turned the weapon aside just as it went off, sending the shot wild.

Cyndi saw Obi-Wan throw up his hand and watched the blaster jerk and misfire all in an instant, then everything became a blur of motion. Obi-Wan gave a powerful Force serge into the midst of the guards, making them all stumble back for a moment. That gave he and Cyndi just enough time to scramble behind her desk before the guards re-gathered themselves. Cyndi whipped a small, emergency blaster from her desk drawer and returned fire, felling one of the attackers, but the others were closing the small distance between them quickly.

"Cover me!" Obi-Wan told Cyndi. Rolling across the floor and narrowly avoiding a hissing barrage of blaster bolts, Obi-Wan took cover behind a file cabinet and kicked the out the window directly above him.

Taking his lead, Cyndi tossed him the blaster. Obi-Wan picked up the cover-fire while Cyndi rolled over. Neither of them had time to think about the drop, all they had time to do was leap out the window and hope.

Cyndi's office was only two floors up and Obi-Wan helped cushion their fall, so neither of them ended up seriously injured, although Cyndi landed on her ankle at a bad angle. It ached, but not enough to keep her from running for all she was worth.

They were still inside the prison complex, and the guards were after them again in no time.

"This is no good!" Cyndi panted as they hesitated in a cross-passage, hearing footsteps and blaster shots echoing from both behind and before them.

Obi-Wan looked swiftly around. If attacked in mass, Cyndi couldn't hold them back, and without his lightsaber, neither could he. There had to be another way...

"Cyndi," Obi-Wan grabbed her arm, pointing to an open airshaft vent, the cover of which seemed to have been removed for repairs. It wasn't exactly original, but if a thing worked...

Obi-Wan let Cyndi go first and they both scrambled quickly into the open duct. The small shaft was almost too tight of a fit and Obi-Wan realized that he was no longer 12 and could hardly squeeze into many of the same types of places. It was fortunate that Cyndi was slight of build, or she would never have made it either. Somehow they managed to not only fit, but move swiftly down the shaft as well. The interior was coated in age-old dust and Cyndi had to resist the urge to sneeze. "Haven't cleaned in a while I guess," she mumbled under her breath.

Their pursuers must not have noticed the open vent, or at least did not consider it a possible way of escape, because five minutes later Obi-Wan and Cyndi were still moving steadily forward, interrupted by no sound but their own heavy breathing.

Suddenly, the shaft took an abrupt upward turn. Cyndi hesitated. "What do we do now?" she wondered aloud.

Obi-Wan took a deep breath. "Well, we can't go back."

********************

It seemed an age that the young woman and the teenager inched their way up the sticky, dusty ventilation shaft. When the pipe finally leveled off to a horizontal cline once more, Cyndi breathed a sigh of relief. A warm breeze ruffled her curls, already wet with perspiration. "We must be nearing the end," she said hopefully, a growing whir nearly drowning out her voice.

Obi-Wan shook his head, feeling the sides of the shaft start to vibrate under his hands and knees. "No, they've figured out where we went. The heat's been turned on. We've got to find a way out, and soon," Obi-Wan's voice was disarmingly calm. "Soon this pipe is going to get burning hot and I don't imagine the air will be much better."

Cyndi's eyes registered panic for a moment. "We'll be cooked."

"Not if we find a way out," Obi-Wan said grimly, trying to ignore the toll that all this was taking on his still weakened body. A large turn off, from which the hot air seemed to be flowing, loomed off to their left. Doubtless, that led to the furnace. Hopefully, if they kept going like they were, they would find another outlet.

Soon the alloy beneath them began to burn their hands and the air became stiflingly hot. Cyndi reflected that it was like being trapped inside a small, dark, dirty, claustrophobic oven. She was beginning to feel closed in and frightened. Terror was trying to overwhelm her and it was starting to win. Then she felt Obi-Wan's hand rest briefly on her calf from behind. His touch was like a grounding wire, bringing down her panic and helping her focus. "Thanks Stormy," she murmured.

When the duct became unbearably hot to touch, Obi-Wan squirmed out of his shirt, a difficult procedure in such tight quarters, and tore it into pieces. Wrapping their hands and knees in the rags, the twosome pressed doggedly forward.

Finally, just when they thought they could take no more, Cyndi felt the tunnel before her give way to emptiness. Nearly tumbling into the darkened room before her, Cyndi decided she'd never been so glad to get out of anywhere in her life.

Obi-Wan slid out after her, dropping to the floor with a bit more grace. Dim glow panels along the far wall revealed that they were in some sort of maintenance room. The room was warm, but not as hot as the shaft. Cyndi ran her fingers through her wet hair, brushing the worst of the cobwebs out.

That's when she noticed Obi-Wan. Like her, he was soaked in perspiration and coated in dust and webs, but he was also shaking. "Stormy?" she asked, taking his hand and finding that he was trembling like a leaf.

Obi-Wan pulled his hand away. He was trying to get on top of the shaking, but it was difficult. He was totally exhausted from the long trek through the ventilation shafts, from helping Cyndi stay calm, from all the energy he'd had to expend back in Cyndi's office to keep the guards off them, and his body truly was not yet healed from the beating he had taken just the day before yesterday, nor from the Precosortiliin overdose after that. "I'm fine," he said confidently, but Cyndi doubted it. "We can't stay here," he added, focusing on the flow of the Force around him. "We have to keep moving, we've got to get outside the prison, off Brl'yndria."

Cyndi knew just how hard that last part was going to be, but they had to try. There were two doors out of the room. "Which way do we-" Cyndi started to ponder. She was interrupted by the sound of someone trying the handle of the door on their right.

"It won't open!" a muffled voice said.

"Then blast it in!" a second called back, from further away.

"Guess that answers that!" Obi-Wan said ruefully as they hurried towards the door on their left.

The door led to a hall, and the hall ended up leading straight to another set of doors, this time, the ones that led out to the main gate of the prison. They couldn't turn back, but inwardly, Obi-Wan knew this was the worst possible place to attempt a breakout. The prison's front gate was one of the best-guarded places on Brl'yndria. Strangely, the doors weren't locked, but swung open easily before Cyndi and Obi-Wan. Stepping out, they immediately found themselves immersed in utter chaos. Apparently the prisoners, whether through ignorance, or through downright defiance, had gone ahead and rioted anyway and the gate area was now flooded with raging X'diini. The guards, who had been informed in the change of plans, were not nearly strong enough to deal with this kind of problem. Reinforcements were on their way, but in the meantime, mass confusion reigned. The huge, force-field reinforced gates before them held the rioting prisoners back, trapping them in the courtyard between the prison, the walls and the gate.

Using the cover of the crowd, Obi-Wan and Cyndi threaded their way through to the eastern wall. "Master Qui-Gon used to tell me that if you can't use the door, the window is a perfectly acceptable option," Obi-Wan almost grinned. "Hold on Cyndi, we're going over the wall."

No one noticed them with all the other commotion, and Obi-Wan was able to levitate them both, safely over the wall before the outside, perimeter guards spotted them and they were forced to flee again.

The terrain beneath their feet was rocky and the ground, mostly made up of loose shale and uneven boulders, was treacherous. Slipping and sliding their way along, they held hands for better balance. Blaster shots followed their progress, kicking up sharp, cutting shards of rock just behind them which bit their legs and made the already difficult footing ten times harder.

Obi-Wan was beginning to see double. Although he refused to let Cyndi see it, getting them over that wall had nearly been too much. Scrambling over a boulder, he had to struggle for a moment to remember which way was up. His mind told him that this was no good, he was never going to make it like this but his heart said that he couldn't not make it. He had to take care of Cyndi, he had to make sure she got out of this all right, whatever happened to him.

There was only one port on Brl'yndria and it was for this that they were headed. It was their only hope of getting off the island, and if they couldn't get off the island, they were both dead.

Cyndi was starting to limp badly, her twisted ankle finally catching up with her. The shots were getting closer as their pursuers gained ground. They reached the top of a rocky outcropping and looked down upon the harbor. It was empty. For security sake, the prison officials allowed no flying craft on or off the island, only sea-craft, and also for security sake, they did not keep a boat in port, but called for one from the mainland when it was necessary. There was no way off of here, they were trapped, and they were dead.

The blaster shots caught up with them. Throwing Cyndi to the ground at the last moment, Obi-Wan gave a small cry as the shot that was meant to kill her burned across the back of his shoulders. Knowing they were exposed on the ridge, Obi-Wan gave a push that sent both he and Cyndi rolling down the hill. The hard rocks jabbed and tore at them as they tumbled, but they landed at the bottom in mostly one piece.

Cyndi sprang to her feet, but Obi-Wan remained hunched over where he had landed. A raw, blistered burn stretched across his shoulders from where the shot had grazed him and the spinning in his head had become unmerciful. The young Jedi did not think he could go on.

"Come on Stormy, hurry!" Cyndi tugged him to his feet with difficulty.

Obi-Wan tried to push her away. "No, go Cyndi! Don't stop! Run!"

"Obi-Wan Kenobi I am not leaving this spot without you, so unless you want to be responsible for both our deaths, come on!" Cyndi desperately half-commanded, half-begged.

Their attackers would make it to the top of the rise soon, they had little time. From the way Obi-Wan was straggling, Cyndi knew he wasn't going to make it much farther. Seeing a small cave, hidden by scrub brush, Cyndi grabbed Obi-Wan's arm and dragged him into it just as the guards topped the rise.

Cyndi held her breath, praying that they would not be discovered. Once, when he was little, Obi-Wan had kept them from being found and it saved their lives, but Cyndi was not sure the boy was up to anything like that in his current state.

Obi-Wan however, was determined to drive himself into the ground if he had to to keep Cyndi safe. Reaching out beyond his pain and exhaustion, he shielded their hiding place, planting in front of them the suggestion that there was nothing of interest there. He only hoped he was strong enough to make it work.

It must have, because the guards rushed by without even hesitating. When they were gone, the wounded teenager slumped forward, ignoring the burning ache of his mending ribs in favor of sparing the throbbing pain across his shoulders. He had thought he was tired before, but now Obi-Wan was utterly drained to the last drop. He knew that there was precious little chance of their getting out of this alive, yet strangely, he didn't feel too sorry.

"We've got to hang on, Stormy," Cyndi was comforting, looking at the injury on his back and wishing she could help him. "I sent Kire for help before they brought you to me. If he managed to get off the island before they were alerted that I knew, then we've got a chance..." Cyndi's voice caught in her throat and trailed off. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry this has happened, sorry you got hurt for me, sorry that I can't do for you what you did for me when I was your age..." Cyndi had to turn away to hide her tears. She didn't think they were going to make it either.

Obi-Wan tried to smile for her. "Hey, as I remember it, you were the one who risked your neck to save me," he pointed out.

"Yes, but you saved me from something worse, you saved me from myself, from what I thought I had to be, the kind of people I thought I had to accept... I don't know how to say it." Cyndi felt a gentle touch on her arm and looked down to find Obi-Wan's eyes fixed on her.

"I understand," he said softly. "And you have done that for me. I lost my purpose for living when the Jedi rejected me, I lost my identity, who I am. But you made me remember that I'm a person on my own, I can still have purposes and goals, no matter where I am or who I'm with. Even if I have to die now, I'll not die lost. My only regret is Master Qui-Gon..." it was Obi-Wan's turn to trail off.

Unshed tears glistened in Cyndi's clear green eyes. Silently, she squeezed Obi-Wan's hands.

PART TWELVE:

"Master Jinn," Leron A'wok nodded a surprised greeting to the Jedi upon entering his study and finding the Jedi waiting for him. "This is an unexpected pleasure to be sure, I was not informed that you were waiting for me."

"Congratulations are in order I hear," Qui-Gon remarked, rising politely until A'wok sat down and gestured for his guest to do the same.

"Ah," Leron nodded. "You must have heard of my appointment on Councilor Mythane's cabinet. Yes, a most welcome turn of events I can tell you."

"Indeed," Qui-Gon nodded. "Quite unusual to be appointed so quickly, and in the middle of an election year to top it off. It was my understanding that X'diini politicians rarely added to their cabinet so late in the election cycle," the Jedi said innocently. "And such a high position for being a complete newcomer to her staff!"

Leron looked slightly irritated, but barely showed it. "Yes, as I said, it was most fortunate. But surely you didn't come here just congratulate me. Do you need something?"

"Just a few moments of your time," Qui-Gon assured. "You see, I checked into that lift failure and transit accident you mentioned to me at our last meeting. There's no record of any such incidents at or around Senator's chambers on Coruscant in the time specified," the Master said, calmly folding his hands in his lap.

Leron's smile turned brittle. "And your point is?"

"The point is, Mr. A'wok, that they never happened. That was not why the Senator feared for his life. Nor was it merely unreasonable paranoia, although his inability to explain his fears to anyone made it seem so," Qui-Gon looked at the X'diin across from him pointedly. "So what was he *really* afraid of Mr. A'wok?"

Leron shrugged. "You seem to be the one with all the answers Master Jinn, you tell me," he said, a trifle coldly.

Qui-Gon leaned back and folded his arms. "All right, I will. T'lyn accepted money and patronage from a spice syndicate, that helped him win the last election. Unfortunately, someone found out and the Senator was going broke because of blackmail. All his accounts were deeply in the red, you know this well, you even presided over the auction of his estate to clear those debts not too long ago. Confronted with financial ruin, and perhaps a nagging conscience, the late Senator began to think that the best thing to do would be to go clean about his spice involvement. If T'lyn turned state's evidence against the cartel leaders, he knew he would probably walk without facing any time himself. His political career would be over, but he was beginning to realize that that was inevitable no matter what. Only the cartel got wind of T'lyn's plans and started threatening him, which is why he was terrified. When T'lyn withdrew from the elections, you saw your own future crumbling before your eyes, didn't you? If T'lyn went clean, it would ruin the rest of his cabinet, you would all be tainted by the scandal. The Cartel made a deal with you, didn't they? Help them get rid of T'lyn before he could talk, and they would assure that you got a position with another prominent politician, the position you hold now," Qui-Gon said, disarmingly calm.

A'wok's hands clamped tightly on the arm rests of his chair, his friendly demeanor dropped like a mask. "Master Jinn, that is the most insulting thing I've ever heard!" the X'diin exclaimed indignantly. "What proof have you to support this fantastic theory of yours? I offer you my help and cooperation, and you come up with these wild claims! I'm afraid that you're so desperate to vindicate your apprentice that you've lost your reason! You forget, that it was his weapon that killed T'lyn, besides, I was in meetings all day and did not even hear about the murder until nearly two hours after it happened, when the meetings concluded, check the attendance rosters!"

"Ah, the time," Qui-Gon remained calm in the face of A'wok's anger. "That's another thing that doesn't ring quite right. The incident report states that the time of death was between 17:50 - 18:15, when Senator T'lyn got back to his rooms and supposedly surprised his wife and my apprentice. Only problem with that is that the meetings let out earlier than expected that day. He returned to his rooms no later than 17:20, leaving at least 30 minutes between his arrival and his death. That kind of puts the spontaneous action theory out of play doesn't it?" Qui-Gon knew he was right, and the angry flush that was coming over Leron's face only served to prove him right. The Master wasn't finished yet however. "What really happened was that you bought off the guards didn't you? They drugged poor Iyana so that she was utterly under your control and would do whatever you told her to do. You had her send that message to Obi-Wan, knowing he would respond to any summons from the Senator or one of his wives..."

*"You sent for me Mrs. T'lyn?" Obi-Wan said politely when Iyana opened the door for him.

"Yes, I wanted to talk to you. Please come in," she offered sweetly. Something about her struck Obi-Wan as subtly... wrong somehow, but he couldn't put his finger on what it was.

"I'm worried about my husband's safety," Iyana poured them both a drink from the ornate pitcher on the table, offering Obi-Wan both a seat and a cup. "I've received some... some threatening calls that I haven't told anyone about, not even Astor," she said quietly, looking down into her cup.

Obi-Wan's interest was hooked, just as A'wok had intended, making him a little less mindful of his situation. Obi-Wan accepted the cup without question, without really even thinking about it. Still, consciously or not, Obi-Wan did not drink until Iyana took a deep draft of her glass. The Jedi apprentice just sipped at his, to be polite, while Iyana talked. The drink was very sweet, and very heavy, creating the unconscious desire for more almost as soon as one tasted it, no matter how small the sip. With out even realizing it, Obi-Wan ended up drinking the whole thing. A'wok had counted on the fact that if Iyana's story kept the young Jedi's mind busy enough, he wouldn't notice what was happening to his body until it was too late, and unfortunately, it worked.

There wasn't much time for the teenager to have noticed anyway. The drug began to take effect mere seconds after his first sip. It became impossible for him to follow what Iyana was saying, as if someone were physically separating his mind from his body. A thrill of alarm shot through Obi-Wan as, too late, he detected the foreign presence in his system. The young Jedi tried to jump out of the chair, but his body didn't move. Obi-Wan was frozen in place, cup in hand, his elbows leaning on the table, and he couldn't move. Couldn't move to save his life. The drink had been drugged with the same control drug used on Iyana.

Although his body was inert, Obi-Wan's mind was still aware, although his perceptions were hazy and irritatingly confused. He saw several men step out of the adjoining rooms. Three were dressed like guards, the fourth, Obi-Wan recognized as one of Senator T'yln's top aides. All of the men wore gloves. They would leave no fingerprints, no traces of any kind that could be linked to them.

One of the guards relieved Obi-Wan of his lightsaber while another shoved the young Jedi's sleeve up and jabbed him with a hypo full of Rycaliin to wipe his memory of the past several hours, and, of what was about to happen. A second hypo of Na'dril was quickly applied to cover the other spices. Obi-Wan felt woozy and ill from the odd cocktail of drugs coursing through his system.

"Look at me," a voice commanded, and Obi-Wan found his body obeying, his head turning until his eyes locked onto Leron A'wok. "Stand up," Leron ordered, and again, Obi-Wan obeyed. Horror overtook the Jedi as he realized that whatever they had given him, left him completely at their control.

Obi-Wan began to wrestle with his un-responding body, trying to reach out to the Force to counter the drugs that held him in a helpless stupor.

Leron smiled. These drugs were worth the small fortune he knew they were worth. The Cartel backers had supplied them free, along with the necessary tailoring needed so that the person caught would respond to only one voice, A'wok's. That also necessitated that the aide actually be present to set the murder up in person, but Leron was not worried, he would be long gone before the actual killing took place and the whole little drama could unfold while he was carefully cloistered in meetings with an air-tight alibi. "You are going to wait here until Senator T'lyn comes back, when he does, you are going to kill him. Cut his head off with your lightsaber," A'wok commanded the boy coldly.

Obi-Wan struggled with the massive pressure of the control drug. NO! NO! He couldn't do this! He could not let himself kill for them! He would die first! "N-no," Obi-Wan murmured, almost incoherently.

"What was that?!" Leron snapped. Obi-Wan should not have been able to speak without being commanded to do so.

"N-no! Wo-on't k-kill!" Obi-Wan struggled with his sluggish voice, but he was quickly losing the battle, the drug was over taking him and he was not sure he could fight it again.

Leron swore violently. "Give him another shot of Tracia," the X'diin ordered, thinking that the control drug dosage had not been large enough.

What Leron did not know, was that giving a double dose of Tracia was a terrible mistake. As soon as the spice hit Obi-Wan's already drug-laden system, the teenager went crazy. Too much of the spice created the exact opposite response from the drug's intended purpose. There was no way to control someone on a Tracia overdose, and for several moments the guards scrambled to overcome Obi-Wan, finally managing to forcibly restrain the struggling teenager. Obi-Wan was still thrashing, but not strategically or purposefully resisting them. In truth, it was more that his body was going wild then that he was actually fighting.

Suddenly, before Leron had a chance to truly envision the consequences of this unwanted turn of events, the door swung open. "WHAT'S GOING ON IN HERE?!" Senator T'lyn bellowed. Panicking, the guards jumped him. There was a short struggle until one of them bashed the Senator on the back of the head, knocking him unconscious. Quickly, the conspirators dragged the limp Senator away from the door and closed it, lest anyone come by and see.

Obi-Wan, who had gotten lose in the chaos, had to be restrained once more as well. The guards had to tackle the teenager, pinning him down and twisting his arm hard. Obi-Wan cried out at the pain and continued struggling.

"SHH!" Leron growled angrily, frightened that someone would hear. One of the guards punched Obi-Wan in the ribs as another covered the boy's mouth to stifle his cries.

Obi-Wan was disorientated and frightened. All he knew was something horrible was happening here, but he couldn't seem to stop it, or even comprehend anymore what it was. Having once more restrained the apprentice Jedi, the guards looked to A'wok, not knowing what to do now.

Leron pressed his fingers to his temples. This was not going as smoothly and seamlessly as the aide had intended, but they were in far too deep to pull out now, so he'd just have to try to grapple with these unexpected changes. Quickly revising, but seeing no need to change the basic idea of his plan, Leron had the guards strip Obi-Wan of his belt and tunic, dumping them in the corner by the bed to be found by investigators later. Then he made Iyana change into skimpy lingerie and a light bathrobe, making sure that the little blaster she would need to kill herself with later was carefully concealed in an inner pocket of the robe. They cleaned the blood from the senator's head wound off the entryway floor, but left the signs of struggle alone. That would fit in all right.

Obi-Wan was trembling all over from the many drug reactions as Leron spread T'yln's blood on his hands. Reality was blurred and indistinct, he no longer knew what was happening, all he knew was pain and the terror of the spice induced confusion in his body.

Leron glanced at his chrono and swore. Nearly a half an hour had passed. He was going to have to hurry to get back to his meetings without being missed. So that the guards could be free to help him with the final stages, A'wok had them tie Obi-Wan to a pillar with soft cloths, so that the cord marks would not show on his wrists. Together they dragged T'lyn outside and A'wok used Obi-Wan's lightsaber to cut the Senator's head off finishing the job. Returning into the house, he gave Iyana her exact final instructions, right down to her own suicide.

Telling the guards to set right an over turned giant plant, Leron casually shot all three of them as soon as their backs were turned. Now only he knew the specifics of what had really happened. Using the lightsaber to cover the blaster burns, he then moved the bodies around a little to look more natural. Then all that was left to do was to send the fake, recorded message to Qui-Gon, which he had taped when the Senator was in one of his tempers, set a confused and wild Obi-Wan lose to run and tell Iyana to start screaming.*

"Then you merely departed the apartment through the garden exit which lead straight to a back door in the council building, enabling you to slip right back into your meetings with no one noticing his short departure," Qui-Gon finished. "No one, except the droid that logged the minutes for the meetings that is. That's why the record droid was destroyed. That's why the autopsy records were missing, to hide the report of the bump on the Senator's head, which meant that it was probable that T'lyn was unconscious at his time of death. You didn't want anyone to get suspicious. And that's also what Iyana's dying words meant. She didn't say "A walk through the garden,"" Qui-Gon shook his head sadly, thinking of all the wasted life this terrible affair had brought about. "No. What she said was "A'WOK, through the garden." Apparently the pain of dying made that poor child lucid again for a brief moment and she used that moment to try and finger the man who had done this to her, and say how they had escaped."

Leron A'wok seemed ready to pop a blood vessel he looked so angry. His fists clenched and unclenched at his sides. Besides anger, Qui-Gon felt a great amount of fear in the X'diini.

"You were a little too neat A'wok," Qui-Gon's voice was still calm, but it was steely now. "It is impossible that the guards could have fought my apprentice without thinking to fire even one shot, and as a Jedi, if Obi-Wan were truly trying to kill them, he would have reflected their own shots back. At least one of them would have been killed by that."

A'wok was livid. "All very nice," he fumed. "But you still have no evidence Jedi! You can prove nothing! I tell you I had no knowledge of the Senator's death until after it happened!"

"Then why does your data pad's date log shows that the speech you gave at his funeral was written the day before he died?" the Jedi Master asked with deadly calm, his intense blue eyes pinning Leron to the spot. Qui-Gon showed him a copy of the last thing he found while he was hacking the system.

"You can't submit that!" Leron blustered. "You got it without an obtaining order!"

"Maybe it can't stand as evidence in a trial, but I think it will be more than sufficient to get the Galactic court to re-open the investigation, and once opened, there will be more than enough proof to convict you," Qui-Gon responded without missing a beat.

Fast as lightning, there was a blaster in Leron's hand. "Don't try anything Jedi," he warned. "Get up, and keep your hands away from your body," the aide ordered.

Qui-Gon could have easily had his lightsaber out before A'wok had a chance to blink, but the Jedi Master chose to comply instead. He let A'wok disarm him and lead him into the record room. "My guards found you in here illegally, when you resisted and killed several of them, they had no alternative but to shoot you," he said coldly.

"You did kill T'lyn didn't you?" Qui-Gon asked quietly as A'wok pushed him up against the wall.

"Of course I killed him, what choice did I have? That fat, stupid worm was going to ruin my career, my life! The world is better without him."

"And Iyana, the guards, Obi-Wan? What of them?" Qui-Gon prodded, almost harshly. This man had ended and ruined so many lives, it was disgusting.

"Necessary expenditures, just like you. I'm sorry Master Jinn, but you should not have come poking about. And you should never have come here alone." Leron's finger tightened on the trigger.

"What makes you think he did Mr. A'wok?" a woman's voice from behind them made A'wok jump.

Faster than thought, Qui-Gon snapped into action, grabbing Leron and knocking the blaster from his hand before he had a chance to damage any more lives.

"Well, this is one culprit who won't be walking on you," Qui-Gon said as Lt. Nita Mylanta strode over to his side with a smile.

"That's for sure," Nita nodded with satisfaction. "We recorded the whole thing, just like you planned."

Several officers took Leron from Qui-Gon. "Forgive me Mr. A'wok," Qui-Gon said as he took his lightsaber back from the X'diini. "But a confession is always so much cleaner than having to drag a lot of evidence into court."

A'wok knew he was caught. "Fine," he sneered as several officers clapped binders on his wrists. "You think you've won, but you haven't. You may have cleared the boy, but you haven't saved him. Do you think the cartel connections where limited to T'lyn? As soon as you started poking around here, you signed that kid's death warrant Master Jinn. He's dead, so you see, you haven't won after all." The X'diini grinned evilly. As far as he knew, the boy went down that morning. One sweet piece of victory at least in this lost situation.

Sharp horror twisted in Qui-Gon's stomach. Obi-Wan! Dear Force, no! Without another word, Qui-Gon turned on his heel and strode out of the room. He didn't pause, but went straight to the harbor as fast as he could. Air traffic around Brl'yndria was strictly prohibited, he would be shot out of the sky before he could get within a hundred kilometers in an air ship. Water traffic was another thing however. It was slower, but it was his only chance.

Just as Qui-Gon reached the harbor, another boat was pulling into dock. The Jedi was surprised to see that it's markings were that of the official prison courier ship. Almost as soon as the ship slid into its moorings and the harbor droids started fastening it in, someone jumped off onto the dock, but the person was not X'diini. They were Calamarian, and they looked about as urgent as Qui-Gon felt. Qui-Gon put himself on a direct course to intercept the Calamarian and they met at the top of the pier. For a moment, the disturbed and slightly frightened looking Calamarian seemed about to try to tangle with the big man he found blocking his path, instead, he halted.

"You-you're a Jedi, aren't you?" Kire gasped breathlessly, recognizing Qui-Gon's robes and lightsaber. Besides, a human on X'diin?

"Yes, and you're from Brl'yndria," Qui-Gon acknowledged hastily. "What-"

"Name's Kire Bmun, I'm a Hope's Challenge worker from Brl'yndria prison. I've got two, two men unconscious in the cabin of the boat. The pilot and navigator, transmission from the prison, they tried to stop me, but I had to, had to get through!" Kire was still trying to calm his breathing down. Who knows what was happening back on Brl'yndria now? What might be happening to Cyndi, or the other Hope workers? "There's going to be a riot at the prison, the prison warden is setting this one kid up to be killed, and others are going to die as well. At least, that was the plan. Now that they know someone is on to them I don't know what they may do!"

Qui-Gon had a sneaking suspicion he knew who the kid was who was being set up. "Listen to me Kire," he said quickly; they hadn't a moment to lose. "There are a lot of officials who cannot be trusted. You must go to the 5th sector enforcement station and ask for a Lt. Nita Mylanta. Tell her that Qui-Gon Jinn sent you and that what you have to tell her has to do with the Senator Astor T'lyn case."

"Fifth sector, Nita Mylanta, Qui-Gon Jinn, Senator Astor T'lyn," Kire nodded. "Got it. What are you-"

"I'm going to Brl'yndria!" Qui-Gon called back over his shoulder, already running down the dock towards the ship Kire had just arrived upon. Quickly unloading the two bound, unconscious X'diini, Qui-Gon revved up the ship's engine, and keyed in for the autopilot to retrace the path it had just come. Throwing the ship into full gear, Qui-Gon pulled out of the dock so fast that the harbor droids barely had time to unfasten the holding lines they had applied. There was a rending noise as several of the fasteners popped lose under the strain and Qui-Gon sped off towards Brl'yndria.

As the ship skimmed across the choppy green-grey waves, Qui-Gon gripped the steering control as if he could physically will the craft to go faster and sent all the strength and encouragement he could to Obi-Wan. He didn't know if it could reach the young Jedi, or if the young Jedi was even still alive to be reached, but he had to try.

The water spread out, seemingly endless to the impatient Jedi Master. This was much too familiar. It brought back Bandomeer all over again. Only this time, Qui-Gon doubted he could afford to be even a few moments too late.

PART THIRTEEN:

"Check for caves and hiding places in the rocks, they can't be far!" the guards' order carried faintly into the crevasse where the two fugitives hid.

Slowly, Obi-Wan pulled himself upright. "Come on Cyndi," he said, remarkably calm and collected for his condition and their situation. "We can't stay here. I'm spent; I can't hide us again, not from a concentrated search."

Cyndi took a deep breath. "Okay," she said, matching his calm. This was no time to panic, they needed level heads. "It sounds like they're on the other side of the ridge. We can probably slip out and double back behind those rocks without them seeing us," she said, peering out from behind their scanty brush cover. Moving fast, Cyndi and Obi-Wan scrambled across the uneven terrain. Hiding behind the rocks, they managed to avoid being spotted and work their way around to the other side of the hill. The ground slanted sharply upward and they found themselves almost crawling on their hands and knees to keep from sliding and dislodging rocks that might give away their position to the host of guards and surveillance droids that were now crawling all over the island. One their right a craggy ridge of boulders hid them from the Prison, but on their left, the ground slanted sharply down towards a sheer cliff. They didn't know where they were going, but they knew they weren't going back, so, that only left forward.

Suddenly, the ground beneath Cyndi's feet slid loose. She tried to compensate, but ended up sliding sideways instead, now heading towards the cliff. Cyndi grabbed at the rocks, but the dry shale and loose stones just continued to slide with her.

"Cyndi!" Obi-Wan hissed between his teeth in alarm, grabbing at her, but she was out of reach. Pushing off, Obi-Wan slid down after her.

Rocks scratched Cyndi's hands and the air filled with dust as her downward descent picked up speed. Cyndi wouldn't scream, but her heart leaped up into her throat as her wild slither carried her straight towards the cliff edge. Obi-Wan caught her arm, but they were both still sliding. Just as their momentum carried them over the edge, Obi-Wan managed to catch hold of one of the little scrub growths that dotted the rocky ledge, halting his descent with a jolt. Obi-Wan's fingers slid on Cyndi's sweaty, slippery skin, but at the last moment his grip caught on the chrono about Cyndi's wrist. Cyndi grabbed his wrist too, as tight as she could as she found herself dangling above the pounding surf, hundreds of meters below.

Obi-Wan's burned shoulders screamed at the strain, but he wasn't about to let go. "Cyndi, are you okay?" he hissed through clenched teeth.

"I've been better," Cyndi managed to gasp, glancing down and then regretting it. "Now would probably be a lousy time to tell you that I'm afraid of heights."

"Probably," Obi-Wan murmured, trying to pull them both back up onto the cliff. He managed to get to a semi-crouching position on the very edge of the cliff.

"You can just stop right there," a hard voice said, followed by the distinctive click of a heavy-powered blaster rifle bolt being pulled back.

Obi-Wan and Cyndi both looked up slowly. Warden Dr'l and about a dozen armed guards stood about ten meters away on the top of the ridge above them, with just as many blaster barrels staring down at them.

"Okay," Cyndi couldn't help thinking somewhat dryly. "Now's the time to panic."

Obi-Wan drew in a deep breath. There was no way out of this that he could see, at least, not for both of them... "Cyndi, on the count of three, let go," he whispered. "I'll nudge you towards the water. Swim Cyndi, swim as hard as you can, it's your only chance."

Cyndi's eyes widened as she realized that Obi-Wan was essentially about to commit suicide in a last attempt to buy her at least a little more time. "No, Stormy!"

Suddenly the sound of a motor made Cyndi look out to sea. A boat was approaching, approaching fast.

Obi-Wan saw it too. More importantly, he felt it. His heart leaped with a wild joy. MASTER!

********************

Qui-Gon had managed to get through the security perimeters with little trouble, pretending to be bringing Kire back per instructions. Now, as Brl'yndria loomed large before him, he felt his heart knot up. Something was definitely wrong on the island and he let his instincts guide him in his approach. Bond or no bond, this close, nothing could keep him from sensing Obi-Wan's presence. That he felt it at all was encouraging, it meant that the boy was still alive, at least, for the moment.

As he closed in on the prison isle, the Jedi Master could just make out figures on one of the cliffs jutting out over the sea. He had no doubt who at least one of them was. Pushing the craft to its highest speed, Qui-Gon headed straight for the cliff. The cliff overhung the water slightly, but it would be a tight turn at the speed he was traveling to smashing into the rocky shoreline or ripping the side of the boat open against the cliff wall.

*****************

"Change of plans," Obi-Wan said, grabbing the momentary distraction that Qui-Gon's unexpected arrival gave them. "Don't worry," he called out with a funny grin that Cyndi didn't understand. "I've done this before!"

With that, Obi-Wan let go of the bush and pushed off hard, pulling Cyndi with him. Blaster fire followed them as the surprised guards sprang into action. Cyndi gave a small shriek that she couldn't help as they plummeted straight down. No, not quite straight, with the combined effort of Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon, they actually fell a great deal sideways, as well as down, and landed hard on the deck of the ship. Obi-Wan grabbed Cyndi's shoulders, covering her against the blaster fire that exploded around them, scorching blast marks in the ship and making the water hiss and sizzle angrily.

Qui-Gon wheeled the ship around sharply, the bow scraping loudly against the cliff edge. Managing a quick 180-degree turn, Qui-Gon sped off again, heading for the open water. Obi-Wan and Cyndi scrambled off the front hull and down into the piloting helm with Qui-Gon. All of them knew they weren't out of this yet, not by a long shot. They were still in Brl'yndria's waters, and could probably expect to be blown out of the water at any moment. Sure enough, the water around them exploded in an angry shower of fire and water as Brl'yndria's huge, floating defensive cannons kicked in.

The ship lurched violently to the side as one blast took out half of the starboard bow. "She's going to blow!" Qui-Gon warned, yet it seemed to Cyndi to be one of the most collected announcements of imminent doom that she had ever heard.

She was not really sure whether it was Obi-Wan or Qui-Gon who pulled her off the exploding vessel, but one moment Cyndi was on the ship, the next, she was in the water, spluttering and coughing for breath. Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon surfaced nearby.

Overhead, they heard the buzzing whir of approaching airships. The official looking black, wedge-shaped hovercraft swung into place directly above them and all three in the water took a very deep breath. There was no chance of igniting lightsabers in the water, and very little chance of surviving direct attack at this close range.

Suddenly, a side door of the hovercraft slid open and a familiar salmon face poked out. "Kire!" Cyndi shouted in joyful disbelief, her mouth filling with seawater as a result.

Another familiar face followed and Qui-Gon smiled. "Lt. Mylanta," he called up, over the roar of the hoverer's repulser field. "How nice to see you again!"

"You look a little wet Master Jinn!" she called back. "Maybe you and your friends would like a ride?"

CONCLUSION:

Obi-Wan Kenobi tried to keep his breathing steady. It was not so long ago that he had stood up on this platform and had his life fall to pieces around him. Qui-Gon stood behind him and the Master's strong hands on his shoulders helped the Padawan drive away all unpleasant memories. There was no more past, only future now. The Galactic Court had officially cleared him of all charges, A'wok had predictably squealed on the drug lords he had killed T'lyn for, and all of them were looking at life sentences at least.

Still, the vindication that Obi-Wan needed most had come the moment he realized that Qui-Gon still believed in him. In fact, had never given up on him in the first place. Qui-Gon had explained everything to Obi-Wan the night after the escape. How much he had hated what happened, how badly it hurt him to do it and how much he missed, and worried about Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan told everything that had happened to him as well, and in the end, they both felt much better.

Now was the moment that Qui-Gon had pushed for hardest, and the Council had, for once, quite readily agreed to. Together, Master and apprentice looked out across the vast sea of assembled Jedi in the Great hall. All the Jedi who were currently on Coruscant. Obi-Wan saw Bant in the crowd, along with Reft, Garen Muln and his other friends. They waved and gave and Bant gave him a "way-to-go" signal. The small knot of teenagers gave a whistling shout of joy that was distinctly un-Jedi-ish, but none of their Master's said a word to them.

Just that morning, Obi-Wan had bid farewell to his other friend as Cyndi boarded a transport heading back to X'diin. Warden Dr'l and the other corrupt officials had been removed and new management had come to Brl'yndria. Despite everything that had happened, Cyndi, Kire and the other Hope's Challenge workers were still intent on giving the youngsters of Brl'yndria the chance for a better future. "It's what I do Stormy," Cyndi had explained with a smile. "I really want to make a difference for those young people, even the ones like Vrad and Tiimo. If no one tries to reach them, they'll be lost forever."

Obi-Wan nodded with a smile. He understood. She had a purpose, a goal, a mission, just like him. "Take care Cyndi! And if your life ever gets a little too boring..."

"I know where to find you!" Cyndi finished for him with a wide grin. "Take care Stormy! Have a good life!"

Qui-Gon squeezed Obi-Wan's shoulders gently and the Padawan felt the ripple of the Force move between them. Qui-Gon hadn't bothered to wait for any official ceremony to restore their bond; the two of them had taken care of that themselves almost as soon as they were back together. "Be it known to everyone," Qui-Gon's commanding voice rolled out across the large room. "That Obi-Wan Kenobi has been completely exonerated of all charges against him. He has done no wrong, and in fact, in every way has acted in a manner of which his training and his order can be proud. He is hereby reinstated into the Jedi Order. And I hereby take him, from now, until the day he achieves Knighthood, as my Padawan learner, my apprentice, my son of the heart," Qui-Gon whispered that last part for Obi-Wan's ears alone.

There were tears in Obi-Wan's eyes again, but this time, they were tears of sheer joy. Qui-Gon placed Obi-Wan's lightsaber, recovered from the X'diin, into Obi-Wan's hands. Running his hand over the boy's hair, Qui-Gon attached a small, braided strand of his own hair, to cover the bare place behind Obi-Wan's ear until his own grew in again. "Padawan Kenobi, with these tokens, you are officially reinstated to your rightful place in the Jedi order. Welcome home." The pride and love in Qui-Gon's eyes was enough to make up for all the pain suffered along the way, and Obi-Wan felt he could just melt into them like butter on a warm day. He felt so happy, so incredibly wonderful. Everything was right again, everything was good.

Obi-Wan's friends put up another cheer, but this time, it grew and swelled and soon filled the whole chamber as the other Jedi picked it up. It was an orderly sound, as everything the Jedi seemed to do was orderly, but it was one of genuine celebration for the safe and happy return of one of their own. Most of them didn't even know the young Jedi up on the platform, but it didn't matter. They were all family here.

Obi-Wan could have sworn that he even saw the Council members smiling. At least, just a little.

THE END





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