FULL CIRCLE
by ardvenport
"And we will be back in a minute with more shocking revelations about our second minister's double life," the pretty announcer finished. He was a fine, slender Nigan male with well groomed features and carefully striped hair. The screen changed from the announcer to a large, red, rolling creature that promised to smooth over all your droid's cosmetic needs.
Qui-Gon Jinn sighed and lowered his gaze from the screen overhead. The planet Niga loved their political gossip every bit as much as Coruscant. The only difference he could see was that the Nigas seemed to favor personal melodrama over fiscal corruption. The screen on the opposite wall droned on in a low volume, but he ignored it. Since the Jedi Temple was on the Republic's capital city-planet, Qui-Gon, like all Jedi, was expert at tuning out excesses of media and advertising.
Next to him and sitting up on a medical couch, his young apprentice, Obi-Wan Kenobi, finished scraping his bowl for the last of his yedo porridge. Most of the rest of the breakfast they'd shared was gone from the tray in front of him. Three days of fever and lethargy seemed to have disappeared like a summer storm. The were both dressed and ready to go; they merely waited for the formality of one more examination from Y7G. Their ship was parked on the medical center's space platform. The Jedi who had delivered it would get a transport back to Couroscant on her own. Qui-Gon would pilot them back to the Temple. Under quarantine.
Qui-Gon Jinn was in a lot of trouble with the Jedi Council. More than usual. He'd calmly considered his position and decided if he could do anything over again...he would have avoided the planet Niga entirely. But Jedi did not waste time regretting past actions and given a similar situation he would argue in favor of the same action. He greatly hoped that he would never be in such a position again.
Obi-Wan was eyeing Qui-Gon's half-eaten sweet roll. With a gesture he invited his apprentice to take it. He got up from his chair to look down the hall for the droid. Halfway to the door the announcer caught his attention.
"...and the rumor is that the impasse was so severe that the Longear and the Longnose Factions arranged for Jedi intermediaries to act as couriers between the various parties. Our inquiries yielded only a single, terse communique, directly from the Jedi Council. 'The Jedi Temple currently has no Jedi operating on Niga.'
Qui-Gon stared at the screen as the announcer handed over the show to a small crowd of pompous commentators. He was astonished. The Jedi Council did not respond at all to any media inquiries about any missions. Ever. Obviously, he was not the only one the Jedi Council was displeased with.
Finishing the last of the roll, Obi-Wan looked up at the screen as well.
"Master, is that why you asked them to turn the viewer back on?"
He gave Obi-Wan an affirmative gesture. Obi-Wan frowned and lowered his blue eyes and wiped his sticky fingers on a napkin. Qui-Gon had told Obi-Wan what he'd done while he'd been ill. Obi-Wan felt uncomfortable about it but had said nothing. He stole a glance at the other Jedi, standing calmly by door to the room and wondered at his master's certainty. He very much wanted to support his master, but it did seem that Qui-Gon Jinn had strayed from their assigned mission.
Obi-Wan's disapproval amused Qui-Gon; he wasn't sure if it came from his young padawan's inexperience (his single, thin braid barely reached down to his shoulder) or just his own relief that Obi-Wan was well enough now to disapprove at all. The medical droids had assured him that with proper care the khamuz virus was rarely fatal, though it insidiously seemed to favor younger victims. Qui-Gon had not fallen ill, but he was still isolated as a potential carrier.
"...and Minister Reen Unistoful had no comment..." came from the screen. Qui-Gon frowned. He was actually glad for the days that the quarantine had allowed him to consider the situation, and the minister.
Master Qui-Gon Jinn rarely ever felt rage; the ways of the Force did not allow it. But real anger had burned in him when he'd found out that the minister had sent them to meet the former planet's former finance minister without telling the Jedi about the quarantine. They were supposed to act as discreet, impartial intermediaries, collect the "compromising" data disks about the previous and current administrations and leave. So, it had not seemed odd at all that they were given a fast transport and a hidden route to the former minister's estate. Nor had it seemed unexpected that they'd seen almost no people during their brief stay. The whole exchange was supposed to be secret.
But as soon as they tried to cross back over the provincial border they were immediately set upon by the authorities. The Jedi had evaded the troops and escaped without any communication. After all, something like that had been expected, that one side or the other would renege on the deal and try to take the data from them. That was why the Nigans had asked for Jedi intermediaries. But Minister Unistoful had tried to use an existing epidemic to cover his attempt. They'd made it all the way into the middle of capital city, Zager, before Obi-Wan had collapsed.
One exceptionally well groomed man on the screen above with matching mauve and teal shirt and hair spikes pronounced, "Our politicians, our supposed leaders are so disreputable, so unsavory that even the Jedi won't have anything to do with them. And these are people deal with some of the lowest, most despicable characters in the galaxy every day. What does that say about the state of affairs on this planet?"
Qui-Gon wasn't so sure that he wasn't too far off the mark.
At last Y7G appeared with a squat attendant droid to clear them to leave. They scanned Obi-Wan, had him stand and then scanned him again.
"...and Health Minister Howif wanted to assure the public that the recent outbreak of khamuz in the capital city has been completely contained." Qui-Gon glanced up at the screen again as Obi-Wan walked across the room for the droid. "A total of only four cases have been reported with no more new cases in the last two days." The announcer briefly disappeared for a few brief images of the medical facility that they were in. The other three cases had been quickly rounded up from the area where Obi-Wan had first fallen ill. And there were a few dozen others like Qui-Gon who were kept isolated because they'd been exposed, but the media didn't seem to think that these were important enough to mention. "Now, back to our leading news. Deputy Legislator Eeolin had no comment about her very strange double life with a..."
Qui-Gon sighed. Health Minister Howif's prediction had been absolutely accurate. Reports of a nearly missed epidemic just weren't as enthralling as fresh and juicy scandal, so they received only passing interest. Which was very convenient for a health minister determined to avoid panic in the population.
Of course, she wouldn't have had that convenience if Qui-Gon hadn't told her about the data disk. And then given it to her.
He had simply broadly interpreted the "Niga governing authority" who was supposed to receive the disk to include the health minister as well. It seemed to him that Minister Howif had a far more noble and practical use for the data than Unistoful had. Qui-Gon straightened and mentally chided himself; it was not his place to judge. And the Council would do that soon enough anyway. On the other side of the room Y7G seemed to be satisfied. Qui-Gon appraised his apprentice as well. Though considerably recovered from just the day before when he could barely lift his head, Obi-Wan did not quite look fit. He didn't look tired, but his step was not as firm or sure as it should have been. Through the Force, he sensed his apprentice's waning illness.
Qui-Gon handed Obi-Wan his brown robe and he put on his own, long, darker brown robe as they left the room. They were just as stiff as the rest of their clothes. He pulled his long, brown hair out from under the wrinkly material and let it fall back over the hood. He didn't particularly care for the local laundry, but it had been necessary to sterilize all their clothes and equipment, and the data disk he'd carried for this mission. He'd even had to disassemble their lightsabers so that each part could be sterilized before he put them back together. The medical droids were overly strict but Qui-Gon had no cause to deny them. Not after seeing first hand how swift and devastating the khamuz virus was. At the worst times, Obi-Wan could do little but suffer through the weakness and lethargy, his sleep disturbed by nightmares and fever. The droids' medicines spared him the worst of the headache and nausea, but Qui-Gon could not even lend him strength through the Force. The virus would take it all. Before it finally burned itself out.
"You will of course pilot your ship under strict quarantine procedures," Y7G reminded Qui-Gon.
"Of course. I am familiar with the procedures," Qui-Gon assured the spindly, blue-metal, medical droid. He was tall for a human and towered over the smaller droid that was barely as tall as Obi-Wan. Y7G nodded its 'head', but it still kept one eye sensor on Obi-Wan as they exited together.
Y7G repeated everything about quarantine procedures as they walked down the hall toward the lift tubes, what it had sent to the Jedi Temple medical center, the probability of whether or not they were still contagious and what to do for the extremely unlikely event of the Obi-Wan's khamuz virus reoccurred during the trip back. Qui-Gon patiently listened, but he did not quicken his slow walk to shorten the lecture. Obi-Wan remained quiet between them and kept his head down. Qui-Gon saw him close his eyes in the lift, as if he were conserving energy.
They arrived at the hospital roof and Y7G finally left them. They walked up an incline to the landing platform where the cruiser waited for them. It was a small blunt-nosed craft, its short wings had red Republic markings; it was not very new but fast enough for their needs.
Obi-Wan stumbled on the landing ramp. He didn't fall, but Qui-Gon looked after him with some concern. The ship had a single cabin, pilot and co-pilot seats in front and a few amenities in back. Qui-Gon put a hand on Obi-Wan's shoulder and pointed him toward the recessed bunk in back. Obi-Wan hung his head, so Qui-Gon could only see the top of his short, brown hair.
"I'm sorry, Master. I thought I was feeling better."
Qui-Gon put his hands on his padawan's shoulders. "There is no blame here, Obi-Wan. Illness is something that all of us must bear from time to time." Obi-Wan had seen his master injured a few times, but never ill or weak, but he sensed sincerity in his master's voice and accepted that Qui-Gon did know how he felt. He swallowed his embarrassment and nodded.
"And we will both still have to be quarantined once we get back to Coruscant," Qui-Gon added. "So, we will endure this together, my padawan."
Obi-Wan smiled just a little bit. "So, you won't have to report to the Council right away?"
"No." Qui-Gon answered, surprised. He hadn't thought of that. "I expect not." He wondered if the Council would chose to berate him over a comlink, or wait until they could do it in person.
Obi-Wan sat, removed his belt and lightsaber and put them on an inset shelf in the bulkhead over the bunk. Then he lay down while Qui-Gon went forward to the pilot's seat. He was warned by no less that three different authorities on the comlink what his travel plan was, that he was not to deviate from it at all and that he was to leave the quarantine signal on throughout. The Jedi pilot who had left the ship for them had already left it activated. Qui-Gon patiently acknowledged all of the warnings as he activated pre-flight controls and displays. The sublight and hyperdrive engines came up. Qui-Gon glanced back at Obi-Wan before he engaged the antigravity lifts and followed his mandated flight path up and out of the atmosphere.
Qui-Gon considered himself an adequate pilot, but his interest in spaceflight extended only as far as his needs. The navigation coordinates were already set, and locked he noted. In fact, the auto-pilot back-up was preset to take the ship all the way back to Coruscant. He didn't really need to do anything at all. But he manually proceeded to the jump point and sent the ship into hyperspace anyway. He stared at the netherworld of interstellar spaceflight that had replaced the stars and then back at his padawan. Obi-Wan was clearly dozing and Qui-Gon did not want to disturb him.
He pulled the hood of his robe up over his head and folded his arms before him. Time to think, to meditate. He had felt anger at Minister Unistoful, unfocused, but intense fury that any being could be so selfish to risk an epidemic for his own political gain.
He'd been angry about being used. Qui-Gon admitted to that spark of pride.
And his anger had wound up into his fears for Obi-Wan. Qui-Gon had never seen the effects of the khamuz virus firsthand and he hadn't recognized it when his padawan had first fallen ill. He'd simply sat down in the alley where they were hiding. When Qui-Gon had gone to his aid, he'd collapsed completely, weak and feverish when less than twenty minutes before he'd been fit and healthy. Without knowing what the illness was, Qui-Gon had abandoned his mission and sought the nearest medical help.
But when he'd been quarantined, his mind had wandered too many times to his fears for Obi-Wan's life and the consequences for the Niga government if he'd died. Realistically, Qui-Gon knew there would have been none, but his thoughts had sometimes strayed to some very unrealistic and dark possibilities. Qui-Gon was disappointed that he had strayed into such lapses during his inactivity.
Since he was already exposed, he'd been allowed to stay with Obi-Wan, though there wasn't much for him to do. The droids took very good care of him. A Jedi could draw strength from the Force. But Obi-Wan was young and had never suffered such a serious illness before and the virus seemed to steal strength even faster than even a Jedi could summon it. The droids had been better at providing relief, though Qui-Gon did sense his padawan's relief when he recognized his master's presence.
Minister Unistoful had been out of his reach. And Qui-Gon and the disks had been out of the minister's reach. Even a greedy, corrupt minister couldn't get past the quarantine to get at the information he still carried. The only person in the government who had any access to them had been Health Minister Howif. And she had mostly only been interested in finding some way to cover up the emergence of the Khamuz virus in their capital city. If she could have denied the news of it to the media, she would have, but she didn't have that power. So, Qui-Gon had given her something that would make the news of the virus look insignificant. The data disks.
Qui-Gon wound through his thoughts and feelings for some time. They were past halfway on their trip through hyperspace when something disturbed him. He opened his eyes.
He heard a noise. It was Obi-Wan.
He turned and got up. He sensed intense distress from his sleeping padawan. Another nightmare from his illness? He bend over and touched Obi-Wan's forehead, checking for any sign of fever...
...rivers of molten fire. Smoke and more fire. The great halls of the Jedi Temple strewn with bodies. Fighting with the feeling that it had been going on for a very long time. Black smoke in the sky over Couroscant. Younglings, padawans much younger than Obi-Wan cut down by lightsaber, bodies nearly cut in half, heads almost severed...
-- end part 1