Chapter 4: Tracking

Immediately after Obi-Wan's classes were finished the following day, he and Qui-Gon headed for the creche. Untimely curiosity was not becoming a Jedi, but even Qui-Gon was somewhat puzzled about his padawan's origin. He'd never before encountered someone who knew so little about his own origin as Obi-Wan, and he would very much like to know the solution of this mystery himself. Not that he was ever going to admit it, of course.

Creche Master Ali-Alann was busy tidying up after a rather lively game with foam balls in the creche. The original intention of the game was to keep a light foam ball floating in the air for a period of time, but - as usual- everything that was related to foam balls tended to end up in chaos as soon as the first ball fell to the ground. Throwing the multicolored spheres among them was just too much fun for the active initiates.

"Master Jinn, Obi-Wan, this is an unexpected pleasure, indeed. What can I do for you?"

The two jedi looked at each other, and then Qui-Gon answered on their behalf.

"Padawan Kenobi's friends were discussing their origins the other day and he became curious about his own homeworld and birth parents, so we checked in the archives. But nothing was to be found there. Yesterday we asked Master Yoda if he could remember the circumstances about Obi-Wan's arrival to the Temple. He remembered well enough, but couldn't contribute much. However, he told us that you may have kept the blanket that Obi-Wan was wrapped in when he arrived. Do you still have it, and if so, would it be possible for us to see it and maybe take a small sample of it?"

Ali-Alann nodded in acceptance.

"The blanket, yes, I kept it. I had a feeling that some day young Obi-Wan here might ask for it so I tucked it away in a closet in my own quarters," then with a sudden change of demeanor he raised his voice, "no, Shania, no. Do not squeeze those colors onto Bh'arka's face. It's meant for flimsiplast, not for faces."

The minor accident was avoided and peace regained by the drawing table where 5 small initiates were working on their pieces of art.

"Where were we? Oh yes, the blanket. Please wait here, I will go see if I can find it right away." The Creche Master disappeared in through the door to his private quarters.

All creche masters had their own apartments in close vicinity to the creche they were responsible for. Through the open door Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan could hear the man rummaging through something that probably was the aforementioned closet. They could hear him muttering something that suspiciously sounded as mild swearing while he was working. The two jedi exchanged amused glances.

"There! I knew I had kept it somewhere!" A triumphant exclamation came from behind the door.

Obi-Wan realized that he'd been holding his breath for far too many seconds already, and let it out with a low 'pheeeeeewwww'. Shortly after Ali-Alann exited the door with a small green bundle in his hand and handed it to Obi-Wan who almost reverently grabbed it.

"It's so soft…"

Qui-Gon smiled down at his charge: "There you can see. Your parent really cared for you and wanted the best for you even though he or she couldn't keep you."

Obi-Wan felt a lump in his throat, and just nodded. The blanket was really soft and plush, indicating that his birth parents might have come from a well situated family. Not that that was of any importance though, but maybe they had really cared even though they gave him away. Suddenly he felt a sting of gratitude towards his birth parents. Somehow they had known that the Jedi Temple would be the right place for him to grow up.

Qui-Gon watched him gently.

"What do you say? Shall we cut of a little piece of it so we can have it analyzed, or do you want to keep it intact? And do you want to bring it with you?"

"I…I…no, Master," Obi-Wan croaked, "if Master Ali-Alann could possibly keep it here for some time I think it would be for the best. Personal belongings are not befitting a jedi, so I…I…can't take it. It wouldn't be proper. But maybe we can take this small sliver here and see what the lab can do with it?"

Qui-Gon nodded, he never ceased to admire his new padawan's ability of letting go. He fully well understood the boy's almost palpable wish to keep the blanket and still he refused to do so.

"Very well then, we'll cut off that little piece and see what Master Uvain can do with it."

Aforementioned Master Uvain was waiting in her own apartment when Qui-Gon rang the doorbell. She opened the door with a flicker of her hand. Her standards when it came to 'frivolous use of the Force', was definitely not up to Qui-Gon's standard.

"Come in and have a seat," she urged, and the two visitors accepted the invitation. Obi-Wan looked around. The small apartment was identical to the one he and Qui-Gon shared, but instead of earth and nature colors, Tahl Uvain had added some cushions in clear blue, green and deep pink tones. A blue carpet was covering most of the floor in the living room. It seemed cheerful but still elegant.

"Did you have any success?" she asked.

Instead of answering right away, Qui-Gon handed her the small piece of Obi-Wan's blanket.

She took it immediately and put it in a flimsiplast envelope from her desk.

"So, we'd better not contaminate it, before it's analyzed," she explained. "Feel free to put on a kettle of tea, while I take the turbolift down to the lab with it."

Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan exchanged a glance, Obi-Wan's expression was slightly pleading.

"But of course," Qui-Gon answered, "maybe Obi-Wan could join you? I believe he has never seen the lab before."

"Sure," Tahl answered lightly, "come on, Obi-Wan, your Master is the winner of the teapot tonight."

The lab was a sterile looking area with white tiles covering both walls and floor. The light was nearly overwhelming. Several benches in the middle of the room were covered by instruments and obviously doors were leading to adjacent rooms where even more instruments could be seen through the transparisteel fields in the doors.

"Hi," Tahl greeted the Master of Laboratory Services, "I have a little riddle for you tonight."

"Always a pleasure to see you, Master Uvain," the Lab Master greeted her friendly, "a riddle, huh? Let's see if we can solve it right away. We have a quiet evening tonight."

Tahl handed him the envelope.

"This is a sample taken from a blanket. If possible we would like to know where the blanket was made and in general all you can dig up about it's origin and whereabouts."

The master opened the envelope and pulled out the small sample with a tweezer and looked at it.

"Hmm, beautiful color, and the fabric seems to be of good quality. Let's have a look at it in the ultra scan. There we should be able to see the finest of details and if there are some trees of seed or dust to be found in it we may even find out in more detail where it comes from. I guess the boy here would like to see the analyzer but we try to keep the area as free from contamination as possible to get the best results. I'm sorry," he said apologetically. "If we find something of interest I will comm you tonight, Master Uvain, else you may pick up the lab report here tomorrow at noon."

"Thank you, Master," Tahl said sincerely, and bowed. Obi-Wan followed her example.

The tea was ready when they entered her quarters again. For good measure Qui-Gon had lit a candle and put on the table as well. When they entered he raised an eyebrow quizzically.

"It's delivered, we may have results tonight already," Tahl explained.

Once again Obi-Wan witnessed the lighthearted bantering that took place between the two Masters. Every now and then they addressed him but he was content sitting there sipping to his tea. Master Tahl was such a good friend to have. She seemed to always know the solution to every question that turned up, and besides when she was around Master Qui-Gon was in exceptionally good humor. Not that he was grumpy under normal conditions either, but when Tahl was present he laughed more and seemed in general to be happy.

Obi-Wan's musings were disturbed by the insistent beeping of Tahl's comm link. She answered it quickly.

"Yes? Already. Yes. Really? I see…"

Obviously the lab had some answers, and equally obviously Obi-Wan had to wait to get the answer. It was impossible to understand from Tahl's part of the conversation what was going on. Finally she switched off the comm link and turned to them with a triumphant look in her eyes.

"I knew it! That ultra scanner is a fantastic piece of equipment," she beamed, "Obi-Wan, I have the pleasure of informing you that you are with 99,18% certainty from the planet Stewjon in the Stewjon system."

Obi-Wan looked dumfounded for a moment, and slightly ashamed: "Wherefrom?"

"Stewjon," she repeated."It's one of two planets in the Stewjon star system. The other planet is Colstev, but Stewjon is where most of the population lives. The lab identified some of the fibers in the blanket to be from the Stewjon Alpacca, a creature which is mostly living in the mountains of Stewjon. The identification is strengthened by the findings of some seeds from a plant that only grows on the south side of the mountains in the southern region of the planet. There were of course other fibres and seeds too, but those seemed to be more superficial and not a part of the original blanket. "

"Stewjon," Obi-Wan repeated, almost as in a daze, "I am from Stewjon?"

"So it seems," Tahl confirmed." Of course they couldn't say anything more about your origin, but at least you know the name of your homeplanet."