QUI-GON JINN'S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE

by ardavenport

- - Part 7

Flashes of movement, weapons fire, battle, faded in and out of Qui-Gon's meditation. Ships dove, firing, blaster bolts plowing into the ground, exploding into buildings. Alarms blared. Lights went out. But everything did not go black.

A purple haze remained. It infused his vision and blotted everything out to either side of Qui-Gon. It had rolled in as soon as Qui-Gon cleared his mind for meditation and would not go away.

~~I got the key code, man!~~ Togi proudly announced.

Nimble fingers danced over controls, toggling switches, adjusting dials. Qui-Gon saw them from an extreme angle from below, as if he were very small. Something large moved.

~~Hahaha-ha-ha!~~ Unfamiliar voices laughed and grunted. Angry. Predatory.

~~Weapons!~~

Black, long angular shapes flew through the air, landed in waiting hands, clicked and snapped into place.

~~Whoa, man. I don't know anything about these things.~~

~~You shoot out of THAT end, Togi! Just point it away from you. AND us!~~

Heavy black shapes moved slowly through dark places. Booted feet scraped over cracked and rubble strewn ground.

Shock. A warning in the Force.

~~The droid!~~ Master Mundi's voice shouted.

Qui-Gon's hands twitched, his reflexes following the familiar motions and impulses of the Force, through the lightsaber, deflecting energy bolts with ease, batting them back to the attackers. Someone screamed when they were hit from the ricochets. Swing, reverse, swing to the other side, dive, reverse.

A few attackers retreated. One of them cried out. The danger pulling him back, Ki-Adi Mundi whirled to see a Yumis armored platform lowering the broad muzzles of two blaster cannons.

Ki-Adi Mundi dove into a trench, the improvised cover protecting him from the hail of energy fire that swept over the attackers, some of them lifted of the ground from multiple impacts, bodies and limbs instantly incinerated by the deadly energy bolts.

~~Whoa. . . . . ~~

The purple haze darkened into coagulated blood. Then black. Then it vanished, rapidly sucked into the ground. It disappeared. Leaving behind the uneven neutral gray of mediation.

Qui-Gon's eyes opened.

He sat alone in the medical bay. EsEs-8-6 had gone to the larger medical bay to treat casualties from the battle on the planet. The lights had been lowered to half power. Qui-Gon pointed at the controls by the door and the overhead lighting came up to full. His boots, belt and lightsaber lay on a side table. Extending his hand, he caught the belt, called to him with the Force. He took his com out of the rear pouch.

"Obi-Wan."

"Yes, Master?" he answered after a short pause.

"How is the mission proceeding on the planet?"

"Uh, there has been an incident. . . . . . some of the prisoners have escaped and are. . . . . ."

Already knowing what had happened, Qui-Gon patiently waited for Obi-Wan to receive the information. He heard other voices through the com and a cheer from someone.

"Several prisoners attacked Master Mundi. He was not hurt, but all the prisoners were killed when the Yumis counter-attacked. Kakard and his lieutenants were all killed."

"And Togi," Qui-Gon finished sadly.

"Togi?" Obi-Wan sounded confused. There was more noise. "Uh. . . . . yes. He was killed as well." Again, there was a pause and more voice sounds. "Master Mundi wishes to speak with you."

"Of course."

"Master Qui-Gon."

"I am here," he answered, his voice the only significant sound in the empty medical bay.

"I trust you are aware of what has happened," Mundi stated.

"Yes."

"I must apologize for not heeding your warning. I was also unable to influence the person we found you with - - "

"Togi," Qui-Gon corrected.

"Yes, of course. Togi. I attributed my failure to influence him to his condition, which I erroneously believed rendered him harmless. But he used the medical droid to free himself and then sliced into our security coms to free the other prisoners. They had armed themselves and launched an ambush before we realized it. The attack was contained, but at considerable and unnecessary loss of life. Due to my carelessness. I have presented a poor example to your Padawan."

Qui-Gon smiled to himself.

"If you could convince my Padawan to listen to me more often, I would be most grateful."

There was silence from the comlink before the reply came.

"You do not always make it easy for those around you to listen to you, Master Qui-Gon. But it was my failure to listen here. And I certainly hope that your Padawan will learn from my error."

There was the slightest pause in Mundi's answer and Qui-Gon knew that Obi-Wan was still on the com channel, "Though I should note, that Obi-Wan is very mindful of you. Perhaps to a fault. You should take better note of that."

Qui-Gon stared forward, comlink still held up to his lips. Amidst his awareness of the ship in orbit around him, the crew and passengers, was one resonant presence that he knew was Obi-Wan.

"I shall. Thank-you for reminding me, Master Mundi," Qui-Gon replied.

"I shall be communicating with the Council upon my return to the ship. After I finish here. If you are well enough, I would appreciate your presence for the report."

"I am. I shall be ready."

"Thank-you. Mundi out."

"Obi-Wan," Qui-Gon called.

"Yes, Master," he answered immediately.

"Please inform me when Master Mundi leaves the planet. I shall remain here in the medical bay until then."

"Yes, Master."

"And I think you should be present as well, for our communication with Jedi Council."

"Master Mundi did not request my presence."

"Master Mundi is quite impressed with you, Obi-Wan. I am sure he and the Council will be pleased to hear your perspective. And my recollections of events. . . . are not entirely clear. I would appreciate your assistance."

"I would be honored to help."

"The Force is with you, Obi-Wan. Qui-Gon out."

He put the com back into his pouch and then climbed down from the medical table. A service droid had taken his clothes away to be decontaminated (Qui-Gon had been explicit on the level of cleaning he desired) and placed them on the side table next to his boots. Tossing the body cover aside, he dressed himself. Everything smelled slightly singed, but clean. He looked for his robe and then remembered that is was gone, forgotten on the planet. He sighed, smoothing his tunic and tabards, repositioning his lightsaber. This was hardly the first time he had lost a robe on a mission.

Looking about, Qui-Gon saw no chairs at all, not even a stool. The room was maximally efficient for a medical droid and a patient. Minimally efficient for anything else. He went back to the medical table and, not bothering with the elevation controls, pushed himself up onto it again. He sat cross-legged, his back straight and cleared his mind.

Sight and sound of his surroundings diminished while his awareness of them increased. A ship in orbit always felt very different from a planet, but only in scale. Life infused both, islands of luminescence adrift in a terrible void though which the Force flowed very thinly. But all around him, his thoughts found only the comfortable dark grays of his usual meditation. The purple haze that had plagued him earlier was gone. He looked for it, but felt nothing.

It was gone.

***** ***** END ***** *****

This story first posted on tf.n: 13-Oct-2008

Disclaimer: All characters and situations belong to George and Lucasfilm; I'm just playing in their sandbox.