Chapter Fifteen
Qui-Gon sat in a chair next to Aalea's bed in the Star Guard infirmary. Dr. Malica had examined her and determined she had suffered no serious injuries. However, when the doctor told him there was evidence of torture, Qui-Gon felt as if he had been kicked in the stomach. He was afraid to ask the next question, but Dr. Malica anticipated him.
"There was no evidence of any sexual violation, Master Jinn." She had then patted his arm and left him alone with Aalea.
Now, as he watched her sleep, Qui-Gon found himself wondering if he had done the right thing in bringing Aalea to the Temple. It was part of his duty to the Order to seek out Force gifted children like her and bring them to the Temple for training. For out of the trillions of sentient beings in the galaxy only a tiny percentage had the potential to become Jedi.
Yet, it was a hard and dangerous life. Most initiates chose to stay as they grew older, but there were a few who decided the rigors and sacrifices were too much and left. Aalea, however, had never wavered in her desire to become a Jedi Knight.
Now that desire had nearly cost Aalea her life. Qui-Gon sighed.
The sound of footsteps drew his gaze away from her. He looked up. Obi-Wan stood next to him. He laid his hand on Qui-Gon's shoulder.
"How is she, Master?" he whispered.
Qui-Gon stood and gestured Obi-Wan away from Aalea's bed to a corner of the ward.
"Dr. Malica says she should make a full recovery," Qui-Gon said quietly. "Although Luba allowed her to be tortured," and his voice choked on the word, "he did not let his men hurt her in such a way as to cause permanent damage. According to his confession, he had planned to sell Aalea at the slave markets on Ohnazee."
Obi-Wan grimaced.
"Did Luba say anything about the collar that was on her neck? Where it came from?" he asked.
Qui-Gon shook his head. "He was free enough with information about his smuggling activities; he even gave Colonel Deaus a lead as to where the plasma bombs were being shipped. But when I questioned him on the collar, where it had come from and who it was intended for, he shut up as tight as a Corellian clamfish. Whoever that collar was going to, Luba was more afraid of them than he was of me."
"I've never heard of anything like it," Obi-Wan said.
"Nor have I. I'm taking it back with us to Coruscant. Maybe someone at the Temple can determine its origin."
"Was there just the one?"
"Yes. Luba was trying it on Aalea to see if it worked."
Obi-Wan reached up and touched his neck.
"It certainly worked," he said softly, a spasm of pain flashing across his face. He then passed a lightsaber over to Qui-Gon.
"Colonel Deaus gave this to me. It's Aalea's. He took it off a smuggler who was trying to rig up the plasma bombs. Colonel Deaus killed him before he got a chance to launch them."
"Thank you, Obi-Wan. I'll see she gets it. Have you made arrangements for our transport back to Coruscant?"
"Yes, Master. The Ascendant should be here in about six hours. They'll have the necessary medical equipment on board so we can transport Knight Ke-Ondra and Aalea."
"Good." Qui-Gon looked closer at Obi-Wan and noted the shadows under his eyes. "You should get some rest."
"What about you, Master? You should rest also."
"I will. Later. I'm going to sit with Aalea for a while."
"Would you like me to sit with you?"
Qui-Gon put his hand on Obi-Wan's shoulder and squeezed it.
"Thank you for offering, but that won't be necessary." He shook Obi-Wan's shoulder. "Now, get some rest, Padawan. That's an order."
"Yes, Master." Obi-Wan turned, looked over at Aalea for a long moment, then walked out of the infirmary toward their quarters on the outpost.
Qui-Gon returned to Aalea's bedside and sat down heavily in the chair. He laid her lightsaber on the nightstand. As he watched her sleep, he wondered again if he had done the right thing in setting her on a path so fraught with sacrifice and danger.
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Aalea awoke. The first thing she noted was that her eyes were so gritty she couldn't open them. The second was there didn't seem to be a single spot on her body that wasn't sore. Next, that she was in a bed, wrapped snugly in a blanket.
Then she heard sounds; machines beeping, soft moaning, labored coughs, the squeak of boots on a hard floor. Next, smells; medicinal odors, blood and sweat, and even, farther away, the acrid smell of oil and machinery. I'm alive, she thought.
Then she realized she could feel the Force again. The collar was no longer about her neck. As the Force flowed through her, Aalea drank of it like one who had thirsted far too long.
However, because she had been blocked from the Force for some time, her customary mental shields against the Force bond she shared with Obi-Wan were no longer up. As a result she felt him in her mind. He was nearby, sleeping, so he wasn't aware she was sensing him, but his dreams touched her like the distant tinkling of wind chimes. Aalea quickly raised her mental shields. Where was she?
She struggled to open her eyes. Suddenly she felt hands on her face, gentle and soft, then a warm wetness across her eyelids. Someone was washing the grit from them. The cloth was then removed.
Aalea opened her eyes slowly. The room she was in was softly lit. She recognized it as the infirmary at the Star Guard garrison. She had been here once when she had broken her leg sparring with her master.
She turned her head slightly and looked up.
She gasped and, for a moment, thought she was dreaming for gazing down at her and smiling was Master Qui-Gon! He held a cloth in his hand and Aalea realized it was he who had bathed her eyes.
"Master Qui-Gon," she cried. "What are you doing here?" She struggled to sit up.
"No, Aalea, you mustn't get up."
He laid the cloth down on a table next to him and gently pressed her back onto the bed.
Aalea laid down. She couldn't believe he was really here with her. It had been five years since she'd last seen him and although he hadn't changed much, she noted there was more gray in his beard and in his hair. But his eyes were still the same, a warm deep blue that looked softly down at her.
"How do you feel?" he asked.
"Sore. Thirsty."
Qui-Gon turned and walked quickly over to the nurse's station. Aalea watched as he poured water into a cup and hurried back to her. He leaned down and, supporting her back, lifted the cup to her lips. Aalea gulped the water down.
"Not too much," he said gently.
Aalea stopped drinking and laid down. Qui-Gon placed the cup on the nightstand.
"Thank you, Master. But, I don't understand? Why are you here? What has happened?"
Qui-Gon quickly explained how he and Obi-Wan had been sent by the Council to investigate reports that weapons of mass destruction were being smuggled into the Republic through Faronta. They had arrived shortly after the first Star Guard raid on Luba's hideout. He told her of their rescue of her and the capture of Luba. He then picked up her lightsaber and showed it to her.
"What happened to the man who had it?" she asked.
"Colonel Deaus killed him."
Aalea closed her eyes. She knew it was not the Jedi way to desire the death of any living being, but Titon's demise she did not mourn nor regret. She almost asked Qui-Gon if Vol were dead too, but just the thought of him brought back horrible memories of his touch and his smell. And the way she had kicked him as lay unconscious on the floor.
She opened her eyes and all thoughts of Titon and Vol fled from her mind as she looked up at Qui-Gon. He was here and she was safe.
"Master, you said Obi-Wan found me. But you didn't say how."
Qui-Gon cleared his throat. He sensed that the Force bond between Aalea and Obi-Wan was as much of an issue for her as it appeared to be for his apprentice. She watched him closely, her violet eyes puzzled.
"He used your Force bond to find you," Qui-Gon finally said.
Aalea frowned. The Force bond? She and Obi-Wan had never used their Force bond. She was aware of it, of course, but as she had started shielding against it soon after Obi-Wan had forged it, it had become like background noise to her. Something she was conscious of, but didn't pay much attention to.
She glanced up at Qui-Gon. "But I was blocked by that collar, Master. He shouldn't have been able to sense me at all."
"That is true. But when Luba used the collar on you, Obi-Wan felt your pain through the bond. I believe the intensity of that pain broke through the collar's influence just long enough for him to sense you."
"He felt that?" Aalea whispered.
Qui-Gon nodded. "It was quite painful for him. I can't imagine what it was like for you."
"Horrible," she said, her voice distant.
Qui-Gon reached over and stroked her face.
"Don't think of it, little one. You're safe now."
She smiled and basked in the waves of affection she felt from him.
"Now, you should get some rest," he said. "We'll be leaving for Coruscant in a few hours."
"Coruscant? But, my master and I still have three months to go on our assignment here."
Qui-Gon took Aalea's hand in his. As always, she marveled at how large it was. Although she was no longer a little girl, her hand still seemed to disappear in his.
"I'm sorry to have to tell you this, Aalea, but Ke-Ondra was severely injured by the plasma bombs. He's been in a coma ever since the raid."
Aalea's heart tore open. No, not her master! Her eyes filled with tears.
"Will he be all right?"
Qui-Gon squeezed her hand. "I don't know, Aalea. But if anyone can help him the Healers at the Temple can."
Aalea nodded. Qui-Gon took her other hand in his. She smiled up at him, determined to show him how brave she could be, even as fear for her master flooded through her.
"Well, at least I'll get to see Cian again," she said after a moment. "Did you know she's living on Coruscant now? She left the University of Alderaan and took a position with the Intergalactic Diplomatic Corps."
"No, I didn't know that."
"She's also getting married. She told me so in her last hololetter. To someone named Sundancer. He's an officer in the Republic Forces."
Aalea was surprised to see pain in Qui-Gon's eyes.
"When?" he asked.
"Excuse me, Master?"
"When is she getting married?"
"In a few months, I think."
"I see," he said slowly. "I guess I've been somewhat out of touch."
"Are you all right, Master?" Aalea was concerned by the sadness she heard in his voice.
"Yes, I'm fine. Now, I want you to get some rest," he said.
"But I want to talk---."
Qui-Gon reached down and slowly stroked her hair back with his hand.
"Go to sleep," he said softly.
And before Aalea could say another word, she felt herself falling asleep. She realized with a start that Qui-Gon had used the Jedi mind trick on her.
I didn't know Jedi could do that to each other, she thought just before she slipped into the warm welcoming darkness.
To be continued....