"It'll only take a minute sir. You see, my brother, he loves to hear stories about Jedi and well, he's never seen one up close...it will only be a second."
Qui Gon Jinn was careful not to smile. In his many encounters he had seldom been approached so a child could hero-worship. In a way he felt flattered and in another he felt embarrassed. Still, he nodded slowly and told Aheme to let him in. Xanatos smiled behind him.
"Should I schedule a press conference later this afternoon, Master?"
"Yes do that, and after that; feed yourself to a rancor."
"As you wish Master."
The little boy who entered was half hidden from view behind his older brother. Qui Gon was sitting comfortably with his arms resting on his knees. Xanatos was standing to his left in full uniform, his dark brown cloak resting about his shoulders. The Jedi student had his cloak pulled away from his belt, showing off his lightsaber. He stepped forward and motioned Aheme to follow, leaving Nero with Qui Gon.
Nero was awed. The Jedi was a towering figure, even sitting. His cloak had been laid aside but still the man looked every bit the part of hero. Strongly built and stern-looking, he regarded Nero for a long time. Then he spoke.
"Hello, my young Padawan."
Nero felt the hairs on his neck bristle. He had been called a Jedi student! "Hello, Jedi."
"Please, my name is Qui Gon Jinn."
"Are you really a Jedi Knight." Nero heard himself asking. Stupid!
The man chuckled, "Not exactly. I'm a Jedi Master. Do you know what that means?"
"You've already trained a student."
"Very good." Qui Gon said. "You're very smart."
Nero blushed. "I'm sorry, if I'm troubling you..."
"Not at all," Qui Gon replied. "It's not often I get to meet a writer."
Nero gawked at the Master who smiled mysteriously.
"So can I hear one of your stories, Nero?"
It didn't occur to the boy that Aheme had never mentioned his name to the Jedi. "I have them written down at home. I can send you some."
"I'd like that."
Nero smiled and then a thought crossed his mind. "Master Jedi- are you going to stop the war?"
The Jedi tilted his head. "What war, Nero?"
"The war we have been preparing for since I can remember." He shivered but continued. "Crion is always telling us of a war that about to come between us and Tellus. He says Tellus is greedy because we are so successful and we must protect what is ours. Everyone boy my age has to train for it."
"Do you?"
"I train for ground control for our fighters." Nero said, suddenly he added. "I'm the best too."
But the Jedi did not look pleased, he looked up. "Does Aheme ever mention anything he's heard about this war?"
"Only that the Governor has meetings with someone named Resner."
Qui Gon recognized the name. Resner was the main miner of the mineral rich Tellus. He controlled over 65 percent of all the mines, which made him the most powerful business man on Tellus, and perhaps the most greedy. But there was more. Crion had sworn to Qui Gon that the tensions between the two worlds were recent and had come out of the blue. He had also claimed that besides military technology, Telos was not prepared for a war. But the boy in front of him didn't seem to be lying. He sensed nothing but truth from Nero, something he could not say he felt from Crion. Crion had said that he sensed something was amiss with Tellus and that was why he had called for the renegotiations. He said he trusted Qui Gon to monitor the talks and to get to the bottom of the issue. He seemed to sincerely not want war. Crion and Nero couldn't both be right.
"Nero, who is your father?"
"Mede Croal, he's a free lance journalist." Nero smirked. "He'd want to meet you too."
"And your mother?"
"Her name is Loma- she works for the Senate."
"Really?" Qui Gon asked. "Is there anyway I could speak with them tonight?"
"Sure. Aheme can show you where we live."
"Good tell them I'm coming..."
Nero felt a surge of excitement. "Alright." He looked at his chrono. "Oh no! I'm late for school! I gotta go. Thanks!"
But Qui Gon had already left the room.
