Hi guys!

I'm happy to announce that, IMO, you've survived the worst. Although there are still long action scenes and descriptions ahead, part one and part two had the ones I liked the least. I'm still iffy about some other parts, but at least they don't seem as bad as the crash and the part right after Obi wakes regains consciousness shudders at how overdone those were

Thanks for the FB and here's the next part!

So…enjoy!

My Place is at Your Side

~ Part Three: Eyes in the Dark ~

Obi-Wan:

Placing my hands on his shoulders I began to shake him almost frantically. "Master!" my voice was urgent and loud in the dead silence of the shuttle. "Qui-Gon!" I exclaimed, with more urgency this time, denying that he could really be gone, that I could have lost him in such a senseless manner. Qui-Gon! now I sent my frenzied plea through our lifeless bond and imbued my voice with all the powerful, uncontrollable emotions I was feeling.

My own loud breathing suddenly filled my ears and I was struck motionless by the sense of distorted reality that replaced my previous terror. Now, under my tightly gripping hands my Master was completely immobile, and my heart clenched upon receiving no reaction from him. I was so overwhelmed by my emotions that I almost missed the soft moan because of the pounding of my heart as it threatened to beat its way out of my chest.

I sucked a quick breath of air into my lungs and held it there, forcing myself to remain totally silent as another, louder, groan emerged from deep within Qui-Gon's chest, sounding to my ears like the most beautiful noise I had ever heard. His eyelids remained closed but underneath them I could see my Master's eyes moving, as if he was trying to look around. Then there was a gentle, disoriented touch on my mind through our reawakened bond, followed by a flood of agony that wasn't my own.

"Qui-Gon," I whispered softly, my relief so great that his name caught in my throat and my voice was gruffly strangled. Tears stung at my eyes, blurring my vision. Despite my best attempts to hold back the childish display of emotion, a few stray droplets of water slid down my cheeks and fell to wet his face.

I swallowed hard and blinked several times to clear away the tears. Then I brushed my bloodstained fingers through his knotted hair, determined to try and soothe away the lines of pain that had formed in Qui-Gon's brow. The agony of his head wound was pulsating in my own mind and I instantly delved deeper into our bond in an attempt to help him deal with it better. My endeavor was thwarted by Qui-Gon himself for my actions served to tell him that I could feel his pain and seconds later his control was strictly in place, effectively blocking everything he didn't want me to feel.

Shaking my head, I sighed softly. My Master always wanted to protect me from what he thought would hurt me but I wished that he would let me help him. Whenever I was hurt he used our bond to alleviate my pain and now that our places were reversed, I wanted to do the same for him.

Qui-Gon's eyes fluttered open and I immediately read the concern in them. A questioning tendril touched my mind and it was then that I realized that he had sensed my previous panic and had taken note of the tears that still pooled in my eyes. It humbled me that despite the pain I knew he was feeling, he was still worried for me.

With my terror for my Master's life having faded, I abruptly felt extremely embarrassed. When I had seen Qui-Gon lying on the floor I had panicked. I hadn't thought to check for his pulse, I had simply reacted. Everything I had ever been taught as a Jedi had vanished from my thoughts in the face of the fact that I thought my Master might be dead.

I felt a faint blush color my cheeks and shook my head slightly, trying to tell him that everything was all right. "How do you feel?" I asked, attempting to mask my shame from the bond.

Qui-Gon smiled slightly to reassure me, "I…I'll be all right, Padawan," he rasped, his voice cracking badly, but as soon as he answered my question he followed with one of his own. "H-how are…you?"

I immediately knew he was not talking about my physical state. "I-I thought that you…that you were…" my shaky voice was barely audible and I choked on my words, unable to finish the sentence as emotions swelled inside me. The memory of my previous fear for his life battled with my relief, making my heart ache.

My cheeks flushed even further and I closed my eyes, attempting to find my center within the Force. A gentle tug on my braid and a flood of understanding through our bond calmed me enough so that, when I took several deep breaths to help ease my thoughts, I was able to regain control over most of my feelings and release the remnants of my fear into the Force.

Now all I had left was my embarrassment. How was it that I had learned to remain more calm and patient than I had ever been able to before, but there were still times when I felt like I was thirteen again – easily overwhelmed and struck by panic when someone I cared for was in danger? I had, briefly, been more connected to the Force than I thought possible, and yet I had let my emotions rule my actions – again. Would I ever learn to be as serene as Qui-Gon in the face of danger?

"Obi-Wan…" my Master spoke but I did not open my eyes, "You're…so young, d-don't expect to be able to…skip o-over years of training. You'll get here…in t-time."

Sighing, I realized that Qui-Gon was right. I had learned a lot as an Initiate and even more as his Padawan, but I couldn't expect to be able to do everything a Jedi Master could without the years of training that accompanied that skill. I worked hard and I had to be happy with the pace I was advancing at. I knew that, but it never stopped me from wanting to be better than I was, or worrying that I wasn't doing well enough.

I opened my eyes and found Qui-Gon staring at me with a slight smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "It's…all right, Obi-Wan," he whispered, releasing my braid.

Smiling, I nodded and sent him my thanks through our bond.

~~~~~~~~~~

Dabbing the wet cloth into the container of bacta that I had found in the ship's emergency medical kit, I continued to liberally apply it to Qui-Gon's forehead wound. Once I had used a disinfectant to clean away all of the blood I had realized that the gash was really less serious than it seemed. My Master had lost a lot of blood – was very lightheaded and having trouble controlling the pain – but with enough time to rest and initiate a healing trace, he would be fine.

"It was amazing, Qui-Gon," I whispered as I worked, "It wasn't like anything I've ever experienced before. I wasn't simply connected to the Force…I was a part of it… It-it was…I can't explain it." I fell silent and waited for my Master to respond to my explanation of what had happened after he had lost consciousness during the crash.

Qui-Gon reached out and touched my cheek, "I know," he said, his voice very quiet and pensive but still rather shaky, "The first…time that h-happened to me it w-was…overwhelming." The wistful tone he was using made me momentarily pause in my work, and when I looked into his eyes I was surprised to find them steadily fastened to my own. Pride clearly shone through his gaze, but regret and a twinge or sorrow were also present.

"Master?" I questioned softly.

He shook his head and smiled, "It's a-all right," his words were barely audible, "I was j-just thinking about…how much you've c-changed."

"That makes you sad?" I always thought that he was pleased with the way I was maturing.

A gentle touch of reassurance through our bond accompanied his answer, "Only b-because that means…our t-time is short."

I blushed and looked down, pleased by the affection and caring that I could so clearly sense in his manner. It honored me that he would be sad because my Knighting would mean the end of our partnership. "We still have many years together, Master," I assured him, "I am only eighteen."

My Master's hand dropped from my cheek and he didn't answer. After a few moments of silence I began applying bacta to the bandage I would use to cover his wound, only speaking again when I felt I could no longer wait to question him regarding what had happened after he had initiated my healing trance.

"Qui-Gon," I started hesitantly, "I… What happened? Why didn't you initiate a healing trance for yourself?"

Qui-Gon covered my hands in a comforting grip, stilling them and drawing my gaze back up to his eyes with a touch of his thumb against my chin. "I-I'm not sure…when I regained c-consciousness," he began, his voice quavering slightly, "but I immediately used the Force and probed both of our injuries and realized that you would not a-awaken, for…many, many hours. I decided that it would be best to begin a healing trance, so that the Force would work to m-mend your…wounds while your body worked to wake y-you. When I finished I didn't have enough energy to initiate a healing trance for myself and I lost consciousness."

He paused, staring deeply into my eyes, and seemed on the verge of continuing, of telling me something more, but instead he fell silent, shaking his head slightly. "I…I will need to form a healing trance soon, Obi-Wan," he said at last, "you should finish bandaging my wound b-because I'm feeling worse now…"

Returning my attention to the bandage, I silently worked to prepare it as I wondered what my Mater had been about to tell me. I knew there was more to it than what he had said. Why hadn't he simply initiated a healing trance for himself? I, like he, had suffered a concussion and would have awakened to find him in trace, and then followed suit. It seemed a dangerous thing for him to do – to use his energy on me – and I wanted to know what had made him do it.

Fortunately, it only took a few more minutes to bandage Qui-Gon's wound for my Master seemed to be having a harder time dealing with the pain. Before, his shields had completely blocked it from me but now I was able to feel echoes of it through our bond. I wanted to help him but I knew that if I tried he would only redouble his efforts to keep his pain from reaching me and that was energy I didn't want him to waste on protecting me.

Qui-Gon's teeth were chattering slightly and his eyes were closed. He had his arms wrapped around his chest and was rubbing his hands over them in an attempt to stay warm. My breath caught; he looked so very helpless, shaking and huddled into himself as he was.

I grabbed one of the blankets on the nearby bed and pulled it free. After checking to make sure that it was dry I draped it over his shoulders. "Here," I said, "this should help."

Qui-Gon accepted the blanket graciously, with a small smile, and drew it around himself so that the ends were clenched together in his hands at the base of his neck. "Thank…you," he murmured softly, sending me a flood of gratitude through our bond that was not simply for the blanket, but for taking the time to treat his wounds so gently.

"You're welcome," I whispered, leaning back to stare at him thoughtfully.

If I hadn't awoken him when I had, he might have entered a severe state of shock. A bacta treatment and a healing trance alone might not have been enough to heal him. He would have needed hospital treatment and it would have been very unlikely for him to have gotten it in time. True, it hadn't happened, but it could have happened and I needed to know why he had chosen to initiate a healing trance for me instead of himself.

My Master, seeming to sense my gaze, looked up at me with a questioning expression.

I opened my mouth, hesitated momentarily, and then asked simply, "Why?" I knew he would understand.

Qui-Gon smiled sadly and twined my braid around his fingers. When he spoke his words were heavy and tinged with powerful emotions. "Because you were dying," he said with deceptive calmness, shocking me with his words.

My heart tightened and I stiffened. "Dying?" I repeated dumbly. "M-my wound was that severe?" I found it hard to believe. If I had been hurt that badly then I wouldn't have healed that quickly…unless more time had passed than I thought.

He shook his head. "Not exactly." Cutting off any possible confused comment I might have made with a small wave of his hand, he continued, "W-when I probed your injuries I sensed something which I t-then couldn't explain, but now u-understand. Obi-Wan, when you first establish such a deep connection to the Force, l-like the one you…used to land the ship, it is very overpowering. Normally you would have…drifted out of it and back to your normal connection gradually, and there wouldn't have been any…problems, but since you lost consciousness, your connection just abruptly snapped." he paused momentarily and I could feel him using the Force to ease a sudden spike of pain.

"That change from having so much Force energy flowing through you to abruptly returning to normal, sent you into shock. Instead of working to heal your wound, your body was essentially doing nothing. Your wound was progressively getting worse and worse. When I awoke…you were very weak and I feared that if a healing trance wasn't established soon, you would die," his voice grew thick with emotion but he continued, "I lacked strength myself, and I suspected that after I used my energy to start your healing process, I would lose consciousness…or die. But I also knew you wouldn't wake for many hours and I couldn't let you…d-die, so I chose to…make sure you would live." he finished.

I stared at Qui-Gon for many silent moments, too surprised to speak and almost too shocked to think straight. He had used his own energy to save me because he feared I would die. Painfully wounded himself, he had handed over the very force that was sustaining him so that I would live. He had known that doing that would drain him, enough to maybe fatally slow his own healing, and he had done it anyway. He had done it for me. For me.

Oh, Force. Qui-Gon could have died. He could have died because he had cared more for saving me than himself, because he was willing to sacrifice his life for mine. I would have lost him…because of me. He would have died because of his loyalty to me. A loyalty that was born not of his duty to me as a Master, but of the friendship we shared. The thought sent sparks of fear through me.

A burning in my chest told me I had forgotten to breathe and I quickly sucked air into my lungs.

"You could have died!" I exclaimed a little more sharply than I had intended.

My Master nodded, his features serious but sad as he gazed at me. "I know, but if I had initiated the healing trance for myself, and not for you, and you hadn't made it… I wouldn't have been able to live with myself…knowing that I could have saved you."

Through our bond I could sense Qui-Gon thinking back to how he had felt when he had realized I was…dying. The same emotions that had assaulted me when I thought he was gone – fear, denial, panic, intense grief – had swarmed through him. The only difference was that he was a Jedi Master capable of controlling such feelings and acting rationally anyway. He had thought of a way to save me, and he had done it despite of the possible consequences. Now, now that he knew he had succeeded, sweet relief had replaced those other feelings, but a lingering sadness remained at the thought of what might have been. And behind it all was his caring for me, strong and bright, like a white light what washed through our bond.

A thick, consuming wave of emotion rose up within me and made my throat tighten and catch. That caring – that love – that flowed over me and filled me such joy and gratitude, made me want to cry, but the tears wouldn't come. I was simply too caught up in astonishment to react. I didn't know what to do, didn't know what to say, didn't know how to respond to something like this. 'Thank you' didn't begin to express what I wanted to tell Qui-Gon.

I wanted to tell him how much he meant to me. I wanted to tell him that I would have gladly done the same in return. I wanted to tell him that I loved him. I wanted to tell him so many things, but found I couldn't form the words or even find the right emotions to send him through our bond. Finally, I settled on simply leaning forward and hugging him in a clinging, but gentle embrace.

Qui-Gon responded by enfolding me in his arms and softly stroking my hair with a tenderness that made my heart ache. Resting my head against his chest, I closed my eyes and let out a small sigh, incredibly happy that I was blessed with a friend who was willing to do such a thing for me. Incredibly happy that I hadn't lost him.

~~~~~~~~~~

As soon as Qui-Gon had initiated his healing trance I had started working on fixing the communications system. It hadn't been badly damaged and it had taken me a few minutes to figure out that the reason it wasn't working was because, for some reason, it was receiving no power from the ship's main computer system.

It had taken me two hours of rewiring the computer network just to figure out what the problem was, and another hour after that to fix it. The entire process had been extremely frustrating because whenever I managed to fix one thing, something else would go wrong. Apparently the computers had been tampered with and someone, although I could not fathom who, had specifically seen to it that communications wouldn't work. This wasn't a result of the crash – this system hadn't ever been working in the first place.

Quickly, I jumped to my feet and sat down in the chair again. Then I proceeded to activate the communications grid. This time I was pleased to hear the rush of power as the system reinitiated itself and automatically went to standby mode.

I directed the system to contact the Complex of Administration, hoping the storm would not scramble the transmission. "This is Jedi Padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi," I spoke loudly, leaning forward so that I was as close as possible to the small microphone that was built into the computer console, "are you receiving this communication?"

A few moments of silence greeted my question but then there was garbled mass of static, obscuring what I thought was a man's voice. Amplifying the frequency, I tried again. "This is Padawan Kenobi, could you please repeat yourself?"

Another wash of distorted sounds erupted from the speakers but this time it fizzled into the background and I could now clearly make out a man's words among the annoying static. "This is T'Sixe Tnodi, communications monitor at the Directors' Complex of Administration. How may I help you, Jedi Padawan?" T'Sixe's voice was very gruff and he spoke with an unusual accent that I couldn't place. There was something strange about him though, something I couldn't quite put my finger on.

"Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn and I were entering the planet's atmosphere when the storm forced us to crash land. It will be quite impossible to get this ship back in the air again, therefore I was wondering if a rescue team could be sent to come and bring us to the capital city. I'm afraid I do not know our precise location…"

"The storm's interference is partially blocking the tracing signal but I have a general fix on your location." He seemed annoyed, I noted. "As soon as the storm clears sufficiently, I will send a team out to find you. I will inform the Directors of your delay." As he spoke his strange accent became more pronounced and his words seemed to be rushed, nearly tumbling over each other by the time he fell silent.

I frowned. The man seemed impatient, edgy even. Something told me it wasn't because he was a shy person, but I didn't know what to attribute his strange attitude to. "Thank you," I answered. "Do you have any idea how much longer the storm will last?"

"Storms on this planet are very difficult to predict, I cannot give you an estimate." T'Sixe sounded strained and distinctly uneasy, his words coming out as an almost unintelligible drawl and before I could answer I heard a loud, buzzing click followed by a renewed amount of static.

"T'Sixe?" I questioned, looking down to see if the amplification had failed. I was surprised to note that nothing had gone wrong on this end, nor had the storm greatly interfered. The signal was simply gone. T'Sixe had cut the transmission.

For some reason I wanted to get him back, although I didn't know what I would say or ask him, but even as I signaled for the computer to send out a new transmission, a spark of electricity went through the control panel and was followed by a buzzing sizzle that indicated the system had just shorted out.

I leaned back in my chair, perplexed. Why had he been so rushed, so anxious? The entire conversation left me perturbed, as if the man had been hiding something. He had been so quick to get off the line and I feared that, for some reason, he was against the presence of Jedi on this planet and would not send out a rescue team.

Sighing, I shook my head. It was time to take Qui-Gon's age old advice to heart: I could not concentrate on my anxieties; I had to take things as they came. There was no real reason to worry yet and I had other things to do. I was very curious to see what else had been sabotaged. If communications had been tampered with, what other systems had purposefully been made to fail?

~~~~~~~~~~

I wearily massaged my temples in an effort to alleviate the thudding pressure that had built in my head. I had examined each system for signs of tampering and it had taken me so long to finish that my eyes stung and my vision was a little blurry. The frustrating hours that I had spent wiring and rewiring computer systems had exacerbated what remained of my forehead wound and it had flared up into an annoying, cutting itch.

To my amazement I had discovered that all the systems had painstakingly been connected to a central timer that was programmed to go off the instant the ship entered the atmosphere of a planet. Once the timer had activated, each system had malfunctioned a specific amount of time later, in a predetermined sequence. The only things that had worked normally were the engines and navigational control.

I had tried, more times than I could count, to theorize who the saboteur might be, but I still had absolutely no idea. I doubted that it was someone from Seltec because our mission had gone very smoothly and it would make no sense to kill us after we had already negotiated the peace treaty. Then again, the person couldn't be from this planet, Ceerus, either because the Seltec Government had given us this shuttle and it seemed very unlikely that anyone from Ceerus would have been able to find and sabotage it, especially since that meant that person would have had to know Qui-Gon and I had been assigned this mission. We hadn't even known that until yesterday morning.

It frustrated me to no end to not know who to suspect. This person, or group of people, would no doubt strike again when it was realized that we had survived the crash. Our lives were still in danger and yet I had no idea who was behind this. As much as it annoyed me, there was nothing I could do.

Sighing, I rose from where I was rather lifelessly sitting and made my way to the back room. I was so exhausted and tired of staring at computer panels that all I wanted was to meditate and sleep, to help recover my strength. Qui-Gon always had a different way of looking at things and would probably think of something that I hadn't. I would meditate until I could discuss this with him; perhaps together we could come up with the identity of the saboteur.

I turned into the small sleeping chambers without really paying attention to where I was going, and nearly ran into Qui-Gon who was on his way out. Startled, I let out a small cry and felt my heartbeat spike and my breathing quicken.

My Master's hands immediately came to rest on my shoulders, soothingly tightening to comfort me. "Are you all right, Obi-Wan?" he questioned, sounding concerned as always.

I felt a faint blush color my cheeks and closed my eyes, embarrassed. My surprise quickly faded and it only took a few moments to calm myself back to my previously irritated state of being. "I'm sorry, Master," I responded lightly, opening my eyes to meet his curious gaze, "I was simply distracted and you startled me, that's all."

Qui-Gon nodded and squeezed my shoulders.

Taking a few moments to look over the man's appearance, I was pleased to note that the color had returned to his skin and there were no traces of pain on his features. He was carrying himself with ease and didn't seem dizzy or disoriented at all. There was a small spot of blood on his bandage but it hadn't soaked through the white material and the bleeding had stopped.

Despite my weariness, I was filled with a flood of relief at seeing my Master regain his strength. It had been terrible to see him so weak. I couldn't stop the grin that swept over my face. "It's good to see that you're feeling better, Qui-Gon," I told him, making no attempt to mask my relief from my voice or our bond.

Qui-Gon smiled gently and lifted his hand to ruffle my hair softly. "The healing trance was very reenergizing. I am fine, Obi-Wan," he assured me and for a moment we shared a flow of affection through our bond. "You seem troubled, my Padawan," he said after the comfortable silence had run its course, "care to tell me what's wrong?"

I smiled ruefully. I couldn't keep anything from Qui-Gon. "Of course, Master," taking a deep breath to gather the remaining tatters of my energy, I began, "I have discovered that…" and then stopped short when I saw the expression on his face turn from completely attentive to distant and pensive.

A faint furrow appeared in his brow – invisible to someone who didn't know him well – and I could tell by the contemplative look in his suddenly concerned blue eyes that he was concentrating very deeply on something. Qui-Gon's hand slowly fell from my shoulder and, cocking his head slightly, he turned towards the ship's small exit in the back of the room.

Curious, I also looked towards the door, but saw nothing, and could not imagine the bearing of my Master's thoughts, or the foundation of the worry I could sense leaking through our bond. "Master?" I dared to question softly, feeling my tired senses very quickly revitalizing as I perceived that he sensed danger.

Qui-Gon glanced at me momentarily and then whispered, "Do you hear that?"

I frowned. What was he talking about now? All I could hear was the rain careening into the ship's hull and the howling wind that threatened to unearth the very ground it beat against. "Of course I hear the storm," I answered, "it hasn't let up at all since I regained consciousness."

He responded with an almost nonexistent shake of his head. "No…that tapping against the door?" Even as he spoke I could feel him reaching out to the Force, searching within it for any possible dangers or nearby threats.

The last five years had taught me to trust my Master's instincts – and his ears. If he said he heard something, then I believed him, especially since he seemed worried. Following his lead, I too opened myself to the Force and tried to gain a sense of why he was troubled. The serene touch of the Force against my mind dispelled of the last of my weary frustration, but I could feel nothing specifically wrong, just a general sense of disquietude that put me on alert.

Calm and immobile as I was, my ears tuned themselves into a noise I couldn't place as being part of the storm. Almost washed out by the thunderous rain and waves of wind, I could hear a faint sound coming from outside the ship. After a few more moments of concentration I knew that it wasn't the clattering of branches against the hull, or the battering of rain. It was the sound of metal against metal.

In a quick, decisive movement, Qui-Gon grabbed his lightsaber and drew it from his utility belt. Almost at the same moment, a wash of foreboding hit me through the Force, flooding me with the intensity of its warning. Boding apprehension claimed my heart in its tight fingers, making my chest ache and my entire body stiffen in response to the knowledge that we were in serious danger.

Only a handful of seconds after Qui-Gon, I drew my own lightsaber and glanced to my Master. His stance was ready, prepared to take action, yet his emotions were calm – as always. He possessed a serenity that I still had trouble maintaining, especially when the Force was crying out with its shrill warning. I could sense nothing specific but my instincts told me that whoever had sabotaged the ship had come to finish the job.

Neither of us activated our weapons – we merely held them at the ready, poised to defend ourselves against this unnamed, impeding threat. Moving in tandem, we very quietly came to stand on either side of the small door that kept us from the raging storm outside. Qui-Gon was the one that leaned forward to press his ear against the cold metal. After listening for only a brief span of time, he looked at me seriously and gave a small nod, confirming what I already knew – that someone was out there.

There are six men, he reported quite calmly, but I cannot tell where they are.

A sudden, piercing clash against the metallic door caused the entire frame to tremble and sounded unrealistically loud in the tension filled air of the room. The noise startled me, worried and strained as I was due to the cold ominous fingers of the Force, and I couldn't stop my heart from leaping into my throat. Instinctively, I tensed up, started abruptly, and jumped back half a step.

In that fleeting moment of irrational fear, a stab of pain shot through my chest, and my throat closed up tightly, refusing to let me swallow. As soon as my instinctive reaction passed, I was left berating myself for letting myself get jumpy because of the mysterious situation. It would not do to be inordinately afraid. I was a Jedi, and as I had been taught to do, I would control these distracting emotions.

Without relinquishing any of my alertness, I took several deep breaths to help soothe my anxiety. Once I regained control of my breathing, the tightness in my chest lessened and I was able to release most of my fear into the Force. I was still worried of course, and a little unnerved by the situation, but it would not distract me.

Qui-Gon touched my mind mildly with his pride in me, but the moment was cut short by the resounding clatter of a forceful bang against the door. This time it was followed by another, equally echoing blow that fell after only a few seconds of silence. The shuddering pounding continued mercilessly, increasing both in strength and in speed until there was hardly any time between them.

The door was creaking loudly under the continued pressure of the assault and it was beginning to shake against the hinges and latches. Qui-Gon and I shared a grave look. They were trying to bring it down and judging from the dent that was already forming in the dull gray metal, we didn't have much time.

I spared a brief glance around the shuttle. The room was too small for us to fight in and we would be outnumbered, without any space to maneuver in, and basically trapped. We could not stand here waiting to be attacked. There was a functioning emergency exit just to the left of the pilot's chair in the cockpit. If we could get outside then we would have more room to defend ourselves in and, if we had to, we could escape into the forest.

Qui-Gon, my voice was quiet but held a note of urgency in it, we can leave the shuttle through the hatch in the cockpit.

My Master nodded, The ship may be surrounded, he warned me, make sure that you can't hear anything suspicious.

I nodded, Yes, Master, and turned to comply.

For almost a minute I crouched next to the emergency exit, keeping myself completely quiet in an attempt to hear something other than the storm and the pounding that emanated from the back room. As far as I could tell, no one was on this side of the ship – and if there was someone, he wasn't trying to knock in the door.

Master, I think it's clear, I informed him even as I clutched my lightsaber tightly in one hand and began unlocking the latches with the other. Although exiting the ship from here might give us an advantage if whoever was outside expected us to be trapped inside, I somehow knew that we would still have to defend ourselves.

Despite the storm and the slamming sound, I could clearly make out Qui-Gon's footsteps as he moved to join me. Knowing he was nearby, I moved to undo the last clasp that held the door in place. As my fingers were pulling against the cold metal latch, I could feel Qui-Gon reaching out to the Force and moments later was inundated by a flash of anxiety through our bond.

The fastening fell from my hand, tumbling down onto the floor

Obi-Wan! his voice sounded almost urgent and I was surprised into immobility, don't! he ordered, and the sheer emotion in his voice was enough to spur me into action.

Confused, but no less slow to react, I tried to hold the door in place, but I wasn't nearly strong enough. The entire thick sheet of metal that formed the removable door was torn from my grasp and hurled to the ground by a force far greater and controlled than the tempest. It had been a sudden, calculated burst of strength and I realized, with growing alarm, that someone had grabbed onto it and pulled it from the ship.

Peering into the dark fury of the storm, I tried to make out my foe, but all I could see was the unwavering gaze of two glowing yellow eyes. The bright gold was almost reflective, a band of fierce color surrounding the bottomless black pupils, and carved straight through the darkness, and me. My heart clenched in my chest, seeming to beat in time with the battering against the back door. The cold unblinking stare filled me with a turgid fear that spread to consume my body.

Shivering, I blinked once to ease the ache, and when I opened my eyes, the yellow eyes were gone and only the howling night greeted my stare. As if the person had been blocking the entrance, the frigid fingers of the storm rushed forth to envelop me in a tempest of fury. A ferocious gust of wind, crying out its warning, swept through the open door and sent a flood of rain to soak my clothes and cover my skin in a grimy layer of dripping mud. Biter cold water was sent splattering onto my face and the freezing shock forced my eyes closed.

The Force cried out so urgently that it had me jerking back from the entrance and flicking the switch that would ignite my lightsaber. Opening my eyes, I watched the blue beam of light buzz up from the hilt and halfway illuminate the darkness beyond the door. In the dimness I could make out the shadowed figure of someone crouching low to the ground.

I quickly extended my blade and took a defensive stance. Master? I called for help, but received no answer and was filled with the sinking feeling that he was otherwise occupied.

Strong, claw like fingers latched onto my ankle, digging sharp nails into my flesh and rubbing the coarse material of my leggings against my skin. I jumped automatically and my stomach seemed to leap up into my throat, making my breath catch in response to the sudden attack. Pressing tightly into me, the hand held me in a vice grip with a tremendous strength that had tentacles of pain shooting up my leg.

Reacting without any clear thought, I yanked my leg backwards in an attempt to break away from the icy grip. It was almost as if I hadn't resisted at all – the hand didn't even budge, it only tightened its hold, and sunk sharpened nails further into my flesh, tearing it. Cold trails of blood tickled at my skin, flowing over my foot and I flinched at the stinging pain.

Colors mixed and flowed in a rapid jumble when the person brutally pulled me forward with a fierce strength that had me precariously toppling in the doorway until I completely lost my balance and toppled backward in a flurry of speed and movement.

The lightsaber slipped from my grasp. With flaying hands I tried to grab onto the sides of the door and hold myself up, but even as I did so I realized I was being drawn, by the ever-tightening grip, through the hatch and into the violent night. Instead of anything I could use to my benefit, I found myself clutching at the pummeling rain.

The dark world spun rapidly in dizzying circles around me as the person gave one final heave and released me, sending me flying through the freezing air. I reached out to the Force, calling it around me to ease my fall, but I wasn't fast enough and seconds later I hit the ground and sank down into the slimy mud that the rain had created.

Iced droplets of water were pounding into me and the wind seemed to be blowing down into me with all the force of a thousand howling wolves. Pushing my hands against the ground, I attempted to scramble to my feet, but my fingers only sank further into the earth and the mud swarmed to cover me more deeply. I was wading in a pool of mud and as I descended slowly into its enveloping claws, the shock of its freezing tentacles began to settle in. My clothes were saturated with the thick muck and my limbs were beginning to go numb.

Yellow eyes suddenly appeared in the darkness, staring down at me coldly. Seconds later a large hand with six fingers and long hooked nails that were stained red with my blood, grabbed onto the fabric of my shirt. The persistent claws sank into my chest and the animal-like man used that leverage to draw me up with one, powerful tug. The movement tore my skin in six burning places where nail met flesh and frantically I scrambled to regain my footing as the person held me upright against the harshness of the storm.

Another arm shot out of the night, propelling the gleaming edge of a knife and holding the fangs of the blade against the flesh of my neck, rapidly stilling my movements. Then the hand on my chest withdrew and I found myself being twisted about so that one strong arm kept my back pinned against the person's body, and the other remained holding the dagger against me.

I had to forcibly prevent myself from struggling against my captor. I knew that he was much stronger than me and that any abrupt movements could send the blade on a course that would end my life. I relaxed and kept myself limp. It would be futile to fight and it was best to retain my strength for a moment when I could escape.

In two large strides my captor moved so that we were both facing the opening in the shuttle where I saw that Qui-Gon was carefully creeping forward into the night, obviously trying to sneak up and free me. Although determined, he seemed to be wavering slightly on his feet, and I wondered what had hindered him during my struggle.

The brutal stiletto suddenly bored deeper into my neck and roughly cut off the passage of air through my trachea, slicing neatly into my skin. Silent seconds ticked by and my lungs began to sting as I tried and failed to gasp air into them. The edge of the blade went deep enough that I could feel the pulse of my heart as it beat against the cool metal. "Surrender," a harsh, loud voice boomed over the wrath of the storm, causing the man's chest to vibrate as he spoke, "or I will kill him."

TBC… (on Wednesday)