Qui-Gon's hand went to his head. He'd felt a sudden pain that made no sense to him. All he was doing was sitting on his sleep-couch, reading local news and waiting for his Padawan to return. He rubbed his temple, then realized that the pain seemed foreign, not a part of him. That could only mean one thing; Obi-Wan was hurt.

He quickly stood up, tossing the news-holos to the floor. He quickly pulled on his boots and rushed out of the room, calling mentally to his Padawan as he did so.

Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan, where are you? What's happened? There was no answer. This could either mean that Obi-Wan wasn't hearing him, he was too far away, or that Obi-Wan was unable to reply. Qui-Gon didn't like any of those possibilities. He approached the front desk of the ruined hotel.

"Excuse me, I was wondering if my Padawan had come back anytime today."

The man behind the desk arched an eyebrow. "Your what?"

Qui-Gon sighed. "I am Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn. I came here with my apprentice, Obi-Wan Kenobi. I was wondering if anyone had seem him lately today."

"Oh! You guys are the Jedi." He turned to speak with a woman next to him, who shook her head at whatever he asked her. "I'm sorry, sir. No one has seen your young friend come back in. Kreta here saw him leave about four hours ago, but he hasn't come back."

Qui-Gon turned to look out of the shattered glass door. "It's dark," he said idly.

"Yes sir. It does that."

Qui-Gon shot the man an angry look. "I'm going to look for him. If you see him come in, tell him to contact me."

"I will do that, sir."

Qui-Gon nodded, then rushed out of the entrance hall, not paying attention to the man's warning about not running. He stepped out onto the street and froze. Where would he start? He had no clue. Obi-Wan could have been anywhere in the city.

Obi-Wan, where are you? Answer me if you can! Still no answer. Reaching out with the Force, Qui-Gon searched for Obi-Wan. He found nothing.

* * * * * * * * * * * The first thing that Obi-Wan felt when he woke up was the cold, damp ground. He groaned and tried to sit up, but collapsed. He groaned again as he hit a sore rib on the ground, but once again tried to sit up. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust, and when they did, he saw that he was in what looked like a large box. He could feel it shake underneath him, telling him that they were moving.

He turned his head around, then jumped at the sight of another person. After he settled down a bit, he saw that it was a girl, not much older than he. She had a weathered look to her, but stared down at him with concerned eyes.

"Mya con ochia?" she asked.

Obi-Wan frowned in confusion. "What?"

She smiled. "Oh good, Basic. I wasn't sure what you spoke. I asked, how are you?"

He lifted an eyebrow. "I'm not sure. Where am I?"

"You're on the Ukia."

"The what?"

"Ukia. The slave transport."

"Slave?" Obi-Wan rushed to his feet, then had to steady himself against the wall.

The girl put a hand on his shoulder to steady him. "Yes. We call it Ukia. What the ship's name really is, no one knows. No one is ever conscious of getting on, except me. And I can't read."

"Why can't you read? No one taught you?"

She shook her head. "No point in teaching a slave to read. All I do is housework and show the new slaves around."

"New slaves?" Obi-Wan put a hand on his own chest. "I'm a slave." The girl nodded. "I...uh...but..." He buried his head in his hands, trying to think, but his brain seemed to have shut down on him. He groaned.

The girl smiled sympathetically. "Yeah, it's kinda confusing at first for most. They don't even know how they got here most of the time. Some don't even know who they are." She studied him for a moment. "You're different than most of them who are brought in. You're in a lot better shape. Most of the slaves brought in were street rats."

Obi-Wan shook his head. "I'm not a street rat. I'm not even from Domili. I'm a Jedi."

The girl arched an eyebrow. "Jedi? That's a first. What's your name?" she asked, suddenly changing the subject.

"Obi-Wan Kenobi," he said idly as he began to inspect the wall of their box. He ran his hands across it, searching for a door, but couldn't find one.

"I'm Arlin." She watched him for a moment. "If you're looking for a way out, then you won't find it. They make sure of that. It's up there," she said, pointing to the ceiling, which was a good twenty feet above them.

Obi-Wan frowned. "I've got to get out of here and find my Master."

"You can't get out. Sit down, you're going to wear yourself out. And believe me, you'll need all the strength you have when we reach Liskil."

"Liskil?"

"The planet our master's home is on."

"I can't leave Domili! My Master is in Genabishu. He'll never find me now."

"Forget about your old master. You have a new master that you will serve. His name is Ryask, but don't ever speak his name where he can here you. You'll get four lashes for that."

Obi-Wan sank down to the floor. "Alright, I'm still kinda confused about what's happened to me. Could you maybe straighten things out?"

Arlin smiled. "Sure, I can do that. Well, from what I heard, you were caught trying to steal some of Tula Hereas' things. He caught you. Tula belongs to a group of 'headhunters', slave hunters. They search the streets for anyone they can nab, then they sell them to anyone willing to buy. I heard you sold for seventeen thousand. That's the most I've ever heard of for one person."

"And why don't I remember any of this?"

"Tula's gang catches slaves by shooting them with a specialized blaster. It stuns and kinda shuts down your mind. You can still move, but you don't think, so you don't remember. They do that so you can't act up in front of buyers. It wears off after a while."

"So I was drugged?"

"Somewhat, yes."

Obi-Wan shook his head again and stuck his head in his hands. He felt as if he had lost all hope.