Chapter Nine

Sassi fumed. Both Jedi had been gone now for three days, with no word about how either of them were. She was still highly mad at young Kenobi for going off without her; she hadn't thought that Jedi lied or misled others. She sighed in anger and turned back to the conversation at hand. Qua was arguing that they stay put for the Jedi to find them, but Greklen wanted them to leave like the Jedi had told them to. Obi-Wan had left a note, telling them to leave if he was not back with Qui-Gon in 48 hours time. They had already stayed a day longer and Greklen wanted to leave before the other Jedi rescue team arrived.

Quanli looked over at Sassi. She knew the other woman was very upset that young Kenobi had left without them. She was very concerned about the pair of them. Master Jinn had been missing a good deal longer than Obi-Wan, and if he couldn't handle the trouble then how would his injured apprentice be able to manage? She shivered a little and sighed. Research sometimes accounted for unknown variables, but only in controlled environments. They had an unknown somewhere on this planet and she didn't like it. Not one bit. This was a problem she had no idea how to solve.

Greklen was pounding his fist on the table. "We should obey them and get the blazes out of here! If two Jedi can't control whatever it is on this planet, then loss of our findings or not, we should go!"

"You would just leave them to die!? Out in the frozen fields of Hoth?" Qua stared at her co-researcher in astonishment, having had no idea that someone could be so cruel.

Howie, for the first time ever, spoke up for Greklen. "Tat is not whut he's saying," the dark-skinned man interjected. "We have to tink of our saf-ty as well. Whut can we do tat two Jedi cannot?"

Qua scowled. "It is what he's saying. The Jedi will freeze to death if we leave them out there alone. We will stay until the rescue teams arrive," she said firmly. "We have enough supplies."

"What about burying poor Lucas?" Jebthia shot back. "He needs to go have a proper burial. How long will the Jedi take to get here to rescue their own?"

Almost as if on cue, Qua's comlink started beeping. She eagerly lifted it to her lips. "Yes?" She paused a moment and then sighed, relief evident in her voice. "The rescue team has arrived," she said as she thumbed off her comlink. "I'm going to go and meet them—the rest of you can do as you like."

Sassi leaped out of her chair to follow Qua, leaving the rest to continue to dicker among themselves. "I can't believe them sometimes," she said as they walked toward the landing ship, disgust in her tone.

Qua shook her head in disgust. "They only care about themselves and the research. That is very disappointing." She sighed as she headed out to meet the Jedi team that the Temple had sent.

Four Jedi stepped out of the ship. Two male Jedi, a female Jedi and a younger woman Jedi wrapped so heavily in an environmental suit that her race was impossible to tell, only the fact that she wasn't human was evident. The other Jedi seemed comfortable in their suits. The blonde haired man bowed slightly. "I'm Jedi Master Kyran Josel. These are my companions Lana Josel, Jedi Master Yan Dooku and Jedi Padawan Bant."

Qua bowed back. "I am very pleased to see that you have arrived. Master Jinn has been missing for almost five days; Padawan Kenobi has been gone for three. We are very concerned about their welfare. Master Jinn went out to meditate and never came back. Padawan Kenobi went looking for him even after he'd been injured."

"Injured?" Bant spoke up, lifting her head and showing that she was a Calamarian. No wonder she was so bundled.

Qua bowed her head slightly. "Yes. Another team member of ours was killed in an explosion. Padawan Kenobi was injured—quite badly, actually, in the blast. But he went out into the frozen plains of Hoth anyway."

Sassi fumed and couldn't resist adding, "After telling me that he would wait for me..."

"Padawan Kenobi left after telling you he would wait?" Yan Dooku frowned. That didn't sound very in character of Obi-Wan to not abide by his word.

Sassi realized that she must have just gotten Obi-Wan in trouble with other Jedi. She cleared her throat. "Well, I did kind of force myself to come with him," she amended. "He did say that he saw visions and that it would be dangerous..."

"Obi-Wan had a vision?" Bant echoed, her large eyes getting even wider. She glanced at Lana. Lana seemed as surprised as the other Jedi.

Sassi nodded a little. "He didn't say much about what it was, but..." She trailed off and was thoughtful. She hoped these Jedi didn't read her thoughts and sense why she was so concerned for Qui-Gon.

The others seemed to be discussing something quietly as Kyran turned to Sassi. By his gaze alone, she could tell that he suspected she had feelings for Qui-Gon. "Why don't we discuss this somewhere warmer?" he said calmly, as a particularly cold gust swept in to nearly knock them off their feet. Bant shivered. "I know that our young friend here could use some warmth."

Sassi nodded and lead the way into their shelter. "I quite agree."

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Once they had all settled themselves in the large main tent, the heat blasting, Lana shook out her six braids and adjusted her double blasters. She still wasn't used to relying on just a lightsaber, though hers was close on her hip next to one of her blasters. "Okay, so what I found out from my fringe contacts is that the Cavrillhu pirates are here, on Hoth, somewhere. It's possible with Qui's luck, which he seems to be passing on to Obi-Wan, that he ran into them."

Kyran nodded and drew in a breath. "That's my assumption as well."

Sassi stared at Kyran with wide eyes. Her breath caught in her throat. "Pirates?"

Dooku nodded. His tone was thoughtful. "That seems to fit with rumor that I have heard recently..." He noticed that they were staring at him. "I have my own ways of finding information."

"But pirates hate Jedi. Especially that group. Are they...even alive?" Sassi asked in astonishment.

Kyran nodded. "They are, though I feel our time is running out. Have you tried to search for them at all since they have become missing?"

Guiltily Sassi shook her head in the negative and stared down at the table. "I wanted to go with them in the first place..."

Qua sighed deeply. "We felt it would be safe to stay here like the Jedi told us to do. We grew concerned when neither one of them came back."

"You did as you were told, which is understandable," Dooku said.

Bant added, "Especially if Obi-Wan had a vision and he thought it best for you not to join him..."

Sassi nodded a little. She wanted to be included in the rescue mission, but she didn't want to get in the way of four trained Jedi. She sighed, wondering how she could best be of help.

Kyran's green eyes caught hers. "Sassi, wasn't it?" He got a nod. "I need you to stay here with Bant. You two need to scan as much as your equipment will let you for anything that shouldn't be here. If you see anything, no matter how small, you are to contact us at once."

Bant wanted to protest at being left in the tent but Lana laid a gentle hand on her shoulder. "You won't survive out there long, Bant," Lana said gently. "Stay here and help Sassi."

Bant grumbled a little, but she didn't protest any further. "Yes, Masters." Obi-Wan was her best friend; she hoped that he was alright and hated being left behind, but she would do her duty.

Kyran stood. "Any ideas on where to start?" he asked the group at large. He felt Qui-Gon's presence dimming, but tried to keep the urgency from his voice.

Sassi pulled a map of the places out that they had hunted for ore out of her pocket. "This was where our shelter was when we split into two teams. We searched along here." She traced the route with her finger. "Master Jinn disappeared shortly after we'd finished searching for the day."

"He felt the explosion, he said, and his padawan's distress," Qua interjected. "So the teams met up again right after the explosion. He found Obi-Wan and stayed by his side for a while, before he said he needed to go off and meditate. We never saw him after that."

Sassi nodded in agreement.

Kyran sighed a little. "Well, I suppose we should be off. The sooner we get out and look for them, the sooner they'll be found. I have my comlink and you can contact us immediately if you see anything out of the ordinary on the equipment."

Bant was already tapping into the researchers equipment, her comlink beside her, as the Jedi left. Swiftly, they entered their ship. Once there and away from the team, Lana shivered. "Brr! I felt more cold coming from that Greklen than from this backwater planet!"

Kyran nodded his agreement. "He seemed almost pleased at the fact that Qui- Gon was missing..." he said thoughtfully to his wife.

"Curious," Dooku added. "But I do believe that Sassi is in the middle of that particular fight."

Lana nodded. "Yes, I do believe Qui-Gon has finally found someone else to care for." The two men stared at her. "What?" she asked. "It doesn't take Jedi skills to see that Sassi is crazy for him."

Kyran shook his head a little. "Well, it doesn't really matter, I suppose, but I hope it doesn't cause trouble."

"Too late!" Lana said cheerfully. When the men stared at her again, she added, "You men become idiots when it comes to a woman. Now, shall we start flying over Hoth? We have two Jedi to save."

Kyran stared at his wife in astonishment and then nodded a little. "Yes I believe we will." He slipped into the co-pilot's seat allowing Master Dooku, as the elder Master, to pilot.

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Bant and Sassi had been dutifully scanning Hoth for any sign of the smallest life when Sassi let out an exclamation. "I found something! It's faint, but it might be them." She motioned Bant over to come see as the other researchers also got up and came around for a look.

Greklen scowled. "That's them," he said roughly. "Since this picks up heat—chances are you won't be able to pinpoint their location for much longer." He sounded almost hopeful at the idea of losing the two Jedi so close to rescuing them.

Sassi narrowed her eyes and backhanded Greklen so hard that he staggered. Glaring at him, she turned back to the display. "Let me write down the coordinates so you can tell the other Jedi, Bant." She quickly did so, and handed the flimsiplast to the Calamarian woman.

Bant thumbed on her comlink and punched in Master Josel's frequency. "Master Josel, we found them!" she said excitedly. She gave him the coordinates that Sassi had handed her.

Dooku quickly piloted the ship toward the coordinates given. His scanners showed nothing by the time they arrived. Lana peered down, then gasped. "There they are!" She pointed at two mounds in the snow, surrounded by a low ice barrier. "Get us down closer, Master Dooku, and Kyran and I will get them." Then she raced toward the ramp.

Kyran leapt out of his seat and dashed after his wife, following down the ramp.

The ramp had barely started to open when Lana slide herself down it, landing softly in the snow. She rushed over to the smallest mound, knowing that Kyran would want to be near his friend first. She brushed snow off of the very still and cold Obi-Wan. His chest barely moved. "He's still alive, though barely!" she called over the sound of the wind.

Kyran stared in horror at his friend. His leg was torn and twisted and his feet had burns on the bottoms of them. His eyes were drawn to the red mark on his friend's throat and he shivered, wondering what had been done to him. Very carefully he picked him up. "Qui-Gon's alive...but not for much longer if we don't get him inside."

Lana nodded and scooped up the frozen Obi-Wan. "They both need immediate care. The Force will help but they need the Healers. Let's go alert the researchers to take Bant back to Coruscant with them and we'll go ahead and go." She raced back into the ship.

Kyran hurried as quickly as he could with Qui-Gon into the ship. They needed medical assistance as fast as they could get it. Qui-Gon's feet might already be frostbitten—he had no idea how long his friend had been lying out in the cold with no shoes. He told the researchers to take Bant to Coruscant with them as Dooku headed for realspace. As soon as they were in space, the older Jedi Master punched in the coordinates for Coruscant and the stars flared into starlines.