Chapter Eight

"Grandmomma is at peace now," Welimina said quietly as she packed up more of the life's collection of objects in her grandmother's room. "But before she left, she gave to me a letter." She handed Qui-Gon an old datapad, then took her load of things onto the back porch.

Qui-Gon, when contacted by the Tourist Representative that afternoon, had been saddened to hear of Iriena's death that morning, but greatly surprised when he found that the granddaughter was requesting to see him. She had said that her grandmother had left her something in the remains of her room that might help Qui-Gon find his missing padawan.

Kyran watched him quietly from a corner as Qui-Gon read what Iriena had painstakingly typed for him to find. He had filled Kyran in about Iriena and her family on their way over to Iriena's vacation home.

Now, Qui-Gon's eyes widened as he read. "Kyran," he breathed. "Listen to this:

I'm not sure of where it is, but granddaddy always spoke of the Southern waters. Mostly of their warmth. Memories are not quite as solid to me, but I think I remember a discussion between Mother and Father about granddaddy. I was very little and granddaddy had just passed. Father mentioned coming to Penne't ii for a holiday and Mother refused. Her main reason, she said, was to avoid her father's fate. 'Many merfolk congregate in the South', she said. Father won her over by promising to stay on the mainland.

Qui-Gon stopped, his eyes busily scanning the rest of the old woman's writings. "Wonderful, fabulous woman," he finally said, his eyes still glued to the datapad. "She quoted a book." He finally glanced up and met Kyran's gaze meaningfully. "It tells of a religious ceremony the Pennetians engage in where a Jedi is chosen to equalize the internal balance of Penne't II."

"How?" Kyran asked, stepping forward slightly to crane his neck at the datapad. "What did they do?"

Qui-Gon shook his head. "She doesn't know, and neither did the author."

"And who was the author?"
Quietly, Qui-Gon responded, "Her grandfather."

Kyran frowned. "But, I thought that you mentioned that she, nor her grandfather, knew why the Jedi was there, or what he was talking about?"

"Perhaps she remembered something else, or more specifically, the book."

Kyran sighed. He didn't want to be the herald of woe, but the facts must be faced, no matter how much Qui-Gon would ignore them. "Qui, Welimina said her grandmother had a disease that affected her memory. This information might not be reliable."

Qui-Gon looked as if Kyran had just struck him. Silence reigned for a moment, then the tall Jedi said quietly, "I know. But this is hope, however small. And, it fits with one of the areas that I have marked as a possible site for the Pennetian city. If there's even the slightest chance that my Obi-Wan is there..."

"Yes, I want him to be found as well," Kyran said, yet he was firm. "Do just one thing for me. Just one. And then we'll go look for Obi."

Qui-Gon sighed. Deep down he knew that Kyran was right to be cautious, to fully investigate, but he had been waiting for any small piece of information for almost two weeks now. Obi-Wan had been cut off from him for almost two weeks, a captive, suffering—alive?

"Very well," he answered at last. "What is it you want?"

"Let me contact the Temple, find if any Jedi were missing around that era," Kyran promptly said. "Lana's bored anyway. As she searches, we'll get a skiff and go out to the Southern waters."

Qui-Gon was suddenly grateful for his friend. He knew that Kyran didn't want to waste time on a wild nerf chase, yet here he was, offering to do something Qui-Gon clearly wanted to do, without any of the proof he wanted first.

"Thank you," Qui-Gon said softly.

Kyran quirked a smile. "Let's find Obi-Wan."

They had left their robes in Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan's rooms, grabbed the breathers, and searched out a skiff pilot who was willing to go as far south as they wanted. Now they were skimming over the water, the wind beating at their skin almost as hard as the bright sun.

Kyran, lounging across from Qui-Gon in the skiff, gave a little jump. He grinned sheepishly as he brought out his comlink. "Forgot how quick she was," he remarked as he stood and came to sit by Qui-Gon so that his friend could hear over the rushing wind. "Go, love."

Lana's honeyed voice was hard to hear over the wind, but the two Jedi picked up her words easily enough.

"Well, it didn't take much to find what you wanted, Kyran," she said. "During those years three Jedi disappeared. Teams were sent out for them. Two were found and their bodies brought back to the Temple, accidents on their missions. One was never found, nor a body recovered later on. His name was..." There was a pause. "Yant Justain."

Kyran could feel Qui-Gon's eagerness at this piece of news. "What was his mission? Where did he go?" Qui-Gon asked.

"He...what in the galaxy is that noise?" Lana asked.

Kyran smiled. "It's the wind. We're on a skiff, headed out to someplace that Obi-Wan might be. I have my holonet patched into my comlink so it'll pick up down here. Go on."

"Oh, well, I wondered. Anyways, Knight Justain was a researcher for the Council. He spent most of his time away from the Temple as he did odd errands for the Jedi: discovered a few new species and quite a few planets. Well, he deviated from one of his assignments, which wasn't like him. Didn't even tell the Jedi where he went or why. His ship was discovered almost seven months later, Coruscant time, on Penne't II.

"Isn't that where you are?" Lana asked, perplexed.

"It sure is," Kyran responded darkly. He glanced at Qui-Gon. "I'm not liking this. Not at all."

"What about ship logs?" Qui-Gon asked Lana. "The logs should have something from him in it."

"Hold on," Lana said. "That's restricted at the top levels. It'll take me a minute to crack it."

Kyran chuckled at his ex-slicer wife. Amazing that she had agreed to marry him, a Jedi...

"I have a bad feeling about this, Kyran," Qui-Gon said, breaking into his thoughts. His eyes were focused on something distant. "Something about all this is...deeper than we think. Something wants Obi-Wan, and wants him badly. I didn't tell you that when I thought I felt him a week or so ago, I also heard someone whisper the word 'mine' before I lost all contact with him. It sounded like a woman."

He blinked. "Wait...Iriena said that the Jedi was muttering something about 'her' and 'she' and that it confused her grandfather. Could it be the same 'her' that I heard? It was a female voice that I heard..."

Kyran shook his head. "Qui-Gon, how could it? She'd have to be over two hundred years old now."

"Different species live different amounts of time," Qui-Gon countered, trying to think this through.

"Not on Penne't II," Kyran pointed, playing the demon's advocate as he saw Qui-Gon's wheels turning. "Merpeople live only a hundred and forty years, at the most."

Lana broke in before Qui-Gon could answer. "Ok, I got it. The last thing on Justain's logs is this short message. Hold on and I'll patch it through so you can listen to it."

Another pause, and then a young baritone voice said gravelly, "I am departing to Penne't II. A woman has called to me through the Force, beckoning me. I feel that it is a trap, but as a Jedi I cannot resist the call to help someone who might be in danger. My search for the rumored Force-resistant animals will have to wait. End log."

Lana's voice came on the line again. "That's all that is here. There are earlier logs, but I'm sure none of those will have what we need. Did that help?"

Qui-Gon and Kyran both nodded.

"Thanks, love," Kyran told her, knowing that she couldn't see their heads nodding. "It tells us that there's something sinister going on here for Jedi."

"Well, I think...oh!" She interrupted herself suddenly. "I just remembered! There's a note in Knight Justain's file in his earlier years that he's a 'strongly gifted child with a bright future'. I only mention that because there is an exact double of that note in Obi-Wan's own file."

"When did you get into Obi-Wan's file?" Qui-Gon wondered.

"When I heard he was missing," returned Lana easily. "And just so you know, his file has already been sealed by someone who doesn't want this knowledge coming out...or had a hand in helping Obi-Wan's captors decide who to get."

"I don't like the implications of that," Kyran said dryly. "Be careful, love. Don't want anything happening to you."

Lana was silent for a moment. "I'm always careful," she finally said, but her tone was not as haughty as it could have been. "I have to log out of this before someone traces me. Is that all you need?"

Kyran glanced at Qui-Gon, who nodded. "Yes, Lana, and thank you. We'll contact you again when we are able. Love you."

"Love you." She clicked off.

Kyran sighed. "Well, we know one thing for sure now."

Qui-Gon nodded, his eyes narrowed. "Yes, that whoever has Obi-Wan has done this before. And that they're not going to like me when I find out who they are and what has happened to him."