Chapter 8 A Conscience To Guide Him

Qui-Gon paced back and forth in the small waiting room that he and Dar had been led to. It had taken them almost a full hour until they were given clearance to land. And then they were told that Nield was in meetings and would not be available for some time. This irked Qui-Gon. He knew what was going on and he could not do a thing about it.

Finally, the door opened and Nield stepped in. He was much taller from when Qui-Gon saw him last. He also carried himself with confidence. He was far from the defending child Qui-Gon met over three years ago.

Nield bowed and offered his hand to Qui-Gon who took it, "Master Qui-Gon. It is an honor to see you again."

Qui-Gon returned the bow, "Nield, you have done well here."

Shrugging, the young man answered, "I am only carrying on what Cerasi would have wanted. We are at peace now."

Qui-Gon nodded and then introduced Darick, "This is Master Darick Kint."

Nield bowed, "It is a pleasure Master Kint. I heard about your padawan. I'm deeply sorry for your loss."

"Thank you, Nield." Dar responded.

Qui-Gon did not want to be rude, but he could not wait any longer. "Then Obi-Wan was here?"

Taking a moment to gather his thoughts, Nield replied, "Yes, he was here. But he is long gone."

Not hiding his irritation, Qui-Gon stared the teen in his eyes and stated, "Even more long gone thanks to your delays."

Nield was not one to back down, "I helped him. I had to, he is my friend."

"If he was your "friend" you would have talked him out of going!"

Nield sadly shook his head, "Oh no Qui-Gon. I could never have talked him out of it. I don't understand anything about this force. But I know one thing. It was guiding Obi-Wan. I don't have to be a Jedi to see that."

As Qui-Gon began his pacing again, Dar broke his silence, "What do you mean?"

Nield sighed, and turned back to the masters before him, "Obi-Wan is doing what he thinks is right. He is doing it for Cerasi, Klea, and Bruck. But he is also doing it for the galaxy full of the Cerasis, Kleas, and, Brucks. He wants to preserve the galaxy from fear of this deadly gas. They have already attacked the Jedi. How soon until they attack again?"

For once in his life, Qui-Gon Jinn did not have an answer.

Obi-Wan allowed himself a few precious hours of sleep. His nerves were still shaky, but he felt good about what he was doing. He felt the force guiding him. But it was also warning him to stay focused. That was one thing that he intended to do. Knowing that he was running out of time, Obi-Wan meditated on the next step of his plan. Qui-Gon would be on his way. Obi-Wan missed him deeply, but he had to do what he had to do. It was a trial that Obi-Wan had to face...alone.

Pulling the corporal's comlink out of his tunic pocket he activated it. He sat in silence as he listened to a conversation on the other end.

"Corporal Fenni, I demand a briefing of the situation."

"Yes, General Raff. The computers will be online in the next few hours. I don't know what the glitch was, but I think I got it." Obi-Wan picked up a distinct nervousness in the voice.

"I hope so, Corporal. It would be a shame for me to prove a point with another member of your family."

"Yes, Sir. That won't be necessary, Sir."

"I hope not, keep this frequency clear. Secrecy is essential to success."

The transmission ended and Obi-Wan was already typing names into his data pad. In a few moments he had what he was looking for. General Raff was at one time a decorated war hero. He was a leader without peer in the strategy of battle. But, he got greedy. He went back to his home world of Thanills and in just a few short months he was able to overthrow the peaceful government there in a Coup d'etat. Once he took his seat of power, Raff withdrew the systems membership from the Republic.

Obi-Wan sat in silence, he never stopped to think that, at one time, Thanills was a peaceful planet. Thriving for the good of its people. Once Raff withdrew Thanills' membership from the Republic and started manufacturing his deadly biological weapon, the senate saw the need to send Jedi representatives to the planet. It was amazing what one man with greed could do. Bruck died because one ambitious man felt the need to prove a point.

Well, now Obi-Wan had a point to prove too.

Typing in the second name, Obi-Wan watched as the name Fenni came up on his screen. The Fenni family had deep roots in Thanills. Oran Fenni was a great scientist who developed many medicines. He had two children, Marcas and Anika.

He was executed by General Raff for war crimes. Obi-Wan briefly wondered what crimes the man committed, but his attention went back to the screen and the young Jedi read what information he could on the man's children.

Marcas was a computer wizard. He graduated from the academy with top honors and had a promising career ahead of him when the government was overthrown. Obi-Wan knew at that point, that the Corporal was Marcus.

Anika was a student of science, following the death of her father, she disappeared. There was nothing else on the girl.

This did not sit well with Obi-Wan. Dressing again in black, he moved with stealth back to the stronghold. He would get to the bottom of this, if it was the last thing he did.