Entry VI:

Seas of Sand
When I opened my eyes again, I looked up to come face to face with my master.

"Bad dreams, again?" he asked, not meaning to make it sound like a question.

I nodded and wiped the sleep from my eyes. Qui-Gon smiled sympathetically at me and reached for my braid. I sat up, faking a yawn before he could wrap his large fingers around it. A look of sadness dimmed his bright eyes momentarily, and I realized I'd hurt him. It was strange—I would give my life for the man beside me, but I would do just about anything to prevent him from pulling my braid. Speaking of which…

"Master, the tail on my braid is long enough to be braided now. And a haircut would be nice too."

I reached up and pulled on the tufts of hair that were tickling my ears so often these days.

Qui-Gon started away from the bunk beds and I hopped down to follow after pulling my boots on. He waited for me to catch up. "Can that creature growing on top of your head wait until after the mission?" he asked.

"Of course, Master," was my response, "but I don't know if the one on your head can."

After a quick stretching session and an even quicker breakfast, Qui-Gon and I headed to the cockpit. Ric Olié greeted us with a weary smile. It looked as if he had been up half the night. I wondered if he had been kept awake with reasons similar to mine.

I sat in the seat to the left of the pilot—the one Captain Panaka had filled the day before—and remembered the heated argument that had ensued that morning at breakfast between the Captain and Jedi. Captain Panaka had insisted I go to the settlement, just in case the natives decided they didn't like the looks of us. He believed as a Jedi Padawan, I was more expendable than a Knight or Master. He wanted Qui-Gon to stay and protect the Queen.

But when you choose to argue with my master, be prepared to lose. Unless you're Master Yoda, that is.

As the ship's nav-computer beeped and we fell out of hyperspace, I pulled up a map of the yellowish planet that was quickly filling the viewport. "Tatooine," I murmured nonchalantly, skimming through information of the desert planet, before finally finding what I was looking for: a settlement.

My master ordered the pilot to land near the city's outskirts, and then sent me to uncouple the hyperdrive. He also sent Panaka on an errand, much to the Captain's dismay. I hurried to the main cabin, passing my master, Jar Jar, the handmaiden Padmé, and the R2 unit along the way. A sickening feeling of dread settled in my stomach as soon as the door swished open.

The Force was warning me of something to come.

The hyperdrive was easy to pull from its resting place, but the sight that I was greeted by was not pretty. There was no way it could be repaired.

Suddenly, the door to the cabin flew open and Jar Jar stumbled in, falling to his knees before me. Somehow I suppressed the urge to run far, far away.

"Obi-One, sire! Pleeese, me no go wit Quiggon!"

So that's what this is about…

Although I agreed whole-heartedly with the Gungan (he would only slow my master down), it was not my place to disagree with him. "Sorry, but Qui-Gon is right. This is a multinational spaceport, a trading center. You'll make him appear less obvious by going along. I hope," I murmured, turning my attention back to the hyperdrive. How was Qui-Gon going to conceal the fact that he was a Jedi? It would be obvious even to those living in the Outer Rim. And how in the galaxy was he going to keep Jar Jar out of trouble?

Qui-Gon answered at least one of my questions a moment later.

The cabin door swished open, revealing my master. He was pulling on a dirty, cream-colored poncho that had probably been collecting dust in the back of a storage closet somewhere for at least a decade. He walked over to me and cast his eyes over the hyperdrive. If it weren't for the burnt marks randomly found, I don't think he would have known something was wrong with it. "What have you found?" he finally asked.

I pried my eyes away from two lights blinking red and attempted not to scowl. Qui-Gon might tell me my face would get stuck like that, although Master Yoda thought it was already too late. I squared my shoulders and said, "The generator is shot. We'll need a new one."

My master nodded and looked around the room with a casual appearance before responding. "It thought as much. Well, we can't risk a communication with Coruscant this far out on the edge of the galaxy. It might be intercepted and our position revealed. We'll have to get by on our own."

I nodded and strained to hear when he lowered his voice.

"Don't let anyone send a transmission while I'm gone. Be wary, Obi-Wan. I sense a disturbance in the Force."

When the last sign of my master disappeared from view, I leaned up against a nearby wall. Getting the Queen and Captain Panaka to listen to me would be difficult without my master's commanding presence to back me up. Qui-Gon Jinn was a Jedi Master to be obeyed. I was an apprentice to be taken advantage of.

The cabin door swished open a third time, revealing Panaka and Padmé, the latter dressed in peasant's clothes. The two hurried past me and down the ramp. I pushed off the wall and watched them go, then turned back to the hyperdrive.

I suddenly had the impression that the easy part of the mission had passed. It would be sweat and toil from here on out.

It was not long after the handmaiden and Naboo captain scurried off that Panaka returned alone. He look one long, hard look at me then retreated back down the ramp and outside.

I straightened to my full height—which, when compared to Qui-Gon's, was not very tall—and stepped down the ramp. Captain Panaka was staring purposefully off into the distance, shielding his eyes from the sun with a brown, calloused hand. I decided to try and make amends. We would both need each other's help at sometime during the mission and it would be best if we were on good terms with one another.

"Captain—

"Look."

I squinted my eyes against the sun and turned my eyes in the direction he was looking. My left hand dropped unconsciously to rest upon my lightsaber, its presence reassuring to me. "Tusken Raiders," I breathed softly.

I had learned about the infamous race of people at the Temple during the semester that we were taught about the Outer Rim planets. They were a villainous-type of people, using poison on primitive weapons and occasionally raiding settlements. They could prove to be a problem if they decided to investigate our ship.

Commanding the Captain to board the ship and hoping the Raiders would not be brave enough to find out how many more of us were on board, I followed him into the ship, took one last look at the damaged hyperdrive, and parted ways with Panaka, trooping quietly towards the cockpit.

I searched through the ship's computers for a while, absorbing as much information about Tatooine as I could. From this I learned that sand storms were frequent and unannounced, nothing like Coruscant, whose climate was controlled by great computers. Then again, no planet was as diverse or advanced as the city-planet.

I became caught up in my reading and barely noticed when my comlink began to give a faint buzz. An assistant pilot in the cockpit with me stared expectantly at the console where I was recharging my comlink. I ducked my head in fear he would see my cheeks flush from embarrassment of not hearing my own device.

"Kenobi here."

"Obi-Wan, we've run into trouble."

My breath caught momentarily. I shouldn't have let him go alone—

"I have managed to locate a hyperdrive for the Queen's ship. The junk dealer is Toydarian, however, and will not accept Republic daktaries, no matter what I say. Republic credits are not worth anything here. 20,000 will not get us anywhere."

I rolled my eyes good-naturedly. I wondered how many times he had waved his hand around before realizing Toydarians weren't affected by mind tricks. I could have told him that. A chuckle accidentally escaped my lips at the thought of my master actually being embarrassed. Of course, there was that one time Mace and Windu and I—

"Obi-Wan."

A sigh brushed my lips. " 'The here and now', yes, I know. Sorry, Master. So we need money? I have that credit chip you gave me as a present a few missions back."

There was a pause.

"That was not a gift, Obi-Wan. It's just an emergency credit chip the Council gave us that I decided to let you keep track of."

"Uh, oh…"

"Did you say something, Padawan? Oh, never mind. Have you seen anything we could barter with? Are you sure there's nothing left on board?"

Momentarily choosing to forget I'd used some of the money on the chip—and the item I'd bought with that money—I pressed a small button to reply.

"A few containers of supplies, the Queen's wardrobe maybe, but not enough for you to barter with. Not in the amounts you're talking about."

With the promise he would contact me later, Qui-Gon ended the transmission.

I returned to my reading soon after. While searching the contents of the computers, I stumbled upon a picture. My heart skipped a beat momentarily, and then violently pulsed again. The picture was of…Cerasi. Albeit younger, but it was still—No. No, no, no, no. I shook my head to clear it. The picture was not of Cerasi. It was of a young girl named Ryoo Naberrie. But wait a second, wasn't the special handmaiden's last name Naberrie? Running my eyes across the text below the picture, I was able to pick out the key words Queen and family, but those three words would not match. Just as I was preparing to investigate further, a wave of warning rolled across the Force. I was out of my chair and to the ramp of the ship before anyone else realized the oncoming danger.

Standing only a few meters from the Queen's vessel were two Tusken Raiders. Looking closer, I discovered they were mere children, but they still were not to be trusted. Each child held a spear in one hand and a stick in the other that possessed pieces of some disembodied animal they had just killed. The head of a womp rat dripped fresh blood onto the ground.

I remained perfectly still and patient, my left hand poised to snatch my lightsaber if it was needed, but the Raider children did not say a word. Suddenly, a violent wind popped up. The children glanced at one another, then me, and with another strong gust of wind, quickly scampered off in the direction I had seen the other Raiders in earlier. I watched them go until they were specs in the distance before turning away.

Deciding the chance of an attack was too high now, I walked a short distance from the ship to a place where I could better see all of my surroundings, yet still remain in the blissful cover of the Nubian's stretched out shadow. Since my eyes told me there was nothing amiss, I closed them, having learned from an early age that your eyes do not always tell the Force. When I tested the Force, however, it told me the same thing.

All was well.

Still…I had to be sure.

Qui-Gon?

I gathered the Force around me and sent a pulse to my master. Usually he sent it right back, but this time I was met with a wall. I could tell by its structure that it was my master whom had erected it, but why would he be blocking me if everything were all right?

The wind began to blow more violently, howling softly and blowing hot sand into my face, pricking it like a thousand stingers. A sandstorm was coming, and the Raider children had known it. The Force alerted me to a presence just before Panaka appeared at my shoulder. I turned my eyes in the direction of the settlement my master had disappeared into. I was becoming deeply worried about Qui-Gon, even if I did know how competent he was and that he would never attempt to make it back to the ship with these harsh conditions. Perhaps that was what was bothering me, though. That feeling I'd had earlier was once again rooted firmly in my stomach, gnawing at my insides like a half-starved wampa.

When I realized the Naboo captain was waiting expectantly for me to say something about our current situation, I felt a small wave of pride, but quickly squashed it. Pride was not becoming of a Jedi. Squinting against the sun, I spoke. "This storm will slow them down."

He nodded, apprehension rolling off of him in steady waves, although he did his best not to let it show. "This looks pretty bad. We'd better seal the ship."

Without Qui-Gon?

I didn't like the idea of getting on board without him, but he was a wise Jedi Master; Qui-Gon would know when it was time to return. I just wished he would hurry up about it.

Captain Panaka's comlink signaled as I mulled over this and I leaned towards him to hear over the rushing wind. More sand pelted my cheeks as Ric Olié's voice pushed through the roar of the wind.

"We're receiving a message from home."

Without waiting, I hurried to the ramp, intent on getting to the Queen before she made a rash decision without me. Panaka's voice floated briefly to me as he complied, telling the pilot we would be right there.

Upon entering the ship's throne room, I spotted a hologram of Sio Bibble shimmering in the center of the floor and sidestepped around it, feeling the Queen's and her handmaiden's eyes on me as I took a seat. Oddly, I felt the Force whispering to me to take a closer look at Amidala, but I was pulled back to the present as Panaka walked in, taking a seat beside me, and the hologram shuddered softly to life.

"…cut off all food supplies until you return…death toll rising, catastrophic…must bow to their wishes, Your Highness…Please, I beg of you, tell us what to do! If you can hear me, Your Highness, you must contact me…"

Deciding I'd heard enough, I jumped to my feet. "It's a trick. Send no reply. Send no transmissions of any kind."

The Queen nodded, worry lacing her painted features as her fingers worked nervously in her lap. I turned and strode from the room, but not before noticing the uncertain glance traded between the Queen and her head of security. Gut instinct told me that what I was doing was right, but that exact same instinct had also caused me to make the biggest mistake of my life.

You're the one who left the Jedi. When you did that, you cast doubt on the commitment of all Padawans, present and future…

Shock and exasperation were equal as I slid my face into my hands and ducked around a corner. Not only did Bruck find it necessary to taunt me during this critical time, but now Siri did too! Although unlike Bruck, Siri and I had put our differences aside a long time ago, and grew to become allies. She still always managed to bring out my worst faults, however. That was, before she left the Jedi.

Pushing away the past for the umpteenth time since this mission had begun and deciding there would be plenty of time after the mission to mull over all of my suddenly reoccurring memories with my master, I headed to the cockpit to contact him. He answered after a moment, bringing a sigh of relief to my lips. Immediately, I launched into the current situation on the ship.

"You made the right choice, Obi-Wan," he told me as soon as I'd finished. I felt a great weight come off my shoulders at those six little words, but my mind was still not at peace.

"The Queen is upset," I said, remembering the look on her face earlier, "but absolutely no reply was sent."

"It sounds like bait to establish a connection trace."

I felt my voice catch momentarily in my throat. "What if it is true, and the people are dying?"

"Either way, we're running out of time."

My comlink emitted a soft screech, the interference from the storm breaking through our conversation before it beeped twice. Qui-Gon had cut the connection and I was left once more to ponder the circumstances alone, while he mingled with low-life scum in a strange settlement, following a plan known only to him. These weren't Jedi thoughts, I knew, but they were human.

I discovered that time seems to stand still when you have nothing better to do and are worried about someone close to you. When dusk finally came and the storm ended—at least for the time being—I stepped outside the ship and took a deep breath of air. It was gritty and stale, making me cough. Something about the endless sea of sand worried me—scared me even.

I looked down and dug the toe of my boot into the sand. For just the briefest of seconds, I thought I could see the image of an old man whose face was weathered and creased from stress that had built up over many years. With a grayish-white beard similar to Qui-Gon's framing his face, he looked very much like the weight of the entire galaxy rested upon his shoulders alone. His eyes held a haunted look, one ridden with failure and guilt and finally I found it to be too much and looked away. I'd felt a whirlwind of emotions when I had looked into those eyes, and silently wondered how anyone could live like that—although I wasn't exactly sure I wanted an answer to my question. After all, as a Jedi, I would never experience so many conflicting emotions at one time.

Off in the distance, casting golden light on my back, the twin suns of Tatooine made their final plunge and allowed darkness to begin creeping in. The image of the man was gone, but it had shaken me up immensely; more so than I cared to admit, and almost enough for me not to have noticed the hunters gathering around me…

I FINALLY went through and proofed this entry. Sheesh! Talk about bad! Way too many typos if you ask me. I think I'll go back to the others now and see if they're just as bad. I do have two more completed entries from a while back that I was thinking I would type up and get posted here, but as far as finishing the story--I don't know if I'll do that yet or not. I'd like to (seeing as the movies are actually completed now), but I haven't heard from anyone in so long, I don't know if anyone would likefor me to finish it. I'm not asking for you to post reviews on the chapters, I'm just asking for emails or something to let me know if there is any interest still out there for this series. Hope to see you soon,

Marie K.

Page breaks now inserted where needed. (6/22/05)