"You mean you're not going to do anything?" Obi Wan demanded. Qui Gon and Leila where wavering in front of him in miniature hologram form.

"There is nothing to do," said Qui Gon.

"Did you say the wall turned transparent with the Force?" asked Leila.

"I've never seen anything like it," said Obi Wan. "Have you?"

Qui Gon ignored the question. "The information is entertaining, nothing more."

"But…"

"There's no real proof that Offworld is interfering with Agri-Corps research," said Leila slowly.

Obi Wan tempted to howl in frustration. "They should not be here though!"

"True," said Leila calmly.

"Offworld is planning something!"

"True," said Leila calmly.

Obi Wan stared at her.

"For now, your mission is to report back on the progress of Agri-Corps," said Qui Gon.

"What about the broken circle on the box?" asked Obi Wan, watching Qui Gon carefully.

"Obi Wan, follow your orders," Qui Gon replied. "If you find proof of wrong ding, contact me immediately. Do not take any action on your own."

"Qui Gon," began Obi Wan.

"Did you hear me, Obi Wan?"

For a long moment Obi Wan stared at Qui Gon. He was tempted to say no. "Yes," he answered reluctantly.

"Now, I must go," said Qui Gon. "Keep me informed."

"May the Force be with you, Obi Wan," said Leila.

"And with you," said Obi Wan.

The hologram wavered, then disappeared. Obi Wan looked at the empty air for a long moment. Once again, Qui Gon had shut him out.

There was a time when the circle had not been broken. There was a time when everything was as it seemed. When there were no secrets, remembered Qui Gon.

"And so the broken circle turns up again," said Leila.

"Obi Wan could have mistaken it."

"I doubt it."

"Xanatos could be involved in Agri-Corps," said Qui Gon.

"I doubt it."

He knew he couldn't tell the boy.

"Obi Wan wants answers, Father. And he deserves them."

"I'm not willing to give them," said Qui Gon. "It is better to keep the past in the past."

"But the past has caught up with you. And it could now involve Obi Wan."

"He needs to learn patience."

A week had gone past since the explosion, Leila realized as she sat in the window. And she was fully recovered. In her eyes at least. She could walk, run sit, stand and sleep with no pain now. She still slept more than she used to, though. She talked to Obi Wan daily. But nothing else had surfaced.

The door opened and Qui Gon came. "There was good news from the mine."

Leila turned. "What?"

"The explosion blasted them deep in the ground. They discovered a vein of ionite."

Leila's eyebrows rose. Ionite was one of the most valuable minerals in the galaxy. "That is good news indeed."

"Yes, it is," murmured Qui Gon, deep in thought. He had gone with VeerTa into the mine to see the Ionite. On the way, he had encountered something that had thrown him into his nightmares. They had gone into the K region. And into Core 6. In answer to his question, VeerTa had said there was no Core Five. They did not have the technology to go that far down into the earth.

"Well," said Leila. "I'm going to see Obi Wan."

Qui Gon frowned.

"I have not seen him since he left," said Leila.

"When will you come back?"

"Tomorrow morning."

Obi Wan met Leila at the landing platform.

She hugged him. "Ready?"

"Your Father will have your skin for this."

"He doesn't have to know."

"What if something happens?"

Obi Wan had contacted Leila last night and asked her to come with him to stake out the annex. She had agreed. Nothing had happened since Obi Wan had found the box and she was tired of waiting. The longer they waited, the worse things could become.

Obi Wan, Leila, Si Treemba stretched out flat between two rows at the edge of the field. They pulled a green tarp over their heads for warmth and camouflage.

Obi Wan and Leila took the first shift while SI Treemba slept. They slipped out of the field and headed for the annex.

Suddenly Leila stopped. Her head came around.

Just then there was a noise behind them.

Obi Wan whirled. He saw a hooded figure approaching. At first he thought it was Si Treemba, wrapped in the tarp. Then he realized it was a stranger in a shiny black cape. "Who are you?" He felt the uneasy ripple of something dark in the Force.

The hooded figure looked at them for a moment. "A friend," he said at last. "Someone who was once just like you." He threw off his hood. His blue gaze was warm and friendly as he looked at Obi Wan. "I used to be his apprentice, too."

Leila had stiffened as soon as the figure had spoken. "Xanatos, what are you doing here?"

"Qui Gon's?" asked Obi Wan suspiciously as he stared at Xanatos. "I'm not really his Padawan. And everyone says his last one died."

"Is that what they say?" Xanatos. "Yet here I am. What else to they say?"

"Obi Wan, don't…" began Leila.

But Obi Wan ignored her. "That Qui Gon's Padawan disgraced the Jedi," he said. "And betrayed Qui Gon."

Leila's words trailed off and she watched Xanatos closely.

Xanatos' eyes blazed with blue fire. "Is that Qui Gon's story?" He glanced at Leila. The hard lines of his face relaxed. "I was his Padawan." He looked at Obi Wan. "So I know what you go through every day, Obi Wan Kenobi. I knew what you wait for. His approval. His trust. But he keeps both from. He keeps a skin of ice around himself. The more your try to please him, the farther away he goes."

"Xanatos, that's not fair for you…"

"Life is not fair, Leila Jinn," said Xanatos firmly. "You'll find this out in life soon enough."

Leila looked at Obi Wan.

He said nothing. The words seemed to have come almost from his own heart. He couldn't look at Leila either.

Xanatos looked at him compassionately. "Leila loves him. Yoda praises him. The Galactic Senate depends on him. Everyone vies to be his apprentice. But he was the worse kind of Master. He denies you his trust."

"He gave it to you," said Leila. "And look what you did to it. You broke it. And now he will trust no one else."

"And yet," said Xanatos, his eyes still on Obi Wan. "He demands everything of you."

Obi Wan stared at him. How true his words where, he thought. Deep anger stirred him. He feared his anger more than his worse enemy. Quickly he tampered it down.

"I am Xanatos," the man said quietly. "Did he ever mention me to you?"

Obi Wan wordlessly shook his head.

Xanatos gave a small, rueful smile. "No," he said softly. "He would not have. He broke every promise he ever made to me. And if you're not careful, this will happen to you too, Obi Wan."

"Xanatos, I'm warning you," Leila said softly. Her voice, soft though it may have been, was lined with dark threat.

"Why are you telling me this?" asked Obi Wan.

"To warn you," said Xanatos. "You…"

Leila turned.

Xanatos stopped at the same moment. He held up a hand. "Someone's coming."