Obi-Wan felt a moment of disorientation. Then he was standing in sunlight, with sand under his feet. Red sand. A wall of rock curved behind him, blocking the view in that direction. He stood still a moment, overcome by awe: they knew how to do instantaneous travel! Then he saw them: Will, lips pursed tight, radiating fury. Deanna, anxious for all of them. And Wesley, not knowing what to do with himself, far from the ship where he was comfortable. Wes looked at him, and winced. Obi-Wan sensed confusion, suspicion, and hurt. Wes didn't know what to make of him either.

Their distrust pounded him. Obi-Wan stepped back against the rock, where there was some slight shadow, and sank to the ground, legs crossed. His side ached where the probe droid had hit him. More than that, his heart ached: with his failure to stop Xanatos; with the hurt of people he cared about.

"Were you going to set your toy to explode and kill us all once you'd left?"

Obi-Wan didn't answer. He rested his head against the rock behind him and closed his eyes.. He could think of nothing to say. If Will could believe such things of him, what could he say?

"Riker to LaForge. Riker to Enterprise -"

"Geordi never got the comm up, Will. We have to wait for them to call us."

"I can't believe we're stuck down here."

"Look, perhaps it's for the best. We can call for help."

"To whom?"

"To the Republic Viden spoke of at the meeting. To the Jedi. He said they always come -"

She broke off suddenly. Obi-Wan realized she was staring at Will. And Will - Will was staring at him. Obi-Wan had lifted his head when she mentioned the Jedi. Oh, to be home -! But why was Will staring at him, with such a look of mingled grief and loathing?

Softly but distinctly, Will told him, "I wish to God I had never seen you."

Obi-Wan sat motionless, stricken. I have to go. I have to leave them, he thought over and over, but he did not move, could not move.

"Well I, at least, am glad that you have brought him here. Drop your weapons. You're surrounded."

Obi-Wan lurched to his feet, craning his neck for the source of the voice. He found it, at the end of a long arm projecting over the rock, an arm holding a blaster rifle aimed at Will. An arm belonging to...

Sitaris.

He ran, heedless of direction. Heedless of thought, knowing only his own need - to escape. A tall man ran toward him from the side. He lurched away. Another - Light help me, I'm surrounded. And then he was caught, plucked off the ground by a pair of brawny arms. He squirmed, almost freeing himself. He kicked, connecting with bone, and heard a yelp of pain. First one foot, then the other, was caught by more strong arms. His boots were pulled from his feet. Still he struggled.

Calm down and think, he told himself. Feel. What happened to your training?

Slowly he calmed his racing heart and steadied his breathing. He relaxed into the trainer's hold. For they were all, he realized, trainers: or most of them, at least. He recognized them from the arena.

Sitaris stood by Will and the others now, who were themselves surrounded, and disarmed. As his captors approached, carrying him, the other trainers pushed Will and Deanna and Wes ahead, toward the rock. Into the rock. Coming up behind them, Obi-Wan saw that what looked to be solid stone in the shadow of the wall above, was actually an opening, disguised with a holographic projection. Cool air brushed his face. Inside all was dark to his sun-struck eyes. They descended a long, twisting flight of stairs. The bottom opened into a series of small caves, lit from the sides. Their footsteps echoed strangely as they walked through. And then the space opened into a wide chamber.

Here the light was brighter; some sunshine filtered down from high above. All around the edges of the cavern were tents, and a generator, and small folding tables. At the center, the space was clear: a large open circle. In the spaced by a large tent near the cavern wall, the trainers carrying Obi-Wan set him down on his feet. But they did not let go his arms.

"What are you going to do with us?" Asked Deanna calmly, bravely.

"What were you doing outside our camp?" Sitaris returned.

"We did not know it was your camp. Xanatos has taken control of our ship. We ourselves are stranded here, unable to return to help liberate her. We had hoped to find help. We would settle for our freedom."

"As we do not know for certain your intentions, we cannot allow you to go at this time. We, ourselves, are under attack from Xanatos' people, the Offworlders. And you are offworlders -"

"We told you we are enemies of Xanatos," Will said coolly.

"Xanatos is a master of lies. I should know: I worked for him for a time." At this, Sitaris turned to Obi-Wan. "For Xanatos's violations of bonder law, the Council granted you should be removed from his custody. For his crimes against me, they granted your term of bondage should be transferred to me-"

"Sitaris, please, no -"

"- save if a master with a prior claim should come for you."

"Qui-Gon is my master," Obi-Wan said in quiet desperation.

"Qui-Gon is dead, boy," Sitaris told him gently.

"No -" Suddenly Obi-Wan found it difficult to breathe.

"I am sorry. I sent my friends to find him, after Xanatos took you both captive. All that day they saw him in the thickest fighting, searching for you. Several saw him fall, finally, with grievous wounds. They saw him surrounded by the enemy. It is true that afterwards we could not find him. But all these past days we have looked for him, unsuccessfully. I fear he is dead."

"He can't be dead. He can't -" Obi-Wan sagged against the arms that held him. He was surprised to find his vision blurry, his eyes wet. Sitaris loomed before him, and tilted up his chin. "I want to go home - please Sitaris - I don't belong here -" Obi-Wan felt cold metal circle his neck.

"No!" he cried. For a moment he thought he heard an echoing shout. Then there was only ominous silence: all Obi-Wan could hear was the soft click of the collar as it closed about him. For a moment more Sitaris held his face.

"I will do my best by you," the trainer said. "That I promise. You may have an hour to grieve. Then we will hold the rituals. Kadric, you have a tool to cut these rings from his hands?"

A man wearing a heavy leather jerkin, with bare, muscular brown arms came forward with a vibroknife. He worked quickly. The cuffs fell into his hands, severed. Obi-Wan stared at them, numb. From prisoner to slave - he winced away from thought of Will, of his angry words, of the friends he'd made and lost all in the space of a few short days. If only they had never found him! Had they never taken him from Qui-Gon with their transport technology, he might be safe at his master's side even now! The thought was too painful to bear. He shut it out.

"The offworlder garments, as well?" asked Kadric.

"Yes, and I should inspect his wound."

Obi-Wan barely heard the men speak. Kadric pulled shirt and jacket off him, jostling his injured side in the process. He's as gentle as Sitaris, Obi-Wan thought bitterly, and winced at Sitaris's rough probing fingers on the laser wound he'd received from the probe droid. Sitaris changed the dressing, applying fresh salve. Kadric pulled off the remainder of his clothes then, leaving Obi-Wan shivering with more than cold. And still he felt distant, empty.

Finally, at a nod from Sitaris, the trainers holding Obi-Wan lowered him gently to the ground. He knelt there, hands loose in his lap, staring into space.

"Do not move from this place, bonder," said Sitaris. "I have set the perimeter. I do not want to find you paralyzed when I return. You have one hour to remember your past life and former master, before your new life begins."

Remember... Your new life... The words echoed in Obi-Wan's mind. He watched the trainers leave him. Then he closed his eyes, lightheaded, chest aching, barely able to breathe.

Memory came to him, unbidden: Qui-Gon crouching beside him at the Temple, waiting patiently for Obi-Wan's panic at news of Bant's capture by Xanatos to pass.

Something inside him broke.

Qui-Gon can't be dead. I need him.