"What are you doing here?" he demanded. "I thought I told you to stay where it was safe and wait for Obi-Wan."

"You're not safe," I panted at him, and poked him hard in the arm with a finger - repeatedly. "You left your comlink at the house!"

"I didn't want to be disturbed," Qui-Gon reminded me sternly.

"Yeah, well, you have to be," I snapped. "Xanatos is after you."

"What?"

"I got a call at the house. But he didn't have information for you, he told me he was going looking for you and for your sake I had better hope he didn't find you first." I clenched my jaw stubbornly at the look I was getting. "And then he said he was coming back for me."

The look of annoyance faded, and Qui-Gon's terse stance relaxed. "Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure!" I yelled at him. "I called Obi-Wan but he's in the middle of that meeting and he couldn't drop everything and leave. You didn't have your comlink so I had to come out and warn you myself. What are you doing out here anyway?" I added, gesturing toward the dangerous cliff. "If Xanatos finds you here, he's going to kill you. He can just dump you over the side onto the rocks and no one will ever know what happened!"

"He wouldn't do that," the Master said firmly.

"You didn't hear what he said," I warned darkly. "He's not kidding. He's using you again, like he always does."

Qui-Gon gently took my arm and held me until I quieted down. "All right," he finally said. "I believe you. We have to get back into the city, we'll go straight to where Obi-Wan is and meet up. This way - the path runs through some caves but it is faster."

I gestured for him to lead the way, which he did. The trail ducked down behind some rocks which were very slippery, and into a place I would have thought beautiful had I not a homicidal maniac on my mind. Eons of sea-spray, rain, and wind had sculpted the cliffsides into tunnels and arches, carved out of dark basalt ridges and harder, smoother granite. The path wound its way under low ceilings and past gaping windows of rock, picking a more or less safe route through the formations. My fingers were starting to freeze, between the wet and the cold, but I needed them to help keep my balance as I followed a fast-moving Qui-Gon back the way he had originally come. "What exactly did Xanatos say?" he asked over his shoulder as we navigated a narrow series of tunnels.

"He told me to tell you to watch out," I replied, wincing as I scraped my knuckles on the rock, "and that you know he'd be a fool to waste any opportunity to avenge himself on you. He said that thing about finding you first, and finding you alone. You should have seen him. He wasn't playing around."

"How little you truly know me," a voice echoed from the caverns ahead of us.

Qui-Gon halted and threw an arm back to shield me. "Don't move," he hissed.

"Welcome, my old Master." From around the next corner stepped Xanatos, shrouded in an elegant black, embroidered cloak. He gave us both a glaring smile with narrowed, cold eyes. Unwrapping the cloak from his shoulders showed off its velvety blue lining and his rich, skin-tight black clothes beneath. Were I not afraid of him, I might have been impressed and even turned on by his sleek entrance.

Qui-Gon glanced over his shoulder at me. "Stacey...why don't you try to find Obi-Wan? I will be along shortly."

"No." Xanatos' demand was calm and clear. "There's no need to send her away. Let her hear what I have to say to you."

"And what do you have to say?" the Master challenged. "Or have you merely come armed for a fight and wish to annoy me first with a lot of talking?"

At that moment I noticed what Qui-Gon had seen right away: a lightsaber hung from Xanatos' belt. He glanced down at it and smirked. "I never go into a private meeting with anyone unarmed. Not to mention, there is no other weapon I could carry that would have an effect on you, specifically. I'm not expecting trouble, Qui-Gon." His eyes raised and met his former Master's. "Not unless you want to bring me any."

"My intention has never been to bring you any trouble," Qui-Gon quietly said. "What is it you want? And why bring Stacey into this?"

"She helped me out," Xanatos said brightly, taking a couple steps down off the rocks until he stood level with us. Wan light from one opening in the cliffside made his pale face look even paler. "I didn't know where you were. No one seemed to. I figured if I said the right thing to her, she'd come find you and lead me straight to you." He nodded at me. "Good job."

"You could have just used the Force to track him," I pouted, "couldn't you?"

"Alas," Xanatos sighed, "my senses just aren't what they used to be. I don't do things the way the Jedi do them anymore." The wind blasted salt water into the cave, making all of us flinch. "It was a good thing I counted on you filling her head with stories about how evil I am. It was so easy to make her think I was coming to kill you, Master."

"I have told Stacey nothing about you," Qui-Gon countered. "She already knew about you, stories abound where she comes from that exaggerated your exploits. You would be proud to know what her people think about your Dark tendencies."

Xanatos looked appropriately disturbed, shifting his stare to me, but he dared not derail his purpose for being here by asking me all sorts of questions. "Don't laugh them off so easily, Master," he warned. "You still believe there is hope of my redemption, don't you? I am much Darker than you think I am."

Qui-Gon faced him coolly. "That remains to be seen."

Xanatos' gloved hand caressed his lightsaber temptingly. "If you really want a fight, I'll give it to you. I may try to distance myself from the Jedi ways as much as I can, but they do still come in handy from time to time."

"I don't believe you're here to hurt me, or her," Qui-Gon said. "Whatever reputation you've managed to earn yourself, there is no one here right now who cares what it is. You have something to say, so say it and we will go our separate ways."

"Oh, but Master," Xanatos wheedled in a sarcastic whine, "I was so hoping we could take some time to catch up. It's been so long since I've seen you. Do you remember the last time we met?"

"I try not to," the Master said simply. "The past is over and done. It is no concern of mine any longer."

A twitch of sourness flickered on Xanatos' thin face. "Well, I still do. It's hard to forget. Such changes were wrought in me."

"You mean, like the time you tried to kill me? Or, the other time you tried to kill me?"

There was a faint whiff of humor in the Master's voice, which Xanatos was able to appreciate, though his smile was tight-lipped. "I suppose you would remember that."

"You do also, or you would not have used it to bait Stacey to find me."

"No, I've wasted all my chances at vengeance. Enough time has passed, I don't think you have much to worry about any longer. Revenge is a fire...as long as it has fuel, it will burn. But the fire went out in me long ago, all I have left are cold ashes. Which is good, I think," he added morosely. "I wouldn't want to be some forty-year-old madman on a pointless and impossible search for a way to destroy you."

Qui-Gon took a step to place himself strategically between me and Xanatos, in a position to prevent any type of attack should one happen, but as I looked up at his face, it was clear he was listening to and understanding his former apprentice. "Then," he said patiently, "why are you here? Why are we meeting far from Skoda with these threats of vengeance lying between us?"

"I have the information you wanted," Xanatos replied seriously, "and then some. You've really put your foot in it this time, Qui-Gon. You have no idea what's going on here."

"Try me."

"Your quarters are under surveillance. Your transmissions are being intercepted and spied on," the other replied simply. "I phrased my message in the form of a threat not only to get your friend to come running to you so I could track her to you, I did it so anyone listening in wouldn't suspect I had any remotely cooperative intentions toward you. I put a tracer beacon on it, and halfway through the message I got the return signal that someone was monitoring it." He shot me a brief look as he continued. "The trace came from somewhere here in Skoda, but my computer is still trying to track it down. I'm going to take a wild guess that the interceptor is either at Guild headquarters themselves or one of the mine offices. All they'll get from my transmission is that I hate you," he added, "which is hardly a lie."

"Thank you for putting aside your feelings toward me in order to bring me this information," Qui-Gon murmured. "Is that all?"

"Hardly. The people of this planet are up to something, it's not just in Skoda."

"We've gathered that much," the Master muttered.

"The guild acted like I was the one who contacted them, even though I never did so," Xanatos went on, irritated. "I listened to their rhetoric for a few minutes until I had enough, and called them to task for the treaty laws. That was when it began to get interesting," he smiled, pulling his cloak tighter around him. "They weren't prepared for me. They underestimated me. The President of the guild had been hiding something from me, I could sense it, but he dropped all pretense and told me plainly what they intend."

He paused long enough for Qui-Gon to sigh and wonder, "Are you going to tell me, or do you expect me to beg for it?"

"Look, I don't have to cooperate with you, Qui-Gon," Xanatos snarled. "The mere idea of asking for your help on anything rankles me. You're going to be thanking me when you hear what I have to say, and maybe even owing me your life."

"Perhaps I should hear it first, and then decide whether I owe you anything," the Master said coldly.

Xanatos seethed where he stood, drops of water beginning to drip from his lank hair as the sea spray continued to mist into the cave and soak all three of us. "I'm only trying to protect myself and my company. It's not my choice or my fault that I have to protect you in the process and give you this information. If I kept it to myself, Offworld would be destroyed."

Qui-Gon nodded slowly, tucking his hands into his robe sleeves. "I will listen."

"They're playing me, and they're playing you," Xanatos growled. "That document your friend from the Be'a'lai gave you was a plant, they wanted you to find it so you would suspect me of shady business. Yes, I know where it came from," he said to the astonished look on the Master's face. "Moreover, they know where it came from. The minister isn't safe."

"They told you this?"

"Once I had gained their trust. Offworld was supposed to be a rogue chase, to throw you off the scent so you would busy yourself in just about any false affair and distract you from what was really happening. I told them that any other Jedi overseer would have fallen for it, but they had the misfortune of testing out this plan on you - my own former Master, the only Jedi in the Order who would look past my name on the letterhead and find out what was really going on. I told them I have no loyalty to you, and that I hate you for turning my heart to ice, and they seemed willing to let me in on what they're planning for you as a result. Must have thought I would get some pleasure from hearing it," he snorted, his eyes gleaming in the pale half-light.

"I have no doubt that you did," Qui-Gon said darkly.

Xanatos shrugged. "Perhaps I did. They'll probably fail, but it did tickle my ears to hear another party speaking of your death and destruction. It would ease my mind to know they took care of you for me."

"Oh, shut up, Xanatos," I interrupted. Both men looked sharply at me. "I'm sick of hearing you whine about Qui-Gon being your problem. You created your own problems, only cowards blame other people for their failures."

Qui-Gon stiffened beside me, and looked like he was about to leap to prevent Xanatos from attacking me. But the other man only gave me a placid stare, his eyes burning in the darkness. "Make sure you know the truth before you open your mouth, little one," he said unhappily, but then returned his attention to the Master. "She's right. You're not my problem. My problem is the mining guild, and the connections they have. No matter how nice they were to my face, bringing me into their little plans to get you off their backs, I know they have other designs. I managed to do some intercepting of my own, and I know they intend to petition the Senate to investigate Offworld for negotiating with the Jedi Order to come in and buy out their mines for export."

"What?" Qui-Gon breathed in astonishment.

Xanatos' face grew tight, and he closed his blue eyes. "This is where I need your help, old friend." His voice was so soft the crashing of the waves nearly drowned it out. "I haven't done anything, Offworld hasn't done anything. But a Senate investigation would be worse than having the Jedi sniffing around my offices. You've got to stop them before they ruin me and you with me."

I shivered involuntarily from the cold, looking up to Qui-Gon for a response. "What would they have to gain by this?" the Master pressed. "There is no logic to such a plot. They openly court you, give the Jedi records that they have done so, and then intend to turn it around to make it look like the Jedi negotiated with Offworld?"

"They don't care about mining," Xanatos laughed humorlessly. "No one is buying or selling anything, they're just using it as an excuse, as a means to an end." He breathed a tired sigh. "They have your quarters under surveillance, that's how they knew I had been to see you. I intercepted a transmission late last night between here and Takra, about recorded evidence that they could use against the Jedi. They're going to make it look like we're the bad guys and they're the innocent bystanders who are going to be taken advantage of."

Qui-Gon stared hard at him. "You won't mind if I ask for proof?"

Xanatos reached beneath his cloak. I edged behind Qui-Gon just in case he was going for the lightsaber, but he merely retrieved a flat, square chip from his belt. "This is a copy of everything I intercepted. I don't know how useable it will be in the courts, since you'd have to explain where you got it, but at least you'll be able to see I'm telling the truth."

The Master took the chip from his former apprentice and looked at it before tucking it into one of his belt pouches. "I will look at it as soon as I get back. I'm assuming this is why we needed to meet in secret?"

"They would jump for joy if they saw us meeting again," Xanatos grumbled. "At least now they can only assume I went looking for you to kill you. My reputation will do me some good, there."

Qui-Gon crossed his arms over his chest. "I still don't understand. If it's not about mining, what is it about? Why go to this trouble?"

"I can't answer that for you, Master," Xanatos replied. "They're not above board, that's for sure. Whatever they're telling your Padawan now, it's probably all lies contrived to make me look bad. They were doing the exact opposite when speaking to me - they don't seem to like the Jedi much."

"We are only doing our duty," Qui-Gon complained. "If they have an issue with it, they ought to petition the Senate to change the treaty."

"I wouldn't be surprised if that's in their plans. But mark me, you're in danger. If they can't contrive a way of getting you in trouble, the next best option is to try to kill you." His gloating smile returned. "I did manage to impart to them that they've made a fatal blunder - they've gotten the attention of Qui-Gon Jinn. The only way to stop him from following a lead is to kill him, he never lets something rest once he's on the trail."

Qui-Gon rolled his eyes. "Thank you ever so much."

"It was the least I could do."

"Who are 'them' and 'they,' could you tell?"

"Not the Mining Guild of Skoda. Only a couple of them are deep into this confusing plot," Xanatos answered evenly. "I would venture to guess that some upper-level officials in Takra are concerned, perhaps some other regional leaders on the planet. There is a vague reference in one of those transmissions -" He gestured as if to the chip he had given Qui-Gon. "- about some backer, support from off-planet, but I had no way of finding out who that is. I know nothing about where you've been or what you've been up to, but I overheard someone grumbling about over-using your power to call out the militia."

I smiled to myself at that, knowing exactly what that meant. Qui-Gon looked disturbed. "This is hardly about Offworld at all."

"In a sense it is," Xanatos argued, "and inasmuch as it is, I'm asking for your help. My repayment for bringing you all this information is that you keep Offworld's name out of certain circles and make the heat go away. I want to be able to get on my ship and leave Daramin knowing that when I land at home, I will be able to go into the office without any fear of authorities from any sector coming knocking."

"I will make sure that any associations between Daramin and Offworld are cleared up," Qui-Gon said, "but that is the only promise I can make. At least until I can verify that this is all true and you're not leading me further into a trap."

Xanatos glared. "After all this, you still don't trust me?"

"I have to ask myself, what have you to gain by protecting me? The assurance that your company's name will be cleared of any unpleasant associations with Daramin is hardly worth coming to me in secret and begging for my help."

"I'm doing this out of the kindness of my heart," Xanatos hissed angrily. "I could just stand back and watch them kill you, but instead I'm out here risking myself and my company to tell you where you need to look, and to warn you. If you go back to Takra, they'll kill you."

Qui-Gon's eyes narrowed at that, but he said nothing. His adversary continued, "Look into my mind, Qui-Gon, you'll know I'm telling you the truth. There are orders out to stop you from getting any further. People in Takra have the means and motive to kill you and everyone with you."

"How do you know this?"

"You'll have to trust me for once."

The Master's hands fell to his sides, leaving his lightsaber exposed to be drawn. "It seems that there was very little to this problem until your name came into it. Obi-Wan and I were merely shooing away pirates and protecting endangered animals until now."

"You're a fool, Qui-Gon!" Xanatos leaned in until his face nearly touched the Master's. "This is no joke," he seethed. "The powers which move the galaxy are much greater than you or any Jedi could fathom. You may find great satisfaction in your work, but you people are only scratching the surface. It's not about...protecting farmers, or chasing pirates, or bowing and scraping to every last pathetic dignitary who needs a pet Jedi to sniff out his political adversaries," the man spat, enunciating every consonant with venom, "much as you might think it is. The true threats to peace and justice are far deeper than you can reach." His eyes bored into Qui-Gon's, but without hatred. "You have no idea. None of the Jedi do. One day one of you is going to stumble into it, and then you'll really see how far you have to go. You think you're here to chase pirates when really, someone somewhere is pulling strings to move much greater plans, and if you don't step out of their way, they'll blast you to pieces."

Qui-Gon tilted his head to look down at his adversary, boring through him with eyes so steely gray that at last Xanatos quailed and backed off out of lightsaber range. "That may be true," the Master quietly intoned, "but I can only fight the foe I can see, not the ones I can imagine. My concerns right now are only about seeking the truth of this Offworld rumor. Since it is only a rumor, and you've brought me evidence of your innocence, I will put it down and move on to the next crisis."

"And I only came here to put a quick end to the rumor myself," Xanatos growled in return. "It was not my intention to uncover information far more dangerous and sinister in the process. I could have sat on that information, but I've given it to you. If you want to get killed in Takra, so be it. You can't say I haven't warned you."

"Thank you for the warning," Qui-Gon said, none too graciously. "And I now warn you, to leave Daramin before any of these mysterious conspirators find out you've intercepted their transmissions and collaborated with the Jedi to bring them down. They may only shake their fists at you when their scheme is exposed, or they may have greater connections such as you worry about. If they do, I'd be careful if I were you."

Xanatos grabbed one embroidered hem of his cloak and threw it over his shoulder, concealing the rich blue lining and his lightsaber. "A fair enough warning." He looked me over, and I felt like a scantily-clad woman in a dance club full of men. "You had better keep an eye on your friend. She would make a pretty pet for a lot of...businessmen I know." His eyes lifted to Qui-Gon's face, and whatever he saw or sensed made him flash a mocking smile in response. "What? You couldn't possibly be in love with this creature. You have never loved anybody, not even yourself. I didn't think you had it in you."

"Leave her out of this," Qui-Gon threatened. "Her place with me is none of your business."

"Mark me, though. I would not let her run loose where someone could pick her up and disappear into the Outer Rim with her." He focused on me, turning to go but still speaking over his shoulder toward me. "You're just another pet to him, my dear. Another project to keep him busy. He loves no one, Jedi aren't allowed to and Master Qui-Gon Jinn is a Jedi's Jedi all right. You'd be better off with anyone else, instead of wasting away your life on Coruscant tagging at the good Master's heels. Goodbye, Qui-Gon," Xanatos concluded, climbing back up the rocks. "I won't be sad when I hear you've been killed. I don't expect you to believe a word I've said, even if it's all true."

Qui-Gon did not say farewell to Xanatos. He merely wrapped his robe around himself and stood with his back to the ocean, blocking the sea spray from drenching me until he could be sure that Xanatos was good and gone. Then he leaned down to speak in confidence to me. "How steep was the trail in the direction you came from?"

"Not bad. Went into the trees and it was fine."

"We'll go that way, then. I don't want him following us." He laid a strong hand on my shoulder and guided me forward, encouraging me to lead the way. I picked a path carefully back through the rocks, gingerly avoiding the slick spots, until we came out from the cliffs and started back up along the path toward the trees. The ever-present thunder of the waves thrashing at the rocks was less loud here, as the caves had amplified all sound. I kept going steadily until I came to the turn-off in the trail, and we were finally walking away from the dangerous ledges over the sea. There, in the trees, Qui-Gon stopped me and held me with both hands on my shoulders, forcing me to look at him. "Stacey, you must forget about what he said at the last. Xanatos is a master at manipulating people, he loves to play on their insecurities. He may not have been able to sense you, but he could tell from your body language what he needed to say to hurt you. He would like nothing more than to destroy your confidence in me and hurt me in that way."

"I know," I nodded, though my voice was nothing but a whisper. "I trust you, not him."

"I tried to hide my feelings from him, but I could not," the Master worried. "He would try to use them against me if he wished to. But I don't think he will."

"Do you think he's right? About people wanting to kill us."

"I don't know. We must find Obi-Wan, he must know everything Xanatos told us. Come." He guided me to walk alongside him, as we resumed our trek and passed swiftly through the ocean-side sanctuary to the paths and streets and back into Skoda. My hands were cold, my fingers nearly numb, and the salt from the spray was in my hair and water soaked my once-warm sweater. I just wanted to get inside, get warm and clean and dry, and then I could forget about the cold eyes of Xanatos and the frightening words he imparted. I had to remind myself that he wove lies in with the truth, and would have a good long laugh if he knew that he had gotten to me.

Obi-Wan had returned to the house mere minutes before we did, and was standing in the main room by the desk with his comlink in one hand and my note in the other when we walked in. "What were you thinking?" he burst out when he saw me. "Going out to find Qui-Gon when Xanatos is making threats against you?"

"It's all right, Obi-Wan," Qui-Gon calmly assured, holding up a hand. "It was good that she found me. I will explain everything if you give me your attention."

The Padawan stewed in silence for a moment, his lips pursed, but he nodded and tore his eyes away from me. "I'm sorry, Master. I was afraid something might have happened to her." He put away the comlink and waved the note at me. "Explain this?"

"Just what it says," I shrugged uncomfortably.

"'Want to find Qui?'"

I gave him a boggled look and then groaned. "No, it's supposed to say 'went to find Qui.' He left his comlink here so I couldn't contact him, I had no choice. Argh. Stupid Aurabesh. Stupid vowels!"

Obi-Wan's upset eased considerably at that, and he dared to chuckle at my minor mistake. "That makes much more sense."

"If you'll excuse me, I want to wash up and get into something dry," I griped, shouldering past them and heading for my room. "You guys have a lot to talk about without me."

Behind me, I heard Qui-Gon speak in a low voice. "First, we must search the house for surveillance. I have reason to believe at the very least our comings and goings are being monitored."

My salt-soaked hair required nothing less than a long, warm bath to make it better, and since I knew the search followed by the story was going to take a while, I stayed in until the water cooled off and my numbed fingers were plenty warm again. By the time I got dressed in the long-sleeved sweater I had been given by Obi-Wan after Salji, hung up my wet, icy shirt to dry, and came back to the sitting room, the disturbing tale was over and the Padawan sat facing his Master with a drawn, concerned look on his young face. When I entered, his eyes went to me immediately and he murmured, "I'm sorry I got upset at you. You made the right choice."

"It's okay." I smiled a little as I eased onto the couch. "None of us knew what Xanatos was going to do. I acted with the information that was clear to me at the time."

Obi-Wan's eyes returned to his Master. "Do you trust him?"

Qui-Gon lifted his gaze from the floor and met his Padawan's. "I have to. Until we have corroboration, his information is all we have."

"What about his warning?"

The Master breathed an aggravated sigh. "Like it or not, we must go back to Takra. I don't yet know whether I believe his threat."

"It's just like him," Obi-Wan complained. "There are any number of implications to his actions. He could honestly want us to stay out of Takra for some reason that benefits him, or he could expect us not to listen to the warning and go there, leaving him free to move in behind our backs."

"He's not trying to manipulate us, Obi-Wan," Qui-Gon demurred.

"But he is, Master," Obi-Wan insisted, getting to his feet and stepping away. "He always is. It's in his nature. Xanatos cannot do anything out of pure motive because it's not a part of who he is. If we have to believe his warning, we must expect that there's a selfish reason for it. It's not because he doesn't want us to be killed."

Master Qui-Gon looked up at his pacing apprentice, his gray eyes hard. "You've never forgiven him for what he's done to you," he observed quietly.

"No, you're wrong," Obi-Wan said over his shoulder as he stopped by the window. "What he's done to me in the past is of no consequence. But...I can't say that I've forgiven him for what he's done to you."

I drew my knees up to my chest and hugged them, resting my chin on them as I watched the interplay and the silence. It frightened me that I didn't know anything about these "other times" Xanatos tried to kill his former Master, or what Obi-Wan failed to forgive, but at the moment I only waited for a peaceful resolution of the tension. Qui-Gon was genuinely moved by this admission, but also disturbed. He blinked at the floor for a few minutes until he could regain use of his tongue. "I've let it go, Obi-Wan." His voice was soft and heavy. "You should, too."

Obi-Wan placed one hand flat against the window, which was turning black now with the coming of night and streaked with raindrops. "I don't trust Xanatos, Master. I don't think we should let him determine our next move."

"If I don't place some trust in him," Qui-Gon returned, "then we have no move to make. You said as much yourself after this meeting with the guild."

Obi-Wan had no reply to that. Qui-Gon continued as if thinking aloud. "Unfortunately, Xanatos was correct - the guild spent much of their time making themselves look the victims and Offworld the villain, blaming him for causing trouble. You are suspicious of their motives, and question much of what they tried to say to you, as you sensed their deception. Somewhere beneath the threats and bravado lies a grain of truth in Xanatos' claim, and on that we must base our actions."

"I don't like it," Obi-Wan said, still speaking to the window, a fist clenched at his side. "The thing about Xanatos is, you can never tell why he does anything he does. His mind works in complex, twisted ways to manipulate situations to his advantage. I can't trust him."

"I'm not asking you to," his Master said. "But I need you to put it aside and focus. I need you alert and wary, not just of Xanatos but of everyone in Skoda and Takra. I need you to be calm and reasonable, my young Padawan - this mission has suddenly become much more dangerous than either of us expected and I cannot count on your help if you focus on Xanatos."

"Yes, Master." Obi-Wan turned from the window, and I was relieved to see the firm resolve on his face, the determined glint in his icy eyes. "I'm sorry. I will put it aside until I can deal with it."

Qui-Gon nodded, his eyes warm. "As will I. When this mission is over, we will all have much to think about. But, for now, I need your focus on Daramin and on the possibility that we may be in danger."

"What happened with the meeting and the guild?" I wondered, as I had been absent for the report.

The Master looked to his apprentice to answer. "Their talk wound in circles but never touched on the real issue," Obi-Wan replied, folding his arms over his chest. "As we expected, they denied ever sending letters of intent from Offworld to anyone, and claimed to be worried that Offworld was going to try to come in and take over. Most of the guild knew nothing, but two or three members were evasive and deceptive, using sweet words to placate the Jedi but having entirely contrary feelings beneath."

"You'd think by now after how many years of interacting with Jedi overseers, these people would have learned that Jedi can sense what they're thinking," I mused. "It's impossible for them to really keep anything from you, because if they lie to you, you know they're lying."

"And yet, something is being kept from us, very cleverly I might add," Qui-Gon retorted. "We may be able to sense deception, but that cannot automatically reveal a specific lie. Even the slightest twist of the truth feels wrong to us, but doesn't necessarily mean we should reverse the words spoken to us to find the truth. It could be far less complicated, or in a completely unforeseen direction."

I thought about what he said, and about the Daramindi in general, their attitudes and façades as directed toward the Jedi. "When you said something about petitioning the Senate to change the treaty," I said to Qui-Gon, "Xanatos said it wouldn't surprise him if that's exactly what the people of Daramin were planning. Do you think maybe all this lying and hostility and threat to kill you is because the Daramindi don't like Jedi?"

Master and Padawan looked at each other. "Not everyone on Daramin is hostile or threatening," Obi-Wan pointed out. "Most are quite accommodating. Notably the Be'a'lai, and segments of the population all across the planet."

"There is no pervading sentiment," Qui-Gon agreed, "not like I've felt on other planets where we know Jedi are not held in high regard."

"It doesn't take a whole planet," I shrugged. "Just a few people in the right places with the means to do something about it."

The two of them shared another glance. Qui-Gon practically growled under his breath. "The answers are in Takra. Regardless of the warning, we must go back there. But first..." He withdrew the chip from his belt and dangled it threateningly in the air. "...I must have a look at this."

*****

Despite the sense of urgency awakened in all three of us, we did not depart Skoda right away or even the next day. Qui-Gon mentioned that none of those we suspected knew that we had any inkling of deeper plots, so he decided to take advantage of their overconfidence and make some surprise visits all the next day. He and Obi-Wan split up once again to make themselves a nuisance, but the Master insisted that they not act antagonistic, but rather be cool and calm just like Obi-Wan had been during the meeting, to keep up a charade that they trusted the mining guild and were only looking out for their welfare so that no one from Offworld could sweep in and strongarm them out of their landholdings. Whatever information or impressions they gathered I did not ask about, preferring to know less about this conflict than I already did because I knew Xanatos was not the only one who could threaten to come for me. At least, that was my intention, until Qui-Gon came to me that evening while I wrote in my journal. The dreadfully serious look in his eyes as he knelt by my chair alerted me that he wasn't going to ask me to practice in the training room with him - earlier, I had mentioned my silly Force tricks and gotten a promise to help me improve that area of knowledge. "What is it?" I asked him before he could say anything.

"Stacey, I need to ask you if you would be willing to help me with this mission," he said, just above a whisper.

"I'm always willing," I assured him, wondering inwardly where the heck this was going. "Just tell me what you need and I'm there."

"Don't say that before you hear what I'm asking," Qui-Gon warned, holding up a finger. He maneuvered over to a chair that more or less faced me and sat forward, his elbows on his knees and his hands clasped tightly before him. "Since we found out that Xanatos was right, and the house was being monitored and our communications traced, I need to take serious precautions to keep the information we've uncovered out of the wrong hands."

I cocked my head and fixed him with a disapproving look. "Uh oh. I don't think I like where this is going."

"You have something that could help us." He gestured toward the notepad on my lap. "Your writing. Considering the difficulty you're having picking up our lettering, it seems to me your own lettering would be an almost unbreakable code."

"It's not that hard," I tried to argue. "There's a vague similarity in some of the symbols. I'm really getting the hang of Aurabesh, I think - apart from my little spelling mistake yesterday."

"But it's not a direct letter-for-letter exchange, is it?" he countered. I shook my head. "The important thing is, you are the only key to the code. And, even if the lettering could be cracked somehow, the fact remains that we have no way of computing it, it would all be hand-written."

"And good luck deciphering my handwriting," I grinned.

"Do you understand what I'm asking of you?"

I sighed, not liking it but having to agree. "You want me to write everything up in my own hand so that if anybody gets a hold of it, they can't read it."

Qui-Gon's eyes remained steady and serious. "Would you?"

I smiled bashfully. "Of course I would. I want to help. I'm just concerned," I added, the smile fading away, "that if I have access to all this information and know everything, I'll be a liability. The risk of someone kidnapping me and trying to get the information out of me instead of out of your reports is higher."

"Obi-Wan and I will protect you with our lives," the Master vowed, "no more and no less, regardless of what information you have. For now, you will be safe simply because no one on this planet knows that you are the originator of this 'code,' and as long as that is kept between us, no one will be any wiser."

I lifted my eyes and gave the ceiling a wary look. "You're sure you got all the surveillance bugs?"

He smirked and gave a short chuckle. "You have nothing to worry about."

"I don't know about 'nothing.' But, that's not going to stop me from helping you." I closed the notepad and swung my feet off the chair. "All right, let's do it."

Giving me a completely different stack of paper to work with and a fresh ink stylus, Qui-Gon bade me follow him to the table in the kitchen, and after a moment Obi-Wan joined us. We sat there for a good couple of hours, the two of them taking turns dictating and myself writing everything down in my own personal paraphrase, complete with Earth-slang that wouldn't make sense even if someone did eventually crack the lettering code. It was like being back in college, taking notes on a lecture, except that the lecture was vitally important to our safety and the survival of a world in flux, and I was more than happy to give my instructors my full attention. In the process, I learned that my companions had not been idle a single day while on this planet, not even the two days we took a "break" at High Point Base. Most of what they told me was entirely new to me, and shocking. Daramin was indeed a very stable planetary system, and doing quite well for itself considering its stage of colonization, but there were trouble spots and major concerns that Jedi had had for much longer than we had been here. My notes carried very little about the ongoing investigations, since there were already files about them in Takra copied several times over, and most of that was already well-known to all parties involved. The primary function of my coded notes was to preserve everything that had been uncovered during this particular team's mission, about the laws subverted or outright broken and the underlying suspicion that the Daramindi were deliberately trying to make things difficult for the Jedi. I had my own suspicions, but they were based on what scant information I had overheard accidentally - most of which came from Xanatos. But it seemed the other two already had some inkling that the chases they kept getting sent on and little tribulations that popped up were in fact a cover for a deeper issue. Qui-Gon finally voiced a conclusion that he demanded I put in the report: "It is my belief that the Homeworld Alliance, inasmuch as it still governs Daramin, does not want the Jedi to continue their role as overseers. Rather than go through legal channels, perhaps because of the time and commitment involved, they are trying more subversive, more hostile ways of getting the Jedi to leave of their own accord."

I wrote that down, rearranging it into my own common language, and then looked up worriedly to the Master's placid face. "You're kidding me."

"Everything we know points in that direction," he explained. "They will not listen to any recommendations given by the Jedi - the team before us had that problem also. They will not call out the militia to keep the peace and get upset when we do. This elaborate scheme here in Skoda is certainly not contrived for the sake of mining."

"Yet, we have no real evidence, Master," Obi-Wan spoke up, "only suspicions. And the word of Xanatos," he added in a mutter.

Qui-Gon looked down at the table. "True enough," he admitted. "Which is why from this point forward, I will exert my time and energy toward finding some evidence. One more day in Skoda will suffice to completely pull down their attempt at blaming Offworld, and then we must return to the centers of civilization and government to get the leaders of the Homeworld Alliance to show us their true colors. However, we must be cautious." His gray eyes flicked to Obi-Wan first, then to me, narrowing a little. "We can't make accusations or threaten large-scale actions. Daramin is just at the point where a complete overturn of the government would still destroy it. The system is not ready to handle large changes. It will be our job to uncover the truth of the matter, and lay the groundwork for the next team to build upon."

Obi-Wan nodded his agreement, and I sketched in a couple more notes to the effect. That way, we would have a record in case something happened and Qui-Gon were called to task for his actions. "What do you want me to do with these notes?" I asked as I underlined something I found important.

"Keep them close to you until we return to Takra," the Master instructed. "Inside your journal, perhaps. Once we get there, I will scan a copy into a data-image, which will be kept with all the records of the other teams."

I put down the stylus and rubbed the callus on my middle finger's knuckle. "Okay. But if something happens to them..."

"If something happens, I won't be worried," he interrupted, giving me a slight smile. "That is why I'm having them written in code, rather than writing up a report myself. You have no control if our transmissions are intercepted, so you will not be to blame."

We put some finishing touches on the report, which ended up having an incoherent structure that only I could logically follow, and then put everything aside to rest and regain perspective. Any questions I had about what we were going to do next and how soon we would be leaving for Takra were gently put off with, "We will worry about that tomorrow." I was encouraged to relax, and not think about what time I was supposed to get up. I relented and got ready for bed, but even as I pulled the warm blankets around my ears I could sense that the Jedi were still sitting up, still talking into the night.

On to part 51

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