A Loss of Faith - Keep in Touch
As soon as the lesson had ended, Qui-Gon zipped off down the corridor after Tahl like there was no tomorrow. He dodged and dived in-between passing Padawans and Knights, leapfrogged over a Gossam he otherwise might have crushed beneath his feet, then rounded in front of Tahl, arms crossed and feet firmly planted in her path.
She made to go either side of him, but each time he only sidestepped before her, eyes fixed on her own. She sighed after a while, pursed her lip, and folded her own arms. “C’mon Qui!” she said, “It’s not my fault!”
“Why are you allowed to know where he is? He’s my master!”
“It’s too dangerous for you to know.”
“Why is it?”
“Because we all know how stupid you would be if you did know…”
“I would not!”
“I’ve got to go, Qui -”
He put his hand to her chest as she made to slip by him once more; “No you haven’t,” he said, “We’ve got a free period now.”
“Qui-Gon!”
When she next ventured to look into his eyes, she found that she were on the receiving end of a particularly evil glare. Qui-Gon had many of these, all of them different, and used them so often that Tahl had given numbers and attributes to each of them. At the moment, he was using Evil Glare #3, with a tad of Evil Glare #8, if she wasn’t mistaken.
She had to cover her mouth to stop herself from giggling, but Qui wasn’t in quite so amiable a mood; he took Tahl under the arm and wheeled her about behind a statue. There, he perched himself on a ledge, just behind the huge, golden ankle of the sculpture, and planted Tahl in front of him.
“Speak,” he said.
There was a new scowl on his face now, one Tahl thought she may have to christen Evil Glare #13, but, shaking her head and casting her games aside, she said, “Look, your master wants to keep in touch with you, but this is the only safe way right now.”
“Safe way? He’s not a convict, Tahl! Why shouldn’t I be allowed to write to him and stuff?”
“Because he’s been suspended Qui-Gon! That’s as good as being a convict here, and he knows as well as any of us that if you knew where he was, you would somehow, probably “accidentally”, manage to wind up on his doorstep.”
“So why does he trust you?”
“Because I won’t do something foolish.”
Qui made a severe pout and looked away.
“And I’m a girl.”
He arched his brow and rose a surly lip toward her.
“Chill, Qui, it was a joke!” she smirked, giving his arm a friendly push. But he didn’t take it in good humour.
“Look, it’s not just me,” she swiftly went on, “we’re all gonna help keep you two in touch, but we have to be as careful as possible. If Syfo-Dias gets whiff of it, you know there’ll be trouble.”
“Hateful man,” Qui grumbled.
“I’ll pretend not to have heard that,” she said, faking the air of one of her mentor’s, “Anyway, I really do have to go - I have an exam tomorrow and I need to revise. But, before I go - well, I was going to give this to you later, but I may as well cheer you up now - here, this is a present from your Master.”
Qui’s features finally softened and he held out his hand as Tahl dropped a small, flat, cylindrical device into his palm. His brow furrowed and he held it up to the light. “What is it?”
Tahl shook her head and took it back for a moment. “You need to start getting up to speed with your technology,” she sighed, giving a small, almost indiscernible button on the side of the thing a push, before watching the top of it slowly open up like the petals of a flower.
Qui took it back and examined it further. “I’m a Living Force Jedi,” he muttered in defence, “Technology isn’t my thing.”
“Your master’s a living Force Jedi, but he still knows plenty enough about technology - what‘s your excuse?”
Qui shrugged it off, too occupied with his new toy to be bothered to argue any more. “So…?” he pushed on, still perplexed about the thing.
“It’s a comm. device, silly,” she said, jumping up onto the ledge by his side; “You can write messages to your master with this. Just dictate whatever you want to say into here” - she pointed at one part of it - “And it’ll transfer it into type, then encrypt it, just in case someone intercepts and wants to read it--”
“Encrypt?” Qui exclaimed, “Who’s going to want to read my Master-Padawan drabble?”
“The universe is full of nosy people, Qui,” she replied, before continuing to explain how to transmit a message, how to open a received one, and allsorts of other things that Qui knew he would have forgotten by this evening.
“And that’s that,” she finished, “No more letters tossed round the maths hall.”
“Oh…” Qui sighed, “I enjoyed that. There was some great choreography going on in there!”
“Well, it wasn’t really necessary, but I thought we may as well go the full distance and put on a real show for you.”
He smirked, “Thanks Tahl. I don’t deserve friends like you.”
She smiled and gave him a brief hug. “Of course you do, Qui.” She slid off the ledge and straightened up her tunic, “Now, don’t you lose that. Your master will be in touch whenever he pleases, and he’s also in touch with loads of us, so don’t despair. You’ll manage these three months without him, and before you know it, he’ll be back, and it’ll be as if he had never been gone!”
He smiled again, but half-heartedly, “I wish I had your optimism…”
She gave him a farewell bow then scuttled off whilst Qui sat on his own, heels knocking against the ledge, turning the device over and over in his palms.
----
“If I cannot usche you to help my children,” she went on, giant claws pounding the ground to either side of Master Dooku, “Then I schall make schure you can help no one other, ever again.”
Qui watched as the gigantic Colicoid, the bulky Queen of the Sohta nest, uttered these wicked words to his Master. But his Master wasn’t responding - he looked as though he could hardly hold himself up. This proved to be all too true a judgement on Qui’s behalf, for his Master consequently dropped to his knees and looking almost as if he was kneeling to the over-inflated monarch. Following this, he then lost a grip on his lightsabre, and it slipped away from his hand and dropped with a ‘clink’ to the floor…
Qui-Gon shook his head, swinging his lightsabre with a renewed vehemence at the Colicoid before him, missing it but at least causing it to back off for a moment; “Master! Get up!” he shouted.
Master Dooku didn’t seem to even hear him - he just remained down on his knees, swaying drunkenly. Qui shook his head, keeping half his mind on the chaotic battle, and half on his mentor. He could just see Allyaah come into view, near by, and she, also catching sight of his Master, added her shouts to Qui’s; “Serenn! SERENN!” she yelled.
But still Master Dooku remained down. Qui felt himself fill with panic - the Queen was raising one of her great, scythe-like claws over his Master’s head, making ready to strike him dead.
Allyaah ran through an enemy Colicoid with such determination, it made Qui jump. “Get up, Serenn! Please get up!” she screamed, trying to reach him, but was currently barred by another two Sohta Colicoids.
Qui gathered his every ounce of breath to him and, flipping over one Colicoid, but then running headlong into another, had to make do with yelling at the top of his voice, “MASTER GET UP, PLEASE!” ‘I can’t reach you’ he thought in turn, ‘Please get up!’
It was no use… Qui felt tears rise in the corners of his eyes as he remained there, locked in combat but not three metres from his Master, and he was helpless to save him, helpless to reach him. This couldn’t be happening. And now that dreaded Queen was bringing her claw down over his Master - no, for the Force’s sake!
“Serenn, NO!”
Thankfully, in dived Allyaah, forcing her way through the Colicoids that tried to bar her path, and she went on to viciously swing her lightsabre up at the Queen’s oversized claw, severing the great appendage and saving Master Dooku. She then wasted no time in turning about and cutting the Queen’s second scythe clean off, as well!
Qui almost relaxed - thank the Force for Allyaah, she had saved his Master! But it wasn’t to end there…
The Queen was squealing in her own tongue now, lamenting over her wounds, but filled with an unquenchable thirst for revenge all the same; if Qui had the ability to understand the Colicoid tongue, he would have heard her shout [“Kill her! Destroy her!”], these threats all now aimed at Allyaah.
Master Dooku was doubled over, he was so disorientated, so weak… Allyaah had placed her hands on his shoulders and was trying desperately to revive him; “Get up, Serenn, just this once…” she urged him, “You can do it!”
Then - Qui saw it all - Captain, one of the lead Sohta Colicoids, rolled up behind Allyaah in an instant. So desperate was he to avenge his Queen, that no sooner had he unfolded his insectoid body into attack mode, he had thrust his savage foreclaw at Allyaah and sent it, with a bloody slosh, through her arm!
Jinn felt himself pale in horror and shook his head, denying that this could possibly be happening…
“NO!” Qui shouted, and bolted upright with a shout. He was breathing fast and his brow was covered in sweat, and it took him a moment to realise where he was…
“Ah, welcome back to the real world, Master Jinn. Were we having a bad dream?”
Qui heaved a great sigh and sat back, wiping his brow - a dream… it had just been a horrid vision, bringing back everything from that fateful day on his prior mission, a day that he would much rather forget.
“It wasn’t a dream,” he murmured, eyeing up Syfo-Dias with as evil a glare as he thought possible (and one that would have made Tahl incredibly proud), “It was a nightmare.”
“Ah,” Dias nodded, seating himself at the other side of the table to Qui-Gon, and placing a teacup and saucer before himself, one which steamed with some kind of hot drink, “I was not aware there was a difference.”
Qui glared at the teacup now and wondered why his master-on-loan hadn’t offered him one. He then straightened his back and remembered that he was supposed to have been writing an essay about the healing qualities of some of the Alderaanian bulrushes - the excitement of it must have sent him into a doze. He turned the blank piece of paper over before him and looked around the apartment, sighing with such evident apathy that Master Syfo-Dias picked up on it.
“You won’t find your answers on the walls, Master Jinn,” the Jedi Master said, before he leant forward and tapped the paper firmly with his finger, “You’ll find it in your head, if you’ve paid enough attention in your classes.” He paused and indulged himself in a weak smile, “And yet, I can’t help but feel that that would have been highly unlikely.” A rapid smile shot across Dias‘s face, one that oozed of spite, and which caused Jinn’s skin to burn with resentment.
“Now, now, Master Jinn. None of that if you please,” Syfo-Dias went on, noticing this, “We wouldn’t want you shipped out for several weeks of hard labour on the spice mines.”
There was then nothing but a cold silence, which was only broken by the occasional sip Master Syfo-Dias took of his drink. He then simply returned to his feet and left the apartment without another word, not telling his pupil where he was going or what he was doing.
Qui watched the door close behind the man, before his eyes drew back to the now empty teacup. It seemed to be glaring back at him so, with a scowl, Qui raised it with the powers of the Force and sent it flying across the room, toward the door. It was at this instant that Master Syfo-Dias then decided to pop his head back into the room with a conceited; “Oh, I almost forgot --”. The teacup concurrently smashed against the wall, just to his left.
“Oops,” Qui murmured as Master Dias paused in mid-sentence and watched the pieces of broken porcelain patter to the floor. He then gave Qui-Gon one of the most foul looks he could muster.
Qui swallowed, unable to think of a suitable excuse for this phenomena, so decided to say nothing at all.
“I was going to give you leave for an hour, but seeing as we are in such bad humour,” the Jedi Master slowly said, “You can clean up that mess and then finish your essay. I’ll look forward to reading it when I get back.”
The doors closed again. And Qui tore up his essay.
TBC…