"Your mission should be fairly simple," Mace Windu said. "An important diplomat is returning home tomorrow from the Senate. Her world is on the brink of a civil war. She represents the King in the eyes of the discontented people of her world. She fears they may attempt to assassinate her as she leaves. Your duty, Master Jinn, is to escort her to her world. Once you are there, you are to act as a Guardian of the Peace and try to end the conflict, or at least tone it down. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Master Windu, I understand," Qui-Gon Jinn said.

"The senator's name is Abila Maberrie. More information will be sent to you before you leave tomorrow. Her transport leaves at eight in the morning tomorrow. You'll meet her at the docking bay. May the Force be with you."

"And may it be with you also, Masters," Qui-Gon replied, bowing. His robes swirled around his feet as he left the chambers.

As always, he felt a pang as he entered the turbo lift. Six years ago… six years ago…

Sometimes he thought about the boy. The last he heard was that he had disappeared from Bandomeer shortly after Qui-Gon rejected him. It pained him to think of the boy in any danger. He didn't like to focus on the "what ifs" of anything, but with Obi-Wan Kenobi there were miles and miles of possibilities. He could have changed the boy's life, and instead, he had left him on a terrible planet with nothing more than a future that offered nothing but bleakness.

He stared out from the turbo lift as it took him down. Coruscant hadn't changed in six years. Hardly anything had.

As he exited on his level, another wave of pain rolled through him.

A man's life could change in six years.

And that counted for better or for worse.

__________

Abila Maberrie was waiting on the docking for him. Her posse, for lack of better word, stood behind her: four handmaidens, three security guards, and two service droids. She was an older woman; her face veiled and heavily made up. When her chief security guard signaled the Jedi had arrived, she stood from her spot on a metal bench and greeted him, shaking his hand warmly.

"I am Senator Abila Maberrie of Naboo," she said.

"I am very pleased to meet you, Senator. I am Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn."

She beckoned her chief security forward. "This is Captain Panaka. The King has been kind enough to let me borrow him for a week or so." She smiled at him kindly. "He's been most kind. I guess we should get to the transport. It's dangerous out in the open, I suppose."

"You're completely correct, Senator," Qui-Gon said. He nodded at Panaka. "You head ahead. I'll cover your flank."

"Thank you, Master Jinn," the senator said, waving her handmaidens forward. The covered the senator and they walked towards the transport on the deserted platform. He had been informed earlier they shut down the bay for this sort of thing. It was too much of an attention getter in his opinion, but he had to improvise with it. He stepped in front of the droid, getting as close to the Senator as he could with her personnel in front of him.

Qui-Gon searched the transport thoroughly once inside. He had been on enough missions in the past to know that any object could be a bomb. He checked the engine hold and found nothing. He searched through the Force for any hint of danger, and none greeted him. Above everything else, Qui-Gon trusted his instincts. His instincts told him nothing was amiss, and he reported that to Panaka, who nodded.

The Senator retired to her room, claiming tiredness. Qui-Gon couldn't care less what she did, as long as she was safe. Still alert for danger, he placed himself in the reception room of the transport. It was near the entrance as well as the queen's chambers. He settled into a meditative trance, keeping his mind alert to sight through the Force.

In his trance, Qui-Gon concentrated on the mission at hand. He focused on the danger the Senator faced, searching for any hint the Senator could be harmed. Some Jedi were prone to visions of the future, but Qui-Gon wasn't one of them. He had taken that fact and had channeled that possible energy into meditation for future events. Often, if he was in a deep enough trance and had an idea what he was looking for, he could catch a glimpse of something.

Today, though, something happened. The moment Qui-Gon set his mind into meditation, his thoughts on the Senator, something seemed to rip through time and grab his attention, pulling his mind to a Force presence. When he had tried to confront his confusion, the force holding him to the presence jerked him hard, and he listened.

The presence was slightly familiar, tickling his senses. He knew the signature, but he couldn't place it. He listened to the Force. It told warned him of danger, and he tensed. The moment he did so the presence began to fade, and he stopped. He listened as it told him the danger was not directed at the Senator, instead to someone else. That puzzled him, and he voiced it to the Force. This time he was given an answer: he knew the person.

Qui-Gon's head began to pound as the Force revealed to him he would soon be with the person. The person was in grave danger, and it served in Qui-Gon's best interests to help him. Apparently he was a Force-sensitive, which puzzled him all the more.

The moment he began to wonder the connection to the presence was snapped and he was once again in the reception room, his eyes closed, his mind focused on Senator Maberrie's protection. He opened his eyes, his heart pounding. He glanced around the room, half expecting some unseen force to be standing in front of him.

Instead, all he saw was a young girl in the handmaiden's clothing sitting on a chair and eating muja fruit.

When she saw him look at her, she smiled at him gracefully. She stood and bowed to him deeply. "Hello, Master Jedi."

He nodded at her. "Hello. Is the Senator all right?"

She nodded quickly. "Of course, Master Jedi! We'd have gotten you if something was amiss. I am Sabé, head handmaiden to the Senator. I am very pleased to know you, Master Jedi."

The Jedi smiled at the girl. "I am pleased to know you, Sabé."

"Thank you." The young girl settled back against her seat, but the moment she did so, a bomb seemed to explode under the ship's hull. She plummeted forward, rolling into a wall. Qui-Gon fell but caught himself, all ready reaching to help the handmaiden up. The ship tilted, and he grabbed the chair to steady himself.

The next second the Senator came out of her room. "Sabé! Where is Sabé?"

Qui-Gon righted himself and helped the girl to her feet. "She is right here, Senator."

"I am fine, Senator," Sabé said. She straightened her clothes, wincing at the tear in the orange fabric. "Senator, are you all right?"

"Fine, Sabé," the Senator said absentmindedly, now assured her handmaiden wasn't hurt. "What happened? Master Jedi? Where is Captain Panaka?"

As if on cue, the Captain came barrerling into the hall, which was becoming crowded with handmaidens, a senator, and the Jedi. "Senator, Master Jedi," he said breathlessly. "We believe someone is attacking the ship. There is a hole in the hull. The pilot is trying to gain control, but we're leaking fuel. If we don't land, we risk an explosion. We have to land soon or the fuel will catch fire if enough of it leaks."

"What?" the Senator gasped.

"If we're leaking as we go into the system, the heat from the atmosphere will engulf the ship," Panaka continued, his voice measured. "We have to land now."

"What is the nearest system?" Qui-Gon asked. "Is there a ship in our orbit?"

"No," Panaka said. "It must have fled as soon as it hit us. It probably thought it hit a killer shot."

"The West People," Senator Maberrie said, her voice tinted with anger. She saw Qui-Gon's look and said, "They are the people who oppose the King's rule.  They have to be behind this!"

"But the ship left?" Qui-Gon asked. He was ashamed. He had not sensed the danger. Something of that measure had to emit warnings through the Force. Instead, he had been concentrating on the future at the expense of the present. It always amazed him that even the oldest Master could learn new things. His Master, Master Dooku, had tried to show him that but he hadn't listened.

"Yes," Panaka said. "The nearest planet is one called Candalas."

"I know that planet," Sabé said. They all turned to stare at her, and she nodded eagerly. "I've studied many worlds, Master Jedi. Coming from a planet as far on the Outer Rim as mine, I've always wanted to learn-"

"Miss Sabé?" Panaka asked.

"My apologies," she said. "We're pretty close to the Outer Rim. It's a trading world, but heavy with the black market and other such veil organizations. It should be safe…for the right price."

"Where do you think it would be safest to land?" Senator Maberrie asked.

Sabé appeared to be calling information from long ago. She frowned. "Probably in one of the more deserted areas. It's a large world. Maybe… Negdraw. Yes, Negdraw! It's pretty far from a city. The Senator would be safe there. If we bring her down far from any place, no one could find her, I'm certain."

"Sabé's correct," Maberrie said. "Take her down, Captain."

"I'll check it out," Panaka said. "We'll make sure it's safe to touch down there first." He glanced at Qui-Gon. "I've sent the droids to repair what they can. Please stay and protect the Senator."

"I will do that," Qui-Gon said. He looked to Sabé. "Help him find your Candalas."

"Yes, Master Jedi," she said, following Panaka down the hall.

He herded the senator and her handmaidens back into the room. They all seemed very young to him, suddenly. The senator was an older woman, but it did not dim her beauty. Among her handmaidens, however, she seemed plain, older. He watched them settle on the bed, and then secured the locking device. They were all so young and beautiful. He didn't want their lives to be lost because of him.

A wave of pain rolled through him.

He'd done that all ready.

__________

"We've landed," Sabé said as Qui-Gon let her in. "Captain Panaka requests your presence at the cockpit."

"Okay," Maberrie said. She glanced at Qui-Gon. "Would you be kind enough to step out of the room so I may change, Master Jedi? I don't believe the clothes I am wearing are suitable to these conditions, if the desert is as Sabé says."

"Yes, Senator," Qui-Gon responded. She was correct. She wore a dress of black fabric with intricate designs on the torso. The dress cut off just above her breasts, with three black lines of fabric running to meet it from the choke collar she wore on her neck. From her back where the dress cut off extended steam like tentacles which ended in feathers. She looked absolutely stunning, despite her old age. Qui-Gon bowed out of the room, Sabé following him.

"It's a beautiful dress," Sabé told him. "She's giving it to me when she dies."

Qui-Gon regarded the girl with surprise. "She must trust you and like you greatly for that."

Sabé blushed, her eyes flashing with something that seemed like anger; not directed at him but at herself. "I am her head handmaiden. She has no children. I… I'm like a daughter to her."

The Jedi was on guard. She seemed like a good enough girl, who was rather open, and there was nothing wrong with that, but the way her eyes flashed made him wonder. Was she angry at her openness, or had she revealed to him something about the Senator?

Then he chastised himself. He had no right to question the handmaiden and certainly not the Senator herself. His mind was pricked with uneasiness from the "vision" the Force had shown him. Someone was in danger, but not the Senator. He would be face to face with the person soon; he knew that instinctively. He needed to be on his guard. The person was a Force-sensitive.

The door opened and the Senator came out, now dressed in a simple tunic and trousers with a long, dark brown robe. Her face was made up heavily once again, which Qui-Gon figured was for protection. It amused him how quickly the make up had gone on, though.

They started down the corridor. Once they reached the cockpit, Qui-Gon went immediately to check the surroundings through the wind shield. The sight that met his eyes did not give him much hope.

Desert.

Miles, and miles of desert.

"This is Candalas," Panaka said, gesturing. "There's a town about half a mile away. Senator, I don't believe we should venture out now. It'll be dark here, soon. I suggest we wait until tomorrow."

The Senator looked to her handmaidens, smiling slightly. One nodded, and then the others joined in. She smiled at Panaka. "I believe you are correct, Captain. We'll wait until morning." She looked at Qui-Gon. "Should I inform my world of this?"

"If the attackers are tracking us," Qui-Gon said, "then we cannot. It's possible they do not know where we are. I suggest we keep it that way. Captain? What is wrong with the ship?"

"The droids should be back soon with a report, but from the glance I got it doesn't look good," he replied, his voice grave. "Senator, you should retire for the night. There's nothing here of any interest. I'd feel a lot safer if you were in you room."

"I thank you for your suggestion, Captain," Maberrie said. "And I shall take it." She turned and walked towards her room, flanked by the handmaidens.

"I'll keep watch by her door," Qui-Gon offered.

"Thank you, Master Jedi," Captain Panaka said, looking out at the mountains of sand. "It should be night in an hour."

"I'll keep that in mind," Qui-Gon said as he strolled away.

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