Was she doing something to keep him weak? Blood was extracted regularly, but that still did not account for his fatigue.

Isolated from the world, from other living creatures, he knew the Force still worked around him. He closed his eyes and reached out to it. He would gather it around him like a shield. Qui-Gon felt the Force move inside the chamber. He concentrated harder…

Through the veil of vapor, indicator lights outside his chamber glowed. Dimly, he heard a sensor ring shrilly and the sound of hurrying footsteps. Then Zan Arbor's amplified voice again: "You just accessed the Force. Good. Don't be afraid to do so."

"How did you know?" Qui-Gon asked. The question was out of his mouth before he had a chance to think. His surprise had triggered it.

"I am monitoring your body functions. When you access the Force, your body temperature drops. Your heartbeat slows. So strange. Once I thought the Force would have the opposite effect. But it works mysteriously. That's why it is so interesting to study."

So she was studying the Force. Qui-Gon turned this new fact over in his mind. The Force could not be measured or manufactured. But if a scientist of Jenna Zan Arbor's brilliance was studying it, it was possible she could discover things she should not know. He must not underestimate her intelligence.

Which meant he could not use the Force to heal himself.

"Why are you so interested in the Force?" he asked.

"Ah, we are full of questions today," she murmured.

"There is not much else to do in here," Qui-Gon pointed out.

"What about your famous Jedi meditation? That should pass the time."

"Even meditation has its limits," Qui-Gon said dryly.

He heard a low laugh. "Why shouldn't I study the Force? Why should the Jedi be the only ones to study it?"