Obi-Wan sighed as he threw back the light blanket. He hadn't moved one muscle, yet Qui-Gon had known he was awake. The Jedi Knight was always at least two steps ahead of him.

Why didn't Qui-Gon tell him what was wrong? Was it the message, or was Qui-Gon tired of Obi-Wan?

Obi-Wan wanted to blurt out the question. But one of the Jedi's most serious rules was not to cross-examine a Master. Truth can hold great power. Therefore the decision to share it must be weighed. Only the Master could decide on revelation or concealment, according to the greater good.

For once, Obi-Wan was glad of a rule that restrained him. He was afraid of the answer to the question he wanted to ask.

Obi-Wan followed Qui-Gon into the governor's receiving room. He was surprised and encouraged that qui-Gon has invited him to the meeting. Perhaps it meant the Jedi was reconsidering whether to take him on as an apprentice after all.

Obi-Wan was expecting a lavish chamber, but there was only a circle of cushions on a bare stone floor. Bandomeer could not afford to impress guest.

SonTag, the governor of Bandomeer, entered the room. Her silver hair was cropped in tufts in the Meerian style. Her dark gaze calmly rested on the Jedi. Like all Meerians, she was small. Obi-Wan towered over her. The Meerians' small stature made them great miners.

She held out both hands, palms up, in the Meerian way. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan repeated her gesture.

"Greetings and welcome," she said softly. She indicated the younger woman to her left. The younger woman's cropped hair was also pale silver, and her silver eyes blazed at them across the room. Although she was standing quietly, her energy seemed to send a vibration through the air. "This is VeerTa. She is the leader of the Home Planet Mine."

The Jedi greeted VeerTa in the same fashion. They had been briefed about her. She was fierce patriot who had been instrumental in forming the Home Planet Party. The party goal was to replant the once fertile fields of Bandomeer, as well as control its resources. The first step was to end dependence on off-planet corporations for financial support. To that end, VeerTa had gone into partnership with the Arconans in the cooperative mine.