The sun was the first thing Janeway noticed.The second thing that she noticed was the sand beneath her.She opened her eyes only a little bit, as she was nearly blinded by, was that two suns?

She sat up, looking herself over as well as her surroundings.She noticed she was in her Starfleet uniform; strange since the last thing she remembered was the Doctor putting her into a medically induced coma.The sand around her was warm and somewhat smooth, but she could feel it beginning to sift into her uniform, so she got up to her feet.With two fingers, she activated her combadge.“Janeway to Voyager,” she said, waiting for a response, but none came.“Janeway to Voyager, come in.”Still nothing.

“Your communications device will not work,” a voice said behind her. Janeway turned to see a hut of some descript, and in front of it, an older man wearing off white robes over a brown tunic. His hair and beard shined silver in the twin suns, and Janeway noticed a brown leather belt around his waist, from which hung what Janeway could only assume was a sort of light, or perhaps a tool of some kind. It was just shy of a foot long, and had a ridged handgrip with two thin sections near the end that pointed down towards his foot.

The man’s voice was kind and non-threatening, and his eyes held no threat, but Janeway could see something behind those blue eyes.A great pain hidden behind age and experience.

“And why is that?” she asked simply, adopting a relaxed stance, though she was mentally prepared to fight back if the man proved to bean aggressor. While Janeway was no longer in her own physical prime, she still had a good several years advantage on the stranger, so she was confident she could defend herself if it came to that.

The old man pressed his fingers together in front of him. “Because you have come a long way, Captain Janeway.”Janeway was surprised that the man knew she was a captain, and that surprise must have been evident on her face. “Please, come in, and I will answer your questions.” The man turned and ducked his head as he entered his hut.

Janeway decided to go ahead and follow, if only to get out of the sun. The inside of the man’s hut was homey, if a little cramped, but definitely cooler. An open tool chest sat near a chair, a table next to a bench by the window, a bed, a small heating stove, and what she assumed was a refrigeration unit.The man was bent over it for a moment before turning back to her to hand her a glass of water, which she accepted gratefully, taking a drink quickly to quench her parched throat.

The man sat down on the bench by the table, the cylinder resting on his lap as he gestured to the chair by the workbench. Janeway sat down, deciding it best to relax until this dream, or whatever it was, was over. “Correct me if I’m wrong,” he says, a small smile sprouting beneath his beard. “But you have just been placed into a medical coma, haven’t you? A plasma discharge disrupted your neural pathways?”

Janeway’s eyes widened. “How could you possibly know that?”

“Oh, I know many things, Captain,” he said, his smile not fading. “But don’t worry, you’re not dead. In fact, I believe that very soon, you will wake up in perfect health.Your doctor is quite skilled.”

“So this is a sort of coma induced dream or hallucination?” She looked down at the water in her hands. It certainly felt real enough, and so did the heat.

“Hallucination?” The man stroked his beard. “I wouldn’t call it that, no. My own inclination would be to call it a vision, but I don’t believe that you would agree with me.” He lowered his hand again.“Your scientific beliefs would not allow you to believe the truth of the nature of this visit.”

“And what truth would that be?” Janeway asked, equal parts curious and indignant. What did this old man know about her background that he could get off saying such things about a woman he’d never met before?

“That you were brought here by the Force. ”He settled back in his seat, resting his back against the wall. “A great schism has separated you from your crew, and you have invited a great evil into your fold. A time of great change is upon you, Captain. It is not unheard of for the Force to bring about opportunities to seek wisdom from those who might see things from an alternate perspective.”

“The Force?” she asked with a raised eyebrow. Seeking wisdom she could understand, but what was this Force he was talking about? “What is this… Force?”

The old man smiled wryly. “You would not have the patience to attempt to understand the Force, Captain Janeway.”

“Try me,” she said with her own wry smile, leaning forward as her eyes burned with the fire of a challenge.

The old man seemed to accept her challenge. “Very well.” He leaned forward as well. “The Force is everything. It is life, it is existence, it is power.” He began to gesture with his otherwise still hands. “It is an energy field that is generated by all living things. It surrounds us, it penetrates us, it binds the universe together.”

Janeway couldn’t help but grin. “Is that so?”

The old man chuckled. “You don’t believe me.” It was more a statement than a question. “As I suspected you wouldn’t.”

“Well, you have to understand how that all sounds,” she said, not challenging, but still asking for the conversation to continue. “I mean, see things from my perspective. I’ve entered into an alliance with a people who are responsible for the deaths of billions, perhaps trillions of people. I’m in a medically induced coma, my crew is more than seventy years from home, and here I am, sipping a glass of water with an old man whose name I don’t know, and he’s telling me that there is some sort of… all powerful Force that holds the universe together. Would you not doubt any words you heard?”

“Perhaps. Perhaps not.” He settled back against the wall. “At my age, I’ve come to learn to take a few things on faith.”

“I suppose that’s fair. But you expect me to believe your words with no context?”

“In my defense, I had hoped to simply avoid the subject altogether in order to move forward onto the matter at hand. That being your passengers. The cybernetically enhanced beings with whom you have forged an alliance.”

“The Borg…” She nodded. “Yes, they are a necessary evil, unfortunately. We need safe passage through their space, but we have something they want .And it appears that they are cooperating with us for now. They understand that to assimilate our people will gain them nothing. Cooperation is their only path to victory.”

“So it would seem. But that is never truly the case. Truly clever beings often find new and inventive means of achieving their goals.” His words rang true with wisdom that came only from experience. It was then that Janeway realized the truth about this old man, at least partially. He was a warrior, or he had been at one time or another. Perhaps that was why he was on this desert world. To hide, or perhaps to atone for his sins.

“And I would expect no less from the Borg,” she finally said after a beat. “Even so, I have to do what’s best for my crew.”

“And is getting them… assimilated…” he seemed to try out the word, “what’s best for them?” His eyes locked with hers as he folded his hands in front of him, lacing his fingers together. “If you define yourself by your power to save your crew - your desire to return them home, then you will have nothing.” His expression sobered slightly as he continued. “If your own self worth is determined by the safety of your crew in a time and place where such a thing is difficult to obtain, much less guarantee, then you will forever second guess your decisions and question your place on board your own vessel.”

“But is it not a captain’s duty to see to their crew?” Janeway asked with a raised eyebrow.

“There is a difference between seeing to the crew, and determining your entire being on their existence, then you will lose yourself, and will be forced to watch as the very people you have sworn to protect pull away from you, not as a desire to distance, but as a desire to protect you from further heartbreak.”

Janeway considered his words, which certainly rang with a familiar truth to them. The kind her father might have given her, once upon a time.

“The Force has brought you here, to this moment,” the man continued, “to have a glass of water with an old fool, to help you remember what it means to stand not at the front of a crew, but amongst them. Do not forsake your crew, believing it is your job to ensure their safety or their happiness, or you will forever be left in a cycle of destruction.” The old man stands once more to his feet. “It is time for you to wake up now. Return to your crew, and remember that they are not simply your subordinates that you must watch over like a mother hen. They are your friends, and your support.”

Janeway set her glass down, and she felt herself beginning to slip into sleep. Leaning against the wall behind her, she closed her eyes, and fell once more into blissful sleep.

Obi-Wan watched as Janeway faded from sight, her body returning to her ship as it was meant to. The aging Jedi sat silently as the spot she had sat in returned to being completely empty, pondering the meeting he had just had. Despite hardly knowing her, the Force had used him to impart some form of aid to her. Whether or not it had done so out of a true need, or to simply give Obi-Wan something to do as he watched over the young Skywalker, he wasn’t sure. Either way, he was glad for the minor distraction. It was good to talk to someone who wasn’t a Tusken or a still silent Qui-Gon. If and when Obi-Wan became one with the Force, he was going to have to have a serious conversation with his former Master regarding the matter.