Star Wars: I, Jedi

by Michael A. Stackpole

  “Enough for tonight.” I heard the splash as Luke pulled himself up out of the pool. “Think about what you have learned.”

  Once again, I found that when it was necessary I was able to use the Force. Lifting Tionne clear of danger surprised me, causing me to assume that the energy I had absorbed needed to be expended in some way. I had used it to power telekinesis—something I had shown no talent for in the past. It was nice to know that with an energy boost I could do telekinesis, but without one it would still be hopeless. That didn’t matter, though. Tionne was safe and I was plenty pleased with that.

  I swam to the side of the pool and pulled myself from the water. The cooler air immediately raked cold claws over me, puckering my flesh. I looked around for my robe, then found it drifting through the air toward me. I pulled it on and nodded my thanks to Luke.

  The Jedi Master watched me cautiously, his blue eyes intense even in the dim light. “Do you know what you did here?”

  “As nearly as I can tell, the Force allowed me to serve as a conduit for the heat.”

  “Very good. There is another Jedi power that manifests with the absorption and dissipation of energy. My father had skill in it. He could absorb or deflect a blaster bolt without harm.” Luke’s voice became colder. “He even managed telekinetic tricks with the energy he pulled in.”

  “I don’t like the sound of that, Master.” I opened my hands toward him. “I just knew Tionne would die if I did nothing. Lifting her from the water seemed the most direct method for saving her. I did not think, I just acted.”

  “I know, and that’s very good. The Force is more heart than brain. I did not mean what I said to sound like criticism.” His voice softened a bit. “It is just that doing anything with haste can lead to impatience, and that invites the dark side. You would be better off to let the power bleed back away into the galaxy through the Force. If you are going to employ it the way you did, avoid haste so you avoid problems.”

  “Yes, Master.”

  Luke approached and slapped me on the shoulder. “You did well, Gantoris did well and saved Dorsk 81 in the process, and the others also survived this unexpected challenge. This is a good sign for our future.”

  “I’m sure you are right, Master,” I found myself saying, but the chill creeping into my feet as we climbed back toward the Temple left me wondering if another disaster lurked to rip us apart.

  THIRTEEN

  The next morning I woke all muzzy and, as a result, didn’t realize I was starting out on my run later than usual. About halfway through the run, at the point in my circuit furthest from the Great Temple, I realized what time it was. While Luke still allowed flexibility in training times, in the mornings he usually appreciated our getting an early start. I tried to pick up my pace, but I knew I’d arrive back at the Temple well after everyone else had assembled to start working.

  I wanted to kick myself for being so stupid. The previous evening had been an impressive victory in the battle to open ourselves up to the Force. While the emergency had opened me broadly to the Force, I’d been feeling it before that. I knew I could make great progress and had been looking forward to the morning’s exercises to see if I could capitalize on what I had learned the night before.

  The reason I’d awakened rather dull was because I’d not gotten much sleep at all. Master Skywalker had mentioned that dreams rarely disturbed a Jedi’s sleep. I don’t know why, but I’d never dreamed much. When I did dream I tended toward nightmares that ruined my sleep.

  Nightmares had kept my sleep uneven and fragmentary. I kept drifting back to the place where I had felt Mirax’s presence. I tried to freeze the stars in place so I could figure out where I was supposed to be, but one by one they winked out. They left me alone and in the dark. When I tried to look at my hands, I saw through my flesh as rot ate away at the bones, then I fell into nothingness, forever to exist in the knowledge that when Mirax needed me, I had failed her.

  Pretty much my definition of a nightmare.

  Nearing the Great Temple on my return, I heard something that made me push myself and increase my speed. The hum-hiss of a lightsaber and the spit-crack of it slicing through something is unforgettable once heard. I couldn’t imagine Luke and Kam would have begun to teach anyone how to fight with lightsabers without me there. I realized in an instant that such a thought was unworthy and arrogant, but since I had the only other lightsaber on Yavin, including me made sense to me.

  I entered the clearing just as Luke drove Gantoris back into a purple-boled Massassi tree. Where did Gantoris get a lightsaber? With the black-haired apprentice’s braid whiplashing through the air, he fell, scattering purple bits of tree bark. His knees resting on a thick root, and his elbows keeping his back off the ground, he stared up at Luke as the Jedi Master approached. Gantoris’ white-violet blade still pointed up toward Luke, but from where he was there was no way the apprentice could strike at the Master.

  Then Gantoris did something that extended the blade, doubling its length. He slashed at Luke, but the Jedi Master moved faster than I ever thought possible. The sleeve of Luke’s grey flightsuit smoked from where the lightsaber’s blade had caressed it, but Gantoris had done no real harm. Luke set himself, imposing his green blade between himself and his student, bracing for another attack.

  Gantoris had rolled to his feet while Luke retreated and advanced confidently. The length of the blade on his lightsaber gave him an advantage and he clearly meant to use it. He waded in toward Luke, crashing down blow after blow with a ferocity I’d only ever seen in a glitbiter gripped by spice paranoia. Though Luke picked off each blow with ease, never letting Gantoris make him defend in the Inner Ring, the apprentice kept coming. His intensity and singlemindedness kept Luke falling back to the point where the Jedi Master’s only escape was to leap away and levitate himself onto a branch of a Massassi tree.

  I watched, stunned, as Gantoris waited for Luke to descend again. All the other students had pressed back away from the clearing. They lurked in the edges of the forest, waiting, uncertain what to do. Like me, Kam had no lightsaber with him. As he glanced over at me, I knew we both weighed the chances of our being able to race to the Temple, getting our lightsabers and managing to return in time to make a difference.

  And if Gantoris can kill a Jedi Master, what chance would I have of stopping him?

  Luke asked Gantoris a question, but the hum of lightsabers stole both it and Gantoris’ shouted reply. Then the apprentice slashed at the Massassi tree with his lightsaber, shearing all the way through it. Stintarils in the highest branches shrieked as they leaped away. The scent of spicy sap reached me about the same time as the tree slowly toppled into the rainforest with a crackling and snap of bushes and saplings caught beneath it.

  Master Skywalker floated to the ground unharmed and again set himself to receive Gantoris’ attacks. Gantoris shortened his blade and came on. Luke gave ground, blocking the attacks in closer to him than before. He gave the impression that he was tiring, weakening. I guessed it was a ploy to draw Gantoris on, but the apprentice was not thinking clearly enough to see that. He pressed forward, slashing his way through leafy ferns and chopping apart nebula orchids.

  Suddenly Luke went down and I couldn’t see him. Gantoris rushed forward, his spitting blade shredding the jungle. I started to sprint toward them, cursing the fact that I couldn’t lift Gantoris up the way I had Tionne only hours before. I tried to think of what image I could project into Gantoris’ mind to deflect him and distract him, but I never got the chance.

  Gantoris’ purple blade came down in an overhand strike that burned its way through the underbrush. I heard a startled squeal, then an orange furred runyip broke from the brush, darting into the clearing right behind Gantoris. As he turned to face this new threat, his lightsaber flew up out of his hands and the blade died.

  Luke plucked the lightsaber from the air, then extinguished his own blade. The two of them stood there, facing each other. Sweat streamed down their faces and their br
eath came ragged, yet neither one wanted to show any sign of weakness. In the absence of the lightsaber hissing, the fading sounds of the runyip’s squeals and the normal sound of the rainforest fought for supremacy.

  Then Luke did something that stunned me. He flipped Gantoris’ lightsaber around and extended it to him hilt first. Gantoris accepted it timidly, clutching it in both hands. He studied it, turning it over and around as if seeing it for the first time, then he looked back at Luke.

  The Jedi Master nodded. “Good exercise, Gantoris, but you must learn to control your anger. It could be your undoing.”

  I dropped to my knees in utter astonishment. I watched Gantoris turn away and retreat into the rainforest. The other apprentices seemed as surprised at what had happened as I was. They whispered together in little knots as Luke emerged from the undergrowth, clipped his lightsaber to his belt, and pulled his cloak back on.

  He looked around calmly and even gave us the hint of a smile. “Perhaps, after last evening, we started too early today. We will reconvene this afternoon.” In his words I felt a gentle urging to go back to my room, but I resisted it. The others did not and melted away unseen into the rainforest.

  Luke glanced back at me, a half-smile on his face. “I thought you would still be here. You did not see the beginning?”

  I shook my head. “The ending was more than enough. What are you going to do?”

  “Do? This is done already.”

  My jaw dropped open. “Unless I missed something, one of your apprentices found or somehow constructed a lightsaber and just tried to kill you with it. You don’t see this as cause for alarm?”

  “How can it surprise you that Gantoris has found a way to fashion a lightsaber? You and Kam already possess one. We’ve talked about Gantoris’ competition with you.”

  I held my hands up. “That may be an issue, but not the core one as I see it.”

  Luke’s eyes narrowed. “So your vision here is paramount.”

  I hesitated and felt my stomach collapse in on itself. “No, Master Skywalker, it is not. I mean no disrespect.” I sighed. “I just want to understand. Gantoris has gotten into something he shouldn’t have. You have to discipline him.”

  “He’s going to be a Jedi Knight. I cannot treat him like a child.” Luke shook his head. “To do that would stunt his development. He’s very good and one of the best students here. He just needs guidance.”

  “Then give it to him.” My hands convulsed into fists, then I forced them open again. “You’re assuming that he will see the error of his ways and never do this again. He attacked you! He’s already shown he’s not scanning right and wrong correctly. He can’t begin to figure out where the line between them runs if you don’t find a way to punish him when he crosses that line.”

  The Master shook his head slowly. “I can tell you that Gantoris already regrets what he has done here. Stretch out with your feelings. You’ll feel it, too. He is teaching himself where the line is and how to stay on the light side of it.”

  I did as I was bidden and did sense both remorse and confusion from Gantoris. “You are right, Master. I know you believe in redemption. What you say about Gantoris is true. I guess I don’t see why he should not be punished for having done something wrong.”

  “You’re not supposed to see it, Keiran, you’re supposed to feel it.” Luke rubbed a hand against his forehead. “Retribution leads to the dark side.”

  I sighed. “I know. I would argue that a little punishment now could prevent a disaster later, but I don’t think that will get me anywhere.”

  “You see, Keiran, you grow in wisdom as well as the Force.”

  I didn’t want to laugh, but his comment was funny. Still, coming from someone my age, it also rankled a bit. Luke obviously deserved the title Jedi Master, but part of me wished we weren’t the group on which he first practiced being a teacher. He clearly had his ideas about how we should learn, and we were all making progress. Some faster than others.

  Even so, I wasn’t used to his methods. I flashed on Iella’s heart and mind split and knew it was a key to my problem. “I shall think further on my ignorance, Master, that I may see how much wisdom I yet need to learn. If you would permit it, though, I want to ask you a question.”

  “Please.”

  I scratched at the back of my neck. “What did you ask Gantoris and what did he shout at you before he cut down the tree?”

  “I asked how he had learned what he needed to know to make a lightsaber.” Luke shifted his shoulders stiffly. “He replied that I was not the only teacher of the Jedi way.”

  “Not a very good answer. Do you think he would have gotten the knowledge from the Holocron?”

  “I can’t see how. The Holocron detects a student’s ability and holds back things they are not prepared to know.” He smiled carefully. “It works so well, in fact, that I do not know if there are things there that I have yet to learn.”

  “If not from Bodo Baas, then from whom did he learn?” I frowned. “I couldn’t teach it to him. I don’t think Kam would and you, I take it, have not. Who did?”

  Luke remained very still for a moment, then slowly shook his head. “I don’t know.”

  “But it would have to be a Jedi, or someone with the knowledge of the Jedi ways and, presumably, considerable power in the Force.”

  “I think so, yes.”

  “And yet, last night, when we were all so open to the Force that we were able to catalog stars, we didn’t feel the presence of such an individual right here?”

  Luke’s eyes became sapphire slits. “No.”

  I shivered, and it wasn’t because I was soaked in sweat. “Does that worry you as much as it does me?”

  “More, I think, Keiran.” Luke’s cloak rippled with a shudder. “Much more.”

  FOURTEEN

  Running down the hallway toward Gantoris’ room I caught a whiff of the poisonously sweet scent I’d smelled a couple of times before during my days with CorSec. I didn’t want to look inside the room because I knew what I would see. The knot of students at the doorway shielded me from the sight, but did nothing to block the scent.

  I heard Master Skywalker say, “Beware the dark side,” then a greasy thread of smoke twisted through the apprentices, driving them apart. Several turned away and stumbled down the corridor with hands over their mouths. Streen and Kam Solusar hung on either side of the doorway, ashen-faced and staring inside. I slipped between them, raising the neck of my tunic to cover my nose. They turned away, leaving me alone with Luke and what was left of Gantoris.

  Gantoris’ body lay near the far wall of his small stone chamber—at least I assumed it was Gantoris because it did not much look like him. He had been burned to death. Carbonized flesh had crumbled to ash at some points, revealing blackened bone. The heat had contracted his muscles, arching his spine and pulling his head back. His mouth remained open in a wordless scream. Smoke still rose from the charred remnants of his Jedi robes, and his lightsaber had rolled over to rest against the wall itself.

  Luke Skywalker stood over him, staring down at his blackened remains.

  “What happened here? Did he attack you again?”

  Luke turned to look at me with haunted, red-rimmed eyes and I could tell this wasn’t the first time he’d seen a body in this condition. “Do you think I did this?” The pain in his voice knifed right through me.

  “I wasn’t accusing you. I just want to know what happened.” I crouched by the body. “Occupational hazard. Who found him?”

  “Dorsk 81 came for me, so I suppose he did. The others gathered after we got here.”

  I nodded. “I’ll want to talk to them.”

  Luke blinked away some of the shock in his eyes. “You are going to investigate this situation?”

  My head came up. “Shouldn’t I?”

  The Jedi Master hesitated for a moment, then nodded. “Yes, of course you should. We need to know what happened here.”

  “Right.” I pointed toward the body and circl
ed my finger around the general area. “I can give you some basics right now. The lack of a consistent pattern of charring, as well as the absence of a chemical scent, suggests no accelerant was used. In other words, no one poured something flammable over him and turned him into a torch.”

  Luke winced at that description. “I see.”

  “Take a look at the fingers and ears.”

  “Badly burned.”

  “Right, but they’re not gone. Bodies lit on fire tend to have those little bits burn off quickly. And the fact that he’s still got clothes on him, albeit badly charred.…” I let my voice trail off because the conclusion I was being led toward ran counter to my previous experience. “It almost seems as if he was burned from the inside out. That would require an incredible amount of energy: a lightning strike or lots of microwaves, and we don’t have either here.”

  “Yes, but he had such energy.” Luke’s voice dropped to a whisper. “His anger.”

  “You think he was consumed by his anger?”

  “I do. I think he used it to unleash dark-side forces he could not control. Had you not been able to shunt aside the energies you absorbed last evening in the grotto, you, too, might have been burned up by them.”

  I reached a hand out toward the lightsaber, but could feel no heat from it, nor see any signs that it had been damaged by the fire. “I’d like to get a full laboratory work-up on the lightsaber. Fingerprints, tissue residue matches, the works, both inside and out.”

  Luke shook his head. “You will find that only Gantoris and I have touched that lightsaber.”

  “How do you know?”

  “I know.” Luke raised his hands. “If you open yourself to this room, you can feel the residue of Gantoris’ last moments. There is much pain and much anger, as well as doubt and outrage. The pain is physical, of course, and mental. It feels as if he was tortured before he died.”