“Star Wars: A Smuggler's Entanglement. Part III of III.”
Page 3
Early the next day Selo was awakened in his guestroom, in the same circular building that the Kaird family was staying in, but at another section. There was a commotion of colonists gathering on nearby pedestrian routes, which would have been streets in contemporary cities. The Lehon ruins were well-covered by jungle-growth, but even after several eras, the walkways were still mostly flat and walkable.
Selo, having already showered a few hours ago, late in the night after staying out on a ruin's roof, threw on some local clothing laid out for him on a chair in the room and hurried out to see what was going on. When he reached the closest knot of colonists, he saw that everyone was looking up; some pointing in the same direction; others looking through high-tech, eye-searchers that looked out of place in the ancient city! Selo reasoned that this was probably what the colonists did when they saw his ship descending to the island. For in the dark-blue, morning sky was a ship. It was still too high in the atmosphere to make out its profile with naked-eye inspection. But one of the colonists with an eye-searcher was able to make out some details.
“Well, it's not an Imperial design,” the female Thisspiasian announced aloud for all those in that particular crowd to hear. Selo was deeply relieved to hear that. The serpentine Jedi continued to look through her searcher before speaking further. “Huh...a G9 Freighter!”
“Corellian,” said another of the colonists; a male H'nemthe.
“Anyone else sensing a darkness with this, or is it just me,” a female human in the large cluster asked, having a hand over her eyes, blocking out the sun.
“Yes,” a female Feeorin confirmed. “But not Sith...May I?” The Feeorin had a hand stretched out toward the Thisspiasian. Whom, in turn, lent her eye-searcher to the Feeorin. “I've flown those freighters before...both of the extended gun-turrets are folded to the ship's fuselage! Means whoever is coming does not have any intention of conflict.”
“Good,” the Thisspiasian said as she retrieved her eye-searchers and replaced them into a pouch on her belt that encircled her tunic.
“It's alright, everyone,” Selo said, throwing his voice as loud as possible, but without yelling. He looked around at the crowd to assure them. He saw Madam Ccer and Fri Dunn, standing next to each other, toward the back of the crowd. “I know who it is; you'll all be safe.”
“Jedi Corel,” a male Rodian spoke up a bit farther away; holding up the hilt of his lightsaber, “would you like some company, Sir?”
Selo could sense the unity among all those who were Jedi in the crowd, even more than he could see the determined look on all of their faces! He had just arrived at Lehon, on the island where the Jedi Colony secretly existed, and they were all protective of him...as if he were a baby born into a very extended family!
“Thank you, all,” he said aloud as he look around. “But, the visitor is actually here for someone else.”
As if by telepathy, all the Jedi instinctively looked at Madam Ccer. She had heard of the midi-chlorians in her extensive travels throughout the Galaxy. She did not know if she believed they were real or just some Jedi and Sith mythology, but she was sure she had a low count if they did exist...even Ccer could tell something was not right. She noticed that Selo had nodded at his human, female friend standing next to her, Jedi Dunn. Dunn had gently placed a hand on one of Ccer's small shoulder, and just then, the crowd of Jedi split in such a way that they had created a path for the two females to walk toward Jedi Corel! Again, Ccer had thought, as if by telepathy.
One of Ccer's grandchildren, disobeying her request to stay in the guesthouse until they found out more about the spacecraft, tried to run to her, but a female human child used a Jedi mind trick to have the raptoid follow her off to play.