Shadows of the past

Reading Room

Lieutenant Commander Dolstrom sat forward in his chair. "Are they aboard?" His communications officer turned. "Yes, sir. We've just recovered the Troubadour."

Barely five seconds after the shuttle Troubadour touched the flight deck of the corvette Post-Haste, the latter ship burst into hyperspace and left the Chandrila system behind.

The mission debrief had not been conducted yet. Two of Zhom Kh'Arli's people lay on medical beds, and he would not do anything else until he found out about their condition.

"Sergeant Alba will be fine, Captain," the chief medical officer on board the Post-Haste reported. He was a senior naval lieutenant, with a medical droid in tow. "She took a graze to the arm. I've just sedated her for comfort's sake while we treat her. She'll be on her feet again in a day or two." Zhom Kh'Arli nodded.

"Well, he got hit a bit worse," the doctor explained. "Took a direct blaster shot to the chest. It punctured and collapsed one of his lungs. Lucky he's alive. He's unconscious and seems to be in some sort of trance. Whether that's a good thing or not, I don't really know yet. I'm going to try and treat him with bacta soon, after I can stabilise him a bit. But we'll see." Kh'Arli nodded.

The words seemed to come out of the darkness. Slowly, the darkness began to get lighter, until in an explosion of light, a full picture appeared.

The young boy ran across the open grass towards the house. He dashed inside, only to be pulled up short by a stern looking, short woman whose mouth spoke firm words but whose eyes told a different story.

"Haven't I told you to be careful of your clothes when you're playing?" The boy looked contrite.

"Well, go and put them away for washing and get something clean on. Your father will be home soon," the woman said to the boy, who tramped off into the house. His mother shook her head and resumed her cooking.

The young Eadrain emerged into the dining room after a good wash and a change of clothes.

"Eadrain!" One of the men sitting at the dinner table held out his arms and the boy rushed over to give him a hug.

"Yes! It's good to see you too, my boy. Now sit down by me," his father said, and the boy sat on his left.

"Sure did!" Eadrain answered him, still very excited. It wasn't often that they had visitors. Tonight some twenty people sat around their long table, including his family. Soon the main meal was served and the conversation began. Eadrain found it all rather boring, but listened all the same because he had nothing better to do.

"Quite well, my dear," his father answered her, and there were murmurs of assent from around the table. "In particular I found Mon Mothma's speech quite inspiring. Admiral Drayson was there too, as the local representative. He was also quite good."

"Really? I found Senator Palpatine's words fiery and visionary," Eadrain's uncle observed from the boy's right. "In contrast Mon Mothma seemed a bit dull." There was a good deal of debate about this. It seemed to last for some time before Eadrain's father raised his voice above the others.

"Come, my friends," he said. "There was merit in the statements of both speeches, as I am sure we can all agree. In any case, I enjoyed the occasion today. It is not often that the Senate sits on Chandrila." His brother nodded.

"Indeed. And to you, my brother, and my charming and gracious sister-in-law," he said, raising his glass in a toast. "And to you, my lively nephew," he said with a glance and a wink down at Eadrain, who grinned up at him impishly.

"Doctor, anything you can tell me?" Pier Das asked as the CMO walked in to check on his patient. He'd been watching Eadrain for some time now, and nothing seemed to have changed.

"Hmm," the lieutenant murmured, checking his equipment. "This coma-like state he's in seems to be helping the healing process a little. He just might have a good chance. Hopefully he should be ready for bacta treatment soon." Pier Das nodded. Come on, my friend, he willed silently.

"Don't you ever worry about those two being alone?" the woman asked. The man simply laughed.

"Of course not! My love, how could I worry about my son spending time with my brother?!" His wife blushed a little, but spoke anyway.

"Well - he never seemed to have too much time for Eadrain before," she said uncertainly. "And - well, he listens to that Palpatine fellow. That in itself scares me." At that her husband's laugh and smile died, and he looked thoughtful.

"Hmm. I don't think Senator Palpatine's all that bad - it's just that he has a different vision than other people," he said at last. "His aims are broadly the same as many others. He just has a different way of reaching them." His wife just shook her head.

"Maybe. But often the means are just as important - if not more so - than the ends that supposedly justify them," she said softly. Her husband kissed her gently.

"Of course, my love," he said quietly. "But I'm sure there's nothing to be worried about. We live in a time of peace and prosperity. We have done for years. There's no reason for all that to change now, misguided senators or no." She smiled, and he left the room, but his expression remained thoughtful and withdrawn.

Outside and on the side of a mountain, Eadrain sat next to his uncle, who smiled down at him in a way very much like his father.

"Now watch closely, my boy," the man said softly. "Watch and feel." And he looked over at a nearby deer which was grazing. He stared intently at it for a few seconds, and then it looked up and trotted over to him. Slowly the deer looked at the man strangely, as if sizing him up, and then he suddenly laughed, and the deer walked away.

"Remember that special talent I told you that you had?" his uncle asked. The boy nodded.

"I have it, too, Eadrain," the man said. "All you have to do is use it. I can teach you, if you like."

"Could you really?" The boy was visibly excited, and it was all he could do not to jump up and down.

"You mustn't tell anyone else that I'm teaching you. For one, I want it to be our secret so we can surprise your mother and father with your talents later. And for two, if you start telling people, then everyone will know and it won't be special anymore. Plus not many people have the talents that you and I do, you know."

"Good. Then sit very still, and concentrate hard, Eadrain. Clear your mind of all thoughts, and stretch out with your feelings..."

Pier Das sat and kept weary eyes on his friend as he ate his meal. He'd refused to go to the crew's mess and had instead asked for his food to be brought down to him in sickbay. He'd given Captain Kh'Arli an update on Eadrain's condition, although there wasn't much to say. And then, two minutes ago, he thought he'd seen his friend twitch. Now there was nothing again. Lynx's Communications Officer kept eating, looking for any further visible signs that his comrade was alive.

"How did the council go today?" The woman asked her customary question every time her husband arrived home.

"It was disturbing, actually," he replied, giving his wife a hug and a kiss. "It's not often that they call all of us together for a council. When they do, usually something important is afoot."

"Really? What is it this time?" she asked. Her husband stood in his robes and considered a little before answering.

"It is believed by a good number of us that there is some darkness, some evil coming into the galaxy," he said at last. "A few even believe that it may have penetrated our own ranks. Certainly a good many believe that it has found its way into the Senate and the world of politics." The man sighed. He knew his wife was far too humble to be the type to say I-told-you-so, and he was grateful for it.

"Again? And just after a council? That's odd... he hasn't even spoken to me of the day's events yet." The man stopped there, although he could have said more. His brother had seemed strange to him this last year or so... there was something - not quite right - about it. He had dismissed it, ignored it, until now, but something inside him was nagging him and insisting and would not be denied.

"Lock the house. And turn on the news," the man said suddenly. "I'm going out to find Eadrain. I have a bad feeling about this." And with a swirl of brown and white robes he was gone. His wife looked very worried as she set about locking up the house.

"Now you try it, Eadrain," the boy's uncle said intently. "Yes... see how it's mind is open to you? You can see its thoughts, see what it sees... then you can make it see what you want it to see. And there... its coming to you." The boy laughed and smiled as the deer came over to him and ate out of his hand.

Again Captain Kh'Arli had come to join Pier Das in his lonely vigil. Eadrain was now suspended inside a bacta tank, and the extent of his injury was plain to see. His body hung limp, his chest covered by a red splotch. There was the hum of pumps as bacta was circulated around the tank and its powers were put to work.

"Watch how it scares when it thinks I'm a bear," Eadrain's uncle said to him. The deer suddenly bolted off down the mountainside, and the boy's uncle laughed, a rich, resonant sound.

"Eadrain," he said after a little while. "Pick that rock up over there." Obediently the boy stood and took a step, but he stopped when his uncle put a hand on his arm.

"Use the Force," the latter said intently. The boy nodded uncertainly. Slowly he stretched out his hand and closed his eyes. In his mind he imagined a void. In the void only two things existed - his hand, and the rock. Then he imagined his hand holding the rock, felt the rock becoming part of his hand.

"Well done, boy," his uncle said encouragingly. "Now see if you can hit that deer from here with-"

"Stop!" The boy whirled, dropping his rock at the shout from behind him. He saw his father as he'd never seen him before. On the crest of the hill stood a man with blazing eyes, dressed in the robes of a Jedi Knight of the Republic.

"What are you doing?!" the Jedi demanded, his gaze burning into the man standing next to his son.

"Helping the boy reach his full potential," the man answered, drawing himself up to his full height. "Something which you, selfishly, have never bothered to do."

"By doing what? Teaching him how to manipulate minds? How to strike fear into those less powerful than ourselves? That," the Jedi said angrily, "is exactly the kind of darkness and evil that the council feared." The other man bristled.

"Nonsense! The council are a bunch of old, dimwitted fools who lack the vision to realise their true potential," he countered. "They, who could be so much more than they are, foolishly throw it all away! And you, my brother, you are - what?! You are one of them?" The Jedi fixed the other with a piercing glance.

"Yes, I am," he answered quietly. "And you are black and rotten to the core. As twisted and evil as Palpatine has become."

"Ha! Today he becomes Emperor Palpatine," his brother said, his voice rising, and his dark smouldering eyes bursting into a flame of their own. "And today begins the New Order of the galaxy. Today the Galactic Empire is born! And with that birth, the Old Republic, and all its anachronisms, will be swept away. The Jedi Knights will be among them."

"You're mad with evil," the Jedi said sternly. "Palpatine could not hope to destroy the Jedi so easily." His brother laughed.

"He doesn't need to," he answered. "He already has someone to do it for him." The Jedi's eyes narrowed.

"He shares the Emperor's vision of a New Galactic Order," his brother interrupted him.

"Enough! This is madness and evil! Eadrain, get away from him!" The boy started to run, even as an invisible hand plucked him up and catapulted him away, far behind his father. He lay down and watched fearfully as events unfolded.

"He's coming out of the trance, I think," the doctor observed. "But I don't think that's good - I think he's going into shock!" The body inside the bacta tank began to writhe furiously. Pier Das closed his eyes and tried to reach out as his friend had taught him. Eadrain, he said in his mind, Eadrain, listen to me.

There was a snap-hiss as the Jedi ignited his scarlet lightsaber. Another followed and a shimmering green blade hummed in answer. The two Jedi, light and dark, faced each other on top of the mountain, while above and away from them, a man proclaimed himself the Emperor of a newly born Galactic Empire which was to bring pain and suffering to millions of people over the next decade. The battle between two Jedi Knights was a terrible thing to behold, yet the boy watched captivated as the two sides of the Force clashed together in the humming blades of two lightsabers.

The Jedi parried, then swung low, but the Dark Jedi had already jumped over the blade and swung high over his head. The green blade came whining down and was only just stopped in time by the scarlet. The two met in a shower of sparks as the boy crawled away from the battle, towards the edge of the mountain.

"He's going into shock! Stabilise him, stabilise him!" the doctor ordered. The medical droid continued to comply. Captain Kh'Arli watched on intently, not noticing Pier Das who stood silently, his head bowed. Eadrain! Listen to me!

The Dark Jedi swung his saber at the Jedi Knight's stomach, but the latter blocked it and forced his own weapon forward, toward his brother's throat. The latter backed away, but only for a second before the Jedi felt a choking sensation on his neck. He kept his grip on his lightsaber and lunged forward, ignoring the pain and lack of oxygen. He stabbed at the Dark Jedi's arm and nicked it. The choking sensation stopped.

"Truly, you have embraced the Dark Side," he said sadly. "There is nothing I can do for you now." The other merely sneered.

"I neither wish for nor want your pity or compassion," he spat. "It is those things that make you weak. Hate and anger are what make you powerful!" And he renewed his attacks with more strength. The boy crawled closer to the cliff.

"What the hell was that?" the doctor shouted. "Hurry up, get him settled down or we're going to lose him!"

The Dark Jedi lowered his saber for an instant and stretched out his hand. At that moment blue lightning leapt from his fingers.

The Jedi staggered backwards, but quickly considered. If the Force was used to create the lightning, then the Force could be used to repel it. He concentrated and soon the lightning crawled harmlessly over his robes. With a cry, the Dark Jedi rushed forwards, his lightsaber attacks blindingly fast and vicious. It was all the Jedi could do to stop the blows.

The boy had reached the edge of the cliff, and sat still looking at the duel, not knowing how perilously close he sat to the edge.

Captain Zhom Kh'Arli breathed a silent prayer for Eadrain and inwardly admired the doctor for his perseverance. I just hope it's not wasted, he told himself.

Pier Das had also gone rigid. Suddenly he saw green grass on a mountain, and a small boy sitting on the grass near the mountain's edge.

The hum of the green blade changed resonance as it swung through the air. The Jedi's head turned, and the scarlet blade came up to meet its adversary, but it was too late.

The two sabers clashed, green on red, with a shower of sparks, but this time the green blade met with flesh, and the Jedi staggered backward, nearly dropping his lightsaber.

Pier Das could see the tears forming at the corners of the boy's eyes. Eadrain, come with me! he urged, but the boy did not seem to hear him.

"You are foolish and weak, Jedi," the dark one said, standing over his fallen adversary. "Now pay the price for your lack of vision." He swung the saber high and for the first time the boy's voice sounded, shrill in the high clear air. "NO!!"

For a moment the Dark Jedi was distracted, and that was all that was needed. With a final surge of strength, the scarlet lightsaber flew from the grip of its owner and swung in an arc to cut its enemy across his midsection. The dark one howled in pain and crumpled to the ground. Eadrain watched as his father's body disappeared, then his uncle's. After his uncle had gone though, a black wisp of smoke seemed to drift up and away from the body. Then the wind caught it, and blew it, and it scattered, and was gone.

Eadrain! Come back! Come with me! Pier Das shouted to the boy sitting on the edge of the cliff. Slowly, the boy looked up. Who was this man?

Come with me, come with me where you'll be safe, the voice said once more, and the boy believed him. Cautiously, he stood and took a few paces forward. The man encouraged him, and beckoned. Then he smiled, a genuine smile, and held out a hand.

"He's coming out of it! His heart's- wait, he's coming conscious again!" the doctor was completely dumbfounded.

Again Pier Das bent down to enter Eadrain's cramped living quarters. The young man's smile seemed a bit forced, but genuine.

"Hello, my friend," he said weakly. "I owe you a debt which I may never repay." Pier Das shook his head.

"No, my friend," he said. "You owe me nothing. And I'll hear no more of it." Eadrain nodded.

"Better," the young man answered. "Certainly much better than I was. I should be ready to return to active duty within a week. The doctor was most impressed at how the Force accelerated healing." Pier Das smiled and nodded.

"And I am most impressed, and grateful, that you saved me," Eadrain said quietly. His head was bowed, and Pier Das fancied that he could almost see a glistening tear on his friend's cheek.

"Tell me," Eadrain asked after a short pause, "what did you see?" The large man sighed and took a few seconds before answering.

"I saw a boy," he said at last. "A boy sitting on green grass at the edge of a cliff. I couldn't hear anything. And then after a while the boy started crying. And I called to him - you - and eventually you came." Eadrain nodded, silently relieved that his friend had not glimpsed the cause for his pain.

"You're not going to tell me more?" he asked gently. The young man shook his head.

"No. There are some things which I am not ready to share yet. Perhaps I never will be. For the moment, they must remain in the past where they belong." Pier Das nodded.

"Then I shall let you get some sleep," he said. "I'll see you later, my friend."

And as he left the cramped cabin, Pier Das resolved that one day the still-mysterious Eadrain - the man whom he called friend - would share with him the painful memories he had kept so long. One day. When the shadows of the past were gone forever.

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