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The night air bordered on sultry, kissing Luke's skin with a promise of the storm to come. The breeze bristled with electricity, making his neck hair stand on end and tingling along his nerves to heighten his every sense. He slipped through the meadow like a night shadow, the tall grasses shivering briefly as he passed.
Sinking onto a flat boulder beside Alee, Luke looked down from their hillside perch to the compound in the valley below. Several lights peeked out from under window shades, and a few scattered floodlights cast a dim yellow hue over the central yard, while the fence was a faint blue haze ringing the whole.
His voice was quiet as he broke the velvety silence. "Her ability to perceive is keen, and she knew right away that something had made you sad."
Alee slowly expelled a breath. "That's because Shanni is Force-sensitive. I felt it the second I looked into her eyes."
"Yes. I did, too. And the Force drew her to you tonight. She barely remembered I existed."
"Oh, Luke. I feel as if I've cursed her. Doomed her to a life of rejection and ... and aching loneliness." She sighed. "If she hadn't seen me - seen a female Jedi - she might have been content with simple hero worship."
"Being a Jedi doesn't automatically consign you to a life of aloneness and rejection." Luke winced inwardly, knowing how often he'd felt those very things over the years - until Mara.
"It will for her. With her family," Alee whispered.
"How can you know that?" Luke challenged.
"I just know."
"A good Jedi answer, in all its resplendent vagueness."
"It's all you'll get from me right now, Luke Skywalker," Alee bit out defensively.
"Why? What happened in there with that jewel?" he asked.
Luke sensed Alee turning away and he whispered, "Alee?"
"Back off, Luke."
"Why?"
"Because," Alee snapped, "this is personal and I'm a very private person."
"It's about that edict of Yoda's, isn't it?" Luke pressed. "Tell me what this has to do with it."
Alee pushed herself to her feet. "Nothing ... and everything."
Luke stood and reached out to grasp her arm. She jerked away. Luke paused and let the Force breathe patience through his veins.
"What did Yoda say? Exactly?" No reply. "Alee, we have to settle this between us." Silence. Luke pleaded, "Yoda wouldn't want us to be at odds over something he said, Alee."
Alee rounded on him. "What do you know about what Master Yoda would have wanted? How long did you sit under his teachings? A few months? That makes you an expert? But of course it does. After all, you are Luke Skywalker, Jedi Master and Rebellion Hero." Her voice rose. "Well, break out the holo-recorder, because I have news for you, Luke. You knew Master Yoda for but a moment at the very end of a very long life. You know nothing of what his life was like, what his goals and responsibilities were, where he lived, what his ... his favorite place to meditate was." She choked back a sob. "You know nothing, Luke. Nothing. Don't you dare talk to me about what he would have wanted."
Alee spun around and strode away, leaving Luke in shocked silence, stung by the truth of her diatribe. Numb synapses in his mind suddenly sparked and started firing frantically. So how long did you sit under Yoda, Alee? Many, many years? And where? Dagobah? Or somewhere else? A temple? The Temple? If so, how old are you? Not the 30-odd-years you look, that's for sure.
The duracrete fell away from his feet and he took off after the distraught Jedi, quickly closing the distance between them. He matched her long stride and kept pace for a dozen steps before speaking.
"Alee..."
She hushed him. He probed gently with the Force, but she wasn't dwelling on hurt or anger - her focus was outward. Luke reached out with his senses, even as warning klaxons sounded inwardly.
Ten. No, a dozen shadows. Advancing toward the compound.
"They're moving in stormtrooper formation," Luke whispered.
"Odds are, they'll have backup arriving shortly," returned Alee.
"Better deal with them fast then."
"Excellent idea. I could use a good fight."
A soft click told Luke that Alee's lightsaber was no longer swinging at her hip. He grimaced. So long as it didn't swing at him.
They skimmed through the darkness, placing themselves between the approaching squad and the main gate. They moved apart and Luke touched Alee's mind.
The two lightsabers sprang to life. A startled shout, and slivers of red streaked through the night, seeking to get past the flashing blades that blurred into shields as they deflected the barrage. The two Jedi faces glowed eerily, one green and one blue, as they neared the troop, making it appear as if the soldiers were being attacked by ghostly apparitions.
With an undulating cry that split the night and momentarily froze the troopers, Alee was transformed into a spoked wheel flying through the air. She landed in their midst. Swinging, Whirling. Slashing.
Luke leapt at the nearest man and joined the melee. His green blade sliced through the air, hungrily cutting down one man. Another. He spun and deflected a laser bolt back at the shooter. Parried another shot. Pivoted. Dived and rolled toward his attacker. He sprang to his feet and downed the man with a quick upper cut.
Luke turned to see Alee lunge and thrust her lightsaber into and through the last trooper. He powered down his blade and stepped over a body to move to her side.
"Good enough fight?" he asked mildly.
"Too short," she replied. "They weren't dressed like stormtroopers, but they reacted like them. How did they get to Agamar?"
"We're quite close to the region of the galaxy the Empire still controls."
"True."
Alee crouched amidst the shadowy forms sprawled on the ground. Luke wrinkled his nose at the coppery smell hanging in the air and remained standing.
"Did the artifact draw them?" Alee asked. "I slapped an 'eyes only' security clearance on the reports, so how could they even know about the orb? What brought them here?"
"I did," Luke said.
"Oh? Formal written invitation? Or did you just send them a hologram?"
"Written. I used my regular ID when I arrived. Anyone with access to the customs records knows I'm on Agamar. And they know I'm at this site." He sighed. "Blast. That was stupid of me."
Alee stood. "Fine. That was stupid of you. So, what do we do?"
"Let's see if that forcefield fence can be extended to a full dome. That should be enough for tonight. In the morning we can call in Agamar security forces."
They walked toward the gate and Luke added, "Check the inner perimeter for the master controls. I'll deal with the gate and stand lookout."
"It's your call, hero." Alee jogged away, disappearing behind the nearest hut.
Luke let out a short puff of air. She was still in a fighting mood, if her tone was any indication. He turned to the gate, which consisted of closely-spaced horizontal laser beams, and activated it. He hesitated, then dialed the controls to full power.
Ten minutes later the humming of the forcefield grew louder. Luke listened as the sound crested, then craned his neck back as the fence sprang into a full dome. The blue haze reflected dimly on the clouds scudding across the sky, and he watched as lightning flashed in the distance, then closer. Alee joined him as a white fork of energy slammed into the top of the dome and dissipated into the forcefield in a myriad of jagged veins.
Thunder rumbled as they walked silently across the yard. Alee moved on to their hut and Luke stopped to tell Rand what had happened.
When Luke entered the tiny quarters, Alee was in the refresher with the door open. She had her tunic off and her undershirt hiked up, and she was twisting around, trying, in vain, to reach a laser score creasing the middle of her back.
"Here. Let me do that," Luke said.
"I'm fine," Alee replied tersely.
He strode across the room. "No, you're not. Let me help, Alee." He gave her reflection a smug glance. "Stop being such a ... hero."
She spun and slapped the cleaning pad in his palm, then turned away and let her reflection fling fiery darts at him. He smiled serenely and began cleaning the flesh wound, eliciting the odd muscle twitch as he went.
"Is that?" He injected a teasing note into his voice as he worked. "Could it be? Yes, I do believe it is. Definitely the sound of a hero."
"I didn't say a thing," she snapped.
"That's right."
"Very cute, Skywalker."
Alee pulled away and yanked her shirt down as she headed to
the nearest repulsor chair. She plopped down and bit back a wince.
Luke sauntered over to the chair facing her and sank into it.
He steepled his fingers and studied her silently.
She heaved a sigh. "So. Say it."
Luke watched her for a moment more before speaking. "Where did you get the scar that pokes above you waistband?"
He suppressed a smile as he watched confusion flicker across Alee's features.
Her response was hesitant. "You aren't going to blast me for being angry?"
Luke shrugged, then leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. "How did you get it?"
Her hand unconsciously floated down to rest on her left hip. "I was caught in a cave-in. Had to get a bionetic joint implant."
Luke flexed his robotic right hand and nodded. "I know what that's like."
They exchanged smiles.
"How about you?" Alee asked. She ran a finger along her right cheek and raised her eyebrows.
Luke grimaced. "I had a run-in with a hungry wompa just before the Battle of Hoth."
"You objected to being served up as a main course?"
"It ate my tauntaun. There was no need for greed."
Alee chuckled softly. "But death is greedy. It hasn't yet been able to trap us, but it certainly has left its mark. With each close call, a fresh scar reminds me of what almost was." She paused and issued another sigh. "I'm getting too old for this."
"Ben said that to me once. It wasn't true for him, and it isn't true for you. Being a Jedi isn't something you out grow. Luke stared into Alee's eyes for a moment before continuing, "Your emotions are very raw right now. Even though you let yourself be distracted just now, your mental state is skimming the boundaries of anger. That flight path is a black hole, Alee. Don't ever let it suck you into its vortex."
She shuddered and replied in a cracked whisper, "No. I wouldn't want that. Not again."
He leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. "Is that how you could live on Coruscant and not be detected by the Emperor? Were you in thrall to the Dark Side?"
Confusion blinked through Alee's eyes. "What are you talking about? I've never been seriously tempted by the Dark Side. Once, in a fit of blind grief, I tasted its power. I will die before that bilious venom touches my senses again. And as for living on Coruscant ..." She closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them and scanned Luke's face. "You wanted to know what Master Yoda said to me. His exact words."
Luke frowned. "You must be a natural in an X-wing. Your thoughts zigzag so unexpectedly, I don't have a hope of keeping up." She stared blankly at him and Luke smiled. "Yes, Alee. I don't know how we got back here, but I do want to know what Yoda said."
With a nod, Alee closed her eyes again. "I had lost touch with the Force. It had teased and tempted me all the way to Dagobah and Master Yoda. I'd wanted to stay, but he said no." Her voice took one a faintly nasal twang. "One comes. Trained he must be. You, of course. I suggested we could train together. He said, No. The past, you are. The future, he is. Meet, you cannot." Shadowed hazel eyes met Luke's stare. "His exact words, Luke. I'm the past. With the Force's leading, I have carved a little niche for myself in this terrible future. But I don't belong. For over eight years I have been ... out of time. My time. And I've been intruding on yours."
Luke shut out external distractions and reached for the Force. He slipped into its flow and floated there, pondering her words, pondering the truth lacing them ... Museum quality outfit. 'I just wondered if the new Jedi have ...' New Jedi? Old Republic boots. 'How long did it take you to become a Jedi?' 'Many, many years.' A cloak embroidered with ancient Jedi runes. '... a little over three years old.' The Temple. Leaving your family ... 'You know nothing of what his life was like...' 'You know nothing.' 'Don't you dare talk to me ...'
His eyes snapped open. "How?"
"You believe me?" Alee's voice was tentative.
Luke nodded. "I know it's true. I think ... I've always known. But, how? We're talking time travel. From ... whenever ... to now."
Relief, washing out with Alee's softly expelled breath, touched Luke's senses. Her eyes lightened and she asked, "Do you remember when you searched my mind those many months ago? Do you remember why you couldn't search backwards into my distant past?"
Luke rubbed his eyes, then looked at her. "There was a blockage. Of course, ... a black vortex. You said something about it being your future."
A sad smile brushed Alee's lips. "It was. The Council had sent me to check out a rare astronomical phenomenon that was shrouded behind the veil of a Legend. The Abomination, locals called it. I ... met with an accident that perfectly suited the locals' plans for me. Fell in. Woke up a little over eight years ago."
"How many years did you lose?" Luke asked.
"Near as I can tell, the gap was 36 years long." She paused. "You're taking this very calmly."
She was on Coruscant before the Emperor. No wonder he didn't detect her. With a small smile, he asked, "How did Yoda take it?"
She raised an eyebrow. "The same as you. I was the one who had difficulty believing it. I think he said, That explains why aged you have not."
"Sounds about right. He was pretty unflappable."
A peaceful silence descended on the two Jedi, as Luke mulled over Yoda's reaction to Alee's predicament. Something didn't fit.
"I don't understand. Why wouldn't Yoda let us train together?" he asked.
"I said I'd lost touch with the Force, remember? It happened when I fell through the rift. Master Yoda told me I had to relearn what I had learned, and he sent me away to do just that. Why? Because I was an unknown. My future was clouded, even to him. If I had been unable to reestablish a solid connection with the Force, I would have become an agent of evil. His words. I think he felt he couldn't expose you to that risk."
"That was rather harsh. For you, I mean."
"Yes, well. They were harsh times."
Another long pause, and Luke said, "You know, all this talk of vortexes and the past is vectoring us right back to our little talk on the hillside. Before you blasted me with that ion-charged, um, scolding, I so richly deserved." He cast a boyish glance her way, then said, "The jewel, Alee. What happened with the jewel? You've told me this much. I might as well hear it all." He paused. "They say confession is good for the soul."
She snorted. "Only because it gets a certain Jedi Master off your back."
"So ... get me off your back."
Gold flecks lit her eyes. "Isn't this where I give you some resplendently vague Jedi answer? Or is it vaguely resplendent? Maybe, resplendent with a hint of vagueness? Space that. I think I'll settle for suitably inscrutable."
Luke blinked the bewildered expression off his face. "Are you finished?"
"Yes. I think I am."
Alee rose and retrieved her tunic and utility belt. She lay the shirt on the low table and smoothed it out. Pulling a small slender fuse-pen out of a compartment on her belt, she began to reconnect the ragged edges of the hole left by the laser burn. Luke watched her for several minutes.
"I can still feel an aching residue clinging to you like a Dagobah leech, Alee. You know you'd feel better if you told me," Luke said.
Alee kept her eyes glued to her task. "It's ... it's very, very hard, Luke. The Force is a cruel master, bringing me here as it did."
"Because you had to face me?"
"No. Because I have to face my past. All the things I never had. And it hurts."
"Tell me." Luke echoed the request through the Force.
Shimmering hazel eyes flashed up to stare at him. Alee returned her attention to her task and muttered, "Figure it out for yourself."
Luke leaned back with a sigh. He ran his fingers through dark blond hair and gathered his thoughts. She was fine until she saw the jewel, when she had suddenly turned as pale as a dwarf star. He pictured the argent vortex in his mind, trying to figure out what was so special about that type of jewel. Realization dawned. Not that type of jewel, but that jewel. The conversation replayed in his mind. And again. Their eyes met.
He whispered, "You're Powell's grandmother's sister? The one who ... died under mysterious circumstances?"
"That's right. Except for the part about having died."
Luke scanned her features. Her emotions were being held under tight wraps, and he knew her control was shaky, despite her cavalier attitude. He could see ragged honesty simmering behind her hooded eyes.
Still, skepticism nagged at him. He mentally calculated the chances of three generations in roughly 44 years. Each generation would have had to have started their families at a very young age, but not an unheard of age. It worked - barely. But barely was enough. With that doubt settled, other concerns melted away, like space dust in a thruster's flame. Tension drained out of his muscles, replaced by a warmth that suffused his whole being. The peace of being at one with the Force.
"It certainly explains the instant Force connection between you and Shanni." Luke paused. "You said that, as a Jedi, Shanni would face loneliness and rejection ... with her family. Is that what you faced, Alee?"
"You heard Powell. They weren't allowed to talk about it - about me." Alee drew a calming breath. "That doesn't bother me so much any more. It really wasn't anything personal. Tanaabians, in general, were very distrustful of Jedi, even to the point of hatred."
"Still are," Luke interjected. "But you're wrong, you know. It was personal to you."
"Of course it was. But I got past it."
"Then why the hurt?"
"It's just that ... Powell and Shanni are reminders of ..."
"All the things you never had?" Luke asked softly.
"Yes." Alee looked away. "Family. A sense of belonging, of history. They are ... they are Rein's legacy. What is my legacy, Luke? I have none. I'm floating in deep space without a tether."
"Druce might take exception to that idea. You do have a lifemate. Why don't you and Druce have children?"
"We can't. We've faced a battery of tests, and they all come back with the same results. I can never bear children. I'm sure it was the fall through time that did it, but I can hardly report that to the medical teams."
"Hence the orphan rescue operation."
"No. That came before we tried to have our own child and is purely the Force's leading."
"Isn't rescuing helpless children a legacy in itself?" Luke asked.
"I suppose," replied Alee. "And I know that, as a Jedi, each time I affect a life, the resulting Force ripples are a legacy. But there is something about family ..." Her eyes snapped back to Luke's. "You have family, Luke. A sister. A niece. Nephews. Isn't there a sense of ... connectedness?"
Luke's thoughts were painted with serenity and he smiled. "Most definitely. Sometimes frustrating. Usually wonderful." He went still. "It would tear me apart to return to the utter aloneness I felt after Yoda died. Friends can fill the void, but only to a degree. I'm sorry you never had that, Alee."
Alee shrugged, then reached across the table and took Luke's hand. "I am so glad you didn't follow in our path - the path of the old Jedi. The Temple was a wonderful place to grow up, especially for me, being rejected by my birth family as I was. But we were wrong. Wrong to take babes away from their families, just to ensure that they had no chance to establish negative thought patterns. The thinking was that we'd save needless pain, because fewer would fall to the Dark Side. So we bonded together and forgot our families. But that very act stripped us of a ... a portion of our humanity. We were aloof, set apart from the rest of the galaxy. It was vain arrogance on our part, to think that keeping ourselves separate would preserve the Jedi Order and make us better able to serve as Guardians of Peace." Alee released Luke's hand. "In the end we died, almost every one of us, and with hardly a soul to mourn our passing. I wonder how many rejoiced?" A tear threatened to let go of her eyelash. She swiped it away. "Leia keeping her children ensures they are grounded in a community that reaches beyond being a Jedi. When they step out on their own, they will have a connectedness that reaches from family to community to the galaxy beyond - and it will strengthen their resolve, not weaken it as the old Jedi thought. We were so wrong ..." Alee trailed off into silence for a moment. She straightened suddenly. "But, don't worry, I'm not utterly alone - or lonely. The Jedi were my family. The Temple, my home. And I know love. Once in my past. And now with Dru."
"Then why are you feeling so sorry for yourself, Jedi?"
Alee's expression turned quizzical. "I don't know. It was seeing Shanni, knowing I'll never be a part of her life - like you are with Leia's children. And ..." She caught Luke's crooked smile and her eyes narrowed. "You are mocking me, Luke Skywalker."
"Not at all. But you were getting so ... maudlin. Sarcasm, I can deal with. Arrogance, I can deal with. But tears? The Force forbid."
"You don't like tears? I'll have to remember that." Alee curled her lip.
"An idle threat, at best. When you're hurting, you snap like a kryat dragon. The only kind of cry I'll ever hear from you is a battle cry," Luke declared.
"Really?"
"Absolutely."
They exchanged grins.
Luke stretched and twisted to get the kink out of his back. Hobbling two chairs and a lounge table together for a bed didn't make for the best sleep he'd ever had. He slipped to the floor and sat cross-legged, his back rigid. Alee had revealed much in the little she had said. About herself. About the Jedi. Some of it simply confirmed what he already knew. Some of it ...
Alee stepped into the room , blinked, then disappeared into the refresher. Ten minutes later she emerged, looking rejuvenated and ... awake. Luke stopped the smile before it could blossom.
"Why didn't you ever try to go back?" the Jedi Master asked.
"Good morning to you, too," replied Alee. She pulled a chair away from the table and sat down. "I suggested - demanded, actually - that Master Yoda help me return to my time."
"Demanded? Of Yoda? I'd rather face Chewie when he's in an arm-tearing rage. How did Yoda react?"
"I don't know. Probably stamped his gimer stick and glared at me. I was a little overwrought at the time, so I don't recall what he did. But he said, This we cannot do. Forward only flows the Force. Disturb the past, we cannot."
"You have an excellent memory," Luke commented.
"Training made it so. Always take note of the details. They might be the difference between life and death. Don't you train your Jedi apprentices in this matter?"
"I certainly encourage them to expand their minds in every way possible, including memory retention."
"But it isn't part of their regimen?" Alee sounded puzzled.
"Our training is somewhat more flexible than yours was, apparently. Maybe you could tell me the, ah, old approach, and I could incorporate some of it at the Jedi Academy."
"I think not. We made mistakes and they cannot be undone. Nor should they be repeated. You must make your own mistakes.
Luke quashed a bubble of annoyance. "Believe me, making mistakes seems to be what I'm best at. Every time I turn around my teaching methods are being challenged. Or ignored."
"You have collected a group of very strong-willed individuals," Alee observed.
"You'd fit right in." His eyes sparkled. "In fact, you'd make a great teacher."
Alee stood and leveled a stern look at the Jedi Master. "I think not. Where patience comes naturally to you, I have to work at it constantly. One difficult person I could manage. But a whole group? Space the thought. Someone would get hurt, and it wouldn't be me."
Luke shrugged. "It was worth a shot. Which reminds me, how is your back?"
"It's fine. Let's go next door and make a plan of attack for the day."
Alee wheeled around and headed out the door.
"Hero," Luke whispered.
"I heard that, Skywalker."
Luke chuckled as he got up to follow her.
The sun had broken free of the horizon and was warming the valley. The cloudless sky was made bluer by the forcefield, which Luke was relieved to see was still in effect. Not everyone concurred. Across the compound two workers were having a heated discussion, occasionally pointing upwards. So long as they don't mess with the controls.
Alee had to knock twice before they heard movement behind the door. It cracked open and a silvery face peeked out. A childish voice called out, demanding to know who was at the door.
Before the droid could answer, the door swung open and Shanni stood, staring in green-eyed delight at her visitors. She was still in her bedclothes, looking rumpled, with hair even wilder than the previous evening. She grabbed Alee's hand.
"Good morning, Alee. I hope you aren't sad anymore."
Alee crouched in front of the child. "I'm much better, thank you."
"Do you want to come in and eat? I'm hungry. Are you hungry?" She looked up. "Are you hungry, Luke? Tate could make us breakfast."
"We'll eat a little later, Shanni," Luke replied. "We were hoping to talk to your mom and dad. Are they still sleeping?"
"No. They've gone to the lab. They were very excited after you left. Something about that silly ball they found," Shanni said.
Luke dropped down to his knees beside Alee. "Did they say they were going to do something to the ball today?"
Shanni shrugged.
Luke turned to Alee. "They wouldn't, would they? They promised me they'd let us examine the artifact."
"But when they get excited about work, they always forget their promises," Shanni said. A pout tugged at her lips. "They even forget me."
Alee brushed Shanni's hair out of her eyes and mouthed a platitude about her parents loving her. Luke stood and Alee joined him, promising that they'd all come back for breakfast. The child's face cleared and she gave bubbly assent to the idea.
The two Jedi headed across the compound. Luke caught Alee's gaze, to see it reflected the same unease he was feeling. She nodded and they started to walk faster. They exchanged glances again and broke into a run. Alee burst through the door with Luke a step behind. They dashed down the central aisle to the chamber door. Alee slammed her shoulder against it and drew her lightsaber.
Luke nodded. Alee spun and ignited the weapon, sinking it deep into the door and slicing downward. She switched off the blade. The door opened most of the way, the molten metal fusing to the door jamb. They stepped through the door to see a wide-eyed lab assistant staring back at them. He stood in front of the window, which was transparent to allow for viewing.
Apprehension shivered across Luke's shoulder blades as he saw the object being bombarded, not by one sonic disrupter, but by several, from numerous angles. He lunged for the door lock and keyed in the code that he'd seen Powell use the day before. Alee jumped in front of him as the door opened.
Light flashed. Alee opened her mouth in a silent scream and arched her back. She crumpled to the floor. Luke dropped beside her, scanning her with the Force. Alive, but unconscious. He looked up.
The shield was gone from the orb, which now appeared so black as to be absorbing light. The Besarcs were hugging each other in triumph, oblivious to the two Jedi on the floor. Luke sighed and turned his attention to Alee. She was starting to come around.
Alee blinked repeatedly, but her eyes remained glazed. She opened her mouth, but no words came. Luke frowned. She appeared to be in shock. With obvious effort, she shifted her head in the direction of Powell and Rand. Luke followed her gaze.
The two scientists were now standing over the orb, staring at it in awe. They gazed into each other's eyes and their hands met in the air, intertwining, moving in slow motion toward the artifact.
"No!" Luke shouted, springing to his feet.
The Besarcs looked at him and smiled, then laid their hands on the orb.
With a cry and a dark flash, they were gone. Luke gaped. His chest constricted as if he'd just run through Beggar's Canyon with a swoop troop on his tail. His feet moved his body forward of their own accord. He tore his eyes away from the orb and let his gaze fall to the floor. Two small piles of ashes brushed the toes of his boots. Not gone. Instantly disintegrated. He swallowed a surge of nausea.
Luke glared at the orb that pulsated with an inner light that wasn't light. The Dark Side battered his senses. And beckoned. Luke clenched his teeth, drawing on the Light Side, backing up until his heel nudged Alee's knee.
He fell to his knees beside her. She was staring at the orb with tears running, unheeded, down her face. I'd give anything for a rebel yell right about now. She even cries silently.
"Come on, Alee," Luke said. "I have to get us out of here."
He sat her up and slipped his arm around her waist. She tried to help, fumbling to get her feet under herself, but Luke ended up half dragging her to the outer chamber. He sat her on a chair and punched in the lock-up code. The sound of hyperventilating filled his ears and he turned to face the distraught lab assistant.
"No one, but no one, goes in there except Alee or me. Understood?" Luke said harshly.
The assistant nodded, fear stamped on his face.
"Get out of here and find out if Rand linked up with Agamar Security Forces to get a guard detail out here." The assistant stared. Luke barked, "Now!"
The pale scientist jerked and wheeled around. He crashed into someone at the door, stumbled and kept going. Luke frowned at the man standing in the door. Black hair with a frosting of grey. Sun-darkened face with wrinkles bursting out from the corners of his grey eyes. Medium height. Solid build, stiffly held. Green uniform.
"Agamar Security Forces are here," declared the soldier, "at Dr. Besarc's request. Where is he?"
Luke pointed at the window that stared into the inner chamber. The soldier marched over to the glass and peered in. Luke glanced at the uniform's sleeve. A captain. The soldier wheeled around.
"Is this some kind of joke? There's no one in there," he snapped.
"No joke," Luke replied. "What's left of Rand and ... and his wife, is in that room."
The captain raised a brow. "What are you talking about?"
Luke nodded. "They're dead. Blast it! I specifically told them not to touch the artifact in there, but they didn't listen."
The captain's voice iced over. "You killed them?"
"No," stated Luke. "The artifact did." At the soldier's skeptical look, Luke added, "That assistant was a witness. And it looks like they were recording the event." He nodded at a holocam unit in the corner.
The captain picked up the unit. "Mind if I take a look at this?"
"Go ahead. And could you post a guard at this door?" Luke asked.
Frowning at the congealed mess, the captain asked, "What happened to it?"
Luke jerked his head toward Alee. "We were in a hurry to get in." He paused. "But we were still too late."
The captain narrowed his eyes. "Who are you?"
Luke pointed his thumb at the other Jedi. "Alee Nardo." He held out his hand. "And I'm Luke Skywalker."
Grasping the offered hand firmly, the captain said, "I thought you looked familiar. Nice to know if we have something weird going on here, we have the right man for the job."
The corner of Luke's mouth twitched. "Thanks. I think."
The captain nodded. "I'll seal off the building to everyone except the three of us. Sentry at every door, including this one."
"Thank you, Captain ...?" Luke inclined his head expectantly.
"Innis. Cray Innis." With that, he spun on his heel and strode out of the room.
Luke expelled a long, slow breath. He turned to Alee to find her staring straight ahead with a blank expression. Unreasonable relief at seeing the tears had stopped, tinged his thoughts. He pulled up another chair and sat, knee to knee, with the Jedi Knight. He took both her hands, squeezing them while he soothed her mind with the Force until she started to respond. Only then did he loosen his grip, letting her fingers rest lightly in his palms.
When he finally sensed she was focusing on him, he asked her what had happened. Her breathing shortened and her eyes darted around the room. Luke tightened his grip again, silently calling her attention to him.
She stared into his eyes, horror infusing her words. "It wasn't a shield, Luke. It was ... it was a ... a Jedi. His essence, somehow transformed into a Force-enhanced shield."
"A Jedi? The shield was alive?" He was aghast.
"Not alive. The transformation was his dying act."
Confusion clung to Luke like a heavy mist. He'd felt nothing. The Force had revealed to him none of what Alee was telling him. He tried to judge the truth of what she said, but found himself in a fog of hazy impressions, unsure of what to say or believe.
Alee doubled over and pressed her forehead against their linked hands. Her shoulders heaved and the sound of her labored breathing echoed through his mind. Long moments later, he sensed she had found her center of calm.
"The Force has given me a terrible gift, Luke." Alee's voice was muffled. She sat up and her eyes flitted over his face. "I've only felt something close to this one other time, and that was after the vortex, too. Maybe passing through that rift in time did it, because I never had such an ability before..."
"You're losing me, Alee." Luke chided softly.
"Memories. Twice now the Force has given me memories. Awful memories of two different Jedi in their dying moments." She closed her eyes and arched her neck. "I don't want this ability. I thought the first time was ... well, it was different. There was a reason for it. But this ..." She shuddered.
"Tell me," Luke whispered.
With eyes still closed, Alee's voice was a monotone as she spoke. "I don't know his name. But I know he was the Jedi who created the orb. I felt his triumphant gloating turn to horror as the full realization of the evil he'd just activated slammed into him. It, it was killing him. Sucking his very life away. In desperation he ... I don't know what he did. There was a blinding light and he was no more. But his essence remained as a shield to protect the unwary."
"So when the sonic disrupters broke through and destroyed his essence ..."
"His memory crashed over me ..." Alee opened her eyes.
"And you collapsed," Luke finished.
