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Jedi Headquarters, Imperial City, Coruscant
After dinner, Mara had gone to the Refresher to take a long bath, leaving Luke to feed Ben. They were just barely starting the baby on grain cereal, and he seemed to like it well enough. Luke took the small bowl out of the warmer, and turned to face his six-month old son who offered him a toothless grin.
Luke couldn't help but smile back, then took the chair placed in front of Ben's highchair. "You hungry?" he asked, dipping a small spoon into the grain-mix.
Ben squirmed in his seat, cooing in answer. Luke smiled and shoved the first bite into Ben's mouth, catching what leaked out with the spoon to serve as the second bite. Luke got the third and fourth bites in, before Ben grew impatient and started grabbing for the bowl with his pudgy little hands. After a few minutes of dodging his hands, Luke rose to his feet with a sigh and crossed the kitchen to grab another spoon.
Meanwhile, Ben impatiently hit the tray of his highchair with his hands, emitting low-pitched squeals of protest at having to wait. Luke sat swiftly down in front of him, placing the extra spoon in Ben’s grabbing hands, and proceeded to feed him once more.
This worked for awhile, though Ben did try to dip his own spoon into the bowl, or stick it in his mouth when Luke tried to feed him another bite. Just as Luke was leaning forward to give Ben the next bite, the door announcer rang. Luke turned his head setting the bowl down, stretching out with the Force to see who was at the door.
He just recognized Ganner Rhyshode and Cianna Darklighter, when a loud clatter brought his attention back to his son, making him wish he hadn't looked away. Two seconds was all Ben needed to grab the bowl of grain-cereal, and dump it down his lap. He gave Luke a big toothless grin, before shoving a cereal covered fist into his mouth. Luke had to smile, and even tickle his now very messy son.
"Looks like I can't take my eyes off you for even a moment, little fella," he said, patting Ben's fuzzy head. "Let's get you cleaned up..." he said, before the door announcer rang again.
Sighing, he lifted Ben up into a one armed grip, and exited the kitchen. He barely made it into the living room when Ben grabbed his father’s hair in one messy fist, and reached for his father’s nose squirming excitedly. Luke laughed, bouncing Ben in his arm. "You're not helping me make a good impression on our guests," Luke said, kissing Ben's sticky cheek.
***
Cianna Darklighter shifted her weight from one foot to the other, apprehension growing a rock in her stomach. After calming her down, Ganner had insisted that they to go see Master Skywalker . While Cianna would rather have waited until the morning, Force, forever, she knew how important it was that Master Skywalker learn of her vision. Unfortunately, talking about it brought the frightening memories back. Hearing approaching footsteps, she immediately tensed up. Ganner laid a comforting hand on her shoulder.
The door opened then, revealing a practically glowing Luke Skywalker carrying his six-month old son. Both had messy faces, but Cianna guessed Master Skywalker's was from Ben's hands probing Luke's face and hair. "Cianna, Ganner," he greeted them, imediatly sensing tension in the air. "What's wrong?
Cianna immediately dropped her eyes, but Ganner stood tall, looking the Master in the eyes. "Cianna has had a vision."
Master Skywalker focused his piercing blue eyes on Cianna, studying her face. Concern creased the lines in his forehead, as he stepped to the side of the door. "Come in," he said gravely. Cianna found herself looking to Ganner for reassurance, who gently nudged her forward in reply.
Master Skywalker led them into the living room, gesturing for them to sit down on the couch. He wiped his face on his sleeve, then took the seat across from them, laying Ben down on the floor. He clasped his hands together, keeping his face impassive as he addressed Cianna. "I can tell this is not good news," he said softly, staring into her eyes. "Tell me, what did you see?"
Cianna hesitated, gathering her thoughts. Finally her eyes met Master Skywalker's, and she told him everything about her vision, barely noticing the tears that ran down her cheeks, and the goose bumps running up her spine. Nor did she feel the gentle weight of Ganner's arms around her shoulders.
In speaking of her vision, her mind had been carried back to the dark room, where the heinous murders had taken place. The metalsabers pierced the Jedi's hearts, and Manuel's cry once again assaulted her ears, followed by its strangely female echo.
Master Skywalker interrupted her narrative , his intense eyes boring into hers. "Female voice?" he asked, his expression unreadable.
"Yes," she clarified. "Distinctly female. Only..."
"Only what?" Master Skywalker pressed gently.
"She didn't repeat Manuel's exact words," Cianna hesitated. "She called for her Master," she said, wondering where she'd gotten the idea that the female was a completely different person. Another victim perhaps?
Master Skywalker lifted his head up, having cast a quick glance down at Ben, to make sure he was doing alright. By the look on his face, she could tell he had at least heard something similar to this. Maybe even had the same vision? Studying his eyes she asked him, "What do you think it means, Master Skywalker?"
He looked at her, letting his breath out slowly. "I have to think on this, Cianna. But it seems we have three murders on our hands."
"The girl?" Cianna asked softly.
Master Skywalker shook his head. "No, the Master."
"What do you mean?" Ganner broke in. "Wouldn't the apprentice be dead as well, like Manuel?"
"Not necessarily," Luke said, trying to gather his thoughts. Atticus Erien and his apprentice, Manuel Rigazzo, were on a seemingly peaceful mission. If Cianna’s vision was one of the future, there might be time to warn them...No, they had passed over. He could feel it. They needed to warn the other Jedi. Luke wasn’t surprised at the method Cianna had described. Though he had only seen a brief part of Lainey’s Master’s murder, it was similar in that the killer made sure Lainey watched her Master die, before being frozen. That was the difference in the murders, both Manuel and Atticus had died, while Lainey had not. But why carbonite freezing? Why hadn’t Manuel received the same fate?
If Cianna hadn’t mentioned the feminine voice at the end of her vision, he wouldn’t have thought they were connected. But that little detail made him positive that they were. There was a Jedi killer loose in the galaxy, and now two of his Jedi were dead. With the Vong and Kyp’s defection, it seemed as if the Jedi had yet another threat against them.
A slight tug on his pant leg brought him out of his thoughts, and into the heavy silence of the room. Ben had rolled himself over into the front of him, and was currently sucking on Luke’s pant leg. Ganner was staring at him, waiting for him to finish his reply. Cianna watched him too, looking worn out. Ganner’s arm was wrapped tightly around her, and she leaned heavily on him for support. A slight frown crossed Luke’s lips as he wondered just how close were they? While he’d noticed a lot of bonds forming between the Senior students and their Masters, none were so close in age as Ganner and Cianna. Luke would have to have a talk with the both of them about that...later.
"This isn't the first time I have heard of murders similar to this," Luke said finally. "Corran's apprentice, Lainey, was victim to such an attack." He paused. "Only she was forced to watch her Master die, before she was frozen in carbonite. I believe hers was the echoing voice you heard, Cianna."
Cianna blinked, not expecting the strange voice to be identified. For lack of anything better to say, she replied, "I see."
Ganner slowly took in Luke's explanation, his eyebrows knitting in consternation. "But why would she be frozen, instead of killed?"
Luke shook his head. "That's the million credit question, Ganner." He spread his hands. "I don't know."
"Does she know?" Ganner questioned.
"No, she has amnesia due to the experience. She has had very brief memories, of which leads me to believe the murders are related," Luke explained. "But I need some time to think it over to be sure." He leaned down to pick up a whining Ben. "I would like to meet with Corran and Lainey in the morning, along with you two."
Ganner rose to his feet, helping Cianna up with him. "We will be there, Master Skywalker."
Luke nodded to them both. "Goodnight then," he said in dismissal, walking them to the door.
Just before they reached it, he laid a hand on Cianna’s shoulder. She paused, and looked up at him. He studied her face for a moment. "Are you going to be alright?"
"Yeah," she said steadily, her shaking hands betraying her tone.
"You’re sure?"
Cianna looked him straight in the eye. "Yes."
Luke shifted Ben to his other arm. "Okay," he said, not quite believing her. "Then I will see you two tomorrow, at 0600 hours."
Copyright 2002 by Luney.
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