Part 23 (2/2)
Lorana bowed her head. ”Yes, Master C'baoth.”
”And in the future,” C'baoth added, looking back at Ma'Ning, ”you'll check with me before you take any of my Jedi from their a.s.signed duties.”
Ma'Ning's lip twisted slightly, but he, too, bowed his head. ”As you wish, Master C'baoth.”
C'baoth held his eves a moment longer, then turned to Obi-Wan and Anakin.
”And now, we'll continue our tour,” he said, gesturing toward the door.
He strode down the aisle toward the rear, ignoring the small cl.u.s.ters of crewers still conversing quietly among themselves, and out into the corridor. ”You mentioned Jedi duties,” Obi-Wan said as they turned aft.
”What exactly will you be wanting us to do?”
”At the moment, the sorts of things you've always done,” C'baoth said.
”Patrolling Outbound Flight and a.s.sisting where you're needed. Later, I'll want you to a.s.sist with the training of our prospective Jedi. And, of course, we'll be needed to maintain order aboard the s.h.i.+ps.”
”I hadn't noticed a great deal of disorder,” Obi-Wan pointed out.
”There will be,” C'baoth said grimly. ”This many people can't live this closely together without friction. Even before we leave the Unknown Regions, I fully expect we'll be regularly called upon to resolve disputes among pa.s.sengers, as well as organizing proper rules of conduct.”
Rules of conduct? ”Wouldn't that sort of thing be Captain Pakmillu's responsibility?” Obi-Wan asked carefully.
”Captain Pakmillu will have his hands full with the physical requirements of running Outbound Flight,” C'baoth said. ”Besides, we're the best qualified for such tasks.”
”As long as we remember that our role is to advise and mediate,” Obi-Wan cautioned. ” Jedi serve others rather than ruling over them, for the good of the galaxy.' ”
”I said nothing about ruling over anyone.”
”But if we take over Captain Pakmillu's job of keeping order, isn't that essentially what we're doing?” Obi-Wan asked. ”Mediation offered with the underlying threat of compulsion hardly qualifies as mediation.”
”As I threatened the two sides on Barlok?” C'baoth asked pointedly.
Obi-Wan hesitated. He remembered feeling uncomfortable with the tone C'baoth had used to the two sides in the aftermath of the abortive missile attack. Had he in fact overstepped his bounds by forcing them to accept his terms? Or had the compulsion merely come from the attack itself, coupled with their sudden and sobering recognition that the negotiations were no longer purely matters of charts and abstract numbers?
And what was C'baoth's connection, if any, to that attack? That was a question he was still no closer to answering.
”They did need someone to tell them what to do,” Anakin offered into his thoughts. ”And we're supposed to have wisdom and insight that non-Jedi don't have.”
”Sometimes wisdom requires us to stand by and do nothing,” Obi-Wan said, Windu's words back at the Temple echoing through his mind. Still, if the Council had reprimanded C'baoth for his actions, Windu hadn't mentioned it. ”Otherwise people might never learn how to handle problems by themselves.”
”And such wisdom comes only through a close understanding of the Force,”
C'baoth said, his tone indicating the discussion was over. ”As you will learn, young Skywalker.” He gestured ahead. ”Now, down here we have the central weapons and s.h.i.+eld cl.u.s.ter . . .”
C'baoth and the others disappeared through the conference room door.
Lorana watched them go, sighing with tiredness and frustration.
Why had Ma'Ning asked her here, anyway? Because she presumably knew C'baoth better than anyone else aboard? If so, she certainly hadn't been of much use during the discussion. Was she supposed to have joined the others in objecting to his Jedi training plan, then? Well, she'd failed on that account, too.
”Is he always this overbearing?”
Lorana turned back around. The two Duros had wandered away and were talking quietly together, but Ma'Ning was still standing there, eyeing her thoughtfully. ”He didn't seem particularly overbearing to me,” she said, automatically rising to her Master's defense.
”Perhaps it's just his personality,” Ma'Ning said. But there was a knowing look on his face. Maybe he'd seen other Jedi come to C'baoth's defense before, for the same reasons Lorana had. Whatever those reasons were. ”Tell me, what do you think of this scheme of his?”
”You mean the training of older children?” She shrugged helplessly. ”I don't know. It's all new to me.”
”He hasn't talked about this before?”
”No,” she said. ”At least, not to me.”
”Mm,” Ma'Ning said, pursing his lips. ”It's an interesting concept, certainly. And he's right: there have been exceptions in the past, most of whom have worked out fine.”
”Like Anakin?”
”Perhaps,” Ma'Ning said cautiously. ”Though until a Padawan actually achieves Jedi Knighthood, there's always the danger he or she might fall away. I'm not expecting that of Skywalker, of course.”
”No,” Lorana agreed. ”If you'll excuse me, Master Ma'Ning, I need to find some crewers to help me start organizing the new training center.”
”Certainly,” Ma'Ning said, nodding. ”I'll speak with you later.”
He stepped over to the two Duros, joining in their conversation. Three Jedi, holding a private discussion among themselves.
With Lorana on the outside. As if she were still just a Padawan.
Still, she had said she was leaving. Maybe that was all it was. Taking a deep breath, putting such thoughts from her mind, she headed down the aisle toward the door.
She was nearly there when a man stepped partway into her path. ”Your pardon, Jedi,” he said tentatively. ”A word, if I may?”
”Certainly,” Lorana said, focusing on him for the first time. He was a typical crewer, young and bright-eyed, with short dark hair and a hint of greasy dirt on the collar of his jumpsuit. Summoned directly from his s.h.i.+ft to Ma'Ning's meeting, probably. Behind him stood a young woman with a sleeping infant in one arm and a boy of five or six standing close beside her. Her free hand was resting on the boy's shoulder. ”How can I help you?”
”My name's Dillian Pressor,” the man said, gesturing back to the others.
”My son, Jorad, has a question.”
”All right,” Lorana said, stepping over to the boy, noting that as she approached the woman seemed to tighten her grip on her son's shoulder.
”h.e.l.lo, Jorad,” she said cheerfully, dropping to one knee in front of him.
He gazed at her, his expression a mix of uncertainty and awe. ”Are you really a Jedi?” he asked.
”Yes, indeed,” she a.s.sured him. ”I'm Jedi Jinzler. Can you say that?”
He pursed his lips uncertainly. ”Jedi Jisser?”
<script>