Chapter 1

The teaching android, a new version of robotics that had been implanted with humor chips in an effort to make them more interactive with sentient beings, stopped hovering and gently landed on the cold steel floor in the center of the classroom. Her optical sensors focused n him. All six hundred pairs of eyes sitting in the classroom turned to him. He straightened himself and ignored the few teetering laughs around him. He looked up at the holoboard and saw the image displayed up there: Endor.

"Mr. Ona Parissian, have you been sleeping in class again?" the android asked with an almost perfect human intonation of a tease.

Ona cleared his throat. Sixteen years had passed since the Rebels had destroyed the second Death Star. The death of both Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader had for the most part ended the Empire. Many generals and new leaders remained out in the universe but mostly operated selfishly. Because of that, the Empire had very little clout. Most systems that had been enslaved by the Empire were now part of the New Federation and were prospering in relative safety. Local governors ruled as their people saw fit and for the most part, it was very democratic.

Ever since Ona had been a little boy he had been fascinated with that last great battle at Endor that defeated the Empire. It wasn't because the entire galaxy had radically changed in that one day nor because it had become an intergalactic holiday. It wasn't that each and every year he had attended school thus far somehow managed to cover that battle. For Ona, it ran a lot more personal than that.

His mother had been part of the small, elite team that had landed on that small moon, allowing the Rebel fleet to destroy the Death Star. Although her part was hardly mentioned in the history annals, she had shared with him many stories of her adventure there as bedtime stories. If he asked nicely, once in a while she would show him a small token she had taken before they left after the huge celebration under the stars. It was a claw that many of the Ewoks carried around their necks. He had asked hundreds of times to tell him which Ewok had given that to her but to date, she held that secret firm.

Those stories fueled his hunger for knowledge about that pivotal point in time. Most kids he knew preferred the first space battle that resulted in the destruction of the first Death Star but that battle had only set events in motion that altered the lives of the people he so admired: the heroes of the Rebel Alliance. He had studied closely all the major players and even had holograms on his walls of artistic renderings of the event. Han Solo, Princess Leia, Chewbacca, C3P0, and R2D2 against a forestall backdrop. Floating in space, he had Admiral Ackbar, Lando and of course Luke Skywalker; especially Luke Skywalker.

"Um, no. Not at all. I'm just in awe. Did you say Master Skywalker is coming here?"

The class openly laughed at the question. The teacher assessed the mood and responded in kind, as it was programmed to do. "That is correct Ona. We are being honored with his presence next week. As we previously studied, our leaders have been working hard on reaching an agreement with the new Trade Federation and Master Skywalker himself will make sure that the deal is beneficial to both parties. Since he will be arriving one day before the meetings start, he has requested to speak to our class. Of course, we agreed immediately."

Ona nodded. "I heard that part."

The class erupted in laughter again. The class resembled a senate chamber, a mini-round arena. In the center the holoboard displayed the lessons being taught to all the students at the same time and with great clarity. It was designed so that each and every seat in the classroom had a perfect, dead-on view of it. There was a circular space between the holoboard and the first row of desks, designed for the android teacher to quickly circle around and keep notice of all students. As she taught the lessons, she hovered in short circular orbit about 3 feet from the ground. When she asked a student a question, she landed on her short feet and focused her optical receptors on that one student. As she was doing now to Ona.

Ona cleared his throat. "I'm sorry, I didn't get your question."

The teacher made a disappointed series of beeps before it spoke words. "Yes, well what I had previously stated was that each of you will prepare three questions for him. Not all of you will get to ask them, of course; otherwise he will be here for weeks on end. Three of you will be randomly selected to voice your queries. I have called upon you, Mr. Parissian, to share a question you might ask Master Skywalker should you be chosen."

Ona shifted uncomfortably in his seat. The class laughed at his embarrassment, as they always did. He looked at the image of Endor floating in front of him on the holoboard. "I, um, I have not really thought about it."

As the laughter died down, the teacher android insisted. "Perhaps you can come up with one right now then – just for the sake of our assignment."

Ona nodded. What would he ask the lone remaining Jedi Master? Sure, he had re-opened the Jedi Academy but as far as he knew, no one had graduated quite yet. Perhaps that would not be public knowledge but somehow he knew his belief to be true. Taking a deep breath and concentrating, he willed the class to cease their laughter. A neat trick he had discovered as a very young boy.

He remembered the first time he had done so. He had been about three years old in a toy store. Being the only son of a single woman that worked for the local head of trade meant that they didn't have a lot of discretionary income. On the rare occasions that he was treated to a trip to the toy store, he knew even at that young age that he would have to choose something from the lowest priced section, or something in the used bins. That bright day, he happened to run into another boy his age holding the latest interactive "friend-bot," a small android, shaped like a dinner plate that hovered around the control band that the child would wear around the wrist, an interactive boomerang of sorts with retractable arms capable of carrying objects up to 80 pounds back to its owner. Ona had seen advertisements for it and he wanted one.

The boy looked at him and sneered. Being the latest toy tat summer, it carried a premium price. Instinctively he knew they could not afford it. Ona really wanted one, though. As his mother came to check up on him, she saw him stare at the boy, concentrating hard, eyes almost shut and beads of sweat building on his brow. Suddenly, the other boy blinked, seemed to doze off and then quickly walked over to Ona and hand handing him his toy, as if in a trance. Before Ona reached out to grab it, his mother yanked him by the arm and dragged him out of the store. As his concentration broke, the other boy blinked again and looked confused before realizing that he didn't want to be in the toy store anymore.

Ona looked up at his mother as they almost ran through the busy street. He could see she was frightened. When she got him home, she locked all the doors and made him swear to never do that again. Now also frightened, he began to cry and swore not to do it again, although he didn't understand what he had done exactly. It took him a few more years before he understood that he could control the thoughts of others. Very difficult at first, he found it easier as he got older and practiced more.

It worked on most people, and last year he had been shocked to discover that if he really concentrated, he could have the same effect on androids. It wasn't exactly identical but it felt as if he could momentarily reprogram them to do as he asked them to. He had only practiced on the simpler androids to that date, like the street sweepers or the food processors, but as that got easier for him, he planned on using it on more complex robotics, like his teacher. Being extra careful to keep his secret, he never spoke a word or made the slightest physical gesture while he did his trick.

The laughter stopped almost immediately. Ona smiled and looked at the teacher. "I guess I would ask him how long does he believe it will take the Jedi Academy to be back at full strength, as it was prior to the rise of the Sith lords."

The teacher android nodded her oblong, shiny head. "Although that is a good question, I would suggest we stay on more diplomatic topics. We don't want to burden Master Skywalker with a question he has probably receive thousands of times."

"Then I would ask him why the New Federation is using old Empire tactics to get new systems to join them. Why they sell their 'protection' when at the time they were defeating the Empire, they were fighting to abolish such deals."

The teacher issued a short series of beeps and whirs before it spoke. Ona, we should try to keep it local."

"Okay. Why is he really here? We are a small system and we're far from the center of action, but yet he makes a bi-annual visit here. Why?"

The teacher android processed the questions and nodded. "Very good questions and more in tone with the point of his visit. Good work Mr. Parissian, may you be lucky enough to meet him and ask him those questions. Miss Entrow, what about you?

As the class shifted focus from him to the other side of the classroom, Ona turned his eyes back to the moon of Endor. It had been there that his existence had begun. Not on technical or practical terms, but without that encounter there, he would not be sitting in the classroom.

"Luck will have nothing to do with it." He muttered under his breath, unaware that his hands had become tight fists. "He will seek me out, and he will find me. And boy, is he in for a shock."

The boy next to him, whom he sometimes called his friend, leaned over quietly. They had to be careful as the android teachers had excellent audio receptors. "What did you just say?"

Without looking at the boy, Ona sent out a subtle and quick command: you heard nothing. He then turned to him, eyebrow cocked, asking for clarification. The boy had a momentary look of confusion, then his eyes focused. "Those were good questions."

The boy sat straight in his seat and focused on the answer the young lady was giving the teacher. Ona turned his attention back to Endor.