Chapter 6
The exiles had spent the night in a pair of staterooms that were kept vacant on the Enterprise. Even Kee-Xi slept a full night in peace, the first time he'd done such in years. Waking up brought with it the thoughts going through his head, about the purpose he'd embarked upon and how the Force had left it so wonderfully intact.
No longer was he having to consider rebuilding the Jedi Order out on the fringes of the Rim or the unmapped reaches of the Unknown Regions, on the cusp of Imperial authority. Now he was far beyond it, in a new galaxy where the Empire would never reach them. All of his late reading on the Federation and its charter increased his contentment. There would be skeptics, sure... but they could be won over.
As Kee-Xi finished waking up, he shook loose these thoughts for now. Spock had invited him to a private breakfast to discuss Jedi philosophy, and Kee-Xi was equally interested to learn that of the Vulcans. He cleaned himself in the quarters' refresher and put on a fresh set of robes. His belt, with lightsaber, went on under it. He no longer feared attack, but the habit of a lifetime was impossible to break even here.
Silas had stirred by now as well. He was finished in the refresher by the time Kee-Xi was ready to leave. "I hope to try out this ship's recreation areas today, Master," he said. "And to continue refining my Soresu technique."
"If you find find an appropriate venue for lightsaber exercises, do so. But remember we are among those unfamiliar with our ways. Above all else you must do nothing that can be construed as threatening."
"Understood, Master," Silas answered.
"And take Zeala with you. She benefits greatly from your example in saber wielding." Kee-Xi noticed the brief appearance of a blush on his Padawan's face. "You are thinking of her, are you not?"
"What?" Betrayed by his thoughts, Silas sternly shook his head. "I'm just pleased to be able to help her, Master."
A thin smile came to Kee-Xi's face. "Silas, my dear apprentice, you may have noticed our circumstances have changed. You needn't fear the opprobrium of the Council here."
Silas nodded. "Still, Master, I know not to seek attachment and to resist it..."
"She cares for you, Silas. And you for her. I sensed it back on Lumin Prime." Kee-Xi sighed softly. "Silas, the Jedi Code is a wonderful thing. But keep in mind that attachment is a part of life. We form them by nature. It is not the attachment itself we must fear, it is reliance upon it in our lives. We must be willing to accept its end; to do otherwise will bring fear."
"And from fear comes anger, and anger to hate," Silas finished for him.
"And hate to suffering," Kee-Xi added. "The only reservation you should have over attachment, my apprentice, is in not being willing to accept its termination. If you feel you cannot, then avoiding it is best. But even that leads to a terrible path, the path of isolation from the world, and with it the Living Force that binds us."
"I... understand, Master," Silas said. He gazed at his teacher with a look of bewilderment and wonder. He had never expressed such thoughts before; to hear them now made Silas wonder if he had ever truly known his Master's thoughts instead of those that Kee-Xi wanted him, and undoubtedly the other Jedi, to know.
Before their discussion could continue, the door chime sounded. Kee-Xi went to it and commanded it to open. Spock was there, clad in black Vulcan robes. "I have taken the liberty of preparing our breakfast in my quarters, Master Kee-Xi," he stated. "There are artifacts of interest there for your introduction to the ways of Surak."
"I see. I shall enjoy seeing them, Captain." Kee-Xi turned back to Silas and gave him a nod before walking out of the door.
Zeala had woken up early when she felt the sensation of someone in need. After taking the time to use the refresher she moved through the ship to follow her senses. Soon enough the Force had led her to a familiar place; sickbay.
Inside there were few people, but the nurses were gathered around a young man in a standard crewman's uniform. When she saw the odd way the man's arm and leg were set, she knew he'd broken both limbs, and badly. "Excuse me?" She stepped up carefully and bowed toward the lead nurse. "Maybe I can assist?"
"Do you have medical training, young lady?", the nurse asked.
"I am trained as a healer, yes," Zeala replied, though she got the feeling it wasn't quite the same thing they were looking for.
"Complex fractures of the tibia..." The nurse laid off the broken bones, terms that Zeala didn't know. Nor did she need to; she knew what was wrong with the young man, and how to help him.
"Please stand back," she said, almost softly enough to be a whisper. Zeala laid her hands on both broken joints. Through the Force she blocked the pain from the suffering crewman, who watched in fascination and relief as his bones painlessly slid back into alignment. Zeala drew in a breath and concentrated further, feeling the breaks with the Force and coaxing them into coming back together as well as she could. "The breaks are set," she said to the others, who were staring in wonderment. "They will be easy to mend together now."
"It... it didn't hurt," the crewman stammered. "Not one bit."
"I would not permit you to suffer." Zeala turned away from the bed and the gawking nurses and found Doctor McCoy standing at the opening to what looked to be his office. "Doctor, good morning."
"Good morning, young lady." McCoy gestured to her to come over, which she did. "So, this would be that Force stuff your boss kept talking about last night?"
"It is, Doctor McCoy," Zeala replied. "It is not an easy skill, and it requires great sensitivity to the Force..."
"All I know is that you set that man's bones without a drop of anesthetic and he didn't make a peep," McCoy said. "Magic mumbo-jumbo or not, I can't argue with it. So, are you looking for a bit to eat?"
"I am, perhaps, a little hungry..."
"Well, young lady, it just so happens that I had a proper breakfast prepared this morning, and they still have some left..."
What McCoy terrmed a "proper" breakfast was a white grainy soup that he called "Good, proper grits", fluffy yellow food that even Zeala knew to be scrambled egg yolk - though what creature's eggs she didn't know - and flat pieces of meat called "bacon". She ate it quietly as McCoy finished his own. As she was finishing he looked up to her. "Now that you've got a good breakfast to digest, how about we talk a little bit?"
Zeala finished swallowing some grits. "What is it you wish to know, Doctor McCoy?"
"Well, for starters, how you're feeling."
Zeala looked at him carefully. "You wish to show sympathy for all that I've lost," she remarked.
"I already have the sympathy, young lady, but I'm more concerned with how you're feeling. You've been through a lot given what your master told us."
"Yes," Zeala agreed. She could feel the sadness and grief well up inside even now, given the fresh reminder of what she'd lost. Her Master, all the younglings she'd grown up with... all were gone except for Silas. "But I shouldn't feel sad. I am a Jedi. 'There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no death, there is the Force.'"
"Ah, some mantra they teach you at the Jedi school?", McCoy asked. "Sounds like something a Vulcan might come up with..."
"They are the first and last lines of the Jedi Code, Doctor," Zeala informed him. "Jedi must not give in to emotions. We have to avoid strong attachments. Otherwise we will know fear. Fear becomes anger. Anger leads to hate. And hate leads to suffering."
"Even my green-blooded friend has attachments. They're a part of living, young lady. You can't avoid them." A soft grin crossed McCoy's face. "And given the way you look at that fine young man your master also teaches, I'd say you already have them."
Zeala's cheeks turned bright red. She drew in a breath and thought again how much she enjoyed being around Silas again. His infectious confidence filled her with hope even given their circumstances. "I... he was a fellow youngling..."
"And you're both about the same age. And given this whole bunk about attachments, I'm guessing neither of you has ever given a thought about where it's leading."
"Jedi0 cannot be... involved," Zeala insisted.
Sure. I bet your Master was plenty uninvolved... At that McCoy stopped his thought. Blast it, he forgot these people were able to sense those kinds of emotions!
And indeed, Zeala's mouth opened from shock as she sensed the thought in him. Sensed the truth that McCoy had discovered. "But... how?", she wondered aloud.
"I think, young lady, we should find something else to talk about," McCoy said quietly. "And I need to speak to Master Laden."
Before Zeala could say anything, the door to sickbay opened behind them. Silas stepped in and turned toward them. "Zeala, there you are," he said. "I was coming to see if you wanted to work on your Soresu technique with me."
"Oh, of course," Zeala answered quickly. Too quickly. She dared not think of what she had just sensed from McCoy. "Doctor, I will see you later," she said politely to him, taking her empty plate with her to return as she left with Silas.
"When do they ever learn?", McCoy pondered aloud before returning to work.
Kee-Xi and Spock were seated across from each other at the small table in Spock's quarters. A book of Surak's teachings remained open between them, Spock translating for Kee-Xi as needed.
"Surak would have undoubtedly been a great Jedi philosopher," Kee-Xi finally said as they finished one writing.
"Your teachings and Surak's share great similarities." Spock placed his hands together before him. "The Jedi Code will be a matter of great discussion when it becomes known on Vulcan."
"I will enjoy answering any questions your people have about the Force and the Code." Kee-Xi closed the book before him. "Although I admit it reminds me of all that we have lost." He thought of the last few years of his life and how everything he'd cherished had been taken away.
Almost everything, anyway.
"Surak wrote deeply on the subject in his time," Spock said, flipping the book. "The relevant writings are some of the more prosaic of his works..."
Diya had returned immediately to the Lightrunner upon finishing breakfast. Zeefive had spent the night aboard the ship and was waiting at the ramp. He warbled in concern to her. "No, they're not taking our ship apart," she assured him. "I think they're just curious at looking what's inside."
With Zeefive following Diya went up into the ship. A team of the Enterprise's engineers were certainly going through the vessel, removing panels and examining wiring. But nothing had been actually disassembled.
Diya headed to the engine room and found a few engineers looking over the machinery and displays. She recognized their leader, Mister Scott, hunched over one of them. Seeing him dabble with buttons, she called out. "Can I help you with something?"
The older, rotund human looked back toward her. "Ah, lass, ye widnae happen t' know how t' read these diagnostics, wid ye?"
The strange accent made Diya giggle as she bounded up to the display. "Oh, the hyperdrive readiness tests? Those are simple on a YT-1300." She keyed the appropriate sequence and watched the holodisplay begin the appropriate tests. Naturally red characters flashed to indicate the lack of fuel. "Given we had it running for almost 2 months, the hyperdrive still looks good," she remarked, pointing to some of the indicators. "Corellians know their starships."
"I can imagine." Scott looked at her intently. "And how did a wee lass like ye learn t' understand starships?"
"I grew up near a regional spaceport," Diya answered. "And a lot of the independent ship captains taught me through showing in exchange for me playing errand girl or giving them information."
"Ah." Scott nodded. "Nothing like hands on experience."
Diya shrugged. "Silas said I did pretty well at keeping the Lightrunner going while we were crossing galaxies, but I've always wanted to fly her..."
"Aye, everyone wants t' be a ship pilot when they're wee kids." Scott smiled at her. "But the real challenge is t' become a ship engineer. T' know how she works and how t' fix her."
"Why can't I be both?"
"Never said ye had t' choose, lass, not at all." Scott looked at the readout thoughtfully. Diya thought she could see gears turning in his mind. "Say, lass, wid ye mind stayin' t' help out? I'd really like t' give a close examination t' this fine ship."
Diya gave him a grin. "Sure."
"I'll make it up t' ye."
The rec room had one corner set up with a 4D Chess machine, just like Herb Tanner had designed so many years ago on the original Enterprise. Kirk often enjoyed going up against Spock in the game, even if he won precious few victories. He'd come to continue the game they'd left the prior day when they'd been due back on the bridge, but found that Spock for once was not here first.
Usually at least some of the off-duty Enterprise crew were scattered about, enjoying various activities. But a crowd had now gathered over by the gym mat, where various officers and enlisted personnel practiced their martial arts skills. Kirk went over by the wall to slip by and see what was going on.
The two Jedi apprentices, Silas and Zeala, were engaged in a mock combat. And it was not unarmed combat; Kirk recognized the devices that were always hanging from the belts of Kee-Xi and his students, and they were now in hand, lit up with what looked to be energy blades of pure light. Silas' blue weapon clashed repeatedly against the bright purple of Zeala's, clearly putting her on the defensive. Or so it seemed, but it occurred to Kirk that Zeala was intentionally staying on the defensive, focusing on thwarting every attack. He briefly wondered how Sulu would be considering this developing fight.
Zeala suddenly shifted into an offensive attack. But it wasn't quite bold enough and Silas parried it easily, He swung around and thrust his weapon partially into her stomach, causing her to fall over. The entire crowd held its breath and a few cries of surprise came up, but when Silas pulled his weapon back and turned it off, there was nothing to show he'd just struck her. "You're getting better, Zeala," he told her, holding a hand out to her. "Soresu is a good form for you."
"Your Ataru is almost impossible to guard against." Zeala accepted his hand and was pulled to her feet. A bit of redness appeared in her cheeks and she shied away from looking too closely into Silas' eyes.
"Unless I'm sparring with Master Kee-Xi," Silas added humbly. He looked around at the assembled crew. "Um... we apologize for taking so much time up."
"Uh, no problem," the ship's rec room planner spoke up. He was a new member of the crew, and it took Kirk almost five seconds to remember his name was Bithlow; a depressing thing since he used to be able to recall every one of the 400 crew under his command when he was younger.
"Very impressive indeed."
The crowd parted almost as a sole entity to permit Kee-Xi to pass through, Spock behind him. "I sensed the battle as we came. Silas, your efforts to train your fellow apprentice are well-appreciated. Zeala, your skill with a lightsaber shows further improvement. But in order to not monopolize the crew's time it is probably best that you have further training back on our ship."
They both bowed. "Of course, Master. Thank you." Silas stepped forward first, Zeala following, to open up the mat for general use.
"A most impressive weapon," Spock remarked. "The containment field for the energy works as deflection for energy weapons, I presume?"
"Yes."
Kirk showed some surprise as he stepped up to them. "A presumption, Spock?"
"A logical conclusion, Jim," Spock answered. "Given the goals of the Jedi Order and the likelihood of facing opponents possessing firearms, it is obvious that if they employ melee weapons they must have a means of defense against ranged firepower. The lightsaber is therefore logically capable of using the same containment field that holds its energy in place to reflect energy directed at it externally."
"Still, enough firearms and even that won't save you."
"You are correct, Captain," Kee-Xi said. "That is why we are careful in picking our fights."
"Aren't we all?" Kirk flashed a slight grin to them. "Master Kee-Xi, if you would like to observe, Mister Spock and I have a game of 4D Chess to continue."
"More likely conclude, Captain," Spock answered. "I suspect I will have you in checkmate within eight moves."
"We'll see, Mister Spock. We'll see."
It was seven moves later when Kee-Xi sensed Doctor McCoy approaching. He had been engrossed in the game between Kirk and Spock, marveling at their matter-transmission technology and how they used it to employ such a game, where players could remove pieces from the board and return them within their movement range at will. It was a strategist's game, requiring understanding of your opponent's preferences in strategy to do well.
Now he turned to face McCoy, who motioned him over to a corner. He sensed that the doctor had something of import to share with him, though he saw no need to seek that out. "Doctor McCoy, what may I do for you?"
"it might be more of what I can do for you," McCoy said. "I got results from yesterday's genetic scans. If not for your young lady I wouldn't have realized you didn't know what I found out."
"And that would be, Doctor?" But as he said those words, Kee-Xi sensed the truth. And his breathing became very still.
"Silas may be your student, Master Laden, but he's also your son."
Hearing McCoy speak those words prompted Kee-Xi to close his eyes and force a breath inward. "I see. I suppose I should not be surprised."
McCoy nodded. "So you didn't know."
"In retrospect, I should have," he answered. "The Council undoubtedly assigned him to me as a test. They expected me to find out eventually. If not for the war, I might have..."
"A test? Why those cold-blooded..." McCoy shook his head. It seemed completely and utterly wrong to him that the Jedi leaders would do something like not telling the man he had a son. "What were they testing for?"
"Attachment, I suspect," Kee-Xi answered. "Attachments are forbidden to a Jedi. Not that we don't develop them anyway, but they must be kept in check, and if they get too strong it can lead to reassignment within the Order, or even expulsion. That is a fate I had already suffered."
The answer was obvious to McCoy. "Silas' mother?"
"Yes." Kee-Xi nodded. "Tyva Nos Sirt. She was my age though I passed my Trials first. As a young Jedi Knight trained by a member of the Jedi Council, I was trusted with finishing her training. An emergency situation led to us being assigned to a cold world in the Mid-Rim. The planet was barely inhabited and was becoming a base for pirates. We had keep watch for such ships. This required us to remain in the wild for long periods of time."
"I can see where this is going," McCoy remarked sagely. "I believe the kids call that 'Shared body warmth'."
A very slight smile came to Kee-Xi's face. "I suppose so. Tyva and I remained together and she passed her Trials upon our return to Coruscant. A month later, I was called before the Council. Tyva was with child, and the medical droids had confirmed when she conceived. It was clear I was the father." Painful memories came up within the Jedi. "Master Windu moved for my immediate expulsion from the Jedi Order and a number of the other Masters backed him. Master Yoda and my master, Master Dooku, conceived the compromise. I was banished from Coruscant and ordered to live on the Outer Rim, where support for my life would be sparse beyond whatever missions the Order bade me to carry out. I was told I would never be eligible for the title of Master, nor would I be permitted a Padawan to train until I had proven myself a disciplined Jedi. It was ten years before they permitted me to take Silas as my Padawan."
McCoy shook his head. "Well, what in blazes did these people expect? You put two young people together in a tense situation, this kind of thing happens! And then handing your son to you so they could mess with you? Someone should've talked sense into those idiotic, narrow-minded..."
Kee-Xi allowed McCoy to continue his rant at the Jedi Council. For the moment he felt a number of sentiments well up in him. He had always felt a strong affection for young Silas, and he supposed Silas looked something like his mother if you looked at his face...
He is my son.
More than that, he knew his son was in love. He knew that Silas and Zeala were forming an attachment. Years of Jedi training were telling him to forbid it, but his heart was telling him otherwise. His instincts were telling him to let them make that decision for themselves.
After all.. hadn't the Jedi Order fallen in part due to its own refusal to interact with the world? It's attempt to isolate itself from worldly concerns? It had detached itself, and from that detachment grew ignorance, a complete lack of understanding that had made the Order unable to cope with the challenges facing the Republic. Would he really want to repeat those mistakes here?
But that way lies danger. Attachments could become unbreakable. And people would do anything for an attachment they could not let go of. The Dark Side tempted such people. He couldn't bear the thought of losing Silas to the Dark Side...
McCoy had stopped his tirade and was looking intently at Kee-Xi. The Jedi Master returned the look and bowed his head. "Thank you, Doctor."
"So, what are you going to do about your kid and that fine young lady?", McCoy asked.
"I think I shall leave that up to them, and to the Living Force," Kee-Xi answered.
The Jedi had all departed, and Spock had long won his game against Kirk, when the three old friends sat together in a corner of the rec room to enjoy a meal before returning to their duty stations. McCoy was still visibly bristling over earlier. "I think if this 'Jedi Council' had come around, I'd have given them a piece of my mind," he grumbled.
"You are referring to discovering Master Kee-Xi's relationship to Silas," Spock inferred.
"Bad enough they didn't tell the man he had a kid, but they then use the kid as some perverse test against him?" McCoy shook his head. "I'd have had words with these men."
"The approach was perhaps inappropriate, but it is logical that the Council would be concerned on the issue of violations of the Jedi Code and Jedi traditions." Spock kept his hands pressed together on the table in a gesture of thought. "Master Kee-Xi's youthful indiscretion gives reason to test his devotion to their laws."
"You mean all that hogwash about not having attachments?"
"I would not consider such to be 'hogwash', Doctor," Spock countered, "though I can see why you would be opposed. Indeed, I would argue a correlation between Surak's teachings and the Jedi Code."
Kirk looked up from his meal at that comment. "Really, Spock?"
"Indeed, Captain. 'There is no emotion, there is peace', is the first line of their Code, an underlying basis of their philosophy, just as Surak wrote that emotion clouded the mind and distorted judgement."
McCoy rolled his eyes.
Ignoring him, Spock continued. "'There is no ignorance, there is knowledge.' The Jedi, like Surak, encourage the pursuit of knowledge for its own sake. 'There is no passion, there is serenity'. By restraining all emotion, and the violent passions they give birth to, a Jedi achieves a serene state of mind, just as Surak encouraged all Vulcans to do. 'There is no chaos, here is harmony'. Surak wrote many times on the need for harmony of thoughts to prevent chaos in the mind. And the final line... 'There is no death, there is the Force.'" Spock's expression turned almost... bemused. "I believe we are all familiar with the concept of katra."
"How could I forget?", McCoy grumbled.
"Now, on the issue that Doctor McCoy is so concerned with. Is it not logical that the Jedi would forbid attachment to themselves, romantic and familial? Think of our own Starfleet and its regulations on forbidding officers from commanding their spouses or their children in their direct chain of command. Or of the practice of legal magistrates refusing to rule in any issue involving those they are attached to? Doctor McCoy, you would not permit a surgeon under your command to operate on their spouse or child."
"No, but.." McCoy drew in a sigh. He knew Spock had him.
"Such a surgeon could not be objective in an operation. Their medical judgement would be impaired. Just as a Starfleet captain would have his or her judgement influenced by the presence of a loved one. We must remember that the Jedi were not simply a monastic order of philosophers. They were an institution of peacekeepers, tasked with defending the peace and dispensing impartial justice. Much, I would add, like Starfleet considers itself to do aside from upholding the needs and interests of the Federation."
"Or even possibly in contradiction to," Kirk noted. There had been times when the practical needs of Starfleet and Federation interests had countered the interests of justice, and a number of Starfleet captains had become famous, or infamous, for ruling one way or another.
"Indeed, Captain. As such an organization, and given the powers they wield through this 'Force', it is logical that the Jedi would seek to avoid attachments that might undermine their impartiality and judgement, just like Starfleet avoids assigning family members to the same post whenever possible."
"But we're still permitted to have relationships with other people," McCoy retorted. "We form attachments, Spock, it's simply a part of being alive. Trying to forbid it is like asking someone to not be Human."
"Specieism in your choice of words aside, Doctor, I would point out that even the Jedi recognized this difficulty, and arranged their Order accordingly. Though given Master Kee-Xi's statements I ponder if he will direct any successors down a different path."
"I would hope so. I've been thinking of the history he laid out for us." Kirk looked from McCoy to Spock. "Forgoing attachment to keep yourself from being biased is all well and good in theory... but people don't work that way. Not even Vulcans. When you refuse all attachment to the world, you don't just lose bias and prejudice. You lose your connection to everything around you. Basic, every day life becomes something alien. How can you maintain justice in a world, not to mention an entire galaxy, if you don't understand it?"
Spock nodded. "An interesting conundrum, Captain."
"It's not just a conundrum, Spock. It goes to the heart of why they failed in their galaxy, and why they might fail here too. You can't protect what you don't understand."
"I am uncertain as to the logic of that statement, Captain."
"We can discuss it further over dinner," Kirk said. "For now, I believe we will be wanted on the bridge."
The crew of the Karlikar could only watch in helplessness as their ship's engineer's mate collapsed lifelessly, strangled to death by Mantas, "Darth Vindis". For such rough men strangulation was not a unique way to die. Being strangled by nothingness, however, certainly was.
"I will not tolerate excuses!", Vindis thundered. "I must catch this 'Starship Enterprise' and ensure that none aboard survive!"
"It's a bleedin' Constitution-class starship!" One of the pirates, the Human navigation officer Al Sunderland, got the attention of Darth Vindis. "It'll blow us to atoms!"
"Idiots. What kind of pirates are you?!" Vindis reached out, and now Sunderland found himself choking for air as an invisible force began to crush his airpipe. "If brute force will not work... we shall employ trickery. And if you succeed in this, why, perhaps you can claim the vessel for yourself." Vindis looked out at the assembled men. "Imagine how many worlds you could raid with such a ship?"
Almost as an afterthought, he let Sunderland go.
As Sunderland crashed to the ground, sucking in air desperately, Vindis looked intently at each man in the pirate crew. "Come with me," he said, "and I shall make you wealthy beyond imagination, and ensure you gain power you could never have hoped to attain by yourselves. You will no longer be competing for scraps!"
Through the Force Vindis had felt the general discontent on board with the late captain, the lust for wealth and strength amongst those alive, and now he dangled it in front of them. He fanned the embers in their hearts until they were full flames. Now he needn't even threaten to kill them if they refused; he had made them want to do as he said. It was a sweet triumph.
"Let us make our plans!", Vindis announced. "And soon, the Enterprise will be ours!"
The crew roared their approval.
