PunkAss-Rocker-Chick: That was the idea :) Glad it worked. I try to update quite regularly once a month, by the way.
Namonaki Pharao: Thank you! I'm really glad you like the twists and the characters since those are my main objectives when writing the story, more so than battles and duels, anyways… since I'm still struggling a bit with my English, the German version is a tad more complicated concerning language and style, for obvious reasons ;)
Tsebehtsiellivllams: Thank you!
FantasyChick: That was my reason for writing the story ;) Thanks for reviewing!
In case you're interested... I made a cover picture, which can be found on my homepage (Galerie/Titelbilder/Sand der Zeit).
The third month
Chapter Eleven: One of those days again
Coruscant, Jedi-Temple, Council Chambers
"Master?" Yoda blinked and looked up. Mace Windu's dark eyes gazed down on him with slight worry. "A disturbance, Master?"
The little green Jedi Grandmaster shook his head. "A strange feeling, this is", he said slowly. "Faint it is, not the Dark Side of the Force it is, but in the wrong place nevertheless." He fixed Mace with his eyes. "Here in our Temple, it is."
Yoda looked around and favoured the other Council Members with a short gaze, before he brought his attention back to the two Jedi whom he had talked to ere the Force had diverted him.
"Our decision, later you will learn, Master Kenobi, Knight Skywalker", he stated forcefully and closed the meeting with these words just as a young Jedi brought a message from the infirmary.
°°°
Coruscant, Jedi-Temple, Infirmary
"They have been found at one of the back doors", the healer in charge, a vaguely human looking Jedi namend Fié Aent, reported. "Nobody knows where they came from or who they are. Minimal injuries, just scratches and slight burns."
"They've just… appeared?", Adi Gallia asked, frowning.
"More or less", Fié replied, sighed softly and put his scanner aside, all the while his gaze never left his patients. "Someone felt a strong… maelstrom in the Force. When he looked around the next corner, those two lay there on the ground. They should wake up every second now, Master" he spoke to Yoda and inclined his head respectfully.
The diminutive Jedi-Master nodded and studied the men with patient curiosity. He did not have to wait long; one of them just then stirred and opened his eyes. Fié was at his side immediately.
"Easy", he instructed and scanned his head. "Sit up slowly, I don't know how long you've been unconscious", he added and nodded friendly.
"Where… who…", Yoda heard the man mumble, before he lifted himself up, swung his legs off the bed and sat up without acknowledging Aent's dissapproval. His gaze stopped at Yoda.
"What the...", he gasped, shook his head, obviously shocked, and closed his eyes. Quickly.
"Are you okay?", the healer asked at once.
The unknown man took a deep, shaky breath. "Either I'm dreaming or it's one of those days again", he answered and opened his eyes again. "And somehow I don't think I'm dreaming."
Mace Windu stepped next to Yoda. "What is your name?", he demanded to know.
The foreigner looked at him, thought for a moment and seemed to recognise him then. "Corran Horn", he replied and inclined his head slightly while he stood.
He was not exactly tall, but had a compact physique and was dressed in dark brown robes as well as a cloak of the same colour. His hair, brown, long and shot through with silver, was bound back loosely. Yoda thought he saw fear flicker in his eyes when he noticed the unconscious man on the other bed. He was at his side in the fraction of a second.
"Luke?", he asked softly. The other gasped slightly and awoke. "Master Whitesun?", he enquired again, still quietly and clearly worried.
For a few minutes everything was silent.
"I'm all right, Corran", another voice replied finally. Its owner looked as if he was a bit older than Horn for his shorter, once probably dark blond hair was mostly silver and white, his face marked by fine scars and wrinkles. When Fié helped him up it became obvious that he was not very tall, either, and of a rather slender build.
"And who are you?", Adi asked. She looked as if nothing could surprise her anymore.
"Luke Whitesun", the other answered, paused for a moment in his sedentary stance and opened his eyes.
°°°
Corran found himself face to face with an unknown healer, which worried him a bit.
"Easy", the foreigner said, using the typical tone of a doctor. "Sit up slowly, I don't know how long you've been unconscious", the man added after he had finished his scan, and nodded.
/How long have I been unconscious/
He vaguely remembered sparks, the sound of metal ripping and the sight of a figure collapsing to the ground, a maelstrom in the Force, then darkness.
"Where… who…", he mumbled dazzlingly, studied the ceiling above him and the furniture of the room that he could see from the corners of his eyes, everything new and shining. Nevertheless – or perhaps exactly because of this – something pricked and prodded him, something he could not identify at once. His gaze found the healer's scanner.
Corran had to visit the infirmary quite frequently and therefore was well informed about the recent progress in medical equipment. He knew enough to see that the healer's scanner dated back to a time when his grandfather had lived, not the New Republican era. Suddenly he did not feel inclined to listen to the healer anymore and sat up swiftly.
The first thing he saw was a tiny green alien with big ears, dressed in the brown robes of a Jedi-Master.
"What the…", he gasped and surpressed the Corellian curse on this tongue. He did not hear the healer's question, closed his eyes instead and scanned rapidly through all possible explanations for what he had seen.
/Concussion? Drugs? Visions...? No, I know my luck.../
"Either I'm dreaming or it's one of those days again", he answered and opened his eyes again. "And somehow I don't think I'm dreaming", he added when Yoda still stood in front of him. Alive and bearing a rather suspicious expression, mind you. A human looking, dark skinned Jedi-Master had stepped up next to him and gave him a glare that rivaled Luke's.
"What is your name?"
Corran appraised him shortly and searched his memory for the recordings of the Old Republic.
/Mace Windu. Why am I not surprised/
"Corran Horn", he replied truthfully, since the name Horn had been his identity for the better part of his life, even if he went by Halcyon right know – again. Cautiously he sent a gentle suggestion of honesty, just to be sure.
When he finally managed to tear his gaze away from Windu, he noticed something else, something that was almost more unsettling than the presence of two dead Jedi-Masters.
"Luke?"
Slight panic rose in him as he gazed down on Luke's expressionless face a second later, searching for a reaction. /The name Skywalker is out of question./ The thought shot through his head, accompanied by several theories what, by all Corellian hells, was just happening.
His voice seemed to have pulled Luke out of the unconsciousness for he took a deep breath and the veil in front of his mind thinned slowly.
"Master Whitesun?", Corran asked again, having picked the first name that came to his mind. /We have a big, big problem/ he sent a mental message.
/Hmm/ a sleepy reply came back.
/Stretch out with your Force senses, please, and tell me I'm not hallucinating/ Corran pleaded and grabbed Luke's shoulder, just in case. Contrary to his expectations, the other Jedi did not try to jump up when he understood the meaning of Corran's words.
/If it is a hallucination, I have it, too/ he answered tensely. /You felt the maelstrom, too, when 'it' happened, didn't you/
/Yes. Then you really think…/ Corran halted when Luke dove into the Force to search for answers.
/Nothing is impossible with the Force…/ the older Jedi finally sent. /It may be improbable, but I sense nothing that leads to another conclusion./
/Me neither. Luke, that's… what are we going to do/
The Corellian could feel that the older Jedi forced himself through several calming techniques with mental violence before he answered, unnaturally calm. /We will see./
/I expected you to say that. How do you feel/
"I'm fine, Corran", he answered softly and allowed a suddenly appearing healer to help him sit up, because although he was not in pain, his head spun a bit und the slight nagging on his mental shields did not help much, either.
He had to let the feeling sink in for a moment, before he realised that it was Yoda's presence that bumped against his shields lightly, unconsciously – the bond between him and his former Master was strong, even though Yoda did not know him yet – should his unspeakable assumption prove to be correct. The other persons were surrounded by a similar atmosphere of power and authority that, as a whole, threatened to take his breath. He strengthened his mental shields just enough to not appear to hide anything and let the Force calm his senses.
"And who are you?", he heard a female voice ask.
"Luke Whitesun", he replied after he remembered just in time and not without a mental shove from Corran which name the Corellian had addressed him with before. After he concentrated on identifying himself with the name as to not arouse any suspicion, he finally believed to be able to open his eyes despite the dizziness. His gaze took in Yoda, Windu and the woman who had spoken.
/Adi Gallia/ he mused.
/Probably, yes/ the assent came.
Nodding thankfully to Corran, he stood up. Quickly he inspected his surroundings, found the old equipment, just like his friend had, and finally forced himself to look at Yoda. He sincerely hoped that his old Master was not able to look past the deceit; he was not completely sure, though.
"Master", Luke greeted with forced calm and bowed slightly.
Yoda nodded and appraised the foreigner. "Not know you, I do. Not recognise your name, I do. Where come from, you do?"
Corran and Luke exchanged a glance.
/Do you seriously want to tell him that we've time-travelled/
/That's the general idea./
/Always assuming we've really time-travelled and this isn't some big… hallucination, vision, anything, just not a time travel./
/You don't like the idea, do you, Corran/
A mental snort answered Luke. /Do you? I don't even want to think about the catastrophe we could cause…/
/We can talk about that later. I will tell him the truth/ Luke stated resolutely.
/It's dangerous/ the Corellian muttered. /What about a nice little story…/
/Dangerous, yes. But do you really think we could lie to Yoda, of all beings? A change of name will not be noticed, but entirely fictional lifestories? No, that would not work. If this really is a time travel, there has been a reason for it to happen, a reason I want to find before we jump to conclusions/ Luke considered. /The more we tell them, the less they'll ask/ he added.
He felt that Corran was not convinced, but chose to ignore him.
"The question, Master, is not where, but when", he slowly replied and felt Corran nodding gloomily. "It seems as if we're sixty to seventy years in the past from our point of view", he carefully estimated. He was aware of his father's and Obi-Wan's presences a short distance away but could not say how old Anakin Skywalker was. To guess Yoda's age was even less productive.
"What happened?", Windu asked, not without suspicion.
Corran growled. "We were returning to the Temple from a meeting in the Senate and ran into a little problem with Dark Jedi, which led us down to Coruscant's lower levels. Somewhere in the darkness we felt a disturbance in the Force, but couldn't feel any danger and had no chance to turn around, anyway." He paused. "I remember a maelstrom in the Force, then Master Whitesun collapsing… that's it."
Luke nodded confirmatively and frowned, deep in concentration, but was not able to remember further details.
"You've been found at the back door on the lowest level of the Temple, unconscious", Fié Aent explained thoughtfully. "Corran Horn and Luke Whitesun, right?", he then asked and fiddled with a datapad. "I assume you hold the position of a Master." Although it was formulated as a statement, he sounded questioning. "In your time", Fié added when he noticed the frowns on the faces of the Council Members.
"Yes", Corran responded neutrally, but Luke heard him snorting in his mind.
"Necessary formalities, you have to understand." Fié studied the two of them yet again. "Master Whitesun, I insist that you lay back down or at least take a seat", he advised when he noticed Luke's pale face and the amount of Force use he relied on to remain upright and controlled.
Corran grasped his arm gently and led him back to the bed where he had awoken earlier on. Luke's last steps were wavering noticeably. His Force presence lost substance, as if it tried to get back into its own time.
While Corran lowered him carefully onto the bed, Fié was busy with his scanners.
"He's losing consciousness again…", he mumbled, worried about the shifting in the Force, and waved his assistant over.
"Luke?", Corran whispered and touched the other's senses with his own. /What is happening to you/
/I'm not sure/ came a weak reply. /But… Corran…/
"Master!"
Luke scratched together some last strands of consciousness to formulate a though. /I have a feeling… let me rest in the Force, it will be all right…/
The Corellian sighed, not entirely relieved, and squeezed Luke's hand. "He is fine. At least he believes that."
"Did Master Whitesun show health problems before your…" Aent hesitated. "… time travel?"
"Apart from the usual?", Corran asked wryly.
"Excessive labour and lack of sleep?"
"What else? No, I don't think so. On the other hand... we did not see each other often during the last few weeks", he answered with carefully controlled words that did not let his own tiredness show.
°°°
Coruscant, Jedi-Temple, Whitesun Apartment
"The fact that we've received quarters is not a good sign in my opinion. The Council does not seem to know how we're going to get back home", Corran remarked a day cycle later after Luke had finally awoken and got over the initial desorientation. "And I'm quite sure by now that this is not a vision and not a hallucination, either", he added.
Luke allowed the other to help him up and followed him into the small living room in silence. His cloak lay there, dropped over a chair-back, next to different piles of clothing he had received from the Temple's Administration.
While Corran plopped down on the couch, he strolled over to the front of windows and looked out onto the nightly Coruscant, which was different from the one he knew, but familiar nonetheless.
A few minutes later the Corellian sighed. "Master Sky… Whitesun, I know Yoda was your Master and the respect you want to pay him. But that does not change anything."
"What are you getting at?", Luke asked in a soft tone, which showed clearly that he exactly knew where this talk would end up.
Corran snorted. "You know me. I know myself. I don't know how to act around a Council that doesn't recognise a Sith Lord operating directly in front of their noses."
Luke did not move, but a warning crackled in the Force. "You are not going to tell them. You are not going to tell them anything that might change the future permanently."
Despite the tiredness of the older Jedi's voice, Corran caught an underlying tone which told him that it would be a very bad idea to contradict right now.
"As you wish", he complied. "May I ask why?"
"You may. But not tonight, because it's a long explanation I'm going to give. Have to give."
/Not that it will help us. And the next time I can live without being pulled into Light's Last Home forcefully, too/ he thought and grimaced. /If Ulic tries that again one more time…/
To be continued…
Chapter Twelve: Many Meetings
Wrong time, wrong Order, the wrong questions and aside from that – what now?
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