Entry 17

My aunt and uncle did a soft interrogation on Jonnar while in the speeder. The man was open to discussing just about anything except the number of witches in the galaxy and their locations. That is understandable. When a race is nearly wiped out one cannot afford to risk the lives of the surviving members. I knew Jonnar could trust the Skywalkers, but with my Uncle Luke being the last person known to kill a witch, I don't fault the man for being distrustful.

I am fairly sure my uncle and aunt were not going to take Jonnar's story at face value either, but the fact that he could have killed me and Ben and did everything possible to avoid that possibility made me believe he was exactly who he says he is.

We arrived to the docking bay and parked the speeder next to the Jade Shadow. As the ship's ramp lowered I could feel Jonnar's anxiety increase. He kept looking around nervously, searching for something.

The Grand Master smiled. "Your friends are here. Hanging out in the fringes." He started to climb up the boarding ramp and waved for us to follow. "You must be a well-respected leader. Your people are very concerned for your safety."

Jonnar gave a curt bob of the head. "I sensed them out there. I didn't order them to follow me."

Luke led us to the galley where Ben and I slid into a booth seat with Jonnar sitting across from us. My uncle sat at the end of the table. "Feel free to call them or invite one or two in if that makes you feel more comfortable."

"I'll tell them to stand fast and don't do anything reckless." He pulled a comlink out of his pocket and activated it. "Rokey?"

After a couple seconds we heard a voice over the speaker. "Here boss."

"I know you're out there. I'm safe. Keep a leash on the others. I don't want anybody doing something stupid…again"

"Can we do periodic comlink checks on you, boss?"

"Yeah, but I'm sure you will sense if I am under duress way before I miss a comcheck."

"Affirmative. Rokey out."

The witch put his comlink back into his pocket and then folded his hands on the table. "So, let's discuss business. I would like to keep the existence of my people as secret as possible. Do you have to make an official report to the Galactic Alliance? I don't want Chief-of-State Mokk Streke to go on a genocidal campaign to wipe my people out. I don't trust the man."

My Aunt Mara gave a snort as she sat down next to my uncle at the table. "If Streke is going to go on a warpath the Jedi will probably be his first target. He probably would trust a mind-witch over a Jedi any day."

My aunt is right. The chief-of-state has repeatedly professed anti-Jedi rhetoric. He even has my father on his watch list. For some reason the Chief-of-State thinks my father is secretly working with the Jedi Order and the Indupar monarchy in an effort to overthrow the Galactic Alliance. Which is nonsense…I think. My dad is definitely not working for the Jedi, but I am not quite sure the reasons behind the impressive build up of military forces on Indupar. I hope my son, King Marcus, is the driving force and not the H'drachi seers. I'd hate to think the seers have foreseen a war.

Jonnar and my Aunt continued to talk through my musings as I became acutely aware that I haven't eaten or used the 'fresher since I was stunned in the alley. I stood and excused myself.

After relieving my bladder I went to the galley to find something to eat. There I bumped into my Aunt getting drinks for the group.

"Aunt Mara. You said earlier you thought we were dead when we blinked out in the Force. Did you notify my family? If so, do they know I'm alright?"

She turned and gazed at me intently, one eyebrow raised slightly. "We contacted your father and told him our concerns. We thought there was a possibility that something was blocking the Force such as a ysalamiri. We asked him to come to Kuat because of his immunity to the animal's effects but he demurred."

I frowned at that statement. "My father demurred?"

My aunt obviously misunderstood my confusion. "It means balked or objected."

"I know what demurred means. I just don't understand why my father wouldn't offer to help you."

She shrugged. "I don't understand why your father does what he does anymore. All I know is I told him you were missing and possibly dead and he wasn't concerned. He said you and Ben would turn up eventually. Why would you father do that?"

I cleared my throat and glanced away. I was fairly certain my son was monitoring the time stream and let him know Ben and I were in no danger. Although my aunt and uncle are aware of the existence of the H'drachi seers they are unaware at their accuracy or the fact that I have a son who is a seer in training. I couldn't tell Aunt Mara that, so I simply lied. "I guess my father is confident in my abilities."

She scoffed as she placed the drinks on a tray to carry out to the eating area. "Is that the story you're going with?" She picked the tray laden with fizz drinks before shaking her head and giving me a disappointed look. "One day I'm going to figure out the secret."

My jaw dropped in shock. "What secret?"

"I don't know. That's why I said one day I will figure it out. I do know you and your father are hiding something….something big. And what really bothers me and your uncle is you don't trust us with the knowledge."

I looked around to make sure Jonnar couldn't hear our conversation. "Aunt Mara my family doesn't have any secrets involving the Jedi or the Galactic Alliance except for the cover up involving Jacen and his brush with the darkside. There are things I haven't told you but they are family issues and confidences. I think even Jedi deserve some family privacy."

Her green eyes bore into mine, but I refused to flinch. Finally she gave me a nod. "Fair enough." She left, leaving me in the galley to forage for food. I found some cold cuts and bread and made myself a sandwich before snatching a cold fizz drink out of the cooling unit. When I returned to the galley I found the Skywalker family laughing and joking with Jonnar like he was an old friend. For a moment I wondered if the mind-witch was projecting some soothing illusion to put my family at ease, but quickly dismissed the possibility. The Grand Master was on high alert and would pick up any type of mind tricks.

I slid into my seat just as the four burst out in laughter. "What's so funny?"

My uncle grinned at me. "Jonnar told us the story about your fake betrothal to his daughter and how you said you would rather face death because Zylie would do worse to you if you showed up with a second wife."

I blushed as I took a sip of my fizz drink. "Zylie would send her Vornskr to eat me."

My aunt chuckled before she turned her attention back to Jonnar. "You said your wayward witch is named Lita? How long have you been searching for her?"

The large man counted on his fingers. "Almost two weeks. We don't have access to public security holos to narrow our search. We mostly roam around the city and try to sense her presence. When we do we call in the swoop bike with the ysalamiri and try to get her within its Force void. That makes it easier to subdue her without violence. She knows banishment to an uninhabited planet will be her punishment and she will fight to the death to prevent that." He leaned back in his chair and gave us a sad smile. "We are a very social species. To be left in isolation is often a fate worse than death."

My Aunt Mara found humor in his words. "You're a social species because you need people to feed. Wont she slowly starve on an isolated planet?"

He shook his head. "She is capable of sustaining her body with food like you do…it's just…the craving for the taste of a life force is always there. Even now, I'm having problems being around you. I'm like an alcoholic at a wine festival." He glanced around the table. "Everything looks so tasty."

I gave a shudder at the sound of his voice. "Jonnar, do you realize how creepy that sounds."

He chuckled with a blush. "Sorry. I've never been around so many Jedi. It's almost like I can taste your life essence in the air." He shook his head. "I shouldn't stay too long. The craving becomes almost like a physical pain. I can understand why Lita pursued you."

Uncle Luke gave a sympathetic nod of his head. "Understandable. How do you want to proceed?"

The mind-witch ran his thick fingers through his hair as he thought about the question. "Why don't you go back to looking at security vids and let us know if you located her. We'll take over from there. Meanwhile I'll leave a few people to stake out your ship. She might try to lure you away once more. Four strong Jedi in one area has to be alluring."

Ben frowned. "Do you trust your people not to decide to break into our ship for a midnight snack?"

He spread his hands in an 'I don't know' gesture. "My people are trained, but we don't know what causes witches to go rogue. I assume it is just like any other addiction. They cross the line and draw too much life force at any one time and then they get addicted to the high. Mind-witches are just as prone to addiction as any human would be around alcohol or spice. I would hope their training would keep them from straying…but you never know." He looked at the four of us. "Can any one of you tell me for sure you would never fall to the darkside?" He looked my uncle straight in the eye. "Are you one-hundred percent confident that your Jedi would never stray?"

The Grand Master nodded slowly. "That is a good point. Hopefully we won't have a problem. We will go to the Public Security office tomorrow and try to find her using the facial recognition software. Can we contact you on the comlink number Ben used earlier?"

"Yes, he used my comlink."

Luke and Mara stood and reached over the table to shake Jonnar's hand. "I'm glad we had a chance to meet and talk." Uncle Luke looked toward Ben and then me. "Thank you for keeping a cool head and not harming Ben and Talon. I realize the discovery of your people's existence is troubling…especially knowing my history with mind-witches. I would never condone the genocide of a people and I fully support your efforts to capture homicidal witches. With your skill at illusions, perhaps we can work together in the future on different types of missions. You have a skill that would come in handy when it comes to Jedi Sentinel missions…which is basically law enforcement and undercover work." He pointed to Ben. "That is my son's specially."

Jonnar looked to me. "And what is your specialty? Your friend said you were a Void Jumper."

"I'm a Jedi Guardian, like my father was before me. We are the warrior class. I mainly do combat missions."

He looked me up and down. "That figures. You got the build and the intelligence of a grunt."

"Thanks," I said with a smile, but then wondered if that was a backhanded compliment. When I saw my aunt smirk I was positive Jonnar wasn't praising my intellect.

He smiled at my aunt and uncle. "I will wait for your call."

He exited the ship and disappeared around a corner where I suspect one of his people was waiting with a swoop bike or speeder.

Uncle Luke closed the ship and locked it up tight. "We might as well get some rest. You have a long day of watching security vids tomorrow."

I inwardly groaned at the prospect. "I would rather wander around town and hope to attract Lita."

"Sure," Ben said sarcastically. "We can put you in an undershirt that says 'One-hundred percent pure Jedi'on one side and 'Taste the difference' on the other."

"How about a shirt that just says 'Bite me', this way I can wear it around you when you get obnoxious."

"Children, please stop fighting," My aunt said with a roll of her eyes. "I don't know how your wives tolerate you two."

I gave a big shavit-eating grin. When I opened my mouth to talk my aunt's hand popped up in a halting motion. "I don't want to hear it."

My face dropped. "But it's a great come back."

She laughed. "I bet it is. I also know it's probably disgusting." She walked over to my uncle and wrapped an arm around his waist. "I think we all need to get some rest before tomorrow." My uncle grinned as they walked down into the corridor and disappeared into their cabin.

I turned to Ben. "They're not going to sleep, are they?"

He rolled his eyes. "Probably not for a while."

I gave a shiver. Those two were in their sixties and still doing mattress gymnastics. Yuck.

This is going to be a long night.