Entry 40

I guess totally embarrassing myself in front of the doctor has its advantages…it seemed to make the man more receptive to conversation.

After he took blood samples from Ben and me, he looked over in my direction as he placed the vials in a cooling unit and chuckled. "You have a wonderfully sardonic sense of humor, Jedi Tantiss."

Hey, if the doctor wanted to believe I was just joking and not honestly confused as to what type of DNA sample requested…then that is fine by me. I smiled broadly, "Yep, sardonic is my middle name."

The older man grinned while gesturing for us to follow him. "I can't tell you how grateful I am to you three for helping me in my research. For some reason Jedi are very wary about my experiments."

He opened a door that led to a nicely furnished office with a large antique desk and wooden shelving units built into the walls which were littered with datapads, anatomical models, jars with unknown organic material along with old fashion flimsy books.

"You can't really blame the Jedi for being wary," Ben said as he sat in one of the available seats surrounding the doctor's desk. "You did develop a virus that can render a Jedi powerless."

Dr. J'Shan frowned as he propped himself at the edge of his desk. "What do you mean? My virus is to Force sterilize criminals who have committed violent offenses. It will never be used against the Jedi." He shook his head in disbelief. "Does the Jedi Order actually feel threatened?"

My brother and I plopped down on a small couch perched against the far wall. "You do know the Chief-of-State is not particularly fond of Jedi," I pointed out.

The look of utter confusion on the doctor's face was almost comical. "What? What gave you that idea?"

My brother leaned back and made a disarming gesture. "What my brother means is Mokk Streke doesn't mince words when it comes to blaming the Jedi for the surge in Force strong criminals on Coruscant."

"Oh," Doctor J'Shan nodded. "It is true. Young people flock to the temple for a chance to become Jedi and when they're denied they find themselves stuck here. Many use their life savings to make the trip."

"That is not the Jedi's fault," Ben insisted. "It is a well known fact that we don't allow walk-ins. There is a process in place to pre-screen recruits at their homeworld. Only properly nominated, screened and accepted recruits are allowed to enter the Academy. It is the same as any government organization. Nobody in his or her right mind would show up on the doorstep of the Coruscant Military Academy unannounced and expect to gain admittance. I have no idea why people think the Jedi Academy would be any different."

"That's true, but they do show up." The doctor moved around his desk and sat down. "The Chief-of-State is very concerned about the upsurge in Force strong criminals. And I don't blame him, especially after a man with a lightsaber tried to kill him."

I rolled my eyes and made a rude snort. "Do you mean that sniper incident? "

"No," the doctor continued. "There was an assassination attempt at Streke's home. A man with a lightsaber tried to take his head off, luckily a member of his private security was with him, otherwise he would be dead."

All three of us leaned forward in our seats. This was the first we've heard about it. "When did that happen?"

J'Shan looked up to the ceiling in thought. "It was a couple weeks before I did human trials on the virus. The encounter left the Chief-of-State extremely shaken. He pushed me to move forward with human testing."

I sat back in my chair realizing Streke probably lied to the doctor in an effort to accelerate his research. I thought it was possible that this conversation might have occurred in this office, so I gripped the armrest of the couch and used my psychometric powers to gaze into the past. I saw some interesting conversations, but not the one the doctor was claiming had occurred.

"I'm surprised to hear about this," Ben said to the doctor. "Nothing was reported on the holonet."

The doctor ran his fingers through his hair nervously. I suspect he realized he might have revealed something the Chief-of-State told him in confidence. "He didn't tell the media," J'Shan said quietly. "Chief-of-State Streke has noticed the media has formed a negative bias against the Jedi and he didn't want to fuel false allegations. If they knew a lightsaber was involved they might report that the Jedi attempted to assassinate him."

My brother gave Ben a curious look. "Why would a guy who doesn't like the Jedi try to protect them?"

The doctor threw his hands out wide. "Why do you keep saying that? Mokk Streke likes a Jedi. He said a Jedi saved him from the lightsaber wielding assassin."

Ben's brow rose. "I thought you said a member of his security force fought off the attacker?"

"Oh…well, I just assumed it was a Jedi since he dueled with the assassin with his own lightsaber before killing the assailant," Dr. J'Shan looked to Ben. "Your father didn't assign somebody to protect the Chief-of-State?"

"No," Ben said slowly. "What happened to the attacker? What did they do with the body?"

The doctor shrugged. "I don't know." He looked down at his wristchrono and then to us. "I promised my wife to meet her for lunch." He stood and moved to the door. "You are welcome to join us if you like. She would love to meet the famous Ben Skywalker."

We rose from our seats and moved to leave. "No thank you," Ben said with an apologetic tone. "We have to go."

As we walked out of the building I smirked. "The famous Ben Skywalker."

Ben rolled his eyes. "Knock it off. Please tell me you used your post-cognitive abilities while in his office."

I smiled broadly. "Yes, but that conversation the doctor described didn't happen at that location. Streke has been to that office though. Some of the conversations were interesting, but nothing damning."

Ben nodded. "I guess we should get back to the temple and report to the Grand Master. He is going to be very interested in knowing about that lightsaber attack and Streke's mysterious lightsaber wielding savior."