RUHLSAR000 Here! And sorry for taking a long time! I got really busy as my internship came to an end. Also, next week I have to midterms, so don't expect anything next week, but after I'll try to get back to a regular update cycle and try to update other stories too.
Our speeder races across the dried out lakebed that reminds me far too much of Tatooine for my taste. But, no, we aren't on Tatooine. We're in a small midrim system. "Where are we, Uncle?" Fajr asks, from the passenger seat handling the heat far better than I am.
"On Raidar." I roll my eyes, spying the tents in the distance. I turn the speeder towards them.
"What are we doing here?" Fajr asks, annoyed.
"I'm showing you what I do for about 40% of my missions for Master Skywalker," I say.
"Is it safe?" Fajr asks, almost hesitantly. And I really need to be more careful so the Todoka incident doesn't happen again.
"Relatively. Besides I won't let anything happen to you." I reassure her, pulling to a stop as we arrive.
"That's not what I'm worried about." Fajr channels her inner Hera.
"Dr. Jones!" I call out, spotting him in an excavation hole.
"Mr. Bridger." The archeologist hopes out of the hole. "Good. You know the season ends in a week."
"Then we'd better get started," I say as Dr. Jones adjusts his hat.
"General Solo!" Fajr says surprised. "What? Why?"
"Dr. Jones, this is my niece. I mentioned her in our call." I say, putting a hand on her shoulder.
"Yes, you did." Dr. Jones nods before kneeling down to her level. "Kid, I'm not General Solo. Though, I get that a lot. My name's Indiana, Indiana Jones. I am an archeologist. Your uncle often helps me when one of our sites turns out to be Force related."
"Um…" Fajr looks at war between her thinly veiled fascination and fear.
Dr. Jones turns and shouts across the holes. "Mudd. Why don't you take the little lady to Grid 53 and show her the tools of the trade?"
Dr. Jones's son's head pops up out of a different hole. "Yeah, sure." He crawls out the hole with none of the grace of his father.
"He's getting better." Dr. Jones said. Then in a slightly hushed tone, he continues, "Now, you going to tell me why you and Master Skywalker insisted on coming along. A few weeks ago you guys seemed to think this site to be of little interested to the New Order. And from what I'm finding, that seems to be a fair assessment. We've found one or two esoteric symbols but the symbols are also taken in other Force-based religions."
"Agreed, that nothing ties to the Jedi or other doctrines we could examine." I nod, then glance around before nodding to a tent. Dr. Jones takes the hint leading us into the tent. After the flap closes, I say. "We've found a map. We think it leads to the home of the Jedi."
"Jedi or Je'daii?" Dr. Jones asks, being one of the few men who can understand the difference.
"Both," I answer, causing his eyebrows to shoot up.
"Tython?" He asks, rubbing the back of his head. "That's a heck a find. Any reason you haven't contacted me before to plan an expedition there?"
"The map is incomplete. But one of the last worlds marked on the path was this world." I pick up a broken piece of tile from the desks. That could be an Ashla symbol or four dozen other symbols.
"So, another adventure?" Dr. Jones smirks in a way that only temple searching can get him to.
"Yeah, Kanan and Hera and everyone… almost everyone… has made me promise not to go near another one for a while after one collapsed on my head. Again." I rub the back of my neck.
"What is it? The fifth time?" Dr. Jones smirk, amused.
"Sixth. And why are you harassing me? Haven't you had like nine fall on you?" I toss back.
Dr. Jones rolls his eyes, "Yeah, well-" A shout comes from outside followed by the sound of a ruckus. Did bandit- Fajr!
Dr. Jones is already rushing out of the tent and I'm not two steps behind. A crowd is growing just outside the grid in the direction, where Fajr and Mudd were heading.
That group is out of the way quicker than anything I have experienced, whether that is due to them not wanting to get in between a parent and pseudo-parent/uncle and the kid or said parent and pseudo-parent/uncle, I can't say.
Fajr and Mudd are alright! I sigh in relief as I see them in sand uncovering a box-shaped stone the size of my head. Dr. Jones sighs in relief, "I thought I said Grid 53."
"Yeah, but she wanted to dig here. I didn't think there'd be a problem. But look what Fajr found!" Mudd says, dusting off the stone. A familiar pattern emerges.
"It's a holochrom!" I kneel down. A dead one, but it is without a doubt. That means-
"Looks like your niece found your temple." Dr. Jones said. "Good job, Little Lady." Fajr beams up at him. "Alright, we need to extend the grid, about a hundred meters, you know the direction. Hurry up, we only have a week left."
Fajr jumps up, "What can I do to help?"
"Why don't you see if you can use your feelings to find anything else?" Dr. Jones asks.
"RIGHT!" Fajr smiles, way too excited to actually get into the necessary meditative state.
The afternoon passes in a whirlwind but we eventually have to call it quits as the last rays of light steal sight from everyone who is not Force-sensitive.
As Fajr sits next to me roasting a piece of meat on the fire, I can't help but smile. "So, what did you think of your first day?" I ask.
Fajr frowns and is quiet for a minute. That's strange she was having a blast all afternoon. "You know… I read Dr. Jones's work on the excavation of Cai'ro… Looking at pictures of the structures… They look very worn but it's nothing compared to seeing it in person." She moves the piece of meat away from the fire. "Too cold, too hot, dust and sand moisture. All of these can destroy these sites. It's a race against time to figure everything out before we lose that one little key to the knowledge." She sighs.
"That's very insightful," I comment. I hadn't realized how seriously she'd been taking her archeologist dream.
"We've already lost so much information on the Force…" She sighs. "In my head, I get why you have to go on these missions. And that they aren't normally as dangerous but…"
"You're scared." I finish, wrapping my arm around her. "You don't have to tell me. Believe me, I know how it is. I've spent my life doing stupid stuff because I was afraid of my family getting hurt. And you know what I've learned?"
"What?" Fajr asks.
"It's okay to listen to fear, Fajr. It's that little voice that says 'be careful' or 'I love them'. The key is that you can't let it stop you from doing what is important enough to you and to the galaxy." I explain, struggling to phrase it in a way that she can't interrupt as being reckless in her later teens.
"I think I get it," Fajr says, moving the meat back over the fire.
"You've read one of my papers?" Dr. Jones asks, surprised.
"Multiple. Though, I am trying to match your findings in Do'om of the temple and settlements time frame with Dr. Scarle's suggestions of a more nomadic people." Fajr says.
I resign myself to understanding every fourth word from here on out.
Thank you time! Thank you, Spector7, for favoriting. Thank you, Gen Heart, for following. Thank you, TheFoxDude, for following. Thank you, emalinewilson2023, for reviewing. Yes, I know. Doesn't change the fact that for the entire first season I heard 'karablast' and wrote it karablast in Ner Vod forever for consistency. So I apologize for annoying you with an accident slip here and there. I'm human too. Thank you, Midnight Luna, for reviewing. Hey, how have you been? I hope you haven't been getting too sick recently.