Chapter 3: The Letter
"A letter?" Tahl exclaimed, "To whom?"
"No idea yet," Bant mumbled, "it seems like someone has only shuffled these sheets into the box and put them away. It's a mess."
She continued moving the paper sheets around on the table with great care.
"Master Nu will kill me if I destroy any of these papers."
"And me too, for good measure," Tahl comforted, "be careful, Padawan."
"That did not exactly help, Master."
Tahl chuckled. Her young Padawan had to learn to tackle stressful situations. This was as good as any.
"There it is. I think I'm beginning to get them in order. He…or she…is actually writing a letter to his mother."
"What?" Tahl was honestly confused.
"It's true. This page starts with 'Dear Mama' "
Tahl gaped. She was well aware of the Jedi Order's resistance towards attachments, even though she knew that they hadn't always been quite as rigid as noe. These documents really had to be old. She tapped her fingertips impatiently towards the table.
"Read it out loud," she ordered. "I cannot feel anything with gloves on and I don't dare to risk Master Nu's wraith falling upon me. I may need the archives later on."
"Yes, Master."
Bant drew a deep breath and pulled the first sheet carefully towards her. Then she began to read.
Dear Mama,
I know I promised to write you regularly but it has been a while now and I apologize. My life has been most eventful since the last time I was allowed to visit you and I ask you to bring my greetings to Papa and to my siblings as well. You are always in my thoughts, before I go to bed.
I'm sorry to tell you that my dream of becoming a full fledged Jedi Knight did not become true. My Master realised that my skills were better off with the pen than with the sword so they have decided that I shall become one of their historians. It is a weird feeling, because it is not what I always imagined but I can feel the truth in my doing so. The Force is telling me that this is the right path for me. A couple of months ago I was on my first solo mission after…well…being knighted. It's more of a honorific title though. My missions will be more about gathering information and writing it down than wielding a lightsaber.
But, back to the mission.
Did you know that the Order has several Temples scattered around the galaxy? Most people don't. I was a rather old initiate before I learned that myself.
My first solo mission went to the city of Jedha. Isn't it weird how the name reminds of the one of the Jedi Order itself? I was asked to go there to meet some of the refugees from one of our other Temples. Something happened there but the Order doesn't know what. At least not here on Coruscant. I think.
So I went. It was a very long, very boring and very uneventful journey.
Jedha City, now that is something else.
Jedha is one of the moons surrounding the planet NaJedha. I have no idea why someone or whom decided to place a Temple on such a small place but the city that has grown around the Temple is quite impressive in it's own way. It's not by any means as big as Coruscant. I sometimes feel that Coruscant is about to digest the entire planet's surface, but Jedha City is a real city. The areas surrounding it is mostly desert. At least what we could see as our ship came in towards the spaceport was sand, sand and even more sand. It didn't take me long to discover that I don't like sand. It's rough and harsh and it covers everything.
But back to the city itself. It's a very lively place. Obviously people live from trading (I still wonder where they get all the goods from) and there are bars and cantinas on almost every corner. The people there are friendly and outgoing and they seem to be on good terms with the inhabitants of the Jedha Temple. On Coruscant the regular inhabitants look upon us with something that seems to be a mixture of awe and fear. They seem to think that we're distant to them. On Jedha it's another story. The Jedha Knights are often to be seen out in the cityscape and the frequently visit the tavernas.
The Temple itself is located on a small hill in the centre of the city. It is overlooking the city as a kind and friendly grandfather and when people in the city are in need they go to the Temple and get help there. The Temple has gardens and healers and scientists. They even run a hospital downtown. Their knights are much more integrated in the daily life than we are here on Coruscant.
I came to the Temple late in the evening and I was immediately followed to a small room which would be mine for the stay. The refectory was closed but a kind soul had brought a plate of bread, fruit and cheese so I had a nice evening meal before going to bed.
The next day I was shown the Temple and the archives here are really amazing. The upper level is the general archive where everyone has access. There actually is a part of it bordering to the circumference of the Temple where the citys inhabitants have access. The more closed parts of it are found beneath the surface, deep into the core of the hill on which the Temple is build. I think the entire story of the moon must be kept here. I could probably dive in and return to the surface as an old man if I were given the opportunity.
"Oh, I really would have liked to see those archives," Tahl interjected.
Bant looked up: "Do you think they still exist?"
"They might. I have never heard anything about Jedha, so there may still be a Temple of some kind there. Please continue to read, Padawan. This is interesting from several points of view."
Bant continued.
But I had a job to do. I needed to find the refugees from Auratera. To my confusion there weren't refugees in plural, there was one - a red haired male human with a haunted look. Somehow he gave me the impression of feeling the weight of the entire galaxy on his shoulders.
And unfortunately for me he was very secluded.
When I finally met him he resolutely refused to talk to me. At least about Auratera. He just stated that he'd left the place and his order due to a harrowing experience he'd had. And that was it. No more would he tell me.
Do I need to say I was disappointed? And I got the impression that he was really a stubborn one. During daytime he disappeared into the lower level archives and in the evening he emerged again, saying nothing about what he'd been studying. I silently wonder what it is.
I began to overlook his 'touch me not' demeanour and invited myself to sit down with him for the evening meal in the refectory every evening. He was a polite and well educated man so he didn't protest but still he was very quiet. However, slowly he began to open up about his life on Auratera. It seemed like their order was functioning very much in the same way as our own on Coruscant, but instead of having one Master assigned to one apprentice masters and apprentices were paired for each single mission.
Yet he would not speak of his experience before he left the planet.
Not until one evening. It was on my third week in Jedha I suggested that we'd go for an evening stroll into the city. I swear it was not my intention to lure him with a drink, but we ended up in a bar and I offered to pay for a drink for each of us. It was a lovely evening with little wind (and thus little sand) and we decided to sit out.
I guess somehow he had gained some confidence in me because after the third drink he began to talk. What I heard was a totally unbelievable story about an earthquake ruining large parts of the Temple forcing the Order to abandon it. As they left my friend had asked to be left behind here on Jedha because he knew about the archives here and he wanted to do some investigations. At this time he was becoming a bit incoherent and so was I, but I can remember he told me a very unbelievable story about an old hermit in a cave and good and evil forces fighting in the cave. Obviously the hermit had told him a story of how a human would be born, predestined to restore balance of the Force some time in the future.
I was, honestly, very confused by the entire story. The drinks didn't exactly help. I find it very hard to believe that the Force ever will become unbalanced. After all it is in everything so it's pure being is balance. But yet, his story seemed to be important and before I collapsed in my bunk that night I wrote down some key words about his story. Now I curse myself for not writing it in full there and then. I will never drink alcohol again as long as I live. It is blurring ones thoughts. On the other hand, without the drinks I may never have heard his story, confusing as it may be.
When I woke the next day he was gone. The Knights told me that he had left in the morning intending to catch an outbound flight. He had thanked them for their hospitality but left no word on where he was heading. It was a huge disappointment to me, because I would really have wanted to get some more details to his story - in a sober mode.
I hurried to the spaceport but there had been several outbound flights that morning and nobody were willing to tell me any names so I could not track down where mye friend was intending to go. I had to go back to Coruscant with what I'd assembled of information so far.
I'm pleased to say that my mission report was granted some interest from the Council and tomorrow I'll be leaving with an investigation team bound for Auratera. I'm a bit nervous but that place cannot be as bad as my friend told, so I'm really more excited to get an opportunity to see it with my own eyes.
"And there it ends," Bant concluded.
"He must have slept off and never sent the letter," Tahl guessed, "and I assume that he never came back from his mission either. Else the letter wouldn't have been archived here."