Donovan turned and headed for the bedroom. His new companion watched him as the door closed behind the young Jedi and then exited the suite through the front door. In an instant, he was wearing his Admiral Uniform once again. Donovan peered at a mirror while changing, he turned his back to view the huge welt which was not forming on his right shoulder from where he had hit the ceiling. He then turned to his left to see a series of small cuts from where he had smashed through the window. His first day as a Jedi he had nearly been killed.
"It's a neat trick" Donovan said to himself mockingly. He was reluctant to follow the orders of the Admiral who he had not only just met, but who had nearly sliced him in quarters simply to say hello. Donovan looked again at his reflection in the mirror, he shook his head and then dressed himself. He hurried out of the now mangled suite and into an elevator.
Donovan slapped the button for ground level and patiently waited, watching the indicator above the door. On the third floor, the elevator stopped, the doors opened to reveal a magnificent woman standing before him. She had long flowing hair, slightly greenish blue with bright blue eyes like sapphires. She stood a few inches taller than Addick, exaggerating her long legs and arms. She was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen, so elegant and exotic. Her golden robes seemed to melt like water and were accented by a crown-like headdress she wore just above her hairline. She smiled at him as he entered.
"Hey sailor, haven't seen you here before." She spoke seductively to the young Jedi
"I just arrived." He replied suavely. He was nervous yet confident as he tried to conceal his surveying eyes.
"Well, how long will you be staying? Maybe we can get together." She moved toward him and pressed her soft body against his rugged chest. His emotions were surging as he began to sweat and stutter like a pubescent boy. Donovan had never encountered such a thing, life at the Academy did not allow much social time and the society of Sioul looked down upon such outward behavior.
"Well.." He began to speak and then sort of chuckle as he reached out and began to rub his shoulders. "I'm not sure how long I'll be here!!" in mid statement, he grabber her hand from his shoulder and threw it across her body hurling her to a pile on the floor. He then grabbed his lightsabre with his free hand and ignited it holding the purple glowing blade against her throat. With her back turned to him, her arm bound up tightly against her ribs she began to laugh.
"Ha ha, very good." The sweet siren-song sound of her voice faded away as her skin began to melt into liquid metal. Within a few seconds, the Admiral kneeled on the floor of the elevator in the same position the girl was just in. Addick released him extinguishing his blade. The Admiral rose to his feet, facing Donovan, as the elevator reached the ground floor. "Very, very nice. Your instincts are powerful"
"I knew it was you all along." Donovan barked sharply as he stepped out of the elevator
"No you didn't. I could feel your emotions, your feelings. You were nervous and excited and confused and aroused, but you soon realized it was me. That's good. A Jedi must learn when to obey his instincts. Had you have been weaker of the mind, I could have slashed your throat while you were gawking at my breasts."
"Yea...I guess."
"Donovan my boy, you are doing well, do not despair. In time, you will enjoy the truth; it will just take some getting used to, that's all. Come lets have a drink."
The two Jedi, dressed in Imperial Uniforms, marched across the ground level of the spaceport. Passengers and workers flooded the hallways and junctions; the air was filled with sounds and languages from every direction. Addick struggled to avoid colliding with oncoming pedestrian traffic while they Benvole seemed to walk right through them as if he had a lane designated only for him. Addick looked ahead to his companion who was calmly, yet briskly striding through the hoard.
"How you doing back there, kid? Keeping up alright?" Benvole asked jokingly to his young cohort
"I'm new to this. You seem to be better at it." Addick remarked sarcastically. He was growing tired of these taunting jokes; perhaps all those years of Imperial service had wiped Benvole of his human compassions.
"A Jedi must know his surroundings, be able to adapt, to blend in, and at the same time, be in control."
Addick did not appreciate the Admiral's condescending tone, but he was humble and accepted the mini-lecture.
Soon they arrived at the café. It was dimly lit and somewhat old looking, but cozy. Strange beasts of all kinds sat, chatted, ate, and drank. Addick looked around, seeing nothing out of the ordinary, just a café, he was somewhat weary of why he had been brought here.
"Hey! Can we get a table?" Benvole raised his hand signaling a waiter. The waiter immediately rushed over to the officers to meet their needs. "Geez, you'd think we'd get some service around here."
"My apologies. Right this way."
The waiter was a human male about 15 years of age. He wore local garments, and his skin was slightly burned from the summer sun of Kannto. He appeared somewhat raggedy, but his youth offset the disarray of his attire. He led the duo to a small booth in the back of the café.
"Here you are, I will be back shortly to take your order." The waiter nodded and exited nervously.
"Don't you think that was a little rude, Admiral?" Addick remarked mockingly as he folded his hands on the tabletop.
"Do you think I made it this far by being a nice guy? The Empire has a reputation to uphold. Besides, I'm hungry." Addick squinted his eyes and turned the left cheek slightly toward Benvole in disapproval. "Calm down, kid. The time will come for us to be serious, try and relax for a while. Ask me some questions, no use holding them in."
"Well ok. I guess my first question would be about you. I mean who are you really? How'd you wind up working for the Empire if you are this great Jedi master? Tell me your story." Addick was eager to interrogate the Admiral who had up to this point, confused, attacked, seduced and belittled young Donovan. He wasn't exactly ready to have a moment with Benvole.
"Fair enough. My story is fairly simple, I assume Spikket told you something.."
"Yea, he said you didn't get along with the Council, so you went to the Empire as a spy and they never heard of you again."
"This is true, more less. The reason I didn't get along with the Council too well was because they took a pacifist attitude toward the Empire in the early days. They didn't want to fight back, or to intervene in any other way, they just figured political scandals would pass and the republic would return to its former glory, but that never happened and after the clone wars had begun in full swing, things got worse. When Vader began to exterminate the Jedi, they scattered. They thought it was best to hide and plan an attack but I wasn't with it. I knew if we were to take down the Empire we would need a man inside. I volunteered but they wouldn't allow me to go, they didn't want me to risk exposure and certain death if I ever came across Vader, so I went without their permission. Spikket came with me, he and I had been friends for some time and he was the guy who introduced me to the Rebellion. When I first arrived, they were amazed at my abilities, I learned to fly a TIE virtually overnight and demonstrated my tactical skills I had been taught by the Rebellion only a few months earlier. Within a few weeks at OCS, I was commissioned an Ensign and eventually rose through the ranks."
"But why didn't you plan an attack earlier. Why wait until the Empire was so strong and the Jedi are so few?" Addick leaned forward anxiously, by now he was becoming upset with Benvole and his aide of the Empire.
"Calm down boy! You don't seem to understand how the Empire works!" Benvole was defensive; he did not like being attacked, especially by snot-nosed cadets. "I could do nothing until I had a position of some authority. I had no clearance, no knowledge of fleet movements, outpost procedures or anything else that would be of use to the Alliance. I had to sit back and wait, follow orders, pretend I was truly an Imperial Officer. I even had to fight against the Rebels a few times from the cockpit of a TIE." He bowed his head as his tone became more serious. "So many times I questioned myself, what I was doing, what I was becoming. I thought about Vader's descent to evil and wondered could it happen to me. The only thing that kept me going was my drive to help the Alliance in the end, to use my powers for good instead of evil."
Addick could see the pain in Benvole's eyes. It was apparent that this man before him, although rough on the outside, was true to the Force, and to his mission.
"But you are a Jedi master, couldn't you just use your powers to learn secrets and then give them to the Rebellion?"
"I wanted to, so many times I wanted to, but I couldn't. A Jedi cannot betray the code, to use his powers for personal gain and deceit would be to deny the very essence that makes us spiritual beings. I could only use my powers defensively, to disguise myself and to hide knowledge I had about my past and about the Alliance. I could not contact them for fear that they would be attacked and I be murdered, I was one man, and even working with Spikket, we could not take down the Empire alone."
There was a brief moment of silence as Donovan peered at Benvole who was now more solemn than he had previously revealed himself to be. He soon proceeded to his next question.
"So, what's with the shape changing?"
"Ha, I was waiting for this one." Benvole lightened up a bit and he began to explain "You see, a few years ago, the Empire was trying to develop a new fabric to be worn by the storm troopers under their armour. It was designed to repel and blaster or radiation. The problem was, it didn't work. They tried infusing the fibers with metallic alloys, even placing ore from meteors, which were seemingly unbreakable into the layers of fabric, but that didn't work. They scrapped the project after wasting serious amounts of time and money. I was curious in the project, I thought I might send a prototype to your father in Sioul, to finish what the empire had started and give the Alliance and advantage against the storm troopers. I requested to see the progress and they presented me with an officer's uniform made entirely of this material. Although it didn't repel blaster fire, it had a very unique quality, and I felt it as soon as I put it on."
"The ability to change shape?" Addick interrupted, jumping to conclusions
"Well, no not actually, that would be an even better trick. You see, the Force allows us to create illusions, to confuse and deceive people's minds into making them think they are seeing or thinking something that's not actually there. But this can only be maintained for a short while, since it requires a level of concentration higher than most situations will allow for. Don't ask me how it works, but I found that this uniform allows me amplify this ability allow me to maintain deception for days at a time if necessary, or, as you have seen, to alter my entire appearance, not just my clothing. The Force is powerful, but don't be afraid to let science give you a hand. Your abilities only range so far."
"Interesting you should mention my abilities, that leads me to next question, how does this training thing work? You tell me I have all these instincts and abilities?"
"No doubt by now, you are coming to realize that you do, in fact, have abilities. I have tested you already several times and you have done well. But I will answer your question. When I found you, I knew I couldn't allow you to be destroyed. The Jedi were already so few, and shrinking fast thanks to the Empire, and to let a young Padawan die at my hands, well, I didn't have much of a choice; I knew I had to teach you. I took you to Arbine Addick, who I had met just a few years earlier when I joined up with the Alliance. I knew he was a good man and I could trust him, so I left him with you. I told him about my situation and he told me about Sioul. Luckily, we didn't have to wait long for the technology, and even more luckily it worked over great spans, and for nearly ten years. All it is, essentially, is my having a tap into your mind. When I make contact with you, I put on a special headset and I can relay to you any information I choose. Simply by thinking about something, I can convey it to you, locations, combinations, procedure, devices. You've already dealt with all of these."
"Yes, but.."
"Please, don't interrupt me again." Benvole gave him a stern look and resumed his tale. "Jedi training is a complex matter. You already had several years of training inside your subconscious, but your amnesia made it inaccessible. I simply built on that old training just as your master would have. You are a fully trained Jedi Knight. Get that into your head! It is the truth. The only catch, you are out of practice, and that's why I am here, to give you a crash course."
"How do you mean?"
"Well, try something. Why don't you call the waiter over here."
Addick turned his head and searched the room for the young waiter.
"I don't see him."
"I don't care what you see, call the waiter over here!"
Donovan smiled, he understood now. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, concentrating as he reached out using the Force to contact the waiter. He opened his eyes and turned his head again to see the young boy emerging from the kitchen.
"Wow, that worked."
"Of course it worked. Why haven't you realized yet? You will amaze yourself in these next few days. When he comes over here, hide from his view."
"But.."
"Just hide from his view, like I explained you could."
As the boy made his way over to the table, Donovan again closed his eyes and folded his hands on the table in front of him. When the waiter approached he saw only Admiral Benvole sitting there.
"Sorry that took so long. Are you ready to order?"
"Of course. I will have a number one, and bring one for my friend as well, he just stepped out, should be right back."
"Of course. Thank you."
As the waiter exited, Donovan opened his eyes and broke the deceptive trance. He smiled widely with enthusiasm and astonishment.
"You see, its all within you. You just have to release it. But those were easy, try something else. Follow like I do."
Admiral Benvole placed both his palms on the table in front of him. He sat with is back straight and peered directly into Donovan's eyes. Momentarily, he telekinetically lifted Donovan's hat from his head and placed it 3 inches in front of his nose, hovering in mid air. Donovan watched as the Admiral began to slowly spin the hat before him before quickly shooting it to the roof, and then landing it safely on his student's head.
"Now you try."
Addick took a deep breath. He placed his hands on the table as Benvole had done, and slowly closed his eyes. Concentrating with all his will and strength, the hat on Benvole's head began to dance.
"Good. Good!" Benvole was shocked at the progress Addick has made over the years. He observed as Donovan continued, trying to remove the hat from the Admirals head.
Donovan was straining. The hat slowly, stumbled upward from its resting spot but soon fell back down.
"Concentrate. You are thinking to much, use the Force, do not think."
Donovan took another deep breath as he began again. This time the hat rose steadily to its previous point and hesitated a bit before jumping of the Admiral's head, revealing his sleek jet-black hair. The hat moved across the table and hovered between the two of them.
"Excellent. Open your eyes."
Addick opened his eyes to see his wonder. He smiled for a second almost loosing concentration. He stared at the hat as if to scare it.
"The Force is under your control. Feel it, use it, be it."
Donovan relaxed his brow as the hat began to spin. He accelerated the rotation of the hat as Benvole looked on with amusement. Suddenly, they were interrupted by the waiter.
"Here's your..."
before he could finish, the hat when whirling across the room sailing into the far wall. The two officers glanced at each other and then at the waiter. The waiter was shocked and sort of scared, he set the dished down on the table as he saw that all four Imperial hands had been firmly planted the whole time.
"So how'd you..."
"You saw nothing, my friend." Benvole interrupted him as he brushed the air between them with his left hand.
"I saw nothing." Repeated the waiter in a trance-like tone.
Addick smiled at the Admiral who smiled back
"The Force can have a strong effect on the weak minded."
"Apparently."
The two stared at each other for a second while the steam from their plates rose softly between them. The waiter returned.
"Here's your hat, Sir."
He handed Benvole his hat and immediately turned and exited hastily.
"Ha. Kid, you're learning fast. I would have just walked over there and picked it up."
"I have to practice, right?"
"Yes. I will complete your training in time. From this point on, I am your master and you are my Padawan. You do as I say and you follow my lead. Our time together will be short since you already possess most of the training you need to become a Jedi Knight. However, if we are going to pull this off, you are going to have follow stick with me on this one."
"Oh yea, that's another question I forgot to ask. What the hell are we doing here?"
"I'll tell you later. First, we eat."
"It's a neat trick" Donovan said to himself mockingly. He was reluctant to follow the orders of the Admiral who he had not only just met, but who had nearly sliced him in quarters simply to say hello. Donovan looked again at his reflection in the mirror, he shook his head and then dressed himself. He hurried out of the now mangled suite and into an elevator.
Donovan slapped the button for ground level and patiently waited, watching the indicator above the door. On the third floor, the elevator stopped, the doors opened to reveal a magnificent woman standing before him. She had long flowing hair, slightly greenish blue with bright blue eyes like sapphires. She stood a few inches taller than Addick, exaggerating her long legs and arms. She was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen, so elegant and exotic. Her golden robes seemed to melt like water and were accented by a crown-like headdress she wore just above her hairline. She smiled at him as he entered.
"Hey sailor, haven't seen you here before." She spoke seductively to the young Jedi
"I just arrived." He replied suavely. He was nervous yet confident as he tried to conceal his surveying eyes.
"Well, how long will you be staying? Maybe we can get together." She moved toward him and pressed her soft body against his rugged chest. His emotions were surging as he began to sweat and stutter like a pubescent boy. Donovan had never encountered such a thing, life at the Academy did not allow much social time and the society of Sioul looked down upon such outward behavior.
"Well.." He began to speak and then sort of chuckle as he reached out and began to rub his shoulders. "I'm not sure how long I'll be here!!" in mid statement, he grabber her hand from his shoulder and threw it across her body hurling her to a pile on the floor. He then grabbed his lightsabre with his free hand and ignited it holding the purple glowing blade against her throat. With her back turned to him, her arm bound up tightly against her ribs she began to laugh.
"Ha ha, very good." The sweet siren-song sound of her voice faded away as her skin began to melt into liquid metal. Within a few seconds, the Admiral kneeled on the floor of the elevator in the same position the girl was just in. Addick released him extinguishing his blade. The Admiral rose to his feet, facing Donovan, as the elevator reached the ground floor. "Very, very nice. Your instincts are powerful"
"I knew it was you all along." Donovan barked sharply as he stepped out of the elevator
"No you didn't. I could feel your emotions, your feelings. You were nervous and excited and confused and aroused, but you soon realized it was me. That's good. A Jedi must learn when to obey his instincts. Had you have been weaker of the mind, I could have slashed your throat while you were gawking at my breasts."
"Yea...I guess."
"Donovan my boy, you are doing well, do not despair. In time, you will enjoy the truth; it will just take some getting used to, that's all. Come lets have a drink."
The two Jedi, dressed in Imperial Uniforms, marched across the ground level of the spaceport. Passengers and workers flooded the hallways and junctions; the air was filled with sounds and languages from every direction. Addick struggled to avoid colliding with oncoming pedestrian traffic while they Benvole seemed to walk right through them as if he had a lane designated only for him. Addick looked ahead to his companion who was calmly, yet briskly striding through the hoard.
"How you doing back there, kid? Keeping up alright?" Benvole asked jokingly to his young cohort
"I'm new to this. You seem to be better at it." Addick remarked sarcastically. He was growing tired of these taunting jokes; perhaps all those years of Imperial service had wiped Benvole of his human compassions.
"A Jedi must know his surroundings, be able to adapt, to blend in, and at the same time, be in control."
Addick did not appreciate the Admiral's condescending tone, but he was humble and accepted the mini-lecture.
Soon they arrived at the café. It was dimly lit and somewhat old looking, but cozy. Strange beasts of all kinds sat, chatted, ate, and drank. Addick looked around, seeing nothing out of the ordinary, just a café, he was somewhat weary of why he had been brought here.
"Hey! Can we get a table?" Benvole raised his hand signaling a waiter. The waiter immediately rushed over to the officers to meet their needs. "Geez, you'd think we'd get some service around here."
"My apologies. Right this way."
The waiter was a human male about 15 years of age. He wore local garments, and his skin was slightly burned from the summer sun of Kannto. He appeared somewhat raggedy, but his youth offset the disarray of his attire. He led the duo to a small booth in the back of the café.
"Here you are, I will be back shortly to take your order." The waiter nodded and exited nervously.
"Don't you think that was a little rude, Admiral?" Addick remarked mockingly as he folded his hands on the tabletop.
"Do you think I made it this far by being a nice guy? The Empire has a reputation to uphold. Besides, I'm hungry." Addick squinted his eyes and turned the left cheek slightly toward Benvole in disapproval. "Calm down, kid. The time will come for us to be serious, try and relax for a while. Ask me some questions, no use holding them in."
"Well ok. I guess my first question would be about you. I mean who are you really? How'd you wind up working for the Empire if you are this great Jedi master? Tell me your story." Addick was eager to interrogate the Admiral who had up to this point, confused, attacked, seduced and belittled young Donovan. He wasn't exactly ready to have a moment with Benvole.
"Fair enough. My story is fairly simple, I assume Spikket told you something.."
"Yea, he said you didn't get along with the Council, so you went to the Empire as a spy and they never heard of you again."
"This is true, more less. The reason I didn't get along with the Council too well was because they took a pacifist attitude toward the Empire in the early days. They didn't want to fight back, or to intervene in any other way, they just figured political scandals would pass and the republic would return to its former glory, but that never happened and after the clone wars had begun in full swing, things got worse. When Vader began to exterminate the Jedi, they scattered. They thought it was best to hide and plan an attack but I wasn't with it. I knew if we were to take down the Empire we would need a man inside. I volunteered but they wouldn't allow me to go, they didn't want me to risk exposure and certain death if I ever came across Vader, so I went without their permission. Spikket came with me, he and I had been friends for some time and he was the guy who introduced me to the Rebellion. When I first arrived, they were amazed at my abilities, I learned to fly a TIE virtually overnight and demonstrated my tactical skills I had been taught by the Rebellion only a few months earlier. Within a few weeks at OCS, I was commissioned an Ensign and eventually rose through the ranks."
"But why didn't you plan an attack earlier. Why wait until the Empire was so strong and the Jedi are so few?" Addick leaned forward anxiously, by now he was becoming upset with Benvole and his aide of the Empire.
"Calm down boy! You don't seem to understand how the Empire works!" Benvole was defensive; he did not like being attacked, especially by snot-nosed cadets. "I could do nothing until I had a position of some authority. I had no clearance, no knowledge of fleet movements, outpost procedures or anything else that would be of use to the Alliance. I had to sit back and wait, follow orders, pretend I was truly an Imperial Officer. I even had to fight against the Rebels a few times from the cockpit of a TIE." He bowed his head as his tone became more serious. "So many times I questioned myself, what I was doing, what I was becoming. I thought about Vader's descent to evil and wondered could it happen to me. The only thing that kept me going was my drive to help the Alliance in the end, to use my powers for good instead of evil."
Addick could see the pain in Benvole's eyes. It was apparent that this man before him, although rough on the outside, was true to the Force, and to his mission.
"But you are a Jedi master, couldn't you just use your powers to learn secrets and then give them to the Rebellion?"
"I wanted to, so many times I wanted to, but I couldn't. A Jedi cannot betray the code, to use his powers for personal gain and deceit would be to deny the very essence that makes us spiritual beings. I could only use my powers defensively, to disguise myself and to hide knowledge I had about my past and about the Alliance. I could not contact them for fear that they would be attacked and I be murdered, I was one man, and even working with Spikket, we could not take down the Empire alone."
There was a brief moment of silence as Donovan peered at Benvole who was now more solemn than he had previously revealed himself to be. He soon proceeded to his next question.
"So, what's with the shape changing?"
"Ha, I was waiting for this one." Benvole lightened up a bit and he began to explain "You see, a few years ago, the Empire was trying to develop a new fabric to be worn by the storm troopers under their armour. It was designed to repel and blaster or radiation. The problem was, it didn't work. They tried infusing the fibers with metallic alloys, even placing ore from meteors, which were seemingly unbreakable into the layers of fabric, but that didn't work. They scrapped the project after wasting serious amounts of time and money. I was curious in the project, I thought I might send a prototype to your father in Sioul, to finish what the empire had started and give the Alliance and advantage against the storm troopers. I requested to see the progress and they presented me with an officer's uniform made entirely of this material. Although it didn't repel blaster fire, it had a very unique quality, and I felt it as soon as I put it on."
"The ability to change shape?" Addick interrupted, jumping to conclusions
"Well, no not actually, that would be an even better trick. You see, the Force allows us to create illusions, to confuse and deceive people's minds into making them think they are seeing or thinking something that's not actually there. But this can only be maintained for a short while, since it requires a level of concentration higher than most situations will allow for. Don't ask me how it works, but I found that this uniform allows me amplify this ability allow me to maintain deception for days at a time if necessary, or, as you have seen, to alter my entire appearance, not just my clothing. The Force is powerful, but don't be afraid to let science give you a hand. Your abilities only range so far."
"Interesting you should mention my abilities, that leads me to next question, how does this training thing work? You tell me I have all these instincts and abilities?"
"No doubt by now, you are coming to realize that you do, in fact, have abilities. I have tested you already several times and you have done well. But I will answer your question. When I found you, I knew I couldn't allow you to be destroyed. The Jedi were already so few, and shrinking fast thanks to the Empire, and to let a young Padawan die at my hands, well, I didn't have much of a choice; I knew I had to teach you. I took you to Arbine Addick, who I had met just a few years earlier when I joined up with the Alliance. I knew he was a good man and I could trust him, so I left him with you. I told him about my situation and he told me about Sioul. Luckily, we didn't have to wait long for the technology, and even more luckily it worked over great spans, and for nearly ten years. All it is, essentially, is my having a tap into your mind. When I make contact with you, I put on a special headset and I can relay to you any information I choose. Simply by thinking about something, I can convey it to you, locations, combinations, procedure, devices. You've already dealt with all of these."
"Yes, but.."
"Please, don't interrupt me again." Benvole gave him a stern look and resumed his tale. "Jedi training is a complex matter. You already had several years of training inside your subconscious, but your amnesia made it inaccessible. I simply built on that old training just as your master would have. You are a fully trained Jedi Knight. Get that into your head! It is the truth. The only catch, you are out of practice, and that's why I am here, to give you a crash course."
"How do you mean?"
"Well, try something. Why don't you call the waiter over here."
Addick turned his head and searched the room for the young waiter.
"I don't see him."
"I don't care what you see, call the waiter over here!"
Donovan smiled, he understood now. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, concentrating as he reached out using the Force to contact the waiter. He opened his eyes and turned his head again to see the young boy emerging from the kitchen.
"Wow, that worked."
"Of course it worked. Why haven't you realized yet? You will amaze yourself in these next few days. When he comes over here, hide from his view."
"But.."
"Just hide from his view, like I explained you could."
As the boy made his way over to the table, Donovan again closed his eyes and folded his hands on the table in front of him. When the waiter approached he saw only Admiral Benvole sitting there.
"Sorry that took so long. Are you ready to order?"
"Of course. I will have a number one, and bring one for my friend as well, he just stepped out, should be right back."
"Of course. Thank you."
As the waiter exited, Donovan opened his eyes and broke the deceptive trance. He smiled widely with enthusiasm and astonishment.
"You see, its all within you. You just have to release it. But those were easy, try something else. Follow like I do."
Admiral Benvole placed both his palms on the table in front of him. He sat with is back straight and peered directly into Donovan's eyes. Momentarily, he telekinetically lifted Donovan's hat from his head and placed it 3 inches in front of his nose, hovering in mid air. Donovan watched as the Admiral began to slowly spin the hat before him before quickly shooting it to the roof, and then landing it safely on his student's head.
"Now you try."
Addick took a deep breath. He placed his hands on the table as Benvole had done, and slowly closed his eyes. Concentrating with all his will and strength, the hat on Benvole's head began to dance.
"Good. Good!" Benvole was shocked at the progress Addick has made over the years. He observed as Donovan continued, trying to remove the hat from the Admirals head.
Donovan was straining. The hat slowly, stumbled upward from its resting spot but soon fell back down.
"Concentrate. You are thinking to much, use the Force, do not think."
Donovan took another deep breath as he began again. This time the hat rose steadily to its previous point and hesitated a bit before jumping of the Admiral's head, revealing his sleek jet-black hair. The hat moved across the table and hovered between the two of them.
"Excellent. Open your eyes."
Addick opened his eyes to see his wonder. He smiled for a second almost loosing concentration. He stared at the hat as if to scare it.
"The Force is under your control. Feel it, use it, be it."
Donovan relaxed his brow as the hat began to spin. He accelerated the rotation of the hat as Benvole looked on with amusement. Suddenly, they were interrupted by the waiter.
"Here's your..."
before he could finish, the hat when whirling across the room sailing into the far wall. The two officers glanced at each other and then at the waiter. The waiter was shocked and sort of scared, he set the dished down on the table as he saw that all four Imperial hands had been firmly planted the whole time.
"So how'd you..."
"You saw nothing, my friend." Benvole interrupted him as he brushed the air between them with his left hand.
"I saw nothing." Repeated the waiter in a trance-like tone.
Addick smiled at the Admiral who smiled back
"The Force can have a strong effect on the weak minded."
"Apparently."
The two stared at each other for a second while the steam from their plates rose softly between them. The waiter returned.
"Here's your hat, Sir."
He handed Benvole his hat and immediately turned and exited hastily.
"Ha. Kid, you're learning fast. I would have just walked over there and picked it up."
"I have to practice, right?"
"Yes. I will complete your training in time. From this point on, I am your master and you are my Padawan. You do as I say and you follow my lead. Our time together will be short since you already possess most of the training you need to become a Jedi Knight. However, if we are going to pull this off, you are going to have follow stick with me on this one."
"Oh yea, that's another question I forgot to ask. What the hell are we doing here?"
"I'll tell you later. First, we eat."