--sparkvallen
(All the usual disclaimers apply!)
Chapter FiveThe Jedi and the mechanic worked until they were forced off the job by a second crew of search and rescue workers. Pharinseaya consulted with the Emergency Services team in order to learn more about the disaster. Who had caused it? Why? Had anyone taken credit for the explosion?
"...that information is confidential..." was all she'd heard from each officer she'd polled. Despite her status as a Jedi Knight in the rescue efforts, they were blocking all information from leaking. She returned to where Rym Svoby had agreed to wait, on the fringe of the rescue workers' tents.
"No luck, huh? Not surprised at that. Told you they keep their thoughts tighter than a drum... don't want no information sneakin' out to the wrong people," Rym said.
Pharinseaya nodded, gazing out at the rubble. She knew that the search crews had recovered nearly 100 people injured but alive. It was a success. But there was so much debris still, so many wounded who were trapped.
"I'm going to check in with Master Skywalker," she announced. "I'm sure he's heard about the tragedy. Maybe he'd have information somehow."
However, the comlink signals were jammed with the ensuing chaos of the terrorist attack. She couldn't get a connection offworld with so many onplanet and off trying to reach family and friends. With a sigh, Pharinseaya replaced the comlink into her belt.
"Now what?"
"I guess we rest."
Rym studied the Jedi a moment. "You can stay at my place... if ya want. It ain't nothing fancy and its pretty small but... I guess you don't have anywhere else, do ya?"
"That's very gracious of you, Rym," Pharinseaya replied. "I'm certain your home would be more than fine."
She shrugged. "Ya know what? I jes' realized that I missed work what with helpin' out here at the rescue site. Wingnut prolly had a fit. A total fit. I wonder if I'm fired?"
Pharinseaya noted that the mechanic didn't seem too troubled about that eventuality. Rather, she seemed bemused by the prospect of being unemployed. Rym was a mystery to her in many ways. Not feeling certain how to respond, she remained quiet.
"Ah well... let's go and get some shut eye or somethin'. They won't let us do more here for now anyway..."
"Lead the way."
The apartment she kept was a tiny studio. There was barely enough room for Rym to live from day-to-day let alone have a guest. Pharinseaya insisted that the space was more than adequate. Unbeknownst to Svoby, the Jedi had grown up in conditions not much better prior to transitioning into her present life. They each used the 'fresher, individually, to wash away the grit and dust from the rescue site, then collapsed on the sleep couch and on a pile of blankets.
Rym, however, could not fall asleep on the narrow sleep couch. Too much had happened in the past 36 hours. She kept thinking of meeting Pharinseaya, Jedi Knight outside Wingnut's. She thought about her agreement to meet her and serve as a paid guide. The explosion and the following hours digging through rubble for surviviors...
"Y'awake?"
"I'm awake, yes," Pharinseaya replied.
Svoby sat up on her sleep couch and leaned her back against the wall, her legs folded beneath her. "There's no goin' back now for me, is there?"
She heard the Jedi sit up and shift to get more comfortable despite how effortlessly the woman moved. "What do you mean?"
Rym made a face and stared out in the darkness of the apartment. "I mean... Sithspit, I got involved. I never get involved. Hazardous to yer health to do so 'round here. Jes' before you came, I was involved in a bombing.. a restaurant got attacked by some robbers. I got m'self out but I made sure to not get involved. And now look what I done."
"You did do the right thing, Rym. If you're doubting that at all..." Pharinseaya said gently. "You made a difference to a lot of suffering beings at the site, you know."
"I think my life got... comp... complicated when you walked up on me at Wingnut's." She wasn't accusatory, but there was a definite edge to her voice. "I jes' fixed all kinds of speeders and got by, ya know? And now... I think that it's all changin'. I ain't too sure about this."
Pharinseaya nodded in the dark. "Being a Force sensitive, you have the opportunity for a larger life."
"And since I got involved, I just put m'self into that life, didn't I?"
"Perhaps. Not all helpful people become Jedi, Force sensitive or not," she replied. "It's a way of life and a 'calling' you might say. Is it something you'd be interested in?"
"I dunno. I not thought I'd get involved."
"That's the main thing for you, isn't it?"
Rym looked down at her knees. "Yeah."
Pharinseaya waited. "May I ask why?"
"No."
Svoby thought about growing up Force sensitive in a galaxy that was post-Clone Wars. Where the Jedi were exterminated and only slowing making resurgence with the Empire's reign ended. Rym had learned to exercise her Force skills with extreme caution, still feeling the fear of having such power that so many did not have. Life in the Corellia slums was made easier by quick judgments and use of her natural telekinetic skill in quiet. But to use it to help others and be involved went against all the rules she'd made for herself as far as survival was concerned.
Eventually, she said, "I gotta find out if I still have a job... I gotta let Wingnut know where I was so he don't fire me."
"I see," was the Jedi Knight's quiet reply.
"You don't think I know what you mean by that?" Rym shouted suddenly. "You... tryin' to recruit me as Jedi or somethin'! I can't! I... I'm jes' a mechanic. I was jes' gonna be yer tour guide 'round here. I wasn't looking to get involved."
Pharinseaya remained silent.
"Sithspit. This is crazy. I'm goin' to sleep," she snapped.
Pharinseaya listened as Rym's breathing finally slowed down to an easy sleeping respiration. Her own thoughts had mirrored her hostess' as far as the questions of Jedi training were concerned. She had to wonder if this was what Luke's vision had entailed: finding an apprentice?
I so badly wanted to say to her: life has its own way of deciding when we get involved, when the time is right, she thought. But did I dare? No.
Becoming a Jedi had hardly been a walk through the New Republic's Arboretum for her, so it was easy to relate to Rym's hesitancy at taking such a large step.
She did so well at the rescue site, she thought. Rym's a natural... she got right involved all right. She'd but need to learn more control over all her skills, and to learn the Code... I know she could do it. If... if she wanted to.
Pharinseaya couldn't help but wonder when Rym had re-focused on her job at Wingnut's if that meant she was backing out on the rescue efforts. Once she began to think about her old life, the good work she'd done had taken a backseat.
The Jedi forced herself into a meditative sleep. Whether or not Rym returned to the rescue site to help, she would. Not knowing what Skywalker's vision exactly entailed, Pharinseaya could only move forward by her own accord.
