Reflecting on Water
The pleasure liner hurtled through space at mindboggling speed,
encountering orbital debris and pebble-sized asteroids which were
incinerated on contact by the hull's many deflector shield batteries.
And yet despite all of this external chaos, swimming on the
Recreation/Spa Level, I experienced no sense of greater movement as I
completed my 25th lap.
Clearing my mind, I allowed the water to cool my body. I stilled
myself, content to float peacefully while I went over my mission for
the thousandth time.
I
had answered the Council's summons and appeared punctually at the Jedi
Temple. Master Windu awaited me. Master Yoda was nowhere to be seen,
which was a secret relief. Sometimes I find it difficult to understand
anything he is saying.
"Yes, Master Windu," I greeted. He contemplated me in silence for a
moment. I took this time to notice the exact boundary between his
baldness and the rest of his head which he shaved. Honing my senses, I
could see the telltale stubble of one Jedi's vanity.
"If you are quite finished looking at my head, Obi-Wan Kenobi, I should
like to discuss with you a growing situation which has imperiled our
noble order, and perhaps even the Republic."
"Certainly, Master Windu."
Remembering
his gentle censure, I blushed, and my mind returned to its present
situation. My briefing was but a memory; my mission was still unfolding.
I felt my Padawan, Anakin, call to me through the Force.
I dove beneath the water's surface and opened my senses to the overwhelming feelings of sound, touch, and sight.
The pool had been placed on the liner's lowest level and it was one of
the ship's more famous features. It had been designed with a
transparisteel floor so that one might view the stars and passing
planets while enjoying a swim. For me, it provided the short-lived
illusion that it was cold and empty space that I was floating in rather
than a common liquid medium. I found these thoughts to be strangely
calming.
Harnessing the omnipresent power of the Force, I burst forth from the
water's surface and landed wetly on the stone floor surrounding the
pool.
A protocol droid, shocked by my sudden eruption, cursed in some
language of the Outer Rim. I suppose it had never before seen almost 2
meters of pure, uncut, Jedi Knight.
Drawn by the Force, a towel flew to my hand. It was time that I saw what Anakin wanted. Drying off, I walked towards the turbolift. "Size matters not!" I told the protocol droid.
But it is nice to be large, I added to myself silently.
