Is as Near To

"I'm sure if we attacked now, we could slay them all and suffer only 30 percent casualties among the hostages." Anakin still had his lightsaber in his hand. "A Jedi knows when it is right to act, and when it is right to shut the hell up." Alric, who was leading our little group glanced back at me over his shoulder. I gave him a smile.
"When it is time," I assured my impatient Padawan, "we shall act. We should consider ourselves fortunate. Not only are we able to explore this Citadel, but we now have a guide who seems better informed of its history than ourselves."

The commandos who surrounded us kept a stony silence. Alric signaled for a halt, and consulted a datacard.
"Ah...the Chamber of Power should be...left, which will be my right, so...here!"
We followed him into a darkened room.
"Lights!" two of his mercenaries ran forward and kneeling set up two battery powered field lamps.

The chamber was much larger than I had first assumed, it stretched back a great distance and its walls were frequently interrupted by alcoves and niches. The stone blended flawlessly with steel and antiquated machinery. Everywhere were cylindrical containers, each sending out a myriad of cables from its base, like roots in search of sustenance.

"You two, bring in the generators.
"I am really so glad you will be here for this, my esteemed Jedi guests. Of course, it is only fitting as this room is part of your history, perhaps the basis of your history. Would you care for me to explain?"

Alric would have made a fine, if annoying, professor somewhere. It was a shame he had instead aligned himself with a corrupt regime and taken over the ruthless operation of the secret police. I assumed his appearance here, with his men, confirmed the rumor that a coup had dislodged the tyrannic government of Giga Secondus.

"If I asked you not to tell us, I doubt you would honor my request."
"There is no need to be snippy, Master Kenobi."
"A Jedi is never snippy. Though we are sometimes bored." I stifled a yawn. Beside me, I felt Anakin giggle.

"Well, you'll just have to put up with it, won't you? Remember who is in charge here. You live at my mercy and for my amusement!" Alric's anger swelled in him, and through the Force I could feel the struggle inside him, between rage and rational thought.

"I apologize for my flippancy. Please, continue your explanation."

He collected himself, and striking a pedagogic pose, began his narration.
"You may have noticed that Cerocan Alpha-7 is almost entirely covered by water. I doubt you bothered running any diagnostic tests on the ocean - too busy polishing your lightsabers." He giggled at his own joke, and when he realized no one was joining him, he resumed. "Had you done your homework instead, you would have found that at the heart of ocean life here is a blue algae. This unique species of algae has over the millennia developed a symbiotic relationship with the organisms you call Midi-Chlorians."

This was indeed surprising news.

"The very same Midi-Chlorians that thrive in your bodies and give you your Jedi abilities are the same as exist on this planet. In fact, were I a gambling man, I would wager that this ocean is the birthplace of the Jedi.
"After a time, a race, now long dead, must have realized the importance of this symbiosis, because they came to this backward world and established this--" He waved his arms encompassingly. "--a scientific research station!
"And what was the product of this research?"

"Sea monkeys?" asked Anakin, honestly perplexed.
"No! These scientists devised a means of merging the Midi-Chlorians with organisms more complex than algae. I can only imagine that they began with fish - indeed, in the deep waters I am told there are Force-sensitive Ichthoids of various sizes!
"At some point the procedure was refined enough to allow the Midi-Chlorians to be introduced to a humanoid host."

"Thus the Chamber of Power," I concluded for him. It was an impressive thought. Had these containers produced the universe's original Jedi? Was the order to which I devoted my life nothing more than a science experiment?
The provenance of an item is not as important as what the item does, I decided.
What Alric was showing us was a footnote to history, nothing more.

"I thought you'd be surprised," he mused.

The guardsman had finally set up the portable generators, and they now began to power them up.
"Lesson over, Master Kenobi. I'm afraid you must leave us now."
He pointed to a row of commandos. "Take them to one of the tidal chambers and lock them in. Leave your commlinks on while you go.
"And I don't need to tell you, Jedi, that if anything untoward happens, I will have all the hostages killed.
"Take them away!"

"Wouldn't you like to torture us first?" I asked, hoping to buy some time.
Alric smiled.
"No. You're not my type."