Chapter 6

Luke was picking over his lunch when he felt someone slap him on the back. He looked up to see Havy.

"Still haven't heard from your father?"

Luke shook his head, going back to ladling spoonfuls of soup, and then pouring it back into the bowl.

"Here's some good news," Havy said. "We're having a team challenge this afternoon. Down at the obstacle course."

"Oh, goody," Zev said. He was sitting in his usual place at the other end of the lunch table, face hidden behind a databook.

Luke noticed the two cadets sitting opposite visibly shuddered.

"Are you all right, Lamber?" Luke asked, looking up. His teammate was pale, and he hadn't touched his lunch either.

"F-fine," Lamber mumbled.

"He's afraid of heights," Havy explained.

"And the other one is just a weed," Crepes said, approaching the table with a lunch tray. He gave Bo a push as he passed by, causing the young cadet to spill his drink. "He can't even do a push-up."

"Leave him alone," Luke said, annoyed.

Crepes quickly shut up.

After lunch, they walked down to the obstacle course with the other teams. To make matters worse, Lieutenant Tancher was supervising the activity, and he immediately began shouting instructions for everyone to line up at the start of the course. Luke was still learning exactly how to stand at attention, but he decided he could fake it, at least. Zev, standing beside him, made the position look natural.

He stared up at the first obstacle, which was a four-meter high climbing wall, made of interlocking rubber rings. Lamber, standing on his other side, was staring fixedly at the ground. Luke was going to reassure him, but the lieutenant began to walk down the line of cadets, outlining the rules.

"Now, pay attention! This time there will be no interfering with any other team's progress! If I see anyone pushing anyone else out of the way, your entire squad will go back to the starting line! And we have another new rule, courtesy of Team Loyalty."

Luke's team members groaned slightly, and Havy stared at the ground, rubbing his forehead.

"You may recall the last occasion, when we sat here for two hours waiting for certain cadets to finish. Seeing as we all want to get back to camp before next week, there is a maximum time limit of half an hour. Any team who has not finished in thirty minutes will be doing tedious chores every evening for a week. Do I make myself clear?!"

"Yes, sir," everyone dutifully answered. Luke noticed his team members didn't sound very enthusiastic.

"Now, you have five minutes to warm up," the lieutenant said, stopping at the end of the line and taking out a stopwatch. "Remember ... every last team member must be over the finish line before the timer will stop."

The teams broke off into groups to start discussing strategies. Luke turned to his teammates in surprise. "You guys took two hours to finish?" The course was long, but shouldn't take more than twenty minutes. He could do it in ten if he really pushed himself.

"Don't look at me," Havy said.

"Me neither," Crepes said. He pointed at Lamber and Bo.

Luke stared at Bo, sizing him up. He had just turned thirteen, and was small and thin for his age. Luke recalled being much the same at Bo's age, but he had since begun to fill out and was going through a growth spurt.

Lamber was only a few months younger than him, and appeared strong enough to complete the course in the allotted time. The obstacles would be more psychological than physical for him.

"Okay, here's what we'll do," Luke said. "I'll stay beside Bo and help him. Zev, you help Lamber. Crepes—go in front of us, and Havy—you stay behind us. If anyone looks down, tell them to keep looking up. Crepes—just keep saying that it's only a little bit further." Luke paused for breath. "Come on, we can do this! We can be first!"

Crepes laughed, and pointed at a neighboring team. "Team Sacrifice will be first. They're always first."

Luke glanced at the elite team, who were doing warm-up stretching exercises.

"Well, we'll at least finish before half an hour is up," Luke insisted.

"I'm sorry," Lamber said, holding his stomach. "I don't think I can do it ..."

"Yes, you can!" Luke said. "You did it last time, right?"

"In two hours," Crepes pointed out. "And Torture got sick of waiting and let him take a few shortcuts in the end."

"Listen," Luke said to Lamber, "how you feel right now ... that's worse than how it will feel when you're actually up there. My father says that fear is a far bigger obstacle than anything physical life can put in your path. Don't let your fear take over ... just think about how good you'll feel when you're on the other side, rubbing it in Torture's face that you made it in less than thirty minutes."

The last part caused Lamber to brighten up a little. Feeling like he was on a roll, Luke turned to Bo.

"Bo, you're lighter than everyone else, use that to your benefit. It's an advantage."

Bo nodded, not meeting his gaze. He was pretty shy ... Luke had barely heard him talk at all over the past week.

Lieutenant Tancher blew his whistle. "On your marks!"

Beside them, Team Sacrifice immediately organized themselves and stood at attention.

It was hardly fair, Luke thought. They all appeared to be at least fifteen. One of them looked over at Luke, and smirked in an unfriendly way. Luke frowned, and looked away.

"Get set."

Lamber and Bo reluctantly joined the rest of the team at the starting line. Crepes followed them, with an expression on his face that said 'this is going to be a disaster.'

Luke looked straight ahead, focusing on the first obstacle. The team would be up and over it in no time.

"Go!"

Crepes immediately ran for the start of the wall, but Luke followed at a slower pace. They had a whole half hour, and there was no point expending all his energy in the first five minutes.

Bo ran ahead of him, and immediately climbed up onto the first ring. Luke glanced over to make sure Zev and Lamber were okay, and then proceeded to swing himself up beside Bo. They climbed side by side until they reached the top of the wall, making good progress. He looked over to find Zev, Lamber and Havy were only a meter behind. There were sliding poles at the top of the wall, allowing them to slide down onto a horizontal log below.

"It's only a little bit further," Crepes called. He was already balancing on the log below.

"Try and sound like you mean it," Luke said. He looked back at Bo. "Do you want to go first?"

Bo shook his head.

Luke nodded and wrapped his arms and legs around the pole. He slid down and landed beside Crepes. Bo followed immediately after. He managed to balance on the log for a moment, but then Crepes ran to the other end, causing it to shake. Bo wavered and then quickly sat down, gripping the log tightly.

"Crawl it," Luke said. "I'll wait for you."

Bo shook his head and climbed back to his feet shakily. He wavered back and forth, but managed to follow Luke as they walked to the top end of the log. There was a rope hanging at the other end, so they could swing across a wide gap.

"We're already losing," Crepes sighed. He was standing on the other side. Luke grabbed the rope and swung over to join him.

"But we've still got a lot of time," Luke said, swinging the rope back to Bo. His younger teammate managed to swing okay, but didn't reach the other side of the platform. He ended up swinging back and landing on the log.

"Oh, brother," Crepes said, shaking his head.

"Come on, Bo," Luke called. "Try again! Push off from the log harder!"

Bo nodded, and managed to come a bit closer to the platform. Just as he began to swing away, Crepes reached out and grabbed him, pulling him forward to join them.

"Come on," Crepes said, pointing ahead. "The best part. Crawling in the trenches."

"You guys go on ahead," Luke said, deciding Bo wouldn't have any trouble with crawling under a net. "I'll wait for the others to catch up."

Lamber and Zev were still making their way up the adjacent log. Lamber had chosen to shuffle along it sideways, while Havy walked behind, looking bored. It took a few minutes, but eventually the rest of the team had joined Luke on the platform.

"Crawling," Havy sighed, as he jumped down into the trench. "I hate crawling."

"It's the only part I like," Lamber said, shakily.

Luke grinned. "Don't worry, we're nearly halfway there."

Zev joined Luke as they got on their hands and knees to crawl down the trench.

"We're nearly halfway, but it's the second half that's the catch," he said quietly. "You have to crawl along a ladder that's even higher than the top of the first wall ... Lamber couldn't do it last time."

"He'll do it this time," Luke insisted.

"Bo is doing much better," Zev admitted. "Last time he took ten minutes to get over the log. He kept losing his balance and falling off. Torture would make him start over."

At the end of the trenches, they crawled up a flat wall with the aid of a rope. A vast sea of cable knotted together like a spider-web spread out from there. Climbing over it was made difficult by the constant rocking back and forth caused by other cadets climbing off it on the other side. Luke paused in the middle, and looked up at what awaited them. There were several poles with metal staples sticking out of the sides. The one nearest him rose high into the air, leading to the base of a horizontal ladder, which stretched across a ten-meter gap. Some cadets were going underneath, swinging from one rung to the next. Others were choosing to climb up on top and crawl across that way. Luke could see why someone who was afraid of heights would be nervous about crossing it.

Beside him, Bo slipped and nearly fell through a hole in the net. Luke grabbed his arms and dragged him back up.

"You go first," he said, pointing at the pole. "I'm right behind you."

It took Bo a few times to gain a good foothold, and then he managed to climb up onto the pole. Luke followed, seeing Crepes had already moved out onto the ladder. He had chosen to go over the top, which looked like the best option to Luke, too. Going underneath might be quicker, but one sweaty palm and you could be plunging to the ground. Luke found himself looking down as he climbed up, wondering if anyone had ever fallen before. There were soft mats underneath, but he doubted they would feel very soft, falling from this height.

Bo reached the top of the pole, and then hesitated. He hadn't made a sound, but Luke could sense he was frightened. Crepes suddenly reached down, and dragged him up on the top of the ladder. Bo yelled out in fright as he lost his footing, and then clung to the ladder, visibly shaking.

"That's not helping," Luke said, reaching the top of the pole.

"We're the only team still out here," Crepes complained.

Luke looked ahead, and saw the other cadets were all at the finish line.

"Then go ahead and join them," Luke said. "You're better there than making things worse out here."

Crepes shrugged and did as Luke suggested, crawling over to the end of the ladder and on towards the end of the course. Luke climbed up beside Bo.

"Are you okay?"

Bo nodded, but didn't let go.

"It's not far," Luke said. "Just shuffle forward."

Bo still didn't move. He was staring fixedly at the ground.

"You won't fall," Luke said. "I swear, I'll grab you if you slip. Just take your time ... move a few centimeters, and then take a break."

Bo slid his hand along the bars, and then shifted his right leg forward. Finally, he rose up so he was on all fours, and then shuffled along the ladder.

"Great," Luke said, crawling along behind him. "We're nearly at the end with time to spare."

Bo chuckled. At the end of the ladder, he rotated and then lowered himself down onto a rope that led to the next platform. He looked up at Luke, meeting his gaze for the first time that Luke could remember.

"I'm okay from here, Luke," he said. "I think Lamber needs help more right now."

Luke looked back and found Lamber was stuck halfway up the pole. Zev was at the start of the ladder, trying to coax him up.

"See you at the finish line," he said to Bo. He quickly crawled back towards Zev.

"Zev, where's Havy?" Luke said, coming up beside him and looking down the pole.

Zev gestured over to an adjacent ladder, where Havy was crawling across.

"You're supposed to be behind Lamber," Luke called, annoyed.

"It's a lost cause, Luke," Havy said, not pausing. "Sorry. I did try, but I'm tired of waiting."

"He's right," Zev said, glancing at his wrist chrono. "We've only got five minutes before the time expires. Don't worry—Torture won't make you do chores."

"Go and make sure Bo gets to the finish," Luke said, hanging off the side so Zev could get past him. "I'll help Lamber."

Zev moved on, and Luke swung himself back up onto the ladder. He looked down the pole, and saw Lamber was clinging to the handgrips and sweating like crazy. He could sense his fear, and also his extreme embarrassment that Luke was seeing him like this. Luke could identify. He hated for anyone to see him when he was frightened.

"It's okay," Luke called. "If you want to go back down, it's okay. But if you want to finish, then I can help you. It's only a little further."

Lamber shook his head. "I ... I'm sorry. I can't. I'm sorry I'm so pathetic."

"You're not pathetic," Luke said. "You're braver than everyone else in the team to have got this far. Everyone is frightened of something ... it's just bad luck that your fear is put out here in the open." Luke leaned down further. "If the other cadets had to overcome a fear like yours, half of them would still be back at the starting line. But you've nearly reached the end. Being brave doesn't mean not being afraid. It means doing things in spite of your fear. That's what my Uncle Owen used to say."

"Everyone is staring at us," Lamber said, miserably.

"Forget them," Luke said. "Want to know a secret?"

Lamber looked up. Almost instinctively, he climbed up another rung, just so he could hear Luke better.

"I'm terrified of the dentist," Luke admitted. "Last time I went, my father had to hold my hand."

"Your father ... held your hand?" Lamber said. He broke into a grin. "You're kidding."

Luke shook his head. "I'm serious. I'm fine with heights, but one whiff of that dentist smell and I'm a wreck. Don't tell anyone."

Lamber nodded. "No one would believe me anyhow."

His voice was sounding a lot stronger.

"You know," Luke said, looking across the ladder. "Once you get over the ladder, it's all downhill. If you really want to get back on the ground, I think it would be quicker to come this way than try and reverse down the net."

"I'm coming," Lamber said, climbing higher. "Just keep distracting me. It really helps."

"What's your favorite holovid show?" Luke asked, shuffling down the ladder to give Lamber room to climb up.

"Galaxy's Scariest True Stories," Lamber said. "How about yours?"

"Depends on my mood," Luke said. "Galactic Bandits is always good. I love the way every episode is set on a new planet."

"Does your father ever watch the HoloNet?" Lamber asked, crawling along the ladder.

"Only the news," Luke said. "He calls everything else mindless entertainment."

"My dad says the same thing," Lamber said. "Except for the sports channels. He barely moves from the couch when it's nunaball season."

Luke laughed. He swung himself down onto the rope and left room for Lamber to join him. His teammate had stopped again, but this time it wasn't because he was afraid.

"Stars, I did it! I'm over the ladder!" Lamber grinned, rubbing his forehead. He then became serious and glanced at his chrono. "We've got one minute to get to that finish line."

They still had to run across another log and jump over a gap, but there was no stopping Lamber now. Luke had to run to keep pace with him. When they finally skidded over the finish line, the rest of Team Loyalty broke into loud cheers and applause.

Lieutenant Tancher put a swift end to that.

"Coming last is nothing to applaud," he said, striding up and waving a finger in Zev's face. "Next time, your team will do it in twenty minutes or I'll really give you something to scream about."

He turned away and addressed the whole group.

"Congratulations to Team Sacrifice, the winning and indeed the only team to finish in fifteen minutes."

Team Sacrifice began to cheer, while the rest of them gave subdued applause.

"Now line up in your teams! You will all jog around the lake twice, and then head back to camp to get cleaned up!"

The lieutenant blew his whistle, and Luke jogged slowly after his team, thinking it was a bit rough to make them run after they'd just worn themselves out on the obstacle course. The rest of them obviously felt the same way, as it was a very leisurely jog.

"Did you see Torture's face as you and Lamber skidded over the finish line?" Havy asked, falling back to jog beside Luke. "I wish I'd brought a holocamera."

"I wasn't looking, but I can guess," Luke said, with a smirk.

"He looked like he really wanted to disqualify us but couldn't think of a good reason why."

Luke chuckled for a moment, and then became serious as he noticed a member of Team Sacrifice had fallen back. It was the same person who'd been smirking at him before the race. He looked around, and then jogged up beside Havy.

"Hey, Upworth, how did your team get saddled with another weakling?"

"How does your team manage to come first when you're dragging so much ego around?" Havy asked.

"Seriously, your team has the worst luck," the cadet said. "But I'm not complaining. My girlfriend will be impressed when I tell her I beat Vader's son in an obstacle race."

Luke felt a sudden blaze of anger. "I could beat you any day of the week!"

The cadet looked over in surprise, obviously unaware Luke was on Havy's other side. In an instant, the surprise disappeared.

"You could beat me? At what? Being short?"

Luke stopped jogging, and started moving towards the cadet, but Havy held him back.

"Ignore him, he's just jealous."

"No, let him go," the cadet said, also stopping. "This is going to be funny."

Luke looked past the cadet, and saw they were not far from the start of the obstacle course.

"Torture is coming over," Zev said, assisting Havy in holding Luke back. At this point, many of the cadets had stopped jogging, and were gathering around in anticipation of a fight.

"You want funny?" Luke asked. "How about your face when I beat you in a one-on-one race on the obstacle course?"

"I could beat you if you had a half hour head start."

"Then prove it," Luke said, pointing at the first wall.

The other cadet hesitated for a brief instant, and then took off at a sprint towards the starting line. Luke shook off his friend's hands, and raced after him. It wasn't until he was actually scrambling up the first wall that he stopped to wonder if he could really do this. But he didn't have a choice—it was his father's reputation on the line here, as well as his own.

Unfortunately, the cadet was older and stronger, and already had a head start.

Don't think about it, Luke thought, closing his eyes as he ran over the log. The shouts of the other cadets began to fade into the background. There was only himself, his body and the piece of the course directly in front of him. He shimmied through the trench, stirring up clouds of dust. When he came out the other side, he was aware the other cadet had fallen behind. He didn't pause for a second.

At the top of the pole, he cartwheeled over the ladder that made Bo and Lamber so nervous, and slipped down the rope only holding on with his legs. At the final gap, he ran up and did a somersault, landing lightly on the other side. He didn't even know where the other cadet was now, all he knew was that he felt wonderfully alive. He sprinted for the finish line but ended up falling over it. The sudden pain in his knee caused him to come back down to ground quickly. In a moment, Zev was there, dragging him back up.

"Luke? Luke!"

He waved a hand in front of his eyes. Luke frowned, and reached up to shield his face. The gesture caused a sudden stabbing pain in his wrist, and he grabbed it with his other hand.

"Are you okay?"

"Sure," Luke said. "Did I beat that nerfherder?"

"Uh ..." Zev glanced back at the course. "I don't know. No one was watching him."

A shadow fell across Zev's face, and Luke glanced up to find Lieutenant Tancher standing over them. He expected him to be angry, but he seemed almost ... frightened? The expression was gone a moment later.

"Veers, are you blind? He's injured! Take him to the medical bay immediately!"

The lieutenant pointed at Luke's knee. Luke looked down to find blood seeping through his pant leg, just above the top of his boot. He must have tripped on something. He glanced back at the finish line, and saw a sharp tree branch lying a short distance away.

"Come on," Zev said, pulling Luke away.

They had several medical droids at the camp, and Luke felt they were overly dull for all their supposed bedside manner programming. However, they did do their job, and soon his knee was disinfected and bandaged. The branch must have had a sharp point on it, because the cut was quite deep.

He heard voices outside as the droid rolled away, and he kneeled on the bed in order to see out the window. Commander Hayge was outside, discussing something with Lieutenant Tancher.

"It was amazing, sir ... he was moving more like a moikini than a human. Flipping around like gravity meant nothing. It reminded me of—"

"A Jedi?" the commander finished. "Is that really a surprise, all things considered?"

"I feel we should have been warned about this," the lieutenant said. "What other strange abilities does he have? Is he safe around the other cadets?"

"I will talk to him. You're needed in the dining hall—try and discourage the cadets from discussing this incident."

"Yes, sir."

Luke heard the commander walking up the stairs, and quickly lay down on the bed. Now was his chance. He pulled a blanket over and closed his eyes, pretending to be resting. In a moment, the door slid open and Luke heard the commander enter the room.

"Cadet Skywalker?"

Luke opened his eyes, and then screwed up his forehead. "Hello, sir," he said, trying to sound weak.

"How are you feeling?"

"Not good," Luke said, misery dripping from his voice. He rubbed his wrist, and then sat up so he could rub his knee. "I think I'll have to go home ..."

The commander smiled. "I can't send you back over a cut knee and sprained wrist, but I'm afraid you will no longer be able to participate in any physical activities."

"What?" Luke leapt to his feet. "Oh, come on! I hurt my wrist two weeks ago while I was hover-boarding. This is just a relapse. And the cut happened when I tripped on a tree branch someone had left lying around at the finish line—it didn't even happen on the course."

"I'm sorry, but I can't take any risks with your safety. Your father said he would kill us if you were injured in any way."

Luke waved a dismissive hand. "He's always threatening to kill people. It's just his twisted sense of humor. He's not serious."

The commander raised a disbelieving eyebrow.

"What am I supposed to do if I can't join in anything physical?" Luke complained. "Sit on the sidelines and watch?"

"Perhaps there are some reading materials in my office that might interest you."

"That sounds even more boring," Luke said, no longer caring about being polite. "Having fun outside is the only thing I like about being here! You can't take that away!"

"I'm sorry, but my word is final on that. Cadet, I have one more question for you."

Luke didn't respond.

"Lieutenant Tancher told me everything that happened. The first time you completed the course, you came last. Why, when you clearly have the ability to beat every other cadet?"

"The first time I was helping my team-mates," Luke said. "Stars, I would have thought that was obvious. Lamber in particular ... the poor guy was terrified of heights. It was cruel to make him do the course in the first place."

"I see," the commander said, distantly. He turned to leave, but Luke spoke up again.

"Sir, if I get hurt, I won't tell my father about it. You don't have to tell him. If he finds out, I'll just say it was my fault."

"If you fall and break your neck, you won't be able to make excuses for us."

"But what about the other cadets?" Luke said. "You let them do the activities!"

"I think the difference between yourself and them is quite clear, Cadet."

Luke made a noise of frustration.

"Please, just remain on the ground," the commander said.

I'm always on the ground, Luke thought, angrily. I should change my name to Luke Groundwalker.

Vader walked across the bridge that linked the medical wing of the Mustafar fortress, wondering where the droids were. It was strangely deserted. And there was an odd white glow at the edges of his vision. Vaneé was up ahead, wearing a brown robe, not his typical shade. He pointed down into the depths. Vader followed the finger, and found Luke was hanging off a rope, attempting to rappel down to the level below.

"Luke!" He knew it had been a mistake to turn off those safety barriers. He quickly moved to pull him back up, but no matter how much rope he dragged up beside him, Luke never seemed to get closer.

"Luke, climb back up at once!" he called.

His son looked up and smirked at him. "I'm not Luke. Can't you tell us apart yet?"

"Lord Vader, do you require some assistance in controlling your children?"

Vader looked up, and found 'Vaneé' wasn't Vaneé at all, but his former Jedi Master, Obi-Wan Kenobi. The shock caused the rope to slip from his hands, and the clone-Luke screamed, but someone else dived from behind, barely grabbing the end of the rope before it fell over the edge.

"Don't worry! I've got you!" he called.

Vader was about to thank the stranger, when the man stood up beside him, tying the rope around his belt, just in front of his lightsaber. He turned to face him, an arrogant smirk on his face. It was ... himself. No, not himself, but a twenty year old Anakin Skywalker, fully dressed in his Jedi robes.

"I don't have children!" Vader insisted, turning back to Obi-Wan. "I have one child. One!"

Someone tugged at his cape, and he looked down to find another Luke had appeared beside him.

"Dad, Luke3 flew off in your Naboo starfighter. I want to fly it too. Can I? Pleeease?" The Luke pointed out the window, and Vader looked up to find a starfighter streaking erratically past, nearly careening into the fortress wall.

Something triggered in his memory at that point. Clones of Luke ... he was dreaming!

"Poor man," Obi-Wan said, turning to Anakin. "Imagine having to raise five identical Skywalkers. Raising one of you was hard enough ... I would have gone insane if they'd been five of you."

"Don't worry, I'd have gone insane if they'd been five of you too, Master," Anakin said.

"I don't want your pity!" Vader said, angrily, reaching automatically for his lightsaber. He found it was gone. A quick look around revealed another clone of Luke swinging it around near the entrance to the library.

"He doesn't deserve pity," Anakin said, folding his arms. "He knows he can only blame himself for Luke's adventurous streak. It comes from our side of the family."

"Padmé was hardly sedate," Vader protested.

"She married us," Anakin agreed. "That was reckless if anything was."

"Stop talking," Vader said. "You don't exist." He pointed at Obi-Wan. "And you are dead."

He turned to go and retrieve his lightsaber from the Luke clone, but the strange white light at the edge of his vision started to become brighter, and soon, he found himself staring at the outer wall of the bacta tank. He immediately triggered the switch to drain the tank and begin the process of reattaching the respirator and his prosthetic limbs. Silly nightmares. Luke clones and Obi-Wan ... what next?

When he was once again fully dressed, he left the medical wing, heading for the conference room near the library. As tempting as it was to simply idle away some hours in the dueling room, he should glance over his daily report from Coruscant, to make sure none of the Moffs had attempted a coup. There was more than one of them who regularly daydreamed about such a scenario.

When he opened his communications inbox, he was met with an entire page of mail. Among them, several days worth of daily reports from the capital. Strange. A quick study of the computer's clock made him lean back in confusion. He'd been in that meditation for days. It was odd Vaneé hadn't disturbed him.

Right on cue, the building's resident Sith academic arrived, bowing as he entered the conference room.

"Good morning, my lord?"

Images of Luke dangling off one of the walkways filled his mind, and he quickly pushed it aside.

"How long was I in meditation?"

"Three days, my lord." He hesitated. "The medical droids did assure me there was no cause for alarm."

Three days. He should be feeling rested after that stint, but who knew how many visions of Luke clones he had been subjected to during that time.

After a moment, Vaneé added, "Luke called from camp shortly after you went under. He only had a short amount of time, but he wanted to leave a message for you."

This was a surprise. He expected at least a week to pass before his son's anger had receded to a degree where he was actually willing to speak to him.

"How is he?"

Vaneé looked thoughtful. "He appeared in good health."

"I expected as much. He needs to be outdoors and with people his own age."

"He did express a desire to be reunited with you here."

"He always has had an overactive imagination," Vader said, standing up and going to the window. "Have you heard from the bounty hunter?"

"Not yet. I will inform you the moment I do."

"Good," Vader said, waving him away.

"Something wrong?" Zev asked, as Luke crawled into the tent and started shoving his belongings aside.

"Obstacle courses are out, kayaking is out, swimming is out. Everything is out except reading some of the commander's books!"

Luke sunk onto his sleeping bag and buried his face in the pillow.

"That is bad," Zev agreed. "His books are full of propaganda."

"I don't know what that is, but it sounds boring," Luke mumbled. "By the way, what do you know about Jedi?"

"Enough to know you move like one," Zev said, carefully.

"How did I move?" Luke asked, sitting up.

"Like ... I don't know, but I've seen hundreds of cadets complete that obstacle course, and no one could do it like that. It was like the obstacles meant nothing to you."

"I'm on the gym team at school," Luke explained. "That's all." He paused for a moment, and then continued. "I know next to nothing about Jedi. My father used to be one, but he doesn't talk about that. But he says the Sith are like the Jedi, only more powerful."

"What do you want to know?" Zev asked, quietly.

"Everything," Luke said, also lowering his tone. "Why are we whispering?"

"Because Jedi are considered enemies and traitors of the state," Zev said. "Showing an interest in them is not encouraged."

"I'm not interested in all the politics," Luke said. "I just want to understand who they were. They were supposed to be so powerful, yet they were all killed."

"Many people, like my father, believe the Jedi deserved to be murdered," Zev said, sounding a little ashamed. "He said they tried to kill the Emperor and take over the galaxy. But when I read about all the good things they did, I can't believe they were evil. Their philosophy makes a lot of sense to me. I apply it to my own life."

"Like what?" Luke said, interested.

"They rejected feelings of anger, hate, jealousy and greed. I know if I gave in to hating my father, it would destroy me. Sometimes I can't help but feel angry, but nothing good ever comes of it. My father, on the other hand, takes enjoyment from hating the Rebels. It's made him cold."

"Wow," Luke said. "Boy, has my father done a complete turnaround. He's like the anger capital of the galaxy."

"Don't tell him that you heard any of this from me," Zev said, sounding nervous.

"Don't worry, I won't get within fifty meters of my father with a conversation like this."

There was silence for a moment, while Luke mulled over everything he'd learned. The subject of the Force was a touchy one between him and his father. For once, the reluctance to talk about it wasn't coming from his father's side, but from his own. His father had always been willing to answer any questions he had, and it was one of the few subjects he enjoyed talking about. But those conversations always seemed to move on to talk of power and a future Luke wasn't sure he wanted to be part of. His father always stressed that his Force sensitivity had marked him for a galaxy-changing destiny.

But he had also made clear that any powers he had were only potential at the moment, and training was required before they could be put to any use. So what of today's incident? It made him both angry and frightened. Angry at the idea that maybe his father hadn't been entirely truthful with him, yet also frightened at the thought that maybe he had. The latter would mean the mysterious condition he had inherited was not behaving as it was meant to. At any rate, he wasn't going to ask his father. He would rather not know.

Luke became aware that Zev was staring at him in an odd way.

"Do you have Force powers?" his friend asked, suddenly. "Just like your father? Can you move things around without touching them?"

"No," Luke said, lying back on his sleeping bag. He rolled over to face the tent wall. "I'm drained. 'Night."