Terryal sat down (the very act of sitting in their presence a bad sign in and of itself, one they should have caught) across from Vader and Obi-wan. Neither really paid any but the most perfunctory attention to him, they were too busy looking daggers at each other when they thought the other wasn't looking. Obi-wan had counseled against going after Katie… but he saw nothing wrong in going straight to the source.

"What is it, Terryal?" Vader snapped.

"Really, do get on with it." Obi-wan added.

"I was in the middle of something important." They finished together, nearly in unison. Old habits and this was such a very old one, died so very hard.

Terryal tented his fingers, resisting the urge to heave a heavy sigh. It was times such as this when he remembered that neither of them were far out of their teens (he, being in his mid-twenties, could afford to be high and mighty), and still held control of most of the known universe. It was a sobering thought, and one that would have kept him up nights, had he needed sleep at all. Besides, when that 'something important' was fighting over the ethics of letting a girl (who really wasn't worth the fuss, in his opinion) do what she wanted to do; it didn't make one optimistic as to the fate of the world. But then, he'd never cared much for politics anyway. "The Emperor has left a missive demanding your presence at the talks in Alderraan."

"Alderraan?" It was funny how fast the mood in the room had changed, from animosity towards each other to animosity towards the messenger. Vader was scowling, as he'd never liked Alderraan itself, and liked being ordered about (even by his superior) even less.

Obi-wan's distaste was silent, but equally pronounced. Any news dealing with Alderraan was bad news. "Which one?"

"Alderraan Five." The tension deflated some. Alderraan Six had been a disaster of the ninth degree.

Alderraan was a fairly central system, but was also fairly isolated as far as neighbors went. There were nine planets total in the system, numbered accordingly, none particularly noteworthy in any way. Seven, eight and nine, (the outermost) had been rather peacefully incorporated into the Empire, but the success had been on paper only. Alderraan was a funny place. It was never cold but very cold, never warm but very warm, never bad but very bad, and never wonderful but very wonderful. It was a place of conflicting extremes, the atmosphere of muddled utopia and dystopia spiraling everything out of proportion, and out of control. One, two, three and four were confirmed Resistance beds, and with Six out of the question, the Empire needed Five to keep control of the system itself. Alderraan then have been the only entirely Resistance system, which would have been a rather difficult situation for all involved (not to mention a PR disaster).

But of course, with the Emperor involved, they could do nothing but start charting a new course. Terryal understood this, as often just agreeing and getting out of the way was the best method of keeping your head attached to your shoulders. But had any of them an inkling of the disaster awaiting them… they would have raised more of a fuss. Of course, they didn't have a clue.

Obi-wan stood first. "If that's all this was about, I'm leaving." However he paused at the door (and out of reach), to send a parting shot. "Because some of us have more important things to do with our students instead of sleeping with them." He had been feeling a masochistic, and it was always fun (and much too easy for his own good) to get under Vader's skin. Grinning, and with a little wave, Obi-wan ducked out and (not quite dashing) escaped unscathed.

- - -

Katie was rather dreading having to spend the hour or more of their lesson with Obi-wan. Even with Mel in attendance, she was still likely to find herself embarrassed, even angry, but without any way to retaliate. He was Obi-wan, after all. As it was, she was correct.

"I figured you were a little bored of the usual lectures, so I thought we'd discuss something… different. Something that might be of interest." He grinned. It was a very bad sign. "Namely, the heredity of The Force."

Katie resisted the urge to keel over and plop her head on the table. She hated being right.

Mel, watching her friend, covered a smile with her hand. Besides the amusement factor, it was nice to see her Master looking a little more perky. He'd been pretty down ever since their talk… but then again, this probably wasn't a good thing, at least as far as any of their prides went.

"Now, The Force is a rather funny thing. It doesn't follow most of the rules, but then, that's not as surprising at sounds. Generally its recessive, but even when it is present, it doesn't manifest itself very strongly. So you can have someone who technically is possessed of the force but has it so weak that they're really only a carrier. It also very uncommon, at least in its stronger variations, considering the sheer volume of people that could be tested for it. It's also very uneven. A majority of those who do have it are male, yet the percentage of carriers leans towards women. A Carrier, by the way, is someone who can pass the trait to his or her children, but has none of the benefits themselves. But even so, the few females who are possessed of The Force tend to have it very strongly, whereas there are plenty of gifted men in circuses levitating balls. Not only is it unequal among the sexes, but among different species. Humans tend to be the most common, whereas someone like a…" He searched for an example. "an Acjikal." The word came out like sneeze. "(Terryal, by the way). They've never had even remotely gifted children."

"What is an… whatever it was you said?" Mel inquired.

"Terryal, like I said. From Alderraan Six. Very funny things. Aquatic, as you might have guessed. They're vaguely radioactive, glow in the dark (they usually live in caves) and actually 'feed off' of electric waves, so they don't need to sleep. Very peculiar place, Alderraan Six. Anyway…" He changed the subject back to his monologue. "It also has a tendency to run in bloodlines, which is funny when you consider that there were only ever a very few Jedi that broke rules and children of their own." He emphasized 'broke the rules'. "It was once estimated that half of the population is force-less, one fourth is a carrier and the other fourth is resistant. Yes, you can be resistant to the Force. Not in the sense of someone using it against you, but there are kinds of people that can dilute an entire bloodline. And sometimes it can just pop up spontaneously, without anyone in the family carrying. But… let's see if I can think of an example. Now, Mel, let's use your family. You don't happen to have any… odd relatives, do you? Someone in an asylum, maybe?"

Mel looked at him, puzzled. "No, not that I know of. Why?"

"Because, given that your home was static, minor manifestations can be confused with forms of mental illness. Or, sometimes, as some sort of psychic power (which is basically the truth, but often isn't received well). Seeing things before they happen, making things move, prophetic dreams…I'm sure you understand. However, without any better knowledge of your family, I'd have to say you are the latter type. But then again, most static 'discoveries' are like that."

Obi-wan's grin widened, as he'd come to the part that he'd bothered having this discussion for. "Now, lets work in the other direction. If… say…" He paused for a moment, acting like he was searching for an example "If Vader and Katie were to have children…"

Katie plopped her head down on the table for real this time, mentally blocking out the rest of the 'discussion'. That had been just much too low… But then again, perhaps she deserved it.