"Ow!" I winced as Dr. Pershing stuck a thin needle into a vein in my arm. He was drawing blood from me- my very first time. "Just doing a midi-chlorian check," he took the needle out once the vile was full. Onto a little scantron it went, and the doctor checked the screen; the wheel on it was spinning quickly. "Interesting. Almost eighteen thousand. The highest known midi-chlorian count was over twenty thousand per cell; you're just under." "W-what is midi-chlorian?" I asked in a frightened tone. I didn't feel nearly as safe around these men as I did with Mando. His head spun back my way.
"It's hard to explain, but it's these intelligent, microscopic life forms living in your cells. Think of them as organisms living inside of you," Dr. Pershing said as he went back to type something into the computer. I peered down at my hand a bit curiously. I didn't know that's what they were. "A-and Anakin…? He had the highest midi-chlorian count in his cells?" "You don't know about Anakin?" He flashed me a mild side grin. I frowned but didn't say anything. He chuckled a bit before turning back to his computer screen.
"Do you know what midi-chlorian does?" "N-no." "But you know about the Force?" I hesitated to reply but only for a minute; I knew he was expecting an answer. Slowly my head began to nod up and down. This seemed to satisfy him, as he nodded his own head. "Who taught you about that?" He then asked me, still looking at the screen. When I didn't respond this time, he paused his typing and spun his chair out around so he could face me. I eyed him suspiciously for a moment before finally opening my mouth. "My great uncle."
"Your great uncle? The dead one?" I frowned for what felt like the twentieth time that day but nodded my head. He laughed out loud to himself. "Well I'll be; you are special. Special enough for Obi-Gon Jinn's Force ghost to come to you." "He's my uncle." "That doesn't mean anything. He's a Jedi; they cut all family ties when they go in front of the Jedi council. Heh, though I heard your uncle had an "unusual" Jedi philosophy," he chuckled, spinning back to his stupid screen. Of course this only made my frown grow, but I thought it wise to watch my words around this shifty doctor. I decided to ask questions instead.
"A-are you working for the Imperials?" "How do you know about them?" He immediately fired back, though not in a rude or angry voice; more surprised than anything. "My great uncle told me." "You know about the Imperials, but you don't know who Anakin Skywalker is? Just where did you come from? Where were you hiding five years ago?" "Five years? W-what….?" "Ah, never mind. If Obi-Gon Jinn wanted you to know, he would have told you. He didn't tell you much, by the sounds of it." "You're right there," my eyes narrowed intently onto him.
Dr. Pershing pressed a few more buttons before facing me again. "Have you met any other Force ghosts?" "A few….." "Did they teach you how to use the Force?" "For healing," my lips curled into an expectant frown. He didn't appear too pleased by this response. "Don't you want to be a Jedi?" "I am a healer; I was born to heal. That is my role in the cosmos," I said with finality. He chuckled, but it was a sinister chuckle. "Who told you that?" Like hell I was going to tell him it was Obi-Wan Kenobi; it sounded like he already knew too much about me. But I didn't know anything about him or what he and those other goons wanted with me. My back straightened a little.
"What do you want with me? Why did Mando bring me here?" The doctor took his sweet time answering me. "You're here because you are valuable to us." I considered this for a moment, letting my eyes wander out in front of me. "How?" "Heh, you'll see in time. For now, you do what we say when we say it. Judging by your past experience with Jedi masters, you'll know what that's like." You guessed it- I frowned upon hearing this. What a jerk; he's just like all the others. Won't tell me a damn thing; only not hearing it from him made me madder.
"Do you need me to use the Force?" "Like I said, you will learn when the time comes. But…." Dr. Pershing paused for a moment, which caught me by surprise a tad. His lips parted as sliver as his sucked in a silent breath. Then his eyes locked onto mine. "Can you really use the Force? Not just for healing, I mean." All I could was stare; stare blankly and nod my head. Oh, how his eyes lit up in curiosity and delight- much like a child. "Show me," he commanded in a slightly excited tone.
After watching him for another moment, I raised my hand out in front of me and pointed it to something loose in the room. That happened to be this weird, canister tube with a lid on it. Shutting my eyes, I concentrated on the canister. It slowly hovered in the air, floating across the room over to my hand. All the while the doctor witnessed the event with large, astonished eyes. Once it was in my hand my eyes opened and my muscles involuntary relaxed. It wasn't as bad as when I moved that horned animal before, but I still felt mildly tired now. Dr. Pershing got up from his chair, came over to me, and took the canister from my hand. "Remarkable," he gazed over the tube with still wide eyes. They were on me soon enough.
"You are truly fantastic. You will be of great use to us." I didn't reply, instead focusing on my heavy breathing while trying to regain absolute control of my body. It was just a little canister, but I wasn't used to using my powers for levitation; only healing. This explains why I didn't notice him pull a short needle from behind his back, concealing it in his hand. Dr. Pershing took a few more steps towards me; his eyes shimmering down at my head. "Yes, you are precious. You were worth every cent; of that, I am sure." No response on my end; just smaller, lighter breathing now. His eyes narrowed keenly. "And I'm not going to let them kill you; not after what you've shown me. I'm not going to let you go like that."
Before I could ask what he meant, I suddenly felt this sharp pain stab my neck. The needle wasn't long so it didn't go deep; just deep enough to enter the blood stream. I began to wiggle and gasp, clutching his arm with both my hands. He retracted it with ease as I fell off the patient table onto the floor. Breathing was becoming more difficult now; my vision was getting progressively blurry at an alarming rate. The doctor merely watched me with a detached yet pleased look on his face. The last thing I saw was him reaching one hand down for me, then everything went black. Against my will, I fell unconscious yet again.