The Way of a Siluan

Chapter 6: Hiding Devin Strong, part I

Coming out of hyperspace at the planet Nechako, Garth felt kind of sick. Telling his friend Devin about the attack on Deema's AgriCorps station was going to be like killing a puppy, he thought. For Devin, the AgriCorps was everything: work, family, something to believe in. He had been Master Lu's apprentice all through those challenging days when Master Lu and Devin were the only two AgriCorps Jedi serving on Deema. At first Devin hadn't been happy with being assigned to the AgriCorps, but as he got to know the land and got to know Master Lu, he discovered his own gift for using the Force to connect with plants and animals. Agriculture, for Devin, came to mean a way to fulfil his calling as a Jedi, and the AgriCorps became everything to him.

The AgriCorps was everything, that is, until Devin met a young woman named Shie. But in spite of Garth's merciless chiding, Devin maintained a purely platonic relationship with her until after he'd made the difficult decision to leave the Jedi Order. His integrity, however, paid off. The AgriCorps station he'd helped to build on Deema allowed him to continue working with them, albeit as a non-Jedi technical support person, even after his marriage.

And that marriage, Garth now thought grimly, had paid off too: if Devin hadn't left the Jedi Order to get married, he wouldn't have reconnected with his parents, and if he hadn't reconnected with his parents, he wouldn't have made an emergency trip to Nechako when he heard his mom had had a stroke, and if he hadn't gone to Nechako, he would probably have been there at the AgriCorps Symposium when those damn clones blew up the reactor...

Now coming in close to the planet Nechako, Garth swooped his little freighter in over the endless grassland of the Moosachu Plains, where Devin's parents had recently settled in one of the few scattered farmsteads. Garth breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Devin standing there on the wind-swept prairie, not far from the igloo-like farmhouse, but it was not a happy scene.

Devin and Shie stood with a small group of people not far from the farmhouse. Devin's dad Vince Baxter was there, along with a few neighbours, and a big, broad-shouldered man in a green tunic, seemingly a priest of some sort. Nearby, a hole gaped in the ground, and a mound of soil stood beside it. As Garth walked up to join the crowd, he caught Devin's eye, and they exchanged nods.

Soon two men came carrying a body on a simple bier, an old woman draped in cloth. Devin held himself with great composure, but Vince just let the tears stream down his face as he and Devin and Shie helped lower her into the ground.

The priest-figure raised his hand, calling everyone to attention, and sprinkled some herbs into the grave. "Though her life be ended, yet shall the Light be unbroken. May her spirit be one with the Force and her body one with the land that bore her," he chanted, and then threw three shovelfuls of soil into the grave. Handing the shovel to Vince, he motioned for him to do the same. They all take turns, Devin and his wife Shie, and then the others. Everyone was very respectful, though most were stiff and awkward as they approached the grave, showing the uncertainty of never having done something like this before. Garth chose not to participate.

As soon as he could, Devin ran over and grabbed Garth in a bear-hug.

"Thanks for coming," Devin said. "I didn't think you'd be able to make it."

"I wish I could say I just came for this, but actually I've got bad news."

"Well, it will have to be pretty bad to register right now."

"Look, you've got guests. When they're gone, let's talk."

With the burial complete, the priest-figure came to Devin and laid a big hand on his shoulder. "Your mom was a good woman, Devin," he said, and gave Devin a sad smile.

"Thanks, Ava Kirrin. Thanks for coming on such short notice."

"I was really impressed with your Dad for allowing a ceremony like this," Ava Kirrin said. "I know it's not his thing."

"Yeah, he knows it's what mom wanted."

Ava Kirrin paused and looked at Devin carefully. "Take care of your Dad, Devin" he said. "And take care of yourself. If you need me, you know where to find me."

Devin smiled sadly. "Thanks. Take care of yourself too, eh?"

With a nod to Devin, Ava Kirrin headed back to his ship. Garth watched him walk away, then turned to Devin.

"What's with the dude and the primitive ritual?"

"He's a Siluan..." Devin saw Garth raise an eyebrow. "They're another sect, kind of like the AgriCorps Jedi but different. Mom was into their teachings."

"Intense," Garth said, and paused. "So Devin, you heard any news from the AgriCorps symposium?"

Devin shook his head. "I really wanted to be there, but then this happened..."

"So you don't know what's happened?"

Devin was a bit taken aback. "Uh, no?"

Everyone was gone by then, but Garth still lowered his voice. "Listen buddy, it's bad. You're going to hear that there was a reactor malfunction there, but that's bullshit. I was there dropping Master Lu off for the Symposium the other day and out of nowhere the Republics's own starfighters attacked the place and blew up the reactor."

"What?!" Devin looked as if Garth had hit him in the face.

"It gets worse," Garth said. "So I tried to fight back but no one else was armed. It was all I could do to pull out when the reactor blew. I went back by the temple to tell them what happened...and not a soul alive in the place. Not a soul. I stopped in at a dozen other AgriCorps and MedCorp stations, and same story."

"So then Master Lu is dead too..."

Garth nodded. "I'm sorry to break it to you at a time like this. But I wanted you to know, and I wanted to tell you to hide."

"I don't need to hide! We need to do something about this!"

Garth wanted to punch Devin. This was not the time for selfless heroics. "No," Garth said forcefully, "you need to hide. The Chancellor is calling himself Emperor now and he's accusing the Jedi Order of treason."

"I'm not a Jedi anymore."

"That won't save you. You know Astvan Virk and those guys? They're same as you, but the same day all this went down I found them all shot dead in their workshop."

Devin took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "But I have Shie to think about, and a kid on the way..."

"That's why you need to hide, dammit."

"Where?"

"Here would do well enough. No one knows you here, right?"

Devin shook his head. "But I can't ask Shie to move from Deema to somewhere like this..."

"Look, I don't care where you go, just keep your head down and stay safe. Someday we're going to need guys like you still alive."

"But then what are you going to do?"

"I go and keep trying to find out if anyone else is left, and warn them. After that, I'll figure it out."

Devin and Garth stood there looking at each other for a moment. In the midst of his shock and grief, it was dawning on Devin that with everyone else gone, Garth had come all the way to Nechako for the sole purpose of saving Devin's life. Devin started to tear up.

Garth looked away and kicked at a rock on the ground. He didn't like soft emotions. "Well, anyways, I got some stuff for you," he said, and beckoned Devin over to his freighter. "Aggie, come on out!" he called to someone inside. Down the ramp came a humanoid figure, metallic and tractor orange.

"A protocol droid?" Devin said. "What am I supposed to do with a protocol droid?"

"Not just any protocol droid. Aggie, this is Devin. Devin, Aggie."

"Hi," Devin said to the droid.

"Hello!" the droid said, rather enthusiastically. "I am AG360, a complete integrated agriculture information assistant for agronomists and farm managers. Agricultural systems are complex, which is why I have been programmed to..."

Garth cut her off. "Look, stuff it Aggie, you can finish introducing yourself later. Devin, she's a bit long-winded but she's one of a kind. This is what Virk's team was working on...an advanced agricultural protocol droid. Whoever shot him destroyed a bunch of his droids too, but I found her in the scrap pile out back. I thought you could at least give her a home."

Devin rolled his eyes. He didn't like droids. "For Virk's sake and Virk's sake only, yes," he said.

"And then there's this..." Garth unrolled an oblong object wrapped in a bandana.

Devin shook his head. "I'm not supposed to have that."

"Look," Garth said, in no mood to do things by the book, "I found it on the passenger seat after I dropped Master Lu off. I thought it belonged more with you than it does with me."

Devin took it solemnly and wrapped it back up in the bandana. He didn't know what to say. To take possession of Master Lu's light-sabre was no small thing.

"Well buddy, I got to go," Garth said. "Keep your head down and don't do anything stupid, K?"

Garth waved a hand, strode into his ship and climbed back into the cockpit. Devin stood there on the dry prairie grassland of Nechako, watching Garth fly away, and trying not to breath the dust of his takeoff.