Ch. VIII

Jorec quickly pressed himself against the back of his chair as the man in front of him revealed the results of the background check. Fear quickly pressed into his mind, all of the fear of living in the wilderness for those two years, the fear of being captured, and the fear of ending up like his master and the other two Jedi filled his brain. He could end this right now if he really wanted to… In his fear-clouded mind, Jorec could see him pulling the lightsaber out of the bag near his feet and cutting his way out of the building, but the thought was quickly shot down by reason.

I can't do something like that! One, it's just wrong to think about killing innocent people, and two: it would draw far too much attention to me.

The man behind the desk looked at Jorec strangely as the young Jedi seemed to stare into space for a few moments. He then turned back to his computer and began to reread the background of the young adult sitting in front of him. The information was relatively sparse; birth date, death date, parent's names and residence, criminal record…

Criminal record? What could be in here?

He quickly looked over at Jorec, who was now almost squirming in his chair. He then clicked to check over the criminal record this person could have. The computer quickly responded to his request, and a large list of charges quickly filled the screen.

What the hell? Treason, Conspiracy to Commit Treason, Conspiracy To Assassination. Conspiracy to… Conspiracy to… At 13? I've only seen this type of criminal record once before…

"I can see you're nervous. To tell you the truth, if I were in your position, I would be nervous too."

Jorec looked at him, studying him for any signs of betrayal. A few seconds ago, the man had done something on the computer and was shocked by something he saw. Something told Jorec that he could trust this man, and if he couldn't a quick escape could be made without killing anybody.

"What do you mean, 'In my position?'"

"Your record has quite an 'impressive' criminal record. Two years ago, before you apparently died, the record states that you were wanted for about 20 charges of conspiracy as well as treason. Now, it doesn't take a scientist to put a couple of things together."

Jorec slowly moved towards the end of his chair, ready to bolt out of the door as soon as the inevitable troops burst through the door.

"About two years ago, at the end of the Clone Wars, Emperor Palpatine…"

"Emperor Palpatine?"

"Long story, you can find out about that later. Emperor Palpatine was allegedly targeted for assassination by the Jedi, and thus he declared all Jedi an enemy of the new Empire."

A look of disbelief crossed Jorec's face.

"That, that can't be true."

"I have several doubts as well. You were one of them, weren't you?"

Jorec quickly stood up, ready to grab his survival bag and run out of the building when the man's voice stopped him.

"Calm down, just calm down."

"How do I know that I can trust you?"

"From the rumors I've heard about what happened, I doubt you can find it easy to trust anybody. So, what exactly happened to the Jedi?"

"It is hard to trust you, and anyone for that matter. You want to know what happened?"

Haller Surool nodded to the Jedi now standing up near his desk.

"The clone troops we were supposed to be able to trust completely turned on us with no warning. I was sparring with my teacher and two other Jedi when they arrived and began murdering us. I ran away like a coward while my master and the others tried to do their best to keep me alive."

Haller looked at the Jedi as he paced throughout the room. His voice was filled with anger and confusion, his eyes beginning to tear up.

"Look it couldn't have been you're fault."

"How do you know that? You weren't there! I heard the screams of pain from the others as I ran away. They could have easily survived if it hadn't have been for me!"

"You don't know that. My wife says that blaming yourself after a traumatic event is natural but one has to realize…"

"What does she know?"

"She's a psychologist in Gevest."

"You're going to turn me in, aren't you? You're going to betray me just like the troops did!"

Jorec's voice raised in anger, frightening Haller and causing him to jump slightly in his chair.

"No, I won't! You can trust me, I had a sister that was a Jedi!"

Jorec heard these words and let out a deep calming breath. Something still told him that he could trust this man. Jorec calmly apologized and sat back down in his chair.

"A sister as a Jedi. I'm sorry."

"Actually, I need to thank you. I never really knew her, but since I know that at least one Jedi survived it gives me hope that maybe she somehow survived as well. So, the troops didn't even try to arrest you?"

"They just opened fire on us."

"I really think you need to talk about this with my wife. I'll see if I can get you an appointment with her. You really need to talk about this to someone who knows what's really going on, rather than second hand knowledge. You've really been living out there alone for two years?"

A slight smile came across Jorec's face as he nodded.

"Yeah, two years."

"Unbelievable. Did they teach wilderness survival at the Jedi Temple?"

"A little bit. The rest just kind of came to me."

"You may like this place then, plenty of opportunities to prove your survival abilities out there. Of course, the guests want just enough wilderness to say that they got away from civilization and more than enough civilization to say that they didn't really leave the galaxy behind."

"I don't quite understand that reasoning."

"Me neither, but who can understand tourists?"

"One other thing, will I be safe here? If I'm to start a new life here, I want to know that I'll be safe."

"As far as I'm concerned, this conversation never happened."