Chapter 31 (8 BBY)
"It looks like I was finally able to pull you away from your mother, Gavin," Jorec whispered to his newborn son as he glanced over at his napping wife. Outside of the window, Alderaan's sun had just been obscured by the mountains to the west, sending twilight throughout the region. "You should have been born on Selvernos," Jorec lamented, missing the home planet that he had been essentially exiled from. "It's far more beautiful there." For his part, Gavin stared blankly at his father. "Well, that's just my opinion," Jorec replied. "I'm sure that the Galactic Travel Book disagrees."
Jorec softly ran his hand through the light mass of brown hair on Gavin's head, an obvious trait of his mother's, and smiled. There was, however, a less than obvious thing that the newborn had inherited from his father. An inheritance that had come extremely close to causing all nine of the Corellian hells to break loose. Gavin was Force-sensitive.
It was the fact that Gavin could, and more than likely would, be born Force-sensitive that caused Jorec and Lia to choose a human doctor over a medical droid. Medical droids were known for their hard-headedness when it came to following all of the rules of medicine, human doctors could be convinced otherwise. They could also be "influenced" into breaking some rules.
The day had started out as a normal Satunda morning with Jorec retreating to an abandoned room inside of the royal palace. It was in this room that Jorec was able to freely practice the vital skill of deflecting blaster shots, a skill that could come in extremely handy one day. Halfway through his practice session, the call had come in from his wife: she had gone into labor. In the rush to reach his wife's side, Jorec had almost forgotten to conceal his lightsaber, a mistake that could have turned fatal if a tourist had seen it.
Ten hours later, Gavin Merridon entered the galaxy. It was also when the second close call that the Merridon family would experience that day would happen. Jorec let loose a frustrated sigh as he remembered the events that occurred just three hours previously.
"Okay," the doctor said as he moved to take the newborn baby after letting the parents hold him for what he deemed a sufficient amount of time, "it's time for some tests, just to make sure he's healthy."
Jorec looked at his wife while the doctor was preoccupied with the child, and watched as she gave a slight nod. It was the signal to begin the act that was about to follow, an act in which failure was not an option. Jorec had an inkling of an idea over what kind of tests that the doctor would run, and one in particular frightened him.
"What kind of tests are you talking about?" Jorec asked, easily playing the role of a concerned parent.
"General health tests," the doctor replied. "A non-invasive blood test to check for any genetic diseases that may have been passed down, counting the white blood cells, run a midichlorian count."
"Midi-what?" Jorec asked, playing dumb. It was as Lia and him had feared, a midichlorian count would obviously reveal the Force-sensitivity of Gavin, and who knew who might come knocking on the door after that test would be taken.
"They're microscopic organisms found in every living thing," the doctor replied as he began walking into an adjacent room. "You have midichlorians in your cells," the doctor explained.
There's no doubt about that, Jorec thought, trying his best and succeeding to stop a smile from forming on his face.
"I have them, even your wife," the doctor continued.
"If everyone has them in their bloodstream, why the blood test for a count?" Jorec asked.
"There's typically a normal midichlorian level, it differs from species to species, but it's around the same number. Imperial researchers have linked a high amount of midichlorians to several conditions, some of which can lead to death," the doctor explained, and continued the explanation with medical technobabble that left Jorec's head reeling. To Jorec, this explanation was an interesting cover story. A cover story that the doctor had probably been indoctrinated with during medical school; yet there was a sliver of doubt in his mind, doubt that could prove extremely useful. "Healthy weight," the doctor proclaimed as he lifted the infant off of the scales.
Jorec looked inconspicuous as he glanced around the room, and he was glad to see that no one could see him at the moment. "Tell me doctor," he asked, "is the blood test really necessary?"
"Unfortunately yes, Mr. Merridon," the reply came back.
One last look for anyone that could possibly see what was about to happen, and a hope that his training in making rodents roll a small ball across a table in the Jedi Temple would be enough experience, and Jorec attempted it. "You don't think the tests are completely necessary?" Jorec asked with a miniscule movement of his hand. The subtle Force-influenced command had been in the form of a question, hopefully making the task of the doctor following it much easier.
Throughout his eight years of practicing medicine, the doctor had never questioned all of the tests that had been required for newborns. His university professors had never made any mention of links between midichlorians and certain diseases, and the Empire's scientists had never published entirely conclusive reports. "I don't think that the midichlorian test is completely necessary," the doctor replied.
Relief flooded Jorec's mind as the doctor had seemingly followed the Force-implanted suggestion, yet he had to be sure. "So you're not going to perform that part of the test?" Jorec asked.
"I don't think that it's necessary; so, no," the doctor repeated as he drew a minute sample of blood from the infant. "Everything appears to be normal," he said as he input data from his small data assistant into the main computer.
"Yes it is," Jorec said as the doctor handed Gavin back to him. He watched in satisfaction as the test strip in which the blood was gathered was thrown into a trash receptacle. His child was safe from detection, at least for now.
"Well," Jorec whispered he noticed his son beginning to fall asleep, "looks like its time for you to get some sleep. I think all three of us have had a very busy day, especially your mother."
He quietly walked into the baby's room, and gently placed his son in the simple crib that Lia had bought nearly a month ago. "Good night little one," he softly said as he covered the newborn up with a blanket.