Chapter Eight
As soon as Ryu made eye contact with the disheveled young woman, the Force made the connection. He held out the box to her and said, "This is for you Cousin." Michelle was finally waking up as the silhouette held out the box to her. Taking it from his hands she said, "Lights . . . medium intensity." As her room lighting came up slowly, she finally saw the silhouette for the man it was. At first, she didn't know what to make of his attire or his face but then started to see in his facial structure similarities that she couldn't explain. As she stepped back into her room, Michelle said, "Come in please." When he did and the door closed behind him and his squat, clearly intelligent companion, she said, "I'm sorry, you must have me mixed up with someone else. Very few of my overall family have entered Starfleet. I have two cousins and an older brother in Starfleet but no one else."
Ryu said, "Search your feelings and you'll know it to be true. Although I can't explain it any better than you at this time, we are cousins, you and I; and the Force has brought us together; here, now at this time and in this place." Something about his words touched something deep in Michelle's psyche. Doing like he said, she looked within. All her life, Michelle had always been told to listen to her gut. She'd also been told of a deeper family connection with the mind and its capabilities. She remembered all the times as a little girl, playing with her friends and extended family. Hide and seek had always been her favorite. Especially because even when she knew her eyes were closed and she had her head down she could still 'see' things sometimes. She always found her playmates. As she got older, this 'othersight' as she called it, had come to her whenever she needed guidance most, when she would let go her conscious self and act on instinct.
After entering Starfleet, she had excelled in all the physical and team-building aspects of her training especially in all the self-defense classes she'd had to attend. She had displayed an almost empathic sense at times. She had tested and placed in the upper mental group of her class. A long and fruitful career had been predicted for her. She'd even been offered a place on the Command Track for she had a talent for working with people and bringing out their best as well as her own. Somehow though, she knew her path lay not in Command but behind the scenes, making things happen and so she had stayed enlisted. As she looked further within, she did feel something she'd only felt a few times before and only with members of her immediate family; specifically, her mother, brother and sisters. This tenuous link seemed to flare brightly as she focused on it. She said, "I know, somehow, I've always known; even when this moment was no more than a dream before."
Ryu nodded and said, "What you are feeling is what the Jedi, of which I am one, and you can be too, call the Force." Michelle said questioningly, "The Force?" Ryu nodded again and said, "The Force is what gives the Jedi their power. It's an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us, penetrates us and binds the galaxy together." Michelle somehow understood every word and knew them to be as true as his first statement. She said, "Who are you? You say we are cousins and I can somehow feel the truth in that statement but we've never met before this moment."
Ryu said, "Forgive me cousin, I was swept up in the moment. My name is Ryu Jayks. My father's name was Ronin. He told me once that he had come to the galaxy I call home from somewhere else. That I had family elsewhere; that someday we might meet, if the Force willed it and I guess it has." Michelle said, "There's a story that's been passed down in my family for so long it's practically become legend. My several generations removed, great Grandmother on my mother's side had a younger brother. He lived on Earth, like all of humanity at the time. This Uncle of mine was given access to a great power and the means in which to explore this power. He went away to learn how to use it, came back for a short time and left again saying that he would never be able to return but that even though he had taken on new name, he was still family. He even sent a message that has also been passed down in my family for generations. Let me show you."
Michelle set the box Ryu had given her on the table in the main living area of her quarters and went into her bedroom. She came back five minutes later having changed into something a little more comfortable than a robe and nightgown. She was carrying a capsule of some kind in her hands. Handing it to Ryu, he looked it over. Seeing the carbon scoring and feeling the pitting under his hands he said, "This is a standard Rebellion Era message capsule. Where did you get it and why is it so beat up?" Michelle said, "According to the story I was told, it came to our family early in the twenty-first century, long before warp speed, the Federation, extraterrestrial contact and even before Starfleet itself. By the old earth calendar, it is now the twenty-fourth century. That capsule has been in my family for three hundred years!"
Turning it over in his hands again, Ryu found the access panel and entered the code that he had found in his father's notes. Michelle was too shocked to speak when he activated it. The hologram appeared as before, of the man with the hazel eyes, brown hair and goatee. The message started, "Dear Sister, allow me to introduce you to my wife Gabrielle . . ."
Several minutes later, after the message had concluded, Ryu's eyes burned with fresh tears at seeing his parents in their prime again. Michelle asked, "What is it Ryu? What's wrong?" Ryu sniffed and wiped his eyes as he said, "Nothing's wrong Michelle. This just confirms what the Force has told us both. The man in this message, he's my father, your uncle. The younger brother of your several generations removed great grandmother." Michelle's eyes grew wide, "But how?! This message is three hundred years old to me, yet to you, your father, its maker, is recent memory to you!" Ryu said, "I overheard Armis speaking with Deanna Troi the other night at dinner that time seems to pass differently between our galaxies. The Force is sometimes quite mysterious but I'm willing to accept it. If you have any more doubts, maybe this can put them to rest." Turning to Warbler, he said, "Warbler, please play the hologram recording of my parent's wedding."
After still more minutes and another hologram, this one in better shape and able to show more detail than the one in the message capsule, Michelle said, "My family always said to follow my gut and its saying to go with you on this. Where do we go from here?" Ryu pointed at the box and said, "Open it Michelle." As Michelle lifted the lid of the shiny box, she pulled aside a soft cloth and saw two slightly rectangular objects similar in length to the one on Ryu's belt. Both had a slight curve in the handle and similar decorative touches. She held her hand over the one on top, then to the one on the bottom, then back again to the first and removed it from its custom fitted slot in the box. She looked it over, marveling at the handiwork and feel of it in her hand. It felt like it belonged there. It felt like it had been waiting just for her. Holding it out from her, she touched a button on the side and a bright red blade, the color of a sunrise on earth, sprang into life from the handle with a sharp snap-hiss.
Giving it a few short swings side to side and hearing it hum as it cut the air gave Michelle a sense of completion that until that moment, she didn't know she was lacking. "What is it? It's beautiful." Ryu said, "That is my father's lightsaber. It is the weapon of a Jedi. Not as clumsy or random as blaster from my galaxy, or a phaser from yours. It's an elegant weapon, of a more civilized time and it's yours now."
Michelle was speechless a moment then as she deactivated it, she said, "I can't possibly accept this Ryu. It was your father's. I see you have one of your own, but surely, this should go to one of your children." Ryu said, "The other one in the box was my mother's and it will go to my daughter someday but I'm certain that my father, your uncle, would want you to have it. You can learn the ways of the Force if you want. I think that is why you and I were destined to meet. Where I come from, I am but one of many Jedi. Our number continues to grow, slowly, year by year. I think you were meant to become one of the first Jedi in this galaxy. If you choose to embrace the Force and take up your Jedi training you will help build a bridge that can never be destroyed."
Ryu replaced the cover cloth over his mother's lightsaber and closed the lid. "For now, take it. That lightsaber is yours now. I know this is a lot to take in, but think on it okay? Even if you choose not to accept training, and it is a choice, not a directive, keep it as a reminder of the even further extended family we've both found today. Maybe someday, our families can meet. I know my father would want that. Right now, I need to go meet Counselor Troi on the bridge. Just think about it for now. I'm not going anywhere anytime soon so when you make your decision, I'll be around."
As Ryu and Warbler turned to leave, Michelle said, "Ryu, wait!" When he turned back to face her, she came up to him and embracing him said, "Welcome to the family cousin Ryu Jayks. I'm glad I got to meet you and I will think on it." Ryu returned the embrace and said, "Welcome to my family as well cousin Michelle Karú. The Force will be with you . . . always."