CHAPTER VII
Einar Antilles took the ship's controls while Kenobi and the droids tended to Linaire Skywalker in the ship small infirmary. Pulling away from Lorinth gave the Corellian a good view of the surrounding action.
He saw the fleet to which he had once been attached fighting for survival as it was set upon by what looked like hundreds of enemy spacecraft. In the distance shone the brilliant disk of Alderaan's sun. Space around the station was a three dimensional cats-cradle of laser fire, explosions and debris. To fly his way safely through the pitched battle would take the most skillful piloting of Antilles' life and his heart thudded in his throat as the incredibly agile freighter responded easily to every desperate maneuver he coaxed out of her.
Bail Organa saw the Justice get off safely and passed the word to provide whatever protection they could. He really expected Kenobi to join the battle; what must the men think to see the Jedi's ship escaping to the safety of hyper-space while they faced certain death? Yet, something in Organa could not be angry at Kenobi, or even disappointed in him. If Obi-Wan's destiny was still tied to theirs, it was through the unknowable machinations of the Force. The Jedi had come to Lorinth for a reason, and Organa trusted his friend enough to believe that he had an even more important one for leaving in the midst of battle. Important, indeed.
Linaire Skywalker was about to deliver her baby in the Justice's tiny infirmary. Her anesthetized condition had been a help during their escape; now Obi Wan found the drugs were working against him as he struggled to deliver her child.
The Jedi was calm, in control, although he had never attended a birth before. Once he established a mental link with the young woman, through the Force, things would go smoother. The starship was hardly equipped for childbirth. Nor was Threepio. The droid had certainly reviewed data on human reproduction; it all looked quite fascinating on data tapes. Of course, it hardly seemed efficient, and data images were quite different from actually witnessing such things. The present situation presented the droid with quite a dilemma.
"I don't know what to DO, sir!" He wailed helplessly. It was his duty and programmed primary function to assist his mistress; yet there she was, gasping in pain. "You could start by opening these med-packs" Kenobi instructed. There was a silent jolt as the ship made the transit to hyperspace. "Anakin..."Linaire moaned. "Shhhh." Obi-Wan's voice took on a gentle monotone. "Push...yes. Concentrate. That's right...yes, yes..."
"Oh my goodness!" Threepio gasped as the baby's head appeared. The unopened med-packs fell to the floor. "This is terrible! My poor mistress!"
For just that instant, the Jedi's eyes left the young woman. "Shut down!" He snapped. "What?" The droid stuttered. "SHUT DOWN!" Kenobi repeated. "That's a direct order!" See Threepio's photoreceptors went obediently dark, causing Artoo to whistle in approval.
Obi Wan paid no further attention to either droid. The miracle of birth was before him. There, as the freighter hurtled through the nowhere and everywhere that was hyperspace, a new life was emerging. Where Antilles was taking them, he did not know; nor did he care at the moment. Easily, quickly, the baby was born as Linear Skywalker drifted into a deep sleep. In the Jedi's hands was a human being upon whom no other being had ever looked. Ah, the child!
A tiny, beautiful boy; red and crying as Kenobi cleaned him. Born despite all the odds against him; in the midst of war and death and sorrow. Golden haired like his mother, but the eyes...even just opening and unfocused...Anakin Skywalker looked through those eyes. Such a powerful wave of pain and regret and guilt; strongest of all, the guilt, washed over Obi-Wan's soul and he nearly weakened and fell. A fatherless infant, a young widow unaware that she was now left to face life alone. All this was his doing!
The Jedi picked up the infant, naked and squirming, and began wrapping him in a soft cloth. Artoo Detoo registered the human's unusual expression, beeping querulously. Kenobi didn't hear the droid. Suddenly, he was alone. Free! Endless possibilities stretched before him-a life, no, a soul redeemed! His soul, perhaps even Vader's. All that he had sensed when he had touched Besantilier's son was in direct opposition to the incredible potential of this child. Skywalker's son. Newborn hope was in Kenobi's hands. He felt it, like a brilliant light in his soul. A child of Light; for the Force flowed in the very fiber of this infant boy. Linaire Skywalker had just given birth to the galaxy's best hope for the conquest over Darkness.
* * *
And Darkness knew it. Neiamas Palpatine, in all his evil fury, listened as the reports of his ordered massacre of the Jedi were recounted by one of his loyal Generals. It was believed that all the Jedi had been killed. Believed... The Dark within Palpatine, that was Palpatine, did not feel safe. Not unopposed. Something...someone, still threatened. Then, he heard it... The voice that rang in Palpatine's head struck him down. In the space of a breath, Dark was powerless; and the power that struck him but a glancing blow existed as Darkness itself did- in a human being. It taunted him, rang in his essence like a certainty. A promise.
* * *
"Your enemy is born." Obi Wan announced, much to Artoo's bewilderment. "Your death is certain." The little droid could not decipher the reason for such a strange statement, made to no one in particular. Nor did he discern any logical reason for this strange human's mysterious behavior. There was nothing more to see or do her in any case. Kenobi took no notice of him, so the astrodroid headed for the ship's cockpit. He left his mistress in the capable hands of the Jedi.
Obi Wan placed the now bundled baby next to his mother and sat, for a long moment, looking at Skywalker's wife and child. Suddenly, it was all too clear. Linaire was a noblewoman. She would raise her child in a gentle life of privilege on Alderaan. But this child's destiny would require strength of body as well as spirit, an instinct to survive. The soft life, being pampered and spoiled by art and culture and wealth would only reinforce his gentle nature.
Then there was Vader's daughter to consider. He had not lied to Besantilier; but he had not spoken the entire truth either. There was no predisposition toward evil in the child, but the first influences upon her life would decide her fate. There was a hard edge to the girl's character that would be an asset if it were tempered by the right conditions. A life of hardship would only harden her further. Unlike Skywalker's son, Vader's daughter would benefit from a sheltered, controlled upbringing... If one child must grow up on Alderaan, it could not be Anakin's son. Once again, the Force had presented him with an impossible choice. No choice, really.
If Linaire did not lose her son now, Light would have no champion. Kenobi would never again have the opportunity to undo what he had done with Anakin and Darth. His should would be damned forever, as would the galaxy. To a millennia of darkness.
"Forgive me..." Obi Wan whispered to the sleeping Linaire as he picked up her wide-eyed son. "I must..." Quickly, he carried the infant to the captain's quarters where he had placed Bes' daughter when he had returned to the ship. The baby was sleeping soundly. For a few moments, the two babies lay next to each other on the bunk, Skywalker's lightsaber between them; then Kenobi picked up the weapon and the baby girl and carried her to the one who would be her mother.
The special sound of a baby's cry brought a smile to Einar Antilles' lips. Leaving the ship's controls on automatic posed no danger while in hyperspace, but the astrodroid was ordered to monitor the console while the Corellian went aft.
"General?" He called out before entering the infirmary.
"Come, Antilles," Obi Wan replied. Linaire was waking in response to the warm bundle kicking in her arms, and the Jedi administered a hypo of regenerative fluids.
"Did everything go well?" Einar asked. Just the sight of Linaire and her baby brought back memories of his own wife and son.
"Yes. She just needs to rest now." Kenobi smiled, smoothing the damp hair from Linaire's forehead. "Where are you taking us, Einar?"
"Corell." Came the answer. "It's all over now, General. I want to go home and Lady Skywalker can recover safely there. It's probably the best protected planet in the mid systems. One more jump and..."
"Corell will have to wait, my friend." Kenobi was shaking his head. There wasn't time to spend on Corell. The last thing the Jedi wanted anyone to suspect was that the babies had been switched. If he could bring Linaire to Alderaan, leave her there with her new daughter, neither she nor Antilles need ever see the boy. Time was Kenobi's enemy." Set a course back to Alderaan."
"Alderaan?!" Antilles was more incredulous than disappointed. "That's the war zone now. Returning would be suicide. We can't..."
"Ben...?" Linaire's weak voice interrupted the exchange. "Obi Wan! Einar! Are we safe? My baby...!"
"Yes, Madam," Antilles assured her. "We are safe."
"You have a daughter, Linaire." Kenobi's voice sounded normal, but the words stuck in his throat. The expression on the young woman's face lifted his spirits somewhat. Linaire touched the tiny face in wonder, She stroked the soft brown fuzz, caressed each tiny finger before the baby began to kick and cry. With a smile of complete joy, she looked up at the two men.
"Thank you. Thank you both! She looks like Anakin..."
"Congratulations, m'lady. She's a beautiful baby." Antilles murmured uncomfortably, then turned to go. He had no desire to be present when Anakin Skywalker was discussed in the past tense. Kenobi caught his eye.
"Advise me when we are nearing Alderaan." He instructed. Antilles nodded and was gone. Linaire sense something was wrong.
"How did you find us on Lorinth, Obi-Wan?" She asked uncertainly. "Celis said you would be on Tatooine. Bes is on Tatooine. Bes..."
"I was too late," Kenobi's eyes bored into hers. His rough hands covered her small ones. "Bes is dead, child. I was returning to Alderaan to tell you both. Anakin died on Isua, Linaire, with Darth. I'm so sorry."
There it was, the bitter truth. Death and birth descending together upon one frail woman. Einar Antilles closed the cockpit door against the pitiful sobs and turned the freighter toward Alderaan while Linaire and Kenobi wept in each other's arms.
"Anakin? My Anakin?" Linaire stared at him in shock. "He can't be...I can feel him. He's NOT!" Tears were beginning to stain Kenobi's rugged face as he placed the lightsabers cold weight in her hand, all that was left of the man of valor and honor that Anakin Skywalker had been.
* * *
The freighter Justice was streaking back to a planet that was-as was the rest of the galaxy-about to change drastically. At the core of that change was Neiamas Palpatine. Finally, finally his time had come. He had waited his entire life to obtain true power. Power enough to bring a million star systems to their knees! The power to begin ...or end...anything he wished. That power was his now, from Darkness. Through Darkness. Some small portion of Palpatine's personality remained, but for the most part his possession by Darkness was complete. Through that ambitious dictator, Darkness also possessed it's first, true advantage over it's opposite.
* * * The operation was nearly complete. Prosthetic limbs had be attached to the charred remains of arms and legs. Four hooded beings made the final connections of a specially designed life support system. The electronic control panel rested on Skywalker's chest. It would regulate all vital bodily functions and, once coupled with a customized helmet; amplify sight, hearing and speech. 'Vader' they called him, when they spoke. He did not dispute it. It no longer mattered. What was a name when he was no longer human? Kenobi did this to him, and these creatures of Palpatine were finishing the job. So be it then. As the mask that would shield him from all human contact lowered over his face, Anakin Skywalker twitched in anticipation. Once his continued existence was insured; his revenge, like his power, would know no bounds. In seconds, it was done. Anakin Skywalker died a second time.
Darth Vader rose up. A Dark Sith Lord of Palpatine's making. He rose with a sudden fury to strike out at his tormentors. Massive fists contacted only limp fabric. He whirled around, only to see the three others vanish as though they had never existed.
* * *
Standing on either side of the entrance to the private Presidential chambers were two hand picked soldiers. Palpatine's elite guard. They were startled to see a huge, black garbed figure striding toward them. Whatever it was, it would not pass. Vader paid scant attention to their feeble attempts to stop him. One man was flung aside bodily, the other backed away, terror stricken. Palpatine turned slowly as the doors slammed aside.
"Come in, Vader, " he called out pleasantly. " I have been expecting you. It pleases me to see that you have accepted my offer."
"What was my alternative?" The Dark Lord snapped. "Only a fool would refuse life."
"That was wise." Palpatine nodded thoughtfully. "Especially since you have nothing to go back to. No doubt you will be pleased to learn that I have ordered the extermination of the Jedi...except for one."
"Kenobi..."Vader's amplified voice rumbled.
"That pleasure I have reserved for you, my friend. I am putting a seasoned fleet under your command; and I am calling an end to this war. You will represent me, organize a navy, mop up any resistance. How you deal with Kenobi is your own affair. We are about to raise an Empire!"
And then I shall deal with you! Vader thought silently, turning to leave.
"Thoughts of betrayal, already?" Palpatine stunned him. Even his thoughts were no longer his own. A small gesture, and Vader was brought to his knees, gasping for breath.
"Hear me well, Lord Vader." Palpatine glowered. "It is I who saved you from death, and I who can condemn you to it again. you are mine , no matter where you are. Never forget that!" It was hard to believe, but Bail Organa's fleet and a handful of Corellian merchant ships successfully protected Alderaan for what seemed like an eternity.
Not without loss, but Organa had managed to extricate his most vulnerable ships-those filled with troops and ground support personnel-from the battle. Each one was safely escorted to Alderaan by the Corellians. On Alderaan, leaders and populace alike, had been forced to watch as their small defensive fleet joined the battle that inched ever closer. Celis Organa's horror was further amplified when the reports from the still incoming troop ships confirmed her fears. The paltry assemblage of cruisers and battleships was not a detachment of the Republic's fleet-it was the fleet! Some cruel twist of fate had forced the tattered remains of the Old Republic into defeat before her eyes. Powerless to help, and stricken with grief and terror, the citizens of Alderaan prayed.
The answer to those prayers came in a most unexpected manner. There were few who could appreciate the irony of evil answering the prayers of the good. Still, it had. Because it suited his purposes. Neiamas Palpatine ordered am immediate cease fire. The order was relayed from detachment to detachment throughout the galaxy.
* * *
"They've stopped shooting!"
"Who the hell told them to do that?"
"What do you make of this, Admiral?" Madine echoed his friends confusion. "Should we attack?"
"No, Madine!" Organa replied. " You and your men, all ships, hold your fire!" An intercepted transmission from an enemy vessel was being decoded. Everyone on the bridge listened, speechless. Then, the Admiral himself made the announcement. "By order of his Majesty, the Emperor Palpatine..." He was relaying the message verbatim." All hostile actions will cease immediately." Gentlemen," Bail concluded," The war is over. It's all over."
One word was on everyone's-on both sides-lips. Emperor!
* * *
The same shock and disbelief was being voiced on every ship of the new Emperor's navy. For the most part, the men aboard those ships were relieved and thankful to have survived to return to their homes and families. But there were those for whom war was a career; sadistic, power hungry individuals who not only reacted with disappointment, but who felt cheated of ultimate victory. That victory would be Palpatine's, not theirs; but in time such men would prove valuable to him. They would be the first to be offered the opportunity to explore the depths of barbarity. Their first order, however, was to stop short of wiping out their enemies entirely.
Of all the commanders who felt betrayed, Eschai Tarkin seethed in his fury. Dozens of spacecraft behind him, the crippled enemy in his sights, and he was being ordered to leave not only Organa's fleet, but Alderaan, alone! He wanted to destroy the fleet utterly; and Alderaan! It represented everything the imperious Tarkin loathed. It's rulers had humiliated him and, for all the years of defiance, it deserved to be made an example of. For a few minutes Tarkin refused to acknowledge the order. Battle weary men waited for the signal, and Tarkin weighed his options as he watched Organa's ships fleeing for the safety of Alderaan. He would ignore Palpatine's directive! He had the power and the opportunity to personally eradicate the last vestiges of the Old Republic. His name would go down in galactic history...immortal! In his minds eye he already saw a smoldering, humiliated Alderaan.
As fate would have it, the eyes of a young sub-lieutenant saw another group of ships entering their sector. Massive, main-line fleet ships emerged from hyperspace within visual range of the Alderaan system.
" Sir!" A comm officer called out in surprise to Tarkin. " We are being ordered out of this sector, by a Sithlord named Vader!"
* * *
All over Alderaan, jubilant pandemonium erupted. It's three major ports were soon overcrowded by the large transports and battleships, forcing the last spacecraft hobbling in to put down in the countryside. Planetary rotation was carrying the capital city into night as Organa's command cruiser, flanked by a Corellian freighter and one of two remaining fighters, set down on the soft grass of a sprawling valley. Bail Organa was home, at last. The cruiser's engines had not completely shut down when her crew began surging down the boarding ramps. Men fell to their knees weeping, others screamed and cheered. The grasslands, the spaceports, rang with their voices. Still stunned, a grizzled, exhausted Bail Organa stood a moment in his ships hatch, just looking; drinking in the forgotten beauty of his planet. In the distance, the lights of the capital twinkled against a violet sky. Already, approaching ground vehicles could be seen. Bail Organa walked unsteadily down the ramp, knelt solemnly, and kissed the sweet earth of his beloved Alderaan.
* * *
"I'm alright now." Linaire's voice was strained, but she pulled back, bravely wiping tears from her face." Really, Obi Wan. Please don't blame yourself for what happens in war. Anakin will always be with me, through our child, but...Bes...How? Why?"
"She had given birth before I arrived, Linaire." Kenobi relived the nightmare as he recounted. "There were complications. I don't know what happened. There was nothing I could do. She died shortly after I arrived."
"She was so afraid for her babies...not her babies too?" An indecipherable expression crossed Kenobi's face. He hesitated.
"Only one survived. I..." The Jedi stiffened as an infants wail issued from the rear sleeping quarters. It rang like an announcement, an accusation. Gold terror gripped Kenobi. What woman could mistake her own child? She would know... "I gave Bes Vader my solemn promise to raise him as a Jedi." Obi-Wan finished nervously.
"A boy!?" Linaire's eyes lit up. "Oh, please bring him to me!" Reluctantly, like a man sealing his own doom, Kenobi brought the crying infant to Linaire and placed him in her arms. The moment he dreaded passed uneventfully, almost.
"Poor little thing," the young woman murmured, thinking of her friend. "He'll never know his mother. Anakin and I so wanted a son; we even chose a name."
"What was it?" Kenobi asked nervously. "Luke." She looked up at him with a sad smile. "We chose Luke for a boy and Leia for a girl. Did...did his mother name him?"
"No." Obi Wan admitted. "But there's time for that."
Both babies were red-faced and crying now, and Antilles voice came over the cabin speakers. "Reentering normal space, General. ETA for Alderaan is five minutes."
"Why don't you join Captain Antilles?" Linaire suggested. "While I take care of these two?" His heart heavy with guilt, Obi Wan nodded, leaving Linaire Skywalker to nurse both her children.
* * *
The Alderaan system the Justice entered was eerily peaceful, just as Kenobi had known it would be. This amazed Antilles; after all, there had been a war here only hours before. Kenobi's answer surprised him even more.
"The Capital spaceport, General? "
"No," Obi Wan replied thoughtfully. The standard orbit they had assumed afforded them a clear view of the last of Organa's ships landing. "Put us down with the fleet."
* * *
Dozens of rescue and emergency vehicles, as well as governmental officials, converged on the valley landing site. Civilian and military personnel merged with battle-shocked foot soldiers; some of whom had already begun the long walk to the city. Rison Madine had just introduced himself to Bail Organa when an officer interrupted their conversation.
"Sir, Captain Maimun reports an unknown spacecraft coming out of orbit. We should have visual confirmation shortly." Organa experienced numbing panic as he brought a pair of electro- binoculars up to his eyes. If even one enemy ship had followed them down, it would be a slaughter. Eight ships, over a thousand people, stood unprotected on the wide open grassland. But Bail Organa recognized the ship, even at such a distance and angle of descent.
" It's alright, Lieutenant." Organa sighed. "Clear the field's southern perimeter. That's General Kenobi."
* * *
In the Justices' circular corridor, Linaire Skywalker carefully made her way to the ship's bridge. A re-activated See Threepio had been left to watch the babies in the those last few moments before landing. Moments Linaire would use as her heart dictated. Before she could reach the hatchway, it opened and a rather nervous looking Kenobi stepped out.
"Obi Wan," Linaire began before he could speak." I cannot allow you to take Bes' son. You cannot care for a child! Were will you go? How will you raise him? Life with you would be hard. Hasn't fate treated him harshly enough already?"
"I have given my oath." The Jedi replied evenly, his voice firm. What he had feared was happening. Linaire Skywalker wanted to keep the child she believed to be her friends. It was only natural for her heart to go out to an orphaned infant; but Obi Wan feared more than her maternal instincts. He knew Anakin's young widow to be a Force sensitive. That she had not instantly sensed the baby boy to be her own was small comfort now. Perhaps the drugs had affected her perception. She was right about a hard life for the child, that was an indisputable fact; but, as she spoke, the Jedi steeled his heart against her words.
"But I can give him a family! He will have a mother, a sister...the kind of life we both know Bes would have wanted for him. Any mother would want her child to be protected and loved..."
"I shall always do what is best for the boy!" Kenobi insisted. "And, if he were any other child, you would have him. But he is the son of a Jedi ,Linaire."
The soft thud of landing gear lowering heightened the tension between the two. Linaire didn't understand the unreasonable impasse they had reached. She trusted Kenobi implicitly, because Anakin had and because she knew him to be a man of both power and honor. She had even thought she understood him-or at least the Jedi as a whole. Kenobi knew all this. He knew she could not comprehend his reasons. He was relying on her trust, and upon the obvious fact that, if some part of her did indeed sense her child, she was not attuned enough to realize it.
"I know he's special." Linaire pleaded. In moments they would set down on Alderaan and the thought of Obi Wan leaving with the baby was disturbing her more and more. "So is my daughter! They're both children of Jedi, but...there's more, isn't there?"
The last she spoke so oddly that the Jedi could feel chills crawling up his back. Oh, no..."he thought. A flash of comprehension had almost streaked through the young woman's eyes...almost. Then it was gone.
"I want him, Obi Wan." She stated flatly. The ship's landing gear contacted the ground, then there was a small bump as it settled and the engines wound down. From the sleeping quarters, the sound of babies crying wafted through the freighter. "I will love him as my own, you know that. Is there anything more important than that? If you can tell me that there is, I'll leave him with you. Can you, Obi Wan? Truthfully? Is there some purpose for this baby's growing up in hardship. without a family?"
"Yes." The Jedi replied firmly, the bitter truth weighing heavier in his heart than any lie could. "If there were not, I would never think to take him from you."
* * *
Bail Organa was waiting anxiously as the Justice's boarding ramp lowered. Obi Wan strode down first, but the Jedi's appearance startled the Admiral. Behind him, a young woman carrying a baby was being supported by Einar Antilles and a Threepio unit. Organa was no longer concerned with formalities or military conduct. He rushed forward to embrace his friend.
"What has happened to you, Ben?" He asked worriedly. "What has happened here?" "I will explain, my friend. "The Jedi answered, his eyes boring into Organa's. "But, first, we must see that Lady Skywalker is taken to a medical facility. She has just given birth."
Organa nodded, turning to summon a ground limo. The driver responded immediately, and both men watched as the young woman and her droids were helped aboard. Pausing, Linaire directed one, last, searching look toward Kenobi. Organa noted her troubled expression and the Jedi's absolutely impassive one. Then the groundlimo sped toward the city.
"Here, my landcruiser is waiting." Organa began to usher Kenobi away from the ship. "We can talk on our way to the Capital. It's been so long since I've seen Celis..." The last he murmured to himself.
"I cannot stay, my friend." The Jedi shook his head sadly. "We part here. Go to your good wife. I..." Obi Wan turned and started up the ship's ramp, anxious to get Skywalker's son to safety. "I must go."
"Ben you heard the directive!" A stunned Organa began to follow. "Palpatine has declared himself Emperor! He has ordered the Jedi exterminated!" Kenobi paused, leaning against the hatchway. The faces of scores of fellow Knights passed before him like a dream.
"Emperor...?" He breathed. "I know him by another name."
Bail Organa knew that nothing he had said would deter Kenobi's departure, so he followed him up the ramp, his face stern. "Be reasonable, man! I order you to remain here, for your own safety!"
"Only the Emperor gives orders now, Bail." The Jedi muttered with contempt." Protect Anakin's wife...and the child, at all costs."
"But where will you be safe, Obi Wan?" Organa asked sadly.
"Tatooine." The Jedi whispered, a sense of urgency beginning to creep over him. He dared not remain on Alderaan any longer. By now, Celis knew of his arrival; she would come for Besantilier's child. There would be questions for which there were no answers. "Antilles has the coordinates, if you or the child ever have need of me. I will be on Tatooine...waiting."
* * *
Organa didn't wait to see the Justice lift off. Kenobi's departure had disturbed him greatly; but nothing could ruin the joy he felt at returning to precious Alderaan, and his beloved wife. Having seen and lived through what he did made the Viceroy long to protect his world and his people that much more. Terrible things were yet to come. Thing's far beyond a mere human's control; even beyond the current control of the Jedi. If any besides Kenobi still existed. A radical course of action was forming in Organa's brain; a philosophy seemingly at odds with as military a mind as his. The battle weary Admiral was met at the palace gates by throngs of courtiers, governmental employees and citizens, all cheering. He made his way through the enthusiastic crowd to the palace entrance. Standing there in shock, weeping, was Celis. She held out her arms.
* * *
So it was done. For better or worse, the die was cast. Obi Wan Kenobi had taken a drastic step; one that would be justified if his insight served him. The Jedi had not lied to Organa about where he could be found...though not immediately. He needed time to rationalize what he had done, a place to think. Beneath him now was a cloud shrouded globe, and on it the only being in the universe who could understand.
Putting down on the murky surface of Dagobah filled Kenobi with relief, but also with a sudden wave of indecision. A Jedi Knight for nearly thirty years, he had not seen his Master since the time of his apprenticeship. Having spent the required five years in training, Kenobi had, at the age of twenty, begun a lifetime of learning. Those years spent mastering the Force and delving into the intricate philosophy of the Amidaa had prepared him for all he would face-or so it seemed. He was no longer so certain. More than anything, Obi-Wan's spirit was crumpled by a numbing sense of guilt. Beneath the robes, snuggled against his chest for warmth, Skywalker's son began to cry. Hungry again, he assumed, and there was nothing to give except sweetened water. Kenobi was able to postpone it no longer. He had to go to Yoda.
Removing the baby from his robes, Obi Wan laid him on his lap. Little arms and legs freed themselves from the confines of the coverlet Linaire had wrapped him in. The damp mists crept up around the Jedi's legs as he looked at the babe.
"What will I do with you, little one?" He sighed. There had been a time when Kenobi had wanted children, but that was before the Force had become the focus of his life. It left no room for a family. To be a Jedi became everything; but Kenobi had envied the majority of other Jedi who could fit love and personal commitments into their vocations more than a little.
Here he was now, well into middle age, with an infant to raise. If he were not careful, he might lose sight of the child's place in his life. He would not be a substitute son, but an apprentice. The years would be spent channeling the incredible potential of Skywalker's son. Kenobi held the infant, considering the future, rather than the unfortunate present. What the nameless child would become, if it was meant to be...
"Expected you I have!" Shaken from his contemplation's, Obi Wan turned to his left. Coming toward him through the bog, a small gnome-like creature stabbed the soft soil with a walking stick. He looked angry and his large brown eyes narrowed as he spoke. "Why sit you here in shame, O great Jedi?"
Kenobi hung his head. "I could not bring myself to face you, Master. Forgive me."
"FORGIVE?" Yoda squeaked, drawing himself to his full ,minuscule height. "No forgiveness can I give, Obi- Wan. Your sin it is and only yours. Yours to do and yours to repay!" Yoda waddled up to his former student, glaring, then focused upon the now crying infant. His entire expression changed, softened to wonder.
"So it was foretold, and so you have come." He spoke.
"A wrong to right a wrong." Obi Wan observed sadly. "A bitter option." "The first payment," Yoda riposted, his three-fingered claw like hands touching first the baby's head, then his chest. Skywalker's son quieted. A broad, glowing smile spread across the Jedi Master's green face. "Even are the odds now, not assured...but even." Moments later the two Jedi carried the baby deep into the tangled depth of Dagobah's swamps.
* * *
Bail Organa had returned to his home planet deeply scarred by war. Scarred not only externally, but spiritually. His illusions had been shattered, but his ideals were stronger than ever. Reconstruction demanded all of Organa's time and attention; the transfer from warfare to political compromise proving the most difficult. The vast majority of Alderaan's populace now demanded complete disarmament as the logical way to deal with the new Empire; reasoning that a defenseless Alderaan posed no threat of reprisal and would therefore be left in peace. The political debate would rage for months, during which Organa would fail to see his wife's growing instability. For their own reasons Linaire and Celis avoided each other.
* * *
Several days passed before the shock wore off and Linaire Skywalker came face to face with the cold hard facts. The only man she had ever loved was never coming back. The baby occupied her days, but the nights...the long, lonely nights... So many nights she cried herself to sleep, dreamed of Anakin's laughing blue eyes, heard his voice. So real...only to wake and find herself alone in the dark. She didn't want to talk to anyone. What could she speak of but her loss? She could not bear the well-meaning words of sympathy.
* * *
The very sight of Linaire with her child...the baby that would have been her own...nurtured a poisonous fury in Bail Organa's wife. Why? All she could think of was why. Besantilier Vader had given birth to a girl. Kenobi had personally told her as much. But Linaire had informed her that the Jedi had, and was sworn to raise, Bes' son! Why had he lied!? Why would one Jedi steal another's child, deprive a bereaved young woman of her own flesh and blood? Didn't he think Celis would know when he didn't bring her the baby he'd asked her to raise? Didn't he care who he hurt? Celis wanted to hate Linaire. It would have been the simplest way to deal with the corrosive bitterness; but, though she tried, she could not. Jealousy was too closely entwined with pity for the girl. Compassion tempered Celis' thirst for revenge. She hoped desperately for an opportunity to simply hold Linaire's daughter and pretend.
That Anakin Skywalker's young widow was despondent was to be expected; but it wasn't just the devastating loss of her husband that shadowed Linaire. She could not forget the tiny, helpless baby boy who, for too short a time, had nestled in her arms. The baby's face haunted her. Each time she looked at her own baby girl, she saw Besantilier's infant son. Where was he now, with no mother's arms to cradle him as he nursed, or support him tenderly as he first tried to stand on wobbly legs? She should never have left the Justice without him. Every day, layer upon layer of guilt settled upon Linaire's already broken heart. She tried to remember what Obi Wan had told her. it had seemed so right at the time...or was it the Jedi's powerful presence that had persuaded her? It hardly mattered now. But the time passed and it began to matter a great deal to Linaire. Her conscience would give her no peace until she was satisfied that Kenobi would raise him with love and kindness.
* * *
Obi Wan sat before his Master heavy hearted. The wizened creature cradled the infant carefully, studying the wide-eyed baby for some minutes before he shook his head, grumbling. Kenobi didn't have to hear the words to know what the aged Master Jedi expected of him. he had not come to Dagobah for absolution. There was none for his transgression. Whatever his master instructed, he would do. Guidance was what Kenobi needed, for the one thing that was certain was that there would be a heavy price to pay for his sin of pride. Consequences. Crime and effect.
"Decided have you what to do, Obi- Wan?" Yoda's gravelly voice was filled with challenge.
"Protect him. "Kenobi replied. "Raise him in the Force. Train him when he is of age. I know the mistakes I made with Vader...I won't repeat them with this one."
Yoda rapped Kenobi's shoulder with his walking stick, his eyes narrowing in barely suppressed anger. "NO! To even my patience is there a limit. More is there at stake now than just you, Obi Wan. this time, do you what I say or all will be lost."
"But I followed my feelings, Master. I felt that what I was doing was right."
"You did not! " Yoda shouted. "Watched you, I have. Blinded by pride were you. Wrong it was to train anyone...and wrong it still is."
"But this child is our only hope, Master!" Obi Wan protested. "Am I to let him slip through our fingers after it has gone so far?" Yoda hobbled across the darkened hut and gently placed the baby in Kenobi's arms. He did not move away, but grasped the younger Jedi's shoulder while fixing him with a powerful stare.
"If you value the galaxy's redemption above your own...yes! A child must you allow him to be before a Jedi he can become. If he is to be used now, by destiny it must be. Watch only...do not interfere until right is the time..."
"How will I trust myself to know when, Master?"
"You will know." Yoda promised enigmatically. "You will know..."
* * *
There was only one person Linaire Skywalker could talk to about Kenobi-the man not the Jedi. One person who had fought beside him and called him friend for nearly twenty years. Only Bail Organa could ease Linaire's mind and fill in the missing pieces about Obi Wan and Anakin and about what her capitulation had imposed on a helpless infant. She could not wait another day.
When Bail and Celis returned home that evening, Linaire suggested Celis spend some time with the baby alone instead of with her husband, as was her routine. Bail Organa showed a nervous, drawn Linaire into his study.
"Tell me what is troubling you ,my dear." The Viceroy's voice was full of concern for his unfortunate young guest; barely out of girlhood and dealing with a life suddenly shattered by war. "Please sit down...sit down...I'm sorry we haven't had much time to spend with you."
"You and Lady Organa have been very generous and kind." Linaire shook her head, looking up earnestly at him. "I can never repay you ...but you know Obi Wan better than anyone, Admiral. You've spent all these years with him. Where does he live? Does he have a home and a family? Will he return to Alderaan when it is safe? Can you contact him? Can..."
"Wait...wait a moment." Bail had to interrupt the torrent of questions. Why the sudden interest in Kenobi's whereabouts? Certainly Skywalker's wife knew more about the Jedi religion than he did.
" Obi- Wan is safe, I assure you, Lady Skywalker. He told me he was returning to Tatooine, I assume to go into hiding since this mad Emperor has ordered all Jedi eliminated." He could not bring himself to add 'along with their families', but Linaire knew this to be the reason she and her baby were officially non-existent on Alderaan.
"Hiding? On a desert?!" Linaire buried her face in her hands. "How can he care for a child? Oh, Your Majesty, Bes' baby deserves better than hardship and isolation. I am to blame! I could have saved him from that! Why did I listen to Obi Wan?" He slight shoulders trembled as she sobbed.
"Come, child." Bail sat beside the weeping girl. "Fate has dealt harshly with you. Don't blame yourself for things that are beyond your control. Kenobi will do what is best for the child, as you must do for your own. She is important, a reason for hope!"
"I know...." Linaire had calmed somewhat, brushing tears from her face with shaking hands. "I know she is...as is Bes' son. I...I just can't forget his little face. If not for his promise to Bes, I would have taken him from Obi Wan. He would have given him to me, wouldn't he?"
"Yes." Soothed Organa, admiration for his friend plain in his voice. "He would have, Linaire. But Obi Wan would never break such a promise. Even if he were not Jedi, he is a man of honor."
" HONOR?!" Both looked up to see Celis Organa, Linaire's daughter in her arms, standing in the doorway. She had been there for some time. "Kenobi has no honor!" The former queen continued, wavering. "He's lied to all of us. he promised this baby to me!"
"What is she saying?" An alarmed Linaire cried, looking to the equally confused Viceroy. Organa hastened to his wife's side. "Listen to yourself, wife!" Bail reached for the baby only to have Celis clasp her tighter. "Obi Wan would never do such a thing!" "He has!" Celis insisted. "I have the taped transmissions of our conversation."
"He promised to give you my baby?" Linaire gasped. Every misgiving, every uneasy feeling she'd felt about Kenobi came into sharp focus.
Celis Organa began crying and allowed her husband to take Leia from her arms. "No...oh, you poor child!" She sobbed. "I would never have said anything, never, but it is a sin what Kenobi has done!" The hair stood up on Bail Organa's neck as he watched his heart-broken wife struggling to speak. He thought again of the Jedi's vague explanations, his hurry to leave Alderaan, and he believed his wife even before she continued.
"He's stolen your baby!" Celis blurted. "Before he went to Lorinth, Ben came to Alderaan. He asked me to take Besantilier's daughter . He said her son died with her!" Anakin Skywalker's widow looked to the Viceroy with wild eyes. She felt physically sick, revolted by the obscene accusation being made by a desperate, barren woman; but Organa confirmed the unthinkable by his silence.
"LEIA IS MY BABY!" Linaire shot back. " I know my own flesh and blood!"
"Do you?" The bitter words poured, unintentionally, from Celis as Bail put the baby in Linaire's arms. "Did Kenobi take your child, or did you give him up, in the name of the Force?!"
"How DARE you!" Linaire shrieked as Bail stepped between the two women." That's a filthy lie!" Celis withdrew a small computer transmission tape from her robe and held it before her husband with trusting eyes.
"You know it's true, Bail." She whispered. "Listen for yourselves."
* * *
In the first weeks on Dagobah Kenobi became a student once more. Together, he and the ancient Jedi Master formed a battle plan of sorts. It was more than probable that they were the only two Jedi left alive; a subject about which Yoda was unusually silent. Skywalker's son was well attended to by the old Master, who delighted in concocting nourishing liquids and pacing before the hearth fire with the baby until he was soothed to sleep. And the two Jedi talked.
With each conversation, Kenobi came to terms with what had been done in the Force's name. That a young woman had lost her husband to a Jedi's transgression was obvious; whether her child could make things right remained to be seen. Yoda knew Kenobi was anguished over the deception of Linear Skywalker. it manifested itself with each passing day. Kenobi entrusted the baby totally to his Master's care; he could not look on the child without seeing the last look on his mother's face. it was too fresh in his memory. Obi Wan preferred to leave the past behind him. He would contemplate the future. Yoda knew that future; Obi Wan had no doubt of that. It was likely that he could foresee much of what would befall Skywalker's son...if not all. But it was no use asking Yoda. Vision, Kenobi knew, had to come from within.
"Master," He began as they sat down to a frugal meal of delicate lichens and ramage. "Will you at least tell me if the child will hate me for my manipulations, and reject the Force?"
Yoda looked thoughtful for a time, then shook his head. "No hate is there in this child. Of more danger is love." Obi Wan missed the meaning of the cryptic statement, struggling instead with the concept of love being more dangerous than hate. Yoda dismissed his questioning look before finishing his meal. "Remember!" He cautioned.
"There is another child, Master." Kenobi continued.
"A girl, yes..." Yoda nodded. " There is the hatred, Obi Wan! Dangerous together would they be!"
"I have separated a mother and child so that they would not be together. Should not the children of the Light be dangerous to the Dark?"
"As they are!" Yoda confirmed. Then he sat, studying his pupil. "Is time and space enough to divide a soul, Obi Wan? Can you deter a destined love? Powerful enough are you to separate them from the Force itself?"
"Do you speak against the Force, Yoda?" Kenobi asked. "Why would a combination of the Force and love be wrong for two people?"
"NEVER is love wrong!" The Jedi replied, his large eyes narrowing. "Save us it will...this time! But, through a child of their love could it all begin again!"
"Could?" Kenobi sputtered. " You speak of future possibilities, Master. The Dark has already begun it's reign! What we have lost in time, we must assure with strategy!"
"Strategy?" Yoda's ears curled up. "Think you that the Light would do wrong?"
"NO!" Kenobi defended himself against the accusation. What was Yoda trying to prove? Hadn't he been right about this child? "Aren't we guardians of the Light?"
"To guard is to control, " Yoda whispered slyly. " Servants of the Light are we, Obi- Wan! A guardian have you named yourself?"
Kenobi rose suddenly, staring down at the tiny mystagog, the baby in his arms.
"You say Skywalker's son is the awaited one, and yet you would not have me protect him?"
"You begin to see, Obi-Wan!" Yoda intoned gravely. "Hear the words must you? SPEAK them then!"
Like a man who had seen his own death, Kenobi sank numb and breathless to the hut's floor. With great effort, he lifted his gaze to look into the baby's bottomless blue eyes.
"I have to take him back.■.