Light of the Jedi(40)
“We don’t know that, Senator,” Avar said. “The investigation has barely begun.”
Senator Noor shot a glare at Avar. “And meanwhile, Madam Jedi,” he spat, “the poor, beleaguered people of the Outer Rim, who depend on the shipping lanes for their very existence, creep closer to chaos with every moment. I am already hearing reports of hoarding on a number of worlds, and the economic impact mounts with every passing day.”
Noor pointed out the viewport at the remains of the Legacy Run, spotlit and floating in space.
“Why are we even here? It’s a wrecked cargo ship. What does it matter? You need to get out there, find out what happened. Find out who did this!”
“You believe the disaster was deliberate, Senator?” Elzar asked. “An attack?”
Noor threw up his hands.
“What other conclusion should I draw? Hetzal is the agricultural heart of the Outer Rim. Perhaps some planet farther Coreward became jealous of the credits flowing here and wanted to wreck our food supply. Maybe it was the Selkath, angry about the prospect of bacta putting them out of business. All I know is neither the Republic nor the Jedi are doing anything to find the culprit. You’re just staring out into space! What are you even doing here? You’re not part of the chancellor’s committee!”
“I assure you, Senator, this man is never just staring at anything,” Avar said. “Let me introduce you to Elzar Mann, a Jedi Knight of my long acquaintance. He was present here in the system during the disaster. He was instrumental in helping the Jedi prevent the Tibanna fragment from impacting the sun. Without his strength, Hetzal would no longer exist.”
“We all did our part,” Elzar murmured. Somewhere inside, though, he was pleased Avar had noticed. Dozens of Jedi working together in that final moment—no, thousands, really, if what Avar had told him was accurate—and despite all that, she knew what he, specifically, had done.
“Of course,” Senator Noor said. “We appreciate your efforts. But my point remains. We’re running out of time. After all, the chancellor’s precious Starlight Beacon languishes out in space, waiting to be brought online. What if an Emergence hits that, eh? I bet then you people would finally get moving.”
Elzar Mann reached out and placed his hand over the senator’s mouth. Above his fingers, he could see the man’s eyes go wide with shock.
“Shh,” Elzar said. “We’re moving, I promise. Just not in ways you can see. The Force doesn’t feel the need to announce its actions. It just acts.”
He removed his hand. The senator was stunned into silence, which was the idea all along. In fact, everyone present seemed pretty surprised as well.
Sometimes, Elzar believed, it was important to remind people that, no matter how important they thought they were, they were, in fact, just people.
He could probably have accomplished the same goal via the mind trick—Noor’s mind seemed weak, like most politicians’—but Avar absolutely would not approve, and Elzar knew it. Normally, that wouldn’t matter so much. Avar Kriss was an old, close friend, which meant they could disagree, even squabble like nesting screerats, and come out the other side just fine. But now, here…things were different.
The Council had put Avar in charge of the Jedi’s response to the Emergences, due to her actions during the Legacy Run disaster. It was a huge assignment, and who had she chosen as her partner for the investigation? Oh, none other than Jedi Knight Elzar Mann.
Now, why had she done that? Elzar thought he knew. He and Avar had a history, sure, and worked well together, and he was good with many Force techniques, including some pretty obscure ones—but he didn’t believe any of those were the reason. Plenty of other Jedi were just as qualified as he was. Elzar figured Avar picked him because doing well on this mission could help him attain the only real achievement he cared about within the Jedi—making Master. When you were a Master, you could pursue your own studies, move forward through the Force on your own terms. In fact, the Council expected Masters to do exactly that. It sounded like paradise, but a paradise that had thus far remained elusive. Doing well with the Legacy Run investigation, showing the Council that he could help the Order with its goals just as much as his own: It could make a huge difference.
In other words, Avar Kriss had chosen him as her partner because she was trying to help him…and Elzar didn’t want to give her any reason to regret the choice.
So, no mind trick. Well, not unless there was no other way.
“I’m good at anticipating problems, Senator,” said Avar. “My colleague here, Elzar Mann, is good at solutions. He tends to find a unique way through most issues, paths others can’t see. I promise we’ll figure this out. As you said, we’re running out of time.”
She turned to look out once again at what remained of the Legacy Run.
“I see two problems here to be solved. They encompass everything else. First, the Emergences. We need to ensure nothing like what happened in Hetzal and Ab Dalis happens again.
“Second, we need to figure out whatever is causing the Emergences—which may be what also caused the original disaster. I believe this wreckage could help us with that, but that’s just a hunch. I’m not a forensic scientist. Still, I know amazing things can be learned from even tiny bits of material, if the right kind of analysis is applied. Are we doing that?”