Star Wars_ Coruscant Nights II Streets of Shadows - Michael Reaves [79]
Again, I-Five hesitated uncharacteristically. “Because,” he said at last, “you’re one of the last few surviving Jedi. I had to make sure—”
“That I was worthy. That I wouldn’t use the bota in the service of the dark side.”
“Forgive me. I had to be certain. According to Jedi Offee, the enhanced connection with the Force is potentially so powerful that, were it to fall into the wrong hands, the results could be cataclysmic. She felt that it opened a channel to what she referred to as the Cosmic Force. I assume you know what she was referring to.”
Jax nodded, lost in thought. Most philosophers and students of the Force, including many members of the erstwhile Council, believed that the Force was above intellectual concepts of good and evil, and that the terms light side and dark side constituted nothing more than a merism. Nevertheless, many also felt a case could be made for viewing the Force, as it was generally understood and utilized, as a subset of a grander and all-pervasive unifying principle.
It was this “living Force” that was the aspect most Jedi—and most Sith as well—were familiar with. If one’s connection with it was strong enough, one could accomplish what seemed to most folk to be miracles: telekinesis, healing abilities, supernal strength, speed and stamina, even a certain amount of precognition.
But, according to the Old Teachings, this was only one aspect of a greater whole, much as one planar surface represented only a fraction of a hypergem’s multidimensional wonders, known variously as the unifying, cosmic, or greater Force. One connected with the greater Force only through a lifetime of meditation and sacrifice, but the reward of doing so was, it was said, a unification with all of space and time, an ability to manipulate matter and energy on the most elemental levels … even, it was said by some, the ability to throw off the shackles of the flesh in favor of an immortal body of energy.
If bota extract lived up to Barriss Offee’s description, it would seem to offer a shortcut to the enlightenment of the greater Force. If it could indeed potentiate the effects of his body’s midi-chlorians to such an unprecedented degree, and if it could make such power available to any Force-sensitive—well, then cataclysmic was definitely an understatement.
If Vader were to somehow learn of it … Jax couldn’t finish the thought. But then another thought, even more frightening, occurred to him:
What if he already knows?
What if Vader knew, somehow, that Jax was intended to be the recipient of the extract? He might not know the exact time or vector of its delivery, might not suspect that it had been carried to Imperial Center by a mere protocol droid. But if he had any foreknowledge at all, either through the Force or simply through mundane intel, of the miracle distillate’s properties, that was surely reason enough for his unflagging pursuit of Jax.
He said as much to I-Five. The droid agreed, adding, “Perhaps it would be best to hide it—ideally by someone else in a place unknown to you, so that a truth-scan wouldn’t reveal its whereabouts.”
Jax looked again at the clear amber liquid in the ampoule. “You had to pick a time like this to tell me about it.”
“And a better time would have been …?”
Jax had no anwer for that.
twenty-one
The meeting room wasn’t large. It was hidden behind a false wall in the kitchen of a charity that fed the homeless and hungry representatives of several species. It was surprisingly crowded, however. Jax found himself standing against the rear wall as the cell’s leader spoke from the makeshift forum at the front of the room. That the partisans had passion and were driven by determination could not be denied. Passion and determination were, however, poor substitutes for Star Destroyers and divisions of stormtroopers.
The speaker was a Gossam, elaborately dressed