Star Wars_ Episode V_ The Empire Strikes Back - Donald F. Glut [54]
His patient master, Yoda, sat calmly on the soles of Luke's upturned feet. Luke concentrated serenely on his task and all at once he lifted four fingers from the ground. His balance undisturbed, he held his upside-down position - on one thumb.
Luke's determination had made him a quick student. He was eager to learn and was undaunted by the tests Yoda had devised for him. And now he felt confident that when he finally left this planet, it would be as a full-fledged Jedi Knight prepared to fight only for the noblest of causes.
Luke was rapidly growing stronger with the Force and, indeed, was accomplishing miracles. Yoda grew more pleased with his apprentice's progress. Once, while Yoda stood watching nearby, Luke used the Force to lift two large equipment cases and suspend them in midair. Yoda was pleased, but noticed Artoo Detoo observing this apparent impossibility and emitting electronic beeps of disbelief. The Jedi Master raised his hand and, with the Force, lifted the little droid off the ground.
Artoo hovered, his baffled internal circuits and sensors trying to detect the unseen power that held him suspended in the air. And suddenly the invisible hand played still another joke on him: While hanging in midair, the little robot was abruptly turned upside down. His white legs kicked desperately and his dome head spun helplessly around. When Yoda finally lowered his hand, the droid, along with two supply cases, began to drop. But only the boxes smashed against the ground. Artoo remained suspended in space.
Turning his head, Artoo perceived his young master, standing with hand extended, preventing Artoo from a fatal tumble.
Yoda shook his head, impressed by his student's quick thinking and by his control.
Yoda sprang onto Luke's arm and the two of them turned back toward the house. But they had forgotten something: Artoo Detoo was still hanging in the air, beeping and whistling frantically, trying to get their attention. Yoda was merely playing another joke on the fretful droid, and as Yoda and Luke strolled away, Artoo heard the Jedi Master's bell-like laugh float in gay peals behind him as the droid slowly lowered to the ground.
Some time later, as dusk crept through the dense foliage of the bog, Artoo was cleaning the X-wing's hull. Through a hose that ran from the pond to an orifice in his side, the robot sprayed down the ship with a powerful stream of water. And while he worked, Luke and Yoda sat in the clearing, Luke's eyes closed in concentration.
'Be calm,' Yoda told him. 'Through the Force things you will see: other places, other thoughts, the future, the past, old friends long gone.'
Luke was losing himself as he concentrated on Yoda's words. He was becoming unaware of his body and let his consciousness drift with the words of his master.
'My mind fills with so many images.'
'Control, control you must learn of what you see,' the Jedi Master instructed. 'Not easy, not fast.'
Luke closed his eyes, relaxed, and began to free his mind, began to control the images. At last there was something, not clear at first, but something white, amorphous. Gradually the image cleared. It seemed to be that of a city, a city that perhaps floated in a billowing white sea.
'I see a city in the clouds,' he finally said.
'Bespin,' Yoda identified it. 'I see it, too. Friends you have there, heh? Concentrate and see them you will.'
Luke's concentration intensified. And the city in the clouds became clearer. As he concentrated he was able to see forms, familiar forms of people he knew.
'I see them!' Luke exclaimed, his eyes still shut. Then a sudden agony, of body and spirit, took hold of him. 'They're in pain. They're suffering.'
'It is the future you see,' the voice of Yoda explained.
The future, Luke thought. Then the pain he had felt had not yet been inflicted on his friends. So perhaps