Star Wars_ I, Jedi - Michael A. Stackpole [138]
Booster bowed. “I shall leave the two of you to talk while I see to Calrissian’s comfort.”
Mara growled. “Don’t concern yourself that much with it.”
I arched an eyebrow at her. “Aren’t you in some sort of business with him?”
“Some sort, yes.” She gave me a disgusted look and plucked at her clothes. “We arrive here and he offers to get me more suitable attire, carting away what little of a wardrobe I already have. The tailor here sent up to my suite a whole rack of gowns and other things Lando wishes I’d wear around him. I retaliated by raiding his clothes closet. He’s got good taste in fabric, but the tunics are a bit tight in the shoulders for me.”
I laughed. “I bet he loves that.”
“He doesn’t, which is why I’ll keep borrowing his stuff from time to time.” The slight hint of a smile on her face slowly died. “How was Luke when you left the academy?”
I shrugged. “Physically he’s recovered from his ordeal.”
Mara gave me a sidelong glance. “Mentally?”
“He’s got questions, some of which he knows he has, some which he doesn’t.” I folded my arms across my chest. “He was pleased that you checked to make certain he was going to be all right before you left Yavin 4; but he was confused that you didn’t stay until he was up and about again. You actually spent more time with me during my recovery than you did with him.”
Her head came up. “He doesn’t think there’s something between you and me, does he?”
“I saw no indication of that being the case.” I smiled and started walking over to the Headhunter. “He knows the two of us and knows it would never work between us. You and I, we can be comrades in arms and even friends.”
“Right, but inside we’re coiled springs that are wound in the opposite directions.” Her smile struggled back onto her face as she fell into step with me. “If we got close, it’d be an awful mess.”
I nodded. “And we’d end up broken.”
“And then your wife would kill us.”
“Another good point.” I shivered. “Back to your question, though: Luke is enthused about the academy and how well the students did in defeating Exar Kun. When I left, though, I did kind of give him a turbolaser critique of the school and, well, everything, I guess.”
“Everything?”
I frowned and leaned against the Headhunter’s forward landing gear. “Luke suggested that if I left the academy when I did, I’d be making a huge mistake and that I’d fall prey to the dark side. I pretty much let him have it, pointing out that I’ve been to the dark side and walked away plenty of times before. I think Luke worked so hard to win his father back, and then found himself won back by his sister’s love that his perspective on the dark side is skewed.”
She watched me very closely. “What do you mean?”
I opened my arms. “Let’s suppose Jedi are like everyone else except in their Force sensitivity. If they are, then there are going to be some folks who pretty much are born to the dark side and that’s where they stay. They like it there and they never learn there is another place to go. Let’s say this is ten percent of the population. Then there is another ten percent at the other end of the spectrum who start on the good side of things and just never head over toward the bad side.
“The rest of us fall into the middle. Given the right stimulus, we could go over to the dark side, but the lure is going to have to be more substantial for some than for others. Luke went over to save the galaxy. I can imagine Darth Vader did the same thing. Both of them came back. The fact that Luke paid a high price for going over and coming back means that he feels everyone is as vulnerable as he was; and he worries a lot about that.”
I shrugged. “Dealing with the dark side has been a big part of his life, especially his life as a Jedi. Of course it concerns him. Even so, to suggest everyone will make a journey to the dark side isn’t clear