Star Wars_ I, Jedi - Michael A. Stackpole [23]
I hugged my arms around myself. The thought of Mirax being frozen in carbonite, or stuffed into a hibernation tube, filled me with dread. “You’re saying that you have no way of finding her.”
“No, not right now, not over this distance.”
My heart sank. “So she’s lost.”
“I didn’t say that.” Luke set his mug down on the table and stared into my eyes. “I think you can find her. I think you are strong enough in the Force to pick her out, even if she is in hibernation. Her thoughts may have been slowed to the point where they barely register, but through the Force you can find them. They will lead you to her.”
“But I need to find her now!”
“No,” he insisted calmly, “you need to find her. What you need to do now is learn how to find her.”
Luke stood, circled behind his chair and leaned heavily on the back of it. “I’ve been thinking a lot on what has happened recently and I know there is no way Leia and I and her children, as they grow to maturity, can shoulder all the responsibilities that we’re called upon to deal with now. Down through the thousand generations that the Jedi maintained peace in the galaxy, there were lots of Jedi; hundreds certainly, thousands probably. The Emperor’s best efforts to destroy the Jedi were not wholly successful and there are Force-sensitive people still out there. Just like you, Corran, and me and Mara Jade. We need to create more Jedi to share the burden.
“I know I asked you before to join me and train with me. You refused for what were good and valuable reasons. Events since then have not let me push to reestablish the order, but now is the time. In a couple of days I plan to ask the senate to let me establish a Jedi academy. Just a basic search through databases has turned up a number of viable candidates. If I can get a dozen I think I will have enough to start. I’d like you to be one of them.”
“How can I think of training to be a Jedi when my wife is gone?”
Wedge frowned at me. “Think for a second, Corran. If her abduction was meant to send you a message—a message only a Jedi could understand—then whoever has her is tough enough that they think they can take on a Jedi and survive. If you don’t train to be a Jedi, what do you think are the chances of your being able to rescue her?”
Luke nodded. “Wedge is right. And, if you got the message because of your sensitivity to the Force and the kidnappers know nothing about it, Jedi training will make you that much more able to deal with them and save her.”
Their logic was unassailable, but I still felt uneasy about committing myself to a course of training while Mirax languished in stasis. “I don’t know.”
The Jedi Master slowly smiled. “I would have expected no other honest answer. Two things for you to consider, Corran. The first is this: when Vader tortured my friends, it was to lure me to him and to disrupt my training. I made the most serious mistake of my career leaving my master at that point. It cost me my hand, nearly cost me my life and, as events went from there, could have seriously hurt the Rebellion. You have a chance, being faced with a similar challenge, to avoid the mistake I made. I hope you will take it.”
I could feel the sincerity rolling off him. “What’s the other thing?”
“The Corellian Jedi tradition is a strong one. In the annals of the Jedi, many Corellian Jedi are noted for their devotion to service. They tended not to range far from Corellia—that system had more than enough for them to do—but their wisdom and courage made quite an impact. You are heir to that tradition and I think weaving it back into the new Jedi traditions will be very important. What you do in joining the academy will not only let you rescue Mirax, but will help others come to their full potential in the Force.”
“I hear what you are saying, Master Skywalker, but there are other problems.” I shrugged. “I’m not you or Han Solo, but I’m not unknown in the New Republic. If Mirax’s kidnappers hear I’m at your academy and being trained as a Jedi, her life