Star Wars_ I, Jedi - Michael A. Stackpole [49]
Cloaked in black, he nodded to me. “You can tap into the Force to revitalize yourself, you know.”
I slowly straightened up and smiled. “I know, but I choose not to. The fatigue and little aches and pains feel good. They remind me I’m human and mortal, and I think that is a good thing right now.”
“Certainly not a bad one.” His right hand came out from beneath his cloak. Hovering above his outstretched palm I saw a milky jade crystal block. It rotated slowly there in the air and glowed with an internal light that gave Luke’s flesh a nasty green cast to it. “You remember what this is?”
“A Jedi Holocron. It contains histories and wisdom and information about the Jedi, collected down through the years.” I twisted my torso left and right to stretch some of the muscles in my back. “Tionne has been using it to research Jedi history. She said the gatekeeper is an alien Jedi named Bodo Baas.”
“Exactly right.” Luke cupped his hands and touched the floating cube with his fingertips.
The crystal flared white for a moment, then the hologram of a hunched insectoid creature with a bulbous carapace congealed above it like a green ghost. The creature oriented itself toward Luke. “Greetings, Jedi,” it intoned, “I am Bodo Baas, the gatekeeper of the Holocron. Do you have a question for me?”
Luke looked through the hologram at me. “A model of Bodo Baas’ cognitive network functions as a search, recovery and storage allocation program. There is quite a bit of information stored here. I spent some time researching last evening to see if what you did the other day has been done before.”
“Has it?”
The Jedi Master smiled. “It has. In fact, one of the first manifestations of Jedi skill showed to me by Obi-Wan Kenobi was very similar. Gatekeeper, explain the power classified as Alter Mind to Keiran Halcyon.”
The gatekeeper turned toward me. Its black compound eyes fixed me with a stare. “Jedi skills in the Force are rooted in three areas. Control is internal. It is the Jedi’s ability to recognize the Force in himself and to use it to his benefit. Sense involves the next step, in which the Jedi recognizes the Force in the universe outside herself. Here she feels the Force and is able to draw upon it for information about the world around her. Through it she is connected to the rest of the universe. Alter is the third and most difficult area to master, for it involves the student’s ability to modify the Force and redistribute its energies. Through these skills, the Jedi can influence the universe, making changes as needed to accomplish its goals.
“The power known as Alter Mind bridges all these skill areas. Through it a Jedi can project her perception of reality into the mind of another, or an illusion or conclusion that she needs the other to hold as true. This is a most magnificent and useful power, but it is also one fraught with danger. Bending the will of another for a benign purpose can be noble and good. The dark side lurks nearby in this power, so it should be used with caution.”
I blinked my eyes. “Well, that’s very interesting.”
Luke nodded. “When confronted by a stormtrooper looking for droids back on Tatooine, Obi-Wan used this power to convince a stormtrooper that our droids were not the ones he was looking for.”
“I remember having a stormtrooper searching for me during my escape from Lusankya. I was doing all I could to make myself unseen and he didn’t see me.”
The Jedi Master’s eyes narrowed for a moment. “You think you unconsciously tapped this power before you began training?”
“I guess so. Is that bad?”
“No, actually, it is good. It explains some things.” Luke nodded toward Bodo Baas’ image. “As the gatekeeper indicated, it’s a very powerful Force ability. Some individuals show a certain aptitude for areas of Jedi power—they have an inborn talent for it. It could be your talent falls into