Star Wars_ I, Jedi - Michael A. Stackpole [51]
Master Skywalker found this problem more alarming than I did. I think I was able to put it into perspective because of my training for CorSec. All recruits were taught how to handle a variety of blasters. We had it drilled into us over and over again that the only time we should draw a blaster and point it at someone was if we fully intended to use it, or were willing to use it. We were told that to use methods that escalated the tension in a situation was a bad thing, which meant my default mode was to hold back. Only when I had to succeed would I cut loose.
That being said, I was able to access the Force more than I had before. Luke was right: tapping into the Force could refresh me after a long run. It could sharpen me up when I was feeling drowsy. It could convince my body that I really didn’t need to eat yet and could dull the aches and pains of life. The most faint trickle of Force energy was enough to accomplish these simple things and, not needing the vast power I had previously, I didn’t draw on it.
I know Master Skywalker wanted all of us to feel comfortable in the Force and to progress at our own rates in finding out how we would use the Force, but I wanted a bit more discipline in our training. We had no baseline against which to measure ourselves—in many ways Gantoris’ problem was one we all shared. Progress was difficult to determine, and with a more organized approach we could have tried to duplicate previous efforts and learned how to actually do them again.
I don’t think it helped that Luke had trained with two teachers and under extreme conditions. He presented us with the lessons Yoda and Obi-Wan had taught, but they weren’t always directly on point for what we needed at the moment. Tionne helped a lot, offering other examples from the Holocron, but there were times when Luke had difficulty getting his message across.
One night, in the deepest of Truenight, Master Skywalker summoned us all without a word. Wearing only a hooded cloak, I joined the rest of my comrades and padded along silently in their wake. Far ahead of me, leading the way with a dim glowlamp, Master Skywalker conducted us through the Great Temple and down a tunnel I had never previously noticed. The dusty stones leached warmth from my feet and the tiny wisps of cool air that sliced in through the gap in my cloak tightened my flesh.
Down and down we walked, deep into the bowels of the moon. The steps were worn, but not slick, and somehow I got the impression that this pathway predated even the Temple itself. Eventually our descent ended, and I sensed Tionne’s closeness a second before I bumped into her. Past her shoulder I could see the circle of light playing up against what appeared to be a solid stone wall, but a hint of steam and a whiff of sulfur suggested something more lay beyond it.
Luke praised Gantoris and Kam for voicing their suspicions that the trail had not ended, then he worked some sort of switch that slid a panel of stone aside. The resulting hole swallowed the light from his lamp. Our line began to move again and as the trail curved to the left, the scent of sulfur grew. With it came a feeling of humidity and heat. Condensation slicked the stones on the pathway.
I came into the underground grotto last of all and found a place with my back to the tunnel, facing Luke across the circle. His glowlamp played over the surface of a bubbling mineral spring. Steam coursed over the water and washed up to tease us with warm caresses. The random staccato of bursting bubbles filled the silence, and the acrid air began to burn in the back of my throat. Beneath the glowlamp’s light, the water appeared to be an inviting blue, which contrasted easily with the white mineral crusts on the visible rocks and edges of the pool.
“This is our destination,” Luke intoned solemnly. He snapped off the glowlamp, plunging us into darkness. A couple of the students gasped, but I’d sort of expected him to do that. Whatever he intended for us in this place, something mechanical like the glowlamp