Star Wars_ Splinter of the Mind's Eye - Alan Dean Foster [22]
“This is a piece of the Kaiburr crystal itself!” Halla insisted, offended by her disbelief.
“Sure it is,” the Princess agreed, nodding. “Where did you get it?”
“From a greenie, in exchange for a bottle of tipples.”
Leia gave her a strained look. “So you’re trying to tell us that one of the primitive, superstitious locals would part with a shard of some half-legendary gem, from one of his own temples, for a lousy bottle of liquor?”
“It wasn’t his ancestors’ temple or god,” Halla countered with mild contempt. “Even if it was, it wouldn’t matter. Look at the pitiful things.” She gestured, and they saw the degraded, crawling beggars pleading with patrons for a chance to perform the most servile acts in return for a sip of alcohol.
“They’ll do anything short of killing themselves for a drink. Perform the most menial jobs for days for a tenth of a bottle.”
“Maybe you’re right,” Leia had to admit uncomfortably. “Just maybe this could be a piece of what you claim it to be from where you say it came from. I still don’t see why you have this drive to go hunting for it, especially if you insist its jewel potential doesn’t interest you.”
“Still can’t see, can you?” Halla murmured. She turned sharply to face Luke. “Touch it, boy.”
Luke hesitated, his gaze moving from the Princess to Halla and back again. Halla removed it from the box and extended it out to him in a cupped hand.
“See, it’s not hot,” she told him. “Go on, touch it and believe. Are you afraid?” Luke continued to hesitate.
“I’ll touch it,” the Princess volunteered, extending a finger. But Halla pulled it out of her reach.
“No. This isn’t for you. Touching it would prove nothing to you.” She reached out toward Luke again. “Go on, boy. It won’t hurt you.”
Licking his lower lip, Luke cautiously probed for the splinter with a finger. Touched it.
It felt exactly like what it resembled, a piece of glowing heatless glass. But the sensations that coursed through him did not come from his finger, were not carried by the nerves in his skin. He quickly drew back his arm as if he’d contacted a live current.
“Luke, what is it?” the Princess exclaimed, suddenly concerned. She stared accusingly at Halla. “You’ve hurt him!”
“No, little pretty mouth, I haven’t hurt him. He has been startled and shocked and surprised, much as I was when I first contacted the crystal.”
Leia faced Luke. “What did you feel?”
“I … didn’t feel anything,” he informed her softly, now utterly convinced of the old woman’s sincerity. “I experienced it. This,” and he indicated the fragment of red mineral, “increases one’s perception of the Force. It magnifies and clarifies … in proportion to its size and density, I think.” He gazed hard at Halla. “Anyone in possession of the entire crystal, if it’s much larger than this fragment, would have such a lock on the Force that he could do almost anything, anything at all.”
“My thought also, boy,” Halla agreed. She replaced the fragment in its box and snapped the lid shut, then re-rolled it in the soft material. She handed it to Luke. “To show you I mean what I say, you keep it. Go on, take it.” Luke did so, then slipped it into a pocket.
“And now, I think,” she went on, “you have no choice but to help me, and without delay.”
“Who says so?” the Princess grumbled.
“No one says so, little pretty. Facts say so. By touching the fragment, Luke here set up a tiny but perceptible stirring in the Force. I felt it. It might have traveled no farther than this tavern, or it might have affected sensitives halfway across the galaxy. There are Force-sensitives in the Imperial government who might feel such a stirring.
“However,” she continued with a shrug, “as I said, the sensation might have gone no farther than myself. But can you take that chance, Luke? If you’re both with the Alliance, as I’m pretty sure by now you are, then the Imperials should be real interested in Luke, here. From what I hear, they don’t like to think of there