Grim Tidings/Part 10

"…and a stance like this," Tirien completed, trying to mimic the Zygerrian woman's combat stance.

Gatiin Muir, a Jedi Knight some years older than Tirien and the Crescentia ' s resident martial arts master, walked around Tirien, drumming three fingers on her lips. "Hmmm. Looks a lot like K'thri.  That can be flashy if the practitioner's been trained in too sporty a style, but that doesn't sound like it was the case for you."

"No," Tirien agreed. Meditation had healed the crack in his rib, but there had been nothing flashy about the savage blow.

"I'm surprised you didn't just flatten her with the Force."

Tirien gave the Ocsinin woman a look. "Not the easiest thing to do under the circumstances."

Her all-black eyes were not sympathetic. "For you? You can do it with a lightsaber; it's the same hand-to-hand, you just need to be as comfortable with your fists as you are your blade."

"You know, if I've told Narasi this once, I've told her a hundred times—I really am a Jedi Consular…"

Gatiin snickered. "That's no excuse, you just need to practice. In fact, I'm free right now if you want…"

"Another time. I have to check up on my Padawan."

"Wimp."

Tirien rolled his eyes and turned from the training chamber, tossing over his shoulder, "Thanks, Gatiin."

Word of Argus Z'dar's defection from the Order had spread throughout the ship in the days since their return, sparking arguments over meals and hushed conversations in every quiet nook or secluded back passage. Tirien was inclined to attribute the leak to his Padawan, as he had only recounted the episode (at length) first to the Praxeum Council in person, and then to the Reconciliation and High Councils on Coruscant by holo. It probably warranted a corrective note, Tirien mused to himself as he walked through the corridors, but he could not find it in himself to be too frustrated with Narasi. He was saving most of his frustration for Z'dar.

Had it been like this when Karr Shadeez had left the Order proper to go his own way? Tirien was not sure he had even been born then. But an influential Jedi like Z'dar, who had trained a generation of Knights in their formative years and even now was a role model for many Guardians… Z'dar's departure from the Temple alone had stirred the Order's warriors who had most admired the Battlemaster; when the tidings reached the broader Order that Z'dar had a force of his own—and if the Crescentia was any indication, they would, and soon—the consequences were difficult to estimate.

Tirien had not forgotten the mysterious beacon message that had brought the Jedi to Carosi IV to begin with, but he had made no further progress interpreting it. Unless Master Z'dar was lying, and Tirien had no reason to believe he was, it seemed as if at least two different sources wanted the Jedi to cause trouble for the Zygerrians. Z'dar had given the impression that he could put a name to his source and was simply choosing not to, but Tirien's informant had never replied to his message. Would there be more warnings? Would they all be genuine, or had the first been real to lower his guard and lure him into a better trap in the future?

The future can never be anything but what it will be, Master Kwhuel's holocron had advised. ''Even when different paths present themselves in visions, only one of them will become reality. Do not grasp at phantoms trying to seize the future and drag it into the now. We none of us can see beyond our vision.''

Slejux had helped brief the Councils, but otherwise Tirien had seen little of his Melitto comrade aboard; he was spending more and more time poring over the holocron, attempting to pierce the multilayered subtleties of its wisdom. Tirien had continued his own researches and his occasional consultations with the simulacrum of long-dead Giffis Fane, though Fane had never heard of Kwhuel and could shed no light on the mysterious Mustafarian holocron.

Tirien tried to reassure himself that they had saved the Carosites, and certainly Premier Fad had emphasized that victory, but he could not help feeling the entire episode had left him with more concerns and questions than assurances and answers.

He found Narasi on the upper gallery of the Crescentia ' s library, sitting under the transparisteel dome that showed the stars where the Seventy-Second Republic Battle Group had taken its latest pause in its pursuit of Zirist Lakalt. Narasi sat on the gallery's floor, surrounded by Jedi Initiates; Tirien recognized Ayson Sokos at her side, and Master Tice Coreski, the Crescentia ' s librarian, observing against a far wall. The Initiates' own instructor nodded from where she stood in the doorway, and Tirien leaned on the doorframe beside her. A starfield of the galaxy hovered over the circle of Initiates, gleaming in the darkened room.

"Okay!" Narasi said. "Who can tell me what we call this big bright spot?"

She pointed, and Ayson said, "The Core!"

"Raise your hand, buddy," she reminded him. "And not just the Core, but the…?"

A little Mon Calamari raised her hand and croaked, "The Deep Core!"

"Good! And what's this planet north of the Deep Core?" They all looked, some shifting position for a better view, and Narasi hinted, "It's the capital of the Republic…"

"Coruscant!" several of them shouted, without raising their hands, and they all giggled.

A faint smile touched Tirien's lips as he leaned on the doorframe, watching his Padawan until Slejux stepped up the library stairs. The Melitto poked his head over his shoulder, and Tirien felt affection in his mind.

"Something come up?" he breathed.

"No." Slejux's vocoder did a good job whispering too. "But Master Kwhuel's wisdom…takes some contemplation to absorb, and I would appreciate your insights, if you have time."

"Certainly," Tirien said, but he decided to watch his apprentice a moment more.

She was just showing them Corellia, zooming in on the Five Brothers, when she glanced at the door. She returned Tirien's smile…but then hers faded and her eyes tightened. She looked at the Initiates around her, at the stars above them, at the three Jedi Knights at the door, and Tirien could feel her mind racing. He studied the environment for a moment before he got it too and the hairs on the back of his neck stood up; when he breathed in, for just a moment he could smell the damp grass of Alderaan. Their eyes met again, and Tirien did not know what emotion to show her, what it meant that they had come to this moment.

"Narasi?" Ayson asked. "You okay?"

She shook her head and turned a smile on him. "Yeah. Sorry guys!  Anyway, how many Brothers are there?"

"Five!"

They carried on, and after a moment Tirien followed Slejux away, thinking, We none of us can see beyond our vision…