Birth of the Jedi

Chapter 4

IV

"Well I see the Snitch-Tortoise has finally peeked her head out of her shell," Raun says, walking into the shuttle's lounge where Sahria sits talking with Padawan. "I've hardly seen you in a week. I was starting to think you'd jettisoned a life pod and left us to fend for ourselves."

"I've been meditating," she responds, standing to face Padawan. "Much about the Force has been revealed to me these past few weeks. I was afraid the door opened to me the day of Vang's attack would quickly swing shut, but instead I've been able to walk into the room and explore its hidden secrets." She ignites her lightsaber and nods at Padawan. "Now."

The boy stands and pulls out his reed sling, placing in a stone and twirling it around furiously. Sahria's faces goes rigid with concentration as he launches the projectile, though she needs only a slight jerk of her wrist to obliterate it.

"Whoa!" Raun blurts out, looking at Sahria with surprise and concern. "What are you doing? Trying to get yourself killed?"

"Not at all. In fact, I'm learning to avoid that very thing" She picks up a blaster from the table and tosses it to him. "This would actually work better, so if you have a moment, I'd appreciate it if you would fire a few rounds in my direction. I'd get Padawan to do it, but I really don't want him messing around with real weapons."

Raun denies her request with an incredulous expression.

Sahria disengages her lightsaber. "I'm not asking you to do anything I can't handle: I understand my abilities and shortcomings. If we are to meet with Vang and his Sith warriors again, though—and we will—I need to feel confident in my ability to face them. They have clearly learned to harness the Force as a weapon. To counter, I need to learn to use it as a defense."

Raun juts an accusatory finger her way. "First of all, he's not going to catch up with us, and, secondly, you're not going to be around to be caught anyhow if you take a blast to the chest, and thirdly, if a shot gets by and doesn't hit you, it'll breach the hull instead and then none of us will be around. So quit playing with blasters inside my ship." He sets the weapon back on the table and starts toward the cockpit, then pauses and turns back. "And fourthly, if anyone's going to defend us, it'll be me." He turns again and stomps off.

Sahria sighs in frustration as he disappears, then picks up the weapon and hands it to Padawan, who receives it with gleeful eyes. "I guess you get your wish, after all." Without hesitating, the boy fires three rapid shot in her direction. Sahria ignites her lightsaber and catches the streaks of light effortlessly.

Raun hears the shots as he enters the cockpit and throws up his hands. "I can't take this. That girl is nuts." He plops down next to KP, deciding the droid's anger is preferable to Sahria's delusions. Not that KP's anger was easily dismissed these days. The droid was growing increasingly incensed each day they wandered haplessly from system to system rather than heading straight for the new Senate complex on Coruscant. The droid was sure Raun's reluctance to return was merely a result of the paranoid short-sightedness of a sentient mind, and told him so incessantly. Fortunately for Raun, though, KP had decided that morning that he was no longer speaking to his master. Thankful for the silence, Raun lapses deep into thought where he remains until Sahria finishes her exercises and takes a seat behind him.

At first he ignores her, and when he finally does speak, he doesn't bother turning to face her. "We're running pretty low on supplies." He taps the display screen on the consol to his side. "But I've located a planet where it should be safe to stop and replenish the processor . . . maybe take on a few more weapons."