Capítulo 15: Ordo Xenos
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I learnt how it feels to move from a racing car with the power of a hundred megawatts to a speeder ten times weaker. Roughly speaking - I took this miracle of technology out into the street - the staff of the centre did not even consider such a small purchase as a speedbike, and everyone was calm about the fact that I, having switched on the height stabilisation system, hung my shopping bags on the handlebars and slowly, leading by the handlebars, took the bike around the shopping centre. However, in the next shop they didn't let me through with it - I had to leave the bike and the guard-Erdva again and go alone. This boutique sold clothes. Quality, sporty and informal. Unlike the Coruscant dressmakers, I didn't give myself to these ladies, and I found myself a relatively free wardrobe.
I bought some groceries, the kind I'd grown accustomed to during my career as a smuggler, and walked quietly with Erdv towards the dormitory. I hung the groceries on the steering wheel of the speeder, and Erdva connected to the on-board computer, and pleased me with the news that he could drive himself, so there was no need to push him with his hands.
That's how we arrived at the dormitory - me, Erdva, and the bike with the purchases. The students' vehicles were parked in the courtyard of the building, which had apparently been converted into a car park. We could also see the exit down to the underground car park, where the vehicles were apparently parked as well.
The building of the dormitory was not distinguished by architectural delights - just a large house, consisting of two wings, which were located at right angles to each other, that is, the letter "G".
I left the speeder right near the entrance to the dormitory - there was an improvised car park for the lazy. Thanks to the repulsors, the parking was chaotic - even my "butterfly" can fly two metres up, which is enough to fly over parked bikes and speeders. Pressing the button with the folded wings symbol, I watched the bike shrink in size and dragged my bags.
And at the entrance stood my old acquaintance, a protocol droid. He informed me of my room number and the fact that the pass universally serves as a dorm pass, University, room key, and ID (though only for the duration of my studies).
- Thank you. - Erdva squeaked and went to the turbolifts.
In the hall of the dormitory there were students of all ages - from small children, about seven or eight years old, to teenagers about fifteen years old. They paid absolutely no attention to me, but my astrodroid got a lot of attention - it's in some spaceport full of astrodroids, but in such places proto-columnists are more usual.
* Jedi Temple. Three months later
The corridors of the temple were dreary - extremely ascetic, grey, dull. The temple as a whole was deserted - only the sector where the younglings studied was more or less lively, and all the others were quiet.
Obi-Wan Kenobi followed his master down the corridor and stared intently at Qui-Gon's back.
- Stop glaring at me, Obi-Wan. - The Jedi Knight said calmly, turning the corner.
- But Master, what makes you think I'm not ready!?
- Because you're not ready, that's why.
Obi-Wan didn't want to stop, and continued: - No, that's not fair! After all, what am I so bad at for a Jedi Knight? Maybe in swordsmanship? Or in the use of the force?
- Neither, my young padawan. It's not about your abilities, it's about you. In case you haven't realised, Yoda's been talking to you a few times for a reason.
- That's understandable, but..." Ben looked for an argument, but found none. Qui-Gon stepped into the turbolift, and headed down to the hangars. His apprentice Obi-Wan kept up, and they stood silently in the lift, each thinking about their own things.
- Don't be upset, Obi-Wan. You don't need training to change internally. Think more, and stop being a slacker.
- I'm not slacking off!
- Of course you're not. You're not taking things seriously. And as a result, you're making a lot of mistakes. Be serious and calm.
- Yes, Master. - Obi-Wan agreed obediently.
By now the lift had stopped and the Jedi stepped out into the hangars. The ship area was just like the temple - large and majestic, filled with Jedi ships. The ships ranged from simple, landspeeder-sized ships to corvettes hundreds of metres long. Qui-Gon Jinn set off at a brisk pace towards the ship the council had allocated to them. It was a small transport, smaller than a freighter but larger than a fighter, just right for carrying three passengers, a Jedi and a droid pilot. Though officially it was called a yacht.
The Jedi entered the narrow hatch of the ship - the droid pilot was already in the cockpit and greeted them with a question:
- Can we take off?
- Yes, of course. - Qui-Gon nodded, and together with his apprentice went to the main compartment of this small-sized transport. The ship took off above the formation of its older brethren, the Consulars, and, manoeuvring between the flying fighters, headed for the hangar gate. The force field protected the hangar from spies and weather, but allowed ships that had permission to visit the Jedi Temple to enter.
Qui-Gon settled into a comfortable chair and turned his gaze to Obi-Wan. He was getting impatient, but he didn't dare be the first to ask the most important question.
- Go ahead, ask. - The Jedi encouraged his apprentice.
- Where are we going, Master?
- Not far, we need to go to the planet Anaxis. It's a five-seven hour flight, so we've been given this... trough.
- What's the mission?
- Good question. We've been spotted transporting spice to the central worlds.
- Master. Spice has been transported to the central worlds for millennia, Sith knows how long.
- But this time, the transporters are so brazen, they've supposedly set up a transshipment base on Anaxis. From there, the drugs go to the distributors. It's easy to guess who benefits from this, because the population of the planet is the smallest in all the central worlds, and there are constantly extracting various raw materials, so cargo ships near the planet, and it's hard to keep track of them all. - Qui-Gon sighed heavily as he looked at his student.
- So you're suggesting that the ore carriers or whatever are involved in the drug trade?
- It's just an assumption. Although it's the most logical - there are more than enough trucks near the mines, no one checks them thoroughly, and the mines themselves are closed private territory, and the Corps can't make a search without a good reason.
- I'd bet my sword that a search would have yielded nothing. - Obi-Wan said confidently.
- What a bold wager. How can you be so sure, my young apprentice?
- Those who run a business of this magnitude have had more than one run-in with the Corps, so searches are commonplace for them. They'll hide the drugs, that's all they'll do. And if they don't, they'll bribe the officials and the Justicars will suddenly have vision problems. At the very least, they can smuggle the drugs out to another area on an emergency basis. After all, excuse me, does the planet belong to more than one person?
- Of course not. Though, it's mostly the Techno-Union that works with the ore there.
- "Mostly." Then we have to start with the small stuff.
- You don't believe that the Techno-Union can patronise such a business? - Qui-Gon smiled.
- 'It could, but I doubt they'd want to. After that affair with the Trade Federation, their position has been strengthened, and they wouldn't want to attract attention with small dirty deeds.
- I agree. But you forget that the power of the board of directors is one thing, and the power of the local mine director is quite another. - Qui-Gon shook his head.
- Well, maybe... but I reckon it's more likely that the drug traffickers have bought some campaign, and are smuggling the drugs along with the ore. It's a lot easier than messing with Techno-Union mining companies...
- Makes sense. Once we're there, we'll see. - Qui-Gon relaxed in his chair and closed his eyes, listening to the familiar hum of the ship....
* Alderaan, dormitory. *
The Erdva rose to the ceiling with a cheerful trill, but apparently misjudged its power and hit the ceiling with a resounding thud. Good thing it didn't hit the lights. The droid plummeted back to the floor, barely able to keep its balance due to the movement of its caterpillars. I watched this circus with Jedi calm and defiance. Erdv's emotions were amusing, though. The droid wrapped itself around its axis a couple of times and began to climb again, only this time more carefully. Which didn't stop him from knocking a carafe of water off the table, which spilled onto the carpet.
- Erdva, stop clowning around!
- I'm learning to fly!
- Well, learn to fly, but why did you break the carafe? - I asked, having torn myself away from reading the book "Theory of Finance" on a special datapad
The droid whistled sadly and said:
- I didn't do it on purpose. I'm a fast learner!
- I believe you are, my iron mate. But I just installed the repulsors in you an hour ago, and you've already broken a decanter, a vase of flowers Alessi gave me, stained the carpet, and dented the ceiling. I think I should have waited to install the repulsors..." I glanced disapprovingly at Erdv, who was looking so pompous. How does he manage to transmit emotions being an astrodroid? Apparently, my friend has an incredible imagination....
- No. Sorry. I won't break anything else.
- Don't worry about it. - I forcefully picked up the shards from the floor and carried them to the bin, then levitated the flower into my hands. - Erdva, Erdva, Erdva... It's nothing. I've been to a neighbouring shop recently, and they sell vases like this. They're cheap, but they look beautiful. Besides, I should have thought about the fact that you can't fly--
- I can fly a spaceship!
- Can you pilot yourself? That's just it. It's okay, don't feel bad. - I tried to cheer my friend up, and it seems to have worked. I'll get you a full set of tools, and you can repair the damage. At least on the ceiling, otherwise even a girl will be ashamed to invite....
- That doesn't make sense. How does the ceiling affect your relationship with this Alessi?
- Well, imagine she wakes up in my bed in the morning, opens her eyes and there's a hole in the ceiling. Shame and shame, huh? - I said cheerfully, smiling. But Erdwa, the bastard, blew it:
- She's not close enough to you to sleep in your bed. And she doesn't have eyes.
- There will be some astrodroid to psychoanalyse me..." I snorted, and went back to reading. I can't even dream anymore... and what a girl this Alessi is - an athlete, an excellent student, and simply beautiful.
- You have not forgotten anything?
- Asya? What? - I had to take a break from reading again.
- The tools. They've been there for months, and you still can't find the time...
- Oh, yes, now... - I resolutely threw the datapad on the sofa, and went to the cupboard where all my purchases were piled up, which I didn't have time to do at once. It took me about two minutes to get the parts for Erdv - I had to get everything I'd bought afterwards first. I had bought them for nothing - there was no time left for training. I had time, but I preferred to spend it wisely, and preferably not alone. My history was not known to anyone, and I didn't look like a Tatooine fool in terms of my knowledge of realities, so I joined the team. Not in the first place, but, thanks to my diligent study, not in the last. With Alessi we began a long-known long time ago - not that love, but not friendship. She was interested in me and I was interested in her. It was a little disconcerting that she was a miraluka, not a human. The only thing that made them different from humans was their eyesight. They had no eyes at all. At first I just thought that the girl was blind, and was surprised that she had not taken advantage of medical advances, but then I thought to ask my protocol officer about her. As they say, "Stirlitz has never been so close to failure" - what would Alessi herself say if I spoke to her about it? She'd hardly take offence, but I might have made a fool of myself. Fortunately, it passed. The Miraluk see the world through force, so one in five of the race was gifted enough to be taken by the Jedi, though there were few truly strong gifted Miraluk. Well, another minor difference was their hair - it was a range of light blue to dark purple colours, a legacy of their homeworld, once destroyed in the war with the Sith. I had forgotten about the power, just using it, barely remembering to keep it secret, but meeting Alessi reminded me not to forget about the power. And her abilities were archly interesting - my second sight was, according to the descriptions, much like the Miraluk's... only the clear vision of the near future was out of the picture. The fact that I couldn't see anything behind the obstacles, except for the fact that I could distinguish a little bit by strength, and even then not much, while the Miralukes could peek through walls... it was a voyeur's dream, if it weren't for the peculiarities of Miraluk psychology - they were, to put it mildly - close to mine. Not fanatics of the light side, but they almost never became Sith. They cared little about their personal interests, putting the public interest above all else, but not enough to be radical altruists.
But the most important discoveries I had made a week ago. It was a week ago that the droid teacher I'd been given at the university had enlightened me about the genetic traits of the Miraluk. They have been shown to be able to have children with humans. That's great news, isn't it? And now we put the pieces of the puzzle together - firstly, nobody tells me what kind of father I had, secondly, my mum was a slave, thirdly - I have a specific ability inherent to the Miralukes... Is there a chance that my mum is still just silent about an unpleasant memory or hates my dad so much that she preferred to tell everyone that I have no father? And it worked - a bunch of Jedi believed it. There's a chance of that - a person can believe in something so wholeheartedly that no Force force-user - not Yoda, not anyone at all - can feel it. The Force will simply believe itself - it generally reflects the desires, emotions, and will of the Forsuiters onto the material world. Which means if you believe it, it's there. Here I can lift objects with my will, change metal with my willpower alone, and even influence those whose will is weaker than mine a little - it's just that I believe that "these aren't the droids you're looking for" and as a consequence, the force itself gives my will paramount importance. With the weak-willed and weak-willed, such a trick goes easily...
Anyway. I went for a genetic test. A complete analysis of the genome, without any prevarication - such a test takes a long time - no less than a month to analyse DNA, even at the level of computing technology of the Republic, but the test will make complete clarity. If midichlorians, so midichlorians, if human, so human, miraluka so miraluka....
But the main reason I've taken this step is because of my appearance. To be more precise - in its changes, which began to bother me more and more.
Let's start with the fact that the burned-out hair did not think to darken - my hair had already grown back to my shoulders, and I had to go to the hairdressers - they cut it off a little, styled it a little, so that I did not look as patchy as in the distant future, but I got rid of the short hedgehog that pissed me off. My hair was getting lighter. It just got lighter, but what frightened me most of all was the reflection in the mirror - my eyes began to change their colour from brown to dirty green. On the ground I was not distinguished by the beauty of my face, but my hair was straw-coloured, and my eyes were grey-green. As I imagined the mixture of my native face with Skywalker's in the future, I was horrified and ran to the clinic, where my credit card was relieved by twenty thousand more, and my organism - by half a hundred grams of blood.
Finding out paternity was not easy, and there were no databases, of course, so it was problematic to establish the identity of only my blood, but at least in general terms - whether a person or from what planet, it is possible.
Racial questions, which I'd carefully chased out of my mind by studying, came back when I saw Alessi. The girl could see power, so I couldn't hide my giftedness, though I tried. But, instead of making a nice face, I went the other way - I asked her out. It was shocking to say the least for the non-human Miraluka - their race was a bit disliked by the rest of the race, though here on Alderaan everything was peaceful and quiet, elsewhere the Miraluka's ability to look through walls was disliked by the other races.
Alessi agreed, though she blushed deeply - it was not customary for us to play such grown-up games at our age... But everything had to happen for the first time.
After a small dinner, I took her on my bike to the women's wing of the dormitory and even dared to kiss her on the cheek. It was too early for lips, not that it was anything more than that, but it felt good to her already-it felt strong. I told her about my abilities a couple of days later, which made her feel conflicted. But she honestly told me how she saw the world, and it was painfully similar to my "vision," though Alessi saw it that way all the time, and I had to make some effort.
After that evening we started spending more time together - I gave her a couple of small gifts and she just gave me some beautiful flowers. On earth I would have thought she was mocking me or insinuating that I didn't give her flowers, but that's not the situation here. Again I had to go to the protocol officer. This iron expert of all ceremonies, protocols and traditions, given to me by the university, again told me that Miralukes have a custom to give flowers regardless of gender and age, so everything seemed to be normal.
Erdv had to be disconnected for the time of installation of the new toolkit - after I crammed a new reactor, repulsors, antenna into it, he was just happy, but I didn't have enough for the tools, and then studies, everything else....
Classes were from morning till evening - after the university I had to study material from the dormitory, and the vigilant droid-teacher didn't let me slack off, even though I didn't try. With the guys from my group I had friendly relations, not turning into friendship - there was no reason and no time to make friends.
Because of the intense study "nerd-style", I had more and more things to do - I forgot that I wanted to get a permit for a more powerful bike, but I had to ignore it. Then Alessi, my undisclosed girlfriend, then the strength training I'd practically abandoned, then the final clarification of my origins... yeah, there was a lot to do, and not enough time to do it all. No wonder I'd forgotten about the tools I'd bought for Erdv.
Thanks to the force, the installation took no more than half an hour, in which I not only installed the tools, but also remembered that my DNA tests should have been ready yesterday. As soon as I screwed in the case and switched on the droid, I rose abruptly from the floor (and my room, though private, was not rich in furniture) and informed my friend:
- Erdwa, I completely forgot that they were supposed to do DNA tests there. Do you think I should go for a walk?
- I don't know. Whatever you want, but don't forget you have finance tests tomorrow.
- You're right again, my iron friend. But I'm gonna go. I mean, I'll go, a walk won't hurt me..." I said, and went into my wardrobe to get some clothes.
Thanks to Aldera's warm climate, winter clothes didn't look much different from summer clothes-it was more like early autumn turning to spring than real winter.
I left Erdv in his room and went out into the spacious corridor that led from the rooms to the lifts.
The bike was unrealistically annoying with its weakness - I wanted to press the throttle like in the good old days, and with afterburner, and take off with a bullet from the place, but instead of that - it was slowly hovering above the surface, slowly accelerating. It was good that there were no traffic lights here, and the streets were wide, otherwise I would have gone crazy from this braking "butterfly". Though at first the bike was not so annoying, but with time the dissatisfaction grew. And every time I got behind the wheel, I made a vow to myself to go and get a permit for normal transport, and every time things wouldn't let me remember that until I got behind the wheel again, and so on round and round....
The clinic was a big and old building, with centuries-old history and, of course, with smiling girls at the reception, who were not averse to promoting the next client for a considerable sum of money.
Leaving the bike near the entrance, I opened the doors and went inside. There weren't any hallways - the climate was warm. There were plenty of sick people - some were just sitting in a queue or waiting for someone, some were chatting with other visitors, and the girls-secretaries never changed at all - the same glued smiles, the same light green dressing gowns (according to local beliefs green is the colour of life), showing visitors what the land of Alderaan is rich in - their breasts are not small, more like udders. Where did they find such lush ones? Or is it a visual demonstration of plastic surgery achievements?
- Excuse me, may I have a word? - I turned to the nearest girl.
- Yes, yes, am I listening?
- I'd like to know if my DNA test is ready...
- What's your last name?
- Skywalker. Anakin Skywalker.
- Just a second... - the lady turned to the datapad and after a few seconds she said:
- Yes, please proceed to room three hundred and thirteen.
I thanked her and, with a heavy sigh, went to the specified office. Well, now we'll find out who I am....
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