Chapter XXI –
A Jedi’s strength flows through the Force
–
Part I
Obi-Wan surprised Cela and Xar’ek by entering his
suite with someone completely masked by a blanket
and occupying a hover-chair.
“Wh-what’s going on?” Cela timidly asked as she
watched both the Jedi and the floating chair pass by
her and into the bedroom.
Xar’ek stood a few meters away from her, his
confusion mirroring the teenagers.
Not
about to idly stand by, Cela followed the Jedi into
the bedroom.
“Obi-Wan? Who is this?” she asked, her voice
insistent.
“Cela, will you please get the cushions and pillows
from the divan?” he requested instead of answering
her question.
“Uh…ok,” Cela responded with a slight irritation in
her voice and watched the Jedi help the person out
of the hover-chair.
“Cela, please,” he said more urgently.
“Huh?
Oh, sorry.”
Xar’ek almost collided with the young girl as she
rushed out of the bedroom and he was walking in.
“Hey, take it easy,” he chided.
“What’s with her?” Xar’ek snidely inquired as he
walked further into the bedroom.
“I
have no idea,” Obi-Wan retorted as he used the Force
to help him with Vaarn. He didn’t want to jar the
man any more than he absolutely had to.
“Figures,”
Xar’ek whispered to himself.
Cela
came back into the room hauling two cushions behind
her and asked, “Where do you want these?”
Obi-Wan glanced over at her and pointed to an area
right next to him. “Here, please.”
Grudgingly, she dragged the cushions over and let
them flop onto the carpet.
“Could you set them beside one another? I need to
lay this man down on top of them.”
Cela
arranged the cushions and then left to get the
pillows.
“What
is she angry about?” Obi-Wan asked Xar’ek.
The
Corellian shrugged indifferently. “No clue.”
With
a sigh, Obi-Wan again gave himself to the Force and
utilizing its power, levitated the Clawdite onto the
cushions. “I’ll need to examine your wounds, Mr.
Nurgh,” he informed the man as he knelt beside him.
Vaarn
slowly nodded.
Cela
trudged back in with the pillows just as Obi-Wan was
removing the blanket, revealing the person inside.
She
gasped in surprise and dropped the pillows.
Xar’ek looked over at her and was confounded to see
her trembling. “What’s wrong?” he asked.
Cela’s face drained of color and she ran out of the
room.
Obi-Wan and Xar’ek exchanged uneasy glances before
the latter went after the girl.
I’m beginning to believe more and more that the
Force is testing me,
Obi-Wan silently deliberated. Getting to his feet,
he walked over and grabbed the pillows, pausing for
a moment as he thought about how one disaster
compounded another since they had arrived in Kuryn.
With a groan, he turned and walked back over to
Vaarn.
“Cela?” Xar’ek quietly approached the girl, her back
facing him, as she leaned into the metal door that
would allow her to escape the suite. “You ok, little
one?” he sincerely inquired.
The
teenager sniffled but didn’t move or answer the
question.
“Hey,
c’mon, what’s up?”
Cela
rested her forehead against the cool door, hoping it
would dull her senses and help her forget what she
had just seen.
Xar’ek reached out and gently took hold of her arm.
When she didn’t flinch, he slowly pulled her toward
him and turned her around. He was taken aback by the
tears streaming down her face and the look of pain
in her eyes. “What in the –”
Cela
wrapped her arms around Xar’ek, buried her head into
his chest and cried.
“Well, I can’t say I have any good news for you, Mr.
Nurgh,” Obi-Wan admitted after he completed his exam
of the Clawdite.
“Call…me…Vaarn,” he choked.
“Very
well. I’m assuming that you know your left arm is
broken. You also have numerous scratches and bruises
on your face. I believe you have a few broken ribs,
your left ankle is swollen but not broken, and you
have internal injuries.”
“Is…there…any good…news?” Vaarn fought to speak,
sounding as pathetic as he felt.
“Aside from the fact that you’re alive?”
The
Jedi’s sarcastic remark made Vaarn smirk. “Can
you…help me…at all?”
Without answering the question, Obi-Wan quickly
excused himself. “Rest. I’ll be back shortly.”
Obi-Wan joined the others in the main room and was
stunned to see Cela’s red-rimmed and puffy eyes.
Curled up in the oversized chair, she took small
sips from a steaming cup, but the evidence was clear
on her face.
Obi-Wan walked over to her and knelt beside her.
“What’s wrong, kitling?” Obi-Wan used the same phase
he had heard uttered from his wife’s lips so often.
Cela
inhaled deeply and then slowly exhaled before she
would answer the Jedi. “As I told Xar’ek, my old
Master, Sequ, was a Clawdite… I HATE that race!” A
delicate combination of anger and tears rose to the
surface. Cela blinked back the tears but she
couldn’t camouflage her rancor. “You don’t know what
he put me through. I’d buried it, forgotten about
the worst of it…until I saw that thing in
there.”
“Cela,” Obi-Wan gently began, “Vaarn isn’t Sequ.
Just because he’s a Clawdite doesn’t mean he’s like
your old Master. You can’t condemn an entire race
based on one person.”
Cela
glared at him, the pain still echoing in her eyes.
As much as she wanted to scream at him that he was
wrong – that she could hate the entire race – she
also heard the wisdom in his words. However, that
didn’t make the pain lessen or the memories fade
away again.
“You’re safe – remember?” The Jedi gave her a warm
smile, trying to reassure her.
“I’m
sorry, Ben, I know it’s wrong…but I can’t help it,”
she quipped, accompanied by a sniffle and took
another sip of her drink.
Obi-Wan dipped his head to his chest. Turmoil was at
every corner of his mind, clinging to life, and just
waiting to cause more discord.
At
least that’s what it felt like.
Finally he said, “I understand but I must ask you to
put aside your animosity…for Sakoya’s sake. I
believe this Clawdite has vital information…about
the toxin. If he doesn’t get more medical attention
than I am able to provide we will lose him.”
“He’s
dying?” Xar’ek interrupted. He had already comforted
Cela and didn’t wish to see the girl trembling in
his arms again. He didn’t even want to imagine what
she had been through in the past – and she hadn’t
divulged it either. Her heavy sobbing and incoherent
mumblings told him enough and it pained him to see
her so distraught. If the Jedi was right and this
Clawdite had information that would help, he would
just as soon get that information as soon as
possible and be done with it. He and Cela shared a
common thought – the Clawdite’s life was of little
consequence to them both. Sakoya’s on the other hand
was very important.
“He
has sustained internal injuries that I can’t heal.
Sakoya could, but I don’t have that type of ability.
I can take care of the minor injuries, but nothing
beyond that.”
“Then
take him to medical!” Xar’ek stated the obvious and
quite scathingly.
“He
already refused that. My guess is that once they ID
him it would cause issues.”
“Issues? He can help us and you’re worried about
issues? Kenobi – sometimes you amaze me! If
that’s the case I’ll go get what we need!”
Xar’ek harshly snapped.
“What
do you plan to do, Xar’ek?” Obi-Wan glared at the
man. “You think you can just burst in there and take
what you want?” The Jedi felt his ire beginning to
rise and the last thing he needed was this to turn
into another argument.
The
Corellian’s eyes narrowed, his own annoyance
bubbling to the surface. Ever since his arrival
everything had been chaotic and although he enjoyed
excitement in his life this was not what he had in
mind when he’d come to Kuryn. “Interrogate him
then,” he spat, flustered.
“Considering he can barely speak that’s hardly an
option – not to mention it would be brutal in his
current state.”
“If
you two keep arguing that thing will be dead before
you get anything from it,” Cela interjected her
voice cold and dispassionate.
Obi-Wan could feel the mixture of emotions emanating
from the teenager even before he glanced at her.
Without further thought, he walked over to the desk
and activated the holo-emitter.
Within seconds, the holographic image of a man
appeared and said, “Front desk, how may I help you,
sir?”
“I
need immediate medical assistance.”
“I’ll
dispatch that for you at once, sir. Is the condition
critical?” the image politely inquired.
“Yes.”
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