"Michael Stackpole "I, Jedi"" - читать интересную книгу автора

УRight. It was nothing.Ф She scowled and then let it melt with a sigh. УIt was everything.Ф УI'm not tracking.Ф
УOf course not, you've never had to track.Ф Mara graced me with a disgusted look. УYou were incredibly lucky, you know that? Your family was part of CorSec so your life was all mapped out for you. You went as far as you could there, then joined Rogue Squadron and strung victories together there. And then you find out that you're really from a Jedi family and you end up here training to be what you've been destined to be since birth. It must've all just come very easy to you.Ф УIt wasn't very easy at all.Ф
УBut at least you had a course plotted out for you. You had family supporting you in your decisions.Ф She shook her head. УIn a galaxy coming apart at the fusion joints, you were able to cruise along smoothly. You're even here, studying to become a Jcdi while your wife has been taken away from you. You're so sure that what you're doing is right that you can set aside the atnxiety and concentrate here, and you can do that because this is just one more trial in the life of a hero.Ф
I started to protest what she was saying, but faint echoes of it rang true. They meant little to me, however, because of the chill cutting at my spine as I reversed her words and applied them to what little I knew about her. УYou thought you were on the same sort of hero path, doing what you had to do to make a difference in the Empire. Then, bang, it's all gone. Everything you worked for and with vanishes, cutting you off, leaving you adrift.Ф
УYou've made your point.Ф
· 'Sorry.Ф I glanced away from her and off toward the jungle. УYou're smart enough and skilled enough to take care of your-self, but you've no longer got the benchmarks you used to use to measure your performance.Ф
УRight, and everything has been swapped black for white in the galaxy.Ф She turned to look off in the same direction as me, but jerked a thumb back toward the Great Temple. УI came here for instruction and to learn where I fit into the new order of things .... У
УAnd the ship was your escape valve. If you didn't like things, you could take off.Ф
I felt a hint of resentment from her. УI'm not one to quit a project I start.Ф
УDidn't say you were. It's just you might find that what you get here isn't actually what you want or need.Ф I turned to face her. УYou're not wholly wrong about my life, but you're not right about it, either. When my parents died, I was left without knowing how to calibrate my moral compass. I found others who stepped in and helped me, but the search for that sort of support is one that goes on forever. You'll continue to do it. I'll continue to do it. Even Master Skywalker will do it.Ф УIs that so?Ф
УIt is.Ф I found my hands had knotted into fists so I willfully opened them. УYou and I are lucky in that we've got someone like Master Skywalker around to help us figure out where we are and where we're going.Ф
Her voice hardened. УBut you don't think he's handling this Kyp Durron thing correctly.Ф
УHe's not doing it the way I would, but that doesn't mean I think Luke's heart isn't in the right place. It is. He knows where he wants to go and where he wants to take the Jedi. I'm just not sure he's navigating as smooth a course as he would like for the journey.Ф
Her head nodded, but she said nothing for a bit. I remained quiet, listening to the hunting cries of stintarils split the night. For all the turmoil of the earlier evening, once Kyp had left, things seemed to settle down. I let the evening's growing peace slowly seep into me.
УI don't like losing my freedom like this.Ф
УI understand, but it really isn't a critical loss. New supply ship is due in a week, and it took Kyp at least that long to get as good as he is.Ф I gave her a quick smile. УAllow yourself the chance to see if what Master Skywalker offers really is what you need.Ф
УIt's as good a plan as any.Ф
УConsidering there's no alternative.Ф
Mara Jade let a little laugh slip out. УYou're destroying this image I had of you as a dumb fighter jock.Ф
УServes you right. You've been listening to things Booster Terrik has to say about me.Ф
УTrue enough.Ф She turned and started walking back to the Grand Temple. УI understand you get up early and run in the morning.Ф
УWith the dawn.Ф
УMind company?Ф
УYou'd go running with me?Ф I trotted over and fell into step with her. УI generally take a pretty nasty course.Ф УYou set it, I'll run it.Ф
УGood enough,Ф I smiled. УWelcome to the Jedi academy, Mara Jade. I hope you'll enjoy your stay.Ф
Enjoy her stay she did, at least as measured by the purely pleasurable expressions she wore when showing me up on our runs, or holding off one more remote than I possibly could at lightsaber practice. She might have been little accustomed to smiling, but she had a trium-phant smirk down perfectly, and I got to study it enough to be able to etch it into stone from memory.
This fact is made all that more damning because we actually saw very little of each other. In the mornings we would run together, then Luke would concentrate on working with Mara much as he had Kyp. That left Kam instructing the rest of us. After lunch we would listen to more Jedi lore from the l-tolocron, then Mara and I would practice with the lightsaber. While I was not her equal with the shimmering blade, we would have been closely enough matched to seriously hurt each other, so Kam just pitted us against remotes.
Kyp's disappearance left the apprentices a bit uneasy. The arrival of a new apprentice, the Mon Calamari Ambassador, Cilghal, both brought relief from the dismal mood that had fallen over the students and linked us back to the rest of the galax37. She told of Admiral Daala's assault on Mon Calamari and the loss of one of her Star Destroyers, which was good news. The fact that pro-Imperial forces still existed out there also reinforced our resolve to become Jedi Knights, since the need for our presence was very clear.
Early one afternoon I sat in the common room, listening to Tionne practice her ballads and Mara Jade interrogating Cilghal for details about the Imperial assault on Mon Calamari, when Artoo rolled over and tugged on the shoulder of my robe with his pincer. He tootled briefly at me, then spun around and headed back out of the room. I followed him and, not surpris-ingly, he led me to Luke's chambers.
Inside the door I caught the acrid scent of melted electronics. A blackened puddle of melted plasteel on the room's table was the source of the stink. It still smoked and some of it appeared to still be liquid. I looked over toward where Luke sat on his bunk, his brows knotted with concentration. УWhat happened?Ф
Luke glanced at the little droid. УArtoo, close the door.Ф He waited until the droid had complied with his wishes before con-tinuing. УYou remember I said I'd check the Holocron for more information on Exar Kun?Ф УI do.Ф
УThere was. Vodo-Siosk Baas was modeled on the Jedi that trained Exar Kun. I used him as a vector for my inquiries about what happened to Kun.Ф Luke fell silent for a moment. УBaas went to Coruscant, to speak to his disciple, to get him to return to the way of the Jedi. Kun killed him in the Senate Chamber.Ф
I drew in a deep breath through my nose. УThat's not good news.Ф
УNo, it isn't. When I asked what happened then . · .Ф He pointed mutely at the melted device. УIn the resulting fire and bright light I thought I saw the shadow of the dark marl and heard his laughter.Ф
I stared at the black mess again and felt my mouth go dry.
УThat is the Holocron?Ф
УI think was is the correct verb tense.Ф
I ran a hand back through my hair. УI think my brain hurts.
And the shadow you saw, could it have been a trick of the light?Ф
The Jedi Master shrugged uneasily. УCould have been.Ф
I passed my hand above the melted Holocron and caught
some residual heat. УIs Exar Kun our guy?Ф
Luke shook his head. УI don't know. Four thousand years is a long time. I'd rather think someone being trained by the Em-pire. someone being used like Mara, discovered Exar Kun's studies and has fashioned himself into a new Dark Lord of the Sith.Ф
УDon't have to go far for a candidate.Ф My nostrils flared. УI think Kyp will do.Ф
УDon't think that's not crossed my mind. He was so powerful and eager, but that just fed his impatience.Ф Luke looked up at me. УYou said the other day I was afraid I'd failed my father. Maybe that's true. I know I've failed Kyp.Ф
УNo, Kyp failed you.Ф I leaned back on the table. УKyp agreed to undergo serious training, but didn't know what he was getting into. He'd been a mine slave all his life. You showed him how powerful he was. He was learning how to make his own decisions and suddenly, grand new vistas opened up for him. It's all but impossible for people like me or Karo or Mara to deal with such power, but Kyp . . . ?Ф
Luke's expression darkened. УYou're not making things bet-ter here.Ф
УI'm sorry. You're the Jedi Master and you know what you're doing, but I think you need to refocus on those students still here.Ф I sighed loudly. УKyp may be gone forever, or he may come back. We don't know. What we do know is that your original mission, the reason you created the academy, is still valid. The Jedi Knights need to return to the galaxy and you're the only hope to make that happen.Ф
The Jedi Master remained silent for a moment, then nodded just once. УThe Order is what we need. That has to be my fOCUS.Ф
УAgreed.Ф I gave him a hopeful look. УI also think we need to decide what we're going to do about Exar Kun.Ф