Tionne blinked in surprise. “Anakin, does your pet know what he just said?”
Tahiri saw Anakin’s face flush with embarrassment.
“Um, he isn’t, uh…,” Anakin stammered. “That is to say, Ikrit isn’t really my pet.”
Tionne’s face registered surprise, and her eyes swung toward Tahiri this time.
“He’s yours?” she asked in a shocked voice.
“Well, no,” Tahiri said, “I-“
“What I meant to say is that he’s not a pet,” Anakin broke in. “Ikrit is actually a…” Ikrit spoke.
“I am a Jedi.”
Uldir snickered.
“The furball speaks. I was wondering why he’d been so quiet. Hey, I thought Jedi were supposed to have some special way to sense other Jedi. If Ikrit’s really this powerful Jedi Master, how come Tionne couldn’t sense him?”
Tionne gasped.
“Jedi Master?”’
The floppy-eared creature spread its paws and nodded, almost as if taking a bow.
“Not only that,” Tahiri added helpfully, “he was a student of Master Yoda’s; just like Master Skywalker was.”
Tionne’s mouth hung open. Tahiri thought that if it hadn’t been for the smile of wonder that pulled at the corners of her mouth, Tionne might have looked quite silly.
“But… I-,” Tionne said. “I’m sorry I treated you like a pet, but why did you keep yourself a secret for so long?”
“Mmmm. Because my mission is a small one, a modest one. I do not want the attention or the honors that are due to a Jedi Master.”
“Well, if you earned it, why not?” Uldir asked.
“Because there was a time five hundred years or more ago when I had great power. I thought myself too important. When I became so proud that I nearly killed a friend with my lightsaber over a petty disagreement, Yoda risked his life to stop me.”
Uldir snorted.
“If you were such hot stuff with a lightsaber, where is it then? Did your Master Yoda take it away and send you to bed without eating?”
Tahiri was starting to get annoyed with Uldir. His last comment may have been meant as a joke, but it sounded rude to her. Ikrit did not seem to notice the sarcasm, though.
“On the day I nearly misused it, I buried my lightsaber. Although I spent many more years in training before I became a Jedi Master, still I have never used a lightsaber since that day.”
“Well, you were in hibernation for about four hundred years,” Tahiri pointed out.
“True,” the white-furred Jedi Master admitted. “That probably saved my life when the Emperor and Darth Vader were hunting down and killing all of the Jedi. It was my mission to free the spirits of the Massassi children from the golden globe that saved me then,” Ikrit said.
Tionne, who loved Jedi stories, looked at him curiously.
“You said you had a smaller mission now, Master Ikrit. What is it?”
“The boy has great power, even greater than my own,” Ikrit said, nodding toward Anakin. Then the furry creature waved a paw toward Tahiri. “The Force of the girl combined with the boy’s is a fearful power indeed. For now, I wish only to train them and watch over them.”
Uldir rolled his eyes.
“But I guess I’m not important enough for you to worry about?”
“Mmmm.” Ikrit thought for a moment before speaking. “Yes. You are important enough. I will watch over you as well.”
Maybe it was just because Uldir finally felt included, Tahiri thought, but she was glad to see him smile at this.
“Thanks, furball,” Uldir said, giving the creature a playful salute.
Tionne looked hopefully at the Jedi Master.
“Master Ikrit, you you must know that I collect stories and legends of the ancient Jedi. If you wouldn’t mind-if you have any time to spare from watching over these three-would you share some of your stories with me?”
Ikrit nodded, and his floppy ears swung back and forth.
“You are a fine teacher and a good listener. It would be my pleasure.”
ArtooDetoo tweedled and bleeped from the copilot’s station.
Tionne turned to look at the control panel for a moment.
“It looks like it will be several more hours before we reach Vjun,” she said. “Why don’t we all try to get some sleep.”
Tahiri leaned over and whispered to Anakin, “Just think… in only a few hours you’ll see Darth Vader’s fortress.”
“Wow! Doesn’t look very welcoming, does it?”
Looking at the small, dark planet of Vjun, Anakin found himself agreeing with Uldir’s comment.
“Maybe that was the idea,” Tahiri said. “Kinda sends a shiver up my back just looking at it.”