again. And again and again and again.
Luke tried until the glade was shrouded in gloom, with only the tops of the ruined towers still painted in the colors of sunset.The birds had stilled their songs and sought their nests. But the
lever still hadn’t moved. No matter what he did, the Force refused to obey his commands—or his pleas.
I can’t do it. I don’t understand how, and there’s no one to teach me. And there never will be—I’m the last of the Jedi.
The last of the Jedi sank to the grass in despair.
Farnay had watched through her macrobinocularsas Luke disappeared into the cave, gasping when he seemed to look straight at her for a moment. She’d observed Sarco as he
trudged back across the rocky valley and scrambled up to where his beasts waited. She was about a hundred meters away from him, crouched behind a thick tree trunk, her pack beast staked nearby.
She expected Sarco to climb atop one of the mounts and start back towardTikaroo. But instead the faceless alien set up a campsite not far from the edge of the cliff, across the river valley
from the cave.
He’s waiting,
Farnay thought.
Waiting for Luke
.
Farnay knew better than to think the Scavenger was waiting in case he might be of help. She knew what he really wanted—a chance to loot the sorcerers’ temple without attracting
Imperial attention. And Luke’spresence wouldn’t be enough to dissuade him. The Scavenger’s customers had a way of meeting accidents in the jungle. Most of the missing were
wealthy but eccentric old hunters without people who would report them as missing or come looking for them.
She didn’t know what had happened to them, but she could guess. And if the Scavenger decided Luke was in his way, it would happen to him, too.
I N THE MORNING Luke awoke from a deep, dreamless sleep.
He looked around the glade, momentarily confused, before he remembered where he was. When he sat up Artoo turned his radar eye in his master’s direction, beeping a cheery good morning,
then rocked sideways to bump Threepio’s silver knee. The protocol droid gave a startled hop as his photoreceptors lit up.
Luke ate a ration bar,drank some cool, clean water from the fountain, and stood in the dew-speckled grass, staring up at the pillar again.
I was exhausted yesterday, but I’m rested now. The Force will obey me more easily
.
He sighed and reached up toward the lever with an open hand, letting his shoulders rise and fall.
Nothing happened.
He tried for longer than an hour, as the morning sun evaporatedthe dew from the grass and the birds began to zip through the branches. Discouraged, he forced himself to sit against the stone
bowl of the old fountain and meditate until he had chased away his negative thoughts. Then he got up, walked over to the pillar, and told the lever to move.
It remained still.
Luke kicked a loose flagstone across the glade, startling a crowd of brilliant greenbirds, then hopped across the glade with his injured toe in hand.
“I’m fine,” he said before Threepio could suggest that it was only sensible to summon a rebel medical frigate immediately.
Luke stretched out his hand, then pulled it back as a buzzing insect landed on his wrist. He shooed it away, annoyed, but it landed again, its crystalline wings catching the early-morning light.
Onecompound eye swiveled to regard him as the insect picked its way along his wrist, its coiled proboscis darting out to taste the sweat on his skin.
“I’m not a flower,” Luke said. “Buzz off.”
The sap drinker ignored him. Its feet tickled. Luke looked at its teardrop-shaped body, a graceful curve that ended in a barbed stinger. He knew it wouldn’t sting him—that was a
defense against creaturesthat might attack its nest. Luke held up his wrist, admiring the way the little creature’s iridescent blue body shimmered when seen from different angles. He smiled
at the exuberant life contained in that tiny, busy living thing.
“To harness the
Luke tried until the glade was shrouded in gloom, with only the tops of the ruined towers still painted in the colors of sunset.The birds had stilled their songs and sought their nests. But the
lever still hadn’t moved. No matter what he did, the Force refused to obey his commands—or his pleas.
I can’t do it. I don’t understand how, and there’s no one to teach me. And there never will be—I’m the last of the Jedi.
The last of the Jedi sank to the grass in despair.
Farnay had watched through her macrobinocularsas Luke disappeared into the cave, gasping when he seemed to look straight at her for a moment. She’d observed Sarco as he
trudged back across the rocky valley and scrambled up to where his beasts waited. She was about a hundred meters away from him, crouched behind a thick tree trunk, her pack beast staked nearby.
She expected Sarco to climb atop one of the mounts and start back towardTikaroo. But instead the faceless alien set up a campsite not far from the edge of the cliff, across the river valley
from the cave.
He’s waiting,
Farnay thought.
Waiting for Luke
.
Farnay knew better than to think the Scavenger was waiting in case he might be of help. She knew what he really wanted—a chance to loot the sorcerers’ temple without attracting
Imperial attention. And Luke’spresence wouldn’t be enough to dissuade him. The Scavenger’s customers had a way of meeting accidents in the jungle. Most of the missing were
wealthy but eccentric old hunters without people who would report them as missing or come looking for them.
She didn’t know what had happened to them, but she could guess. And if the Scavenger decided Luke was in his way, it would happen to him, too.
I N THE MORNING Luke awoke from a deep, dreamless sleep.
He looked around the glade, momentarily confused, before he remembered where he was. When he sat up Artoo turned his radar eye in his master’s direction, beeping a cheery good morning,
then rocked sideways to bump Threepio’s silver knee. The protocol droid gave a startled hop as his photoreceptors lit up.
Luke ate a ration bar,drank some cool, clean water from the fountain, and stood in the dew-speckled grass, staring up at the pillar again.
I was exhausted yesterday, but I’m rested now. The Force will obey me more easily
.
He sighed and reached up toward the lever with an open hand, letting his shoulders rise and fall.
Nothing happened.
He tried for longer than an hour, as the morning sun evaporatedthe dew from the grass and the birds began to zip through the branches. Discouraged, he forced himself to sit against the stone
bowl of the old fountain and meditate until he had chased away his negative thoughts. Then he got up, walked over to the pillar, and told the lever to move.
It remained still.
Luke kicked a loose flagstone across the glade, startling a crowd of brilliant greenbirds, then hopped across the glade with his injured toe in hand.
“I’m fine,” he said before Threepio could suggest that it was only sensible to summon a rebel medical frigate immediately.
Luke stretched out his hand, then pulled it back as a buzzing insect landed on his wrist. He shooed it away, annoyed, but it landed again, its crystalline wings catching the early-morning light.
Onecompound eye swiveled to regard him as the insect picked its way along his wrist, its coiled proboscis darting out to taste the sweat on his skin.
“I’m not a flower,” Luke said. “Buzz off.”
The sap drinker ignored him. Its feet tickled. Luke looked at its teardrop-shaped body, a graceful curve that ended in a barbed stinger. He knew it wouldn’t sting him—that was a
defense against creaturesthat might attack its nest. Luke held up his wrist, admiring the way the little creature’s iridescent blue body shimmered when seen from different angles. He smiled
at the exuberant life contained in that tiny, busy living thing.
“To harness the
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