Great-Grandfather

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“No, nothing like that, thank goodness,” his father said. His parents shared another nervous look, as if deciding who would be the one to spill the beans. His mother bowed out by disappearing into the kitchen. While she opened cupboards and made other useful-sounding noises, his father cleared his throat and began to speak.

“We haven’t been entirely honest with you,” he began, fidgeting with his own piece of cheese until his fingertips turned pink. “We had this talk with your grandmother, a number of years ago. We had different opinions on the matter, but since you’re my son she obeyed my wishes.”

His mother returned from the kitchen, an extra glass of milk in her hand. Mostly, she was looking for something to do with herself—or that was the impression he got.

His father continued. “I don’t expect you to understand, but your mother and I had your best interests at heart.” Karr braced his hands against the seat cushions.

His parents shared another look. Karr couldn’t keep track of all these looks, or what they might be in reference to. But he didn’t like them. He was about to scream in frustration when his father said, “There’s a Jedi in your family history.”

Karr was stunned. It was fortunate he was sitting down, because otherwise he would have surely fallen down. “What? Who?”

“My grandfather. Your great-grandfather.”

“Grandma’s dad?” he asked, feeling a bit betrayed.

“Yes.”

“I thought Jedi couldn’t have families.”

“Well, apparently this one did,” his father said. “I’m not sure of the situation exactly. I think something happened and he left the Jedi, back before the Clone Wars. After all the Jedi were killed he went into hiding.”

“Why didn’t Grandma tell me? Why didn’t you tell me? I’ve been struggling for so long.”

“We didn’t think it was relevant.”

“Not relevant?” Karr said incredulously. “What are you talking about?”

Karr’s mother finally found the courage to chime in. “Your headaches were getting so severe, Karr. We needed you to take them seriously. And we felt that if you knew there was a Jedi in the family you might dismiss them, or claim they were signs of the Force instead of getting the proper care.”

“But they are signs of the Force. I know it now. Grandma knew it then! Why didn’t she tell me her father was a Jedi?”

“The answer is we asked her not to, for the very reasons we already stated. She wasn’t happy about it, but she respected our wishes.”

“Mostly,” his mother added with the raise of an eyebrow.

“She agreed not to tell you about him, but she said she couldn’t stand idly by and do nothing, either. So we made the agreement that we would each address this in our own way. Your mother and I would continue to have you tested by legitimate medical professionals, and your grandmother would do what she saw fit to nurture what she believed was the Force.”

“Don’t misunderstand, Karr,” his mother said pleadingly. “We would’ve loved nothing more than to believe you had some mystical power instead of a terminal brain tumor, but we needed to be sure. We needed to exhaust every possible option. You’re our son. And we need to protect you. Sometimes your blackouts were so bad, we honestly wondered if you were ever going to wake up. We needed to face facts, and telling you about some family member that may or may not have had something similar was only going to confuse things. We needed to know for sure.”

“Grandma knew for sure.”

His father leaned wearily back in the chair as if he very much wanted a drink of something much, much stronger than milk. “Well, maybe grandparents have that luxury.”

Before Karr could question what his father meant by that, his mother stood up. “The point is we believe you now.”

This hit Karr almost as forcibly as one of his visions. “You do?”

“Yes,” she continued. “But that does not excuse your running off without telling us. You had us worried sick, Karr. You could’ve been dead for all we knew. Your headaches were getting worse and you just disappear? Did you ever once think of us?”

“I’m sorry,” he muttered, knowing full well that he hadn’t thought about them, and feeling guilty about it.


- Force Collector, Chapter 20


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J’Hara smiled, a glint of glee in her eyes at the loophole she had discovered.

“I’ve often told you not to fear death, and that in many ways it can be perceived as a gift. Well, despite my penchant for speaking figuratively, today I give you a literal gift.

“My father’s name was Naq Med. And yes, my dear boy, he was a Jedi. Which, I imagine, is why the Force is strong with you. Do not take this blessing lightly, for it is not necessarily a common occurrence. While my love for the Force is strong, it has not favored me. The abilities you possess were not passed down to me or your father. No one knows for sure if the Force is shared through family lines, because as I told you, a Jedi has no family. Or at least they were instructed not to.”

His grandmother looked away for a moment. A wave of sadness seemed to wash over her, but she continued.

“From an early age my father’s path was laid out before him. He was to become a Jedi Padawan and fulfill his destiny of being a Jedi Knight. But at some point, he began to question his fate. He struggled with the idea of blind allegiance when he still had so many questions. And so he took it upon himself to leave the Jedi Order. Not out of anger, or spite, but out of love. Love for his independence and eventually love for a woman. I am so grateful for his decision and for the family I have. I loved my father and cherished the time I had with him. But sometimes a person cannot escape their fate, and soon the shadow of the Jedi caught up with him. And although he had not been part of the Order for some time, he was being made to pay for their actions, and he felt it best to go into hiding. I never quite understood it all, but what I do know is that he did it to protect his family.”

She wiped a tear from her eye. “Don’t misunderstand me, I’m not crying because of his decision. I’m crying because I miss him. It has been so very long. We would receive messages from time to time to let us know he was safe and so he could hear of our lives. But after he learned that my mother died, he lost something of himself. He lingered long enough for me to tell him of my son, and my grandsons, but now that I am gone, perhaps we will be reunited again and we can share all the things that could not be conveyed in those messages. I do not have any of those messages to leave you, and I am sorry. I destroyed everything. It would have been bad enough if our family secrets were to bring him harm, but worse still if bad fortune or the Jedi’s enemies were to take the both of you.

“The reason I tell you all this, Karr, is because I am the only person who knew where he lived, and I believe that if you find his dwelling there will be a treasure trove of artifacts that can guide you forward in the Force.

“The last I heard from my father, he lived in a modest home in a rural region of a largely uninhabited planet called Pam’ba—in some marshy grasslands around the equator. All I know is that there’s a river that leads to an estuary, and he’s built a little house on stilts to hold it above the water. I wish I could be more precise, but he refused to tell me any more than that. And most of it, he didn’t say at all. I gleaned it from his messages.

“I have argued with myself a thousand times as to whether I should save this knowledge or share it with you. In the end, I have decided to trust you with it. It’s your own destiny, after all. It belongs to you as much as the gloves I gave you, the brown eyes you inherited from your father, or the Force that connects you to your great-grandfather. If you do go searching, learn what you can from his possessions, glean what you can from his life, but then burn whatever you find. Leave behind nothing. Not even his ashes—throw them into the water.

“I love you, my boy. Your parents love you, too. I look forward to the day when I will see you again and we can discuss all that you’ve learned. Be safe. And may the Force be with you.”

The message finished playing and went dark, and when Karr finished crying, Maize asked him what he wanted to do.

He composed himself and simply said, “I want to finish my training.”


- Force Collector, Chapter 21


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