Ghost of the Jedi

by John Whitman

  there. But we'll never know them unless you go down and break the spell."

  Tash heaved a great sigh. The thought of those cold fingers around her

  neck still frightened her. But what did she have to lose? She had lost her

  parents months ago. She had lost her uncle. Now she had lost her brother, her

  only friend in the world. She had nothing left but desperate hope.

  "Tash," ForceFlow said, "Zak was a good boy. But he didn't survive

  because he wasn't aware of the Force. You are. Don't you feel it?"

  Tash didn't know what to say. Until recently, she had felt something. But

  now... "I don't know. There aren't any Jedi left to teach me. How do I know if

  I can use the Force?"

  "Break the curse and open the books!" ForceFlow urged. "All the answers

  are there!"

  A few moments later Tash was walking down the corridor to the library.

  She had taken this way several times, but each time she had not wanted to go.

  This time, she forced herself forward. She was going into the library to face

  the curse of the dark side.

  Her knees trembled.

  Some Jedi, she thought.

  The sound of Deevee's footsteps sounded reassuringly behind her. "I still

  don't understand why ForceFlow did not come with us," the droid said. "There

  is safety in numbers."

  Tash whispered, "Because he's not a Jedi. It wouldn't be safe for him."

  "It is not safe for you," the droid replied. "I should not permit this."

  Tash half wished that Deevee would stop her from going. But without

  Hoole's commands, Deevee had only his own programming to go by, and he could

  find no alternative.

  By the time she reached the entrance to the library, Tash was numb with

  sorrow and fear. But she was still aware enough to be stunned when she saw

  that the room was empty.

  Deevee spoke the question she was asking herself. "Where have the bodies

  gone?" Zak and Hoole had disappeared, just like the treasure hunters. Their

  bodies had been whisked away to... where?

  An image popped into Tash's mind. "The morgue," Tash breathed.

  "Pardon?" the droid asked.

  "Zak and I found a room filled with bodies. They were being preserved in

  freezing chambers. Maybe Zak and Uncle Hoole's bodies have been taken there."

  Quickly, Tash described the entrance she and Zak had found: the ladder in

  the ventilation shaft, the sloping corridor, and the secret door. "That room

  has something to do with what's happening," she said. "Deevee, you have to go

  find them."

  "I cannot leave you, Tash," the droid insisted.

  Tash tried to sound braver than she felt. "Deevee, if anything's going to

  happen, you won't be able to stop it. Go find Uncle Hoole and Zak."

  The droid hesitated. His computer brain, which could calculate a thousand

  probabilities in a nanosecond, could not solve this single dilemma. To stay

  with Tash although he would be of no use, or to find Zak and his master?

  His brain reached a conclusion. Deevee turned and hurried away from the

  library.

  Now Tash was alone. Truly alone. She had been dropped as far down into a

  black hole as anyone could ever be. She was either going to be lost forever,

  or some miracle would pull her back into the light again.

  She stepped into the library.

  For the first time, she truly studied her surroundings. There must have

  been ten thousand books lining the high shelves, all of them ancient, and

  covered in layers of dust. She walked up to one shelf and began to read the

  words printed on the spines. Some were in alien languages, but most were in

  Basic, the common language of the galaxy. Some books were about science,

  others were about medicine, others about philosophy.

  Tash stopped at one title that read The History of the Jedi Knights.

  It seemed as good a place as any to start. Tash took the book down from

  the shelf without opening it. She took a deep breath. Amazed, she felt her

  fear melt away. She felt at peace. Tash didn't know what came after death, but

  she knew if there was anything, Zak would be waiting there for her. And her

  parents.

  Tash started to open the book.

  She never finished.

  A powerful blow slapped the the book from her hand and sent it spinning

  against a wall. Surprised, Tash looked up to see what had struck her.

  She found herself looking into the eyes of the ghost.

  CHAPTER 16

  Tash's knees were trembling so hard she almost fell to the ground. The

  ghost was no longer shapeless. It was still transparent and pale as death, but

  it stood before her in the form of a human man. Its cheeks were sunken. The

  tatters of its robe hung about it, faintly glowing, and there were gaping

  wounds in its body. If the ghost had been alive, Tash would have thought the

  wounds were marks left by a light saber.

  "Tash Arranda."

  The ghost spoke, not in her head this time, but directly to her in a

  voice so full of sadness Tash thought her heart would break if it did not stop

  from sheer fright.

  "Wh-Who..." she tried to say.

  "I have been trying to speak with you for some time," the ghost said in a

  low, moaning voice.

  She backed toward the door. "Please... don't hurt me!"

  The ghost drifted closer. "I am not here to hurt you, Tash. I'm trying to

  save you."

  "Save me?" she asked. "But... you're the voice that kept threatening me.

  And you tried to choke me to death!"

  The ghost spread its transparent arms in a helpless gesture. "I was

  trying to scare you out of the library, yes. But only because the library is

  dangerous. In the morgue, I managed to gather enough energy to push you toward

  the secret exit."

  "Why didn't you just talk to me, the way you are now?" she said.

  The ghost's face grew sadder. "I did not wish to hurt you, but I had to

  do something to save your life. When you were down in the morgue, you were in

  great danger, but you could not hear my voice. I had to do something to get

  you out of there." The ghost floated closer. "In all the years I have been

  here, no one has been able even to sense my presence. You were the first, but

  even you could barely see or hear me. I kept sending you warnings, but all you

  could do was feel them."

  Tash's jaw dropped. "I kept feeling fear all around me."

  "Those were my messages. You could not hear the words, but you sensed the

  danger. I have been with you since the moment you arrived on Nespis 8."

  "Who are you?" she asked. "Are you... are you really dead?"

  The ghost bowed its head in shame. "I was once a Jedi Knight. My name was

  Aidan Bok. I was in charge of guarding the old Jedi library, but I failed in

  my task. Years ago, Darth Vader came here to destroy the library. I tried to

  stop him, but he killed me and vaporized the library. Thousands of years of

  Jedi wisdom were destroyed, all because of my failure."

  Tash said, "I thought that Jedi Knights passed on and became part of the

  Force when they died."

  "I could not," the ghost said. "I was ashamed of my failure. I linger

  here, where I failed in my duty. This is my punishment, to remain here in this

  forgotten station."
The ghost gestured to the terrible wounds in its body: "My

  body is gone, and I still bear the wounds Vader gave me. I don't deserve to

  return to rest in the Force."

  She didn't know what to do or say. All she could think of was something

  her mother had always told her. "I'm... I'm sure you did your best. That's all

  anyone could ask."

  The ghost suddenly lifted its head. Its eyes stared into the wall as if

  seeing something Tash could not. "You must go. There is great danger here."

  Tash looked around. "Then this place really is cursed?"

  "No. The dark-side curse is only a myth. Even the story that only a Jedi

  can enter is only a myth. This is not even the original library. That was

  destroyed long ago. Years later, an evil scientist came to Nespis 8 and built

  a new library. Then he started a rumor that the library contained powerful

  Jedi wisdom and he claimed that only those who understood the Force could

  safely enter."

  "Why?" Tash asked.

  "That lie was spread so people who think they have the Force would come

  to Nespis 8. This library is only a trap built by that scientist. I think he

  wants to capture the essence of a Jedi Knight. The devices in this library

  steal the life energy from anyone who opens a book here."

  Tash thought her head would split from all the confusing information she

  was getting. "This doesn't make sense. Why would anyone go to all this

  trouble? There's no reason to fool people with fake books."

  "Perhaps not normal people," the ghost replied in its hollow voice. "But

  someone sensitive to the Force might guess something was wrong and resist the

  life-stealer. The scientist needed to disguise his machinery. And it worked!"

  The ghost sighed. "For years I have watched victims come here looking for the

  old library, hoping to learn to become Jedi themselves. Instead, they have

  were captured by this trap. And I was helpless to save them."

  "Why couldn't you warn them?" Tash asked.

  The empty eyes stared at her. "Because I can only appear to someone else

  who has the Force."

  Tash's mouth went dry. "But-But that means that I"

  "Yes, Tash Arranda," said the ghost. "The Force is with you."

  Tash had longed to hear those words since the day she heard of the Jedi.

  Now they rushed into her body like a bolt of energy. All her doubts were swept

  aside. She knew it. She had always known it. Sometimes, she realized, she just

  needed someone else to say it. She felt a warm electric tingle spread through

  her. It was familiar, and Tash recalled the other time she had experienced it.

  She had felt that same electricity on that day on D'vouran when she had met

  Luke Skywalker. Instinctively, she knew it was an awareness of the Force. The

  feeling took her breath away, and for a moment she could not speak.

  It didn't matter. She had no chance to speak, because in the next moment

  ForceFlow stormed into the library with an angry and impatient look on his

  face. He did not seem to notice Aidan.

  "Tash!" ForceFlow demanded. "Why haven't you opened a book yet?"

  Tash didn't know where to start. Excited words poured out of her.

  "ForceFlow! You won't believe it... I just learned that I'm... I mean, this

  library! We can't stay here! We've got to get out of here now. We're in

  danger. I just learned this from a ghost!"

  ForceFlow growled, "What are you babbling about, girl?"

  Tash tried to calm herself. "This room is a trap. That's why people have

  been disappearing. I know it sounds strange, but I just learned this from a

  Jedi ghost. I can see him. He's right here in the room. I can communicate with

  him because I have the Force!"

  ForceFlow began to tremble with rage. His face twisted into a snarl.

  "The Force! The Force!" he suddenly shouted angrily. "Blast the Force

  down the darkest black hole in the galaxy!"

  And with that, ForceFlow began to shiver. The skin crawled across his

  bones. Before Tash's eyes, ForceFlow changed shape. His handsome face melted

  and morphed into the tall and terrible figure of Borborygmus Gog.

  CHAPTER 17

  Tash was stunned. The electric tingle, her awareness of the Force,

  vanished. "Not you. It can't be you!"

  Gog loomed over her. Like Hoole, he was a Shi'ido and could change into

  any shape he chose. He had fooled her into thinking he was ForceFlow. "Oh, but

  it is. This time, I will personally make sure that you never foil my plans

  again."

  She took a step back. "Wh-What have you done with ForceFlow?"

  Gog threw his head back and howled with laughter. Still chuckling, he

  turned his evil glare on Tash. "Stupid child. I am ForceFlow. I have always

  been ForceFlow!"

  Tash was stunned. It was impossible. "That's not true!" she replied.

  "ForceFlow works against the Empire. He keeps the legends of the Jedi Knights

  alive. He's a hero!"

  "Yes. And he also exists only in your head." Gog laughed evilly.

  "ForceFlow is a trap, just like this place. I wanted to capture people with

  the Force. I knew the Emperor had killed all the Jedi. I had to find someone

  who did not know the Force was with them. So I created ForceFlow to attract

  people interested in the Jedi Knights. Just like you."

  Tash felt like her heart had suddenly frozen. "You made me think

  ForceFlow was a hero. You made me befriend... you."

  Gog chuckled. "Yes, I did."

  Tash felt her frozen heart break into pieces.

  Gog laughed. "Don't feel bad. You weren't the only one. I did the same to

  dozens of people. Once I made contact with them through the HoloNet, I lured

  them to Nespis 8 where I could trap them with this library."'

  "Why?" Tash could not help but ask.

  Gog grinned. "Because I knew that sooner or later, I'd find a victim

  sensitive to the Force." Gog nearly spat when he said the words the Force.

  "The Force is the final segment of my project."

  He held out his grasping fingers as if to grab Tash. "I have waited.

  Patiently. For years! My library has trapped the life energy of hundreds of

  people, but not a single one of them was useful."

  Tash's mind reeled. "You've been killing innocent people."

  "Stupid, stupid human," Gog spat. "I wouldn't go to so much trouble just

  to kill them. They're in stasis. I can use them even if they don't have the

  Force. I've been studying their life essence, trying to understand what makes

  things live."

  "You captured their life essence?" she asked. "You mean, those bodies are

  still alive?"

  "In a manner of speaking. But I have no intention of returning their

  essence to their bodies. Certainly not that meddling Hoole. I'll enjoy knowing

  that Hoole's very essence is trapped within my machinery." Gog's eyes gleamed

  coldly. "I've wanted to get revenge on Hoole for twenty years."

  Twenty years? Tash and Zak had been with Hoole when he discovered Gog's

  first experiment, the living planet. But that had only been a few months ago.

  Tash recalled Hoole's mysterious past. Obviously, Gog and Hoole went back

  much farther than Project Starscream.

  Gog saw the confused look on her face and grinned. "Oh, yes, you were

  right about one thing, Ta
sh. Your uncle Hoole has a dark past. A very dark

  past."

  "I don't understand-" she started to say.

  "You don't need to," Gog interrupted. "I have waited long enough to find

  a Force user. Now I have one."

  Gog suddenly raised a blaster. He pointed it at Tash. "Now, Tash. Open

  the book."

  CHAPTER 18

  Tash held the book in her trembling hands. It looked innocent enough-an

  old volume with a leather cover. Gold letters were stamped across the front.

  But it was a trap. The minute she opened it, Gog's machines would suck

  the life force from her body, trapping it forever. She was too frightened to

  move.

  "Tash."

  The voice of Aidan snapped her from her trance. She had been so

  overwhelmed by the appearance of Gog that she had forgotten the Jedi ghost.

  She looked for him now. The gray figure was still hovering next to her,

  gazing at her with his empty eyes. "Aidan, help me," she pleaded.

  "Stop mumbling and open the book!" Gog pointed his blaster at her head.

  He obviously could not see or hear Aidan.