Waking up in the arms of a beautiful woman is always pleasant. Especially if you had sex with her the night before. Ah… As one character from one game said: when I went to a masquerade ball in a mask – I never had such success with women in my life… I, until I died, also never had such success with women… Although I was always told – women love the soul, maybe character, actions… Well, maybe there are such ones… But the absolute majority of them – wouldn't refuse if their man was handsome, well-built, and rich. The experience of my past life helped me achieve what I didn't have then… Although what experience? Knowledge of this universe…
Although this didn't save me from some surprises. And if Rivi were with me, seeing my original body from the first world? I don't even know… And not in the mood to check. A new life, a new body… Even character… Well, maybe new. Carefully throwing off the beauty's leg, which was possessively thrown over me, I quietly slipped out of the room… To take a shower, freshen up. And then, like a true gentleman, or a pathetic parody of one – to make coffee for the lady, or rather – caf, to thank her for a wonderful night. Although Rivi was indeed a girl, a virgin, she behaved relatively confidently. The warm streams of water gave me a pleasant sensation. After washing, I returned to the room, ran the Force through my body to dry myself, not to use someone else's towel, and quickly dressed.
And then I went to work in the kitchen, humming a tune I'd heard somewhere. The caf was ready a couple of minutes later, and I took it to the girl, who was already waking up, lazily opening her eyes.
"Good morning," I levitated the caf, without spilling it, directly into her hands, and then sat on the edge of the bed.
"Light, thank you," she took a sip of the warm liquid. "Mmmm."
"So, how did you sleep?" I asked the woman.
"You know, I've never slept so pleasantly before," she stretched. "It's a shame you're leaving."
"A shame?" I looked at her questioningly.
"I see it in your eyes… We didn't spend much time together in childhood, but I understand you perfectly and remember what you told me. You can't, or rather, you won't want to stay with me. I don't know what you've been through, becoming a Jedi Knight, and what you've been through with your mentor, but you're definitely not set on staying… And I understand that, even though it's hard to accept."
"And you would have wanted something else," I guessed.
"Yes," she nodded. "I would have wanted to seduce you completely, marry you, and live with you for the rest of our allotted time. To have children, two, or maybe three. But alas – you are Gifted, a Force user. And you, as I've heard, don't belong to yourselves, but belong to everyone."
"I don't even know where you heard that," I sighed heavily. "But you need to understand something. Whatever abilities we may have, you know what I've found out? We are still the same, living sentient beings as you are. And don't think that just because we have some strict limitations, everyone likes them… I'll fly over to you…"
"You don't even imagine how that sounds," Rivi said sharply. "'Fly over to me'? Leave it, Light. Any woman would hear this not as good news, but as an insult. To me, it literally sounded like: 'I'll fly over to you for sex'…"
"I didn't mean that," I hurried to justify myself.
"But that's exactly what will happen, Light," Rivi looked me in the eyes. It even seemed to me that tears began to gather in her eyes. "You won't be able to do what I would want from you… What, perhaps, you would want, someday, from me. It will be painful, not only for me, but for you… To be honest, I don't want to feel such pain. One could say that we will part as friends… Although I regret it, it's better this way than to be a friend for occasional visits. And I don't want to distract you from your duties."
"Extremely honest," I noted.
"I don't like evasiveness," Rivi put the empty caf glass on the nightstand and stood up. "By the way. Officer Dizzy is looking for your deceased mentor."
"She's looking for him?" I asked in surprise.
"She wants to meet… You know, he didn't treat her very well… It will be difficult for me to even imagine her reaction…"
"And don't you think I'm doing the same to you?"
"No," the girl noted, getting out of bed and going to get dressed. "I know where things were heading and was ready for it. But Dizzy wasn't."
"In that case – she will be greatly disappointed."
"This is all terrible," Rivi said sadly. "And not only Dizzy will be disappointed by this news. There's also Lily."
"What? So he did it with two at once?" I asked the woman in surprise.
"No," she replied, picking up a comb and approaching the mirror. "Lily is not the second woman your mentor had a relationship with. Lily is his daughter from Dizzy…"
I watched as Rivi combed her beautiful black hair… And then I suddenly jumped up to her.
"What, excuse me? Lily is the mentor's daughter? How…"
"Don't you know how?" she asked in surprise. "You were doing the same thing to me all night…"
"No, I'm not talking about that," I shook my head. Okay, calm down. A Jedi is always calm and rational, no matter what happens. Closing my eyes, I normalized my slightly quickened breathing. "I'm just surprised… She managed to get pregnant by a Zabrak. You remember the compatibility charts for our race? The highest – humans, Chiss, Zeltrons. But for Zabrak…"
"The lowest probability, yes," Rivi nodded. "The fact that Lily appeared is akin to a miracle. It's rare for a Zabrak-sephi couple to have a child. Nevertheless – I've seen her with my own eyes. Sharp ears, like all of us, but from her forehead to the crown of her head, she has no hair, only horns, and hair starts behind the crown. She is definitely the fruit of a Zabrak and sephi union."
"Is she Gifted?" I asked Rivi.
"How should I know?" Rivi shrugged, finishing combing her hair. "I just told you what I know."
"I see. A unique child, whose chance of conception is extremely slim… I think I'll go see the officer. If she is Gifted – I'll have to call a recruiter. If at least one of the parents is Gifted – the chance of such a child being born – increases slightly. It doesn't become one hundred percent, but it increases," I explained to Rivi in response to her questioning look. "In the old days – there were entire Jedi dynasties. Now the Order has moved away from such practices, practically forbidding the creation of families.
As a result, the number of Jedi has significantly decreased. This was justified… 'by the fact that there seems to be a possibility of falling when it comes to close relatives and a ton of dogmatic reasons'… But this has deprived us of so many incredible Gifted… After all, children of two Gifted almost always have decent potential in the Force, and, considering their parents – they can be raised from birth and without special excesses. Cases like mine, when a sentient being with such Force potential is born into a family without strong Gifted in their lineage – are quite unique. But let's not dwell on that for now…
"Will you remind me where Officer Dizzy lives?" I asked my friend.
"Hmm? Let me think, the families of the Royal Quarter guards live on the central street adjacent to the Central Square. Only she gave birth to her daughter out of wedlock… And recently I heard that she was criticized, including among her colleagues. There was a rumor that she wants to quit and leave, I hope she hasn't already."
"Thank you," I approached Rivi and kissed her. The girl's arms wrapped around me and pulled me close to her body. She clearly doesn't want to let go. "Well… I have to go," I looked into her dark eyes.
"I know," she suddenly sobbed. "I've known for a long time, but I can't do anything about it."
A sad situation, but she has a surprisingly sober view of things for a sentient being of her age… Although this is a consequence of education and upbringing, to which society of the sephi always approached with considerable responsibility.
"As you wish – we won't become anything more to each other, we'll only hurt each other," I said sadly. "But you know, Rivi, don't refuse my friendship. If you need anything from a Jedi Knight – call me."
"Okay," she nodded. I stroked her beautiful hair and, with a final peck on her lips, left the room, and then went down to the first floor, where I immediately encountered Rivi's parents. Her mother – Ivi, was a russet-haired, short woman and didn't resemble her daughter much, who was tall with dark hair. Only her eyes were the same as her daughter's. But Rivi's father – Rovi had dark, raven hair and outstanding physical data. He was dressed like his wife, in beige clothing. A bag was visible behind his back.
"Light," the girl's mother said in surprise.
"Hello, Aunt Ivi," I nodded, looking at the woman dressed in a beige dress. "Uncle Rovi," I extended my hand to the man and he shook it. "I was flying past Tustra and decided to visit an old friend."
"Rivi must be happy," the woman smiled. "However, are you leaving already? Perhaps you'll have breakfast with us?"
"I apologize," it's good that I cleaned up all traces of making caf after myself. Otherwise, smart beings might be suspicious. "I would gladly attend. But Rivi told me some rather interesting information, so I'm in a hurry."
"Well, that's a shame," Rovi rumbled. "I heard – you're a Jedi now. I'd like to talk to you."
"Maybe another time, Uncle," I smiled. "Yes, another time. Goodbye," I walked around the couple.
"You smell of my daughter's perfume," the mother suddenly said.
"Uh… Well, Rivi is my friend, she was a little unrestrained and hugged me," yes, she hugged me so much that many would envy.
"Mom, Dad, good morning," Rivi came downstairs. "How's Grandma?"
"You know her," the mother sighed.
"I must take my leave, Rivi, Aunt Ivi, Uncle Rovi," I bowed slightly and left the house.
"Rivi," her mother called her when she was sitting on the balcony of the house, dressed in her favorite purple sundress and looking out the window.
"What, Mom?"
"Did you touch those pills in my nightstand?" the woman appeared on the balcony. The mother was dressed in home clothes, consisting of dark pants and a matching t-shirt.
"What pills?" she asked her mother.
"Well, the ones in the package labeled 'contraceptives'…" Rivi shivered and she began to frantically sort through options in her head.
"Umm… no," she said in a hoarse voice. "What's wrong?"
"Well, you're a grown woman, I wanted to warn you – those aren't contraceptives, but the opposite – stimulants. You know that our birth rate isn't very high. And I wanted a little brother or sister for you, like your friend Light. So we used stimulating pills," the mother replied. "You remember that I don't like to keep extra packages of anything in our house…"
"What do you mean, stimulating?"
"Did you even study at the Royal School, or somewhere in the back alleys?" the mother asked in surprise. "Let me explain – stimulating pills accelerate the life cycle in the reproductive organs of a sephi woman. Hah… You're an adult, and you don't know so much…"
It can't be… Rivi's heart skipped a beat… How? No, it's understandable that her mother is obsessed with optimizing packaging throughout the house… But what idiot would think of putting pills that stimulate conception for sephi in a package labeled: "Contraceptives"? She took them not only after sex with Light, but before too! As far as she remembers correctly… They need to be taken a couple of days before intercourse…
"Mom," Rivi stood up abruptly and looked fiercely into her mother's eyes. "Do you even realize how you've set me up?!"
For giving birth to a child out of wedlock on Tustra, one is not particularly subjected to public criticism. Well, not particularly? It's just that such a woman is looked at askance, there might be misunderstandings with the bosses at work, saying it's indecent and all that. Some families might not react very well to such things. But no extreme sanctions are provided... In ancient times, for my people, they would brand such women. A woman was considered promiscuous and weak. However, nothing terrible happened. In our modern times, she could only face condemnation from particularly crazy fanatics. But such people weren't found here; the Royal Quarter is not a place for any "supposedly hyper-moral rabble." Although the Royal Quarter itself didn't protect against isolated cases. With Officer Dizzy... it was much harder than it actually seemed. This woman... she was bisexual, I think, and according to persistent rumors circulating in the palace, she was involved with another one like her – Reyra, the captain of her unit, her direct superior. That's why those words about Dizzy leaving weren't just empty talk. Any superior, even the kindest, can ruin a subordinate's life very badly.
Indeed... Relationships between sentient beings are never simple. All those strange, hidden pitfalls, seemingly unimportant circumstances that could be overlooked. I found Dizzy's home quickly, just by typing her name into the database. She hadn't moved anywhere, living in a regular, single-story house near the central square. I approached the gate and pressed the button.
"Who's there?" a woman's voice came through.
"Ahem, it's Light Flaingstar," I replied calmly. "Sorry to bother you, but I'm bothering you on behalf of the Jedi Order, as I am a Knight myself."
"Flaingstar?" came from the speaker. "Come in."
The gate opened, and I entered the yard, which was furnished more for playing with a child. A swing, a slide, a sandbox... The front door to the house opened as soon as I entered the corridor, and I was met by a tall, beautiful sephi woman. She was slender, with high cheekbones and a well-shaped nose. Black hair cascaded down her back. Brown eyes studied me with curiosity and interest. She was dressed in tight pants and a matching top. Interestingly, a blaster hung from her belt. Well, she's a guard of the Royal Quarter.
"Good morning, Officer Dizzy," I said with a slight bow.
"You're Light, aren't you?" she asked me. "I remember the boy Light, who was supposedly the son of someone from Angara and a maid, and the Jedi took him. And then you flew to Tustra with your mentor... " her left hand moved towards the blaster. "This... insolent bastard... Lorm Decer. Can you tell me where that scoundrel is?"
"Mom?" a girl of about four peeked out from one of the rooms further down the corridor. And indeed, she was as Rivy described her. With horns, like zabraks have, on the front of her head, and black hair starting behind her crown. The girl was dressed in a light blue sundress.
"Lili," she interrupted, "I told you to wait for me in the room. I'll come back to you, and we'll continue."
"But I'm curious who this is," her eyes... She had the same eyes and almost the same gaze as my mentor. This made me flinch slightly.
"Don't argue," Dizzy snapped, and the girl, puffing her cheeks comically, retreated into the room. "And now you. Where is Lorm Decer? Do you see what he left me last time we met?"
"Yes, I noticed," I analyzed the girl with the Force. She wasn't Force-sensitive. However, it's better to take a blood test; some Force-sensitives can unconsciously suppress the Force to hide themselves. "But I heard that you've been looking for a partner for a long time, wanting to... settle down, start a family..."
"You perfectly understand what family is!" she said a little loudly. "Family is a voluntary union of a man and a woman."
"Not always voluntary," I shook my head. "In any case, that's not what this is about. You want to see your mentor Lorm... I'm afraid... there might be some difficulties with that."
"What? That horned coward has hidden himself in such a hole that even his own people can't make him take responsibility?"
"No," my voice grew heavy, and I sighed sadly. "Lorm Decer is dead," I said, looking the woman in the eyes.
"What?" she even took a step back. "He... is dead?"
"Yes," I confirmed with a nod. "He is dead."
Her eyes filled with moisture... However, she quickly regained control.
"How... how did it happen?"
"Mmm... He was shot in the back with buckshot from a kinetic weapon. Have you heard of a Mandalorian named Teyron Jarps?"
"Yes," Dizzy paled. "I heard. I saw him. But I also heard that he is dead."
"Yes, I killed him after he killed my mentor Lorm," I shrugged. "But I decided to visit you not to sadden you with this news, forgive me. It would have been better if you remained ignorant of your teacher's fate. But..." I sighed again, "he left 'someone' for you. A daughter."
"You want to take her?" the woman perked up. "But since birth, she hasn't shown any abilities of your Force! And the midi-chlorian test showed that they are normal for a non-Force-sensitive!"
"Excellent, but I don't trust what I don't see with my own eyes. Every Jedi has a blood tester with them. I'll take her blood," I said in a tone that brooked no argument. It seems Jacob said that for sentient beings to listen to you, you always need to do two things. First – say what you intend to do. Second – go and do it. Then sentient beings will see that you're not just talking for show and that your words are actually worth something. "Should I take off my shoes?"
"Come in as you are," Dizzy pursed her lips. I walked further into the corridor, past Dizzy, and headed for the room. The room resembled a nursery. The girl, Lili, looked at me with surprise.
"Mister, who are you?"
"I'm a doctor," I said, kneeling before the girl, "I want to take a little of your blood to make sure you're healthy."
"Bl... bl... blood?" she asked. "But I'm scared. It was unpleasant last time."
"Don't worry, it doesn't hurt, a little prick and that's it," the girl's mother entered the room. "See, your mom is here too. Look at her. What a tall, beautiful, and strong woman. For her, such tests are nothing. Don't you want to grow up to be just as beautiful and strong?"
"Yes."
"Then you have to prove to her, to yourself, that these blood tests mean nothing to you, right, Lili? Show this bad needle that it doesn't scare you."
"Uh... I guess I will!" the girl extended her right hand to me. And I drew her blood.
"VV," I brought my left hand with the datapad to my face. "I'm sending you the blood data. Let the program analyze the midi-chlorian count."
Three minutes later, I received a report. Midi-chlorians... Within normal limits for a non-Force-sensitive. That is, the mentor's daughter has no predisposition to the Force. Having a Force-sensitive parent increases the chances of having a Force-sensitive child... But it doesn't make it absolute, it's worth remembering. Maybe someday I'll have a non-Force-sensitive child too.
"Well, you're a good girl," I stroked the girl's hair. "See, this is the first step for you to become as strong and beautiful as your mother."
"Ehe... Thank you, Doctor Uncle... But... I heard you and Mom talking about my dad... Will he come to me?"
Dizzy looked me in the eyes. Yes... Telling a four-year-old girl about the concept of death is quite cruel. I'm certainly not an example of angelic virtue. But not that cruel a sentient being.
"Your father is very, very far away, beyond many stars... Unfortunately," I said in a sad tone, "he can't come to Tustra yet." The girl drooped. "But I bet you've never even seen your dad."
"Yes," she said sadly. "At kindergarten, they say I don't have a dad, but that's not possible," she exclaimed. "Everyone has a mom and a dad." Ah, unless you're Anakin Skywalker; he doesn't have a dad either.
"You're right," I replied. "You have a dad, and I know him. I'll show you his holophoto now." I brought the datapad to the girl and displayed Lorm's image. He was standing against a backdrop of trees, here on Tustra, in one of the parks.
"So that's what he looks like. He had those horns too," the girl seemed to study every millimeter. And Dizzy herself leaned in. She leaned towards my ear and whispered:
"All the holophotos of Lorm you have... Send them to me, please. And... Thank you."
I had already finished everything required on Tustra... A new first-class hyperdrive was installed in the ship, which cost me a huge sum. But now I'll fly faster. What else? I saw my family, met a childhood friend, whom I "unpacked" that same evening, and saw the daughter of my deceased mentor. My stay on Tustra was more of a rest before the training. Serious and brutal... It was time to go for the medallion. Who to test it on? First, on a relatively adequate sentient being, who certainly won't try to do something rash right away... On Lorm Decer. And then – I'll call someone more questionable...