Despite the claim that it had belonged to his father, the gizmo looked newly

manufactured. Kenobi had obviously kept it carefully. Only a number of minute

scratches on the handgrip hinted at previous usage.

"Sir?" came a familiar voice Luke hadn't heard in a while.

"What?" Luke was startled out of his examination.

"If you'll not be needing me," Threepio declared, "I think I'll shut down for a bit.

It will help the armature nerves to knit, and I'm due for some internal self-cleansing

anyhow."

"Sure, go ahead," Luke said absently, returning to his fascinated study of the

whatever-it-was. Behind him, Threepio became silent, the glow fading temporarily

from his eyes. Luke noticed that Kenobi was watching him with interest. "What is

it?" he finally asked, unable despite his best efforts to identify the device.

"Your father's lightsaber," Kenobi told him. "At one time they were widely

used. Still are, in certain galactic quarters."

Luke examined the controls on the handle, then tentatively touched a brightly

colored button up near the mirrored pommel. Instantly the disk put forth a blue-

white beam as thick around as his thumb. It was dense to the point of opacity and a

little over a meter in length. It did not fade, but remained as brilliant and intense at

its far end as it did next to the disk. Strangely, Luke felt no heat from it, though he

was very careful not to touch it. He knew what a lightsaber could do, though he had

never seen one before. It could drill a hole right through the rock wall of Kenobi's

cave-or through a human being.

"This was the formal weapon of a Jedi knight," explained Kenobi. "Not as

clumsy or random as a blaster. More skill than simple sight was required for its use.

An elegant weapon. It was a symbol as well. Anyone can use a blaster or

fusioncutter-but to use a lightsaber well was a mark of someone a cut above the

ordinary." He was pacing the floor of the cave as he spoke.

"For over a thousand generations, Luke, the Jedi knights were the most powerful,

most respected force in the galaxy. They served as the guardians and guarantors of

peace and justice in the Old Republic."

When Luke failed to ask what had happened to them since, Kenobi looked up to

see that the youth was staring vacantly into space, having absorbed little if any of the

oldster's instruction. Some men would have chided Luke for not paying attention.

Not Kenobi. More sensitive than most, he waited patiently until the silence weighed

strong enough on Luke for him to resume speaking.

"How," he asked slowly, "did my father die?"

Kenobi hesitated, and Luke sensed that the old man had no wish to talk about

this particular matter. Unlike Owen Lars, however, Kenobi was unable to take

refuge in a comfortable lie.

"He was betrayed and murdered," Kenobi declared solemnly, "by a very young

Jedi named Darth Vader." He was not looking at Luke. "A boy I was training.

One of my brightest disciples...one of my greatest failures."

Kenobi resumed his pacing. "Vader used the training I gave him and the force

within him for evil, to help the later corrupt Emperors. With the Jedi knights

disbanded, disorganized, or dead, there were few to oppose Vader. Today they are

all but extinct."

An indecipherable expression crossed Kenobi's face. "In many ways they were

too good, too trusting for their own health. They put too much trust in the stability

of the Republic, failing to realize that while the body might be sound, the head was

growing diseased and feeble, leaving it open to manipulation by such as the Emperor.

"I wish I knew what Vader was after. Sometimes I have the feeling he is

marking time in preparation for some incomprehensible abomination. Such is the

destiny of one who masters the force and is consumed by its dark side."

Luke's face twisted in confusion. "A force? That's the second time you've

mentioned a 'force.' "
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