Temple-4

It wasn't without its mishaps.

First of all, I found Tosya's panties, slightly torn, which led to my pensive snicker and the whole hysteria of the togrita lady-she almost strangled me on the spot, but I immediately retreated to the shower and closed myself in, leaving her alone to grieve. The meaning of the drama eluded me, but I remained as calm as a boa constrictor, and after standing under the shower until Toshi was ready, I turned off the water and tidied up my long, straw-colored hair. To my delight, Toshi had already calmed down, stopped raging, and dressed without that closet piece she'd thrown out with the rest of the garbage.

Fortunately, I did not have to dress long - quickly put on a military suit, which, as it turned out, fit very well with the same in Tosya, I suggested:

- Shall we go? The ceremony starts in forty minutes...

- What? - Toshi immediately shot up. - Forty minutes??

I, staying as calm as a boa constrictor, remarked:

- At ten in the morning, in case you've forgotten. It's twenty past nine.

Toshi immediately tried to run, but put her hands to her privates with the words:

- What a shame, huh? A ceremony, and not only is she whining all over the place from a whole night with a former student, but she's not even wearing panties... - Toshi moaned.

- It's okay, if the ceremony of appointment as a master does not involve stripping or defile, then you can do it," I shrugged. Indeed, some of the lady's problems and worries were incomprehensible to me. What is she to admit in front of the whole order that she slept with me? And what does it matter?

- Oh, you... - Tosi swung at me, but only ruffled my hair, which I had so diligently brushed.

- Come on, let's go. I hope Lex lets me at least catch a glimpse of your triumph...

- He will, though I'm not sure he will," Toshi hummed. - Hurry!

I had to go as fast as the speeder would let me, and in fifteen minutes we were in the hangar of the temple, pulling up alongside my ship.

- Twenty-five minutes," I squinted. Toshi stepped out of the transport without a word and headed in a wide stride toward the first training hall, where the ceremonies were held. Or rather, the first hall was designed for ceremonies and was sometimes used for training, but only for meditation.

I tried to keep up and went in after Toshi. The Jedi were already gathered in the hall. Some wore classic Jedi monk robes, some wore armor of a greenish hue. The variety of races was striking, too, from small, to giants, to snake-like, to human. Everyone's eyes were fixed on us. I stepped aside to the side and stood beside the other Jedi. They looked at me thoughtfully, wondering if they had seen my face before, but they looked away because it was unseemly and they hadn't seen me here before. Except for Lex and Nova, standing in a separate group. Judging by the hard-to-read emotions, the important look, and the rather high level of indignation in the force that this group was creating, they were masters. The ceremony was still a few minutes away, and the Jedi began to take their seats. I stuck with the group of knights and stayed there, keeping an eye on the others without lingering my gaze on anyone in particular. Gradually, everyone present, about fifty or so Jedi, began to line up in a semicircle, which then formed a horseshoe-like shape: the negotiations subsided, and I knew the ceremony had begun. The masters stood at attention and examined Toshi. She, under the gaze of so many reasonable people, felt quite free and was not at all worried by the abundance of the audience.

Lex began his speech-lecture, the first three minutes of which were filled with ceremonial and pompous phrases, addressed to Tosi, in which he spoke about the importance of such a rank, responsibility, the mission of the Jedi Order in general and the importance of Tosi personally for the Order. Having finished his introduction, Lex began the second part of the Marlesonian ballet - he declared his teacher's achievements in front of everyone, after which my embarrassment happened:

- This knight has successfully completed his Padawan training, reached the heights of knowledge of the force and himself, has not strayed from the path of light, and has demonstrated the skills and abilities required for the rank of Jedi master. Do we recognize him as worthy of his high rank? - The question was rhetorical, for all the masters answered in unison:

- Yes.

Lex said a vaguely familiar phrase:

- Shall we raise our blades in his defense?

The answer to that question was also protocol - everyone reached for their swords, and in a couple of seconds everyone was holding a green sword in both hands, pointing straight up. Only a couple of the Jedi had blue swords; I didn't see any other colors. I repeated the gesture, too, and turned the sword on, blade pointing strictly upward, but there was an embarrassment. The blade was the kind I'd found in an old Sith cruiser, and it was a distinctive scarlet color. The men standing beside me shuddered, and Lex and a couple of other masters coughed. Toshi stood with her back to me, but her emotions flashed with curiosity. Lex immediately continued the ceremony with closing words:

- Will we raise a blade against Master Tosi Dan?

All the blades went down, at a forty-five-degree angle to the floor. I lowered my sword, too. Everyone seemed to be looking only at my blade, and I was pretending that it was my intention. Relatively synchronously, everyone turned off their swords, so the focus shifted back to Tosi.

The Master called her Master, gave his admonition to go and not to sin, and declared the ceremony over. After that, Toshi finally turned to me, but noticing my smiling face with a "don't sweat it, be happy" expression, suspiciously looked at Lex.

As soon as the ceremony was over, everyone was let go, but before my neighbors could speak to me, a toggruta rushed toward me and grabbed my arm and dragged me out of the hall. As we disappeared around the nearest corner, a question awaited me:

- What was that all about? А?

- I don't know what you mean. - I decided to play dumb," and anyway, was there something wrong?

- What's wrong? - Toshi's righteous anger. - There is nothing wrong with you! Tell me, what happened?

- Well..." I tried to avoid it, "you know... I gave my sword to lex as a sample...

- A sample of what?

- Never mind. It's between me and the master. I took the first sword I could find from the arsenal... from my boat.

- И... - Tosi stretched out, demanding. - What was that circus? You almost ruined the ceremony!

Instead of answering, I took the sword from my belt and turned it on. Looking at the red blade, Toshi seemed to swear in Togrut, and continued in the same language:

- What, for heaven's sake, don't tell me you turned it on in front of the masters...

- I did," I said apologetically. - What's the matter?

The togruita shrugged me off, scratching her nose at the tip of her lectern in thought. I continued:

- "And anyway, that's enough of that. I need to clean up and rest somewhere quiet... - I said monotonously, sending waves of calm in Tosya's direction. Master Dan calmed down and finally got behind me:

- Okay, I'll find you. I'll assume the Master will call for you today, so don't go too far away... - Toshi sighed and turned around and left. I did not catch up with her - a girl, or rather a woman is better to just sort themselves out. And preferably away from me.

With a shrug I returned to the boat and decided to start the search from the archive. I changed into ordinary clothes and went to the archive, where I found all the references to stories with damage of hyperdrive and began to study the precedents.

The time until evening flew by - I had only time to have dinner and go back to the archive, without distracting myself from reading.

And in the evening, close to eight o'clock, I got a call on my comlink from the master - to come to his office...

- As far as I know, you've already started searching for..." - Lex began the conversation, not bothering to greet me, offer to sit down or something like that.

- Yes, Master," I did enter the office and stood in front of the big boss's desk. He was sitting in his usual seat, looking at me sideways.

- So, I'm waiting for an explanation," he said demandingly, looking me in the eye.

An explanation? Just an explanation? All right, I'll tell it like it is:

- After I gave you my sword, I took the first one I could find from my ship's armory. It was an old Sith blade I found in a battlecruiser-I told you about the battlecruiser, didn't I?

- You did," he nodded, seeming satisfied with that answer. - And yet, you've managed to draw quite unnecessary attention to yourself.

The Master was quite right. And if I told him some teenage philosophy about how a red sword doesn't mean anything, the Master would be disappointed in me. It would be like showing up at a wartime reception for Stalin in the uniform of a German general and going on about how it's not the uniform that makes the man, but the man's uniform and all that sort of thing. The best-case scenario would be that he would be sent on leave to see a psychiatrist, and the worst-case scenario would be that his shoulder straps and revolver would be taken away from him.

Lex was not accustomed to long argument - he was a wartime man, even if it was a cold war, but still...

- Then I can only help you. For the time being, I've assigned you to the Explorers and Reconnaissance Unit. The task of the Intelligence Unit is to search and gather information, so you're going to search for the information you need. And at the same time, don't forget to give all the information you find outside the temple to the archives. Unless, of course, it's too dangerous.

Lex sighed heavily:

- Have you turned to the holocron?

- No, Master," I shook my head.

- So tomorrow, go to him. If there is anything, only he should remember it. I have already looked in the archives for mentions of non-standard hyperjumps. In most cases, the ship flew with a strong deviation from the course. There were also violations of time, but the ship came out of the jump in the near future, but not a single case of moving to the past. Since information about such displacements can have an extremely... negative effect and be extremely dangerous, the research is classified. Everything related to your case, too," after listening to the Master, I immediately told him that the sword contract would be fulfilled as soon as possible. He smiled appreciatively and finished his speech. - In that case I won't keep you. You must have a great deal to do...

- Yes, Master," I nodded. We said goodbye and I left the office. The hour had not made it any easier, but the obligation to put up swords was unpleasant. Just the fact that it hung over my soul and I decided really to deal with the matter as quickly as possible.

Back on the ship, I sat down in the cargo bay along with the bolted metals and started making what I was supposed to - hulls for future swords. They turned out rather stylish, low-key hilted handles, hollow on the inside. The next item was the electronic stuffing. I called Erdw, pulled up the web sites of electronics vendors on his projector, and began selecting what I needed to fulfill my order. There was not much difference from the electronics components of my time - in just an hour I compiled a solid collection and ordered it to the hangar of the temple. The droid courier arrived half an hour later, with everything I had ordered. After paying him, I set to work on the blades...

Good thing that my strength is not subject to degradation, or I would have a long time to recover from a year of travel!

Seriously though, it didn't take me long to form a dozen standard mechanisms with promised functions, then insert them into the system and voila... the workpiece for the sword was ready. All that was left was to set the crystal, and that's what I did. In the absence of final crystals I had to insert mine into all blades one by one and check their quality in the process. The dynamics of the swords was standard, not different from any other. The weight of the hilt was about two hundred to three hundred grams, together with the mechanism - four hundred and ten. When I put all the workpieces on the shelf and looked sadly at Erdv, who was watching me, I examined the work of my hands.

- Yes, my friend, it is no masterpiece, but what I can... especially since it is paid for.

Erdva answered me nothing, and I decided not to let sad thoughts fill my head, but to go straight to bed. I could think better with a clear head! I preferred to sleep in the boat, which was equipped with all the comforts. Not that I was demanding, but I wanted to be comfortable, especially after a year in the woods, I began to pay some attention to it. And my appearance, of course.

I woke up in the morning, in a great mood, wanting something so...special. Erdva loomed in the cargo cabin. I didn't bother the restless droid, forgetting his presence at all. Somehow I got tired of always having a positive, but adventurous barrel on wheels around.

The irrepressible itch of the researcher did not allow me to sit still and read the archival notes. It felt like I was reading something completely unnecessary and superfluous to me - there was not even a hint of hyperdrive technology - it all went solely as notes about how, when, and where the jump was made. I didn't want to sit still, so I ran down the ramp and, disregarding the technicians, decided to pay a visit to the great Jedi holocron. But first, breakfast.

The holocron was an amazing and extremely curious source of information. It was a pity that I could not download everything from it to a datapad or another holocron, but I wanted to! After having breakfast with the other Jedi, I walked through the labyrinthine corridors to the receptacle of Jedi wisdom. Corridors, halls, turbolift, and... here I am in the archive. It was here, in a separate room, that the holocrone was located. The most valuable source of information in the galaxy.

The head of the archives, an elderly lady in a Jedi robe, looked up at me with interest.

- Excuse me, I have a holocrone to visit," I said, smiling. The lady nodded understandingly:

- Do you have the Master's permission?

- Yes, of course," I gave her my service number and waited while she checked me through the databases. After a minute, she, already surprised, got up from her seat and ordered me to follow her.

Leaving the front desk, we went deep into the archives. Between the shelves of long storage data cards, straight to the wide gate in the corner of the room. The lady went through the gate that opened - behind it was a corridor that led to a small hall. The interior reminded me of a spaceship - a multi-level structure. In the middle of the hall was a wide staircase that led down, and there, in a recess, was the holocron itself. It did not fit on one floor, so the temple had a special hall for it, occupying two floors. The only way to get to the holocron was through the archives.

The librarian enlightened me:

- No littering in the hall, no getting close to the holocron, and if he refuses to answer your questions, it's useless to ask him. I'll be in my room.

The lady nodded to me and turned and left. She left, and I shrugged my shoulders and went downstairs. Downstairs... downstairs stood him, the great holocron. As a matter of fact, I couldn't understand why he was so big. After all, a holocron is a nearly infinite reservoir of information, and increasing in size is sort of inappropriate. Nor is it appropriate to increase the number of faces, for the usual Jedi holocron was the size and shape of a Rubik's Cube.

With a shrug, I made my way down to it. The polyhedron, about four meters high, stood on a small hill. Its edges reflected the light of the illumination panels and seemed very sharp. On the surface were symbols of some kind, similar to the runes of the ancient Northerners, and unlike them at the same time.

When I got within three meters of the holocron's surface, I felt a whiff of power. I covered my eyes to see what was happening, and recoiled. A small tentacle of power was coming out of each face. But they were all different in shape and structure. Some reached for me, and I instinctively shut myself off from them. The tentacles slid down my aura, and then... a ghost appeared before me. An almost canonical transparent ghost, with blurring facial features and looking at me with curiosity.

- Uh... hello," I began, wondering if he could hear me. There was no response from the ghost. I asked. - What are those tentacles?

- They are scanning modules. Their purpose is to determine who has come to see me, and whether or not they are ready to hear the answer.

I pulled my guard down and apologized to the wraith, "Well, I'm sorry, how was I supposed to know? You can look now.

The tentacles stretched out toward me once more, and then they disappeared immediately into my aura. The ghost was silent.

- So, can I ask you something?

- You may," the ghost replied phlegmatically.

- I came here from another time. From the future, to be exact. Because my ship's hyperdrive was damaged the moment I made the jump. How do I get back to my own time?

- Make a reverse jump," the ghost didn't hesitate for a second.

- I understand that, but how? - I didn't understand him.

- You have to jump in conditions that are the exact opposite of the last jump.

I see. A completely accurate and completely useless answer. Rules of the game accepted!

- Has anyone researched the possibilities of time travel by altering Hyperdrive technology?

- We have. Scientists at the Corellian Engineering Corporation.

- And what conclusions did they come to? - I asked hopefully.

- That controlled time travel is impossible. Time coordinates depend on many factors, which are impossible to simulate at their technical level, so any jump is arbitrary.

I thought about the holocron's words. His words made sense, but I was not discouraged:

- Has someone explored the possibilities of moving between time using hyperdrive and Force technology?

- One man," the holocron looked at me once more with a lifeless gaze.

- What was his name? Where can I find him? Or information about his research?

- His name is Darth Vectivus. Sith. Researcher. He did research on hyperdrives and time disruptions. He conducted all of his research on the asteroid where he died over a hundred years ago. The asteroid is orbiting the planet Bimmel, coordinates are in the archive...

I never gave up hope that I could get my hands on something about time travel.

- Is there any other way to travel through time in a purposeful way? - I asked hopefully.

- No. There is a technology of cryogenic freezing in carbon, but after twenty years of being in it brain activity is disrupted, and after a hundred years the body leaves the power, after which it dies. This cannot be called time displacement, because the time flow is not broken, but it creates the effect of displacement from the subjective point of view of the frozen.

- Thank you," I bowed, "if anything, I'll come back," I turned around. The ghost disappeared and the tentacles retracted into the facets of the holocron, finally putting it into hibernation.

Flying to a Sith's old house? With no guarantee of finding anything there? Apparently, it was my fate to be evil.

Before I knew it, I was on my way to the Master's office. Lex wasn't there, so I had to call him on the comlink.

- Yes," the commander answered me.

- Master, it's Henya. I'm leaving, and I found the coordinates of a place that might be useful in my search...

- And our contract?

- All that remains is to insert the crystals. I am at your office, so if you will provide me with the crystals for the swords, I shall be only too glad to get this order done soon.

- I'll be there soon," he replied, and the comlink went silent. Indeed, to insert the crystals, what little!

Half an hour later all the crystals were brought to me. The Master entered his office and invited me with a gesture and put a small box on the table.

- There are crystals for the sword. Get to work. So, Skywalker, what exactly did you find?

- I talked to Golokron, as you advised," I explained. - There's nothing of value in the archives, the KMK researchers abandoned such experiments long ago, and there's only one researcher left, who decided to...

- Yes? Who is he? - Raised an eyebrow at the Master in his seat.

- A Sith named Darth Vectivus. Somewhere in the Outer Rim system, I haven't pinpointed a location yet.

- A Sith and research..." the Master smiled. - "Those are two completely incompatible things. The Sith psyche is closed to covert or overt results and self-centeredness, while research requires the ability to admit one's mistakes. And not just in words.

- That's what the holocron said," I shrugged. - Still, I'll visit that system and see what's what. I'm sure there must be something left.

- I hope so. All right, I'll draw it up, - the Master opened the terminal and began to type quickly on the holodeck.

- Shall we? - I was surprised at such a statement.

- Exactly. If this is about the Sith, then your job is to investigate everything you find and bring back any information you can to the Order. If you can find a holocron or research data, that would be fine..." The Master finished typing and handed me the task file on my Datapad. I didn't open it in my office and looked at Lex expectantly. He responded in the same way to my gaze. I did not waste my time, so I went over and took a box of crystals from his desk, and under the astonished gaze of the Master I inserted all ten crystals at the same time. And holding the telekinesis, I turned on the swords. Multicolored blades grew over the hilt and immediately disappeared.

- It is done, Master.

- Sith is with you," he took the card I held out and transferred the rest of the sum.

- Master, how is Toshi?

- Master Dan is away on a mission today. I think you're getting too close to your former teacher...

- Master," I interrupted him, "remember what I said when I asked to join the Order? You do not pry into my personal life, and I honestly do my job, and everyone is happy ...

- Okay, okay, I'm sorry..." Lex smiled guiltily, twirling one of the swords in his hands. - I guess I should have let you say goodbye... I don't think it'll take you too long to sort through the Sith junk, especially Master Dan on a perfectly safe diplomatic mission. I look forward to your return...

The audience was over. I bowed and assured him that I would try to return soon, and asked, with a sly smile, to let me meet Toshi after all. The Master only closed his eyes and waved at the door, "I wish my eyes had never seen you.

The flight was a quick one - gathered the provisions, refueled, and immediately jogged toward the deckhouse, summoning Erdwah there. Droid took the coordinates from the network of the temple, thankfully they were not classified information.