Luke studies the robust prospector for a moment. His careful gaze misses little in the room, yet he does not appear overly interested in the affairs of others. Luke knows well that you cannot judge a man by his appearance, but he senses no inherent hostility or evil in this being.
“That general promises a rough journey,” Luke says. He keeps his eyes trained on his meal.
The prospector stops eating and openly studies Luke for several moments. At last, he nods. “He’ll deliver – make no mistake. It was smart to mind your own peace; might have gotten the whole lot of us killed.”
Luke returns the man’s frank appraisal. “Was it? Somebody should resist the Empire’s oppression.”
The prospector looks back to his meal and Luke fears that he spoke too openly. A moment later, however, the bearded man says, “That’d be the truth, son. But that fellow’s a coward.”
A yellow-furred biped with slit pupils sits next to Luke. “The Gideon distorts the fact,” the biped whispers through his short muzzle. “The Tredway leads the resistance movement.”
Luke listens more carefully. Like all spacecraft pilots, he has standing instructions to investigate any local resistance movements he encounters. “Tell me more.”
“He teaches that bloodshed, even against the foul oppressor, is in itself evil.”
“He’ll learn the error of his ways in Tol Ado,” Gideon whispers. “Sebastian Parnell believes in bloodshed – and a whole lot more.”
“Tol Ado?” Luke asks.
“The sector prison planet,” the biped answers. “Once one enters, he dies to the galaxy. We will never hear from the Tredway again.”
Gideon spits on the floor. “Just as well. What fool will ‘rise up’ just to get killed? Give me somebody who can handle a ‘saber-” Gideon drops his gaze to Luke’s utility belt, “and I’ll follow him into the Emperor’s black heart itself.”
Almost involuntarily, Luke glances at the inactivated lightsaber hanging from his belt. He has the uncomfortable feeling that Gideon wants – no, expects – something from him. “Have you seen someone fight with a lightsaber then?” Luke cautiously asks.
“Sure,” Gideon replies. “Axton Tredway, Erling’s father. He called himself some sort of Knight. That what you are?”
“No, not yet,” Luke answers absently. Erling’s father was a Jedi! “What happened to Axton Tredway?”
“The Empire tracked him down, then some Dark Lord killed him. And a shame it was, too.”
Luke’s heart sinks, but he suddenly feels a mysterious kinship with Erling. Not only had their fathers both been Jedi, but they had probably died at the hands of the same man.
“If you are not yet the Knight,” the furry biped says, “then you study the ways of the Jedi.”
Luke does not respond to the biped’s deduction.
“If the legends speak true,” the biped continues. “You can save Erling.”
“Don’t put any fool notions into this youngester’s head!” Gideon snaps. “You’ll get him killed, Sidney.”
Sidney ignores Gideon. “Will you try?”
“Don’t do it, son,” Gideon warns. “It’s easy enough to get into Tol Ado, but you’ll never get out. You’d best go about your business and forget Erling Tredway.”
Luke does not reply immediately. Gideon is correct: Attempting to rescue Erling is foolish. Imperial prison planets are notoriously secure. Although his orders leave latitude to investigate local resistance movements, even the most liberal interpretations would not permit penetrating such an installation.
Of course, Rebel officers can always use their own initiative to abandon a mission in order to pursue an unexpected opportunity, as long as that opportunity is more important. But no matter how Luke looks at the situation, he cannot say that Erling Tredway is more important than searching for a new base. He knows little about the man except that he has an unusually commanding presence and is urging the local life forms to passively resist the Empire. Only the probability that Erling’s father, like Luke’s, was a Jedi Knight prevents him from rejecting the rescue attempt automatically. On the other hand, it hardly seems appropriate to abandon his mission in order to pursue what is ultimately a very personal task.
If Luke forgets about Erling, Click Here
If Luke attempts to rescue Erling, Click Here