The cool of the morning (Complete)

[Rev Solomon]

With the ranks of the Jedi Enclave swelling more and more every time Solomon returned to the Wheel, it was getting difficult to find solitude on the Whaladon. If it kept up, they were going to have to go to an all-shifts training schedule so the students didn't overcrowd the cargo bays. Fortunately, most of the Jedi were still on a standard sleep schedule, which meant that Solomon, who rose early even by Jedi standards, had the observation lounge all to himself.

Time was meaningless in space, but the angle of the nearby sun in the large forward viewports made a decent proxy for a real sunrise. Solomon walked quietly through the broken shafts of light, clutching a beaten old Book to his chest. He'd left his long nerfhide coat in the cabin of the medical shuttle Exodus and was clad simply in a black shirt with a white collar and a pair of weathered gray trousers. He stepped up to one of the viewports and stared seachingly into the void of space.

"Good morning, Lord," he said. "Well, you know why I'm here. I'm at a crossroads. I believe I'm doing a good work for the Jedi here. I'm just not sure it's the right work for me to be doing."

He sighed, steaming up the transparisteel with his warm breath. Idly, he wiped it away with his sleeve.

"You gave me a flock to shepherd on Dantooine, and I tried my best to do right by them. Now you've brought me here. Do you want me to be a shepherd? A seeker to the lost? A soldier? Is there something I'm supposed to learn here? I don't think I'm particularly wise or powerful, not compared to some of the Jedi here--"

The preacher stopped himself and shook his head as if he'd just been chided.

"There I go again, worrying about my own strength. If you've got something for me to do here, I know you'll provide a way. I just... I wish to heaven you'd make it plain to me."

The Whaladon rolled gently into a course change, and the sun disappeared for a moment from the viewports. Solomon saw his own reflection, and, behind him, the reflection of someone standing near the doorway of the lounge. He turned around with a look of surprise.

[Abarai Loki]

There was a long silence which occupied the space between them, in which the boy folded his arms and indulged himself a series of measured glances around the room, as if in search of something. Finally, his gaze returned to the man standing across from him, eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"Are you quite well?"

[Rev Solomon]

Solomon mirrored the boy's bemused expression, wondering how long he'd been standing back there.

"I'm just fine," the preacher said, giving a wry smile. "How are you?"

The boy didn't seem convinced. "I was just praying," Solomon clarified. "You know. Talking to God."

[Abarai Loki]

"Talking... to God."

The tone of his voice betrayed every inch of his doubt, an eyebrow raised in assessment of the man, and his civillian attire. He decide to investigate, and something very close to a sigh escaped his lips as he pressed forward. This person was no stranger, not to the Rebellion and certainly not to the Whaladon, often he ferried fledgling Jedi young and old to their new home here, but never did he stay very long. There was an element of mystery about him, as there was with many old people, and the boy was intrigued.

"You are a Jedi, are you not?"

[Rev Solomon]

Solomon had encountered all manner of skeptics, from the polite to the condescending to the downright hostile. He was long beyond taking personal offense. He smiled back at the boy's openly dubious reception.

"Yes, I am," he said, moving the Book to the crook of his arm. "I was training as a Jedi warrior before the Purge. I'm not sure we've met. My name's Solomon."

He extended a hand in friendship.

[Abarai Loki]

It was after a brief spell of hesitation that Loki took his hand. He found the handshake a crude and excessively close gesture at the best of times, let alone when used between strangers.

"My name is Abarai Loki," he offered, and processing Solomon's words, asked, "Do you no longer consider yourself a warrior?"

[Rev Solomon]

Solomon watched the boy carefully, fascinated by his formal mannerisms. Loki's reputation had preceded him, though the preacher had taken what he'd heard about the young knight with a grain of salt.

"Oh, I haven't fought since the Clone Wars," he replied. "I haven't had cause to knock the rust off my lightsaber until just recently. I thought my Jedi days were far behind me, but the Lord had other ideas, I suppose."

[Abarai Loki]

"Who is this Lord?"

He asked the question with what could only be described as irritable curiosity; it was an affront to his nature when he heard the Jedi life referred to as something temporary, like a job, and it was an attitude he was regularly coming across aboard the Whaladon. On the other hand, his talk of a Jedi superior had his interest piqued.

"And did he order you to join us?"

[Rev Solomon]

Solomon had a feeling Loki wouldn't stand still for a sermon, or even a well-rehearsed summary of the articles of the Faith, but an invitation like that was too much for a preacher to resist.

He moved to one of the padded chairs arranged for taking in the view and sat down, and it seemed like a long way down for someone of his height. "The Lord is one of the names of God," he said. "You see, he created everything we see. And his power still permeates the universe and binds it together. The Force. It's the manifestation of God acting in creation. Another Jedi probably would say he was led here by the Force. But I believe that the will of the Force and the hand of God are one and the same."

[Abarai Loki]

"A superstition," said Loki, with grim recognition, "It is tragic when a sentient species worships suns and dances to the tunes of mythical beings. But for a Jedi to fall victim to such nonsense is truly an abomination."

It disappointed him greatly to think such a wise and enlightened being could reduce himself to wasteful idol worship. He had fought in the Clone Wars. And it was not unheard of for even the most battle-hardened warriors to lose spirit, war taking its toll on their minds, making them fragile. He tore his gaze from the golden panorama beyond the viewport and looked once again upon this man, Solomon, seeing him in a new light.

"Is it not enough to believe you are in control of your own destiny?"

[Rev Solomon]

"Oh, I used to," Solomon admitted. "Wanted to control my own destiny, to discover my own truth. What I discovered was that that kind of philosophy is ultimately self-serving and self-defeating. We are finite beings. We can only look inward so far before we shrink into nothing at all. But the universe is vast."

He turned his eyes toward the glory of the heavens outside the viewport. "Our souls were meant to look outward and expand, not turn inward and collapse."

[Abarai Loki]

"You are assuming a man in control of his own life seeks only to help himself. I have no petty needs or selfish desires and yet I do not seek justification in the will of an invisible man."

It was disconcerting. Solomon seemed so at ease with his madness, so confident in the existance of his god that he would willingly twist reason and bend logic to serve his argument. No doubt, Loki thought, the man is a shadow of his former self: the noble warrior. His expression became quizzical.

"This notion of predetermination is baffling. Do you not trust your own judgement, Solomon?"

[Rev Solomon]

Solomon laughed. "I don't wait for the word of God to speak from a burning bush, if that's what you mean. I could tell you every decision I've made that's brought me from circuit-riding on Dantooine to sitting before you right now, but I never would have guessed the end from the beginning. Just look at this place. Almost thirty years since the Temple was destroyed, and by rights none of us should be alive. But we are, and we're growing and gathering when most of the galaxy wants us wiped out. Now, I've spoken to enough of the Jedi here to know they didn't plan this out. So who did?"

[Abarai Loki]

"My finding you in this room today wasn't planned, but it happened. Survival is in the nature of all living things. My master trained me so that I would pass on his knowledge and preserve the Jedi legacy. In seeking out others like myself I came across the Wheel. There was no divine power influencing my actions, I assure you."

Quite content with his reasoning, Loki sat opposite the preacher, waiting for him to concede to his clearly superior powers of logic.

[Rev Solomon]

"I'm not saying we don't have our reasons," Solomon replied. "Just that there's a reason higher than ours. The Jedi teach that much."

He leaned forward, his elbows on his knees. "I don't mean to make you come around to my way of thinking. But there is a danger in wanting to control too much. After all, helping another person means giving up some of that control. Otherwise, you're just using them for your own goals."

[Abarai Loki]

"The Will of the Force," he said, it was not a concept alien to him for it had been discussed in his years as a padawan, "I do not believe the Force has a will of its own, and certainly not one it inflicts upon others, for if it did then the source of all our power would be an extremely self-destructive thing indeed."

Every man, woman, and child who sought the Jedi hoped to glean wisdom from their teachings. If this new breed were instructed to set aside their ability to think and instead act on the whims of a mystical energy field then Loki feared for their future. Drawing on memory, his countenance became grave, and he continued:

"Darkness falls through the acts of wicked men. Men without control. And it is through discipline and control of the self that a Jedi influences his environment and the people around him for the greater good."

[Rev Solomon]

"Do you think Emperor Palpatine lacked control?"

Solomon let the question hang on the air for a moment. His face open and frank compared to Loki's grave frown.

"There are two ways a man can fall: by weakness and by strength. Our best efforts will turn to ruin if they are not guided by a higher ideal. What is the ideal that guides you, Abarai Loki?"

[Abarai Loki]

"Preservation," he answered immediately, "My master honoured me with his teachings and it is my duty to preserve his legacy; a legacy that was almost lost to history. I will pass on my knowledge in the hope that one day the light of the Jedi will be rekindled throughout the galaxy."

Loki was nothing without a sense of purpose and from a very young age he'd understood the part he had to play, now it was much a part of who he was as it was what he was...

"And you, old warrior Solomon, what does this Lord tell you to do?"

[Rev Solomon]

Solomon smiled and patted the old leatherbound Book in his hand.

"To act justly, love mercy, and walk in humility. And isn't that the heart of the Jedi code?"

[Abarai Loki]

Considering his words at length, Loki finally spoke, "It is."

While it didn't sit well with him that this disillusioned, once great, Jedi warrior may find some degree of reassurance in his concession, he couldn't honestly dispute his point, even if his choice of words had been a little soft. He leaned forward, intrigued.

"So, in principle the Jedi code and your superstitions are aligned, are you then implying the Jedi way is not enough? Why turn to prayer?"