~How it All Began: Part 3~

Han turned just in time to see a stun bolt hit Luke right in the rear. He laughed over the kid's yelp. Luke rubbed the numb spot while glaring at the smuggler.

  "Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side, kid," Han remarked as Luke powered down the lightsaber.

  "You don't believe in the Force, do you?"

Wasn't that obvious? Han wasn't so gullible. He kind of pitied the farm boy.

  "Kid, I've flown from one side of the galaxy to the other. I've seen a lot of strange stuff, but I've never seen anything to make me believe there's one all powerful "Force" controlling everything. There's no mystical energy field that controls my destiny. It's just a load of simple tricks and nonsense."

Instead of arguing with Han, the supposed Jedi merely smiled and rose stiffly to his feet. "I suggest your try it again, Luke." He grabbed a helmet behind him. "This time, let go of your conscious self..." he slipped the white helmet over the kid's blond head, "and act on instinct."

  "With the blast-shield down, I can't even see! How am I supposed to fight?"

  "Your eyes can deceive you. Don't trust them."

Han watched with interest. This ought to be good. Even the game of derjak paused to watch. The boy reluctantly ignited his blade, thankfully on training mode, and was instantly zapped in the shoulder. He didn't even swing at it.

  "Stretch out with your feelings," the old man instructed.

To Han's surprise, Luke squared his shoulders and raised the blade again. A sense of calm and focus seemed to have overtaken him as the lightsaber followed the seeker droid with perfect accuracy.

  He must be listening for it.

Before the droid even fired, the kid moved. Positioning into a stance that made him look like he had years of experience, Luke blocked the incoming stun bolt. He didn't stop there. He moved twice more. Each time successfully predicting the next shot perfectly. Then the focus was gone and Luke lowered his weapon, amazed with himself.

Han's eyes widened. Luke removed his helmet, grinning excitedly.

  "You see?" the old man began proudly. "You can do it."

  "I call it luck," Han scoffed, shaking out of his stupor.

  "In my experience, there is no such thing as luck." That was the closest he has ever come to a rebuke. With all his testing, the fossil's patience with Han amazed him.

  "Look, good against remotes is one thing. Good against the living, that's something else."

  "I don't disagree," the old man answered. "How long until we reach Alderaan?"

  Han checked his chronometer. "About twenty minutes?" he guessed. "If you need to take a load off, there's a bunk in the back."

  While making the repairs on the deflector shields, Han had overheard what the old man had supposedly sensed. "I felt a great disturbance in the Force. It was as if millions of voices had suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced." While Han didn't really believe that was the truth, the old man's face was still pale. Confusion and distress stirred beneath his calm exterior.

  "Much appreciated," the old man thanked him with a nod.

  "Third door to your left," Han called after him.

Chewbacca was grumbling about a move the R2 unit had made when Han focused his attention on his young passenger. Luke was swinging the hilt of his saber in the moves that the old man had taught him, clearly imagining himself as some lone hero in a great battle.

It occurred to Han that he didn't know anything about this kid, other than he was a farm boy from Tatooine that had somehow ticked off the Empire. His curiosity about Luke irritated him. How could he not be curious? This kid had somehow had gotten himself so hot on the Empire that they sent three cruisers after him. And how could a life so simple as moisture farming make one so gullible in believing in a dead religion?

As a survivor, Han lived by a philosophy of "ask no questions, tell no lies." He didn't ask people questions because that was opening the door for those people to ask him personal questions. In this business, trust was a fragile thing. Besides, the old man did add "no questions asked" to the list of demands.

Yet here he was, breaking the deal and his own code. The kid seemed like the kind of person who wouldn't mind some small talk anyway.

  "So, is he your grandfather or something?"

Luke paused mid swing and blinked at him with bright blue eyes. Oh stars. The farm boy was the very image of innocent!

  "Ben Kenobi? He's a great man, you know. A Jedi Master."

  Han rolled his eyes. "That's not what I asked." At least he knew the hermit's name now.

  "Oh no. But he knew my father," Luke answered shortly, throwing them both back into awkward silence.

Okay, maybe he wasn't a talker.

  "Your moisture farming family became friends with an old hermit?"

  Luke laughed. "No. Uncle Owen would never. Apparently, my father was a Jedi and they fought together in the Clone Wars. Ben gave me his lightsaber." He held it out for Han to examine.

"Nice." Han forced down his jealousy. His old man never cared to leave him anything. Regardless, the supposed Jedi was probably pulling the kid's leg. Using the boy's father was a disgusting tactic.

  "But why couldn't dear ol' dad give it to you himself?"

A shadow passed over Luke's normally sunny face and Han felt like the biggest pile of rancor poodoo. Right. If Ben's story was true, Luke's father would have been hunted and killed in the Jedi purge ordered by Emperor Palpatine.

  "I never met him," Luke explained softly. "He died when I was a baby. As for my mother, I can only assume she died when I was a baby, too. I was raised by my aunt and uncle, and they never talked about my parents. Heck, they even lied to me about what my father really was."

  Or Ben is the one lying to you, Han thought, though he didn't say it out loud. He already felt like a jerk and was almost regretting asking Luke questions in the first place. Almost. Luke was actually more interesting than he first thought.

  "And they let you go off on this joyride?"

Chewie roared in triumph and slammed his furry fists down on the holotable. If Han had glanced that way, he would have missed the sharp pain that flashed on Luke's face.

  "No..." He struggled to get the next words out. "They were murdered... by the Empire."

Scratch that. Han felt like the biggest steaming pile of rancor poodoo in the history of the galaxy.

  "Stars, kid. I... I'm sorry." Usually, Han didn't believe in saying sorry. It didn't change nor fix anything and most of the time, no one meant it. But Luke nodded his gratitude anyways. Hoping he didn't sound insensitive, Han inquired, "But how does a moisture farm tick off the Empire that much?"

  Luke seemed to understand that this was all very bizarre. "We didn't do anything. We were just in the wrong place at the wrong time." Then he explained the whole story.

Luke was a good storyteller. Han hung on every word. He could imagine the farm boy's excitement in seeing a space battle above for the first time in his boring life. He felt a twinge of Luke's frustration with Uncle Owen's stubbornness. He understood Luke's dream to leave Tatooine and fly across the galaxy as the same thing happened to him. His heart leapt as Luke told him about the Sand People attack. He was horrified when Luke described finding a burning home and crisped bodies of his caretakers. Stars, the kid even made him feel sad as he told him that he buried them there alone and didn't even have time to mourn.

When Luke had finished, now Han realized why it was so easy for him to trust in crazy old Ben. With no family left and accidentally in possession of two very valuable droids with information that could change the tide in a galactic war, Han didn't blame Luke for putting his faith in the first person who saves his life from Sand People.

  After a pause, Han asked incredulously, "You do realize you've put all your faith in a crazy person, right?"

  "Ben is not crazy! I did feel the Force earlier! It would explain so much..." Luke trailed off into thought.

  Han stood and patted Luke's shoulder sympathetically. "Stick with me, kid. I'll do you better than trying to tie you to some mystic energy. I'll teach you how to survive."

A faint alarm beeped from the controls Han had been sitting by a moment before.

   "Looks we're coming up on Alderaan. Better go wake your friend from his beauty sleep."