The Foundling

Chapter 10: Live

"Hey, leave that alone," said Din, waving away a hovering medical droid.

It backed up, blinking its white visual receptors. "But I must examine your eye," it said in a pleasant voice. "Your protective shell has been damaged, and it is likely your eye has been as well."

"Good observation," Din sighed. "I'm fine. If I have any problems, I'll come back, okay?"

"But my programming requires me to --"

"Just . . . finish the bacta infusion and let me out."

He was anxious to see the child again. When Ahsoka had brought them here to the medical bay, the little one had clung to him, scared to let go.

"The bacta infusion is sixty-five percent complete," said the droid.

The droid had hooked up a line in his wrist to get the stuff in his system, and it was sending a slow fire through his veins. They'd also been working on his leg, making sure things stuck together as the bacta regenerated the tissue. It wasn't exactly comfortable, and Din had to wonder how many credits would come out of his pocket for this. He didn't care much for this place either. Medical droids floated everywhere like giant bugs, and the interior was pristine and chilly. It was the medical bay of an old cruiser from the Clone Wars. The New Republic didn't yet have the resources for manufacturing their own vessels on a large scale.

Din had to persuade the droid a few more times that it wasn't necessary to remove the helmet or any other pieces of armor. Then after the infusions were finally done, Ahsoka came to see him.

She pulled up a seat next to his bed. "Feeling okay?"

He was pretty tired, and still sore. "Fine. You?"

"Better," she said.

"And the others?"

"Your friends are recovering. And Sabine did well. She was able to take back the Darksaber."

"That's good news. What about the child?"

She laid a hand on his arm. "He's fine. We got to him before he was in serious danger. I have the impression they were saving it for when you came."

"In coming for him, I put him in danger, then."

"They would have done it eventually, regardless," said Ahsoka.

"Done what, exactly? Why did they make him watch?"

Ahsoka closed her eyes for a minute, troubled. "Dark force wielders draw on their pain for power. They let it fester, and use it against their enemies." She paused, and looked at Din, her expression concerned. "They intended to take him down the first steps toward the dark. When he watched you suffer, he suffered."

This more than confirmed Din's fear. "So this is how. The inquisitors said he would become like them."

"That is why they have hunted Jedi and younglings for many years, yes. To increase their numbers. Or eliminate them. But Gideon . . ." She paused, brows drawn. Then her eyes widened with realization. "Gideon wants the Child's power for himself. But it's not naturally attuned to the dark." She twisted her mouth as if catching a foul odor. "He thought that by making the child suffer first, it would turn him to the dark and maybe spare him, the receiver, from the pain necessary to use the power in that way. I don't think it would work, but the fact that he would try that . . ."

"I felt something . . . cold."

Ahsoka's expression was grave. "It wasn't just Gideon."

"The child."

Ahsoka tightened her lips.

Din grew tense. "What's going to happen to him?"

"Everyone gets hurt," said Ahsoka. "That doesn't mean they will turn to the dark. It just . . . makes it easier. But it also opens the way for light."