You'd pick up hitch-hiking Jedi too, Admit it!!

Just a friendly reminder, Authors love feedback. Tell your friends.

Byt the way, thank you , everyone for all your comments and support. I wouldn't do it if it weren't for you guys!

 

<<Okay, by popular demand . . . here is the next section. There are more inside jokes in this one, I don't expect all of you to get them. In fact, I only expect Ping and Frosty to get them, but enjoy anyway. >>


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Section 11

Debrah and Obi-wan had trekked back to the ship. Debrah had one of Lisa's sketch pads under one arm and a pocket full of pencils and different colored pens. While her friend was busy taking measurements of Qui-gon and plotting and planning her costuming masterpiece, the blond was going to take her first look at the damaged components of the transport. Since Obi-wan was the more knowledgeable of the two Jedi about the workings of the ship, he was along to help her if necessary.

"Ok, let's see what we've got here. Ben, show me what I'm looking at."

"It's right over here." The sandy-haired young man pointed her toward one wall and pulled the cover plate off to reveal the burnt out section of the hyperdrive. "As you can see, it is totally destroyed. We'll need to replace it entirely." He pointed to several of the most obviously over-stressed parts. "The motivator, the power couplings, the interlinks, all past repair."

Debrah hardly heard him though. This was what she'd been waiting on for the last seven years. All along, all through each excruciating class and every tedious lab, this was what she had hoped, prayed, expected would eventually happen. The circuit laid out before her became suddenly clear. This was the way she'd always imagined it should be. Each component and its purpose was so obvious as to be almost painful. The whole of it was immediately apparent and what she needed to do to get it working again was just as easy to see. For the longest time she had envied those around her in her engineering classes that could look at a schematic and simply know what it was. She had studied and worked and ground her brain to sticky grey paste trying to make that happen for herself, but it never had. Until now.

"I know this," she whispered. "I know what this is and I know how to fix it."

"Debrah?"

The woman raised her eyes from the hole in the bulkhead, surprise and wonder in her gaze. "Obi-wan, I can see it. I know it." The young man only looked confused so she reached out a hand and laid it alongside his face, then reached awkwardly into the Force. She wielded it poorly and with no elegance or real control, but none the less she used it to try to show him her frustration, her disappointment, her dashed hopes, so many years of struggle apparently in vain, and then tried to convey the wild tangle of emotions that assailed her now. She could see it and she knew it.

Bright blue eyes gazed back at her in sudden understanding. "The Force brought you to us, Debrah. Never doubt that."

"I won't." Her hand dropped away and the moment passed. "Well then. I'd better get to work." Debrah turned single mindedly toward the exposed circuitry, her focus already on the task before her. "Obi, do me a favor and haul my boombox and the box of CDs in here, would you? I want some music while I work. Oh, and I'll need my multi-meter as well. It's the bright yellow, drat, never mind, just bring the grey and red box in here as well."

The Jedi smiled at her back and moved away to do as she bid, finding everything she had requested. He dropped the grey and red box beside her and fumbled with the boombox. He'd seen her operate it and he'd seen the care with which she treated the small reflective disks. "You know, you could probably store all these on a just a couple of datadisks."

"Then start storing. I'm not sure how long the batteries for the boombox will last and I haven't noticed any plugs around here." The woman's voice was muffled because she had her head halfway through the hole, her hands holding the bright yellow rectangle of the multi-meter as she tested this lead and that for resistance, amperage and voltage.

Obi-wan watched as his host on this strange planet made page after page of notes. She used the multi-meter alm

 

OH YAH, OH YAH, A NEW POST!!! I haven't read it yet, I'm saving it for right before I go to bed, but THANK YOU for giving me something GREAT to read, and for making my Sunday night!!!

 

Wow! Well done! I have been waiting for this post for way too long! Keep it up: you ahve some good stuff happening here!

 

WOW that was good. Sad but good.
I have a question are the military dudes still chasing their ship?
Keep it up.

 

Powerful emotional stuff here! Wow! I thought it was a nice touch, the way that Debrah saw Qui-Gon in the dusk and thought for one moment it was her father. And is the idea that something is cutting all her ties to here, a foreshadowing of what is to come? Another fantastically-written post, Lilith!

 

Exceptional post Lilith, I feel Deborah's pain and quite honestly hope she leaves Earth with the Jedi.

But not before a little adventure in costume.

 

Great post!!!! I don't know which part I liked best.

You should have had the dogs attack Obi again!

 

Worry not, faithful readers, the Bad Guys are still out there!!

 

Why thank you Lilith, now I'm going to have Families Can Be Together Forever stuck in my head. mad.gif

I'm telling you, man, they grow 'em big out in Utah. You should see the missionaries we get... eek.gif

 

I am truely impressed--good story, good style...you should be working for Lucas! You could be paid for writing excellent lit like this...of course it couldn't take place on Earth, They wouldn't like that....

 

Page 4? Um, no...y'see...to me, that's a problem...and I don't like problems.

Hope you post soon, Lilith...I'm hooked on this story.

 

UP!!!

 

Tonight if I can swing it. I'll do my best.

 

Go Lil! You put the GRRR in swinger, baby!

 

I CAN'T WAIT!!!!!

 

Looks screen...grabs the sides of her monitor and shakes it saying: "GIVE ME MY POST NOW!!!!! No more being patient, and nice like the Jedi. I DEMAND YOU, DARN COMPUTER TO SHOW ME A NEW POST!!!" mad.gif

 

Alright already!! Here it is! Enjoy.

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Section 12

The next few days pasted quietly. Debrah and the Jedi started each day with a little sparring. Their hostess would join them for the first little while, then would go back into the house to see to her sewing. After that, the three would take some time to drill the blond on the few Force powers she seemed to possess. Lisa spent most of the time in her sewing room, taking measurements, sketching patterns, sewing, fitting, measuring, altering, sewing and fitting again. Both men were in and out of the sewing room at least a dozen times a day. When they weren't trying on their costumes, they played checkers out in the garden or wandered the grounds, admiring what Lisa had done with the landscaping and Obi-wan spent the better part of the afternoons play ?fetch' with the dogs who seemed to adore him.

Debrah passed the time almost exclusively poring over her plans for the reconstruction of the hyperdrive. She would sit at the kitchen table, schematics and notes scattered all around her, her calculator by her side. The one time Obi-wan stopped by to ask her what she was doing the woman mumbled something about reverse engineering and waved a hand at him to go away. The stack of papers on the table only got thicker as the week went on and everyone knew better than to try and interrupt her for anything less important than meals. Occasionally she would stand up and pace from one end of the house to another, or back and forth through the gardens or maze, muttering to herself in equations and obscure technical terms.

Qui-gon and Obi-wan watched Debrah carefully, but, despite their fears, neither Morgan nor Maeve made any appearances. That would be something difficult to hide from their host and would require explanations they could not give.

Thursday evening Obi-wan stopped next to the table and waited to be noticed. Debrah continued to painstakingly sketch something on a schematic, often referring to several of the pages scattered around her. Curious, the young man reached out with the Force to sense her. The woman's concentration was so complete that it was all he could sense. There was no emotion of any sort there. Experimenting, he nudged a Force surge in her direction to see if he could get her attention that way. Even as the wave crested over her, a shield of sorts that he had failed to notice flared up and diverted the energy around her. The blond never looked up. Her focus never wavered.

Engineers, he thought shaking his head. Maybe not consciously, but she was actually using to Force to keep things from distracting her. The lessons in the morning were paying off faster than anyone had imagined they would. The Jedi student was just opening his mouth to address her verbally when her sense changed dramatically. Debrah sighed in a pleased manner and leaned back in her chair, satisfaction suffusing her and drowning out the fading concentration.

"There, that ought to do it."

"Can I see?"

Debrah visibly jumped and jerked around to face Obi-wan. She put a hand on her chest in a relieved manner and then scowled at him. "Benjamin Keith Maben, you almost gave me a heart attack! Don't ever do that again."

Obi-wan managed to look appropriately contrite, but his eyebrows slid up a notch on his forehead. He had a middle name now? He must have really startled her. He shrugged to himself and smiled apologetically at the green eyed woman. "Sorry. Can I take a look?" he gestured at the paper in front of her.

"Yeah, though I'm not sure how much sense it will make to you. I used the symbols and terms I was taught and I very much doubt they were the ones you were taught." Debrah pushed the other papers out of the way to make a clear space around what appeared to be the final product of the last three day's intensive effort. The young man leaned over to see what she'd done. Sure enough, there wasn't a single familiar symbol or notation on the entire sheet, but it looked impressive.

"There it is: your replacement part. It

 

Great post! Up!

 

YEAH she wrote more.
Yes Yes Yes Yyyyyyiiiipppppppppeeeeeeee!!!!
<looks at all the people staring at her>
redface.gif redface.gif redface.gif
<coughs> That was very good I can't wait to find out what happens at the fair.

 

LAnother incredible post!!
Lilith I can't say enough for this wonderful story.

From the believablity of all your characters, to the little references of every day life ie: the modern day torture device so many of us females can relate to.

I love this story!!!

BTW A big thanks for putting those irritaing voices in my head into perspective. Inner Critic)

 

THANK YOU!!!

 

ALRIGHT!!!!!!!

 

Mmm, bardic arts, mmmm...

Lilith, are you going to be out in Provo this summer? I'm coming for a college visit one of these weekends and hafta hook up with the SCA bunch around there. Every time I read this story The Dream keeps comin' back.