Drafting Tool

Karr grudgingly held out his own. “Karr Nuq Sin.”

But she didn’t shake it. She used the grip to pull his hand closer to her face. “What’s with the gloves, Karr?”

“They protect my hands.”

“Well, yeah,” she said. “That’s what gloves do. I mean, why are you wearing them indoors?”

“So that I can control my abilities.”

She folded her arms. “Your totally real choking abilities? Those must be amazing gloves.”

“I…” He paused. He barely knew this girl, but he barely knew just about everyone, so it didn’t matter anyway. He told her the truth. “Sometimes when I touch things, I can see the past. I mean, the past of whatever I’m touching.”

Maize cackled wildly. “Bantha fodder! I don’t believe you. Show me.”

Karr tried to retreat. “I can’t just do it on command.”

She grabbed his gloved hand again. “Come on, what do you see in my past?”

“It doesn’t work that way. In fact, I’m not sure it works with people. I think it has to be an object. Like an item that’s witnessed something big.”

Maize let go of him and scanned the room for something that might work. Seeing nothing with potential, she reached into her bag and pulled out a small metal drafting tool. “Tell me about this,” she said, holding it out to him.

“What is it?” asked Karr.

“I got it from my dad.”

“Is he a Jedi?”

“No, you nerko. He works for the First Order.…Wait a minute.” She withdrew the object and held it close to her chest. “Aren’t you supposed to tell me what it is?”

He sighed and removed his right glove. “Fine. Give it here.”

He took a deep breath…closed his eyes…and took the tool with his bare hand. In an instant, his blood pressure skyrocketed—like every drop in his body shot to the top of his head and then had nowhere to go. The pain pushed against his skull until he screamed at the top of his lungs.

Then he did the exact opposite of what a boy his age should do to look cool.

He passed out.

[...]

He’d only just met Maize, but he could already pick her voice out of a crowd. This time, she was the one who was kneeling beside him, shaking him. “What happened? What did you do? Come on, Karr—get up!”

For a few seconds, his ears worked better than his eyes.

He and Maize weren’t alone anymore; he could hear several accents and dialects in the lobby around him and the sound of people arguing about what to do. He opened his eyes and learned that he was the center of attention for the second time in half an hour.

He blinked hard, trying to get his eyes to work right again.

Maize asked him, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” he muttered. “I just need a minute.”

He could see Maize then, and he focused on her face to calm himself down. Although from his point of view, she was either kneeling above him, looking at him upside down…or else her head had come loose from her neck and she was speaking through her—

“Tattoos!” That was what was different about Maize, he thought as her face came into focus. Most of the Mirialans he’d met had facial tattoos, but Maize didn’t.

“What do tattoos have to do with anything? Are you okay?” she asked.

“Uh, sure,” replied Karr, feeling caught again. “Why?”

“Because you cried out in pain and then passed out on the floor,” she shot back.

“Oh. Yeah. Right.”

Karr had done that so many times that he had forgotten how scary it could be to people seeing it for the first time. One guy told him it was like watching a space slug give birth to triplets. Another said it was like he was wrestling some invisible entity. What nobody had ever said, though, was that it was like he was a Jedi. But he hoped that it was just because they’d never seen one.

“Are you going to get up, or what? You’re making everybody worry.” She sat up straight, cross-legged, so she wasn’t hovering over him anymore. “That was scary!”

“Sorry. I’m fine. Don’t worry.”

From his position on the floor, Karr stared up at all the gawking faces. The most concerned-looking face belonged to the Ovissian headmaster. Maybe it was because he was interested in the boy’s welfare, or maybe he was worried about how this would affect the school, but most likely it was because he stood next to Royke, who didn’t look concerned at all.

“Loser,” the Besalisk muttered.

The headmaster said, “Let’s get him to his feet.”

“Yeah,” echoed Royke. “He’s got detention coming!”

But lucky for Karr, detention was the last thing on anyone’s mind. The headmaster inclined his four-horned head and asked, “Are you okay?”

“I’ll survive. I always do.”

“We should still contact your parents,” he said. “You need a doctor.”

“Sure,” said Karr, even though he knew that doctors would be no help. “Actually, we have a medical droid on hand for whenever this happens. These seizures. They’ve been happening off and on for years. I can just call Arzee. He’ll come check me out.”

The headmaster agreed and helped him to his feet. “I do remember reading something about that, in your file. Go ahead and call your droid. Okay, everyone. Let’s give him some air.”

Karr activated his comlink. “Arzee-Seven? I had another seizure.”

“I’m sorry to hear that, sir,” said the droid. “I’m on my way.”

When everything was settled, the headmaster instructed everyone who hadn’t fainted dramatically to get back to class.

“I should probably wait outside,” Karr said, hoping he was about to get away clean.

Maize piped up. “And shouldn’t somebody go with him? Or something? In case it happens again. He’s in a very fragile state, sir.”

The Ovissian thought about it. “That’s not a bad idea.”

“I could go with him,” she said. “Mr. Kragnotto already yanked me out of class anyway.”

“Is that all right with you, Karr?”

“Uh, sure.”

He came to a decision and nodded. “Then get home safely, and we’ll see you again when you’re well.”

“Wait a second!” cried Royke. “He’s not getting detention? That’s nexu dwang!”

Maize flashed him a rude finger gesture as she left the building by Karr’s side.

On their way out, Maize said quietly, “You said you could see the past when you touched things. You didn’t say anything about falling to the ground, screaming.”

“I didn’t? Well, sometimes I fall to the ground, screaming. Now you know.”

The family speeder appeared in the distance, and soon Karr could see the familiar figure of RZ-7 in the driver’s seat.

[...]

Maize stared blankly at Karr. “I can’t decide if you really do have some incredible power…or if you’re just good at telling stories.”

“You don’t believe me?”

“What? It’s a lot to wrap my mind around.”

Karr changed his approach. “I get it. You need facts. What about your dad’s drafting tool. Don’t you want to know what I saw?”

Maize blinked her eyes with recognition. Clearly, with all the commotion that followed Karr’s collapse, she had completely forgotten to ask. She slid farther back in her seat. “This oughta be good.”

“I’m not putting on a show, I’m just telling you what I saw. Let me hold it again.” He wiggled his fingers toward her, signaling her to throw it to him.

“Go for it.” She reached into her pocket, pulled out the tool, and tossed it to him.

It bounced against his chest, but he caught it with both hands and held it up to his forehead, trying to remember what he saw the way you try to remember a dream. If he could recall the image without having to pass out again, then all the better. Karr kept his eyes closed and held the tool close. “This was interesting,” he said. “It was definitely part of something big. I saw…stars, and so much darkness, it felt like death. Does that mean anything to you?”

Maize rolled her eyes. “Are you seriously trying to tell me that it came from the Death Star?” she said, meaning the Empire’s space station of long before. “My dad was never on the Death Star. He was a little kid when that thing blew up.”

“I didn’t say it came from the Death Star. Everything felt…cold. Covered in ice and snow.” He squeezed the tool tighter and concentrated, but then he mostly saw a man—probably the one who’d given it to her. He took that guess and ran with it. “Your father has bright blue eyes, and he looks…younger than people think he is. He has a gray suit, and…and…black hair. He’s human. You’re only half Mirialan.”

When Karr opened his eyes again, he saw Maize standing before him with her mouth open. Unconsciously so, he imagined, because no one would choose to look so taken aback. But what really distracted him from her gaping expression was her eyes. He had noticed them earlier, of course, but they were different now. And for the better. There was a hint of what might actually be admiration in them.

“That was…impressive,” she said. “Or else a really good guess.”

It was enough. Karr would take victories with Maize where he could find them.


- Force Collector, Chapters 2, 3, and 4