The Trace Which Remains

I got another chapter done quickly! Reviews are great, you know... good or bad. I especially want to know what you think of my characterizations.

Chapter 7: ... to relieve the pain...

Luke awakened to a bright light flashing directly into his eyes. Groaning with annoyance, be raised his hand to bat away the offending glare. His knuckles grazed a small plastic object held by a cold hand. Squinting, he worked to focus on the face that hovered in front of his own.

Dr. Severeth frowned at him, or tried to. There was a long green vegetable between his teeth. He typed a quick note in his datapad, before taking a bite out of the veggie and mumbling, "Well, we know you wake up easily."

Rubbing his eyes, Luke complained, "Why the hell were you trying to blind me?" He glanced at a wall-chrono, and noticed it was almost 9 in the morning.

Severeth replied, "I never try to cause harm. Annoyance tends to happen in the medical profession, however. Temporary retinal stimulation causes no negative effects if done cautiously. But if I had been any closer, or you and clumsier, my lamp might have gone in your eye. Watch it."

"Look, doctor, I don't think the Alliance pays you to snap at your patients."

"Firstly, the Alliance doesn't pay me. I'm a volunteer. Secondly, I'll stop snapping at my patient when he develops some patience." A wry grin twisted Severeth's pale lips, and Luke raised his eyebrow in confusion. This man could go from angry to amused within a heartbeat, without blinking. He reached his senses to try to get a more concise idea of the physician's personality, but it was muted, quiet, almost cloaked.

He had to admit that Severeth was right about his impatience, though. "Sorry about that... I just don't particularly like bright light. I got enough of that from the twin suns back when I was a kid." The medic shrugged carelessly, and Luke resisted grinding his teeth in frustration at how hard the man was to read. His curiosity getting the best of him, Luke decided to just ask.

"So... how long have you been in the practice?"

Looking up from his datapad, Severeth considered this for a moment, before replying, "Including my training, a good fifteen years. I've had my degree for five years."

"Ten years in school? You seem a little young to spend that long in college."

"I didn't." It seemed as though Severeth wouldn't say more, but he continued after entering more information in his pad. "I spent those ten years apprenticed to a genetic engineer."

"So you were trained privately?"

Severeth nodded, and added, "I lived with that engineer my whole life- I was raised there. I left three years ago, around the time of the Death Star's destruction."

"How old were you?"

"Eighteen."

Sitting up quickly, Luke asked, "Eighteen? So you're twenty-one now?" This doctor was even younger than Luke!

A sharp nod answered him, and Severeth pushed Luke back down with a hand on his shoulder. "No rapid movement. I'm monitoring your muscles in a state of aware inactivity. Don't throw off my observations."

Luke blinked, startled at the harshness of the low voice. It didn't fit a man who hadn't even seen a quarter century. But then, Luke had known himself to be cruel in the recent stressful months. He tried to avoid projecting expectations on this doctor- he seemed to contradict them all.

Glancing around, Luke noticed that there were no wires attached to him, no sensors or cameras in sight. He was lying normally in sickbay gear, on a simple medical cot. How was Severeth monitoring his physiology without any machines?

He stretched out with the Force again, but still couldn't make out any distinguishing characteristics other than the very muted emotions. He couldn't get a grip on just who this man- boy, really- was.

He frowned for a moment, before resigning himself to the idea that perhaps all of the sensors were in the datapad that seemed to go everywhere with Severeth. Luke's brain was going to explode if he thought too deeply about it.

Severeth reached into a pocket, retrieving another one of those omnipresent vegetables. He offered it to Luke, asking simply, "Kalari?"

Luke was quite hungry, in fact, so he accepted it with a small nod of thanks, and began to munch. It was crunchy, slightly stringy, and very refreshing. Severeth stuck another in his own mouth, and continued entering data, typing more quickly than Luke had ever seen anyone type. His movements were almost mechanical, insanely efficient, as though Severeth was incapable of human error. Perhaps he was a savant, Luke mused, naturally adept at logic, but not too keen on the emotional side of life. That could explain the muffled Force energy.

"Any unusual effects of your injuries? Stinging, prickling, burning?" Luke shook his head- the pain of the lightning seemed to have faded almost completely. "How about any bleeding? Have you noticed any rectal pain?"

Luke flinched. Severeth was deadly blunt in his words. The physical injuries were still slightly troublesome, but they were receding fast. The pain that it had caused his heart, his pride and dignity, however... would not be so easy to shrug off. Luke muttered in shame, "No bleeding, but it's still raw. I used the 'fresher during the night, and it hurt quite a bit."

"Anything in specific?"

Frustrated at being asked to explain general soreness and aching, Luke narrowed his eyes and said flatly, "My ass hurts."

Severeth mirrored his expression, and replied in almost the same tone of voice, "Obviously. What does it feel like? Itching, stinging, burning, scrapes, torn muscle..."

"All of it, damnit! What do you expect?"

Severeth slipped his hand to his belt, and withdrew a tiny hypodermic needle. "Must I sedate you, Jedi Skywalker?" His voice was even more cold than before, sharp and calculating. Luke drew back, unnerved that the doctor would even consider drugging him for a simple outburst.

Shaking his head sullenly, he answered, "No need."

"Good. I don't mind you asking questions, but when it's my turn to ask, I expect quick, intelligent answers. The fact that your ass hurts has already been established. I deal with information, Skywalker. I need to know precisely what's going on if I'm to help you."

Luke nodded, and decided to change the topic. "What do you think about my father?"

"I personally hold nothing against him. He wasn't behind the Empire's policies- just behind the triggers of its guns. Palpatine was my enemy, and Vader did away with him. I feel indebted to him, in truth. Palpatine was a menace, and a fool. He was no Sith."

"What do you mean by that?"

"He didn't behave with the intelligence that a Sith is supposed to possess. He didn't have any real dignity- just a hideously deformed body and an even worse mind."

"What do you know about the Sith?"

Severeth didn't answer for almost five minutes, when he finally replied, "They're not much different from the Jedi. At least they're not supposed to be. Palpatine messed up badly. Vader wasn't bad."

Not much of an answer, but it was the best Luke figured he'd get. He was about to ask another question- do you think the Alliance will be just?- when Severeth stood, and turned to leave. "Don't leave this room. You may use the comlink to call the Princess, nobody else. Keep quiet, and don't use the Force too much."

"Why not?"

"Doctor's orders," Severeth returned bluntly, before the door whooshed open and he disappeared behind it.

Luke considered the commands, before he resentfully leaned back to nap again.