Stargate Force

Chapter 22: The Climax and the Beginning

Disoriented, Brandon snapped awake. His surroundings were wrong — impossibly wrong. This wasn't his apartment, but the familiar confines of his bedroom in his parents' house that he used to live before he ever knew of the Jedi Knights. A pang of loneliness hit him — Nomi, his wife, wasn't nestled beside him. Panic surged. He reached out, attempting to feel the familiar thrum of the Force, his connection to the universe. But there was only a terrifying emptiness. "No," he breathed, a strangled curse escaping his lips. "This can't be happening. Please, not a dream."

He threw off the covers, the worn sheets a familiar comfort despite the strangeness of it all. Clothes, once second nature, required a moment's pause as he reacquainted himself with dresser drawers long untouched. Each action, though slightly hesitant at first, chipped away at the disbelief. As the routine unfolded, a creeping acceptance settled in. The life of a Jedi, the bond with Nomi, it all began to feel like a vivid, captivating dream. "But such a real dream," he murmured, a touch of awe in his voice. "if that's all it was, then wow."

He walked down the stairs from the loft. His room was a small apartment that his father built out of a two-car garage. Brandon then walked to the door, on the other side of the apartment, to enter the rest of the house. He saw his grandmother sitting in the living room. He smiled at her, "Hi! How are you?"

Eunice abruptly stated, "You shouldn't be here."

"What do you mean? Where should I be?"

"You know where you ought to be."

With a bit of dread in his voice, he asked, "How do you know this?"

"What is important, you know it. I have no clue where you should be in life, but I see this in you. It's glowing from you like the sun on a bright morning day."

Brandon was quiet for a moment. He said, "My life is a lot more than you might think. I have a wife and a little girl. Most importantly, I am a Jedi Knight." He was quiet once again and continued, "right now, I cannot use the Force."

"Give it time. I know nothing about this Force or being a Jedi Knight, but I know you'll be in charge of it soon. If I can see this in you so unmistakably, your abilities can't stay away from you for too long."

He sat down in a chair near her. He said, "I just do not know."

She smiled, "That is an excellent sign."

He smiled back, "That is what my Master said to me one day." After a moment, he sighed, "I am afraid I will lose her."

She stated with earnestness in her voice, "Listen to me! You won't lose your family, your Master, or anyone else in your life. I can't say when or how you will be reunited with them."

He thought for a moment and said with a bit of enthusiasm in his voice, "I might have a purpose with her after all." He explained that she sent him in time to train her as a Jedi Knight in her teenage years."

His parents walked into the house through the front door. Both of them were silent as they came into the living room. Barbara said, "There's something very different about you."

He told everything about his life regarding being a Jedi Knight.

Jerry replied in amazement, "WOW! A fascinating life you have."

His Mother said, "I think you'll get your powers back." She paused and continued, "Son, this isn't a dream. Somehow Palpatine has sent you back to us. If you're to be this new host, then divide and conquer is his motive to get to you."

His Father asked, "Have you tried lately in using this Force?"

"Not since I woke up."

Eunice asked, "How did you recognize you weren't where you believed to be?"