Strength (Book Two of the Into The Fray series)

Chapter Four

"You stupid, little--"

"Stop it already!" Rey snapped. Everyone looked at her. "Poe, back off."

For once, Poe had nothing to say, stunned.

Ben swiveled his head back towards his ex. "You being on vacation still doesn't explain your presence on this freighter."

"I really am on vacation," Hux said earnestly. "I was on that transport and was looking for the first opportunity to sneak away."

Ben rose an eyebrow.

The General sighed, picking up the ice pack and putting it to his eye. "This is the first vacation I've ever had. Literally. I wanted to enjoy it without being traced. I just wanted a little..."

"Freedom?" Ben offered.

Hux looked at Ben directly in the eyes. He then lowered his head and looked at his lap.

"I hopped aboard the first non-First Order ship we came across. Unfortunately it happened to be this one."

Silence befell the group. After a few minutes, Poe spoke up. "So... What do we do with him? Torture him? Throw him out of the nearest airlock?"

Hux's head shot up.

"Nothing."

Everyone looked at Ben.

"I'm sorry, I could have sworn you said nothing," Poe quipped.

Ben got to his feet. "I did. Get him restrained and put him with the cargo. We'll figure it out once we're done with the mission."

Poe laughed sardonically. "Mission!? Mission is fully aborted, pal!"

Ben came around the table and stood directly in front of Poe. "We continue what we're doing, and then afterwards we bring him to my mother and let her decide what to do with him."

"Ben! Wake up! We have a GENERAL of the FIRST ORDER. We could just kill him and--"

"You will do no such thing," Ben snapped. "You will not harm a hair on him!"

"How sweet," Hux drolled. "I hate to say it but I have to agree with your pilot here. I mean, you already failed to kill me once..."

Ben glared at him, and then turned the look at Poe. "You are to bind him, put him in the cargo hold, and we will continue on our way as planned."

Ben swept out of the room. Poe stared after him in disbelief. Annoyed, he then called after him. "Hey! Who ever put you in charge!?"

"Poe," Rey pleaded. "Don't. It's...Complicated."

Poe looked down at the General. "Yeah... So I'm starting to understand that."

~

General Hux had his wrists and ankles tied, and then he was put into the cargo hold. Ben had shut himself in one of the bunk rooms. Rey and Poe stood in the hallway, bickering.

"Don't you find it a little odd," Poe was saying, "that he comes up with this cockamamy scheme, putting us right in the enemies territory, and then--oh look! His old boss just magically appears aboard our exact same ship?"

Rey crossed her arms. "Poe. There is no way he planned this. That doesn't make sense--it's just one man. If we were being sabotaged an entire fleet would have been waiting for us."

"And who's to say there's not? Who's to say he doesn't have a tracking device sewn into his clothing, or he swallowed it, or--"

Rey rolled her eyes. "The man is on vacation."