FORESIGHT and SCOPE: BOOK TWO

C H A P T E R F O R T Y

Turdek was bluffing.

Now, Crosshair had to somehow subtly relay the message to his partner; it's not like they had signals or encrypted phrases. A single nod to her would be too conspicuous. But he must be ready with something the next time she glanced up.

"Problem?" Turdek smacked his lips, his yellow, slitted eyes glared at the female clone with brash zealness.

"It's a difficult call." Athena said calmly. "After all, if I lose this hand, I will be stranded on this planet forever."

"Missing the comfort of your Imperial station on Felucia?"

"Of course." Athena forced a smile. Then, she blinked twice. Once to glance to Crosshair and the second to look down at her cards. She fought the urge to smirk. She'd caught her partner's signal. Crosshair had tucked a toothpick between his teeth — when he did, his thin lips curled into a grin. Athena inhaled again, only this time with more certainty and pushed all her credits into the center heap.

The reveal was dealt. Athena laid hers neatly in front of her and the crowd held their breath. The Trandoshan fell silent, his nasty grin sunk and his claws gripped his cards. Athena cocked her head to the side in amusement. "Problem?" she asked, mockingly. Turdek dropped his cards with a defeated grunt, pounded the table, and crossed his arms with a pouty jeer. Walt scoffed with a shake of his head and smirked over to the victorious woman. "Well played."

The audience went wild, roaring and cheering for the bounty hunter and exchanging their own bets with various reactions. She collected her jackpot and bowed with respect to Turdek and Walt. "It was an honor playing with you both. The next time I'm in town, I'll be sure to seek you out for another round. Crosshair, shall we?"

The soldier grinned, manuevering his toothpick between his teeth. The two clones peacefully left the saloon, returned to the appalled dockmaster, and bought an adequate shuttle. Athena had made a significant profit even after the purchase.

As Crosshair ascended out of Endor's atmosphere, he chuckled, "That couldn't have gone any smoother." He activated and jumped the ship to lightspeed. "That was good work on your part."

"Hey," Athena playfully nudged his shoulder. "Our part. Nice signal, by the way..." She kicked her feet up on the console, stretched her arms above her head, and lounged back in the co-pilot's seat.

Crosshair's smirk softened as he watched her eyes flutter close and drift off into a well-deserved nap. He leaned down, pulled out her bomber jacket from her bag, lightly shook it out, and gently tucked it over her shoulders and under her chin. However, her head lopped over to the right and her jawline smushed into the top of his hand before he could move it. The soldier froze and blinked. Not wanting to wake her, he carefully flipped his hand until her cheek fell into his cupped palm, to which his breath shuddered nervously. As he leveled her head, his thumb tenderly stroked over her cheekbone.

The elite clone straightened back into the pilot's seat, his left hand still tingled from her touch even when he gripped the steering console. His heart thumped against his ribcage; its beat throbbed in his ears. While Athena slept for the entire trip back to Coruscant, Crosshair reminesced over the last three days...particularly about the bounty hunter at his side. Before this disastrous mission, Athena Quinn was a ruthless, dangerous, contriving woman, whose agenda was solely based on marking her presence in the powerhouse that was the Galatic Empire by any means necessary, mostly devious ones. Now, in his perspective at least, she was more human — perplexed by her own upbringing, suffering a violent condition cast onto her as a side effect of her design, and helplessly searching for a purpose in a galaxy that never wanted her...

Crosshair then recognized a change in himself...and how Athena was the reason for that change. His thoughts rushed through his mind like rapids in a river — every detail of Athena was trapped in his vision. There was one revelation, though, that Crosshair inhaled with fulfillment... Even though they shared identical physical features, he no longer recognized Fern in Athena. The latter was at last her own person — his partner — in his eyes.

Eventually, at long last, their shuttle gently jerked out of hyperspace, descended into the ecumenopolis, and touched down in the spaceport at the entrance of the Imperial Military Base. The female clone slipped on her muddy, dry-ashed jacket and raked her fingers through her greasy hair. Her dark eyes burned with a vendetta — one for a particular vice admiral. She had many inqueries about the mysterious Imperial base, their pilot's disappearance, and the general lack of assistance. She and Crosshair marched directly to Rampart's office, the former leading the charge and the latter having no objections.

"What are you going to do?" Crosshair inquired.

"I don't know yet." Athena replied. "Perhaps something inside me will provide the answer when I see him."

They shoved passed Imperial officers and troopers, who all dawned disgusted looks when they saw the two clones' appearances. Athena and Crosshair did not paid them a second glance as they burst into the chamber at the end of the corridor, only to find it empty and more dreary than usual. Athena stomped her foot in frustration, while Crosshair narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

"You two," a male voice sounded behind them. They turned in unison to find a young officer standing at the entranceway, his hands folded behind his back. "If you are looking for the vice admiral, you will not find him here."

"What do you mean?" Athena questioned. "Where is he?"

"Vice Admiral Rampart has been arrested."