FORESIGHT and SCOPE: BOOK TWO

C H A P T E R F I F T Y-S I X

I was bummed. This meant I had nowhere else to go but back to Coruscant and continue my routine of reading an endless supply of archival documents and training for no mission in particular. I had to go back to being bored. As I pivoted on my heel to march out of her office, Cid snapped at me. "Hey, wait! You can't just barge in here and think you can leave without explaining yourself!"

"What do you want to know?" I stopped and flipped my chin over my shoulder, my lips dropped into a curious frown.

"You are Imperial?" Her tone deepened. She had knotted her arms once again across her chest and was not budging, like she was attempting to make herself more intimidating—unfortunately for her, I've rumbled with Trandoshans thrice the size of her with firey tempers that diminished hers into barely a spark. But I understood why she was questioning my status. Imperial occupancy had not occurred yet on Ord Mantell, and once it did, Cid's sketchy business would be extinguished along with her attitude. Perhaps she thought I was the first inspector to what would lead to her financial demise.

"Technically, yes," I said. "but I wouldn't call myself a loyal subject. You are off the hook. For now." It wasn't a threat; eventually, the Empire would reach the planet—especially since this spaceport was booming with trade. Based on Crosshair's excursions, it was only a matter of time. Cid's reaction informed me she knew this. I leaned forward against her desk, my fingers stretched across the wooden surface and my elbows locked. "My name is Athena Quinn. Yes, I am a clone. No, I was not a soldier of the Republic first. Just a, um, humble bounty hunter, just trying to survive in a changing galaxy. What about you? Are you going to help Fern and the others out? Or leave them to 'figure it out' on their own?"

Cid actually flinched. So did that mean she actually cared about the clones, but was too headstrong and self-centered to admit it? I scoffed through my nose. "If you do reach out, tell Fern I said hi." I paused in consideration, grinning to myself. "And tell her she's off the hook, too. That I've had my fun. She'll understand."

"There's a reason why Princess is afraid of you. I know this because there is not much that scares her. What threat do you actually pose?"

My frown twisted. "Who can say? Like I said, the reveal of my existence shocked her. And I may have parted her a threat or two. But it's not like I've acted at all. If I truly frightened her as much as you claimed, then perhaps she was not as strong as you believed. Perhaps she is more sensitive than you think and just wants to do what's best to protect her squad and herself. That includes not mingling with random identical sisters and dealing with your reckless avocations and apocryphal allegiance. Did you ever think of that?"

Once again, the Trandoshan was speechless. I loved it when I was right. I saluted her with two fingers. "I'm sure we won't be seeing each other again, Ciddarin Scaleback, so please give my regards to my sister if you do see her. I mean her no harm. I have my own priorities at the moment, and I tend to fulfill them." I shrugged playfully. "Eventually."

With that, I departed from Cid's office. AZI-3 whizzed by with a whirl of his little torso. "Are you leaving so soon, Not-Fern?"

"I am." I smirked, hands snug in my jacket pockets. "Keep up the good work."

"Oh, well, t-thank you!" the droid exclaimed.

I exited the parlor. Once I reached the top step of the stairwell, I huffed due to this dud of a sabbatical. I was tempted to hail Crosshair to rant about it, but I remembered he did not know who I was wanting to see. As I trudged back towards the spaceport, I kicked a small stone into a wall, pondering on how I was going to get back to Coruscant.

What if you didn't go back?

I halted in my tracks. My fists clenched inside my jacket pockets, for it was a valid consideration. Why should I go back? My original plan of joining the Empire had failed the moment Rampart was arrested. It has tripled its dominance every day since, consuming every last bit of freedom from the common folk and gifting it to the powerful and dangerous. I unfortunately fit in that category; I could return to my life alone as a bounty hunter with no chip off my shoulder—like joining the Empire never happened. My identity as a defective clone has been secured up til now. I intended to keep it that way. My presence has been completely overlooked by my militarial administration since. I was a body taking up space in their Imperial base with no orders and no supervision. I was not existing—in fact, I was more invisible than ever. I could disappear and no one would even notice I was gone...I wouldn't be missed...

But I was no longer alone...

I putted the same pebble with the inside of my foot as I bit my bottom lip. I knew why I couldn't leave, and it wasn't because I wanted to polish off the sixteenth volume of planetary botany of the Outer Rim.

Crosshair...

I didn't know what his thoughts were on the contingency of our...idyllic moment in the corridor. I suppose both of us were too content that the other had not been resentful. We may had been separated by the Empire, but we were still allies in this fight for purpose. I existed to him. And right now, he was worth risking the postponement of my leave...

Rampart's last grim warning echoed in my mind: "Whatever you feel for CT-9904, do not let it expose itself...The Empire will find out and expunge your future in an instant. Like how they did to me."

My unspoken query from the corridor swirled around his words like a capsule: "Have you ever loved someone madly?"

"Why should I have to beg for everybody wants?..."

In terms of what feelings I was harboring for the elite clone, well, I didn't fully trust myself to discern them—how could one know for certain when they've never experienced nor received it before? Nevertheless, there was only one fundamental truth that mattered... I could not abandon Crosshair. I would not abandon him.

"Oh...scrag." I sighed, then rolled my shoulders back with a pop of my neck. "There'll be no walking away after this." You care more for a man than saving your skin...The realization swelled in my chest. What have you become? From inside my pockets, my fists pumped forward, driving my feet to continue their trek to the spaceport. There, I would swindle someone to take me back to Coruscant, where I would wait patiently for whatever Fate, or the Empire—whomever decided to take charge first—has in store for me.

I'm Athena Quinn.

I could handle anything.