FORESIGHT and SCOPE: BOOK TWO

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

My body convulsed with disbelief and fell back into the co-pilot's chair. This isn't happening. My hands raked through my hair, unraveling my braid and disordering my grey headband up my hairline. "You mean," A hysterical chuckle sputtered from my lips. "I've been paranoid...an–and scared stiff all this time...for no reason?"

I wanted to cry, but I couldn't tell if I would shed tears of joy or tears of anger.

"She said she had her fun." Cid sighed. "She also said she had her priorities and intended to fulfill them. I guess you are not, in fact, a priority of hers."

"No doubt she's been moving up and about in the Empire." I clenched my jaw. My fingernails scraped against my jawline before my chin dug into my palm.

"I wouldn't say that, Princess," Cid snapped her claws. "because that's the interesting part." I raised my head, meeting her yellow eyes. "Get this, Athena told me she didn't consider herself a 'loyal subject' of the Empire."

I blinked twice. "But she's still apart of it?"

"Yeah."

"What in the Force is that suppose to mean? I'm so confused..." I buried my face in my hands. "I'm not being stalk—I was never being stalked by my evil older sister. She is still working for the Empire, but what now? She's a double agent? She is able to have her own 'priorities'? Who is she?" I jumped to my feet and clawed the air with my palms faced up. I then began pacing, hands pinching my hips and neck arched back.

"Hey, Fern," Cid noted. "What happened to you telling the boys about this? After Safa Toma. When Bandana and Killjoy got—"

"I was." I cut her off, jabbing a finger at her. "But I couldn't. I couldn't bring myself to. There was no need to add fuel to an already chaotic fire. Everybody's, specifically Hunter's, minds were focused on retaining our low profile. The riot race on Safa Toma was highly risky in the first place." I heaved in a deep breath, ceasing my stride in the center of the cockpit. "I am determined on keeping Athena a shut-tight secret until absolutely necessary to bring her up due to that. As a result, sure, my conscience is suffering—but I can tolerate it as long as my squad is safely oblivious to my sister's existence." I threw up my hands again and let them drop at my sides, slapping the outside of my upper thighs. "Now, I come to find out all this paranoia festered from a bluff..."

"I know, Princess."

"And somehow, I know you know." I nodded, my mouth tightened in a straight line. I plopped down in the pilot's seat this time, slumping my body at an angle. I then propped my elbow on the arm rest and knuckled my temple into my fist, closing my eyes as I regulated my breath intake. Cid, meanwhile, was watching me with her arms crossed. "Is there anything else?" I asked, unable to hide the exhaustion in my voice.

"Nothing important. She blabbered on about herself. She talks too much."

The two of us remained silent for a solid three seconds before I sighed through my fingers, "Thank you, Cid. For telling me."

"Gah, you don't need to thank me, Princess."

"No, actually, I do." I lowered my hand and leaned forward over my knees. "Athena is a dangerous woman, no matter what her twisted intentions are. As long as she is associated with the Empire, we cannot trust her. It is undoubtably possible she lied to you." I pinched the air between me and Cid's holographic image, my fingers trembling as my blood boiled and my voice strained. "She is playing these mind games...and frankly, I don't know what to do. I don't know what she knows or doesn't know. She seemed to be well-versed in an awful lot of background on me and my squad, but she could be bluffing on always keeping track on us. She knew where to find us, but didn't know where we had gone...

"Regardless, I can't stretch it enough how big of a relief this is for me...You bringing this to my attention, I mean." My head hung in gratitude, but my mind was bubbling with contradictions, for I was still frustrated with the Trandoshan's lack of hospitality. Her dimissive nature when the squad and I were stranded on Ipsidon was, in my opinion, the last straw...

But now...I feel this surge of renewed trust for Cid...Is it possible our irritating friendship actually meant something to her, after all?

"I know, Fern." Cid scratched the back of her head in earnest. Then, she cleared her throat and frantically swatted her hands, causing the connection to glitch. "Alright, alright. I told you now. So, are you and the boys going to get going on this job?"

I glanced up at her. The corners of my mouth twitched. Incidentally, that's all I needed to do to deliver my reply. Cid scoffed, "You know the deal, Princess. I don't repeat myself twice."

"Neither do I, Cid." I said deeply, and I ended the transmission. Cid's holographic image dispersed, and I was left in silence.

"Calm down." I rubbed my chest. I then ripped my prized jacket off as I began to sweat profusely. "You're good." I continued to whisper to myself, smoothing down my tousled hair and fixing my braid. "It's all good news. Good news. Everything...is good."

"Fern?" I heard Hunter's voice on the other side of the sealed panel door. "Everything good in there?"

"Yep," I shouted a little too loudly. I quickly adjusted my headband to its proper place over my hairline. "Here, hang on." I swallowed every bit of anxiety swelling up in my throat and eyes before pressing the button to unlock the door. Omega hopped in first and immediately asked the obvious question. "So what did you and Cid talk about?"

"We were further discussing our employment status after what happened on Ipsidon." I lied. My tone was still a little shaky, but I reinforced it with a cheeky smirk. "I had warned Cid before, but maybe we came to a stalemate at least. Honestly," I slapped my hands on my knees and hoisted myself up with my best oh-well impression. "it was not that productive of a talk."

"Why would Cid want to talk to you alone if the topic included all of us?" Tech inquired.

I stared at him. Jeez, Wired-Brain, can't you read between the lines?

"It was a little more personal." I said through my gritted teeth, bulging my eyes with a tilt of my head. Now, I was just being conspicuous...

"In any case," Hunter intervened. "while you and Cid were talking, we discussed the mission. Cid only gave us coordinates to the crashed ship. No transponder code or indication of what caused it to crash."

"Shocker." I rolled my eyes.

"We," Hunter gazed over to the others. "figured giving this a shot anyway. 50% of the cut will allow us to take a break and decide what we should do next, depending on what we end up salvaging."

That is a fair point. I sighed.

And I sort of owe Cid, don't I?...

The Trandoshan did not have to tell me Athena came by looking for me nor was she obligated to keep her word on withholding our whereabouts. Athena was still Imperial, and I know how wary Cid has been about the Empire...

"Okay." I nodded. "Let's head out before I change my mind." I turned to seat myself in the pilot's spot when Hunter touched my arm. When I faced him, he had that want-to-talk-about-it look. I mouthed 'Later' with an assuring nod. As I settled in my seat, all my paranoia and anxiety I've been concealing warped into dozens of questions with no source for answers. The only reliable one would be Athena Quinn herself, and frankly I wanted nothing to do with her.

This is good. I told myself as I punched in the new coordinates. I stared out the viewport as the Marauder zipped through the blue-white, psychedelic portal. We will do this job, and we'll finally have a moment to discuss our next steps. Perhaps even address what I had proposed to the squad, minus Omega, in the ipsium mine. As of right now, Athena will not linger on my mind anymore. I can finally focus on what I've wanted for me and for my squad since the destruction of Kamino...

A future.