Star Wars: Life During Wartime

Redemption, part 7

Actually, the jail break went easier than she expected. The trick had been to convince the central computer that Ariel died, unattended, after Thallian's visit. Then the computer marked Ariel's cell as vacant, available for reassignment. Raena instructed the comm unit to play a blank spool, masking any noise that Ariel might make. Her friend wasn't important enough to rate constant surveillance or a guard outside her door. That made Raena's task much easier.

Raena scheduled some time to meditate alone in her "dead" friend's cell. That allowed her to be present when the next prisoner was delivered. Without ceremony, she killed him and had the disposal droid label his ashes as Ariel's.

Ariel watched in horror. "What did they do to you, Raena?"

"Look," Raena answered firmly, "sacrifices must be made. He wouldn't have survived Thallian's interrogation -- and neither will you, if you stay on this ship. I'm offering you the only chance for freedom you're going to get. If you're too squeamish to take it, you'll die in agony. That's your choice. I'll only offer this once."

Ariel gestured at the box of ashes. "He could have come with us."

"I'm taking a terrible risk as it is, Ariel. I'm doing it for you, not for your Rebellion. I can't allow any witnesses to what I'm doing. You have only an inkling what Thallian is capable of. Are you coming?"

Edging around the disposal droid, Ariel protested, "I don't want that man's death to be in vain."

"That's up to you. Keep quiet, stay close to me, and don't make any fast moves. I can keep their attention turned away from you only if you don't distract them." To the droid, Raena said, "Voice override. Delete recording of previous conversation. Confirm."

The droid hummed to itself, then said, "Override acknowledged. Command completed. Awaiting further orders."

"Your job is finished here. Submit Ariel Shaad's remains for dispersal."

The cell door hissed open. As the droid trundled out, Ariel followed Raena into the passageway.

*

Once they exited the lift tube at the flight deck, Raena said, "I hope you're familiar with Imperial assault shuttles. It's the only thing I could qualify you for that had hyperspace capability but didn't require a command crew."

"I've seen the specs," Ariel assured. As Raena handed her a data pad, she asked, "What's this?"

"Flight clearance codes."

Ariel slipped the pad into the cargo pocket of the flight suit they'd stolen. "Where shall we go?"

Raena hadn't expected Ariel to want her company. She noted that her old friend avoided looking at her. "I'm not coming with you, Ari."

Ariel's gaze, unshielded for a moment, revealed astonishment.

Raena forced her thoughts away from Ariel's. "This wasn't a trap, Ari. I don't want you to lead me to the Rebellion. I just want you away from here. Away from Thallian. Now. And be more careful next time. I may not be able to rescue you again."

"What will you do, Raena?"

A sense of futility swamped Raena. "The same as I have been," she said honestly. "Until they discover my heart isn't in it."

"Killing innocent people?"

"No one's innocent. Certainly not you, Ariel. You are a traitor to the Empire."

"The Empire has betrayed the people of this galaxy. You know that." Before Raena could argue, Ariel changed the subject. "What happens if he discovers you helped me escape?"

"I imagine he'll enjoy asking me about it." Raena shivered at the thought. "If all goes well, no one will ever suspect."

Ariel caught Raena's hand. "Will you ever get another chance to leave?"

Pulling her hand away, Raena said, "I don't want to defect, Ari. There's nowhere for me to go. I've dug my grave. I'm prepared to lie in it."

"Then I guess this is kidnapping."

Raena heard the spanner case coming, but didn't duck. When Ariel hit her, Raena welcomed unconsciousness. It took the decision from her hands.

*

Their escape was easy. Too easy. Unfortunately, hiding from one of the Emperor's best assassins had been more challenging than Raena could have imagined. Ariel pressured her to join the Alliance, in order to repay the damage she had done, but Raena declined. The price on her head was too high. Too many people looked for her. She could aid the Rebellion best by distancing herself from it, drawing away as much Imperial fire as she could. She ran from Ariel.

Secretly, Raena hadn't wanted to sully their Alliance with what she had done. Cradling the realization that she was evil, Raena desired to die.

In the end, she'd come to be relieved she had never linked up with the Rebellion. Intentionally, she had never asked her helpers where they'd come from or where they headed. She'd kept her mind-reading powers dulled by copious amounts of alcohol and what mind-dampening chemicals she could steal. She hadn't wanted to stumble across the Rebellion by accident, when it was only a matter of time until Thallian caught up to her. Raena had broken enough spies to know she would never survive a mind-probe more skilled than her own.

In the throne room, her thoughts had surely betrayed the existence of Niles and Palen Belac, the crew of the medship Plague, the spacer Sano Tocneppil. Raena could not have protected them. The Emperor ripped through her shields like paper.

Only after her final capture did Raena suspect that the Emperor had no interest in the Rebellion at all. He had simply been testing Thallian's hold on her.

To be continued...