Rise of the Order: A Star Wars Story

Chapter 30: Zerek

Finn sat in the dejarik booth of the Falcon, his finger tapping the surface numbly. His head rested on the table as he watched his finger drum a song of nonsense. The rhythm a melody of the intense apathy that had overcome him the past couple days. 

Heavy footsteps joined the sound suddenly, causing Finn's finger to pause. He slowly blinked at the Wookie that walked towards him. 

Chewie roared at him, gesturing with a nod of his head to his datapad.

"Chewie, if you're asking where Rey is, I have no idea," Finn sighed. "And I haven't seen Jennica at all. So I won't be any help." 

The Wookie shook his mane, bellowing out again in an attempt to be understood.

Finn eyed him. "Is something wrong? I don't understand."

Not that Chewie saying anymore would help him understand, but Chewie tried nonetheless. He pointed to his datapad, shook it even, and roared out his explanation. 

Finn glanced at the datapad. "Does this have to do with the motion sensors we put up around the border?" he guessed.

Chewie did a frantic nod of his head. 

"They were activated?" Finn asked, sitting up. 

Another hurried nod came as a response. 

BB-8 then rolled in, probably having followed the Wookie in the first place. He beeped out what Chewie just said, excitingly wiggling his head. 

"Okay, okay," Finn calmed the droid. "So they were activated. When?"

BB-8 answered for the Wookie. 

"Just a few minutes ago?" Finn's eyes widened. "Okay, this is good. We might actually be able to catch whatever is releasing the disease."

He stood from the table, sudden life flowing through his veins. They might be able to leave soon. They could get off this infected planet before the First Order comes. He was going to be alright.

"Alright, we need to tell Rey, and get down there," Finn thought out loud. "This might be our only chance."

But just as he went bounding for the ramp, Chewie stopped him. His furry arm becoming a wall.

Finn furrowed his brows. "What?" he frowned.

Chewie roared at him, complaint obvious in his tone of voice. In hopes of easing Finn's confusion, BB-8 echoed what the Wookie said. 

Finn glanced between the two. "Oh, you think I should tell Jennica too?"

They both nodded.

"Well, I'm not really in the mood to see her," Finn retorted. 

He made to leave again, but Chewie wasn't having it. 

"Chewie!" Finn exclaimed. "We don't have time for you to lecture me right now!"

Chewie held his ground though. A growl escaped his rows of teeth. 

Finn groaned. "Okay, okay! I'll talk to her! Let's just go, please!" 

The Wookie eyed him, not sure whether he believed Finn or not. But either way, he released the man--Finn practically bolted out of the Falcon at the chance. Chewie and BB-8 followed close behind. Their constant presence steering Finn to go to Jennica first. 

Not that either of them knew where to begin to look for her anyway. But Finn could take a guess at who she would be with, if she was with anyone. So they asked around for Zerek.

Nobody had seen him either. Which kind of confirmed Finn's suspicions, albeit left them no lead. One of the Councilmen said that although he hadn't seen Zerek recently, they could always go check his study.