Star Crossed

Promises

This very evening.

I was terrified. So terrified that I nearly vomited my collation – the cakes Krennic bribed me with – in the fresher. In his office, he had sobered from the fake enthusiasm shown to my team to the various serious and calculating man I knew. He wanted me to check in every week, exposing our plans, so that Lord Vader's visit would be flawless. I gathered his neck was on the line with this from the crease that formed upon his forehead.

He had released me fifteen minutes ago with a gentle pat upon my shoulder.

— "Make me proud, Elya."

Ever the gentle father figure... Or not. I was now pacing like a lion in a cage in my quarters, hoping Galen would show up so that we could discuss this new obstacle in peace. His face had not moved a muscle in the lab; perhaps I was the only one freaking out. At any rate, I would take his gentle reassurance with relief. I'd never been so tightly strung in the past; facing official examiners couldn't hold a candle to meeting, Lord Vader. To think that Orson's presence used to ground me ... and now he was about to unleash the emperor's second in command upon us... A Sith, whose abilities to feel and read minds would probably unmask us.

The door swished open, making me jump. One simple look at Galen's face told me reassurance would be scarce. Now that his blank mask had fallen, I could read the panic in his eyes. His mind was running so wild that he barely acknowledged me. I reached for his hand.

— "Come, sit," I ordered.

The tall man lowered himself on the bed, his back rigid, his body ready to spring. Coiled. I sighed, and fished a piece of coral from my drawer. A little nibble was all it took for my body to relax – a Pavlov reflex now. I offered the orange root to Galen, turning it so that he wouldn't have to bite where my teeth had sunk – friends, yes, but we weren't about to share saliva. The scientist shook out of his haze, dismissing my attempt with a wave of his hand. I didn't insist.

— "So...", I started. "Vader."

— "Yes. Vader."

— "A mind reading Sith, coming to uproot a mole, you think?"

Erso addressed me an assessing look; he wasn't shocked.

— "How do you know about those rumours, Elya? You've been researching the Force Church?"

I pursed my lips; did he really think me that stupid to sell my doubts on the empire's network? My temper rose.

— "Of course not! Whom do you take me for?"

Galen's hand suddenly lifted in true universal gesture of peace, and I realised I had attacked him out of fear. I took a deep breath, marvelling about his character. Most people I knew reacted to aggression by aggression, me the first. But when facing anger, the scientist managed to put things in perspective when I clearly had trouble reining my temper. So I endeavoured to lower my tone, and not bite his head off.

— "I will not risk the holonet. Krennic would pick up on that. But I had a vision."

This time, his eyebrows knitted on his forehead.

— "A vision?"

There was no contempt nor derision in his voice, and I felt respected enough to continue.

— "Yes. The day you brought those crystals in, I wanted to test Lyra's side of things."

The flinch was barely there, but it still flashed in his eyes when I mentioned her name. It had been ten months already... But I couldn't let this fact sidetrack me, so I went on.