The doors to the crew quarters were unlocked and the rest of the Nexus were allowed to roam freely for the first time in days.
'Are you sure about this?' Vix asked Face quietly, leaning close. He and Face were stood in the cargo bay, where the others, save for Ka'iulani, Fenn and Zatt were congregated, looking around, confused. Ka'iulani was in the salon, still working on the plan to steal medical supplies. Face had debated not telling her, then realised that she'd figure it out once she heard the others moving around. Then he debated locking the door to the salon, so she couldn't escape and go after Zatt, but realised that she would probably try to escape, angrier than she already was. In the end, he settled for taking her word that she would do nothing. Fenn was still in the medbay, in a medically induced coma. The best thing for them, Tarrik assured him. Best way to keep them stable. And if things took a turn for the worse, at least they'd go peacefully. Zatt was locked up in Cora's room.
Looking at the milling people in front of him, Face struggled to answer Vix's question. For all he knew, Zatt wasn't the only spy. There could be another, hidden, Zatt taking the fall for both of them. It was a risk, but he didn't want to waste any more time. He had to trust them, or Fenn could die because they took too long getting ready. It was time to restore his trust in them all.
Face stepped forward, and all eyes turned to him. 'All right, listen up. I've treated you pretty badly these last few days, and I can only apologise with my whole heart. I'm sorry. I'm sorry for having treated you with suspicion, for having said some...honestly pretty cruel stuff.
'Twitch understands,' said Twitch, in Rodian. 'We had a spy. Face did what Face had to do to find them,' he paused. 'You did find them?' Face tried to read the others. He doubted they all shared Twitch's sentiments, but they said nothing.
'I notice Zatt isn't here,' said Ro'vena. The others looked around, taking a headcount. Garan didn't, but just glowered at Face.
Face nodded. 'Yeah,' he said somberly. 'We caught the spy. But right now I don't want you to think about that. Right now we have bigger fish to fry: Fenn's situation hasn't improved, and we need to patch up the ship before we can work on patching up Fenn, too,' Face paused, looking them over. Ro'vena, Kai, Twitch, Garan, Tarrik, Vix and Ka'iulani - all that was left of the squadron, and they all looked shaken, lost, defeated. How was he supposed to continue on like this? At what point should he say that enough was enough? 'I know things have been just so hard, perhaps too hard. I can't blame you for feeling like you do. But please, stick with me just a little longer. I know you all have it in you. Fenn needs us. Just a little bit more, for them,' Face stepped back and nodded to Vix.
Vix stepped forward, datapad in hand. 'I'm going to divvy you up into two teams: repair and planning. Planners will go to the salon and help Ka'iulani to figure out our next mission; repairers, uh, you get the idea. Garan, repair. Ro'vena, plan. Kai...' Vix read through the list of names until they all had their assignments, and Face stroked his moustache pensively as he watched them wander away, until it was just he and Vix.
'You keep an eye on them,' he told the huge Devaronian, then stalked off and up to the crew quarters.
Zatt was huddled up in the foetal position, on Cora's bed, her chin resting on her knee, staring off into nothingness. She didn't even look up as Face came in, grabbed a chair and sat beside her. Face waited until she came back to reality. She slowly turned to look at him, her gaze reaching no higher than his chest.
'I'm sorry,' she said in a tiny voice.
'Zatt,' Face said kindly. 'Talk to me. I may admittedly be a bit oblivious at times, but I'm just struggling to think how you could do this. How you could betray us.'
