Back To Krypton

Chapter 16

Astra, ever the general, talks first. Neither sides of the table want to fight, both want explanations and acceptance, yet an awkwardness fills the air. How does one start a conversation when tentative trust could be shattered once they ask questions?

The sound of their breathing fills the air, the only sound in the room. It's loud, like someone is banging a drum on the table between them, too much to ignore. Still, none of them speaks, waiting for the others out in hopes that they break first.

Even Kara, whose heart longs to trust her aunt, her familial confidant, cannot bring herself to speak first for fear of saying the wrong thing, waiting for someone else to set the mood of the conversation.

Lena's wristwatch fills the air with its steady ticking, putting them all more on edge than they already were. Tick. Tick. Tick.

None of them are really sure how long they sit there before Astra sighs and pulls out a little spherical device and taps it a few times to get it to open up with information.

"I suppose we can start here." She places it on the table and shows Kara specifically since it is in Kryptonese.

Kara skims the text, her eyes getting minutely wider the further she gets along the lines. She tries to hide it, clearing her throat and then trying to play it cool. "What do your stock levels have to do with us? Do you need us to pay you back for any food we took?"

Lena's heart thuds in her chest, her anxiety rising higher. If they keep getting themselves into these situations, then she is going to have to have an actual heart attack, she just knows it.

Astra knows what she's doing, that she's trying to cover their tracks and the knowing expression on her face tells both Kara and Lena that she knows.

"We all know that isn't the reason I'm showing you this."

Lena has been in situations like this many a time. Business meetings often looked similar to this, both sides wanting to win, to overpower the opposition with knowledge. Lena doesn't like losing but when she's opposing someone so important to Kara she can't use her usual dirty tricks to get her ahead. Namely gathering as much intel as possible and then spewing a few thinly veiled threats.

"In that case, why are you showing us this?" Lena tries to maintain direct eye contact, trying to act braver than she currently feels, maybe then her bravado will become real.

Astra takes a visible breath and her lips twist ever so slightly as she tries to formulate the right words. Despite the fact that they are the only ones in the room she lowers her voice considerably and leans forward.

On any other day, Lena would take this as a sign that she is going to threaten them, but her demeanour seems softer somehow, almost apprehensive.

"I know you two aren't alone and I don't blame you for not telling me but I can't help you keep it from the rest of The Rebellion if you don't tell me everything so I can cover it up for you."

That shocks both Kara and Lena, not because Astra figured it out but because she is seemingly going against the Rebellion, her own cause.

They share a look while Astra watches on before Kara speaks. "Why would you go against them when you're their general?"

Astra sighs and rubs her eyes tiredly. "We don't have the time to dig into all of the bureaucracy but here, while we all have the same cause, not everyone here shares the same methods. If I treat you with too much leniency then my power will be called into question and much harsher methods may be implemented across the planet. I want a peaceful resolution, that isn't true for everyone here, but I need these people."