Arani Jakal was not ready to be stranded on an unfamiliar planet, causing her whole life to change. But in the chaos, a friend or two popped up - seemingly from nowhere - wishing to help. Ari gladly accepted and quickly became part of a small town...
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INSIDE THE HEART OF THE BUILDING, they came to a stop. Mayfeld and Din opened the doors and climbed out, a part of Ari had been waiting for the latter to help her down as he always did on the Crest. But they were no longer in the safety of privacy, they had to be professional colleagues - she was wearing a uniform of higher ranking after all.
The sound of cheering had grown, and once Ari was down, she was flanked by troopers. She stayed close enough to Din that she wouldn't be overwhelmed by them, she never did well in enclosed spaces that held large crowds.
Mayfeld pulled the two in closer. "It's probably in the officers' mess," he told them in a hushed voice.
The crowd split for them as they made their way to the mess, the excitement from the stormtroopers dissipating. As Ari glanced around at the faces that were not hidden by helmets, she noticed that there was not a single other woman. She bit her lip, there's been a mistake, surely they will know that she was not the original woman on board.
They came to an entrance way and Mayfeld looked inside. "There it is."
"Good luck," said Din.
"Okay," Mayfeld muttered and then turned to go inside, only to pause and return to the two. "I can't go in there."
"Why not?"
"That's Valin Hess."
"Who?"
"It's Valin Hess. I used to work under him."
"Will he recognize you?"
"I don't know. I was just a field operative, but I'm not takin' the chance. It's over."
"Let's just do this quick and we can get out of here."
"I can't do it, okay? We have to abort. I'm sorry."
Ari huffed. "If we don't get those coordinates, we'll lose the kid forever. Give me the data stick."
"No way. In order to access the network, the terminal has to scan your face. I may not have said anything, but I know who you are, Senator. The terminal will recognize you in seconds. Kinda hard to explain why a dead person has been resurrected."
The young woman crossed her arms, almost pouting. "Alright, I get it."
"Give it to me."
Ari and Mayfeld's heads shot to Din. "What?"
He took the data stick from Mayfeld's hand and walked off.
"What the hell is he doing?" Ari stammered and bolted up the small set of stairs.
