Trust No One

Chapter 10

Ezra's POV

I followed Barriss to the docking bays.  We had made it through the Imperial prison, meeting only a few squads of troopers.  Now, we had managed to steal a ship and enter hyperspace.

"I have told you who I am, but who are you?" Barriss asked me.

I hesitated before answering her question, remembering how the Ghost crew abandoned me. "Ezra Bridger."

She gave a satisfied nod and turned the pilot's chair so she could see hyperspace.

We stayed silent for a few moments. But, I mean, what was there to talk about?  I just meet Barriss today.  She had helped me escape the Imperials.  But why?

"Why did you free me?"

"Hmm?" Barriss turned around again to look at me.  She didn't seem to really be paying attention. I asked her again.

Barriss pursed her lips and looked at her feet.  "Ezra, do you know why you were captured?"

"No."

Barriss resumed looking at the floor. "Then I don't know."

"Why were you imprisoned?"

"I made a mistake.  I betrayed a friend."

"Do they really exist?"

Barriss finally looked up at me, but with confusion. "What do you mean?"

"I don't believe you can trust someone enough to call them a friend."

"Why would you say that?"

"I was betrayed.  Like I said before, trust is a dangerous thing to ponder."

"What happened?"

"I tried to warn people about a trap and they left me to the Empire."

I cringed at the memory of Zeb closing the door to the Ghost, leaving me to Agent Kallus, who thought they would come back for me.  But they never did.

"But seriously, why did you free me?" I asked, trying to change the topic.

Barriss got up from her seat, but she seemed reluctant.  I could tell she had an idea about why I was in there, but she wasn't certain.  I don't know how I knew, I just did.

"Ezra, tell me about how you were captured," Barriss said.

I gave her a strange look before explaining. What was she going to get from knowing how I was kidnapped? But I didn't tell her about the secret information I had memorized right before I was taken.

"I knew it," Barriss muttered to herself.

"Knew what?" I asked.

"Nothing," Barriss replied absent-mindedly.

"It doesn't seem like nothing," I retorted.

"But why would they be doing it now?  And why hadn't anyone else discovered it before?"

"What?" I asked, but Barriss was lost in her own thoughts.

"If the Emporer is looking for the next generation, then that means some of the old generation must still be alive! Otherwise, who else would go against the Empire?"

"Barriss!" I said in a vain attempt to catch her attention.

"If this is true, I must find Ahsoka.  But is she alive?  Will she forgive me?"

"Wait, Ahsoka?  As in Ahsoka Tano?" I asked.

Barriss was finally broken out of her trance and looked at me.  "You know who Ahsoka Tano is?" she asked hopefully.

"Yeah. . . Ahsoka is working for the Rebellion," I said slowly.

"How is she?"

I shrugged my shoulders, "I only met her once, and that was a while ago."

"So she is still alive.  After all this time."

"But why do you need to find her?"

"Ezra, is there any way you can contact her?"

"Yeah."

"Then we must go there."

"Woah, I never said I would stay with you.  We escaped the prison, we are done."

"Ezra, I need you to trust me. You have to come with me.  It is for your own safety."

"I am not going with anyone I have only known for an hour."

"It is for your safety!"

"If you won't tell me why, I am not going with you."

"I can't.  It would be too dangerous."

"Then I am staying alone."

"How about a deal?"

"I'm listening."

"You take me to contact Ahsoka, and I will leave you alone."

"Why do you want to talk to Ahsoka so much?"

"I couldn't tell you."

"Why?"

"That is for a whole different reason.  You wouldn't understand."

"Always so many secrets."

"Sometimes it is best a secret be kept and forgiven then publicized to be mocked."

"That doesn't help."

"I know."