Program 2187

I

"He can't stay up there forever." Another nondescript Resistance fighter that had come and sat next to Rey observed. He sat, watching the dot on the screen blip constantly closer to yet another planet that would mean nothing in a while. The man next to Rey didn't mean to be as annoying as he was being, and the young girl tried not to demonize him. She could not take out her frustrations on random soldiers.

"He seems pretty determined to." She grumbled, just loud enough to elicit an unanswered "huh?" from the man next to her.

After a few more minutes of silence, once it became obvious Rey had no intention to repeat herself, the man said, "I mean, he'll need fuel and food eventually."

Rey nodded, barely paying the man any mind. She feared Poe had completely forgotten about those two essentials ages ago, anyway. Her friend had started living in his X-wing nearly a week ago, zipping across the system from planet to planet, searching for the First Order. Since then, word from him had been scarce and Rey had memorized the digital map of the system that sat in front of her day and night. On the counter that ran perpendicular to the wall-like map sat a comm link that had gone largely unused. Every hour Rey thought of putting it back on, decided against it, and then used the next hour trying to revise her "just come home," speech. It was obvious, despite her hourly rehearsals, that nothing could convince Poe to think rationally.

In the minutes that had passed, Rey had failed to notice that a new companion had sat at the map. Still a Resistance fighter, it was hard to call General Leia Organa nondescript. She sat in patience, waiting for Rey to acknowledge her, in hopes of catching her in a better mood.

"General," Her words still came out muffled and half hearted.

"Rey, we may have found a way to locate the First Order." Leia said slowly, and calmly. She let out a long breath before finishing, aware that Rey was not celebrating. "However, I need you to get Poe back down."

The young girl, sitting loyally in the same place she had been for near a week, almost laughed. "I can try General." She said, with only the hope that this new information would catch Poe's attention. Leia left once again, taking the other soldier with her.
Rey sat in the silent control center for the Resistance. Everyone, even those who were adamant that the enemy be destroyed immediately, understood the gravity of the situation, and many had found other places to meet. The still was broken only by Rey's slow motion towards the comm headpiece. Somehow, the wide headphones seemed to muffle even the quiet of the surrounding room.

"Poe?" She forced herself to speak louder now, into the microphone that hovered near her mouth. There was no response for almost long enough to make Rey scream.

"One more planet, Rey." The voice on the other end was gravely and broken, but there. And that was a miracle all on its own.

"No," nothing but static poured from the headphones for a few minutes. Rey wished she could see her friend's face, even if only to know if he was surprised, angry, or just thinking.

"You're giving up." He finally spoke, the accusation sending her stomach plummeting. Poe sounded hurt, like he might have been angry had he enough energy to spare.

"No, you know this means as much to me as it does to you." Rey spat back in turn. When Poe said nothing, she added, "The General asked me to bring you back down. She thinks she's found a way to locate the First Order." Still, there was no response. "And you can't keep flying across the Galaxy hoping to find them."

"I can't stop looking. I'll stay up here, and if you guys find anything-"

"Poe, how long has it been since you've eaten?" Rey didn't speak over Poe, but he fell into silence regardless. "How much fuel do you have left? You need to come down here and rest." Again, she let quiet over take the comm. "You can't save him if you're tired and malnourished."

"An hour." He took a breath that was audible through the link. "I'll be there in an hour, and this had better be worth it."

"We'll save him," Rey whispered, almost more to herself than Poe. "We'll get Finn back."