Freaks of the Force

Deal

Kina sat on the edge of the stone shelf, watching Ezra's sleeping face. He looked peaceful now that he was unconscious and safely back at WING headquarters.

"He should be fine," Tyler, one of the humans who worked with WING, announced. "Just let him sleep it off, and take that stupid collar off of him."

"I never thought it was a good idea to begin with," Kina told him, clicking the metal collar open and removing it from Ezra's neck. Tyler took it and stuffed it into his medical bag.

"It was dumb," he agreed, zipping the bag closed in one swift movement.

"Tell me what's wrong one more time."

"I already told you twice. You don't need to hear it again."

"Please, Tyler? Norasky might ask me for a full report."

Tyler sighed and shouldered his bag.

"Blaster wound to the side, mild over-electrical stimulus, and small burns," he listed. "Just don't send him out to battle any time soon."

Kina's eyes caught on a faint flashing from Ezra's closed fist. It had been tightly clenched before, but now it was starting to relax. Pulling back his finger's slightly allowed the communicator to come into view.

"Something wrong?" Tyler asked as Kina's mind raced.

"No, nothing," she told him, taking the communicator and slipping it into Ezra's sleeve. Instantly the light was hidden.

"You deserve to be able to talk to them," she whispered in Ezra's ear. She stood and followed Tyler out of the room, closing the door securely behind her.

---

Thalia crept towards the imperial shuttle, blaster held ready. She couldn't see any stormtroopers, but that didn't mean they weren't there. And she would be ready for them.

"You look like you're off to do something important," a voice said from somewhere nearby. Thalia jumped and spun, blaster raised. A man in a lab coat stood a short distance away, leaning against a stone pillar.

"You've got two seconds to defend yourself before I shoot," Thalia told him.

"The name is Doctor Carther," he said, casually saluting. "You're one of the girls who raided my lab. You're a cousin to Ezra, aren't you?"

"We should have killed you while we had the chance," Thalia growled.

"And you should have fired sooner," Doctor Carther countered as several stormtroopers stepped out of their hiding places, blasters trained on Thalia.

"What do you want?" Thalia asked, lowering her own blaster slightly.

"A deal," Doctor Carther told her. "I want my prize specimen back. He wasn't supposed to ever escape. I currently have the location of your precious WING, so I don't really need you alive. But if you promise to bring me Ezra, I may just let that little file we have about WING . . . vanish."

"Where do you want him?" Thalia asked, lowering her blaster completely.

"There's a good girl," Doctor Carther said with a smile. "Bring him to Lothcat Cliff at night. I'll check every day until you arrive. But if you don't bring him within a week, the deal is off and WING's location becomes public."

"I get it," Thalia told him. "Don't worry, he'll be there."

Thalia flapped her wings and leapt into the sky, soaring away. Doctor Carther watched her receding form.

"I thought you might say that," he said. "You children never disappoint."