Bonded

Chapter 23: Waiting

CHAPTER SUMMARY: Rey struggles to control her Force abilities.

Rose races into the cockpit, wide-eyed and breathless. "How far out?"

"Three minutes." Daja doesn't look back, struggling to maneuver the transport. "Assuming this ship doesn't fall apart before then." Suddenly, they dip, lobbing off the top of a tree.

"Damn it!" Daja curses. "Rey, can I not fly this thing higher?"

"No! You need to fly low or we'll get picked up by radar."

Daja groans, fighting the transport's jerky movements.

Rey looks to Rose, focusing on the large blood stain on her jacket. "How's the girl?"

"She's stable for now, but she needs a bacta tank and soon."

"Then, she's a goner." Daja lobs off another tree top. "We still don't have a clue where the haven is. It could be off planet for all we know."

Rose and Rey share a foreboding look.

"Rey." Rose rushes to her, kneeling. "You have got to convince this woman to let me come this time. I can keep girl stable. I know I can, but I have to be there."

"Rose..." Rey shakes her head. "You know she won't agree to that."

"I don't know what she's so skittish about." Daja struggles with the transport. "What is this? Our third rescue? We've freed a hundred slaves in a week. Doesn't that count for anything?"

"It does." Rey turns to Daja. "We're building trust, but it's a process. She's been sold out to the slavers before, remember? She has to be careful, and we need to respect that."

"I understand..." Rose grabs Rey's arm. "That we're trying to build trust here, I really do, but..." Her eyes tighten. "This girl's life is on the line."

"We're here," Daja announces before Rey can respond.

The ship descends into a small clearing with a transport docked to the side. Three cloaked figures stand in front of it, black fabric billowing in the wind.

Rey turns to the control panel, quickly running through pre-landing procedures.

The ship touches down unevenly, the right side settling gently, the left side crashing with a thud.

Daja pushes out an exhale. "This ship's killing me."

Rey instantly shoots up, walking swiftly with Rose. "You've got post-landing?" She calls to Daja.

"On it."

Rey's already in the hall when Daja responds. She and Rose enter the hull, a large room with several rows of seats, all of them packed with adrenaline-charged people in tattered clothes. Some look scared, but most are dazed like they just woke up.

Rose immediately goes to young girl who's not a day over twelve laying across one of the rows. She's breathing weakly, bloodied fabric at her stomach.

Rey charges to the back of the transport, slapping a panel and waiting as the loading ramp descends.

The moment it touches the ground, a black-cloaked figure pounds up the ramp, brushing past Rey without a glance. She starts speaking to the slaves in the local language, and they all jerk up. Soon they begin shuffling to the woman who points them to the other transport, touching each one lightly as they pass.

A second cloaked figured guides them to the third waiting at the transport across the clearing.

Daja rushes into the hull just as the last slave stumbles down the ramp. Rey catches her eye and nods to Rose kneeling by the injured girl. Daja moves to her swiftly, crouching.