Shared Vision

Chapter 10 "Internal Affairs"

REY:

Rey awoke late in the morning. She stretched and enjoyed the feeling of being well rested. She turned on her side, but saw only the walls of her own room. It was no surprise, she had slept past breakfast, and she imagined that the duties of a Supreme Leader started early. Feeling motivated, Rey dressed and did her hair, then headed to Command. Today Captain Golst was going to show her more about navigation. She hoped that would be more interesting than trying to learn programming. Caulder had been trying to make running the computer systems easier for Rey to understand, but she knew she wasn't picking it up as fast as he hoped. Caulder was very patient with her, but it was probably for the best that they had a break from each other today. Captain Golst was pleasant to work with. He always encouraged Rey to stretch out with the force, to do as much as she could instinctively before learning the standard controls. She enjoyed learning from him, but found herself holding back from getting too personally involved. Ben had told her that looking for familial relationships was her greatest weakness. And though she didn't want to believe it at the time, the idea had stuck with her.
Funny that he doesn't see himself as my greatest weakness. Rey thought. I can't even fall asleep at night without being able to hear him breathing across the room.

She soon found that there was more to navigation than she had thought. She assumed that the computer did the calculations, gave the Captain the go ahead, and they made the jump. But there was more to it than that. The computer would calculate routes, fuel consumption, efficiency and even a failure percentage rate. It was then up to the Captain to choose the route he felt was best. Following his decision, the ship had to be aligned in order to follow the predetermined path. After all that was done, more calculations were figured to make sure that they wouldn't drop out of lightspeed and run right into another ship. Rey's only experience with mathematics was trying to get the most portions from the parts she had scavenged, so it all seemed a bit overwhelming. The morning was interrupted by an announcement from Leia. Operatives were reporting that the installation schedule of the Enforcer Moons had been delayed. Everyone was in better spirits from then on, and each person seemed to fold themselves into their roles more whole heartedly. The mood of the crew went from living day to day to recapturing a hope for the future.

With the peace afforded by the delay in Moon installations, life fell into a pattern. Rey and Finn would meet for training and begin with physical exercises, often times running. Then Finn would read excerpts from the Jedi texts and they would try to decipher the application. Rey would say that she was going to use "Jedi Meditation" to figure out the lesson, and as soon as Finn was gone she would have Ben explain it to her. Then Ben would instruct her. Training with Ben varied greatly. Some days it was strenuous exertion that left her ready to drop, other days she would be required to sit and focus all her attention on one item and just observe the energy in and around it. Her favorite sessions were team exercises where her and Ben worked together. It seemed to come so naturally, they had no real trouble getting synchronized. They did team lessons regularly, as Ben was constantly changing the scenarios. At times they were required to battle a holographic enemy outright. Sometimes, they had to be more covert, overcoming an adversary without being detected. There were drills where Rey had to brawl without the use of a limb or blind folded; times when she had to compensate for a feigned injury. And Ben spoke so often during the sessions. His inflection was so soothing, even when he was correcting her mistakes, Rey felt drawn in by his voice.

The benefits of the training were becoming more noticable. Rey was calmer and somewhat more disciplined. Her confidence even in learning the Command systems was increasing. Her disposition in general was more cheerful, though privately she had to admit that much of her good humor came from the unorthodox sleeping arrangement that had become routine. Every night her and Ben fell asleep staring across the room at each other.