When Light Meets Dark - Kylo's Sister

Command Central

"Sometimes I think,

I need a spare heart to feel

all the things I feel."

~Sanober Khan, A Thousand Flamingos

Rey

"Ah. I see."

The man standing in front of me with slicked back hair blinked in alarm. He had tried to seem composed and understanding while he listened to me speak, but gradually his eyes had widened until they were straining out of their sockets.

I found myself biting my lip as I waited for him to say something.

"This was unexpected," he said finally and cleared his throat. "And we need to address it in the most rational way possible."

"We've wasted enough time already," I replied. "If I could just have a word with Ertra--"

"No!" he almost yelled, and then quickly smoothed his hair over with his hand. I blinked at him. The feeling in my stomach was unbearable.

"Commander Ertra," he said slowly. "Is handling some very important business. The last thing she needs right now is someone bursting into the command room to tell her that a soldier has been taken hostage."

I squirmed at the word 'hostage'. We'd been back at the base for several hours and I still hadn't been given a chance to speak to Ertra about what happened. I was tense and disoriented and had blurted out the story to the first person who had asked. Unfortunately, this had only seemed to make the situation worse.

'Lieutenant Groyne' his silver badge read. 'Lead Battle Strategist'

I looked up again at his face. He looked about thirty, and his mouth was set in a hard, thin line. As he towered quietly above me he looked over my head. He seemed to be thinking of what to say next. I exhaled and focused on his mind. Then his thoughts began to unfold, and I could hear them as clearly as my own.

Bounty hunters was the first thing I heard. Then, working for the Syndicate maybe? Set up negotiations. But it may be too late. His thoughts shot through my mind like bullets. Suddenly he cast a sharp glance down at me, making me lose my concentration momentarily. As he looked away he thought, just a child, and I couldn't tell if he was referring to Jake or me.

"Please," I said. "Just let me speak to Ertra. She needs to know what's going on."

"Oh, she will know," Lieutenant Groyne assured me, his brow still furrowed. "But not until the meeting is over. It will only cause panic."

I'm panicking, I thought. While I heard the Lieutenant wonder to himself about interrogation and torture, I pictured the look on Ertra's face, the looks on all of their faces.

The Jedi had failed again.

"Rest assured I will inform her when the time is right," he said, in a surprisingly comforting voice. "In the meantime, you should keep an eye on that other twin and make sure she doesn't do anything...rash."

Then he turned and walked down the hallway towards the guarded doors of Command Central. They opened and shut behind him in the blink of an eye.

I stood dazed for a moment and then made my own way over to the elevator up to the East Tower. I pressed the button and almost immediately the doors shot open and I stepped inside. The inside was cold and the lights in the ceiling made everything a pale, luminous blue. I pressed the button for the fourth floor.