Mother ~ The Sequel to Breeder

5

Commander Dameron didn't lie about the size of Resistance Headquarters, or the quality of its technology. The transition from the small base in a minor system to this major facility was a bit jarring, but, thankfully, the boys didn't seem to mind.

"This place is amazing!" Klint bellowed, skipping in circles through a massive, metal corridor.

"Shhhh." I hurried after him, attempting to snatch my eight-year-old's hand, but he evaded me.

"Mommy, isn't this the biggest place you ever saw?"

A hard lump formed in my throat, but I anxiously swallowed it down. Resistance HQ might be massive compared to our squalid living arrangements over the past four years, but it paled in comparison to the sheer size of Starkiller Base. That knowledge almost sent me into a panic; how could the Resistance defeat the First Order if they couldn't muster up anything to challenge the might of a planet-sized weapon?

Thankfully, my anxious inner-monologue was interrupted by a woman with blonde, chin-length hair. "Greyson... just Greyson, is that correct?"

My husband turned around, cocking a single, dark brow. "Yes, that's me."

"I'm Commander D'acy; I serve directly under General Organa. Commander Dameron told me all about you and your family." She turned to the boys and me. "You've all been very brave."

Klint and Farrow stood straight as soldiers, their chins turned up with pride.

"Let me show you to your rooms so you can get settled in," the blonde woman said, turning and gesturing for us to follow her. "Then you'll be escorted to the med bay; the doctors are waiting to attach your new arm."

"Already?" Greyson asked. "We only just arrived."

"We pride ourselves on our efficiency." D'acy used a keycard to open the door to our quarters before passing it onto my husband and handing a spare to me. "Unless... you want to wait?"

He shook his head rapidly. "No, not at all, I'm just surprised is all."

"Understood." She gestured for us to enter our apartment.

Inside, the walls were white, green tarps draped across them to make the room look less stark and clinical, though it didn't quite do the trick. There was a square, metal table off to one side, a dimmer switch on the wall to ease the fluorescent lights, and a massive trunk marked 'Weapons: KEEP LOCKED!' To anyone else, it would be cold and unwelcoming, but I nearly cried at the comfiness of our new quarters. The boys seemed to love it too. Even Ben scrambled out of my arms to play with his brothers, racing from wall to wall excitedly.

"The procedure is not painful at all," Commander D'acy assured Greyson. "It is a bit uncomfortable, and the feeling of a new limb- especially to a life-long amputee- can be unsettling, but it won't last more than a few days."

"I'm not worried, I just- I can't believe this is happening. I lived my whole life sure that it never would."

I saw tears spring to his green eyes, but he dabbed them away before they could pass his lower lids.

Not sure how to deal with this sudden emotion, the commander continued her mini-tour. "That way in the master bedroom, the second door is where the boys will sleep- there are only two beds so two of you will have to share- and the last door is a bathroom. That, I'm afraid, will have to be shared as well."

"Holy sand-snakes, we get our own room!" Farrow exclaimed. My son had the habit of using the same expressions and idioms as an octogenarian.

"Why don't you three go check it out." I put my hand on Klint's shoulder. "Look after Ben, okay?"

He rolled his eyes. "I always do."

If my two eldest knew Ben was only their half-brother, they never let on, taking care of him at every opportunity. They may squabble with each other, but they never let the baby get caught up in it. The sight of the trio sprinting off together into their room nearly made me tear up as well, but, like Greyson, I hastily dabbed my eyes dry.

Hearing a knock at the door, D'acy turned on her heel to answer it, allowing a man and a woman in similar- but not identical- brown and white garb inside.

"Good, you're here," the commander said. "Jack will take Greyson down to the med bay, and Paige will watch the children. Astrid, I'll need you to come with me."

"Why?" I asked.

My husband lingered in the doorway, not wanting to leave me alone.

"It's alright, Greyson, your wife is in good hands, I just need to speak to her about some... sensitive information."

His eyes met mine and I nodded once, indicating he should follow Jack. Smiling, he blew me a kiss, making me giggle, before disappearing out of the room.

"What sensitive information?" I asked.

"It's about... about your time on Starkiller Base."

Face blanching, I turned to the door to my sons' room, checking to make sure they were still rough-housing and having a good time. My worst nightmare was them learning a single detail about those horrifying months. I returned when Farrow was less than two years old, and he didn't recognize his own mother's face. Klint was even worse; it took ages to assure him I wouldn't 'run away' again. If they knew what happened to me- what Ben's biological father did to me under Snoke's guiding hand- I'd never be able to look my sons in the eye again.

"That's why I asked Paige to come, so we could go somewhere more private," D'acy explained.

"Don't worry, ma'am, I'm great with kids; I practically raised my little sister."

Nodding, I allowed the commander to lead me out of my apartment, though even a brief separation from my children was enough to make my chest ache. From behind, I noticed that D'acy looked oddly familiar, something about the shade of her hair and the length of it, along with the straightness of her spine... it reminded me of Anika.

A shudder rippled through me, and it was all I could do to keep from bursting into tears.

"Commander D'acy?" I said, hustling to stand beside her. If I could see her face, she no longer reminded me of my dead friend.

"Please, call me Larma. If you're going to share such personal details with a near stranger, we should at least be on a first-name basis."

"Okay, Larma," I said. "Where is Commander Dameron? I thought he'd want to greet us when we arrived at HQ; he was so eager to get Greyson to join his fleet."

"Poe is on a mission- a top-secret one- but I'm sure he'll return soon."

Her words unleashed a wave of premonition onto me. I did my very best to seal myself off from the Force. I never had to make an effort to do so in the past (I rarely connected to it in the first place), but, in the few weeks after I reunited with my family, I experienced odd dreams. I saw images of planets I'd never visited, animals I'd never seen, even glimpses of... him. Terrified the Order would track me down using my Force connection, I sealed myself off. It was more intuitive than I thought it would be, sort of like letting your eyes glaze over when staring into a bright light.

But Larma's words about Poe- his mission, her assurance in his success and safety- it struck me as utterly wrong. He wouldn't be okay, he needed help, but he wouldn't get it in time.

Don't be ridiculous, Astrid, you're not a psychic, you're barely Force-sensitive at all. Poe will be fine. Everything will be fine.