Think Twice

Chapter 9

            She watched him nervously out of the corner of her eye. It wasn’t that she hadn’t meant any of what she’d said to him before, it was just... she’d hoped if he were to take her up on her offer they could go back to the Jedi temple rather than be alone with him out here. She blinked slowly and went back to watching the stars streak by. But there was no going back. Not now. 

            It wasn’t that she’d wanted to be put to death, but maybe she’d hoped the Jedi would prove her innocent and stop it before it happened. That had been her best-case scenario. Worst case had been, they didn’t, and she was put to death anyways. In fact, in all the possible scenarios she’d imagined, he hadn’t been in any of them. And yet here he was. He’d rescued her. After the last time they’d met, she had no idea why. She’d failed to turn him to the light. She’d failed to get him to stop fighting and she’d definitely failed to get him back to the Jedi temple. So why had he come for her? Did he hope he could turn her too? Did he think that she was truly guilty of those crimes and if so, he had hope she could be made to give into the darkness?

            “It’s not that I’m not grateful that you rescued me...” she started.

            “A simple ‘thank you’ would be enough,” he interrupted, as he got up to work on something near the back of the cockpit. 

            She peered around the chair to watch him. He was clearly distracted by whatever it was he was doing, so maybe now wasn’t the time to ask anyways. “Thank you,” she murmured and went back to staring out the front window. 

            “You’re welcome.” She listened to him work feeling as though she should probably offer to help, but still numb about everything. He’d rescued her but look at the cost of it. So many dead clones. The whole prison complex practically destroyed. If any other prisoners had survived, that meant they’d likely escaped and could now go back to being a problem. Her master had seen her leave with him, so likely he believed she really was guilty now. That is, if he hadn’t already believed that. She could no longer help with the war. She was alone with someone she was still scared of... how could things get any worse?

            The lights flickered on and off, and all the navigation tools started going haywire. Oh great. Why’d she have to ask how things could get worse?

            “Perfect,” he said, dropping back into the pilot seat. She couldn’t tell if he was being sarcastic or not. “Hang on.”

            She gripped the arms of the chair as he switched off the autopilot and took over manual control. The ship shuddered violently as he spun hard, dropping them out of hyperspace. She closed her eyes, so she wouldn’t be sick as he fought to get control of it. “What happened?” she asked. 

            “Oh nothing,” he joked casually. “But I have to make it look good.”

            “Look good? Why?”

            “You’ll see.” He winked at her and continued fighting to slow the ship. After a few minutes of violent weaving, he worked it to a stop. As soon as he let go to let it drift, all the power went off. A small red light near the transmitter blinked ominously. 

            “We need to restore power,” she said and reached forward to work the controls.

            “No.” He was on his feet again.