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There was a loud crash, and Galen flinched further into his hiding spot under his desk near the back of the room. The rest of his team had scattered when the alarms went off, tucking themselves away into corners of the labs. Galen had stayed to offload their research from his terminal onto a data chip as the rest of the stations shredded their copies, slipping it into the discrete compartment on the underside of his desktop. He’d just managed to slide the panel closed when the door had been blown open.
“Search the facility. Find me anything data storage that could be valuable, including the scientist in charge!” Heavy boot-steps spread out across the lab and doors slammed open as the pirates made their way through the various rooms. He could hear muffled voices when they found his team. Each time another door burst open he felt his stomach drop, expecting to hear screams and blaster fire. Galen jumped when a weight settled onto the desktop, pressing a hand over his mouth to stifle the sound of his breath as he began to hyperventilate.
Krennic grinned when he heard the badly muffled gasping. After a few moments, he drummed his fingertips on the desk, nails clicking against the metal surface. “I know you’re there.” He taunted, tapping his heel against the cover over the foot well. “Are you going to come out, or should I wait?” He didn’t expect a response.
When the rest of his crew had gathered the scientists into the main room he leant back to rest his weight on his hands, cocking his head to the side. “Are any of you in charge of this facility?” The entire group looked back and forth at each other before they shook their heads. “Do you know where the person in charge is?” More negative responses. Krennic sighed and waved a hand, now sure that the person he was looking for was currently hiding under the desk. “You two,” He pointed to two of his men wearing flight suits. “Get back to the ship, make sure we’re prepared for liftoff.”
“The rest of you, wait here.” Krennic gestured to the research team. “Keep them under control.” He slid off the desk and turned to face it. When the person underneath made no move to emerge he sighed, giving it a vicious kick. “Come out now, or I have them all shot.”
The familiar threat sent a shiver down Galen’s spine, the cold weight of memory ticking across the vertebrae. He took a deep breath and held it to slow his heartbeat. Galen crawled out from under the desk and stood warily, holding his hands up in surrender.
A look of surprise crossed Krennic’s face, morphing into a wide grin as he stepped around the table. “Galen? So, this is where you’ve hidden yourself away.” He clapped a hand on Galen’s shoulder with a chuckle, pulling him into an uneasy embrace. “It’s good to see you again.”
Galen swayed slightly when he was yanked forward, then stood frozen in disbelief until Krennic pulled away. It took a moment longer than he would have liked for him to gather his thoughts again. “What are you doing here?” He knitted his brow, unconsciously leaning back toward his desk away from Krennic.
“Isn’t that obvious?” Krennic snorted, smiling as if he was explaining to a particularly slow child, his voice light. “We’re kidnapping the leader of the empire’s most valuable project and holding them for ransom, and that just so happens to be you.”
“Why?”
Krennic shrugged nonchalantly. "It’s a job. I don’t ask for reasons why. My clients give me a task, I set the price and they pay it.” His expression fell sharply and he shifted his weight as his arms folded across his chest. “Give me the schematics for the death star.”
Galen took a step back, shaking his head. “I can’t do that.” He gripped the edge of his desktop with white knuckles, fingertips seeking out the hidden compartment. They ran over the tiny seam as he kept his gaze carefully forward.
“No? Hmm,” Krennic pursed his lips before turning on his heel. He strode over to Galen’s team and grabbed the nearest one by the throat, dragging him to his feet. He yanked his pistol from its holster and jammed the barrel in between the scientist’s eyes, ignoring the sputtering protests.
Galen lunged forward, clamping a hand around Krennic’s shoulder, nails digging sharply into the sturdy fabric of his cloak. “Wait!” Krennic shrugged his hand off, using his thumb to switch the safety off his blaster. “I’ll make a copy!” He offered desperately. “I can’t give you the original plans, but I’ll give you a duplicate!”
There was a long stretch of silence before a smile twitched across Krennic’s face and he shoved the scientist aside. “Perfect.” He addressed his remaining crew members as if nothing had happened. “Lock them somewhere without access to a commlink. Leave the key and a time delayed beacon outside, then get back to the ship.” He wasn’t a complete monster. The empire would pick up on the distress beacon immediately when it began to broadcast in an hour. Long enough for him to be light years away, but not long enough for anyone in the room to die
Before Krennic finished speaking, Galen had pulled the data chip out and plugged it back into his terminal, opening the programs he needed. He sat down and began to copy the files to a second data chip as his team was led out of the room. For a long minute, the only sound in the room was the soft hum of machinery running, the rush of air circulating through the building. He laid his palms flat on the desk and waited as the computer worked, flinching when a hand landed on the back of his neck. “It’s 16 percent finished.”
“I can read.” He felt fingertips kneading the muscles at the top of his back as the two of them silently watched the progress number ticked upward. Krennic kept pressing into the knots of muscle that had accumulated in Galen’s shoulders over the past few years. When the copy was nearly halfway done, Krennic leant forward. “Why can’t you give me the originals?”
Galen took a deep breath, staring resolutely at the monitor as he considered his words. “If these plans go missing, people will die.” His voice was flat and measured, but his stomach felt like it had folded over on itself.
“Who? Your team?”
Galen shook his head. “No, they’re too valuable. It’s always-” He swallowed hard, pressing the back of his hand to his mouth for a second. Bile rose in his throat, and a shiver ran down Galen’s back as he squeezed his eyes shut, breathing sharply through his nose. His voice came out dry and brittle, overly controlled to the point of sounding artificial. “It’s someone close to them, someone they care about; friends, family.”
His terminal let off a chime when the copy was finished, and Galen pulled the new data chip out to handed it over his shoulder to Krennic. He gestured to one of the rooms attached to the main lab. “There’s a cleanroom through there. The only means of communication is a direct line in and out through the airlock. Just give me enough time to suit up and I’ll stay there till your crew is gone.” It was an obvious and ineffectual attempt to avoid leaving the facility, and it failed utterly.
Krennic scoffed. “The last time we saw each other you didn’t suffer from short term memory loss, so I assume you didn’t forget I said earlier that I‘m holding you for ransom.” He turned on his heel. “Come on. Grab a coat, there’s a storm outside.” Krennic strode out of the main lab, flipping the hood of his cloak up as he waited by the door.
With a heavy sigh Galen turned back to his desk and scratched out a quick note on a piece of flimsi. He folded it under the corner of his monitor and grabbed a raincoat from the closet by the exit, shrugging it on numbly. Krennic smiled when he saw him and pushed the door open, grabbing Galen’s hand to pull him out into the gale.
The rain lashed at Galen’s face the instant he stepped outside, and he raised his arm to shield his eyes, ducking his head down. He let Krennic lead him by the hand until they were out of the rain. Galen brushed water away from his eyes and saw grated metal underneath his feet. A look upward revealed that he was standing in the loading bay of a mid-range cargo ship, recognition and various bits of information flashing through his mind as he glanced at his surroundings.
Krennic led him up a flight of stairs and along a corridor, eventually stopping to open a door near the end of the hall. He pushed Galen inside and placed a hand on the doorframe, firmly blocking the way out even though the door stood wide open. “Stay here. I’ll be back when we’re in hyperspace.” Galen could hear a heavy latch fall into place with a solid ‘thunk’ when the door closed.
He shrugged the raincoat off and hung it on one of the hooks near the door, water falling to the metal decking in a small shower of drops as the fabric settled. He looked around the room with a sigh, using his palm to push away the strands of hair that had been glued to his forehead by the rain, blinking away the beads of liquid that had rolled into his eyes. A desk was bolted to the center of the floor with a small holoprojector resting on the corner displaying a schematic of the ship. He picked up the projector and sat in one of the chairs set in front of the desk. Examining the skeletal holograms kept his mind occupied rather than racing over the grisly fates it invented for him to ponder.
Eventually the door slid open with a pneumatic hiss and he looked up through the hologram to see Krennic standing in the doorway with a considering stance. He watched Galen for a few seconds before chuckling and stepping into the room, letting the door slide shut behind him. “You look like a wet next.”
Galen narrowed his eyes into a glare, but brushed a lock of hair out of his face nevertheless. “You’ve made a lot of modifications to this ship. What was it originally?”
Krennic grinned and strode forward. He seemed to puff up slightly at the opportunity to discuss his vessel. “This is the second one I’ve been in command of.” The previous one had been built for speed, but the design had no modularity, making it nearly impossible to modify. He’d leapt at the chance to acquire a different one. “It was originally a standard cargo ship. The pilot worked for the empire, but I convinced him to defect.” He amended the statement in response to the incredulous look he received. “By talking to him! I’m hardly going to beat someone I want for my crew.” In truth, it had been almost shockingly easy to convince Bodhi to leave the empire and bring his ship with him. All it took was a promise to protect him from any retaliation.
He stood beside Galen and reached over his shoulder to manipulate the hologram. “We re-purposed the second cargo bay. These ships normally have atmospheric regulators in the engine room, but we moved those and used to extra space to install a second inertial dampening unit.” He glanced around at the walls as if he could see through them to all the components and rooms hidden behind them. “She may be slower than most of the ships sent after us, but we can accelerate a hell of a lot faster and be light years away before they begin to jump.” He pointed to an external hatch that had been installed at the end of the engine room. “We’re also able now to isolate the engine room and vent atmo’ if fire control fails.”
Galen nodded and pointed to a set of roundels embedded along the side of the ship. “You have two fewer escape pods than standard for this size craft.”
“Imperial standard pods support two bodies for three days on average, though most imp ships are massive enough that most the personnel could never actually make it to the pods no matter how fast they ran. Their first priority is the officers, everyone else is replaceable.” His voice carried the heavy weight of contempt. He’d been on a few imperial ships while he was in the futures program, each of them only carried enough escape pods for personnel close to the outside of the ship to survive. It was almost statistically impossible for anyone in the deeper reaches of the ship to live through any sort of event that could destroy it. “We purchased some souped up ones off the black market that can support three bodies for five days and run this ship with a skeleton crew of eight; two pilots, two ex-special forces operatives that I picked up on the outer rim, one medic, and two payload specialists. As revolutionary as it may seem, I prefer to keep my crew alive.”
He set the projector back on the desk, a shiver running through his stomach, voice falling in volume till it was barely a whisper. “That sets you apart the officers in charge of my project.” He refused to say anything further on the subject, only offering up technical information in a dry, emotionless voice.
0000
He heard Galen shift again on the bedroll laid out on the floor of Krennic’s quarters and turned on his side to glance over the edge of the bunk. “Can’t sleep?” He asked with a raised eyebrow. The two of them had barely exchanged more than a few words since their conversation earlier that day.
Galen let out a breath and forced his limbs still, staring up at the curve of the metal ceiling above him as if he could see the stars beyond it. “Sorry, I’ve been planetside for a long time, being on a ship again is strange.” His quarters had been isolated on the upper floor of the base to ensure that he would have to go through layers of guards and locked doors to escape, but it also meant that he’d grown used to the muffled noise of rain against the metal exterior, falling asleep to the steady patter of the drops. The sound had made it easier to lose his thoughts tracking the miniscule changes so he wouldn’t dwell on the situation around the isolated space. Its absence was disconcerting, a loss of grounding that he hadn’t managed to replace.
“I’m sure it pales next to the empire’s accommodations.”
“The two can’t be compared.” Galen scoffed, but after a moment his face slowly fell from its sarcastic smirk. “For the first week, I was restrained during the night because they were afraid I’d kill myself.” He explained quietly, folding his hands over his chest so he could trail his fingertips over the inside of his wrists. “It was the padded cuffs they use in medical facilities, but I could still barely move my arms.”
Krennic’s brows drew together in confusion. “Why?” He’d never known Galen to be someone who would consider suicide, and didn’t think that aspect of his personality would change easily. There was no immediate answer, and he pushed himself up to sit on the edge of the bed, feet resting on the floor as he looking down at Galen. “What happened?”
Galen sat up with a sigh, twisting to rest his back against the bedframe. He knew from experience that once his mind began to replay memories he would be kept awake by the ghosts that wandered in front of his eyes. A feeling of nausea dropped into his stomach and he curled an arm over it ineffectually, eyes fixed on the blank expanse of wall across from him. “I had a family before…” He waved a hand through the air in an abstract gesture. “all this.” He’d initially tried to block the memory of them from his mind, but the guilt that had filled him every time he redirected his attention had been enough to make him abandon the plan after a matter of hours. “They were killed during my ‘recruitment.’” He’d watched the troopers make their way past him to search the house, wishing desperately that he had told Lyra to run rather than stay inside, that he hadn’t thought he would be able to talk his way out of whatever was coming, using his skills as a bargaining chip.
One second they stood just out of reach, surrounded by troopers but still alive and whole, Jyn smiling at him from her place resting on Lyra’s hip, not understanding the situation around her. The next instant the two of them were sprawled out on the grass, their bodies a smoking ruin from the blaster shots that had rung out over the sound of the wind, filling the air with a crackle of electricity for a fraction of an instant. He could still easily remember the sound of his own voice echoing in his ears as it tore at the lining of his throat in a jagged stuttering scream. He’d lunged toward them only to be held back by hands that wrapped around his arms to drag him backward toward the shuttlecraft, staring at their bodies till he was shoved into the cargo hold of a ship and the door closed off his view. He retold the story in a near deadpan, hands flexing occasionally as he spoke. “At some point I blacked out, I woke up on a star destroyer and was given the parameters for the assignment.”
Krennic slid off the bed to sit beside him. He reached an arm out tentatively over Galen’s back, curling it along his shoulders to wrap his fingers around Galen’s bicep. “I’m sorry.” He murmured as he felt Galen’s head come to rest against his arm, weight settling against his side. Eyelashes fluttered against his neck, but Krennic felt none of the droplets he’d expected as the two sat in silence, only long, heavy sighs that brushed across his skin. It made sense in a horrible way. Sorrow could use up anyone’s tears after a long enough time, no matter how deep the trauma was. He turned sideways, wrapping his other arm around Galen’s back to pull him into an embrace.
He landed halfway across Krennic’s lap, stiffening in surprise at the sudden change in position. It was strange for him to be close to another human again after staying relatively solitary for the past few years. After a moment, he relaxed to settle into the new position, his head resting against Krennic’s shoulder, legs sprawled sideways across the floor. He could hear his heartbeat in between breaths, and let his eyes slip closed, sliding a hand sideways to curl around Krennic’s waist. Heat slowly leaked through his shirt into Galen’s fingertips as they brushed over the bottom of his ribs, remembering what it was like to feel another person’s lungs move under his hands.
“I should have taken you with me when I left the empire.” Krennic remarked with a chuckle, shifting himself into a more comfortable position against the bedframe, letting his head roll to rest gently atop Galen’s. There had been others he’d known from the imperial academy who had left before they became officers. For at least a year after an officer or someone on track to be one left, the empire would try to find them to prevent any information they may have had from making it into the hands of enemies. He’d left without any of the fanfare that he’d seen get them caught. Some had been foolish enough to send notes back to friends gloating of their ‘escape,’ notes that later allowed them to be found. Krennic had used one of his break periods to visit a spaceport known for its ignored illegal dealings. He’d changed into a set of clothes from his pack and dropped his uniform down an incinerator shaft before quietly buying passage to the outer rim. He’d lain low on backwater planets for longer than necessary before starting work on a smuggling ship as he recruited his own crew.
He brought a hand up to rest at the base of Galen’s neck, his nails playing through the hair that still fell longer than imperial regulations, earning a quiet purr. “Maybe you should have.” Came the murmured reply. He had essentially attempted to do just that when he had gone to live with Lyra, but had been monumentally less successful than Krennic. He rested his cheek against Krennic’s collarbone, letting out a long breath of pent up exhaustion and stress. It took a surprisingly short time for Galen to doze off despite the awkward position his mind quieting faster than it had in a long time.
0000
The ship reached alliance space midway through the next day, guided to a landing on Yavin 4 after providing their temporary IFF. Bringing a crewmember with him as a guard meant that Krennic was forced to wait as the two of them were scanned for weapons, holding the data chip in his closed fist as a precaution. The scanner pinged as it ran over the comm attached to the front of his jacket, and he swatted away the security bot’s inquisitive claw. “It’s a two-way radio to my ship, standard procedure for a job, as long as I keep transmitting they know nothing’s gone wrong.” He sighed at the skeptical expression he received from the supervisor and rolled his eyes. “Bodhi, confirm that you’re able to hear me.”
There was a soft ‘click’ of a connection being made. “Yes sir, loud and clear.” Bodhi sat back in his chair, staring boredly out at the trees that ringed the landing pad. He heard the door open and glanced over his shoulder to see Galen step across the threshold. He ensured the comm was wouldn’t broadcast their conversation before he stood up, offering a shy greeting as he lingered near the controls.
“It’s good to see you again.” Galen answered, maneuvering around a console to sit in the empty navigator’s chair. He smiled slightly, listening to the muffled chatter from the comm. “I take it you’re the one who gave them the location of the base on Eadu.” It had been a little over two years since Bodhi had disappeared, leaving on a cargo run and never returning to the rainy planet. The empire hardly ever put much effort into searching for the freelancers it employed, so Bodhi had slipped through the cracks without having to worry about being found.
“Yes, sorry about that.” Bodhi grimaced as he curled into his chair, wrapping his arms around his legs. He let his head rest sideways on his knees so he looked at Galen from across the cockpit. “It seemed like the right thing to do. A weapon that can destroy an entire planet? I don’t think either side of this war should have that power.”
“I won’t disagree with you.” Of course, in the environment he’d been in, it didn’t matter what his personal opinions of the project had been. His responsibility was to complete the work on time, not to pass moral judgement. “Why did you leave.”
Bodhi let out a breath through pursed lips, watching a bird soar across the landing pads to disappear into the trees. “I think,” He stopped, gathering his words together. “I think I was tired of the stress. I was so jittery sometimes that I thought I might flinch and swerve into a moon.”
As the two of them talked, Krennic was lead through a maze of corridors into a small briefing room. He strode across it to stand at the end of the room, leaning against the wall so he could watch the door. Krennic had less need to watch his back in alliance space than he did during his dealings in imperial space, but that didn’t mean he abandoned all caution completely. He’d been standing there for longer than he would have liked, exchanging exasperated eye rolls with his guard when the door finally slid open. “You alliance types, you’re all business. ‘go here, go there, hurry up and wait.’ Just like the imperials.” He griped with a smirk.
“I’m trying not to be offended.” There was a moment of silence before the man broke into a smile, taking a step forward with a hand outstretched. “Hello Krennic.”
“Bail.” The two shook hands and Krennic took a step back, holding up the data chip. He still hadn’t decided whether he would turn Galen over to the alliance. Krennic had asked him earlier that morning but hadn’t been given a clear answer, only being told that he would be the one to choose. “I have a duplicate of the schematics, direct from the lab.” He handed over the chip and watched the relieved smile that crossed Organa’s face as he tucked it into a pocket of his coat.
He retrieved a credit chip from another pocket and passed it to Krennic. “Were you able to find anyone who would know about future developments?”
“No.” In the cockpit, Galen sat forward in surprise, leaning toward the speaker to ensure that he could hear clearly. “This is the empire, Bail.” Krennic spread his hands in a shrug. “Do you really think they’re going to make one of their top scientists stay on Eadu? I was on that planet for 20 minutes at the most and my clothes still haven’t dried out.”
“True enough.” A chime sounded from Bail’s datapadd and he glanced down at it then back to Krennic. “I’m sorry to cut this meeting short, but I’m needed elsewhere.” He took a step back toward the door. “Your ship should be refueled, and takeoff clearance will be granted when you return.” He nodded to Krennic and his guard, turning to leave the room.
When they returned to the ship, Krennic found Galen waiting for him outside the cockpit, arms folded over his chest. “You didn’t tell them about me.”
Krennic shrugged. “Would you prefer to leave here? I’m not going to force you either way.” He stood silent as Galen seemed to waver in uncertainty, glancing back and forth between Krennic’s face and the corridor behind him. He let out a sigh, shaking his head with a slight shrug of his shoulders as if to say he was at a loss. Krennic reached out to catch one of Galen’s hands, fingertips brushing over his palm. “Why don’t you stay? A couple of weeks until you have the time to make up your mind. You’re an engineer, so we’ll certainly be able to find jobs for you, and if it’s unbearable I’m sure the alliance will be overjoyed to get their hands on you.”
Galen chuckled, squeezing his hand. “Alright.”
0000
Something had caught in the corner of Krennic’s eye as they walked through the spaceport, a set of clothes that kept repeating even though it wasn’t a uniform, always at the edge of his vision, but there again each time he checked his surroundings. The familiar itch of an aiming reticule pointed between his shoulders had been there when he stepped out of the ship, but he had assumed it was one of the usual disgruntled ‘acquaintances’ rather than a significant threat. He leant sideways so his lips brushed against Galen’s ear, resting a hand on his shoulder. “Blue coat, black pants, pilot’s oxygen mask around the neck.” He murmured the description before pulling back and continuing to stroll through the market as if nothing was amiss. After a few minutes, he leant over again. “Do you see it?”
Galen nodded in reply, keeping his voice low. “I haven’t seen her looking directly at us, but she's definitely Imperial.” He scoffed. “Just look at the way she holds herself.” It was the same carefully stilled motions that he’d seen on the guards stationed around his labs. The careful habit of watching while making themselves as unnoticeable as possible, but the frozen, almost too calm movements could make them stand out if you knew what to look for.
(by pileofsith)
The two of them continued to walk through the market until Krennic’s eyes found a darkened corridor that led to the slums on the station, the sectors inhabited by the poor souls who couldn’t find the money or friends to leave, and those whose fortunes were made by exploiting them. He pulled Galen into the cover of a recessed doorway with a broken light panel, glancing at the mouth of the alleyway to see if their pursuer was watching. When he saw no one there he turned back to Galen, undoing the buckle that kept his cloak in place and pressing it into Galen’s hands. “Give me your coat and put this on. My instinct is the Imps are after you, and not me. Go back to the ship. Tell them to power up and be ready to leave. I’ll be there within ten minutes.” He looked again at the crowds passing by beyond the darkened hallway.
The cloak settled easily around his frame, and Galen pulled the hood up so his face was halfway hidden in the shadows cast by the sturdy fabric. He looked to Krennic for a moment before walking out of the corridor, keeping his head low as he made his way to the docking bay. Krennic watched him leave, thanking whatever forces responsible that he and Galen were approximately the same size as slung the coat onto his shoulders. It was the same raincoat he’d taken with him from the lab on Eadu, but all signs that it was imperial in origin had either been carefully torn off or patched over, the slate grey fabric broken up in the places where they had been by either lines of stitch marks or other random cuts of fabric.
He stepped back out into the market, shooting a glare at anyone who looked at his walk out of the alleyway. Within a minute, he could see the imperial agent tailing him out of the corner of his eye, and he began to lead her on a merry chase, doubling back on his route and taking random turns for the next few minutes till he was able to dash out from behind a corner to see the agent’s back. Krennic walked up behind her, crossing his right hand over his chest to tap the woman on her shoulder. “Oi.”
When the agent turned around he snapped his elbow up to catch her under the chin, knocking her head back. It stunned the agent long enough for him to grab the edges of her jacket to shove her up against the nearest wall. The motion gave him the distraction he needed for his fingertips to find the tiny communicator hidden in the collar of her jacket, using his nails to pry it away from the fabric, confirming his suspicions.
Now that he had the agent up against the wall, he needed to figure out a reason why he had done it. He pulled his voice into a false accent as he addressed the woman, improvising enough to convince the people around them. “I told you that if I saw yer ugly mug in this sector again, you’d be in fer it!” He yelled, pulling her away from the way only to slam her back against it. “You ever, EVER try to pull a deal like that on me again, and I’ll ‘ave yer ‘ead.” He took a step back, grabbing a random piece of sturdy debris off a nearby table to club the agent over the head with it, knocking her out cold.
He set the object back down, and turned away, striding out of the marketplace without any trouble. Enough shady deals and illegal encounters took place in the spaceport that such dust ups were bound to happen daily if not hourly. Station security only ever got involved when there where shots fired, and even then, it was only to move the fight into a less populated area. He flicked the communicator away in a random direction, trusting the kicks of pedestrians to cause enough motion to confuse any tracking devices before it was inevitably crushed.
He returned to the ship and smacked his hand over the button to close the ramp as he ran up to the cockpit, laying a hand on the back of the pilot’s chair. “Get us departure clearance, priority, but don’t let on that anything is awry.”
“Yes sir.” Bodhi began to set instructions for the shipboard computer, his fingers flickering over the controls in sharp, practiced movements as he waited for an answer. He reached out to flick up the protective cover on a set of hand labeled switches, sending out a silent message to all members of the crew to brace themselves as he pulled out of the docking bay more abruptly than most flight instructors would recommend. He twisted his head around to look back at Krennic as they made the jump to hyperspace. “Do you think the imps were able to ID us?”
Krennic thought for a moment before nodding with a sigh. “It’s likely. We’ll need to keep a low profile for at least a week, and they might lose the scent.” Though in his experience evasion had never worked.
0000
The ship had been in orbit around a mid rim planet for nearly a day when the alarm rang through the halls in the middle of the night shift, the jolting klaxon bouncing off the metal walls for a few agonizing seconds before it fell silent. Every crewmember had been set on high alert, but the ship stayed almost completely silent as they each froze, waiting for orders. Krennic sat up from where he’d been dozing in the navigator’s seat, rocking his weight forward into a standing position to stand behind the pilot as she pulled the incoming transmission up on screen.
Krennic felt his jaw clench at the face that appeared, but he propped an arm nonchalantly on the pilot’s seat so as not to give away his discomfort. “Hello…” He made a show of leaning forward to peer at the screen, squinting as if he was having trouble making out the coloured squares on the rank plaque. He knew how much emphasis the empire placed on status, there was a reason it was displayed so prominently, and Krennic took perverse pleasure in using that to provoke them. “General Tarkin. I can’t exactly say it’s a pleasure to see you again.” He glanced around at the darkened ship. “You’ve caught us at a bad time, the ship’s in the middle of the night cycle, and the rest of my crew is currently asleep.” He had to hold back a snigger at the annoyed look that he saw flash over Tarkin’s features before they returned to their normal contemptuous sneer.
“Your ship was tagged for investigation three days ago, under suspicion of harboring an imperial fugitive.” A junior officer standing at the edge of the frame began to explain, trying his best to imitate the haughty tone of more experienced officers. “You will dock with an incoming shuttlecraft and submit to inspection.”
It seemed that the agent who’d followed them in the spaceport had managed to make a positive enough identification to warrant a search for the ship. Krennic silently cursed but kept the expression on his face one of amused skepticism. “I can send over my crew manifest and let you check that against a scan of the ship.” He offered, already knowing the outcome as he continued to lean against the back of the pilot’s chair. He propped his chin on one hand as the other worked in the shadow of the chair’s high back, retrieving his communicator to send out a silent ship wide alert. A moment later he could hear soft footfalls as the crew prepared the ship for boarding, tucking any contraband away into hidden compartments throughout the ship.
“Our previous scans of your ship did not provide any useful information.”
“Of course.” Krennic chuckled as if he had just remembered something obvious. “The radiation shielding on this ship can occasionally obstruct sensors, it’s an unfortunate side effect, but given our size we didn’t have another choice.” While the material included in the hull plating did offer increased protection from stellar radiation, its main purpose was to passively disrupt any attempted scans. Sandwiched between two layers of durasteel was a thick layer of carbon foam that could absorb any signal from outside the ship, making scans by another craft virtually impossible. Though Krennic of course knew this, he would conveniently ‘forget’ for random periods of time when the foam worked to their advantage. “Give me a few hours for the crew to wake up, then you’re welcome to take this place apart with a fine-tooth comb.”
“You will submit to inspection on your ship will be destroyed.”
The pilot scoffed and half turned her head to speak out of the corner of her mouth. “Damn, haven’t they ever heard of moderation?”
Krennic snorted, using it as an excuse to lean forward so the view of his mouth was obstructed. “Take care of the docking maneuver, give me 10 minutes.” He muttered before he strode out of the cockpit, letting the door ‘clang’ shut behind him.
He emerged into the corridor outside to see the rest of his crew standing against the walls, waiting for instructions. “Downstairs.” He ordered, stepping back as they clambered down the stairs, rolling his eyes at the pair that slid down the handrails instead. A payload specialist and an ex-special forces member had an ongoing competition to see who could plummet to the cargo bay first without breaking their neck. Krennic tolerated it on the condition that the two had to repair anything they broke on the way down, though he had nearly strained a muscle laughing when during one attempt the handrail had snapped clear away from the staircase, sending the hardened operative sprawling to the floor below in an undignified heap.
“Are you going to give me up?”
Galen’s voice dragged him back to the present and Krennic turned to see that he had hung back behind the rest of the crew, halfway hidden in the shadows that curved across the wall. His expression was guarded, as if he was truly unsure whether he could trust Krennic. “I didn’t before, and I wasn’t planning on it, no.” He took a step forward, reaching out to lay a hand on Galen’s shoulder to guide him down the stairs. “We don’t have much time.”
When they reached the floor of the loading bay, Krennic knelt beside one of the floor panels, catching the thin strip of metal that was thrown to him by another crewmember. He pried it into a small depression on the underside of the panel and lifted it to expose a space underneath. “False floor.” He announced with a grin, pulling away another panel to create an opening large enough for a man to climb through. “The trick’s been around for ages, but somehow still works.” He held a hand out and helped Galen to climb down into the compartment so he lay flat on his back as the panels were replaced.
There was a narrow metal grate at eye level that allowed him a slim view of the events going on above him, the light cutting through the metal slats to land across his face. He saw Krennic stand and heard the heavy metal ‘clunk’ that would signal the engagement of the docking clamps, letting out a quiet breath as he heard the pneumatic hiss of the door opening. The metal panels above him made the heavy footsteps reverberate through the floor till it created a nearly unbearable din before suddenly stopping.
“This is everyone on the ship.” Krennic explained, spreading his hands in a gesture that was half a shrug, half a dismissive wave. “See anyone you know?”
“Not aside from you.” He could have recognized that hideously smug voice anywhere, even without being able to see Tarkin on the floor above him. Galen closed his eyes tightly, forcing his breaths to stay quiet and even as his nails dug sharply into his palms. The words slipped around him like ice, memories flying unbidden to flash in front of his eyes. “I was disappointed when you left the program, Orson. I had thought that you would be able to actually make something of yourself.”
“Enough.” Krennic bristled at the use of his first name, placing a hand on his hip. He still held a deep hatred of seeing himself measured against others as a pretext to belittlement. “Are you here to find your escapee, or to waste my time with chit chat?” He held the posture as Tarkin turned on his heel, waving a team of lower officers forward.
“Search the ship. Report to me when you return.” Without warning he flicked his wrist and the guards who had been standing near the open door took aim as one fired before any of the crew could reach for their weapons.
Krennic let out a shocked grunt as the blaster bolt tore through his gut in a burning line that drew through his flesh to exit his back. His hand flew to the entry wound as the pain began to register, sheer agony searing along his nerves as he crumpled with a gasp, falling to the floor a moment later. He could distantly hear orders being shouted for his crew to remain still as his fingers wrapped in a desperate claw around the grate in the floor, shuddering breaths fogging against the durasteel. He lay there for what felt like hours before he felt a set of fingers slip through the grate to twine with his own. “Gl…len.” He curled his body over to hide his hand, forcing his eyes open to see Galen peering up at him through the grate. A handful of failed attempts at words fell through his lips in a series of inarticulate gasps, but the guards were too busy watching his crew to notice his behavior.
Even though a blaster bolt cauterized the flesh it tore through, it was common for the skin to split again if the person moved violently enough. Galen could feel miniscule taps against his abdomen as blood slipped between the seams on the floor to land on his jacket in a spreading black stain. It was a slow, viscous trickle that made it all too easy to imagine an invisible measure lowering as blood seeped through the thick fabric to lay sticky on his skin. He pushed himself up on an elbow to press his face close to the grate, able to feel heat seeping through the metal. His nose touched skin through the metal slats and he froze into the position, beginning to quietly murmur the random platitudes that came into his mind, his fingers squeezing tightly around Krennic’s palm.
The entire situation was terrifyingly close to the first time Tarkin had come looking for him. Though Galen didn’t know whether it had been worse to have someone torn away in a matter of seconds out of reach, or to watch them slowly bleed above you, close enough that he would be able to hear the final gasps of breath when they came. He kept waiting, listening to the sporadic clangs and crashes that rang through the ship as it was searched, ignoring the ache that began to develop in the arm supporting him. Krennic’s eyes fluttered closed at some point, pain and shock finally taking a high enough toll that he became too dizzy to keep them open and watch the deck spin around him. Galen slid his hand away, pushing his fingertips up through the metal to press against Krennic’s jugular. He could feel the thin heartbeat against his nerves as blood pulsed by in a frantic rush.
After seeming hours, the search team returned to the cargo bay to report that they had found nothing, stepping around Krennic’s prone form to approach the guards that had stayed to watch the crew. Galen heard them leave with a hiss of the hydraulic door as it closed. He reached out and shoved the floor panels open as he heard the heavy ‘clunk’ of the docking clamps to signal that the imperial ship had pulled away, wrapping an arm around Krennic’s waist to keep him from falling into the opening. Blood had spread across Krennic’s torso up to the collar of his shirt, making it look like he had been gutted with a blade rather than shot. His breath came in shallow puffs against Galen’s neck as he floated halfway back into consciousness, hearing the clatter of someone approaching from the infirmary with an overabundance of tools as he was dragged back under, settling limply against Galen’s chest.