“That sounds quiet,” she said gently. “I’m glad you can have this kind of life. It’s the kind a lot of us worked for, and died for, and yet there is still work to do.” She drew a small metal card from her pocket and pressed it into my hand. “If you ever need anything, send a bird.”
I frowned. “A…bird?”
“A message,” she went on. “I’ll be more than happy to answer, Ardent Quay. Until then”—she gathered my hands in hers and squeezed them tightly—“may the Force be with you.”
She left the refresher and returned to her security and assistant in the main chamber, who walked her back to the shuttle they’d arrived on.
I put the contact card into my uniform jacket, not sure when I would ever call up the ex-ruler of an entire planet, but the thought was nice—almost doting. I bit the inside of my cheek to hide a smile. I wondered if this was, a little, what it felt like to have a mom.
After Lady Sosha left, we gathered the guests who had signed up for the Naboo excursion. Most of the crew—especially Dad—loved going planetside with them, and usually I went, too, but when I saw that Val had elected to stay behind, I volunteered to crew the bridge with Telly. I’d watch the video feeds (and keep our stowaway secret, since he had a penchant for wandering). But really, the goal was to monitor my brother and where, in fact, he was snooping. I didn’t exactly think he was worried about Sian taking me away, but if he was poking around, then he was suspicious of something, and Ireallydidn’t want him finding my stowaway and telling Dad.
For the Naboo excursion, Dad rented a large shuttle and took the guests to tour a Gungan city and have lunch. I situated myself in the copilot’s chair and snacked on Dad’s secret stash of obessa seeds, thoughtfully flipping Lady Sosha’s card over in my hand.
What a strange day.
Telly wasn’t the most talkative crew member, but she was most easily the one who could sense my moods from a kilometer away. Maybe she could taste my sourness after years of tenaciously silent observation. Whatever it was, while we sat on the bridge, Telly turned directly to me and said, “Do you want to talk about it?”
I glanced at her, pocketing the card again. “About…?”
Telly blinked slowly. While she wasn’t the most talkative, when shedidtalk, it was with purpose. She wasn’t about to let this go. “The boy you are keeping in the pantry.”
My eyes widened. “I—I don’t—who…who do you mean?” My voice was a squeak by the end.
She drummed her fingers on the console. “Do you really think you could smuggle an entire man onto the ship without me knowing, Ardent Quay?”
My shoulders slumped. Oh, she’d used my whole name.Thatmeant trouble. “Is it that obvious?”
“To me? Yes. Entoo has been very liberal with their video feed disruptions. Who is he?”
“Just…a stowaway. He’s harmless.” I hoped.
“Why didn’t you tell us about him, then?”
“Because…” I frowned. Honestly, Icouldhave told my father and the crew, and I’m sure they would have very happily brought him aboard if they knew the circumstances. No one here was a friend of the First Order.
However…
“The First Order was after him on Coruscant, and I was afraid to tell anyone else when I brought him aboard because I didn’t want to put them in danger, too,” I admitted.
Telly studied me. “And you’re sure it was First Order?”
“I think so.”
“Do you know what they wanted with him?”
I didn’t answer. I had told Sian I wouldn’t tell anyone about the lightsaber, and although he’d saidawfulthings to me, I wasn’t going to betray him. “He needed help. Dad always said to help the people we can, so I did. Would you mind not telling anyone?”
“Not my business,” replied Telly, turning back to look out the viewport. “But youreallyneed to hide him better.” Then she leaned over and pushed a button on the video console. The feeds went dark. “Oh, no,” she deadpanned, “whatever will we do? The video feeds are corrupted.”
I snorted. “I get it.”
She replied, ever monotonous, “Good.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
The Apology
For the second night in a row, I convinced Dad to let me take the night shift. He still looked so tired, and I couldn’t figure out why.
