[Last Of The Jedi] - 04(7)

Ferus kept on walking. He ate his food quickly. He had been lucky, he decided. The scene had been over quickly and the guards hadn’t seen him.

The prisoners lined up again to walk to the factory. Ferus felt someone behind him and realized it was his cellmate.

“That was a mistake.” The tone was low and guttural behind him.

Ferus spoke softly out of the side of his mouth. “At least I kept my lunch.”

“Your lunch is the least of your problems, my friend. You just tangled with Prisoner 67. Your problems are just beginning.”





CHAPTER FIVE


Trever felt the impact of the water against his ribs and his teeth. He lost his breath and his ability to think. It was like hitting a wall. Everything was black, and he lost consciousness for a moment.

Somehow, Oryon kept hold of him. When he came to he was still against the Bothan’s body. They were plummeting down into the dark water. He could feel Oryon’s long tangled hair swirling around him like water snakes and was conscious of only one thought:

Up.

He didn’t want to die underwater.

Oryon began to fight the momentum pushing them downward. Trever could feel the effort in every muscle. He himself felt as though he had lost control of his own body. He had never felt so helpless.

He felt Oryon’s struggle to move toward air. He was kicking his powerful legs but his arms were still wrapped around Trever. With an enormous effort of will, Trever pushed himself away and began to kick on his own. Oryon kept hold of one of his arms, but now with one arm free he was able to make more progress. In this lopsided fashion they managed to stroke their way up.

They surfaced in a burning landscape. Trever gulped down air that tasted of smoke and burning fabric. He didn’t know how to swim, but he was able to keep himself afloat, treading water frantically. Dead stormtroopers and pieces of shattered white armor littered the water, though most had sunk below.

“Not so much motion,” Oryon said, trying to catch his breath. “You’ll tire yourself out.”

Trever discovered that he was able to stay up without using as much energy. He didn’t like water - never had - but here he was. Acceptance is the key to survival. Actually, it could be the key to everything.

Hey, thanks, Feri-Wan, Trever thought. Maybe there’s something to that Jedi stuff after all.

“We have to find Solace,” Oryon said.

It had been a tremendous fall, but they both had no doubt she was alive.

He found he was able to paddle behind Oryon. They passed chunks of floating wreckage, but it was too hot to touch and offered no perch to rest. They searched through the blackness for Solace. All Trever could see was burning material and black water. Twisted metal still hung overhead, threatening to crash down on them at any moment.

“Over here,” Oryon grunted. After a moment of paddling, Trever saw what he’d spotted - someone clinging to a piece of wreckage.

The man was so blackened and bloody it took Trever a moment to realize it was Keets.

“I thought you were dead,” Trever said as they made their way up to him.

Keets opened his eyes. “You mean I’m not?”

“Not yet,” Oryon said.

Keets was clearly exhausted and in pain. “I slid down the leg of the scaffold and fell in. Surprised I didn’t drown. This almost fell on top of me. It’s probably the only thing out here that floats. So … what’s the plan?”

“Find Solace,” Oryon said. “She’s got to have an escape route.”

“That doesn’t sound like much of a plan,” Keets observed, wincing.

“Okay,” Oryon said dryly, “now I know you’ll live. You’re giving me a hard time already.”

A ripple in the dark water made them tense and draw closer to the wreckage. Trever knew they were all thinking of the giant sea creatures they’d glimpsed on the long climb on the catwalks when they’d arrived. No doubt the creatures had dived deeper to escape the fire on the water, but there was always a chance that an inquisitive - or hungry - creature would return for lunch.

Then a dark head surfaced and they breathed a sigh of relief.

“Ready to get out of here?” Solace asked.

“I’d say so,” Keets said.

“The others?” Solace asked.

Oryon shook his head. Keets’s face tightened.

“They attacked so quickly,” he said. “Hume died trying to save a group they surrounded. Rhya …”

“I saw her die,” Trever whispered.

“Gilly and Spence went to the rear flank. That’s where the heaviest fighting was,” Oryon said. “They couldn’t have survived. And Curran was caught in a firestorm when they torched the houses.”