Chapter Eight
After the last recruit of the day left the room, Heidi leaned back in the chair and sighed. Most of the recruits were so eager to get their training and go after the Emperor that they hadn’t been as difficult to convince to open up as Justin Heger had been. But Heidi did have to use similar tactics to get some of them to trust her.
However, the more she did it, the easier it became and it was taking less time and energy. She was actually feeling more energized now than when she’d begun.
“I’m getting better at this,” she announced to Dexter.
“I can tell,” he replied, smiling tentatively. “You were talking to some of them without even touching their heads. You just touched their hands.”
“Yeah,” she agreed, nodding. “It was intense.” She stood up and walked towards him. He reached out and grabbed her hand suddenly.
Can you hear me?
Heidi’s brow furrowed. Yes.
He dropped her hand. “I just… wanted to make sure it still worked.”
“Why wouldn’t it?” she asked, confused. “You were the first one it ever worked with. And I’m getting better at it, not worse.”
“Right,” he said. He jerked his head towards the door and shoved his hands in his pockets. He didn’t want her hearing his thoughts right now since all he could think about was how jealousy had welled up until it almost choked him every time she’d had a silent conversation with one of the recruits.
As they exited the building, Sgt. Trist came running up to them.
“Miss Grace,” he said, smiling and huffing. “I have… taken care of that little matter you requested of me.” He raised his eyebrows significantly.
Heidi smiled excitedly.
“What matter?” Dexter asked, confused.
“Lead the way, Sergeant!” Heidi instructed.
Trist turned and waved to them to follow.
Heidi grabbed Dexter by the arm—he still had his hands shoved in his pockets. “Come on,” she said.
“What is going on?” he demanded, but followed along as she pulled him.
Trist led them down the path and around a few corners until they came to a clearing. Several of Dexter’s friends were present, half of them wearing green shirts and the other half wearing black shirts. There were both men and women— both soldiers and their husbands and wives. And there were several tall torches lighting the area.
In the middle of the clearing was a diamond created by four t-shirts at the four corners of the diamond, each shirt held down by rocks. There was also a t-shirt in the middle of the diamond held down by rocks. Four of the men were passing out gloves and bats—gloves to the team with black shirts and bats to the team with green shirts.
“We’re going to have to share,” Trist said, indicating the gloves, bats, and baseballs. “Because we barely managed to scrounge up enough for one team.”
“What the hell is this?” Dexter asked.
“It’s a baseball game, silly,” Heidi laughed, still holding onto his arm. “You said you liked baseball and you need to have some fun and we can’t exactly have the ‘fun’…” She made air quotes around the word ‘fun’. “…that you normally have in your off time. So…” She spread her arms out and indicated the diamond.
Dexter’s eyes went wide. “You did this?” His hands pulled out of his pockets and dropped to his side.
“Well, I had help.” She nudged Sgt. Trist who held up his hands in surrender and pointed back to her.
“It was all her idea,” he protested. “I just asked around and gathered some people up.”
Heidi dove forward again and grabbed Dexter’s arm again. “Come on, it will be fun,” she urged. “If we don’t take advantage of the freedoms we have then the Emperor has already won.” Her hand slipped down his arm to his hand, but he pulled his hand away quickly.
He stared at her in astonishment and shook his head. “You are…” he breathed and then stopped before he said anymore. He continued to shake his head.
“What?” Heidi asked. Her heart started to pump and she took a step closer to him.
He pressed his lips together and swallowed. He chuckled and pulled his jacket off and tossed it to the ground.
“Let’s play ball,” he said and rushed away from her towards the field.
She smiled and turned back around towards the diamond, but felt like the conversation had ended without reaching its completion.
The game began.
Heidi was on Sgt. Trist’s team and Dexter was on the opposing team. Heidi had never played baseball before in her life, so she really didn’t know what she was doing and struck out almost every time she went up to bat. Of course, other than Dexter and a few others, most everyone was a novice, so she didn’t feel singled out.
Dexter was pitching for his team most of the game, which gave them an advantage since he knew how to pitch. The members of Heidi’s team that actually could hit the ball had difficulties since Dexter was a fairly decent pitcher. It made her wonder how much of his talent had been wasted since he hadn’t pitched since he was twelve and was still doing a pretty decent job.
Trist was one of the few on Heidi’s team that was able to connect with the ball a few times. He mostly just bunted it towards third base—which was covered by one of the soldier’s husbands who wasn’t very good at baseball—and ran as fast as he could towards first. It worked most of the time and Trist and a couple of other people were the main reason Heidi’s team ever scored at all.
Dexter was likewise good at hitting the ball. Washburn pitched for Heidi’s team and he was decent, but Dexter managed to crack a few pretty good ground balls out into left field and make it to second or third base before the ball got back to the infield and he had to stop. He and a few others were the main scorers for his team.
Towards the end of the game Dexter’s team was up by two points, the bases were loaded and Heidi was up to bat.
“Okay, I’ll toss it to you easy, Red,” Dexter said. He’d been tossing it to her easy the entire game so it was rather pointless to announce this and Heidi took it as him teasing her about her lack of baseball skills.
“Just throw the damn ball,” she retorted, sticking out her tongue.
He grinned and lobbed the ball towards her.
She swung and missed.
“Ugh!” she cried and smacked the bat against the ground in frustration.
“That’s okay!’ Trist called from second base. “Just bring it on home, okay? Keep your eye on the ball.”
“Eye on the ball…” Heidi muttered. “Eye on the ball…” She shook out her arms, rolled her head around her neck, and got back into her batting stance.
Dexter chuckled and tossed the ball towards her again.
She swung and missed.
“UH!” she huffed. “I think my bat is broken!” She held it up in mock annoyance.
Dexter laughed harder as the catcher tossed the ball back to him.
“Last one, Red,” he joked. “Last one.”
“Just throw it…” she grumbled as she planted her feet and held the bat up.
He grinned and winked at her. She narrowed her eyes and focused directly on the ball.
He lobbed it towards her.
She swung.
She heard a decisive crack and realized that she hadn’t spun around in the air like the last time. She looked up and saw the ball sailing over Dexter’s head.
“I hit it!” she exclaimed.
“Run!!” three of her teammates shouted simultaneously from behind her.
She took off. Trist and the other two players had already started. She ran to first, to second, to third and finally to home base and jumped on it excitedly.
“Ugh!” Dexter groaned and collapsed onto the ground as if the home run had knocked him over.
“Oh get up, crybaby,” Heidi called. “Don’t be a spoiled sport!”
“This is what I get for throwing the ball to you ea
sy,” he responded, grinning as he stood back up and dusted himself off.
“Whatever you need to tell yourself to deal with losing to a girl,” she returned.
They didn’t have to remain at that base for much longer since Heidi was moving through the recruits so quickly. She was somewhat disappointed because though she managed to finish Fahrenheit 451, there were so many more books she wanted to read and now she had to leave the only library she’d ever found with real information in it. Dexter promised her that they would come back, though.
Next they took a train across the country to a base in a desert. The train only went so far and after that they had to walk a long distance and carry backpacks with water on their backs and sip from them sparingly. Fortunately, all three had the training in their heads to know how to ration the water.
The rebel base was over a sand dune, but one so far out that the Imperial guard was unlikely to travel so far. No one was likely to travel this far unless he knew exactly where he was going and for what. And the dune was so large that it created an enormous valley between it and another dune.
The valley was deep enough that from above, the dwellings below looked rather primitive. But they climbed down the side and the closer they got, the more Heidi could see that the huts were just as advanced as at the other bases. And there were a lot more of them. This base, apparently, was in an area that was so rarely travelled by the Imperial guard that many rebels stayed here. Moreover, though it could be seen from the air, it appeared to be almost nothing from the air. Some had even apparently said it was a mirage, a trick of the eye from the glare of the sun on the sand dunes, so it was even more concealed than many of the other bases.
The dunes surrounding the base were high enough that they provided plenty of shade all day so the temperature in the base remained on the warmer side of temperate. And the base was deep enough in the ground that they actually were able to dig multiple wells. It was in the most seemingly awful place that turned out to be the most wonderful place.
Many of the recruits were there because it was such a large base and so Heidi, Trist and Dexter stayed there for weeks.
Heidi and Dexter were actually provided their own hut to stay in while Trist stayed with another officer.
As the training of these recruits was drawing to a close, Heidi attempted again to get Dexter to talk to her. She wanted to ask him about what Trist had said, but she didn’t want to pressure him. She wanted him to come out and say it himself. After all, if Trist was wrong, it would make her travel even more wearisome because she and Dexter would have awkwardness between them.
“Sorry there’s no library here, Red,” Dexter mentioned as they walked back to their hut after her most recent training session.
“That’s okay,” she replied. “We could get another couple of teams together and I could kick your butt in baseball again.” She smiled brightly.
“Ha ha,” he said mockingly with a grin. “That was a fluke, you know.”
“Whatever you need to tell yourself,” she repeated, shrugging.
He chuckled and folded his arms. He was wearing his brown ribbed tank top and when he folded his arms, the muscles stood out and it spread his tattoo wider over his shoulder.
“Why do you have that tattoo?” she asked suddenly.
He stopped walking and glanced down at it. “This?” he said. “It’s the symbol of the rebellion.”
“I know,” she said, stepping closer to him to get a better look at it. “I just wondered if it was required for rebellion officers to get it or if you just did it to shove it in Ezar’s face.”
“It’s mostly the latter,” he responded. “You don’t have to get one but if you do, no one questions whether you’re actually part of the rebellion.” He shrugged. “It makes it easier when I want to gain entrance to rebel bases. I show it to them and they know I’m loyal.”
Heidi frowned. She reached up her index finger and traced the three circles on his shoulder. She could feel the hum of his mind but before she could read anything, he closed himself off and refused her entrance to his thoughts.
“Why are you doing that?” she asked.
“Doing what?”
“You aren’t letting me read you,” she said. “You never refuse to let me read you.”
Dexter shifted uncomfortably and stepped away from her so that she was no longer touching him. “I don’t have to share every thought in my head with you, do I?” he grumbled.
Heidi was stung at the gruffness of his tone. “No…” she said. “I just thought…”
“What?” he asked, his face closed, his eyes avoiding hers.
“Nothing…” she said after a moment. “Nothing. You’re completely entitled to your own private thoughts.”
He nodded. “Okay, then,” he said, still avoiding her eyes. He cleared his throat. “We should get back and get some rest.” He began walking again and she trudged along behind him.
“Dex, are you mad at me or something?” she asked.
“No.”
“Then what’s going on…?”
“I just don’t want to share every thought that traipses through my head with you, okay?” he snapped, stopping and turning towards her suddenly. He immediately regretted his tone.
Heidi flinched. She felt tears prickle the edges of her eyes. “Fine,” she managed to choke out. But she clenched her jaw and refused to allow his words to cause her to cry in front of him.
He sighed in frustration as guilt welled up in his chest. “I’m sorry,” he said. “Let’s just get back, okay?”
She folded her arms and set her jaw. “Fine.”
She turned away from him and cried silently in her cot that night as she fell asleep. Dexter, on the other side of the room, was lying on his side facing away from her, feeling the steel ball of guilt turn over and over in the pit of his stomach.
They didn’t speak of the disagreement the next day. Heidi merely returned to training the recruits and avoided talking to Dexter. He could tell he’d hurt her and it only made the guilt expand in his gut. The next evening he found her lying on her back out in a small clearing near one of the base’s wells staring up at the sky.
He approached awkwardly with his hands in his pockets. He glanced up at the sky and could see what a clear night it was. The stars were out and they dotted the sky with their luminosity.
“What are you doing?” Dexter asked.
“Just looking at the stars,” she replied without looking at him. “Base 65 has that huge cover over it so you can’t ever see the sky. And it’s so clear tonight.”
Dexter cleared his throat and shuffled his feet. “Look, I’m sorry about yesterday,” he said. “I just would like to keep some stuff to myself. But I shouldn’t have been so rude to you.”
She shrugged from the ground, again without looking at him. “Whatever.”
He sat down next to her and looked up at the sky, too. He glanced down at her again and wondered if he should apologize a second time. His guilt was battling with defensiveness and he was about to reiterate that he didn’t have to share everything with her when she spoke.
“When I was a kid,” she mused. “My aunt and I lived in this one house for about a month. But it had a ladder that led up to the roof and the roof was flat so I could go up there with a blanket and a book and lie back and watch the stars. I was always looking for constellations, but the only one I ever saw was the Big Dipper. So a lot of times I made up my own and just named them whatever I wanted.” She pointed to the sky. “Like see that cluster over there? It looks like a bowl. So I could call it the bowl constellation.”
Dexter chuckled. “You can’t come up with something more creative?”
“I’m not a very creative person,” she replied with a smirk.
“That’s not true,” he disagreed and lay down on the ground next to her. “If they have the Big Dipper, maybe you could call your bowl constellation the Big Eater.”
Heidi laughed. “Or the Big Feeder.”
“The Big Dipper dips chili into the Big Feeder,” he replied.
“What’s chili?” Heidi asked, turning her head towards him finally.
His forehead creased and he looked over at her. “You’ve never had chili?”
She shook her head.
“Huh,” he mused and looked back up at the sky. “My mother used to make it when I was a kid. It has like meat and beans and tomatoes in it. It’s just a big mixture of those things and spices and sometimes other vegetables or what have you and you eat it out of a bowl.”
“Mmm,” Heidi mumbled. “My aunt was never much of a cook and we had so little money because we moved around so much and she just took whatever odd jobs she could find. So we pretty much ate whatever scraps we could scrounge up. It was never what you might call a real meal. I’ve eaten better since I’ve been a part of the rebellion than I ever did before that.”
He laughed heartily. “That’s just sad, Red,” he said. “One of these days when we have access to real food and real spices I’ll cook you a real meal.”
She looked over at him again. “You will?”
“Sure,” he answered, shrugging. “Why not?”
“Mmm,” Heidi murmured again. She didn’t say anything else. She reached her hands over her head and stretched them upwards as far as they could go, taking a deep breath as she did so. The pink flesh of her belly peeked out from below her shirt and Dexter couldn’t help his eyes traveling down to it.
She reached over to him and tried to take his hand.
…have her…
He snatched his hand away quickly and sat up.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, pulling herself up onto her elbows.
“Nothing,” he mumbled. “It’s getting late.” He stood up and dusted himself off.
Heidi frowned up at him. “You’re shutting me out again.”
“I told you, I just don’t want to share all of my thoughts with you,” he grumbled.
Heidi sighed heavily and lay back down on the ground. “Fine,” she replied and stared up at the sky away from him.
He shifted uncomfortably. “It’s late,” he repeated. “Are you coming inside?”
“In a little while,” she answered.
He opened his mouth to say something else, but couldn’t think of what to say. So finally he just mumbled “good night” and trudged back towards the safehouse where they were staying. Heidi didn’t respond and she waited until he was out of sight before she allowed a few tears to trickle down the sides of her face.
Fortunately, they were done with training the next day and ready to head out. They travelled to a few more bases where Heidi trained more recruits. She and Dexter didn’t talk about their disagreements and she didn’t ask about what Trist had said. She had decided that either Trist was wrong—or that if he wasn’t wrong, that Dexter at least was not going to ever admit it to her.
She was actually starting to get really confused about Dexter. One minute he would be the fun-loving guy that she’d first known when she met him. He would take her hand and speak telepathically to and with her. They built inside jokes and shared secrets. Other times he would shut down, refuse to open his mind to her, and snap at her if she asked why.
“I just don’t get it,” Heidi complained to Sgt. Trist one afternoon as they were loading things into the transport vehicle. Dexter was finishing up with the new recruits Heidi had trained and would be joining them shortly.
Trist shrugged and didn’t say anything. He concentrated intently on loading their bags into the vehicle and closed the trunk.
“Reece, I know you are thinking something,” she prodded. “What is it with everyone wanting me not to know what they’re thinking?”
He turned to her, frowning slightly. “I… have a theory,” Trist replied. “As to why he acts that way…. But I don’t know if I should say.”
“Of course you should say,” she said. “Why shouldn’t you say?”
“Breaking rank,” he suggested.
“This doesn’t have anything to do with soldier stuff,” she argued. “He’s your friend. You’re my friend. He’s… my friend… I guess. Half the time, I don’t even know. This is a friendship matter, not a soldier matter.”
Trist considered this for a moment and then began: “I’ve never known him to be all that close to anyone,” he said. “He has friends, of course, but they’re all soldiers. It’s understood that we could die at any moment and you have to be prepared for that. He doesn’t make close friends with civilians. At least he never has until you. I think the times when he shuts down on you are the times that he’s getting nervous about how much he likes you.”
“You mean he’s afraid of his feelings for me?”
“Yes.”
“But that’s stupid,” she argued. “He’s like the bravest guy I know—present company excluded—he’s not afraid of anything.”
Trist chuckled for a moment and then his face dropped slowly, inch by inch, until his mouth was a thin line and his eyes were filled with sorrow. He looked down at the ground. “I have stared down blaster rifles and been surrounded by Imperial guard with seemingly no way out. I have taken shots to the abdomen and come close to death before.” He stopped and looked up and out into the distance, not really seeing what was in front of him. “But none of that was even one bit as painful as watching those men rape Jane.” He shook his head resolutely. Heidi could even see his eyes moistening slightly. “Trust me, there is nothing more frightening than loving someone. You can train soldiers to withstand torture and physical pain. You can even train them to survive in desperate circumstances and endure gruesome experiences. But to ask someone to risk their heart… to risk losing someone they care about… That takes the kind of courage you can’t train for.”
Heidi stared at him, unbelieving.
“I would give up every last ounce of information about the rebellion that I have to the Emperor,” he continued. “I would bow down and kiss the bastard’s feet… if it meant I could have Jane back.”
Heidi’s eyes were starting to mist and she opened her mouth to say something to Trist when…
“Ready?” Dexter called as he approached.
Trist’s eyes flicked over to Dexter and he regained his composure. “Yep,” he agreed, his face switching quickly back to soldier-mode. He walked to the driver’s side door and climbed in.
“What’s wrong?” Dexter asked Heidi when he saw her face.
“Nothing,” she replied, shaking her head. “Let’s just go.”
They climbed in the vehicle after Heidi had donned her concubine garb and covered herself up.
Dexter turned to her with a concerned look. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Yeah,” she mumbled, grateful that the concubine outfit was covering most of her face. “Just nervous because we’re heading to Lt. Hugo’s base. He hates me, you know?”
Dexter sighed and sat back, accepting this explanation. “He doesn’t hate you,” he argued as Trist pulled away from the base. “He’s afraid of you.”
“Afraid of me?” Heidi scoffed. “I’m like this big.” She lifted her hand and held her thumb and forefinger an inch apart.
Dexter chuckled and shoved her hand back under her garment. “He’s afraid of your mind-reading ability,” he explained. “Keep your hands covered.”
The concubine disguise had been chosen for Heidi because legitimate concubines—women sold to men simply for their sexual prowess—had to stay completely covered except for their eyes. It was to keep them especially just for the men who were to have them. It was sexist and degrading and stupid, but it made a perfect disguise because no one would recognize her and no one would be allowed to touch her, thus, there was no risk she would accidentally read someone’s mind and give herself away. Heidi had actually reveled in the idea that they were using one of Ezar’s oppressive laws against him. U
nfortunately, it also meant that most of the rides had to be in total silence and she couldn’t even grab Dexter’s hand to speak telepathically because he was not permitted to touch her either, since he was merely playing the role of the man who delivered the concubine.
The ride this time took a couple of days and Dexter and Trist traded off driving so that one of them could sleep in the back seat with her when he grew too tired. By the time they reached Hugo’s base, though she had slept in the back most of the ride, Heidi was extremely weary, mostly because she was tired of the silence. The trip had reminded her too much of her trek from home to the Imperial palace.
This rebel base was hidden in the side of a mountain rather than the wilderness. Again, it was in a spot that no one would notice it unless one was actually looking. A rock jutted out from the side of the mountain and appeared to just be another rock, but rounding it revealed the entrance to a cave—or what appeared to Heidi to be a cave.
Trist stopped at the front entrance and Heidi could hear several blaster rifles charge.
“Halt!” someone called.
Dexter stepped from the vehicle with his hands in the air. “It’s us,” he announced.
“State your business!” the voice yelled back.
To Heidi’s surprise, Dexter grinned.
“I know that’s you, Chris,” he replied. “I’d recognize that chain-smoker voice anywhere.”
Lt. Hugo emerged from the shadows of the cave with his rifle trained right at Dexter. His eyebrow was raised and his eyes were narrow.
“How do I know it’s really you?” he asked. “Ezar could create doppelganger pod people.”
Dexter stepped forward and replied: “Could a doppelganger do this?” Quick as lightening, he grabbed Hugo’s blaster and whipped it out of his hand and around until he had disarmed Hugo and was now aiming the blaster at him. Several more of Hugo’s men jumped from the shadows with blasters aimed at Dexter, but Hugo held up his hand.
He glared at Dexter for a few intense moments, but then grinned.
“I let you do that,” he said, pointing to the rifle.
“Whatever you need to tell yourself,” Dexter replied and pointed the rifle towards the ground.
Both of them laughed and embraced one another. Hugo’s other men disarmed their rifles and pointed them down. Heidi breathed a sigh of relief as Trist in the front seat chuckled and shook his head. He glanced back at Heidi.
“Those two are more alike than you’d think,” he said as he began pulling the vehicle into the cave once Hugo waved them in. “And more than either of them would like to admit.”
“I thought they didn’t get along,” Heidi responded, pulling her veil and headdress off as they entered the caves.
“They often don’t,” Trist answered. “But mostly because they’re so alike. Both of them are untrusting and suspicious that everything is in some way tied to Ezar’s effort to bring down the rebellion. So when one of them latches onto something that the other one isn’t sure about…” He glanced back at her, grinned, and nodded towards her. “…all hell breaks loose between them.”
Dexter and Hugo were still talking and ribbing one another like old buddies and walking in front of the transport vehicle as Trist drove slowly into the base. Heidi leaned over and looked out the window at the base concealed in the mountains. It was different than the other bases she’d been to because it appeared to be more a series of caves and caverns than huts. In the middle, though, was a huge, shimmering pool of water. Heidi gasped at its beauty.
“Is that a natural body of water?” she asked Trist as he pulled the vehicle to a stop.
“Yep,” Trist replied as he stepped from the vehicle and walked to the back door to open it for her. “Never dries up and they have plenty of water all the time.” Heidi stepped down from the vehicle. “Also, it’s a hot spring, so the water is always warm. So people here get to bathe all the time.”
“Wow,” Heidi said, basking at the wonder of the spring. “Why don’t you build more bases like this one?”
Trist chuckled. “Well, for one thing, because we haven’t found more natural formations like this and for another because there’s no place to grow food. Lt. Hugo has to go to other bases and gather food and bring it back and stockpile it. And the people who live here have to ration it out.” He paused. “That’s what he was doing at our base a few months ago when you first met him.”
“Does he always go himself?” Heidi asked. “Seems like that would be dangerous. Shouldn’t he send some of his men to get the food?”
Trist nodded. “Very astute,” he said as they headed towards Dexter and Hugo. “He usually sends other men to do it but when he feels he needs to be kept up on what’s going on with the other bases, he goes himself. Also, I think he feels guilty sending someone else because he places them in danger when they are outside the protection of his base. He prefers to put himself in danger.”
Heidi smirked and looked up to lock eyes with Trist. “Sounds like someone else I know.”
Trist became confused. “Me?”
She shook her head and nodded towards Dexter.
“Ah!” Trist said and smiled. “Agreed.”
Dexter was chuckling as they approached. “Chris, you remember Heidi, right?”
Hugo’s smile faded slightly but he nodded politely to Heidi. “Yes, hello again,” he said and then turned to Trist. He held out his hand and smiled brightly. “Reece!”
Trist took his hand and pulled him forward so that they could embrace.
Heidi sighed and folded her arms. She glanced around the base again and when she looked back, she met Dexter’s eyes and he winked, jerked his head toward Hugo and shrugged as if to say “don’t take it personally.”
“So where’s Dugan?” Dexter asked Hugo suddenly.
Hugo glanced over at Dexter, cleared his throat and his smile faded slightly. “He’s… uh… he’s not here…” He glanced over at Heidi, his eyes clearly belying his desire not to say anything around her, though he looked away again quickly and tried to hide his discomfort.
“Not here?” Dexter repeated, confused. “Why? He on a mission of some kind?”
“Yeah,” Hugo replied and turned and started to walk away. “Why don’t I show you all where you’ll be staying?”
“Hey, wait a second,” Dexter responded. He rushed to catch up to Hugo. Heidi and Trist followed behind in silence. “What mission? Why would he be on a mission and not tell me about it?”
Hugo didn’t answer but Dexter could tell from of the shift of his eyes that it was Heidi he didn’t want to hear the answer to the question.
“Oh come on, man,” Dexter said, annoyed. “You have got to get over this. She’s trained like thousands of our men. Our numbers are increasing at an exponential rate because of her and you’re still distrusting?”
“Maybe Sgt. Trist and I should go for a walk and you two can discuss things?” Heidi suggested.
Hugo started to respond to this suggestion, but Dexter immediately said: “No.” He placed a hand on Hugo’s shoulder and forced him to stop walking. Heidi and Trist stopped, too, standing uncomfortably next to Hugo and Dexter.
“You need to start trusting her,” Dexter insisted. “She’s here to help train your men and if you can’t get on board with that then your men aren’t going to trust her and the training won’t work or if it does, you won’t trust your men.”
“Hey, what do you want from me, man?” Hugo protested. “I let you guys come, didn’t I?”
“It’s not enough,” Dexter argued.
“Well, it’s all you’re going to get from me,” Hugo responded. He turned to Heidi. “If you’re not a spy then I truly apologize but you came from the Imperial palace, you read minds and you’ve swindled Lt. Hathaway…”
“She didn’t swindle me!”
“Whatever!” Hugo snapped. “It’s just suspicious is all I’m saying. I’m trying to give her the benefit of
the doubt by allowing this training to go on, but I can’t help it if it seems way too convenient that we just happen to obtain the perfect person to solve all of our problems the instant we need her.”
“Maybe that’s exactly why I’m here,” Heidi interjected.
All three men focused on her intently.
“All I mean is…” she continued. “I believe there are greater forces at work in the world than just the Emperor or the rebellion… and maybe those forces are handing you just what you need. And maybe you should take it and run with it rather than looking a gift horse in the mouth.”
Dexter grinned and turned back to Hugo. “What she said.” He jerked his thumb towards Heidi.
Hugo frowned skeptically and looked back and forth between Dexter and Heidi for a few moments. He sighed once more before he spoke again.
“Dugan and a group of men under him were sent to invade the Imperial prison,” he said finally.
“Which one, Chris?” Dexter asked. “There are like a hundred of them.”
Hugo looked directly at him. “The one adjacent to the palace.”
Dexter’s eyes widened and Trist whistled in awe.
“What?” Dexter asked. “Are you crazy?”
“A ton of rebel fighters are in that prison,” Hugo explained.
“But that’s a suicide mission,” Dexter said. “That’s insane. That place is crawling with Imperial guard. There’s no way to free those prisoners. He’s going to be majorly outnumbered. Best case scenario is that he and all his men get caught and put in the exact prison they’re trying to free.”
Hugo set his jaw and didn’t respond.
Dexter shook his head in astonishment. “You’ve totally lost it man,” he said. “I’m telling Commander Trevana about this…”
“The Commander is the one who ordered it,” Hugo answered.
“What?!” Dexter cried. “Why would she…? Why wouldn’t she tell me…?” His face fell as he realized. “You both still don’t trust Heidi. And you don’t trust me because I’m backing her.”
“We trust you, Dex…” Hugo began.
“No!” Dexter held up his hand, his face full of fury and betrayal. “I’m going to contact the Commander now and demand an explanation.” He turned and strode away angrily.
Heidi and Trist stood next to Hugo awkwardly. Hugo stared after Dexter, frowning deeply.
“So…” Trist said finally. “You were going to show us where we are to stay?”
Hugo glanced at him, as if he had forgotten they were there.
“Yeah…” he said finally and waved to them to follow him.