Star Wars: Rebel Rising(17)

Saw didn’t give her much time to linger in her daydreams. He had her working on the code replicator and the doc developer for most of the trip. When she finished, he carefully analyzed the results. “These’ll do,” he said in a tone that made Jyn feel as if she weren’t good enough, but then he smiled at her, pride radiating from his eyes.

Xosad returned to the cockpit, scanning the system for the Imperial undercover ship. The ship lurched so violently that Jyn slid from the bench, her knee colliding painfully with the metal floor.

“I’ve made contact,” he called back. “Give me those docs.”

Saw stood up and strode toward the cockpit.

“Here’s where it gets interesting,” Jari mumbled, and his crewmates nodded grimly. Jyn felt a pressure on her lungs. What would happen if her codes didn’t work? She suddenly felt small and unimportant, sure that she would be the reason the mission failed.

“We’re in,” Xosad called out, his voice echoing off the metal. “They took the bait.”





Xosad angled his ship next to the Imperial one. While launching from Wrea and maneuvering through Smuggler’s Run had been a rocky ride, Xosad handled the close range of docking with the Imperial ship’s port with a finesse that surprised Jyn.

“You stay back,” Saw ordered Jyn. “Guard the port. Any of their men try to board our ship, shoot them.”

Jyn glanced at the port that would open up to a transport tube connecting the two ships. She imagined a stormtrooper, white-and-black armor, running toward her through the tube. She nodded grimly.

Saw took position in front of the port. He was the face of the mission; Xosad’s crew of Twi’leks and a Togruta would be suspicious. As soon as the transport tube extended between the ships and the port area was repressurized, the doors opened. Through a short tunnel and from behind the others, Jyn could see the interior of a small ship, sleek white plastoid and chrome glistening in contrast to the rough and dull metal of Xosad’s ship.

Two stormtroopers stood at the entrance of the transport tube, blocking the way onto their ship. “This is somewhat unexpected,” said a man wearing Imperial gray, striding forward. “We weren’t supposed to get resupplied for another standard month.”

“Then you’re going to be really surprised by this,” Saw said, whipping out his blaster and shooting both stormtroopers before they had a chance to retaliate. The Imperial officer ran, and Saw gave chase.

Xosad and his men surged forward after Saw, leaving Jyn behind. It had all happened so suddenly that she was breathless. There had been so much waiting—traveling through space to get there, arranging the hookup, waiting for the tube to extend. And now the others were already on the Imperial ship and Jyn was alone in front of the transport tube with two stormtroopers motionless on the other side.

Through the transport tube, she could hear the sounds of blaster fire. The dull thuds of bodies. Shouting.

Jyn pulled out her blaster and held it tightly in her hands. She wished she was beside Saw, even if he was in the thick of the battle. She didn’t like being alone. Her imagination filled with terrors.

Footsteps. Coming closer. Fast. Someone was running toward her.

She saw him before he saw her. A man, his dark skin vivid against the gray suit he wore, stained with bright red blood on one sleeve. He stopped at the stormtroopers after stumbling over their bodies, an expression of utter terror—or maybe disgust—evident on his face.

Then he looked up and saw Jyn.

He stepped over the first stormtrooper.

“You’re a little young thing. And they left you on guard duty, huh?” he asked. His voice was calm, like he was talking to a frightened animal. Jyn squeezed her blaster tighter.

“Don’t come forward,” she said, raising it.

“You didn’t do this.” The scientist looked down as he stepped over the second stormtrooper’s body. He was in the tunnel now. “You didn’t kill them.”

“I said,” Jyn warned, “don’t come any closer.” Her voice shook, but the blaster was steady in her hand.

The scientist had one hand in the large pocket of his coat. There was something there, hidden behind the cloth. Something hard and metallic. A blaster?

“Stop!” Jyn shouted.

He took another step closer.

“If you were going to shoot me, you would have by now,” he said. Another step. He was halfway across the transport tube now. “You look like a good girl,” he said.

“I’m not,” Jyn whispered, her finger on the trigger.

He didn’t hear her. “You’re not a terrorist like those men. I don’t know how they roped you into this, but if you let me, I can help you.” Two more steps. He was closer to Jyn now than to the stormtroopers’ bodies.

“Not another step,” Jyn said, aiming the blaster.

The scientist raised one hand as if surrendering, but there was an easy smile on his face, and he kept his other hand in his coat pocket, holding…holding whatever was there. Jyn’s eyes flicked from the hard outline to the man’s kind eyes. She couldn’t imagine someone who looked like this scientist hiding a blaster in his coat, but…

“I’m going to board your ship,” the scientist said with certainty. “I’m going to break the transport tube connection and use your comm to contact my superiors. You’re going to let me. Because you’re a good girl.”