Star Wars: Rebel Rising(48)

Jyn woke early the next morning. She crept down the hall to the kitchen, hoping she could find some caf and a brew pot. She was surprised to see Hadder already up.

“Bunn doesn’t cook itself,” he said, lifting the top of a big pressurized steamer. Jyn recognized the same long, sticky grains that had been the base of much of the food at the diner; bunn must be locally grown and very popular. Hadder had refilled the steamer the previous evening and let grains cook all night. From the large quantity of bunn in the basin, Jyn figured it was going to feature in every meal she had on Skuhl.

“Want breakfast?” Hadder asked pleasantly.

Jyn nodded.

Hadder moved around the kitchen efficiently, frying up two eggs, setting caf to brew, flipping the eggs, and pouring two cups for himself and Jyn. “Mom likes to sleep in,” he said, handing her a mug. He scooped bunn out of the steamer with his bare hand, making a little mound in the center of a bowl and then sliding a fried egg on top.

Jyn watched Hadder eat first—breaking the bright green yolk of the egg and mixing it with the sticky bunn—and then copied him.

“None for me?” Akshaya asked, yawning and stretching as she entered the kitchen.

Hadder jerked his head toward the griddle.

“It wasn’t that long ago when my son cooked for me,” Akshaya said in a falsely bemoaning tone, “but now there’s a new pretty girl to distract him.”

“Yup,” Hadder agreed cheerfully.

Jyn put her spoon down. “I was thinking,” she said. “I need a job. I could try to learn how to fix your droid….”

Hadder laughed. “You think Beethree even can be fixed?” he asked. “That hunk of junk has been broken for years.”

“Or I could copilot,” Jyn offered. She wasn’t sure how much help she’d be if she actually had to pilot, but she was a fast learner.

“No,” Akshaya said. “You’re too young.”

“I’m sixteen,” Jyn said. She paused, thinking. “I could—”

“No,” Akshaya said in a harsher tone of voice than Jyn had ever heard her use before.

An uneasy silence stretched out, and even affable Hadder looked down at the table. Jyn wasn’t sure what she’d said that was so wrong, but it was clear she’d overstepped somewhere.

“Docs,” Akshaya said finally. “You get me scandocs and clearance codes that help me avoid those blockades, and we’ll call it even.”

“You can forge Imperial clearance codes?” Hadder asked, gaping at Jyn.

“Helped me avoid a fine,” Akshaya said. “We’re not exactly scraping credits together, but that was a nice little bump.”

“Maybe we can save up enough to replace Beethree,” Hadder said.

“Yeah, that droid really isn’t worth fixing.” Jyn laughed. “You’d be better off using it for target practice.”

Akshaya and Hadder exchanged a look. “Target…practice?” Akshaya asked.

Jyn felt her cheeks burn. She had said the wrong thing. Again.

“Well,” Jyn said, scooting her chair back. “I’ll get to work. I’ll put together a packet of different codes and scandocs that may be helpful, and—”

Akshaya cut her off. “Jyn,” she said. “I’m not leaving again for a few days. You can take it easy.”

“I—” Jyn started, but she wasn’t sure what else to say.

“I, on the other hand, need to oversee the cargo dispersement,” Akshaya said, standing up. “I’ll see you later.”

Jyn watched her go, then turned back to Hadder. She felt…adrift. What was she supposed to do if she wasn’t working? She couldn’t train as she had with Saw.

“Why doesn’t she want a copilot?” Jyn asked Hadder. “I’m not that young.”

Hadder just shook his head sadly. “That’s not it. It’s Tanith.” He looked like he was going to say more, but instead he ran his fingers through his dark hair. Jyn watched as the silky locks fluttered around his ears. He needed a haircut, but maybe he liked it that way, chin length and just enough in the way that he had an excuse to keep running his fingers through it. It was very distracting.

“Who’s Tanith?” Jyn asked, pressing him for more information.

Hadder’s gaze was distant. “She was my sister.”

Jyn noted the way he said this, as if she was gone.

“She died when I was seven,” Hadder said, confirming her suspicion. “You don’t have to say you’re sorry or anything,” he added quickly. “It happened a decade ago.”

Jyn didn’t tell him that she hadn’t been intending to say she was sorry. She would never give pity to someone she liked. Instead, she said, “I lost my parents when I was eight.”

Hadder looked at her. She had questions for him, and he had questions for her, but neither was sure what to say.

Hadder broke the silence first. “Have you been on the run since then?”

“Since I was eight?” Jyn laughed. “No, someone else took me in.” Her smile faded and she grew completely still. The group has been utterly crushed, Lieutenant Colonel Senjax had said, every single member who implemented the attack has been caught and punished. Was Saw even still alive? Her mother’s death was long before, distant enough that she could speak of it without emotion. But Saw’s possible death…that was too recent.