Ghost of a Smile

Chapter Seventeen

Nur – Fortress Inquisitorius

Ezra Bridger had just been escorted out the prison room and the acolytes had returned to their cells. The ray shields activated, locking them inside. Sevrina Winter brushed her dark hair out of her face and looked into her cell. She began her reflection.

The portion known as Wild Space was technically the part of the galaxy that the Empire hadn't conquered yet, or in her planet's case: barely conquered. That didn't stop people who lived in the Core (Corellia, Coruscant, etc.) from using the term to describe all the planets that didn't lie on a major hyperspace route. It also didn't stop those people from assigning traits like stupid and uncivilized to 'wild-spacers'.

Her planet really was Wild Space. Not the home of the greatest educational institutions but Sevrina had been born smart. One idea always seemed to flow to the next and she always ended up right. Her parents had told her she was just intelligent, but after her talk with Ezra about the Force, she wondered if maybe that was how she got her intelligence.

She closed her eyes and concentrated. If the 'Force' was some mystical energy field, and she could command it, maybe it was her way out of here. Sevrina's excitement level rose, if she could use it, she could everyone out of here and they could all go home!

But her mind was conflicted, did she want to go home? Her parents probably didn't even notice the Empire took her, not to mention, if she had the power to stop this treatment from happening to another Force sensitive and she didn't use it, how was she better than the Empire? Maybe the Force was telling her to help the Rebellion. And Ezra. Her lips' corners turned upward.

She tried to summon the Force for several minutes but couldn't. She opened her eyes and grunted in frustration. Sevrina decided she had to keep trying, for all their sakes.

******

Ezra had no shackles or stun cuffs on his wrist, and there were no guards lining the halls. It was unlike any other experience in a prison he could remember. "You guys sure are confident. No guards, not even stun cuffs..."

Twelfth scoffed, "Believe it or not, this is the one prison you will ever go to where the captors want you to escape."

Ezra, still walking, twisted to look at the helmeted Force user in confusion, "You want us to escape?"

"We certainly want you to try. It shows intelligence, and verve. Those are a couple of the traits of an inquisitor. After all, we don't want to create broken, pouting sad sacks who can't serve."

Ezra thought for a moment, "Has anyone ever made it out?"

The Twelfth Brother sighed regretfully, "I thought I did."

Ezra didn't know what to say about that confession. This inquisitor was getting weirder by the day. He stayed in the Fortress training more inquisitors, so he didn't 'hunt', he was a former padawan, he had a really weird sense of humor, and he had once tried to escape? Finally, Ezra said, "Care to tell me about it?"

Under the helmet, Twelfth sent him a withering glare. Then he remembered Ezra couldn't see it anyway and decided he might as well explain, "I got out of my cell and the prison room, don't ask how. I made my way outside the Fortress. You might not have noticed but Lord Vader doesn't allow ships to stay on the landing pad, in case we try to escape, so there wasn't one to steal. But I knew it was time for a supply ship to arrive so I waited for that and then got off-world. I wandered the galaxy for a couple months but one night, I woke up to several red sabers pointed at my face. I was dragged back here and forced to complete my training."