Ezra Lost

Chapter 6

6

IT TOOK at least twelve entire minutes for the rebels to leave the tower. (The lift upped and shuddered to a halt out of nowhere. Typically, Kanan would have been just fine with standing there squeezed against Hera while Sabine and Zeb struggled to get the lift going again, but in this urgent situation, time was of the essence; Kanan immediately decided to fix it himself. It was a very awkward thing to do in such a small space; Kanan accidentally elbowed Zeb a few times and stepped on Sabine's foot during the repair. At least the fix didn't require any tools, which the crew currently lacked. If they had needed tools... best not to think about that.)

Once they were finally out once more and running again, a series of other small hindrances occurred. Zeb tripped on a Lothcat, which was not very happy about being woken up so rudely and painfully, and attacked Zeb in a whirlwind of feline fury. The critter was so small, fast, vicious, and sheerly determined for revenge that Zeb was unable to get it off for more than five seconds. Kanan had to come to the rescue with the Force and send the belligerent Lothcat away in peace.

Zeb came away with several stinging scratches, and he had twisted his ankle pretty badly when he'd tripped over the Lothcat. Zeb insisted that he would only slow everyone down, and Hera volunteered to take him back to the Ghost.

That bummed Kanan out a little bit more, but he could only agree with her. Besides, being highly wanted rebels - who knew whether or not Kanan and Sabine might need a quick aerial getaway?

Sabine and Kanan sprinted the rest of the way to Capitol City. In total, over a quarter of an hour was spent going from the abandoned radio tower to the city. And there was still a little while to go before they reached the docking bay. This frustrated Kanan out of his mind, but there was nothing he or Sabine could do about it.

The twosome stole into the city, walking through the streets with a wary eye out for stormtroopers or other trouble. Kanan wished he could run to the docking bay, but that would almost definitely attract some unwanted attention.

For a while, both Sabine and Kanan were silent, focused on their thoughts.

But then Sabine spoke. Her voice was quiet and hesitant.

"Specter One?"

Kanan stirred, then looked down at her, his eyebrows meeting. He already suspected what she was going to say, and he was very reluctant to hear it.

"Specter Six has been gone for nearly five and a half hours now," Sabine murmured, looking ahead, her face concealed by her creatively vandalized Mandalorian helmet. "Do you really think... he'll still be there?"

Kanan breathed a faint sigh, his heart heavier than ever.

"To be completely honest... no, Specter Five. I don't." Kanan glanced back at the street ahead of him, his cyan gaze flicking over the few other late-night passerby in search of bucketheads. "But we have to cling to even the smallest hope that he is."

Sabine nodded her head slightly in solemn agreement. She didn't say anything more.

Neither of them wanted to acknowledge the dark possibility that they might never see Ezra Bridger ever again.

***