Chapter 16

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16

THE OTHER three rebels present turned to stare at Sabine quizzically.

Sabine rested her armored elbows on the Dejarik table and blinked at them. At some point after Kanan had seen her last - fleeing from the Imperial freighter - she had removed her helmet, leaving her pretty Mandalorian features and dyed hair visible. The 16-year-old explosives expert explained her plan with only one word.

"Tseebo," she said.


While Hera was in the cockpit (where Chopper was busy flying the Ghost) contacting Fulcrum, Kanan and Sabine (the others insisted that Zeb rest his ankle, much to the Lasat's annoyance) helped one another prep the airlock for the upcoming docking - at least, if it was possible for Fulcrum to briefly reunite them with Tseebo at all.

Hera put the Ghost on autopilot as it glided through hyperspace, then drew Chopper aside and instructed him to holocall Fulcrum. She sat in her chair, waiting only for a second. Then the holographic blue image of Fulcrum appeared before her.

"Hera?" Fulcrum questioned, her mechanically edited voice querying. "What is it?"

"Fulcrum," Hera said urgently, fixing her eyes on the hooded woman. "Ezra has disappeared. We suspect the obvious: the Empire must have taken him."

Fulcrum was silent for a moment, perhaps caught off guard by this revelation. "Explain."

Hera told the entire story: how Kanan had thought a solo op would do Ezra good and sent him to the local Imperial docking bay to steal a crate of food. However, that was a very long time ago, and there was still no sign of him whatsoever. When they had gone to search for him at Ezra's abandoned transmission tower, Ezra had not been there, and it had seemed as though no one had for quite a while. Hera informed Fulcrum how Kanan and Sabine had proceeded to go to the Imperial docking bay and had encountered an unusually heavy Imperial presence, including the Empire's muscle, Agent Kallus, and a mysterious, extremely powerful Sith Lord named Darth Vader. Hera added that Kanan had not been able to sense Ezra in the docking bay.

Fulcrum listened silently as Hera finished her tale.

"Sabine had an idea that will almost definitely allow us to find out whether or not Ezra is being held captive by the Empire or not: meet up with Tseebo. Tseebo will be able to scan the Empire's digital database for any files on Ezra, and if those files are encrypted or nonexistent, then Tseebo might be able to contact Ezra's old friend in the Empire, Zare Leonis. We'll ask Zare if he's heard anything about Ezra recently."

Fulcrum was quiet for a little longer. Then she said, "Judging by how heavily Kanan and Sabine were attacked at the docking bay, the Empire definitely expected you were coming. That means they know something about Ezra's disappearance or, more likely, are responsible for it." She fell silent again.

Hera's eyebrows met. "Please, Fulcrum, you have to help us. We won't be the same without Ezra, and if the Empire has him, I can't bear to think what they'll do to him." Tears were spilling out from Hera's bright green eyes and her voice was slowly becoming choked. "Kanan was strong enough to resist torture, but Ezra is only a boy. I don't know how long he'd be able to-"

"Hera," Fulcrum interrupted gently. "Calm down. I will summon Tseebo at once. Meet the ship he will be aboard here." She gave Hera the coordinates. "We will do all we can to return Ezra to you. Fulcrum out."

The holocall ended. Chopper buzzed and rotated his dome, bumping softly into Hera's leg.

"I'm okay, Chop," Hera murmured, patting the battered Astromech fondly. "I'm just terrified for Ezra." She shook her head. "I hope we'll be able to find out whether the Empire took Ezra. If they didn't, then I will feel much better."

Chopper's orange dome spun around again and he beeped several times, then rolled out of the cockpit.

Hera smiled faintly, stood up, and walked after him.


Oh, Ezra... please be okay.

***



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