Search the Galaxy // Poe Dameron

secrets kept hidden by fright

For a few straight minutes after the ship was set on autopilot, the man and Rey gushed of our remarkable survival. I cut them off with a fierce: "BB-8 and I need to be dropped off at the nearest planet."

"What? Why?" asked the man.

"I'm looking for a ship."

"You've got one," said Rey. "We're going to get you two home."

"Where we're headed is a place I can't risk strangers to know about," I said.

"Is it a Resistance base? Would he know?" she asked.

Without thinking, I said, "I'm in a higher rank than he probably is." I narrowed my eyes when he breathed a sigh of relief.

Noticing my look, he quickly said, "You're a lieutenant general for ground troops, aren't you?" I stared blankly at him. "Poe. I think he rambles about you when he's nervous."

I squinted my eyes suspiciously. "What did you say your name was?"

"I didn't," he stuck out his hand. "Finn."

I stepped to him, ignoring his hand. I stated into his eyes, watching, waiting, for him to make a wrong mannerism. "Finn. You said you broke Poe out of Starkiller Base."

"I did. We did it together. Joined effort, you know."

"Why were you on the ship in the first place?" I asked quietly. Menacingly, could be a decent description. I didn't have to change my tone to make him nervous. My staring did just that. "Rescue missions happen with teams, not a single person. You were on Starkiller Base for a reason that isn't a rescue operation."

"Enna--" Finn tried to say, but he was interrupted by smoke bursting from under the floorboard.

"Help me with this!" yelled Rey. 

Together, we popped the floorboard up. She jumped in.

A little while later, when she had stopped the smoke, Finn and I inquired as to what was wrong. 

"It's the motivator," she said. "Grab me a Harris wrench."

"How bad is it?" asked Finn. 

"If we want to live, it's not good."

"They're hunting for us now," he said aggressively. "We have to get out of this system!"

"Enna implied that the Resistance base is need-to-know. If I'm going to take you there, I need to know."

"No, you're going to fly this ship to somewhere where you two can get off. We don't need your help anymore," I said.

Finn held a wrench for Rey to see. She nodded, then snatched it from the air and ducked into the hatch to patch the old ship together again. He craned his neck to ensure she was busy before he turned his attention to my droid and I. "Look, between us, I'm not with the Resistance."

"I had no clue," I said dryly.

"I'm just trying to get away from the First Order," he continued.

"Aren't we all?"

"Tell me where the base is, and I'll get you there first," he bargained.

Rey shot up from the floor. "Hylex driver," she ordered to Finn. While he dug through the tool box, she caught my eye. "So, where's your base?"

BB-8 looked up at me, leaving the decision to rest on my shoulders. Trustworthy people were not people I often came across outside of the Resistance. I stumbled upon those strangers, one of whom was incredibly sketchy. Trusting them to withhold the location of the base was a reckless move. I knew better than what I was being asked to do.

"Look, Enna, I was a stranger to Poe when I found him. He trusted me to break him out," said Finn. "If he can do that, you can let me in on where your base is."

Without a second of hesitation, I spat, "Poe died trusting you."

BB-8 gave a single beep; a short reminder that our time was limited. The longer the debate continued, the greater chance the First Order had flying across our stationed ship.

I faked a flinch. "I think I heard something creak down there," I said. Rey groaned and dropped underneath the floorboards. The second her head was gone, I took Finn by the throat. "Make no mistake. If where your loyalties lie isn't clear by the time we reach our destination, you'll be in the same position Poe is."

"I'm against the First Order. I just want to get away from them. You help me do that, I'll help me you get BB-8 safely to the base," he whispered, roughly, due to my hold on his throat.

"I don't need your help," I snapped, releasing him.

Rubbing his neck, Finn said, "At this point, we're safer in numbers."

"Not sure that applies in a fight against the First Order," I muttered. For Rey's ears, I said, "Take us to the Illeenium system."

Rey shot up from the floor. "The Illeenium system?"

"Yup, the Illeenuium system, there you go. Get us there as fast as you can," he said. He tossed a wrench at Rey. When she ducked to avoid it, he sneaked a thumbs-up in my direction. BB-8 exerted a lighter from one of his ports.

"I can get you three there," she agreed. "I need bonding tape."

Finn dug through the tool box. "What about you?"

"I've gotta get back to Jakku," she said in an obvious tone.

"'Back to Jakku?'" repeated Finn and I simultaneously. His eyes were wide. "Why does everyone want to go back to Jakku?"

"Your return won't be to a normal life," I said.

"I'll take my chances," she said. Annoyed with how long Finn was taking to find the tape, she pointed her finger. He didn't see. He held countless tools in the air, to which she replied a short, "No," to every option.

Finn raised a sphere tool in the air. "It's this, isn't it?"

"Is that where I'm pointing?" asked Rey.

"This?" Finn tried again.

"If we don't patch this up, the propulsion tank will overflow and flood this ship with poison gas!" she shouted.

Also not entirely fond by that possible cause of death, I followed Rey's finger. I tossed her the roll of tape, and under the floor she went.

"Rey, you're a pilot, you can fly anywhere. Why go back? Family? Boyfriend? Cute boyfriend?" asked Finn. 

"None of your business, that's why," she replied.

"Back off," I said shortly. "If anyone should be interrogated on this ship, it's not her."

Finn flashed a sarcastic smile in my direction. Our annoyance with each other was postponed when the lights illuminating the ship changed to a flashing red. A jolt, something attaching to our ship, rocked our bodies.

I inhaled a frustrated breath. "Can this day get any worse?"