Sparks

Chapter Five - The Shadows

Ereen was chatting with one of her fellow pilots as they walked into the small ship. They began to pick up crates filled with medical supplies. Inside, there was medicine and a few bioscanners. Bioscanners were small devices that scanned a life form for medical irregularities. To the pilots' relief, the boxes were light, except for one in the back corner of the room.

"You'd think that they'd all be this light, but no, there always has to be one heavy one." Ereen griped to her friend as they both struggled to lift the crate. Little did they know, Erica was the one weighing down the crate. It wasn't comfortable in there. She couldn't see a thing and there were boxes digging into her back. It was a good thing she wasn't claustrophobic. But it did smell familiar to her, like medicine. The smell brought back good memories.

The pilots managed to lift the crate and started moving. Erica had stacked the boxes around the sides of the crate, leaving plenty of room for her in the middle. Nothing fell on her, which was definitely a relief to the young woman since they were stacked in piles. The box swayed as the pilots carried it, and after a few minutes, the box was set down with a thump. There were muffled voices. Erica pulled some boxes away from the wall of the crate and pressed her ear against it. No use, I can't make anything out. The voices began to fade until all she could hear was silence. Erica placed her hand on the lid above her, pushed up, and looked out.

There wasn't much light since the only source of it streamed through an open doorway. But it was enough to look around. She was alone, but she could hear faint voices from the landing dock outside and the sound of ships. The room was what Erica assumed was for storage, with simple concrete walls. There were crates all around her, identical to the one she was in. She opened the crate all the way, which responded with a creak of the hinges, and the lid slammed the side of the crate. Erica tensed and waited, but nobody came. After sighing with relief, she hopped out of the crate, but she looked down at the crate.

Maybe they won't notice a few missing boxes...

She was running low on antibiotics, and she knew that bioscanners were a piece of sweet tech. The price tag on the devices was always expensive, and it would take all the money she had. She had worked at several bars and medcenters on the planets she had been on searching for information. Never stayed in one place too long, always on the move...it was beginning to tire Erica out. But a Jedi settling down was dangerous. One mistake and she was dead. You saw what happened. You saw him kill her.

Grabbing three slender boxes of antibiotics, she put them into her vest pocket. The other slim box with a brand new bioscanner followed. Creeping towards the doorway, she leaned on the wall opposite of the door and peered out. The pilots were huddled in a group, but Erica wasn't sure why. All she could see were the people standing around something. Also, the wind was blowing so hard she couldn't hear a thing, which wasn't helping. Perfect time to slip into the city. Since it was morning, the people would start the day and be everywhere. Erica couldn't just walk through the streets. Everyone that knew her as a child believed her to be dead. Recognition would be a great reason for her to be arrested by Imperials. Staying in the shadows was her only option. He might still be out there. Searching.

Erica stepped into the morning light and headed into the shadows of an alley.

~<-*->~

Ezra, Sabine, and Zeb entered the Phantom. Hera was already in the pilot's seat, pressing buttons and checking diagnostics of the ship.

"How are we supposed to get past the Imperials when we reach Lothal?" Ezra asked.

Hera replied with, "Since all of the cargo ships were redirected to Lothal, we should be able to get to the planet unnoticed."

"So that's the plan? Get to the surface, steal a crate and leave? Sounds easy," Sabine pointed out, her eyebrows arched.

"Only if everything goes smoothly," Hera said, hitting a few more buttons.

"And our missions never go easy," Zen grumbled as the Phantom whirred to life. The small ship detached from the Ghost and headed up into the morning sky.