Day 9

If shuttle three had a more permanent or formal designation, Rey missed it. The First Order had landed two shuttles that held mainly diplomatic staff and two that had full complements of stormtroopers. Naboo had lodged formal protest over the troops, just as they had about the dreadnoughts and other ships. The protest was noted and, as far as Rey knew, ignored. But the Order had left their numerous guards at the shuttles during the negotiations. Now, they were all on their way back to the fleet.

Although Rey had met everyone but the troopers in the main compartment of shuttle three, Ben introduced her to them all over again. This included the four troopers, whose designations he rattled off with ease and she struggled to remember more than a few digits of. Ben was fairly humming with excitement, grinning with happiness as he let each and every person know that this was Rey and Rey was going with them. With him. It was embarrassing, not least because she could tell that most of these people had never seen Ben smile in any genuine way. They looked confused, but pleased for him, and smiled back in good humor.

She couldn't tell if the troopers smiled. Their helmets stayed on. They sat together near the door. She couldn't help imagining someone like Finn inside each of those sets of armor. She wished she knew what they looked like, but it didn't seem proper to ask.

About the time Ben had run out of people to show her to, Hux came out of the cockpit to speak with them. "We should talk, Supreme Leader," he said, looking at Ren and then towards the back of the ship.

He was clearly speaking only to Ben. Rey looked around at the friendly faces, not sure what she would do. But Ben touched her on the side, so she turned and accompanied them to the aft cargo compartment. It was full, leaving only a narrow walkway between stacks of boxes and crates bearing the Naboo logo. She saw her own small chest up high, to the side, with her staff affixed to it.

"What's all this?" Ben asked, looking around as though the area had been empty on their way down to Naboo. They ended up in the walkway with Hux at one end, Ben in the middle, and Rey closest to the door.

"Cargo," Hux answered. "I wasn't going to overlook the opportunity to pick a few things up."

"I thought you said we were broke." Ben shifted the latches on one of the boxes he could open without catastrophe. "Did you steal this?"

"No, I did not," Hux said without the exasperation she would have expected if that were an unusual question. "Everything's paid for, or it should be. You'll get a report. I never said we were 'broke'. I said we will be if we can't get the core world matter settled." He hesitated for a moment, then said, "I'll have the chief financial officer meet with you to review the First Order accounts. That's something you'll need to know."

"Yeah," Ben said distractedly, pulling a small, clear bag out of the box. It contained a thimble-sized part with wires hanging from it. "What are these?"

Hux looked at it blankly. "I have no idea. I gave the quartermaster a budget and priorities. Most important was medical supplies. I'll be as surprised as you when I see the report on what she purchased. I'm having to rely on others, because you've kept me with you the whole time, concerned I might shoot you in the back if I got too far away!" He sounded annoyed.

Rey leaned over and pulled one of the parts out for herself to get a better look. Digging through junkyards had given her a keen eye for valuable components.

Ben looked over at Hux. "To be fair …"

Hux rolled his eyes. "Yes, fine. It was a valid concern."

Rey interrupted. "I know what this is." Ben lifted the bag and she nodded, showing the one she was holding. "It's an intra-ship identification transponder. You put them on droids or ships you want to keep track of inside your own ship, so the system knows which bay something is parked in or which corridor a droid is patrolling. If you're really careful, they can be reprogrammed for a new unit, but most of the time they don't survive removal. Five portions for a working part."

"Five portions?" Ben asked.

"Five days food," Rey said. "That's what Unkar would pay on Niima Outpost, or at least what he was paying last time I brought him one." She looked in the box Ben was still holding open. "You have a whole crate of them," she said in amazement. Of course, Unkar wouldn't pay five portions per part if she'd brought him this many (bulk discount, he would have said), but it still would have fed her … forever. She looked around at all the other packages.

"Ah," Ben said quietly. He tossed the bag back in with the rest, so Rey did the same. He let the box close.

"That sounds reasonable," Hux said. "With all the shuffling about of equipment we've been doing recently.

Now, about her," he said, looking at Ren, not Rey. "You need to assign a member of your staff to provide an orientation. They need-"

"I can do it," Ben interrupted.

"No," Hux said firmly and patiently. "It needs to be someone else so that she has ties on the ship beyond just yourself. Unless you intend to keep her cloistered?"

There was a long pause while Hux looked at Ben expectantly. Ben finally said, "That's a real question? No. I don't." There was an edge to his voice.

"Yes, Supreme Leader," Hux said gravely. "It is a very serious question. There are pros and cons to it, but mainly, I have no idea of your intentions. We've never discussed anything like this and we're no longer on Naboo. You may do as you like. If you intend to handle everything for her, then let me know."

"I'm right here," Rey said, not appreciating Hux's insinuation that she was powerless and had no voice in the discussion. Ben looked back at her. Hux did not. Rey was starting to think it was a good idea Ben was physically between her and the grand marshal.

Ben took a deep breath and turned back to him. "My intentions are that you treat Rey the same way you would … how did you put it yesterday? Like the honorable romantic partner of a fellow officer. Something like that."

"Good." Hux nodded. "That's what I was describing before you cut in on what I was trying to tell you."

Ben leaned against the cargo on one side and grimaced. "Go ahead then," he said with a tired sigh.

Hux did. "They need to be a senior member, but close to her age. Same gender. One of your staff, not mine, whose duties you can spare for the next week. They'll need to coordinate the things she needs – clothing, supplies, systems access, anything else. I've already sent ahead notification to security, for her to have access to common areas only and her quarters. Do you want to adjust that?"

Rey leaned on the cargo on the opposite side. She crossed her arms, stuck somewhere between wanting to complain about being a third-party to the discussion and yet being fascinated by the process. Because these were, she knew, important things to be settled – the nuts and bolts of how things worked – and even if she inserted herself into the conversation, she didn't know how to answer.

"Add my quarters," Ben said. "The hangar bays. The restricted training areas. Simulation pods. Observation decks."

"She can go anywhere when you escort her," Hux reminded him.

"Add those areas so she can go there when I don't." Again, there was a slight edge to his voice.

Hux got the message. "As you command." He moved on. "Security should find her shortly after docking to get biometrics and have her put into the system. I've set up her rooms across the hall and down one from your own." He looked past Ben and finally at Rey to say, "If he gets called away, just follow the portage droid that has your things. If you get lost from that, have me paged."

"Page the grand marshal of the First Order just so I can find my room?" she asked dubiously. "Why wouldn't I ask someone in the hall for directions?"

"Because if they're doing their duty, they will have you arrested. You are boarding a military vessel that is on war footing. Unfamiliar, unauthorized personnel such as yourself, out of uniform and wandering the halls, are to be immediately detained. I do not want an accident of any kind. Use my name as soon as you are challenged. Please."

"Or mine," Ben said. Hux gave him a steady look. Ben frowned. "Never mind. Use his."

"What did he say?" she asked. "Talking without involving me isn't enough? Now with mind-reading so I can't even overhear?" It was rude.

"It's not that," Ben said. "He pointed out that his people are more loyal to him than to me, and that he's easier to find because he doesn't block out hours of the day to meditate," Ben looked at the ceiling in annoyance (at Hux, not her) as he continued, "or to fly TIE fighters, or to exercise in strange places. He works two shifts, he's usually within reach of his comm link …" He frowned and looked at Hux. "Did I miss anything?"

Hux gave an innocent smile. "I also have a reputation to responding to communications by speaking with people, rather than choking them or damaging equipment with a laser sword. So." He turned his eyes to Rey. "Use my name."

"Oh," Rey said quietly, chastised but not guilty. "You only thought it to him because it sounded disrespectful to him and you didn't want to say something like that in front of me."

"Exactly," Hux said. "But, moving on, you will be assigned an escort to your rooms, or Ren will do it, so it shouldn't be an issue."

"I get to walk her to her room?" Ben asked facetiously. "You don't have some reason why that's not possible?"

"Yes, Supreme Leader," Hux said with a smile, "you get to do that. I would suggest that you also assign her two guards on duty at all times. Have them check in with you at the start of each shift and I would suggest you vet them thoroughly each and every time. I'll have Captain Phasma send you some candidates." Ben gave him a sober look and nodded.

"Guards?" Rey asked.

Hux said, "You are the paramour of the supreme leader. It would be wise."

Ben asked, "Why paramour? That makes it sound wrong. Illicit."

Hux countered with, "She's here to accompany you. Not to accept your proposal. Unless I misunderstood." Which let Rey know Hux had heard exactly what she'd meant. From the look that went over Ben's face, he hadn't realized it until now.

Ben looked back at Rey with reservation, then to Hux. "That's a private matter. I'm not going to talk about this in the cargo container of a shuttle with you here, Hux."

"Then give me a different word to use," Hux insisted. "There will be public things I will have to say about her."

"Partner; bondmate?" Ben said.

"Pick one. You're the one who didn't like paramour."

"Bondmate," Ben said. He glanced at Rey for her approval and got a nod. She liked it. Nothing was implied that was untrue.

"Very well," Hux said. "Your bondmate needs guards. They can also assist with providing directions until she becomes familiar with the ship's layout, if her personal assistant is called away for some reason."

"Why do I need guards?" Rey asked. "You said it was a military ship and unauthorized people weren't allowed."

"He's worried about assassins from the High Command," Ben said. "It's …"

"Just a contingency," Hux said. "Ren uses the Force to figure out what's likely to happen so he can safely ignore everything else. I can't. So I have contingency plans."

That wasn't how the Force worked. At least usually. But Rey only asked, "Does Ben have guards?"

"He did. They're dead," Hux said with a snort.

"Those were Snoke's guards," Ben said. He said to Rey, "The ones in the throne room, he means."

She nodded. That made sense – the supreme leader's personal guards. As well, that he hadn't replaced them yet. It had only been a little over a week. "But why not troops, like the ones you're assigning to me?"

"Well," Hux said slowly, "let's be realistic here. If he dies, I will commission a new uniform for myself as the supreme leader and drop you off at the nearest transit center. If you die, he kills me. It makes me very motivated to keep you safe."

"True," Ben said.

"I hope you don't hurt him unless it's actually his fault. Or malice," Rey said to Ben. Rey had a cold feeling that if she passed, Ben would go soon thereafter, just like Luke and Leia.

"I've learned my lesson about gloating about people's deaths, if that matters," Hux said.

Ben nodded, his thoughts somewhere else. From the set of his features, Rey suspected it was the same realization she'd just had – they were linked in the Force. One would not live long without the other. Thank the Maker they'd stopped fighting each other! Quietly, Rey said, "Your mother had enough time to set things right." His eyes shifted to her. There was no surprise or difficulty in catching her meaning that whichever of them died first would be able to avenge the other, should they wish to.

"That was all I had to say," Hux said after a few silent moments passed while the two wallowed in morbid thoughts.

Ben roused himself. "Thank you, Grand Marshal. I'll go forward and be in contact with my staff to set things up. What was the room number?"

Hux gave it to him. Ben nodded, and the three filed out.