Galen Erso sat in the crowded cafeteria, surrounded by chatter, though no one tried to converse with him personally.
Despite the fact that he was virtually a prisoner of the Empire, he could have taken his meals in private – after all, prisoner or not, he was the head scientist on Eadu. But he preferred to keep his eyes and ears open in as many public places as possible.
By nature, he was a careful man. He was exact in his calculations, rigid in his habits, and inconspicuous much of the time. He was not given to recklessness. But now he would have to break the mold and take such risks as made a chill sweep over him each time he contemplated the venture.
Time was running short. Very short.
In a few months, perhaps even a few weeks, the Death Star would be completed and he had no doubt that Krennic would immediately unleash the weapon. Krennic, too, was a deliberate man, but he was eager. Eager for victory. He would not bide his time.
He needed someone he could trust, someone who hated the Empire or, at the very least, had a grudge against the Imperials. But finding someone like that was a difficult and delicate undertaking. The wrong word to the wrong person would prove disastrous.
To tell the truth, there was no one he could trust as yet. His fellow scientists were a cowed, yet somehow still arrogant lot, and even if he could persuade one of them to see his side of things, they would not be able to get his message out.
His message.
He had recorded it some weeks ago and was waiting, waiting for the right person, the right opportunity to get it into Saw's hands.
During the wanderings of his mind, his tea had grown lukewarm. Galen shrugged and swallowed the last few drops anyway. He was used to drinking his hot drinks cold and his cold drinks room temperature, for when he was caught up in his work everything else disappeared until he emerged hours or days later, bleary-eyed and exhausted.
The next shipment of kyber were due to arrive within the hour. Galen directed his steps toward the hanger.
/
Aside from his laboratory, the cargo hanger was where Galen had spent much of his time lately. The cargo pilots were the ones who could prove useful to him with their access to the farthest reaches of the galaxy and their innocuous appearance wherever they went. So far, he had not been successful in striking up even a conversation – and certainly not a friendship – with any of them.
But he had hope.
It was odd, that he should still hope. One would have thought that the Empire and their threats, the death of Lyra and the disappearance of Jyn would have sapped him of that quality. Such had not been the case. He was often discouraged, it was true, but still hopeful. Jyn, his Stardust, could still be alive. And he still had a chance to undo all of Krennic's diabolical plans.
There was still much to hope for.
A raised voice caught his attention.
"You stupid fool! Did you think we wouldn't notice?"
Galen quickened his step through the hanger until he came to the scene of the disturbance. A slight young man, a cargo pilot by his uniform, stood with a look of shame on his face. Towering over him was one of Galen's fellow scientists, Rogan Chur. It was he who'd been shouting.
"What's wrong, Rogan?" Galen asked quietly.
Rogan looked over, hostility radiating from him. But he stepped a little closer and opened his hand to reveal two kyber crystals, one about the size of Galen's thumb, the other somewhat larger.
"This is what's wrong," Rogan spat. "I caught this thieving pilot trying to smuggle them away."
The pilot raised his head. "I wasn't-"
Ragon turned and slapped the pilot across the face.
"That's enough," said Galen. He might not be the strongest or toughest person on Eadu, but he was in charge. In name, anyway. "This pilot was not stealing the kybers, Ragon," he said more calmly. "Commander Krennic ordered some last minute testing on this batch and I asked for a sample so I could follow his orders."
He held out his hand for the crystals and after a moment's hesitation, Ragon handed them over.
"Can you oversee the unloading of the rest?" he asked Ragon. But it was more a command.
Ragon nodded, surly and still casting suspicious glances at the pilot, but he left.
"Thank you," the pilot said.
"You were stealing these, weren't you?" said Galen.
The pilot gulped a little, but he nodded.
Galen shook his head. "Why take the risk?"
The pilot swallowed. "Gambling debts," he muttered, but the way he ducked his head, the way his words hesitated and stuttered led Galen to believe he was lying.
Galen looked down at the kybers he held that, even in the harsh glare of the hanger's industrial lighting seemed to give off a glow of their own. "What's your name?" he asked of the pilot.
"Bodhi. Bodhi Rook."
Galen nodded. "Do you have much time before you leave Eadu?"
"A few hours, I think. Before I go out for more kybers."
"Come and see me in an hour," Galen said. "You can ask any droid to show you the way to my quarters."
"A-all right."
He would have preferred to speak with the pilot now but he had a previous engagement and the hanger was no place to talk openly.
Bodhi ducked his head in a half-nod before slipping away.
Galen watched the young man weave his way through the crowds of workers that always swarmed the hanger. There was a streak of honesty in Bodhi Rook, despite the fact that he had tried to steal the kybers.
Galen did not usually think of people in the grasping, mercenary way he knew so many of the Imperials – particularly Krennic – did, but he could not shake off the feeling that the pilot could prove useful to him.
He could only hope it was so.