Chapter 9
Marc, Elle and Sar stood silent for a long time, breathing heavily. Their hearts were still racing, but for different reasons. Elle was simply still feeling the adrenaline rush. Sar was trying to come to terms with the realisation that he had almost been killed not once but twice. Marc… Marc was slowly realising that he had experienced something incredible. The sensations that he had felt when he touched the orb were far beyond anything he had ever experiences before, and he was fighting to retain the memories of the images that it had shown him which were threatening to disappear like a dream.
After several minutes they finally began to look around them. They were in an opening – a small canyon in the middle of the mountain with high walls surrounding them on all sides.
"So", Elle said, still panting. "Which way home?" Marc and Sar looked at each other. They had never been here before and didn't know if they would be able to find their way back. They tried to communicate this to each other wordlessly, hoping that Elle wouldn't see the worried looks on their faces. She did. "Don't tell me neither of you know the way back".
"That's n-", Sar began, but Marc interrupted him.
"It's this way", he said, and started to climb up one side of the canyon. Sar watched him climb for a while. He looked at Elle and then followed after Marc. Elle watched them with suspicion, not trusting that Marc really knew the way. Realising that standing still wouldn't get her anywhere she eventually followed after them.
Marc looked at Sar; his hands were still tied. A confused expression passed over his face. "Sar", he said. "Why is that rope still tied around your hands?"
His friend smiled. "I was a little too busy to stop and untie myself", he said.
Marc shrugged. He moved forward to untie his friend, but Sar stepped backwards. "Hey", he said. "I'll do it myself, thanks".
"OK", Marc said, but inside he winced. He'd seen his friend escape from shackles before; it was one of his party tricks, but it always made Marc feel sick.
Sar braced himself. Then, suddenly, he used his left hand to twist the thumb of his right. There was a loud cracking sound, and the thumb became completely disjointed. Then he bent it in towards his palm and slid his right hand out of the rope. He then used it to untie his left hand.
He let the rope drop to the ground. "Ta daa", he shouted, and grinned. Marc just rolled his eyes.
Marc got to the top of the canyon first, quickly followed by Sar. Once they had caught their breath they looked over the side to check on Elle's progress. She was still some way down. Sar looked at Marc and whispered "Do you really know the way?"
Marc didn't answer. He just looked at his friend and grinned widely. Sar laughed.
Garin sat at the edge of the square, watching the people celebrating. They were dancing and drinking, and smiling. There were dozens of people – it seemed as though the whole village had come out to join in. Despite how concerned he was about his men and the survival of the Rebels, he couldn't stop a smile from spreading across his lips.
A pretty young woman approached him. "Hi", she said.
"Hello", Garin replied.
"Do you want to dance?" she asked. "I'm here all on my own".
"Sorry", Garin answered. "I'm not much of a dancer. I've got two left feet". The truth was that he was worried about getting attached to anyone on this planet. The girl was very pretty – her blonde hair was tied up in pigtails, and she had a smile that could launch a thousand ships. And she smiled a lot.
"I won't take no for an answer", she said, and grabbed his hand. Garin thought about protesting, but quickly got caught up in the atmosphere.
They stared into each other's eyes as they danced, completely lost in the moment. Garin could barely remember the last time he had danced like this. It was back on his home planet, after he had graduated from the local academy. He had studied politics, and had always dreamed of taking a seat on the Alliance Senate.
His family had grown up very poor. They struggled to survive the increase in taxes that the Alliance insisted on, which was why he was so determined to enter politics. He wanted to make a difference, to help reform the Alliance so that it represented the people again.
The war had been raging for several years by this point, and there was no end in sight, but this was long before Garin chose to become a fighter. This was a time when he was innocent. It wouldn't last.
That day he had been so excited. He was finally ready to make his impact. The first thing he had done after he had graduated was head down to the local Alliance recruitment office. He was so full of confidence, so sure that his ideas were good – how could they not want to hire him?
They turned him away without a second's hesitation.
He was devastated. How could they turn him down? They didn't even listen to his ideas. That was when he started to realise what the Alliance had become. Something which was afraid of its own shadow, which would never allow anyone other than themselves to have any influence. Over time he started to hate the Alliance, and everything that it had betrayed, but his hatred stemmed from his anger at their rejection.
That night he went to his graduation party, and he danced with a pretty girl. But he couldn't enjoy himself. His whole world had been broken, the dreams he'd had for many years lay shattered.
It was soon after that his world was attacked. He didn't really know if it was the Rebels or the Alliance that had started the battle that day, but he knew who it was that ended it. The Alliance knew that they wouldn't win the battle, and they knew that they couldn't afford to let such a strategically important city fall into the hands of the enemy. So they razed it to the ground. Every building, every structure, completely destroyed. Thousands died, including his parents. That was when he knew he would fight them with every ounce of strength that he had. To punish them – not just for his parents, but for shattering his image of the Galaxy and destroying his dreams. He joined the Rebels soon after, and his relentless determination saw him rise through the ranks quickly.
He finished his dance with the young girl, and thanked her. He made his excuses and he left, heading out of the village and back to the camp where his men were sleeping.
He had to get off this planet.