CHAPTER XIII

Rey rode the Golden Sphere all the way up through Kessel's atmosphere, until she was in orbit and could see the Star Destroyer. She knew that the Golden Sphere was not really a space-craft; it could not travel too far from the planet, and she would be dead meat should it go up against a Star Destroyer. From a weapons standpoint, it was less powerful than any X-wing or tie-fighter.

Rey sat inside the Sphere, and began meditating. She knew she couldn't stay here very long; as invisible as the exterior might have been, the Star Destroyer would sense her on its radar eventually. And she doubted she could take any direct hits.

Connecting with the Force, she surveyed everyone she could sense. There were a lot of darkside-users onboard. Yet she did feel the slightest tinge of the light-side, coming from the lowest level. She reached-

-it was a baby girl, a Togruta creature named Samara. Rey entered her dreams.


Onboard, Veep was again plugged into the wall, trying to override the elevators, but to no avail. Finn and Udo were strategizing, amid all the clone-babies around them. Udo gave a loud roar of anguish.

"Quiet, buddy," Finn said, "I'm hungry too."

Neither had eaten anything in almost twenty-four hours. They had been cut off from the rest of the Star Destroyer and had searched the entire level, only to find no food or water whatsoever. All they had with them was an emergency airlock that led out into space, and twelve clone-babies, and Finn guessed that the amount Force in the room had given them enough morale to keep going longer than they normally would.

"Udo," Finn said, "We can still get through this if we concentrate. There has to be a way to break through to the other levels-"

But even as he spoke, it was starting to become clear that even he didn't fully believe in himself anymore.

Meanwhile, none of them noticed one of the clone-babies, the Togruta named Samara, falling into a deep slumber.


Samara was fighting the big bad men again.

She didn't know what they were called, but they wore hoods and took orders from one man in a mask. In this dream, she was using her powers on them again. With just a flick of her hand, they were bowing before her. But suddenly a new woman stood over her. Samara hadn't seen her before, but she felt a strong presence from her.

"Samara, my name is Rey," the woman said, "You're dreaming right now, and I've entered your dream. Do you know what the Force is?"

"Yes," Samara replied. She had not yet learned to speak in the real world, but in her dreams she could communicate perfectly. And while she didn't know the term "the Force," she implicitly understood what Rey was talking about. She might have been less than a year old, but she already understood she could sometimes manipulate reality, or move things with her mind.

"Samara," Rey said to her, "You're asleep right now somewhere onboard that Star Destroyer. I'm looking for my friends. Are you near them? I think I sense them but I'm not sure."

Samara create a thought-image of the two strangers she had seen before falling asleep. Rey immediately smiled.

"Yes, that's them."

"The furry one scares me."

"That's Udo. He's a Wookiee. They all look like that."

"You're not a Wookiee. You don't have any fur."

"No I don't, and I smell better too. Listen, Samara, I need you to do something for me. In a few minutes, you're going to wake up. When you do, I need you to use the Force. I want you to tug on Finn's collar."

Rey created an image of Finn and pointed to the shirt collar on his uniform.

"Pull him to you; that will get him to notice you. And the stronger you use the Force, the easier it will be for me to sense you and hone in on you."

"Will you take care of me?"

Rey didn't know how to answer this question. It didn't take much to see that this baby had never been shown love. She was just a clone created in a test tube, bred to be a soldier and nothing else. She didn't know the word for Mother, but something in her still sensed that desire for one.

"I can try to take care of you, Samara, but I don't know what the future holds. I'm an orphan too. I never had parents."

Samara looked sad, but understood. She took direction very well for a baby.

"Alright, Rey. I'm going to wake up now."

"And you'll do what I asked? Pull on Finn's collar?"

"Yes. I'm doing it now. Goodbye, Rey. See you soon."

And Rey felt herself being thrown out, as the dream was collapsing.


Finn and Udo were going over their plan for the hundredth time. This time, Veep would send a signal that would communicate with the hard drive. It wouldn't override the elevators, but maybe it could create a distraction that would buy them enough time to try something-

Neither one had been paying much attention to the babies, or noticed that one, the Togruta girl, had awoken from her nap, and that she was looking around the room with a smile.

"Look," Finn said, "We owe it to all the Resistance fighters out there to not give up. I am going to face my destiny standing proud-"

Suddenly he felt something tugging at his shirt collar. Before he could look down, he was dragged across the room and yanked down onto the floor!

Udo roared, first in fear but then in laughter! It was hard not to laugh at how much of a fool Finn has just looked!

"What was that-" Finn began, then suddenly was dragged across the floor again! He was being pulled towards the baby that was smiling, almost laughing at him.

"You!" Finn tried to say, "You're using the Force? What are you-"

And then a new sound was heard. The emergency airlock was opening. Was someone coming in from outside? From space itself?

"There you are," a familiar voice said, and Rey stepped through, "Once she started tugging on you, I could hone in on you like a bright light."

"REY?!" Finn exclaimed, "How did you-where did you-"

But Rey ran in and gave both Finn and Udo a big hug. And as soon as she finished, she picked Samara up from her pod and hugged her, sensing that the baby cared for her as well, even if the dream was already starting to become a distant memory.

Rey was happy to be with her friends again. They had millions of questions for her, and she would answer them all in time. But for now, she just wanted to enjoy this moment, this reunion, so happy that they were all alive.

She embraced Udo again, burying her face deep into his fur.