In the previous chapter: With Rey and Kylo Ren's help, the Resistance arranges a meeting with the First Order. Leia, Luke and Rey travel to Skunkt and are forced to provide their deepest secrets as collateral to a negotiations broker named Roony. Rey discovers that Leia is Force sensitive.
Chapter 10
"This will be a trap, Leia, one way or another," Luke said solemnly to his sister as we followed Roony's associate – a hulking, reptilian Trandoshan named Broodu – around another bend in the hallway. We had met him in a plaza near our hangar and followed him for the past fifteen minutes through a spiderweb of corridors and stairwells, largely avoiding crowds and open spaces.
"By all means, tell me what other choices we have," Leia sniped back.
We were all on edge as we twisted through the space station, anxious about what we were about to get ourselves into. This was a dangerous meeting, scheduled for political purposes on the surface, but in truth serving deeply selfish motives on a potentially catastrophic scale. Hux wanted Phasma. The Resistance wanted Fariya. Leia wanted to see Ben Solo. Luke dreaded seeing Kylo Ren. Snoke wanted any excuse to flaunt his Knight of Ren in front of Luke and Leia.
And me?
I'd be a liar if I said I didn't want to see Ren. Now that I'd secretly admitted my attraction to him, thinking about him made my stomach flutter and shrink. The same thing had happened to me a few times on Jakku: a handsome offworlder caught my eye in Niima Outpost, and we'd share a shot of Knockback Nectar and some steamy kisses in the shadows of the rowdy, open-air tavern. But despite numerous offers, I'd never been brave enough to take things further. An attachment to an offworlder might tempt me to leave Jakku before my family returned, so I'd always gone home alone. It had seemed like the right choice at the time, but now I sorely wished for more experience combating the high, dizzy feeling in my head. I couldn't afford to be distracted during this meeting.
"Keep your shields up and stay alert at all times," Luke said to me with uncanny timing. "Snoke has spent decades corrupting the Force. We all need to be careful around him."
Broodu stopped in front of a nondescript door where an enormous, rotund Herglic stood guard. He pulled three white plastene bracelets from his pack and fastened one around each of our wrists.
"Press your thumb here and hold it," Broodu instructed gruffly, pointing toward a square, glowing panel set into the top of the band. Once we had done so, the panels flashed blue. "Remove your thumb. These are now primed. If you put your thumb there again, a distress signal goes right to Roony. He pushes a button and all of your memories get beamed to every news channel on the HoloNet. So no funny business from any of you, period. Don't leave Skunkt or take off your bracelets until Roony has confirmed they're deactivated. Otherwise, they'll trigger automatically." He opened the door and directed us through. "Enjoy your meeting."
The utilitarian room wasn't impressive by any set of standards. The walls and floor were bare plasteel, except for one wall where three triangular viewports offered a glimpse of stars and space traffic around Skunkt. A rectangular metal table was situated in the center of the room, with two opposing sets of chairs set on either side. Recessed track lighting lit the area immediately around the table, while the rest of the room fell into shadow.
I spotted Kylo Ren immediately and fought to ignore the sudden tingle through my body. He stood closest to us, but his back was turned to the room as he stared out one of the viewports. Just beyond him, a creature that could only be Snoke conferred with a scowling, red haired man in low, whispered tones. They looked up at the sound of us entering the room.
Snoke was a tall, gaunt humanoid who stood well over seven feet tall. He was dressed in a black robe with red detailing woven along the hems. His cheeks were pinched into a permanent frown, the surrounding skin grotesquely scarred and sunken.
However, his mental presence was far more unsettling than his physical appearance. The Force web acted peculiar around him, like it was being sucked toward his figure unwillingly. A headache started to throb in my temples.
Snoke's power wrapped around me without warning. The headache flared into a crushing vice around my brain, but before I could do more than widen my eyes in pain, he retreated. I felt like I had been judged and found wanting in every possible way.
"The Resistance finally decides to join us," Snoke said by way of greeting. He spoke slowly, the natural timbre of his voice so deep it was practically a growl.
"We appreciate your cooperation in setting up this meeting," Leia returned stiffly, her political training emerging despite the danger of this foe and the bitter history they shared. She studied the red haired man at Snoke's side before her eyes darted to Ren's figure at the window.
Snoke made a low hum of disapproval. "We wouldn't be here, had we known the price of our attendance."
"We didn't know what methods Roony Ilsonway would use to assist with negotiations," Leia said, referencing the memories we'd had to supply as collateral. "The cost was necessary to ensure there's a satisfactory end to this meeting. For all of us."
"We have considerably different expectations for how this meeting should end," Snoke rumbled.
"We're not here to trade threats, Snoke. We agreed to peacefully conduct negotiations. As the princess of Alderaan, longtime member of the Imperial Senate, and founding General of the Resistance, I take political meetings seriously."
"Your credentials mean nothing to me, Organa. I lived before your mother was even born. I was contributing to the formation of the Empire while she gave birth to you and died."
Leia had no civil response to this statement. A cruel smile grew on Snoke's ruined face. He grandly gestured to the pale, scowling man at his side. "This is General Hux, High Commander of the First Order, and my appointed negotiator for the duration of our meeting today."
Hux nodded once, his spine rigid and contempt carved into his frown. He briefly studied the three of us, though his gaze lingered on me, and then his eyes shot to a point just over our heads and he ignored us.
Occasionally, snobbish visitors to Niima Outpost had been aghast at the appearance and deplorable living conditions of scavengers. We were a reminder that unpleasant, dirty things existed in the galaxy. Hux was just like those visitors. To him, we symbolized that which he hated most: filth, disorder, and, most unforgivably, a challenge to his authority.
Movement drew my attention away from Hux. Ren had come to stand next to Snoke, his hands clasped behind his back. The silver lines on Ren's helmet gleamed as he tilted his head to stare at a vague point between me and Leia, though I was certain he was watching his mother's face to see her reaction.
"You are already well acquainted with Kylo Ren, master of the Knights of Ren, and enforcer of the First Order," Snoke said, his voice guttural as his eyes gleamed in pleasure. Kylo Ren was his prized possession, his mere presence a potent weapon.
I chanced a glance sideways and saw Leia's heart breaking and bleeding across her face, but she remained every inch the regal General and nodded to him. Luke just stared, rendered silent by his struggle to clamp down on his emotions.
Snoke looked at me, eager to continue twisting the knife deeper, but Leia cut him short and gave brisk introductions, gesturing to us in turn. "I am General Organa. My brother, Jedi Master Luke Skywalker. His apprentice, Rey. Let's get started."
She moved to the side of the table opposite the windows and sat in the middle of the three chairs positioned there. Snoke's horribly mangled face sank into a scowl and he took the middle chair on his own side of the table. Luke sat to Leia's right, opposite Hux, and I found myself seated directly across from Ren.
Hux swiped through several documents on his datapad and opened his mouth to begin a prepared speech. Leia nimbly interrupted him.
"The prisoner exchange is the first item on the agenda."
Hux eyed her with disdain, clearly resolving to never let Leia Organa get the drop on him ever again.
"The Order wishes to discuss a more amenable solution to the unpleasant business on the agenda. Terms for the Resistance's surrender."
Leia blinked. "You think we travelled all this way to surrender? Right now? To you?"
"You are outnumbered. Understaffed. Poorly funded. Piloting spacecraft that belongs in history lessons. Firing blasters better fit for a junkyard. The Order outclasses you in every conceivable way."
"None of this is news to me," Leia replied in a stern but patient tone. "But despite the overwhelming odds, here we are. You clearly consider the Resistance a valid threat."
Hux continued as if she hadn't spoken at all. "Supreme Leader recognizes the value of your officers and personnel. He is willing to offer gracious terms. Far better than a band of rebels and terrorists deserves."
Snoke leaned forward in his chair, his natural height making him loom over the table. "It would achieve what you have wanted for so long, Leia Organa. An end to the fighting. Lives preserved rather than lost. Working together, we can rid the galaxy of its fractured individualism and create a competent government. You despised the Senate's predilection for quarrels instead of progress. Imagine a position where your talents were used to their full potential."
Snoke's words were evenly paced, precisely measured to cut and stab at the most tender part of our hearts. Fortunately, he had underestimated Leia Organa.
"I already have that position," she said with a raised eyebrow, as if explaining a simple concept to a particularly dense person. "I lead the Resistance."
Snoke waved his fingers dismissively. "Your work there is a waste. If you join forces with the Order, I will give you power that properly suits your ambitions. Furthermore, I will grant amnesty to all Resistance members, assuming peaceful assimilation into our new empire. And for you and your brother, peace. Retirement, if you wish."
"Retirement into an early grave," Luke muttered, his first words since the meeting had begun.
"No, Jedi. You are a broken old man. A threat to no one. The final, stubborn scrap of a legacy that refused to die before its name was disgraced and dishonored. I would simply require that you discontinue training your apprentices."
"So you could cast them to the horrors of the dark side?" Luke's eyes slid to his black-masked nephew.
Snoke held up his gnarled hand in casual supplication. "My influence would be minimal. Your apprentices have such natural affinity for the dark side."
Suddenly, Snoke's attention was wholly focused on me, clearly targeting me with his statement. His eyes were deep, glittering pits in his cadaverous skull. My temples started pulsing in pain once more as the accusation poisoned the air in the meeting room.
I didn't know what Snoke was better at: creeping me out or ticking me off. Either way, I couldn't let him get away with slandering me in front of Luke and Leia.
I slowly slid my fingertips along the band of my white bracelet. "You know we didn't come here to surrender. If you continue bullying and threatening us, I'll push this button and send every single person's memories to the HoloNet. The Resistance will survive the fallout from our secrets being outed to every citizen in the galaxy. Can you say the same for the First Order?"
I had no clue what secrets Luke and Leia had supplied to Roony, but my bluff must have given Snoke pause because he did not answer me. Instead, he sat back in his seat, fingertips steepled under his chin as he considered me carefully.
Leia acknowledged my victory with a smart nod of thanks. "The prisoner exchange, gentleman."
Snoke nodded gravely to Hux, indicating his permission to continue the meeting, but his gaze remained fixed on me like the yawning stare of a black hole from its lair in deep space.
"We are prepared to exchange Fariya Ruu for Captain Phasma," Hux said icily.
"We will contact Roony tonight," Leia said, "and make arrangements for–"
"Absolutely not," Hux interrupted. "The Order will have no future dealings with that craven scum. Supreme Leader has decreed it."
Leia took this declaration in stride. "I can understand that," she replied smoothly. "However, it would take additional time to make arrangements with a neutral third party willing to assist us. Meanwhile, we're stuck here." She made a pointed look at Hux's white bracelet.
"Then we wait. We won't tolerate more of Roony's meddling in First Order affairs. We are prepared to organize the exchange directly."
"You'll organize your way into having both Phasma and Fariya. I don't trust you. We need a mediator."
"In my experience, the person most concerned with trust is the first to stab others in the back with it."
Luke spoke up, his words mocking in their tonelessness: "You're being childish. Do you want Captain Phasma back or not?"
Hux turned to stare at Snoke, as if he couldn't believe he was being asked to treat with such unreasonable heathens. He turned back to Luke and said, "Protocol dictates that I engage with you respectfully during negotiations. I ask for the same in return."
Luke's hand curled into a fist. "At no point in time has this been a negotiation. All we've heard from you are demands."
Hux cheeks started to flush red. "Meeting with the three of you implies that you are somehow my equals. But let me be clear. You are all beneath me. This meeting is a formality to ensure the safe return of Captain Phasma before the Order burns you to ash."
"Patience, General Hux." Ren's rich mechanical voice filled the room, the first he'd spoken since the meeting began. Leia's entire body winced at my side. "Isn't it obvious they're desperate?"
"Desperation breeds irrationality," Snoke agreed with a sneer. "The Resistance will degenerate into petty squabbling before long."
Luke leaned toward Snoke, and though the Force web shivered around him, his voice was controlled and even: "Your officers will realize you're a parasite that feeds on their power, the same way you feed on the Force. They'll plot to get rid of you."
"Watch yourself, Jedi," Kylo Ren bristled.
"You've already betrayed one master, Kylo Ren." Luke spat out the name like a piece of bad food. "It will happen again."
"Enough." The word was spoken in unison by both Leia and Snoke, who looked warily at each other. Leia turned and whispered softly to Luke, while Snoke leaned over and conferred with Hux in in a low, gravelly tone, half of his focus on the Skywalker twins.
Snoke had the sort of ethereal calmness I'd only seen in corpses, but I thought Luke's words might have unnerved him. Ren had confessed some of his doubts about Snoke only yesterday. Did Snoke worry about Ren turning on him?
A moment later, Snoke straightened and smiled, but his expression was filled with the sort of cruel pleasure boys derive from pulling wings off flies. "The First Order shall concede to the Resistance's request for a mediator. We will permit Roony Ilsonway to conduct the prisoner exchange, on the condition that one of you works directly with Lord Ren after this meeting to finalize the arrangements."
His gaze shot back and forth between Luke and Leia's faces, relishing the discomfort he found there. It was a calculated and completely justified demand, but I knew that it would devastate Luke or Leia to spend any more time with Ren than necessary. He and Luke would probably try to kill each other, while Leia would have her heart ripped the rest of the way out of her chest.
Ren's helmet was tilted toward his mother and uncle, perhaps anticipating – or dreading – the moment one of them volunteered for the task. Stony silence settled in the room, and then...
"I'll do it." The words slipped off my tongue so smoothly I was hardly aware I'd said them.
Everybody turned to stare at me. Snoke looked disappointed that I'd willingly ensnared myself in his trap instead of Luke or Leia, but I felt the faintest hint of gratitude from Ren through our Force bond.
"Rey, you absolutely aren't expected to do this," Leia told me. "We can find another way to organize the exchange."
My mind raced because I couldn't tell if Leia actually meant what she said. In the past few months I'd spent more time alone with Ren than anyone else in the room, though he didn't know his family was aware of that fact. The Order wouldn't go through the trouble of kidnapping me from a crowded space station – especially with Roony's bracelet on my wrist – when I was such an easy target during Potentium missions. Leia had to realize this, so was she simply keeping up appearances in front of the Order? What was I supposed to say?
Leia correctly read my hesitance and concern softened her face. She rested her hand on my arm and inclined her head toward me. "I'm completely serious," she said in a low voice.
"I can handle it," I replied with a calm smile. The promise of progress was better than a stalemate and circling threats.
Leia nodded, and then looked directly at her estranged son seated across the table.
"Don't you dare hurt her," she ordered, and the sudden familiarity of being scolded by his mother was so strong that Ren inadvertently sat straighter in his seat.
"She'll be fine," he replied, his metallic voice sullen and clipped. It was the first words they'd exchanged in years, and the thought made my heart cramp and bleed in my chest.
"Shall we continue?" Hux asked snidely. I thought he might be jealous of how Kylo Ren's heritage made such an effective weapon against the Resistance. Did Ren have any allies in the First Order besides Snoke and the Knights?
The meeting swiftly progressed to other topics on the agenda. Hux and Leia were both seasoned at political negotiations and went toe-to-toe in front of us. They launched into a complicated breakdown of current policies and protocols governing interactions between the two factions.
Luke would occasionally bristle at some of Hux's contemptuously demanded terms, but Leia understood her enemy and found ways to appeal to Hux's inflated sense of self-importance and desire for authority while managing to reach compromises at the same time.
An hour of discussion passed without further incident. The jargon meant nothing to me, though, and I struggled to follow Luke's request to remain alert until Ren manifested in the back of my head like a shadow.
'This is dull.'
My senses lit up like lightning in the nighttime desert. 'At least you understand what they're saying.'
'Doesn't make it any more exciting. We should talk to Roony as soon as this ends. I don't want to hang on to Fariya any longer than necessary.'
'Has she been giving you much trouble?' I asked with devious innocence.
'It'd be easier to just show you,' he muttered, and shoved a memory at me through the bond.
I dipped my sight inward. Leia and Hux's voices dribbled away like I'd gone underwater, turning into muffled vibrations against my ears. I was in a massive, shadowy chamber, looking up at a giant hologram of Snoke through the eyeholes of Ren's helmet. Hux stood at attention to my left, and between us stood Fariya, who sneered up at Snoke.
"Who let a Rathtar loose on your face? Great Gods above, you're ugly."
Something snarled to my right, and Ren's vision turned to reveal... Daamith. I hadn't seen the Force user since our encounter on Tehanne, but he looked even more frightening than I remembered. His long, matted fur was aggressively spiked, and his crazed eyes glinted with a strange blankness that bordered on insanity.
Fariya, however, was unimpressed. "Shut it, you oversized walking coat, or I'll put you down like I did on Tehanne."
Daamith blinked, the emptiness gone from his eyes, and his snarling shrank into a quiet growl. He snuck a miserable glance at Snoke and stepped backward.
Fariya stuck her hands on her hips and somehow managed to defiantly stare down her nose at Snoke's hologram, even though it towered above her. "You're not getting anything out of me. I'm the apprentice of Luke Skywalker, the greatest Jedi Master the galaxy has ever seen. Nothing you do can scare me."
"Silence," Snoke hissed. "This is the treatment I receive for sparing this pest? Lord Ren, provide her a lesson in the importance of respect. We shall test your progress once I reach the Finalizer. Be prepared."
Ren bowed, gripped Fariya's arm, and left the chamber. The vision turned blurry, like Ren hadn't sent a complete memory, but then refocused a moment later. Fariya stood in the center of a small, empty cell. She was talking again: rambling about Luke and the Force and Jedi's and the Resistance. Even me, Poe and Finn got a mention.
A vestige of Ren's exasperation floated through the memory.
"Be quiet," he snapped, his voice sharply synthetic from his helmet.
"Rey warned me about how you torture innocent people," she shot right back, "but I'm not scared of you."
"I'm not going to torture you," he replied grumpily. "And you have Rey to thank for that."
"Why would youlisten to Rey?"
"Because I respect her."
Fariya folded her arms, her posture distrustful and combative. "Why?"
He sighed, the sound curiously harsh and full of static through the voice modulator. He reached up and, with a pressurized hiss and a mechanical whir, he pulled off his helmet.
"Because she did this to me," he replied, pointing to his scar.
Fariya's gaze was riveted on his face, but she barely studied the scar as she took in Ren's features as a whole.
"You're human."
"Yes."
"And young."
"...Yes."
"You're sort of cute."
Ren ground his teeth in the awkward silence that followed, though Fariya didn't notice or simply didn't care and plunged ahead.
"And you can talk to Rey through the Force."
"Yes," Ren answered quickly, relieved to be back on stable ground.
"I sensed it on Tehanne. She lied about it when I asked, though. Why can't I talk to anyone through the Force?"
"You need more training. Perhaps you'd learn faster if you didn't talk so much." Fariya opened her mouth, eager to argue further, but Ren held up a gloved hand and, amazingly, she fell quiet. "Right now, you need to listen, and more importantly, you need to cooperate."
The memory grew blurry again, but this time it didn't regain focus and instead drifted apart until it was gone from my head. The lights of the meeting room abruptly pulsed into my vision and voices crowded against my ears. Leia and Hux appeared to be wrapping up negotiations. Thankfully, they were unaware that I'd briefly dipped out of the meeting.
Snoke, however, must have sensed my return, because he turned his ugly, bulbous head to inspect me. I met his calculating gaze, partly to be defiant, but also to make sure he didn't catch me staring at Ren.
'Fariya might have some questions for you the next time you see her,' Ren grumbled in my head.
'You didn't hurt her?'
'No. I taught her how to behave to appease Snoke. A lesson I should've given you before today.'
'You're always so eager to be my teacher.'
'You're usually so willing to learn,' he murmured.
I had no reply, only memories of burning in a cold temple pool, and lapsed into silence. I could tell that Ren was staring at me, despite the helmet hiding his gaze. It was at once thrilling and treacherous to garner such attention from him.
A few minutes later, Leia and Hux pushed back their chairs and nodded to each other, since a handshake would have likely been fatal at this point in the day. The rest of us stood, the meeting now officially over.
Snoke gave me a shrewd glance as he rumbled, "Lord Ren, return once you have completed arrangements for the exchange."
Ren tilted his head in a deferential nod. Snoke and Hux swept out the door immediately, while Luke and Leia lingered near my end of the table.
"We'll go talk to Roony now," I told them. "I'll be back once a plan for the exchange is ready."
Leia's eyes darted to Ren, who had pointedly turned his back on all three of us and returned to his spot at the viewport. She pressed a comm into my hand. "Notify us immediately if you need anything. And don't hesitate to use that bracelet."
"Be careful," Luke added gruffly. "Keep your shields up."
"Thank you," I said to both of them, touched by their concern for me. "We'll get Fariya back soon and then we can go home."
Their smiles lifted some of the fatigue away from their faces, but their gazes kept stabbing at Ren's dark form by the window. Leia looked ready to march over and say something to him.
"Don't," I pleaded in an earnest whisper. "Neither of you are ready for that conversation."
Leia exhaled, her shoulders slumping. "Good luck, Rey."
She and Luke exited the room, leaving myself and Ren in solitude.
I sat on the edge of the metal table. "That was awful."
Ren turned from the window and came to stand a few feet in front of me, focused on adjusting his gloves. He had pulled his hood back, revealing the sleek curve of his helmet. I couldn't recall the last time he'd worn it around me, and felt my temper stir knowing how much he was hiding behind it.
"They looked old," he remarked nonchalantly, still picking at his gloves.
"You're such an ass," I snapped.
His hands stilled as his head shot up to stare at me.
My irritation turned my mouth dry; made my words brittle. "Don't lie to me and pretend seeing them didn't affect you at all. I know you better than that. You've caused them lifetimes of pain and yet they still care about you. They still love you."
"They loved Ben Solo. Not Kylo Ren," he growled, his form overshadowing mine as he stepped closer.
I didn't know what compelled me to reach out, the motion slow and smooth, and press my fingertips against the scarred metal of his helmet. If he hadn't been wearing it, my fingers would have brushed against his lips.
"They can't love Kylo Ren," I said softly. "He'll never be as real as Ben was."
Ren jerked away as if I'd smacked him, and I took advantage of his surprise to slide off the table and leave the room.
Broodu was still stationed outside in the hall. I was about to ask for directions when Ren filled the doorway behind me. "Take us to Roony," he demanded, his synthetic voice toneless despite the smoldering rage lurking at his end of the bond.
Broodu grunted and started walking down the corridor. Ren and I didn't speak as we followed him through the space station.
Skunkt didn't have obvious day and night cycles since it didn't orbit a sun, but its lawless citizens clearly considered it to be later in the evening. Many of the merchants I'd seen earlier in the day had packed up their wares, leaving behind skeleton-like stalls. People walked at a slower pace, less anxious to complete whatever business had brought them to Skunkt and more intent on enjoying themselves. Two droids squabbled over a shipping container, bleeping rapidly. A cluster of aliens chattered and threw electrodice in a corner.
Broodu led us to a different residential area of Skunkt than the one I'd visited earlier that day with Luke and Leia. We met Roony in a one-room apartment that was even more sparsely furnished than the first one, with a single chair and no other furniture. It occurred to me that Roony was in a certain amount of danger by holding on to the secrets of the most important and dangerous people in the galaxy.
"What can I do for you?" Roony asked, all four of his eyes nervously roaming back and forth between us. I wondered if he could feel the tension radiating between me and Ren.
"How much do you charge for mediating an exchange of prisoners of war?" I asked before Ren had a chance to be rude.
Mentioning money made Roony relax instantly, and he launched into a convoluted pricing structure involving service fees, refundable and non-refundable deposits, and mandatory donations.
I almost couldn't blame Ren when he took a threatening step closer to Roony and snapped, "Name a price. One number."
Roony, to his credit, held his ground, betrayed only by a trickle of sweat down the side of his bald head.
"A hundred thousand credits up front. Another hundred once the exchange is over. Non-refundable."
Ren nodded. "Make the arrangements. The Order will pay the first half."
Roony whipped out three different datapads and started tapping two of them simultaneously. "I'll need some time, but I'll get you guys all fixed up," he started rambling to cover his nerves.
"When will the exchange take place?" I asked him.
Roony glanced up at me, his tone a bit condescending as he said, "I don't know yet, sweetheart. That's what I'm working on now."
"How long until you know?"
"Tomorrow."
"Tomorrow? Why will it take so long?"
"Because you can't rush quality."
"But–"
"Is saving a few hours of time worth risking the lives of everyone involved?"
An ugly wave of selfishness passed through me. Roony was right, but I couldn't go back to Luke and Leia without a solid plan. It felt too similar to my failed mission on Tehanne, when the only thing I'd returned with was the news that another Force user had been indoctrinated into the Order.
Roony seemed to take pity on me and scrubbed at his face. "Look, it's late. No promises, but I can try to have us ready to go at oh-seven-hundred tomorrow morning. First, I need time to get paid and make some calls." He pointed at the comm tucked into my belt. "I'll buzz you with an update in a few hours. Deal?"
I hesitated and glanced at Ren, but he didn't seem to care that the exchange would be delayed. I nodded at Roony. It would have to do.
"Cheer up, the wait is worth it!" Roony called as Broodu herded us out of the apartment.
"I've waited enough for one lifetime," I sighed, once we were alone in the hall. "I'm ready to go to sleep."
"I know something that would keep you awake," Ren said with a sly edge to his tone.
A whirlwind of forbidden thoughts blew through my mind, though I clamped down on them tightly to stop them from leaking across the bond.
"I should get back to Luke and Leia," I said carefully.
"Why? So you can sit around and mope with them? Besides, you owe me for talking Snoke into coming here. There's someone I want you to meet."
I arched an eyebrow.
"She works with machines," he explained. "She's my supplier for parts for the Knights."
That caught my interest. Ren sensed it through the bond and I could practically see the smirk underneath his helmet.
"Follow me," he said.
.
.
.