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chapter ten: the spy
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EV-1 IS NOT THRILLED when Indira announces that it's time for reprogramming. In fact, her droid is very vocal in its displeasure, voicing its complaints through a series of loud beeps and honks. Still, Indira is determined to follow through with the process and sort out EV's bad attitude problem once and for all.

"Yeah, yeah," she mutters to the droid as she rummages through a small tool kit. "I know; you're not happy with me. Join the club."

Her meeting with Poe had not gone well. Granted, she should have expected him to be defensive — hearing that your lifelong family-friend and mentor could possibly be a traitor is not an easy pill to swallow — but his immediate dismissal of her had stung more than she expected it to. She'd been nixed from combat training by the general, pushed aside by Oddy Muva for any real technical work, and now even Poe Dameron didn't want her help. It made her feel more useless than Indira had ever felt in her entire life.

She tosses the screwdriver she'd previously been holding onto the ground in frustration, rubbing her temples harshly. "What am I doing here, Evie?"

For once, her droid companion has nothing clever to say; its single eye staring up at her unwaveringly.

With a heavy sigh, Indira powers the droid off before picking up her screwdriver and unscrewing the panel that contains EV's "brain" of sorts. With nimble fingers, she carefully removes the droid's central processing unit, setting it down on her desk before flicking the lamp light on to give herself a closer look. As she suspected, the piece is moderately worn and damaged. Several of the pins have been bent out of place and the circuit board is chipped in certain places.

In spite of her bad mood, Indira gives the device a wry smile. "So this is why you've been acting so moody lately, huh?" She asks the lifeless droid, though she knows EV-1 won't be able to answer her while powered off. "Explains a lot."

Repairing the processing unit would be fairly easy once Indira got her hands on the parts needed to replace the old ones, but for now she decides to install the spare unit she'd brought with her from the academy to get EV up and running for the time being. After checking the rest of EV's circuits for any other malfunctions, Indira slides the new processing unit into the empty socket before screwing EV's panels back into place.

She waits a few minutes before turning the droid back on, allowing her to become acclimated to the new device. However, once she takes EV-1 out of low power mode, the droid immediately starts zooming around the room.

"That's better, isn't it?" Indira asks ruefully. "Maybe don't fight me so hard next time I tell you that we need to do reprogramming, yeah?"

EV-1 beeps in agreement, offering something along the lines of an apology that Indira easily accepts. For a moment, she feels satisfied with her work. However, the loss of her temporary distraction gives her more time to brood on the earlier incident with Poe. Fixing EV's problem had been simple. She's not so sure that her own problem will have such an easy solution.

The door to her room comes sliding open, jarring her from her thoughts. Kali enters the room, waving goodbye to someone on the other side before turning to face Indira. EV-1 is quick to greet her, flying in dizzying circles around the other girl's head while chattering excitedly.

"New processing unit, huh?" Kali asks the droid. "Wow. I was thinking your bad moods were just some sort of droid puberty, but that makes more sense."

Indira scoffs, spinning around in her desk chair to look at the two of them. "Droids don't go through puberty, Kal."

"It's a joke, Indi," her friend says. "You do still know what jokes are, don't you?"

"Never heard of them," she replies sourly.

"Yeesh, touchy," Kali observes, sitting down on her bed before kicking her shoes off. "Maybe we should get you a new processing unit, too."

Indira squints at her, glaring before spinning around in her chair. "Gee, thanks."

Kali sighs. "Indi, don't be like that," she chastises her. "We missed you at dinner."

Indira ignored her and picks up the spare processing unit, fishing out a flathead screwdriver from the toolkit. "I wasn't hungry," she finally mutters after a few minutes of silence, using the screwdriver to push some of the flattened pins back into place.

"Is everything alright?"

"Everything is fine," Indira replies. "Just great."

One of the pins won't budge back into place, no matter how hard she presses it with the screwdriver. Feeling frustrated, Indira pushes harder until her knuckles turn white from gripping the tool so tight before it slips from her grasp and clatters onto the desk. "Damn it!" She swears before tossing the processing unit back onto her desk in frustration.

"Indira," Kali says, voice low but firm. "What is going on?

She wants so desperately to share the truth that General Organa had confided in her with Kali. It would be so easy for her to let it all come tumbling out: the presence of a traitor within Black Squadron, her suspicions about L'ulo, her argument with Poe. But, to do so would betray the general's trust and Indira can't do that; not when Kali is so close with Jessika. For now, the weight of her secret is a weight that Indira will have to bear alone.

The younger girl scrubs her hands over her face, feeling the strange and sudden urge to cry before clearing her throat and blinking harshly. "It's nothing," she snaps, standing from her chair to cross the room and enter the closet. She needs to get out of the room; go for a run or take a shower or do something to blow off some steam before she makes things worse for herself. "I'm frustrated, I had a bad day, I'll get over it. You don't have to mother me."

"You think I'm trying to mother you?" Kali demands, sounding offended.

Grinding her teeth together, Indira rests her head against the closet door before pushing it open, pulling out a towel and a fresh pair of clothes before spinning around. "Yeah, Kali, I do," she admits. "And occasionally, I get tired of you and everyone else around here treating me like I'm a kid."

Kali scoffs, crossing her arms over her chest. "Then grow up, Indira," she snaps, "and quit acting like one."

     Indira's hands clench into fists as she bites back the sharp retort that is resting on the tip of her tongue. Inhaling through her nose deeply, she closes her eyes and counts to ten before opening them once more. "I'm going to leave," she says carefully, clearing her throat.

"Fine," Kali scoffs. "Run away like you always do. I'm sure that will make everything better."

Indira shoots her a dirty look before turning on her heel and leaving the room. In the hallway, she keeps her head down until she makes it to the refresher and locks herself inside one of the shower stalls. Methodically, she strips out of her clothes with trembling hands, forcing herself to make as little sound as possible before turning the water on. Only once she steps under the spray of steaming water does Indira allow herself to burst into tears.

KALI IS ALREADY sleeping when she gets back. Indira's shower had been long enough that the skin of her fingers and toes had turned wrinkled and prune-like, which had given her roommate ample time to fall asleep. She would be lying if she said that she hadn't been intentionally slow in returning to the room, toweling herself off thoroughly and brushing her hair with extreme care, in order to avoid the inevitable confrontation that would occur as soon as she stepped back into their room.

However, the sight of Kali with her back turned towards Indira in the darkness is somehow worse than any confrontation they could have had. It leaves her feeling more lonely and isolated than before as she lies down on the bed, curling up in a ball and staring at the wall. Her eyes are heavy, aching from tears and lack of sleep. Keeping them open is more struggle than its worth, so Indira lets them shut.

Her long shower had given her plenty of time to reassess her situation once she'd worked all the other emotions out of her system. With a steadier head on her shoulders, Indira had been able to acknowledge that, in her anger, Kali had told her some harsh truths. Indira does run away from her problems more often than not. When things get tough, she runs; it's the only thing she's ever known how to do. But she's part of a movement now — a group of people counting on her to be there and support them. Running away is no longer an option; it's time for her to learn how to stand and fight.

Tomorrow, she would make her amends: first to Kali and then to Poe, whenever she sees him. She still had her reservations about L'ulo, but that isn't the point. With a traitor in their midst, there is no place for infighting. Starting stupid fights and petty arguments is the last thing that anyone needs. Indira would be better tomorrow — she had to be. Kali was right: it was time to grow up.

When sleep finally wins over her restless mind, Indira finds herself entangled in a web of dreams and memories. At first, she sees herself as a young girl curled up in the lap of her mother, listening to her sing as she strokes her hair. The crystal around her mother's neck is glowing faintly, casting a soft blue glow around the room. For a brief moment, Indira looks up and sees a cloaked figure watching them from the window; silent in its presence, but not menacing. The face of the person is veiled in shadow, preventing her from fully seeing them, but Indira catches a glimpse of sad, kind eyes and a melancholy smile. She blinks and the figure vanishes in an instant; disappearing so quickly that she wonders if they were nothing more than a figment of her own imagination.

Abruptly, the setting changes, leaving her cloaked in absolute darkness. Somewhere, an alarm is blaring at a frantic, fevered pitch. Indira feels the metal walls of a ship against her back; the firmness of a blaster in her hands. Her heart is thrumming wildly as she waits with bated breath, watching the doors to the ship go flying open. For a moment, there is nothing but stillness and silence until a dark, mask wearing figure steps into the ship's cabin and unsheathes a glowing red blade, with a glowing hilt in the shape of a cross. The sight of it triggers something within her and she stands quickly, revealing her hiding spot in an attempt to blast the figure in front of her, but every muscle in her body suddenly freezes and she cannot move an inch.

The masked figure steps further into the room, towering over her frozen frame. Nothing but the empty, soulless stare of a monster meets her gaze. Gritting her teeth, Indira stares down the man before her without fear. He sheathes his glowing blade, walking around her in a brief circle before coming to a stop directly in front of her.

"Senator Beren," he says, his voice deep and metallic and entirely foreign to her. "How nice it is to meet you at last."

Indira wakes with a start, feeling the kyber crystal around her neck burning hot. As she regains consciousness, the dream slips out of her memory; bleeding away until she remembers nothing of it, save for the sound of her mother's gentle singing voice.

WHEN SHE REPORTS for duty that morning, Indira is surprised to see that Oddy Muva is nowhere in sight. The hangar is filled with several bustling technicians, but the Abednedo male she'd become accustomed to working with is not to be found. Feeling confused, Indira takes a quick walk around the shipyard before coming to a stop full circle at the entrance to the hangar.

"Looking for someone?"

Indira spins around quickly to see General Organa standing just behind her. "Actually, I was," she says. "Where's Oddy?"

"Oddy is assisting Poe," she pauses, giving Indira a meaningful glance, "with paperwork."

"Paperwork?" Indira asks with a frown. She hadn't expected Poe to be gone again so soon. Evidently, her apology would have to wait. "I thought Poe just finished doing paperwork."

"This was a matter of urgency," General Organa tells her. "Something that couldn't wait."

Still confused, Indira rubs her chin thoughtfully. "Why did Oddy go with him?"

"He required assistance," the older woman replies. "And thought that Oddy was the best person to help him with the job."

Indira can read between the lines of the general's vague remarks. Right now, Oddy was the only person from his squadron that Poe could trust to bring on missions with him.

"Threepio is with them as well," General Organa adds, seeing Indira's troubled expression. "They'll be more than adequate to get the job done. But, in his absence, Oddy has left you his responsibilities. He trusted that you would be able to efficiently carry them out."

Indira's eyebrows raise. "Really?" She asks, somewhat shocked. "I thought he didn't like me."

General Organa shakes her head. "No, I don't think that's true," she says. "He told me personally that he thought you had the makings of a great technician."

Indira nearly rolls her eyes at that. "Oh, wow," she replies. "I'm so glad he had me reading all those fuel gauges for him. Really shows how much he appreciated my help."

"Oddy is strange, but he's a good man," the general says with a chuckle. "Like I said, try not to take it too personally."

Indira nods ruefully, still somewhat begrudging of the other technician. She would have words with him when he came back. There would be no more fuel gauging for her after this; not if she could help it.

"Need anything else, Beren?" General Organa asks.

The younger hesitates, scratching the back of her head. "You didn't happen to see Kali this morning, by any chance, did you?"

The general purses her lips, wracking her brain momentarily before nodding. "I believe she was on patrol with Pava earlier today."

"Right," Indira mutters. She would have to speak to Kali as soon as she finished her patrol shift, since her roommate had managed to slip out earlier that morning before Indira had the chance to talk to her. "Thank you, General."

"Everything alright?" The older woman asks, brow furrowed.

Indira gives her a reluctant smile. "It will be."

General Organa squeezes her shoulder. "Then I'll leave you to it," she says. "And if you need me, I'll be in the command room."

The younger girl nods quickly. "I'll keep that in mind. Thank you again, General Organa."

The general gives her half a smile. "When it's just the two of us, call me Leia, kid," she says. "General makes me feel old."

"Duly noted," Indira grins before adding, "General Leia."

The older woman gives her a withering stare. "You've been spending too much time with Dameron," she scowls, shaking her head in exasperation as she turns and walks away. "I swear, you kids will be the death of me someday."

Indira laughs as she watches her leave, waiting until the older woman is out of sight before turning to survey the hangar. Several of the other technicians are already going about their daily routines, which is good. Keeping things as normal as possible would minimize the risk of any unexpected trouble. Oddy had always kept the hangar in order by way of a checklist stowed on his datapad. The list itself detailed all the work that needed to be accomplished each day to keep all of the ships up and running. Indira has a general sense of what jobs need to be done, but she isn't totally confident in her memory of the list, and completing all of the items on Oddy's list was something that needa to be done. If something were to accidentally be left unchecked — tests on fuel reserves, deflector shields, or hyperdrives, for example — there could be devastating consequences for the pilots of those ships in case of an unanticipated emergency.

       For a moment, she weighs the consequences of possibly forgoing the list and continuing on her own, but decides against it almost instantly. That kind of behavior was arrogant and reckless; two things that Indira is not. It would be better for her to play things safe and find Oddy's datapad rather than potentially put the lives of Resistance members at risk.

      Indira is fairly certain that she'd seen Oddy stow the datapad away in his locker before, so she decides to look there first. Oddy never explicitly gave her permission to go through his things, but if she borrowed the datapad for the day and returned it before he got back, then no harm would be done ... right?

She approaches the technician lockers located near the hangar entrance without hesitation, stepping towards the door closest to the hangar entrance that she knows to be Oddy's. The Abednedo male hadn't told her the combination, but Indira accidentally might have watched him enter the code into his locker once or twice and accidentally memorized the series of numbers without meaning to. She'd never planned on actually doing anything with the information, but it would definitely come in handy now.

Punching the code into the keypad, Indira watches as the door to Oddy's locker swings open, revealing his stash of personal belongings. She does her best not to disturb anything, shuffling items around to search for the datapad. A picture of Oddy and another Abednedo female is taped to the inside of the door. From the looks of it, the two are both dressed in wedding finery; something that takes Indira by surprise. She hadn't known Oddy was married.

Momentarily distracted by the picture, her hand slips and tips a small black box out of the locker and onto the floor, dumping all its contents out. "Shit, shit, shit," she mutters, crouching down to gather the fallen gadgets.

However, as she takes a closer examination of the scattered tools, Indira's eyes widen with horror. Spread across the floor is an array of different trackers and, worst of all, a spare comm link. Feeling an acute sense of trepidation, she lifts the comm link up to study it further. Her stomach churns when she sees the symbol carved into the device: a sixteen-rayed sun within a hexagon; the insignia of the First Order.

Forgetting about the datapad or any of her other responsibilities, Indira scoops up the contents of the box and clutches it to her chest before tearing out of the hangar towards the command center. She needs to see General Organa right now. Her legs carry her down the hallways as quickly as they can, skidding across the freshly cleaned floors before she comes to a stop just outside the command center.

"I was wrong," she gasps, bursting into the room unannounced.

General Organa, who'd been standing in front of one of the holo screens with a short, blonde haired girl, looks up at Indira in surprise. "Beren," she says with a frown. "What's the meaning of all this?"

Indira just shakes her head as she steps forward, dumping the contents in her arms across the tabletop in front of her. "I was wrong," she repeats, panting heavily from the exertion of sprinting all the way across the base. "I thought the spy was L'ulo L'ampar, but it isn't."

The general's brow furrows as she picks up one of the trackers, catching sight of the same insignia that Indira had found. Her expression is stricken when she meets Indira's gaze. "Did this belong to —"

"Oddy," Indira confirms, heart pounding wildly in her throat. "Oddy Muva is the spy."

And somewhere out in the galaxy, Poe Dameron was with him; completely unsuspecting and utterly alone.

EDITED ON:
08.18.19