Star Wars_ Rebel Force 05_ Trapped - Alex Wheeler [32]
May the Force be with you.
Div waited in the dark. May the Force be with me, he thought wryly. I'd rather you left me with your lightsaber.
He had his blaster, of course. But he had a feeling that this time the blaster might not be enough.
Long minutes passed. Nothing happened. "You can come out now," he said loudly.
"I'm not leaving until you do."
X-7 emerged from the shadows. He held his blaster in a trembling hand. "I should have known," he said.
"You did know," Div said, forcing himself to remain calm. If X-7 had overheard the conversation with Ferus, then all was lost. But there'd been no sign of his presence then. If all he'd overheard was the Rebels discussing their mission, then things could still be salvaged. Maybe. "That's why you followed me here. You wanted it to be true. You wanted me to be working with the Rebels."
"And you let me listen," X-7 said. "You wouldn't have done that unless…"
"That's right," Div said, encouraging him. "Unless I wanted you there. This isn't just any Rebel mission; this is the Imperial garrison built on the site of the first Imperial munitions factory. The one that—" He swallowed hard. He wouldn't need to fake the emotion. It flooded back whenever he thought about that day. "I've been waiting a long time for this opportunity to show the Empire that they can't just destroy my family, my planet, without consequences. This is payback."
"Revenge," X-7 said in a dreamy voice.
Div realized that he had finally hit on a human emotion that X-7 understood.
"Revenge," he agreed. "For what the Empire did to Clive and Astri—and to you. I've always known this moment would come. But I thought when it did, I would be alone."
X-7 lowered the blaster. He crossed the room in three long, swift strides and clasped Div's hand, then squeezed. "You won't," he said. Abruptly, he dropped his hand, and his tone turned businesslike. "Tell your Rebel friends I have all the Imperial access codes they need. I can obtain the necessary security clearances. Anything you need. We will have our revenge."
It was all working out better than Div could ever have hoped—assuming X-7 was telling the truth.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Revenge.
It was the thought that got him through the day, and the next. It was the dream.
Revenge on the people who had slaughtered his family, who had stolen his identity. It was the only thing about this new life that made sense. By day, Div showed him holopic after holopic, strangers' faces that meant nothing to him, memories of another life, belonging to another man. And when the stars came out, so did the nightmares. More strangers, calling out for him. Green grass and sparkling seas and a feeling, alien and unwelcome. Happy.
He woke every morning in a cold sweat, and only one thing calmed him down. One word.
Revenge.
This was the act that would unite his past and present. It would restore sanity to his insane world. He was Trever Flume, a passionate warrior; he was X-7, a heartless assassin. Two identities, galaxies apart, united by a single need.
Revenge.
Whatever he was, whatever he had been, he was a killer. He would kill, he would destroy, he would avenge. X-7 would repay his debt to Trever Flume, to the name, the body he wore like a costume. He would join the Rebels. He would help them tear down the walls of the Imperial garrison. His true nature would emerge in the hot crucible of revenge. Either he would strip away the years of X-7 and embrace Trever Flume, or Trever would die—really die this time—in the fire that incinerated the garrison, and X-7
would be free.
Finally, things had started making sense again. And then, the day before the attack, they stopped.
Alone in the strange house, he sat stiffly in a hard-backed chair. It was the only place he felt comfortable. This house, it was a place of comfort, of decadence. With its plush overstuffed couches,