Star Wars: Rebellion and Betrayal

Chapter 18

Abie paced nervously around the bridge of the Insurgent. The stresses of their current situation were finally starting to get to her. Instead of waiting around for Rhodes to return, she requested McCart and Nina to return to the bridge using the ship's intercom system.

Within a few minutes the two officers strolled into the room. "What's the word boss?" Nina said in her usually chipper tone.

"Seal the doors and disable the surveillance cameras," Abie remarked without turning to look at them.

McCart and Nina complied with the order. McCart waltzed over to a computer console and tapped in a few commands, disabling both visual and audio on the cameras. "Oh, it's that kind of meeting."

Abie finally turned toward them and answered McCart's question with a nod.

"What's this all about, Lady Edge," Nina asked with a hint of concern in her voice.

"This is about the mole," Abie admitted in a surprisingly calm voice.

McCart's eyes lit up. "You think it's Twitch don't ya! That's why we are meeting now when he is gone."

Abie rolled her eyes. "No, I was going to ask you what you found since we have some down time. I wasn't planning to make any new moves until Rhodes can transmit his message over the Imperial holonet."

"Well, I have been doing some sniffing around and as of yet have no concrete evidence. I was reviewing outgoing transmission logs from the Insurgent when I came across a pattern of weekly transmissions to an unknown source. After tracing them to Jordavi's room, I snuck in and dug through her personal computer terminal. I didn't find much before she caught me and went crazy. She slapped me in the face, claimed the transmissions were to her brother on Onderon, then gave a me a lecture on invasion of privacy as she calls it."

"Well, were you invading her privacy?" Nina chimed in.

McCart tried to avoid the judgmental gaze of Nina and at this point Abie. "Well, yes, I was. But that's not the point. The point is that she is a suspect."

Abie shook her head and replied, "Unlikely, but keep an eye on her without causing any more trouble. Who else do you have?"

McCart was quick to answer the second part of Abie's statement, not wanting to agree to the first part. "I caught Davant sneaking out one night, but he ended up just smoking some marcan herb in an alley. That was a waste of my night. Then I caught Oster out of the ship one night, but he claimed to be simply going to the cantina. I have a hunch that he meets a contact there, but the bouncer won't let me in. Something about creepin' around in the darkness and scaring the women folk."

Abie was shaking her head while Nina was trying not to laugh. Unable to contain herself, Nina finally blurted out, "So all you did was stalk squad members at night and go through a female squad member's personal belongings."

McCart was growing more and more frustrated. "Well, if you put it that way, I—"

Before he could finish his objection, Abie cut in. "Enough you two. McCart, keep working on your, let's call them, leads. Take Nina with you. I want you two working together on this."

Nina cheered at receiving the special assignment while McCart groaned.

"Squad dismissed," Abie shouted before waving them away.

The two officers gave a salute before heading out of the bridge, making sure to reactivate the surveillance system on the way out. Abie returned to her captain's chair where she anxiously awaited Rhodes' return.

The tension in the room was unyielding with neither side seeming to want to say the next word. The strange woman wore a frown on her face while there was a clear sense of sadness in the eyes of Rhodes.