Star Wars: Rebellion and Betrayal

Chapter 23

Lena's eyes fluttered open to reveal distorted blobs of color. The first thing she felt was a sharp pain and rumble coming from her stomach. She was hungry... so hungry. Focus, Lena, she thought as she tried to lift her head. It was no use. Every muscle in her body felt stiff with a fatigue unlike anything she had felt before.

She tried to move her arms with little success, this time feeling a cold, metallic sensation on her wrists.

Lena closed her eyes and clenched her teeth as she tried to lift her head again. Like before, it didn't work.

Lena opened her eyes, her vision still blurry and her eyelids too heavy to look anywhere but down. Wherever she was, it was made up of grays and whites. She blinked her eyes continuously as she tried to clear her vision. The blurriness was beginning to fade but not enough to make out her surroundings.

One thing that was noticeable was that a white blob in the corner of the room had begun to slowly move. It went back and forth in front of her vision before coming to a stop a couple meters away.

By now, her vision had cleared enough to make out the silhouette of a figure. They appeared tall, although she could only really see from the figure's waist down. Lena could make out two legs with a fan-shaped garment extending down behind the figure's knees. It looked almost like... a trench coat.

Lena tried to speak but could only muster a breathy exhale. Her mouth was dry, and her throat was sore. She tried again. "Rho..." she wheezed. Finally, with her third attempt she was finally able to say, "Rhodes." Lena was so focused on trying to speak that she hadn't noticed the figure getting closer.

Then, without warning, her head was yanked up by a handful of her hair. "Guess again," the figure said as it rested her head upright against the surface she was strapped to.

Lena continued to blink her eyes as the figure slowly came into focus. It was a woman. She was in a white uniform and a cape draped over her shoulders, the garment that she now realized was what she had mistaken for Rhodes' coat.

The woman stared at her in silence for a few more minutes while Lena's vision cleared the rest of the way. By now, she could make out most of her surroundings. The room was small, only about three meters on each of the bland gray walls. As far as she could tell, there was nothing else in the room besides whatever she was strapped to.

The woman in front of her wore a stern expression as she appeared to be studying Lena's face. A few more seconds went by before the woman walked around behind her. Lena tried to turn her head to see, but the muscles in her neck were still too stiff. "When will the subject have full cognitive and neural function back?"

Lena could hear the woman talking behind her.

"A few more minutes, Grand Admiral," a voice replied in a gravely, grating tone.

"Very good, Doctor Scrim. You may go. I will send for you when the subject is ready for sedation," the woman replied.

Lena watched as a short, humanoid creature waddled past and headed for the door. It had pale skin and hair that was balding from the crown of its head.

A Talpini? Lena thought as the creature exited the room.

She didn't have much time to think about the strange species when the other woman was in front of her again, standing with her arms behind her back. "Do you know your name?"

Lena's head was still spinning but she was able to understand the question. "Yes," she said in her still hoarse voice.

"My apologies," the stranger started. "You haven't had a drink of water in days."