Star Wars: Rebellion and Betrayal

Chapter 26

"Charlie... I mean Charles, wake up."

Rhodes groaned as he opened his eyes to see Kasdeya kneeling over him. "What happened?" he mumbled as he tried to sit up.

"I don't know. I just woke up too. Looks like we are in some kind of a dungeon. Looks empty though," Kasdeya said as she helped Rhodes to his feet.

Rhodes looked around. The cell walls were made entirely of rock and the bars looked like they had been in place forever. Were they underground?

"What happened to your Imperial friend?" he asked, taking a seat against the wall.

Kasdeya rolled her eyes before taking a seat across from him. "No clue and Solite isn't a friend. Besides Lugos, who you met, I don't know many of the Imperials."

"That guy is an Imperial?" Rhodes said with a scoff.

"He was," Kasdeya replied. "Until I hired him to my personal staff. He wasn't exactly cut out for military service, so I negotiated his discharge from the Imperial Army. Now, he serves as my assistant."

Rhodes gave her a nod but remained silent. The silence dragged on, neither person knowing what to say. Rhodes closed his eyes and reached out with the Force. He could sense a twinge of excitement amidst Kasdeya's nerves. Any other person would have been terrified by now but not her. And chances were that he was causing more of those nerves than the situation they were in. That was the thing about Kasdeya Kerrim. She had an incredible sense of adventure.

Before he could do much more, he felt something bounce off his head. He opened his eyes to see Kasdeya tossing pebbles at him. "Stop trying to sense my emotions."

Rhodes started to stutter.

"Don't think I don't know what you were trying to do," she continued with a slight laugh.

"Never could pull a fast one on you, Kas," Rhodes replied, shooting the woman a smile.

The woman appeared startled for a second, evidently caught off guard by the name he used. She hadn't been called "Kas" since before the end of the war. But who was she to complain? If Rhodes had heard her call him "Charlie", he would have reacted the same way.

"So, what happened to you after I left?" Rhodes asked, finally addressing the topic everyone had on their mind.

Kasdeya sighed, knowing this question was coming. "After you were called back to the front lines, I got a job as a courier for the senate, mostly running data cards back and forth. That put me on Coruscant during the Separatist's invasion. I had heard you and your master had returned to Coruscant, so I was worried sick. And then, the Jedi rebelled... at least that's what they told us. I was monitoring the clone's transmissions and went looking for you. I thought I might be able to help. I searched all night."

"I know," Rhodes said softly.

"What?" Kasdeya asked.

"I saw you. When you were talking to one of the clones."

"Why didn't you do something?"

By now Rhodes was looking at her through glassy eyes. "I wanted to. Boy, I wanted to. But I couldn't. I couldn't put you through that. It was better for you to think I was dead than be caught trying to help me. I had already lost Master Dew. I couldn't lose you too."

Kasdeya stared back at him, a somber look on her face. "I wish you would have given me that choice."

Rhodes hung his head, knowing that if the roles were reversed, he would have said the same thing. Rhodes was fighting to keep his emotions together when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Kasdeya had crawled over and sat next to him.