Chapter Eleven
Dexter sat with his hands folded, trying to wait patiently. Trevana was finishing up talking outside to Bookman. He was planning to head back to his own base soon now that he had performed his task of reuniting Reboa with her niece.
Dexter and Trist were waiting in Trevana’s office for her to come in. She had told them to wait while she finished talking to Bookman and then she planned to let them in on the plan of attack on the Emperor. Dexter was eager to know what she had to say, but he was also antsy to get this conversation over with because there was an even more important conversation he needed to have.
His fingers drifted to his mouth and he absently rubbed his thumb over his lower lip. His mind became filled with the memory of her lips on his. The taste of her mouth, the feel of her breath, the smell of her skin so close to him. He had been dying to kiss her for months, though he had continually tried to deny it to himself.
“Thank you for waiting, gentleman,” Trevana said as she entered the room finally.
Dexter and Trist both stood for her but she quickly waved to them to sit back down. She sat down on the opposite side of the desk from them and leaned forward. She folded her hands in front of her and stared seriously at the two of them.
“I’m sorry I kept you both out of the loop on Sgt. Dugan’s mission,” she said. “Hugo urged me not to let Heidi in on it in case she was a spy and I listened to him. And he insisted that the two of you were too trusting of her and if I told either of you, she would find out. I believe now that it was a mistake and my intelligence has revealed that it was because of Dugan’s attack on the imperial prison that the imperial guard found out the location of Hugo’s base.”
She sighed. “I put you both and Heidi at risk by failing to keep you informed about the plan,” she continued. “I am extremely sorry for that. I am extremely grateful that none of you were hurt or killed. I only wish that Chris had survived or that we had planned some sort of evacuation of his base, but there is no use dwelling on the past now.”
“You mean that Dugan gave up the location of the base?” Trist asked.
“No, I don’t believe so,” Trevana answered. “I believe the imperial guard merely retraced his steps until they found the base. Dugan and all of his men were captured and placed in the imperial prison, but this was always their goal.”
Dexter’s brow furrowed in confusion. “It was their goal to be captured?”
“Yes,” Trevana replied. “And because it was their goal, they were deliberately sloppy with their attack… so they would get caught. But in the course of being sloppy in order to get caught, they also were sloppy enough to leave traces that led the imperial guard back to the base and that resulted in the attack. I should have realized and evacuated the base. If I had kept both of you apprised of the situation, one of you might have thought of it and suggested it and we could have saved most of the people in the base.” She sighed and considered this. “However, we would have had to leave some people there anyway because if the entire base had been evacuated it would have looked suspicious and Ezar’s men might have gotten wise to the plan. So I suppose there was no way to avoid some casualties either way. I only wish I had at least not had you all present and I had saved Chris and the civilians on the base.”
“Wait, I still don’t understand,” Dexter interrupted. “Why would Dugan want to get caught?”
Trevana smiled. “To take down the Emperor,” she replied simply. “To build an army inside the palace.”
Dexter raised an eyebrow.
“Heidi has helped us amass an army large enough that we can attack not only the palace, but every imperial guard post simultaneously,” Trevana explained. “We take them all out, we capture the captain of the Imperial guard in the palace—and hopefully Ezar himself—and they’re completely lost.”
“But there is no way we could possibly take down the palace,” Trist argued. “Unless we sent the entire army. They have home field advantage. They know the palace, we don’t.”
“Dexter has been there twice,” Trevana replied. “And Heidi transferred his knowledge of the inner workings of the palace to you so you can be his backup.”
“You want me to attack the palace?” Dexter asked. “No offense, Commander, but that’s a suicide mission.”
“You’re not there to simply attack,” Trevana said with a sly smile. “You’re there to open the Trojan horse.”
“What…?” Dexter began but Trevana continued before he could finish his question.
“Dugan and all his men and all the captured rebels that are contained in the imperial prison adjacent to the palace are waiting for you to release them into the palace itself,” she said. “Ezar has a release to open the entrance to the prison from inside the palace so that they can easily transport prisoners into the prison from their torture rooms.” Her smile widened. “We’re going to use it to transport the prisoners into the palace. We bring a second wave into the palace that they’re not expecting. And Dugan’s been captured before just like you have Dex… he knows his way around the palace. Together the two of you can come at the Imperial guard from more than one direction. One of you captures the captain of the guard and the other captures or kills Ezar. End game.”
Trist’s eyes were wide and he was smiling profusely. He burst out laughing suddenly. “I love it,” he said. “I’m excited to be a part of this crazy mission.”
“This is insane, Commander,” Dexter added. “You do realize that?”
“I realize we get one shot at this,” she answered, nodding. “But it’s time. We strike while the iron is hot, while they’re not suspecting it and while we have the advantage of a sudden increase in numbers… and while the poison is inside the belly of the beast.”
Trist and Dexter exchanged glances. Trist was grinning profusely.
“Well, I’m sold,” he said.
Trevana smirked at him and turned to Dexter. “Lt. Hathaway?”
Dexter shrugged and chuckled. “I suppose it’s the only chance we have,” he responded. “And I don’t want Dugan and his men trapped in the prison for no reason. So I’m on board.”
“Good,” Trevana said. “I’d hate to have to order you to do it against your will but I won’t let Chris’ death be in vain. Tomorrow we take down Ezar.”
She stood up.
“Whoa!” Dexter jumped up from his chair so quickly that it clattered to the floor. “Tomorrow?!”
“Yes, Dex,” Trevana said. “Everything’s in place and we have to take Ezar down before they figure any of it out. So tonight you do whatever it is you want to because tomorrow you’re going on a very dangerous mission from which you may not come back.” She looked over at Trist. “That goes for you, too, Reece.”
“Cool,” Trist said as he stood up. “I’m going to go get wasted then. Am I dismissed?”
Trevana frowned. “I don’t want you hung over in the morning.”
“I’ll be sure to temper it,” he said with a grin.
“All right then,” Trevana said, smiling. “Dismissed.”
Dexter walked from headquarters slowly. His mind was swimming in a million different directions. He thought about the possibility that he would die tomorrow and, for the first time in as long as he could remember, he was extremely disturbed by the idea. He didn’t want to die.
Not that he’d ever desired death—except for perhaps when he witnessed his parents’ murder—but he had never minded the idea of death before. It was simply inevitable and if it came while he was fighting the evil dictator who’d taken his family away from him, he was glad to give his life.
Now he had something else he wanted to live for. Something besides the fight for justice and freedom. Something… with curly red hair and a spritely laugh…
She was trudging up the path towards him. Her arms were folded and her face was red and tear-streaked. She was staring at the ground, but clearly heading towards him as she came
right up to him.
“You okay, Red?” he asked.
“My mother killed herself,” she mumbled softly.
“What?”
“Ezar’s men came for her,” Heidi explained. “She hid me and my aunt and she killed herself so they wouldn’t take her and they wouldn’t find out about me. She killed herself so Ezar couldn’t use her and so we could escape.”
“Damn…” Dexter breathed. “I’m sorry, Red.”
Her face contorted in pain and she leaned her forehead against his chest. She sobbed softly. He gingerly placed his hands on her shoulders and kissed the top of her head. He didn’t know what to say but he desperately wanted to comfort her.
“I’m sorry, Red,” he repeated. “I’m so sorry.”
She breathed in sharply and pulled her head back suddenly to look in his eyes. “Lt. Hugo…” she said. “I meant to tell you… he told me why Sgt. Dugan attacked the palace prison…”
“Yeah, the Commander just filled me in,” Dexter answered. “Dugan and his men were deliberately captured by the Imperial guard so that we could release them into the palace and attack the guard and the Emperor.”
“We?” Heidi asked. “As in… you?”
He nodded. “Trist and I go tomorrow to attack the palace.”
Heidi’s eyes widened in horror and her mouth dropped open. “You’re leading the attack on the palace?”
“Yeah…”
“But you could be killed…”
“I know,” he said. He sighed and dropped his hands from her shoulders. He looked down at the ground and shuffled his feet. “Up until now that’s never bothered me all that much. I’ve always been willing to give my life for the rebellion’s cause. Always been eager to do anything to bring down Ezar—even die.” He looked back up into her eyes. “But now…” He stopped and merely shook his head. He pressed his lips together and shoved his hands in his pockets.
“What?” Heidi prompted. “Now what?”
“I don’t know…” he breathed. He swallowed. “You’re not like anyone else I’ve ever met in my whole life,” he admitted suddenly.
She smiled. “I could say the same about you.”
He grinned brightly. “It seems like you read my mind… even when you aren’t actually reading my mind. Like I’m completely exposed in front of you no matter how hard I try to hide myself.”
“You don’t…” Heidi began, but was abruptly stopped by the sound of blaster fire.
She whipped around and cried out in terror as Imperial guardsmen came barreling through the base. They shot furiously, left and right, and dashed right for her.
Dexter grabbed her hand to pull her away so they could run, but as he turned an Imperial guardsman brought his blaster down across his temple. Heidi cried out as he dropped to the ground, dazed. The guardsman grabbed Heidi around the waist and threw her over his shoulder.
“Dex!” she shouted, holding her hand out towards him.
Dexter tried to push himself up but everything was becoming fuzzy and black. He tried desperately to keep his eyes open, to fight back into consciousness but the blackness was overwhelming him. He watched as they carried her out of the base and then the blackness enveloped him and he was still.
Dexter's head was throbbing. He sat up but this made it worse. His hand flew to his left temple and as he pulled it away he discovered blood on his palm. He was slightly dizzy, but attempted to stand nonetheless. This proved to be a mistake and he dropped to his knees quickly. He blinked, willing the ground to come back into focus.
...Have to get control... have to look after my men... make sure the battalion is okay... assess the damage and...
He gasped as the ground finally did come back into focus. None of that mattered.
Heidi...
He stood. He got dizzy again and for a moment felt like he was going to throw up, but through sheer force of will, he pushed the dizziness and nausea down into the pit of his stomach. His eyes snapped open.
"Red?!" he shouted. "Heidi!"
"Lieutenant?" a voice behind him called.
He turned and saw Sgt. Trist approaching with a medkit. Dexter’s eyes searched the area. The base looked wartorn, but most of the people present were still alive. Many were injured, including several civilians. Those that were not injured—or not as severely injured—such as Sgt. Trist, were attending to those who were. A few children were scattered about bringing water to injured people and soldiers who were providing medical care.
"Sir, you're injured," Trist continued. He dropped to one knee and opened his medkit.
"I'm fine," Dexter grumbled. "Where's Heidi... have you seen Heidi?"
"You probably just have a mild concussion," Trist continued, ignoring Dexter's question.
"Forget that," Dexter said. "What happened to her?"
Trist stood with a sanitary cloth to clean Dexter's wound. "Let me clean it up, sir," he said, deliberately avoiding Dexter's eyes.
"Answer me, Sergeant!" Dexter thundered.
Trist froze, swallowed and took a step back. "She's gone, sir," he said. "They took her. Commander Trevana thinks she was all they were after because it was a small battalion..."
Dexter only heard some of the rest of Trist's words.
“...acted with a singular purpose...”
“…very few casualties, only those that got in their way...”
Dexter furiously shoved Trist aside and strode quickly across the area, searching for Commander Trevana. Trist scurried after him, wiping at his head wound. Dexter tried to wave him away, annoyed.
"Where is the Commander?" Dexter asked.
"She's at headquarters trying to organize this chaos," Trist responded.
Dexter slapped Trist's hand away again. "Go tend to someone who actually needs your help," Dexter said. "I've had way worse injuries than this."
"But sir..."
"That's an order, Sergeant," Dexter interrupted Trist, staring directly into his eyes to convey his intensity.
Trist swallowed and nodded. He then turned and strode away. Dexter turned and headed towards headquarters. He wanted to run, but unfortunately, his head wound was a little more severe than he was letting on. But he didn't want to waste any time getting it patched up and it would heal. He at least knew it wasn't life-threatening and he wasn't going to sleep any time soon so there was no risk from the concussion. He pushed past the guards to the entrance, though they offered him little to no resistance, and strode with purpose towards Commander Trevana's office. She was already there convening with Privates Gyer and Hendricks.
"Lieutenant," Trevana said upon him entering. "You're injured."
"They took Heidi," Dexter said, ignoring her statement.
"You should see one of the medics," she continued as if she hadn't heard him.
"We have to go after her," Dexter went on. "They'll torture her. They'll hurt her. They'll make it painful and long-lasting. We have to save her."
"Lieutenant," Trevana said. "We are in the middle of a crisis if you can't tell and we are on the verge of attacking the empire and bringing them down for good. We don't have the time or the manpower to go after one person."
"So you're just going to let them have her?!" Dexter shouted. "After everything she did for us?"
"Plenty of soldiers have given their lives for this cause..." Trevana began.
"She's not a soldier, Elena!!" he interrupted
"Lieutenant!" Trevana said with a warning voice.
Dexter's voice caught in his throat and he swallowed over the lump the size of a baseball. There was an extreme awkward silence while Dexter and Trevana stared at one another. Gyer and Hendricks exchanged uncomfortable glances and shifted around uneasily.
"Privates, would you please excuse us for a few moments," Trevana said finally.
Both quickly mumbled "Yes, Commander" and exited as fast as their legs would allow.
As soon as they were gone Trevana sighed
heavily and walked around the desk to Dexter. She sat down on the edge of the desk and composed her thoughts before speaking.
"I know how much you care about her, Dex, so I'll let your insubordination in front of the Privates slide, but I can't organize a rescue mission for Heidi right now," she said after a few moments.
"So you're just going to let them torture and possibly kill her?" Dexter asked, astonished.
"Dex, we're so close," Trevana explained, her face pleading with him to understand. "The attack begins tomorrow and we have a chance here and now to end Ezar's tyrannical rule and bring about freedom for everyone but we have to strike while the iron is hot and before they find out about our plans."
“How do you know they didn’t already find out?” he asked. “They attack us just before we go after them? That can’t be a coincidence.”
“I believe,” Trevana sighed. “That they were only here for Heidi. I believe that they intercepted your communication with Bookman and tracked him and Reboa here in order to find her.”
Dexter felt the blood leave his face. “What makes you think that?”
Trevana frowned sadly and avoided his eyes. “Bookman and I were talking… before he left… about how he was afraid your communication might have been intercepted and that’s one of the reasons he waited so long before he brought Reboa here.” She sighed. “Apparently he didn’t wait long enough.”
Dexter felt guilt, fury and anguish building to monumental proportions in his gut. He had led Ezar directly to her.
“So I don’t think they have any idea about our plan of attack,” Trevana went on. “We still have a shot.”
"All the more reason to rescue Heidi," Dexter argued. "She knows about the plan, she could tell them."
“How does she know, Lieutenant?” Trevana asked, with a hint of irritation.
“Lt. Hugo told her,” Dexter retorted. “After she tried to save his life.”
Trevana sighed and frowned. Her brow furrowed. "I have every confidence that she'll keep our secret long enough for the attack to begin and then there won't be anything they can do to stop us."
"So you expect them to torture her for information?" Dexter's face contorted in anger and betrayal. "And you're just going to let them?!"
"Dex, if it were any other day I would have already sent a search and rescue team after her," Trevana said. "But we don't have any manpower to spare right now. We need everyone where they are supposed to be for the attack on the imperial guard. And if this attack fails then everything she did for us will have been for nothing and her sacrifice will be in vain."
"She shouldn't have to be sacrificed at all, Elena!" Dexter cried. The intensity of the situation was building in him but he took a deep breath.
Reason with her... you've been able to influence her decisions before.
His voice was calmer when he next spoke. "Let me take a small battalion of men in after her..."
"No," Trevana said. "I told you I can't spare any soldiers."
"Then me," Dexter replied. "I'll go alone. I know the palace. I've been there twice. I can find my way around. I can find her…"
"That's exactly why I need you to lead the attack on the palace," Trevana interrupted. "So that you can release the prisoners into the palace and take out the palace guard and hopefully Ezar himself. If anyone finds her while you're there, the orders will certainly be to rescue her, but..."
"Sgt. Trist can do it," Dexter pleaded desperately. "I know he can. Heidi transferred all my knowledge of the inner workings of the palace to him. He can lead the attack."
"Trist is fully competent and he is going to be your backup," Trevana said. "But he doesn't have your stealth and cunning."
"He has better stealth and cunning..."
"Lieutenant," Trevana said, her voice changing to one of authority for which there was no more argument. "I need you to lead the attack on the palace. You know you are the ideal person to do it, you're just not thinking clearly. You're not thinking like a soldier, you're thinking like... a lover..."
Dexter pressed his lips together, his fury and frustration building to the point where he feared they might explode out of his ears. He clenched his fists and leaned on the desk. He knew she was right, but... Heidi... the torture machine... He could just imagine them using it on her and it made his brain go white with rage.
"I am tremendously sorry I have to sacrifice Heidi for this," Trevana said. "I don't like it anymore than you do."
"I very much doubt that," Dexter grumbled.
"Well, no one is sorrier than I am that I'm going to have to pull rank on you and say… those are my orders, Lieutenant."
Dexter wanted to scream. He wanted to throw the Commander into the wall and take a blaster to the entirety of the office. But instead he glared furiously at Trevana and growled, "Yes, Commander." He turned and strode irately from the room. As soon as he left, Trevana let out the breath she wasn’t aware she’d been holding and shuddered.