Chapter Six
“I’m not quite sure I understand,” Trevana said, her eyebrow raised. “You read minds?”
“Sort of,” Heidi answered.
They were inside the mud hut known as “headquarters”. It was separated into four different rooms—or sections since none of the rooms had doors. One of them was Commander Trevana’s sleeping quarters, and another was her office, the other two consisted of a weapon’s storage room and a room for conferences. Her office was where she had convened with Dexter and Heidi after they’d requested to see her. It was a simple room with a single large desk. Three chairs were stationed around the desk, one behind it and two in front of it. Trevena sat in the chair behind the desk and Dexter sat with Heidi next to him on the other side of the desk across from Trevana. Dexter was normally extremely comfortable and confident in this room but today he sat forward in his chair, fidgeting with a loose string on the sleeve of his fatigues. Heidi sat up straight with her hands in her lap. Trevana was leaning forward and staring intently at her. She hadn’t said a word the entire time Heidi was attempting to explain her gift, and how the Emperor had tried to use her against them. Even once Heidi was done explaining, Trevana had sat silently for quite awhile with a look of confusion and concern on her face.
She leaned back in her chair finally and pressed the tips of her fingers against her mouth. She stared up at the ceiling, lost in her own thoughts.
“So… if you touched me right now you could tell what I’m thinking?” she asked finally.
“I… don’t know, honestly,” Heidi said. “For one thing I usually have to touch someone’s head and I’ve only been able to read current thoughts of my own volition that one time when Dexter let me try.”
“Maybe you should let her try,” Dexter suggested. “She’s read my mind a couple of times.”
“I wouldn’t be able to read anything you didn’t want me to,” Heidi added quickly.
Trevana still seemed skeptical for a moment, but finally she nodded her assent once and bent forward. Heidi leaned in and wound her fingers through Trevana’s short brown hair. She concentrated and relaxed her mind, opening to the space nearby, opening to the chasm between minds. Thoughts began to form. Thoughts that were hers. Thoughts that were not hers.
How do I really know that I can trust you?
Heidi bit her lip. “I suppose you don’t,” she answered. “But I had no choice but to trust Dexter when I first met him and that turned out okay.”
Trevana sat back abruptly. “You heard that?” she said, astonished. “You heard what I was thinking?”
“It was more like the thought was in my head, too,” Heidi replied.
“But you did,” Trevana said. “You read my mind?”
“Yes.”
Trevana’s astonished eyes flickered from Heidi to Dexter, who was sitting forward observing the interaction with a concerned look on his face. He hadn’t wanted to bring Heidi here this soon, but was afraid that if she didn’t reveal her secret, it would be inadvertently revealed and then he’d have trouble assuring everyone that she wasn’t an Imperial spy. Especially Lt. Hugo. The guy really needed to relax, he was way too paranoid.
“Lt. Hathaway, I’d like to speak to you alone about this,” Trevana said finally.
Dexter nodded. “Of course, Commander,” he answered. He stood up and Trevana walked from the room, motioning for him to follow her. He glanced back at Heidi and smiled reassuringly. Heidi smiled back but couldn’t hide her worry completely. She dropped her hands to her lap and prepared to wait.
Trevana led Dexter to the weapons’ storage room before she spoke because it was the room farthest away from her office.
“Dexter, what have you brought in here?!” Trevana demanded.
“She’s not a spy, Commander,” he replied.
“How do you know?” Trevana asked. “She easily could be. Think about it. She just happened to be placed in the same room as you, someone they knew was a high-ranking rebellion officer. She could easily learn all sorts of information about us and relay it back to the Emperor.”
“She won’t,” Dexter argued.
“How can you be sure?”
“I just…” he sighed and looked around the room. He considered his next words for a moment. “I am. I trust her. It’s an intuition thing, I guess, but I don’t believe that she’s a spy. I think she’s a gift from heaven.”
Trevana’s eyebrows rose.
“For the rebellion!” Dexter clarified quickly. “She’s a good person, Commander. I can tell. She wants to help and she can’t read your mind unless she touches you anyway. Plus, she can’t read what you don’t allow her to read.”
“How do you know?”
He sighed again. “I just do,” he said. “You’ve trusted my intuition before and it hasn’t let you down. Can’t you trust it this time, too?”
Trevana frowned and considered this for a moment. On the one hand, Dexter’s intuition was solid and had never been wrong before. But those had always been in combat situations where men could die, but the entire rebellion wouldn’t be brought down. And on the other hand, she was responsible for the entire rebellion since the only other Commander was currently in an Imperial prison.
“Well, I’m going to have to think about this,” Trevana said finally. “In the meantime I want a sharp eye kept on her. Should I have another officer stay outside your hut at night?”
Dexter frowned severely. “I really don’t think that’s necessary,” he said. “Even if she were to attack me, I think I can easily defend myself against her. She’s kind of small and doesn’t have any combat training.”
“First of all, you don’t know that,” Trevana answered. “You’re assuming that based upon what she’s told you, and that’s based upon the assumption that she’s telling the truth. And second of all, I’m not worried about her attacking you, I’m worried about her reading your mind.”
“So we’re just going to start being suspicious of everyone who comes to us for help and asylum?” Dexter asked.
“Of course we are!” Trevana exclaimed. “We always have been. We hope that they’re friends but are wary that they might be enemies because Ezar is always after us. And if he’s getting desperate then why wouldn’t he do something like this? Con some innocent-looking girl into infiltrating the rebellion and gaining all our secrets.”
“With all due respect, Commander,” Dexter responded. “If we look at someone who appears to be innocent and is willing to help us and could be a great asset and just assume that she’s working for Ezar and force her to live under constant surveillance and scrutiny and never put her gifts to the test and use them to our advantage, then we are allowing him to win anyway. He is controlling us with fear even inside the rebellion.”
Trevana’s frown deepened and she pressed her lips tightly together. She couldn’t deny the wisdom in his argument, though it seemed like such a strange thing for him to argue.
“You’ve always been untrusting, Dex,” she mused. “Between you and Hugo, I always thought if there were ever any spies one of you would catch on.” She paused and chuckled.
Dexter rolled his eyes at the comparison between him and Hugo.
“But you seem unusually trusting of this girl. Why?”
Dexter considered this for a moment. “I… I can only go back to intuition,” he answered finally. “I just know in my gut that she’s not here to hurt us, but to help us. I just know. I know.” He raised his eyebrows and leaned his head forward for emphasis. “If you aren’t sure that you can trust her then at least trust me.”
Trevana licked her lips and her frown did not leave her face but she blew out a puff of air and nodded. “All right, Lieutenant, I’m trusting your instincts on this one,” she said. “But I still don’t see how she can really help us with anything. And I’m going to have to alert the other officers about her and… you know how that’s going to go down with Lt. H
ugo.”
“Yeah,” Dexter grumbled. “May I request that you not tell them until I’m there? Perhaps at the debriefing this evening?”
Trevana nodded. “Yes, that sounds good,” she agreed.
Back outside headquarters, Heidi folded her arms as she and Dexter walked back to his hut.
“Your Commander doesn’t trust me,” she observed.
“Well, put yourself in her shoes,” Dexter replied. “It does seem a little suspicious.”
Heidi frowned. “Yes, I suppose,” she agreed. “Do you trust me?”
“Yes.”
She smiled up at him delightedly. He grinned back for a moment and then cleared his throat, glancing around nervously.
“So what did you want to do now?” he asked to change the subject. “I have a debriefing this evening and we’re going to talk about you so you’ll probably have to come with me and be available in case they want to ask you questions but until then we’re free to do whatever.”
“Well, it would help if you did anything for fun,” she replied. “Then you could suggest something fun to do.”
“The only fun stuff I ever do you wouldn’t be interested in,” he said with a gleam in his eye. “Debauchery and shenanigans.”
She smiled mischievously. “Oh?” she said. “Well, I’ll take your word for it. But since I don’t really know what there is to do around here, I’m rather open to suggestion as to how to spend the time.”
“Hmm,” he mused. “Well, I guess we could just walk around and I’ll give you a tour of the base.”
“Okay…”
They had already wandered past Dexter’s hut and continued on around the base. As they walked Heidi saw that many of the huts were much larger than Dexter’s—those that had families in them, for example. He also showed her where the well was that they used to draw water and showed her the large oven next to it used to heat the water if they needed to bathe.
“It’s kind of a hassle so we usually get to bathe on a rotation,” he explained. “When you and I showed up it was an exception because we were both so disgusting.” He chuckled. “But for other things the well never dries up and you’re welcome to as much water as you need.”
“It’s amazing,” Heidi said. “Are there lots of these bases?”
“Yep,” he answered. “107, actually.”
“Wow,” she breathed. “And they’re scattered everywhere throughout the world?”
“Yep.”
She surveyed the area, taking in the sights of the trees covering them like a protective shield. She wondered how it was that the Emperor couldn’t see this. She looked up and saw that there was a large net covering the base like a dome. Above it there appeared to be plantlife of some kind.
“So is it just covered with leaves and stuff?” she asked, pointing upwards.
“Yeah so from the air it just looks like a large cluster of trees.”
“That’s brilliant,” she said, smiling brightly and still staring upwards.
Dexter, on the other hand, was staring at her.
She dropped her eyes back down and met his. He grinned and she smiled back. He continued walking and she followed. They had now circled the entire camp.
“So what’s the rebellion’s ultimate goal?” she asked. “I mean, I know you want to kill the Emperor or at least end his reign, but what about after that? Are you going to elect a new Emperor?”
Dexter stopped and regarded her for a moment.
“What?” she asked nervously after he’d been staring at her for awhile.
“You know, if you are a spy, I certainly am going to look like the biggest fool in the history of the world,” he said. “Here I am giving you all this information about the rebellion…”
“I’m not a spy!” Heidi huffed. “I thought you said you trusted me.”
He nodded. “I do,” he answered. “I don’t think you’re a spy but I’ve been fooled before.”
She frowned. “Well, if you want we can talk about something else. I was just curious.”
Dexter considered this for a moment and then responded: “We intend to set up a new republic once Ezar is dead. So that the people will rule themselves and no one person will ever have too much power again.”
Heidi smiled sweetly. “Let’s talk about something else,” she repeated. And they continued walking back towards Dexter’s hut.
“This is insane!” Lt. Hugo said, slamming his hand down on the table.
“Lt. Hugo, calm down,” Trevana admonished.
They were convened in the conference room of headquarters. There was one lone table in the conference room lined with three chairs on each side and a chair at the head and the foot. Trevana sat at the head of the table. She had just finished telling everyone about Heidi’s gift. Dexter sat on her right and Lt. Hugo on her left. Other than Lt. Hugo and Dexter, Sergeant Trist and Sergeant Hyuin were present. Dexter had agreed to stay silent while Trevana attempted to explain the situation to everyone but he was having a hard time keeping his mouth shut when Hugo kept accusing Heidi of being a spy.
“Lt. Hathaway believes that she’s telling the truth,” Trevana continued. “And he’s spent the most time with her and I trust his instincts.”
“Well, my instincts say to dump her at the nearest Imperial prison and get the hell out of there,” Hugo snapped.
Dexter’s anger swelled and he started to respond but Trevana beat him to the punch.
“If we dumped her with the Imperial forces then they’d have a mind-reader at their disposal,” Trevana argued.
Hugo grumbled. “Fine, then keep her here but under lock and key.”
“Sure,” Dexter jumped in finally. “Because heaven forbid we help an innocent girl who has an unusual ability. We should just treat her like the pariah she is, right, Chris?”
“You’re just thinking with your dick!” Hugo retorted.
Dexter slammed both hands down on the table and shoved his chair back so hard as he stood up that it went flying across the room, hit the wall and fell over on the floor. Hugo likewise jumped up. Both men were red-faced and glaring at one another. Trist and Hyuin exchanged glances and scooted their chairs away from the lieutenants.
“Hathaway! Hugo!” Trevana exclaimed as she jumped up and held her hands out to keep the men apart. “That is enough! Both of you, sit down!”
Dexter glowered evenly across the table at Chris Hugo and set his jaw, but he turned and went to pick up his chair. When he returned to the table and sat back down, Hugo was also sitting with his arms folded, glaring back at him.
“It’s my call, Lieutenant,” Trevana said to Hugo. “And I’m going with Dex on this one. It’s not simply his instinct. I also have thought about it and I don’t think we can just automatically assume that this girl is an Imperial spy. She doesn’t seem like any spy I’ve ever come across and if you were honest, I would think she’s not like any spy you’ve ever met, either.”
Hugo glanced up, his face belying that she spoke the truth as much as he didn’t want to admit it. He didn’t say anything, but frowned and looked down at the table.
“If she is a spy,” Trevana went on. “Then I suppose I’ll go down in history as the biggest fool ever. And I’m sorry, Dex, but I do want to keep an eye on her, but I’m not going to lock her up and treat her like a prisoner. If she’s not a spy then she could be an asset. I am not entirely sure how yet but… in the meantime I am giving her asylum and she is not to be harmed, understood?”
Hugo’s frown deepened but he nodded once in acknowledgment.
Trevana sighed and turned her face back to the rest of the men. She pressed her index fingers against the bridge of her nose. Tentatively in the back Sgt. Trist raised his hand.
“Yes, Sergeant?” Trevana asked.
“Um… while the pissing contest was going on,” he waved to Dexter and Hugo. “I kind of had an idea…”
Dexter grinned. He really liked Trist. Usually i
f he went on a mission and needed a second in command, he requested Trist. Trist was actually older than Dexter. He was in his early forties and had joined the rebellion while he was in his thirties after Ezar’s men raped and murdered his wife—right in front of him.
So Trist was eager to end Ezar but he had also somehow managed to not allow what had happened to him to completely break him. He was even-tempered and wise and Dexter trusted him completely.
“An idea about what?” Trevana asked.
“About the girl,” Trist answered. “The mind-reader girl. How she can help.”
“Oh?” Trevana responded.
“Yeah, I was thinking, if she can read minds can she also like tell you stuff, too?” he asked, facing Dexter.
“What do you mean?” Dexter asked.
“Like let’s say she reads one of my thoughts… could she then put the same thought in your head later?”
“I… I don’t know,” Dexter answered. “She hasn’t done that to me.”
Hugo scoffed and mumbled something under his breath, but became silent again after Trevana and Dexter simultaneously shot him looks of warning.
“Well, if she could… maybe she could help with training soldiers,” Trist finished, ignoring Lt. Hugo.
“How?” Trevana asked. “I’m not sure I follow…”
Trist sighed and leaned forward. “Well, the rebellion is growing,” he began. “By leaps and bounds. People are joining left and right because they’re realizing what a bastard Ezar is and that they have to choose a side. But everyone that comes to us doesn’t know how to fight. So we have to train them but that takes months at best and years at worst. So we’re growing but we’re not growing fast enough. If we could grow quicker… if we could recruit enough able-bodied soldiers quickly enough we might be able to make a stand against the empire now, when they’re not expecting it, which would give us the advantage. And if we did that and we managed to take out Ezar or at least capture him and take down his guard… well, that would kind of put an end to his reign. And isn’t that our goal?”
“Yeah but I don’t see how Heidi can help with that,” Dexter interjected.
“Well, if she can transfer thoughts and memories, then why not yours or mine,” Trist answered. “She takes all the training and memories in my head that I have when I got trained and she plunks it in someone else’s head and presto… they have all the training it took me years to acquire in just a few minutes. She does it a few hundred times and we have an army growing exponentially in a matter of months.”
Everyone sat back in their chairs and was silent for a few moments, pondering the implications of Trist’s idea. Even Hugo raised one eyebrow and seemed surprisingly intrigued by it.
Sgt. Hyuin finally broke the silence by laughing. “You swing for the fence, Reece,” he chuckled.
“It’s an interesting idea,” Trevana agreed. “I just don’t think we could get all those recruits here for her to work on them. And that’s assuming that she could do it.”
“Plus,” Hugo added. “Wouldn’t it kind of alert Ezar to our location if you suddenly had all these people showing up in one location? Prime way to get caught.”
“If we were going to try something like this,” Hyuin cut in. “It really would make more sense to move her around from base to base, teaching or training or mind-melding or whatever with the recruits at each base.”
“That puts her at greater risk,” Dexter interrupted.
“Better her than all of us,” Hugo responded.
Dexter glared at him and opened his mouth to respond when Trist interjected: “Well, she wouldn’t have to go alone. She could go with a battalion or at least with a few armed men to protect her.”
“Fewer men would probably draw less attention,” Hyuin said, turning his eyes towards Dexter. “So it would probably be safer for everyone involved, including her.”
Hugo sneered. “I suppose Lt. Hathaway would be eager to volunteer.”
Dexter again started to snap back at him when Trist interrupted again: “I’ll volunteer.” When all heads turned to him, he added, “To be Lt. Hathaway’s back up for her.”
Dexter grinned at Trist again.
“Well,” Trevana said. “All of this hinges on her ability to do what you’re suggesting in the first place. If she can’t then it really doesn’t matter how we go about it because we can’t go about it at all.” She turned to Dexter. “Why don’t you call her in here?”
“Sure,” he stood up and looked directly at Hugo. “As long as everyone agrees to be civil.”
Hugo looked up at him and frowned, but drew his fingers across his lips like he was zipping a zipper closed.
Dexter accepted this and turned to walk out of the room. He walked across the hall to Trevana’s office where Heidi was sitting, waiting patiently.
“Hey,” he said as he stuck his head in. “They want to ask you some stuff.”
She nodded and stood, shaking nervously. She walked to Dexter’s side and followed him back across the hall to the conference room. Her fingers slipped into his absently.
I’m scared…
He stopped abruptly and turned to stare at her.
“Did you do that?”
Her eyes widened. “You heard that?”
“More like I… thought it…” he answered. “Only I didn’t think it, did I?”
She shook her head. “I… don’t know how I did that.”
He chuckled. “Well, that’s one question answered.”
“What question?” she asked.
“They wanted to know if you can put thoughts in people’s heads,” he said. “Not just read other people’s thoughts.”
“I don’t know what all I can do,” she admitted, her eyes filled with fear.
“Hey, don’t be afraid,” he said. “I’m not going to let anything happen to you. I told you, Red, you’re safe with me.”
She smiled and nodded. She took his hand again.
I feel safe with you.
He grinned and pulled her into the conference room.