It was a rare moment of peace and tranquility that Kell relished. Seated at the kitchen table with no one around to disturb him, he sipped on his steaming mug of tea, slowly savoring its sweet berry flavour. With a sigh of contentment, he put the tea back on the table and paused.
The sense of normalcy he felt was a lie he desperately wished was true.
His discoveries and insights into Adrian and Stanley’s genetic makeup had convinced him that Adrian was indeed telling the truth. With the revelation came disturbing implications. To make matters worse, he was now racing against the clock to keep Stanley alive. It was only the second day since he’d received the new samples from the man and the lack of progress left him frustrated.
He knew he shouldn’t, but he couldn’t resist studying Adrian’s blood sample. What he was seeing was mind-boggling and he still understood none of it. He couldn’t ask Adrian about what had been done to him to confirm his theories nor could he ask Tassie to reveal the classified information she’d discovered.
While he was used to keeping secrets from the rest of the team due to the nature of his role as its doctor, the fact that Adrian was no longer human weighed on him the most. If it weren’t for Stanley’s existence and the claims that both men knew each other from their time on Earth as well as Ava’s testimony, he would’ve been inclined to believe Adrian had been grown in a lab at the facility they’d found him at.
As he pondered the nature of the experiments performed on Adrian and his desire to document what had been done to the man, Kell picked up his data slate and began his daily ritual of reading the news. Given how isolated they were, he felt it important to keep up with current affairs to at least know any major changes to the outside world. He hadn’t had the time yesterday to look at the news due to how busy he’d been with his research.
If he had, he might have noticed the quiet publication about a new Silver Star holder, personally confirmed by the General.
The news was considered a major event by the public and what had started as one lone confirmation of the truth had blown up into a global phenomenon. Tabloids and press companies were chomping at the bit to get any information they could and had plastered the news everywhere.
It was impossible to miss.
When Kell saw the first headline on his news feed he did a double take. He immediately accessed the article and skimmed through the contents. “They know,” he whispered to himself. “By the gods, the world found out about Reya.”
He ran a clinical assessment of his former teammate’s condition and deemed her unfit to be the center of such attention. She needed more time to heal before she became one of the most important celebrities in their faction. Joining the most august clubs in their society had a tendency to do that to someone. Reya was the youngest Silver Star holder since the award’s inception and the only other Silver Star holders alive were growing old.
He’d known this day would come when Reya had shown them all the Silver Star months ago when they’d all arrived at the safe house but had hoped that their seclusion would delay it until after the mission had ended and everything had settled.
Rereading the article carefully, he knew that this wouldn’t be the case. Public outcry at not seeing Reya alive and well and with an actual Silver Star in her hands had grown out of control. He took note that the General had consented to Reya being interviewed without anyone being aware. There was no date set yet – a small blessing – but the public had been somewhat mollified since they knew they would get what they wanted.
Article after article was filled with speculation as to the reason why such a prestigious medal of honour had been bestowed. Some hypothesized it was linked to half the fleet that normally protected the planet disappearing without a trace. Others discounted the theory, trying in vain to paint a picture of the dashing heroics Reya had done to get her award.
And then there were the non-believers. Until they saw it personally, they refused to believe anything they heard about the Silver Star, claiming it to be a sham. While Kell could appreciate a healthy dose of skepticism, some of what he read was rather harsh.
Frowning, he wondered when they would get the call from the General explaining the situation. It wasn’t like the military to acquiesce to the demands of the public, although from what he’d read they appeared to be under heavy scrutiny lately for their lack of explanations regarding the disappearance of half of the fleet that protected the planet – such a thing was unheard of except during times of war. Unease was spreading and Reya was a tipping point.
His moment of contemplation was ruined when the front door opened, revealing Rann returning from her patrol. She saw the heavy look on Kell’s face as she walked over to the cabinets in the kitchen to retrieve a glass. “What’s wrong?” she asked as she filled up the glass with water from the tap.
“Everything,” Kell replied with a heavy sigh. “Come see this.” He motioned Rann to come see the article on his data slate. She put the glass down on the table and took the offered device from him. Her brows shot up in surprise when she read the headline.
“By the gods, how did this happen?” Rann said. “We’ve been secluded for months with almost no contact. Nobody knows Reya’s here, how did they learn about her being a Silver Star holder?” She continued to read, her expression darkening the further she went. When she was finished, she handed the data slate back to Kell. “I don’t like this. It puts our mission in jeopardy. Reya isn’t ready for this kind of scrutiny. Her every action is going to be of public interest now and we can’t afford that – both for us and for her.”
“Can you gather the team?” Kell asked. “Tell them to gather on the ship so we can discuss our response to this.”
“What about Adrian and Reya?” Rann said.
Kell hummed in thought. “Leave them to their rest. They need it and I don’t want to disturb them over something we can’t change. The best we can do is prepare and have a plan of action for when they wake up.”
Together, the pair called the others over their comms and organized a meeting on the ship. Once everybody was informed that there was a situation they needed to know about, they made their way to the meeting room on the ship, only to be greeted by Tassie, who was lounging in a chair.
Once everybody had gathered, Kell explained the situation and showed them the articles he’d found. “This is everywhere,” Jyn said as he perused the news on his own data slate. “I’m worried about how this will affect Reya. Kell, is she well enough to handle this much stress?”
“Normally I wouldn’t speak about a patient’s medical condition,” Kell replied, “but in this case I really don’t know. She’s made some improvement over the past couple of months, but it’s the little things that tip us off that she’s hiding something from us.”
Tassie turned pallid, knowing exactly what was being kept a secret from the others. Her squeamish expression caught Rann’s attention. “Tassie, is everything alright? You don’t look too good,” she said, eyeing the sweat that was forming on her friend’s forehead. The rest of the team looked at Tassie in concern.
“I’m fine,” Tassie squeaked, convincing nobody. She swallowed, suddenly finding her throat to be very dry. “Does anybody have some water?” Beor passed her the canteen he had on him, and she drank from it with large, greedy gulps and drained it.
Rann levelled her a flat expression. “You’re clearly not fine,” she said. Tassie looked away from her friend’s sharp gaze. Rann flashed Kell a worried glance, silently asking him to step in.
“You’re not allowed to tell us anything, right?” Kell said in a gentle voice.
“You know what Reya’s hiding?” Rann asked without accusing her. The last thing she wanted was for Tassie to clam up and pretend to be alright.
“It’s classified,” Tassie said in a small, quiet voice. “Even though you’re a part of this mission, I can’t talk about it.”
“But you know,” Rann prompted. The others — Jyn included — mercifully remained silent, choosing to watch the proceedings without interrupting.
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Tassie gave a small nod. “I have an idea. A very good one. Reya asked me not to learn and this I will respect.” She shuddered. Her eyes saddened as she spoke again. “She hides it well but she’s not ok. Not after what happened to her. Neither is Adrian.”
The room went silent as they pondered Tassie’s words. She could almost hear the gears turning in their heads. Rann narrowed her eyes. “The only thing Reya knows about your work is when you brought her aboard the ship with Adrian to watch one of his experiments. You all came back looking awful.”
“What they did to Adrian,” Jyn spoke up, “did they do to Reya as well?”
Adrian’s screams echoed in Tassie’s head as she relived the moment she learned what the chemicals they’d discovered truly did. She imagined Reya’s screams from undergoing the same experience and tears welled in her eyes. “Yes,” she whispered as her lip quivered. “And neither of them will ever be ok.”
Jyn paused along with the rest of the room as they took in their friend’s haunted expression. “I want to know what they did to her,” he said with hard eyes, “but I know you won’t ever tell us since the General herself put a gag order on it.”
“She’s not the one who issued the gag order,” Tassie said, brushing away her tears. “The Tribunal did. Directly.”
Jyn gave her a long, searching look. “We should call the General now. I want to know what more Reya is going to have to pay before finally being left alone to heal.” He looked at Kell. “Contact her,” he ordered.
Kell put the data slate in the middle of the table, face up. He made the call and soon after a holographic image of Nessah’s head appeared, floating above it. She took one look at the assembled members and sighed. “What’s so important that the entire team needs to be together to contact me, Captain?”
Jyn sat straighter in his chair as he addressed his superior. “We’ve learned about Reya’s upcoming interview and would like to discuss what our response should be.” Nessah looked at him expectantly. “We read the news,” Jyn explained. “Is our mission compromised? How did this happen?”
“I made a mistake,” General Nessah admitted. “When Reya was awarded the Silver Star, she walked out of the building wearing it before leaving with Irric and was seen. An oversight on my part. Rumours started and the security footage, along with her name, was leaked.” Her gaze turned cold. “The person responsible is being dealt with as we speak.”
“What do we do about it?” Jyn asked.
“For now, there’s not much you can do,” Nessah said. “When we’re ready, we’ll hold the interview. Reya will have to be brought back to base for this. Half of your team is to remain behind to guard Adrian while the rest of you escort Reya. You will be her personal guard to ensure nothing happens to her.”
“Does Reya get a say in this?” Jyn asked.
“Unfortunately, no.” Nessah shook her head. “My hands are tied with this. People are going to want to know what happened to her for her to be awarded something so prestigious, and we can’t afford for the truth to get out. Once the interview’s done, she’ll be sent back to the safehouse.”
“Will it end with just the one interview?” Kell asked.
“Probably not,” Nessah admitted, “but we should be able to hold off on the next one for a while.”
“What happens if anything relating to the mission leaks?” Jyn asked, growing increasingly worried.
“That,” Nessah said in a hard tone, “is something I will not permit. This is going to be a very carefully controlled interview.”
“The public might not like that,” Jyn said with a frown.
“The public won’t have a choice. Now then, let’s discuss the specifics of how this interview will play out so that everyone knows their roles.” The team settled in for a debriefing as the General issued their newest orders.
Light peered through the curtains to their room as Reya and Adrian lay in bed, snuggled together. The rest of the house still thought them to be asleep, but they’d been awake for some time, dozing on and off.
Adrian had held his tongue while Kell showed Rann the articles. While he couldn’t read them directly, he’d heard enough of their conversation to piece together what had happened. It was only after some time passed when they, along with the others still in the house, left for the ship that he spoke up. “Something happened,” he started, trying to figure out how best to explain the situation without upsetting Reya too much.
“I know, I heard,” Reya said. She turned around in his arms and stared at the ceiling. She adjusted her head on her pillow before continuing. “It’s hard not to with loud they were.”
Adrian looked at her in surprise. “They weren’t being any louder than normal.”
“Of course they were. How else would I have heard them? They’ve been rather loud in the mornings lately.” She sighed. “They used to make such an effort to let us sleep in a bit longer. It’s like they stopped trying.”
“They’re still doing their best to be quiet while we’re in bed. Even Jyn respects that.” Adrian shook his head. “Hard to believe he’s being considerate, but I have to give it to him. After Kell spoke with him, he’s made a real effort — with regards to that, at least. He could still use some improving in other areas.”
Reya cracked a wan smile. “It’s the least he could do after all the crap he pulled. If it were Jyn that was the issue, I would’ve spoken to him. But in this case it’s everyone. How do you ask an entire group of people to make no noise? You can’t.”
“What are you going to do now that you’ve become targeted by the news?” Adrian asked. He felt Reya tense up.
“I don’t know,” Reya said, her voice tinged with fear. She clutched Adrian’s arm tightly as she envisioned the world learning of her colossal fuck up that had earned her an award she didn’t deserve. Worse yet, they would see her ugly scars. Perhaps not right away, but one day some reporter would get a picture and they would be on full display for the everyone to see. “Me getting the Silver Star is a mistake. It’s nothing more than a token effort from the Tribunal for failing my mission.”
“Hey now,” Adrian said as he stroked her hair. “You went through something far worse than anyone will ever know and lived to tell the tale. I still don’t quite understand how important this medal is, but without you I’d still be locked in my cell being experimented on.”
Reya sniffled. “What I went through doesn’t hold a candle to what happened to you. They used the chemical on you so many times.” Vivid images of her time fastened to the table in the facility raced through her mind — all of them leading to the same memory she tried to keep buried deep where the sun didn’t shine. Try as she might, all she could picture was the feeling of a needle piercing her skin. She broke out in a cold sweat before heating up, suddenly finding the covers entirely too hot to be under.
“You went through it once,” Adrian said gently, distracting her from her thoughts, “and that was one time too many. What you survived was nothing short of the cruelest thing that could ever be done to a living being and that,” he stressed, “is worth recognizing.”
Reya remained silent as her thoughts warred with each other to dominate her already rattled mind. She focused on Adrian’s familiar, calming scent to ground herself. “It doesn’t feel like it,” she whispered. “All I did was get hurt.”
“I will forever admire the strength you have to be able to endure what you did.” Adrian said. The pair lapsed into a contemplative silence that was interrupted by the sound of Reya’s rumbling stomach. “Looks like we should get up and make ourselves some breakfast.”
“I think you mean lunch,” Reya quipped tiredly as she extricated herself Adrian’s arms. She threw the covers off, welcoming the rush of air that cooled her down somewhat. Sitting at the edge of the bed, she took a moment to collect herself before rising. Once again, she found herself eyeing the curtains. “These things really suck at blocking light.”
“I don’t think I’m the best person to complain to,” Adrian chuckled as he followed her out of the room. They made their way downstairs where Reya set herself up at the counter to make some simple eggs and fried meat slices. He didn’t know what animal they came from, but they tasted good enough to offput their fatty, stringy texture.
Reya stood in front of the stove and watched the meat sizzle in her pan. She went through the motions of spicing the food, lost in thought. The once normally appetizing smell did little to make her hungry. She eyed the amount of food, wondering if she’d made too much, only to look at over towards Adrian. With a humourless chuckle, she realized it probably didn’t matter, as he would happily eat whatever she didn’t.
Fresh and hot, she put the food onto the plates Adrian had taken out while she was cooking and brought them over to the already set table. Eyeing the meat, she cut herself a tiny piece and was about to eat it when the front door opened.
Rann, Kell and Jyn filed through and made way for the table. They looked between each other, a silent conversation playing out as they tried to determine who should speak first. Kell broke the silence. “We just came back from a meeting with the General,” he started as they sat down in the free chairs at the table, “about you, actually.”
“We already know,” Reya said, prompting a look of surprise from Rann. “It’s about me being a Silver Star holder becoming public news, isn’t it?” She put her fork back onto her plate, her bite of food forgotten as she turned her attention to the others.
Rann look between her and Kell in surprise. “How come you already know? Did you read the news as well?”
Reya shook her head. “I heard you speaking from our room. You weren’t exactly quiet about it.”
“I thought we kept our voices down enough,” Rann frowned. “Did we wake you?”
“No. If all you did was discuss my secret coming out, how come your meeting took so long?” Reya asked. The look of hesitation on all three of her friends’ faces did little to comfort her. “What happened?” She narrowed her eyes in suspicion.
Kell very carefully explained to her exactly how her secret came to light and what the General’s reaction to the situation was when they spoke with her on the ship. Naturally, the finer details of their discussion were left out as Reya was no longer military and was no longer privy to them. “The main issue,” Kell said slowly, “is that you have no choice but to have an interview with a reporter.” Reya was stunned silent.
Adrian’s expression darkened. “She very much does have the choice,” he said in a low voice. “The military can no longer order her around.”
“It’s not so much an order as it is a necessity. Reya will not be given any peace the moment she steps foot in public. Would you rather risk having it all go south or at least try to control the reaction the populace will have?” Kell turned back to Reya, who had turned rather pale. “You have the choice, but not really. This is for the best. The General will be able to shield you from the worst of it.”
“I don’t really have a choice,” Reya replied, frustrated. “When will the interview be?”
“There’s no set date yet, but soon,” Kell confirmed. “I know it’s not what you want, but this is something you’re going to have to do sooner or later as a Silver Star holder.”
Reya stared down at her plate, what little appetite she had completely ruined.
