The soft glow of the corridor lights left no shadows. The two figures walked side by side, guards following at a respectful distance. Drones sped past at their feet, carrying messages and data around the space station. They were an odd pair. One with the formal uniform of the Imperial Navy, the other with patterned robes, loose garments, and soft boots that made no sound on the dark floor. Their footsteps fell into synch. Old habits die hard.
“You would not recognise her you know.” the admiral of the fleet said curtly.
“Why have you not taken my rifle Rilian.”
The admiral sighed. “What would you do with it?”
“I could have killed you.”
“And then?”
Tamarine was silent.
“You do not know what you are doing, you and your rebel friends. You thought you had a spy, but all these years I tell you she has been feeding you the information we wanted you to hear. I am telling you, you would not recognise her.” Admiral Rilian shook her head.
“I could have killed you.” Tamarine said. “I still could.”
Rilian barked a laugh that echoed down the dark halls. “Have you listened to nothing? It has been a long time since you saw Arla. Our days at the academy were a lifetime ago. Mark my words, she has changed. She is no longer your sidekick.” Rilian could sense Tamarine start at that, and smiled. “We are all her sidekicks now.”
“What do you mean?”
“Tamarine, I believe you are here because the rebellion have heard that we have an ultimate weapon. I believe that you have come to extract Arla because you believe she holds the key to stopping this weapon. In some ways you are right, and in some ways you are wrong. Believe me when I say that you still have your weapon because it will be absolutely useless. If you kill me it will be of no consequence. If you escape, it will be of no consequence.” Rilian stopped and turned to face Tamarine. “I would like you to see for yourself. You will not be escorted. Go through this door, see what you have to see, and then you may take a shuttle down to the planet’s surface and tell your rebellion what you have seen.”
Rilian nodded to a guard at the door who stood aside as it slid open. Beyond was a vast open space. Rilian gestured towards it.
“I will not see you again Tamarine. It was pleasant to exchange these words after all these years. I hope you will now see that your efforts with the rebellion have all been in vain.” Rilian bowed and turned, walking back down the corridor.
Tamarine stepped forwards and through the door, feeling the wind rush past him and the sound change as the walls fell away. Walking forwards along a gang plank that extended out away from the wall, he looked up, and his knees buckled. It was Arla. Or it might have been before, now it was a mountain in the shape of a human. She filled the vast hangar, drones and transport decks orbiting her like satellites. At the academy her body had been lithe and athletic, now she was hewn from granite, a vast chest, and a cliff of abdominal muscle. Her arms could have made the coastlines of his home planet. She was the weapon. She was smiling.