The Runaway {Hunter} (WATTYS 2022)

Chapter 30

A map lit the room, the computer on as Omega sat in front of it, Cora leaning on the back of the chair. Hunter stood next to Cora, looking over the map of this sector of the galaxy. Tech sat next to Omega, looking over supplies. Wrecker leaned on the back of Tech's chair, looking towards the map as well.

Cora rubbed her eyes, sleep escaping her. She was exhausted but tried her best not to show it. She kept herself busy but talking with Omega or helping Echo with some minor repairs. Tech was still busy making the scanner for their inhibitor chips, which still made Cora uneasy. She tried not to think about what could go wrong, but that consisted nagging of fear was in her head.

She worried sometimes durning the war. It was her being cautious, playing it safe in battle. But this was a different type of worrying. Cora would think one bad thought and the next thing she knew, her mind was spiralling down a hole of anxiety. She sometimes had to hid herself from the rest of the group as panic attacks would come from nowhere and rack her body with fear. Emerging from her attack, she pretended like everything was fine, but it really wasn't.

Echo was the first to suspect something. Her abrupt departure from the group towards the back was something he had never seen from the Senator. She was the type to chat and joke with the company she was with, but now she was different. Cora became quiet and away, like she wasn't all there in the moment. She liked to have her own time durning the war, but they were short times alone. Echo noticed her time being alone became longer and longer, and it worried him.

He approached the Sergeant about his concern, wondering if he noticed anything odd about Cora. Hunter agreed with Echo, Cora was worrying them with her seclusion. Hunter mentioned how Tech thought it be best if they leave her, that she would eventually come around again, and would talk when she needed. Echo didn't agree. He had spent enough time in isolation to know that she needed to talk. Talking was the best way to see the problem.

Hunter told Echo that she didn't want to talk, which earned a confused look from Echo. So he did it on his own. Echo approached Cora and asked if she was okay, wondering why she was always alone. The Senator brushed him off, telling him that she was fine and to not worry about her.

Echo and Hunter saw through her lies.

Cora didn't want to talk. She never did. Not that she didn't like the company she was with, she actually liked it. But Hunter would become too concerned which would annoy her, but he was only looking out for her. She just wasn't ready to talk. She didn't want to relive the horrors.

Hunter's eyes narrowed at the map, leaning over and pointing to a planet in another system. "Idaflor," he said, "that's where we'll go."

"But Idaflor's not even inhabited." Wrecker said from behind Tech.

"Which makes it the perfect place to hide out." Hunter told him.

"Hide?" Omega sat back in her chair, "But I've been stuck on Kamino my whole life. Can't we... explore?" She gestured towards all the other planets on the map.

"Not right now." Hunter leaned down, "We have to wait for things to settle down."

"Well, we won't be doing either." Tech said turning to the group. "We don't have enough fuel, and we are also entirely out of rations. Without the Republic to provide us supplies, we'll have to acquire these necessities on our own."

"Well, we got a bigger problem." Echo said entering the room. "Comm chatter has our ship's signature on a wanted list."

"So we scramble it." Tech shrugged.

"You can do that?" Wrecker asked.

"Of course I can do it." Tech said in his cocky attitude making Cora roll her eyes with a smile on her face. "But I need to land in order to perform those modifications." Tech looked up to the map, "By my calculations the closest planet is... Pantora."