Seneca Rebel

IT FELT SO amazing to be back in S.E.R.C. A place that was once nothing short of bizarre to me in every way, shape and form, felt like home now. Familiar. And, armed with the knowledge that soon my mom and Killer would be here, too, I was at peace for the first time in a very long while.

It was Tuesday. My first day in session after everything that had happened. All I could do was look forward to lunch in the meal hall. I hadn’t seen Reba since we were thrust together in that horrid memory wipeout, brainwashing attempt. I didn’t want my first contact with him to be via my flexer implant. I owed him a huge “thank you” for having my back in there, and I had to give it to him in person.

I strolled into meal hall with pep in my step, ready to order a quesadilla and reconnect with my good friend. As soon as I spotted him at our regular table, my face lit up. I rushed over.

Reba was quietly eating alone. I snuck up behind him and stood there as I tried to think of something witty to say, but before I could–

“I knew there was a reason I just had to order this quesadilla.”

“Reba!”

He spun around with a sprawling smile across his face. “Campbella!” he shouted as he sprang up from his seat and hugged me. We bounced up and down, laughing like goofy little kids.

“Que pasa chica?! I thought I was never going to see you again. I mean I knew I would but thought I wouldn’t... if that makes sense?” His words were going a mile a minute, all blending together. Man, how much had I missed this guy?

“Somehow, coming from you, it makes perfect sense.” We looked at each other in equal parts disbelief and glee, but that untouched quesadilla sitting there on the table had my name all over it.

“It’s all you.” Reba pulled my seat out like a courtly gentleman. We dove back into our mealtime ritual like it had never been broken. As I reconnected with my buddy and the best Monterey Jack cheese known to man, I told him all about how I’d seen my mom again, and how Dom and I had been handed a most just resolution by the Senecan Senate. I spared our conversation the details of my new assignment by the Senate, because they’d made sure to impress upon us that it would be a top-secret operation. But Reba seemed to know at least a little something of what went down.