by Jude Watson
They would follow him into the corridor. He wouldn't be able to lose
them, not there. But the library was close by, half-demolished. There would
be more cover there. If he could get to the second level of the library, he
could get out the back door, and from there... from there...
Where?
The answer came to him. Yoda's private quarters. Now Malorum's office.
Malorum was away. It would be empty and quiet. And from there they
could access files, maybe find a way to get out that they hadn't
considered. And he could find out what Malorum was up to. The stormtroopers
would never think someone would be stupid enough to hide in the main
Inquisitor's private office.
The only problem was, he would have to go through too much of the main
hallway to get there. They'd be spotted.
Ferus's mind cleared, and he recalled walking into the Room of a
Thousand Fountains. The water system had been destroyed, the upper canopy
that had duplicated the sky was tattered and half-falling. Once, that
canopy had changed color throughout the day, shading from the pinks of dawn
to the deep purple of dusk, as a lighting system mimicked the passage of
the sun. Now the damaged canopy revealed the network of catwalks overhead
that serviced the laserlights...
... and connected to the power conduit tunnel that ran in the walls.
Smaller than the service tunnels, but built so that a service person could
squeeze in to work on the circuits at any point.
Trever waited for him in the corridor. Ferus was a few seconds ahead
of the stormtrooper squad. He dashed down the hall. He had no doubt that
the officer in charge was calling for backup. Soon the hallways would be
flooded with troops.
The stormtroopers burst into the hallway just as they scooted around
the corner. Blaster bolts ripped into the walls, sending chunks of stone
falling on them like rain.
"This way."
More blaster bolts shuddered down the hallway. They were shooting just
to shoot now, even though Ferus and Trever were out of range. It was an
Imperial tactic he remembered from his time in the Bellassan resistance -
shoot to intimidate as well as kill. Why not? The Imperials didn't lack
ammunition, and they didn't care about the physical destruction of
property.
The door to the main hallway was jammed. Ferus leaped at it, using
both feet and the Force. The door burst open, and he and Trever charged
through. With a lift of his hand, he closed it behind them with the Force.
Instantly it was torn apart by weapons fire.
Ferus darted out and across the hallway, down a short flight of
stairs, and turned off with Trever at his heels. He pushed open the heavy
doors to the library.
He told himself not to pause for even a moment to grieve again over
the lost treasures here, not to notice as he kicked through the rubble left
by the broken statues that had been the likenesses of the great Jedi
Masters.
The staircase was gone. He climbed up a stack of rubble instead,
Trever scrabbling behind him. They reached the balcony and ran down to the
rear door.
He slid it open just a centimeter to look out. This time he had a few
seconds to monitor the activity outside. A small knot of officers were
walking away down the hall while several stormtroopers marched toward them.
He'd have to time this carefully so that the stormtroopers would pass and
the officers keep going before he and Trever ran out.
Downstairs he heard the squad searching the library. Any moment now
they would appear.
The stormtroopers passed. Ferus and Trever had to take the chance.
Ferus slipped out of the library, Trever as close as a shadow. The
troops didn't turn as they continued down the hall.
Ferus raced the short distance to the doors to the Room of a Thousand
Fountains and burst through. Trever ran next to him now, keeping up without
effort. At the end of the path, Ferus stopped and released his liquid cable
line, grabbing Trever at the same time. The line pulled them to the catwalk
above.
"I'm starting to get used to this," Trever grunted as he jumped down
onto the catwalk.
There. Ferus saw the small, grated door at the end of an open
stairway. He ran up and put out a hand, hoping that the Force would be
there. The grated door popped off. He and Trever jumped inside, and he
replaced the grate.
The tunnel was dark, but after a moment he could see. Avoiding the
circuits and wires, they began to crawl down the tunnel.
"This runs in the wall," he said in a whisper. "So tread lightly."
He pictured where they were now, on the same level as Yoda's private
quarters. When he thought they were near the door, he held up a hand and
Trever stopped behind him. There was a grate just ahead. Ferus bent down
and looked. He was directly opposite Yoda's quarters. He could see the
slats of the window blinds. The hallway was empty. He curled his fingers
around the grate, ready to ease it off.
Ferus suddenly heard approaching footsteps.
Malorum. Striding in his Inquisitor's robes, an assistant hurrying by
his side. Stopping outside the door of Yoda's chambers.
Ferus felt it, a slight disturbance in the Force. Obi-Wan had picked
up on what he'd suspected: Malorum was Force-sensitive. He cloaked his own
connection to the Force, even though Ferus doubted Malorum was adept enough
to feel it.
"Don't sound the general alarm," Malorum snapped. "By all means look,
but look quietly. Lord Vader has decided to pay us an unannounced visit. I
don't want him to know about this until the intruders are caught."
"Yes, sir."
Ferus felt the dark side of the Force surge in a sickening wave, so
powerful he inadvertently shrank back. He knew what it meant.
The Sith Lord had arrived.
CHAPTER SIX
Ferus's breath felt sucked from his lungs. Darth Vader was on the
other side of the wall. From his position near the floor he could only see
the Sith Lord's boots, but he could hear the rasp of his breath mask.
Their only hope was that Vader wasn't looking for them.
"The situation is normal, you say," Vader remarked in a deep, booming
voice.
Malorum had taken a few steps forward so Ferus could no longer see
him. "Yes, as you can see. I arrived a day early - I like to do that,
surprise them. It keeps everyone on their toes, and it's a good way to
learn things that - "
"You came back a day early because I ordered you to. If you can stop
complimenting yourself long enough, perhaps you can explain why squads are
patrolling the hallways."
"Strictly routine. I believe in constant readiness."
"Malorum, do you think I'm a fool?"
"Excuse me, Lord Vader?"
The power of Vader's anger filled the hallway. "This is a waste of
time, and I hate wasting time. I put up with you because you are useful...
for now. So I give you a choice. Tell me the truth, or continue your lies."
Ferus could almost feel Malorum's calculations. The beat went on a
lit
tle too long.
"Two intruders were spotted and are being tracked," Malorum finally
said. "I assure you they will be found. You see, in a way, this proves the
success of my plan to trap the Jedi. One of the intruders has a lightsaber.
"
"Really."
"So the rumors we spread worked."
"In order for a trap to work it must capture its prey. You do not have
a Jedi in custody. Instead, someone is still on the loose."
There was a note of false lightness now in Malorum's voice.
"Temporarily, Lord Vader, I assure you."
"Assurances don't interest me."
Lord Vader sounded almost... bored. He treated Malorum with contempt.
Ferus had heard that Malorum was Lord Vader's special pet, his protcgc.
Obviously this was a piece of unfounded gossip.
"And I recall," Vader continued, "that you let a Jedi slip through
your fingers on Bellassa. And now there is another Jedi somewhere on
Coruscant."
"I have a spy who has infiltrated that Jedi's group. I am waiting for
a report - "
"Your tedious obsession with trapping Jedi has led you to neglect your
orders. I have given you a simple task - to clean up Coruscant, level by
level, down to the very crust, until it is totally under our domination.
You were to ferret out every possible pocket of resistance. You were to
plan a strike and wipe out the Erased. We can't have resisters turning into
heroes."
"Now just a minute, Lord Vader," Malorum said. "Coruscant is hardly an
ordinary assignment."
"If you are not capable of the job, I'll find someone else to do it."
"Of course I am capable, Lord Vader - "
"Then do it and do it now. You want to rid yourself of intruders? Blow
up the Temple."
Ferus stiffened.
"Blow it up?" Malorum asked.
"Why not?"
"But my private office is here! Valuable records would be lost."
"You overemphasize your own importance." Ferus could actually hear the
breath that hissed out of Malorum's lungs. "I see what you're doing. You're
trying to discredit me in the eyes of the Emperor. You want to destroy my
work, my files..." Then he stopped. "Wait. I see now. You weren't serious."
"Interesting what has just now emerged, isn't it? You have files here
that have not been banked with Imperial security? That is a violation of
the Emperor's directives."
This is a battle, Ferus thought. Malorum wants Vader's job. He wants
to be the Emperor's pet. And Vader knows exactly what he's up to.
Now there was an element of smugness in Malorum's tone. "I have
permission from the Emperor himself to keep files private that I feel could
jeopardize an ongoing investigation."
"Do I need to remind you of your own inferiority?"
Vader's anger served to quash Malorum's assurance. It was a
frightening thing to feel it turned on you, Ferus reflected. He was glad he
was behind the panel.
"I have no secrets from you, Lord Vader. There are reports that you
haven't seen yet, files that need additional notes... I have spies
everywhere on Coruscant, as you know. Reports on our progress on
surveillance in the sublevels..."
"At last you're telling me something I want to know."
"Not to mention certain delicate matters I've been pursuing for your
sake alone, Lord Vader. For example, the rumors about Polis Massa..."
Ferus strained to hear. There it was again - Polis Massa. Something
was at stake, something big, but he didn't know what.
If Malorum thought he was going to impress Darth Vader, he was wrong.
His boast had the opposite effect. Ferus could feel it now, the slow burn
of Vader's rage as it built.
"Lord Vader - "
Malorum's voice was hoarse, as though he was gasping for breath.
Still, Ferus could hear the fear in it.
"I... beg... you - "
A strange thing was happening. The grating in front of Ferus was
vibrating. Then the actual wall was vibrating. He heard a cracking sound.
Vader was allowing his rage to build.
"Do not ever mention that place again."
"Of course, Lord Vader."
Across the hallway, Ferus could see that the windows of Yoda's
quarters were vibrating. Suddenly the door blew in. He saw a chair sail
across the room and heard it slam against a wall. Part of the ceiling
cracked and cables crashed down.
Ferus signaled to Trever and began to crawl backward.
The windows shattered. The grate blew out, along with a large chunk of
the wall. Ferus and Trever were exposed.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Ferus and Trever tried to pull back amidst shards of glass and looked
straight up into the black breath mask of Darth Vader. Malorum was hanging
in the air, a victim of Vader's wrath, his face almost purple.
Vader released his Force-hold, and Malorum fell to the floor with a
croaking sound.
For a moment, no one moved.
Vader looked down at him, and Ferus looked up, and everything inside
him dissolved into pure fear. He looked into that black mirrored mask and
wondered who the being behind it really was. Half living, half mechanical?
He didn't know.
Somehow training kicked in. He had a moment, and it spun out into
enough time. Ferus knew he didn't have enough power to fight a Sith. Not
even close. But he couldn't let Darth Vader dominate the Force, either. He
reached out for the Force and was hit by a surprising wave. It grew in
intensity and power, the most powerful surge he had ever felt, as if Yoda
himself was here to help him. It felt almost as though it was directed at
him, emanating from Yoda's room.
Ferus rode a wave of the Force, grabbing Trever with one arm and
jumping out to snatch at the flexible cable that had fallen from the
ceiling. It was still attached above, and it gave him something to swing
on. Together with Trever he swung out through the broken wall of glass, and
then let go. He knew the Force would carry him.
He and Trever soared over the atrium and landed on the other side. He
could feel the dark side of the Force behind him, but he paid it no mind.
He simply ran, all the while knowing that if Vader wanted him, he would
have gotten him. Simple as that.
Perhaps he was letting Ferus and Trever go in order to humiliate
Malorum. Or test him. Or because he didn't care that much. Whatever the
reason, Ferus grabbed on to it and ran with it.
Alarms sounded.
Now the entire Temple was on alert. Ferus switched to a hallway that
he knew was a shortcut to the analysis rooms. It was dark and dusty; the
Imperials didn't use it. Using his lightsaber for light, he led the way.
This could buy them a few precious seconds. In his mind, he was forming a
desperate plan. The only way they were getting out of here was if they did
it fast; Ferus knew he wouldn't be able to hide for very long. There was no
question that Malorum wouldn't allow himself to fail in front of his
master.
"What's the plan?" Trever asked, breathing hard. "The sooner we get
away from that Vader guy, the better. Can we review? Scary! Creepy!"
"We have to steal a ship," Ferus said. "The new landing platform lies
directly below a playroom that the younglings used. During surveillance I
saw that the window is partially blown out."
"I'm sort of sensing that we'll be jumping out a window again," Trever
said.
"Well, I'm hoping there will be a nifty little speeder underneath us."
"You know, you keep forgetting something. I'm not a Jedi. I can't do
all this leaping and landing."
"You're doing just fine. Hurry up."
Ferus slowed down as they reached the playroom. He crept forward. Just
as he'd hoped, the room wasn't being used. A cold wind blew in from the
broken window. Followed closely by Trever, he stepped inside.
A wave of horror hit him, hard, directly in the chest.
Something happened here.
The younglings...
How had he pushed that thought away? He had imagined, somehow, that
the Empire wouldn't target the young. He had imagined the younglings had
simply... run away.
They did not run away.
Youth, age, the sick, the weak... they do not enter into the Sith's