by Jude Watson
mine?"
"We were destroyed," Ferus said quietly. "Betrayed. Even our
younglings were slaughtered. What makes you so indifferent to that?"
Solace looked away, down through the grating to the ocean below.
"Those were black days, and I don't choose to revisit them."
"Someday we can rise against them," Ferus said.
"I believe that with my whole heart. And if I can help in any small
way, protect even one Jedi, then I've pledged myself to that."
"May the Force be with you, then," Solace said. "But I'm not going
anywhere. I've got a good deal here. I go on the occasional bounty-hunting
job to finance this place. It's filled with beings I trust. The Empire
doesn't know where to find me. It doesn't even know I'm alive."
"I'm afraid they do," Ferus said. "Trever and I broke into the Temple
and overheard the head Inquisitor Malorum with Darth Vader. Vader knows
you're alive, though he doesn't seem to care much. He's a Sith."
"There are always two," she said. "I didn't know who they were, but of
course that makes sense."
"Malorum knows you're alive, too. He's planning to take back the
sublevels of Coruscant, to go all the way down to the crust. That's why the
Erased came down here - to see if they'd be safe. But Malorum also
mentioned that he'd planted a spy near you."
"A spy? Here? I don't believe it."
"I don't know if it's true, I'm only telling you what I heard. He
could have been trying to impress Vader." Ferus waited a beat. "But can you
take that chance?"
Solace didn't answer.
Ferus leaned closer. "They've kept the light-sabers."
Solace looked up.
"Hundreds of them. Maybe more. From the Jedi they killed."
She clasped her hands and leaned forward, resting her forehead against
them.
"They're lying in one of the storage rooms, gathering dust."
"What do you want from me?" she asked.
"I'm only here to find a Jedi...."
She took another breath, then lifted her head. "We should go back to
the Temple."
Ferus wasn't expecting this. "What?"
"We'll get inside and find out what they're planning, for the settlers
here and for the Erased."
"I don't think we can," Ferus said. "The security will have been
tightened."
"We'll steal the lightsabers back. If, as you say, there are more Jedi
alive, we'll have lightsabers for a whole army, if we need it. In any case,
you can hide them. They shouldn't lie with the Sith." Her face hardened.
"It's a... desecration."
"I agree, but - "
"And I'll discover who the spy is, if there is one. Too much is at
stake. We can leave immediately."
"Solace, wouldn't it make more sense to abandon this place and leave
Coruscant altogether? Even if you don't want to come to the asteroid, the
galaxy is a big place. You can find somewhere to hide."
"I'm tired of running. They've driven me here. Here is where I stay."
"We just left the Temple a few days ago. I don't think it's possible
to get in and get out now. Let alone navigate once we're inside. They'll be
on full alert."
"Double full extra red alert," Trever put in.
"How did you get in?" Solace asked. Her face was intent. Ferus saw
that she had already made up her mind.
"Through one of the towers, then down through the service tunnel to
the main building."
"The hard way."
"I didn't say it was easy."
"Why didn't you go through the supply turbolift shaft along the
southeast wall?"
"There is no supply turbolift shaft on that side."
"Of course, you don't know about it.... It was built during the Clone
Wars. We had so many more pilots, so much more gear to move back and forth
to the hangar. The main shaft runs vertically up from the storage areas and
then connects to a horizontal shaft that runs to the living quarters. Was
that part of the Temple destroyed?"
"No, it's been damaged, but much of it's still intact."
Solace reached into her belt and withdrew a small device. She sent a
holographic map spinning into the air. It was a schematic of the Temple.
She pointed. "You see? The shaft is here and runs from the base of the
building. You can connect to the horizontal shaft here. Then it connects to
the main turbolift shaft in the spire."
"The spire is damaged."
"I know, but it doesn't matter. They probably don't use this
turbolift. There's no reason to - it mainly served the living quarters and
the hangar. Where is Malorum?"
"In what used to be Yoda's quarters."
"Then his office is here. It's only a short distance from the shaft."
Ferus felt his blood quicken. Was it possible? But he shook his head.
"Even if we could use the new turbolift, how will we get in?"
"I have a way. Unlike most of the buildings at that level, the Temple
was built by sinking pillars into the crust. I've found those pillars. We
can follow them up to the base. Then we can break right into the new
turbolift shaft."
"Through the floor?"
"We'd have to blast it," Trever said. "They'd be on us in seconds."
"No, I have a different way." Solace sprang to her feet. "Let me show
you."
They stood in front of a small, two-person craft. It was the oddest
thing Ferus had ever seen. It looked like an ARC-170 with a cut-off nose.
Devices he didn't recognize were set into the hull.
"I can see it's a vehicle, but I can't figure it out. Looks like it
could be an interceptor, but..."
Solace grinned. "I started with a shell and built it myself. It's a
hybrid - a fighter with a mole-miner capability. I bought the mole miner
and took out the plasma jets. They're mounted below. I had to remove the
shields and the laser cannons, so I lost some defensive and offensive
capability, but it's still fast. The ship can burrow through solid rock. It
can get through the base of the Temple, I promise you."
"But why did you build it in the first place?" Ferus asked.
"I live under the crust. I need an exit strategy. So, what do you
say'? I'm going. Are you in or out?"
Ferus looked at Trever. It might be foolhardy, but it might be
brilliant. They could steal back the lightsabers. They could raid Malorum's
files. He could find out what Malorum had learned about Polis Massa. He
could find a way to stop him, follow through on his promise to Obi-Wan.
This could be his only chance.
"I'm in," he said.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
"You're not going without me," Trever said.
Ferus's expression clearly said not this again. But Trever didn't
care. He wasn't going to be left behind. He'd been left behind before. By
his mother, by his father, by his brother. Each time, they'd said It's too
dangerous. You'll be safe here.
Each time they said I'll be back.
"It's a two-person ship," Ferus said. "There's no room. I'll be back -
"
"No! Don't say that," Trever warned. "Just... don't. I can help. I've
been to the Temple. I'm small - I can get into tight spaces. And you'll
&nb
sp; need some blasting expertise."
Solace looked at him doubtfully, and he bristled.
"I've got half - and quarter-alpha charges, and I've made my own mini-
blasts," Trever said. "No noise, no smoke, just sweet entry anywhere you
want to go."
Solace looked at Ferus.
"Trever has had an interesting history," he said.
"If we take the tool kit out, you can fit behind the seat." Solace
looked at Ferus. "The kid can handle himself. You could, too, at his age.
So relax."
"Ferus doesn't know the meaning of the word," Trever said.
Solace and Trever laughed, and some of the pressure Ferus felt inside
eased. It was good to be laughed at again. It. felt like friendship.
Hume, Rhya, Keets, Oryon, Curran, Gilly, and Spence were sitting at a
table fashioned out of a slab of permacrete balanced on some old protocol
droid legs. Ferus approached them and sat.
"I'm taking off. Solace promises you'll be safe here. Her assistant
Donal will look out for you. I don't think I'll be long. Solace and Trever
and I have decided to break into the Temple again. This time, I'm going to
get a look at the files and see exactly what Malorum is planning. Unless we
go, this place won't be safe."
"We'll come with you," Hume said.
"No. First of all, there's no room. And second - well, you came with
me to find Solace, and you found it. This is my battle."
Ferus stood. He looked at each of them. They'd been together only a
short time, but he felt tied to them, tied to their struggle to stay alive.
It was Curran who spoke up, using the words of the Svivreni. On their
world, it was considered bad luck to say good-bye.
"The journey begins," Curran said softly. "So go."
When Ferus returned, he found that Solace had already done the
preflight check. Trever had squeezed into the space behind the seat. Ferus
slid into the passenger seat directly behind Solace. The craft was so small
that they easily navigated through the cavern and zoomed into the
underground tunnel.
"I've explored all through the tunnels down here," Solace said. "There
are more than I told you about. It took me months to get all the parts for
this craft and build it."
She piloted through the tunnel, flipping the craft sideways when she
had to. Then she zoomed up through a huge crack in the ceiling and they
entered the main lane of the old city on the crust. They buzzed through the
empty place.
"The columns for the Temple were sunk near the tech warehouses,"
Solace continued. "They were hard to find because the trash heaps were
built around them about a century later."
After maneuvering for nearly an hour, the craft dipped down into a
vast smoking heap of garbage piled hundreds of meters high. Solace
navigated the space, veering around the piles. At last they saw a thick
column ahead, and then another, and another. "There are the supports. Hang
on."
Now they were going straight up, hugging the column as it rose through
the sublevels of Coruscant. Trever fought against dizziness. He was looking
straight up through the cockpit canopy. Level after level rushed at him,
floors, spires, walls, walkways, lights, beings, cloud cars, air taxis,
landing platforms.
It had taken them so long to get down to the crust, and now it was all
receding behind him so quickly.
The buildings grew more thickly around them. Lights came on. Dawn was
breaking above them. Speeders and air taxis streaked past them. And they
were still below the surface.
He knew they were close when Solace pulled back on the speed. "Our
best chance is to do this quickly," she said. "In and out."
Above them Trever saw the base of the massive Temple building. Even
down here he could see evidence of damage, blackened stone and missing
chunks, as though the building had been hacked away at.
Slowly they cruised around the base, searching for the place Solace
was looking for. She positioned the ship's nose against the wall. A
whirring noise began, and the plasma jets began to slice through the base.
Fine dust coated the windshield, but Solace had thought of that, too.
A rotating device cleared the windshield every few seconds, leaving them
complete visibility.
The plasma jets cleared a hole just big enough for the ship to get
through. They flew inside and found themselves directly in the turbolift
shaft.
"It worked!" Solace exclaimed.
"I wish you didn't sound quite so surprised," Ferus remarked.
"Malorum's office first. Then back down to storage if we haven't been
discovered."
The craft ascended the shaft, then turned into a horizontal turbolift
corridor. They could see the turbolift itself now, unused, at the end of
the shaft. Beyond it they could see that the corridor had been blasted,
some of it caving in. The turbolift was partially destroyed.
Solace gently brought the craft to rest on the shaft flooring. The
cockpit canopy whirred back, and one by one they climbed out.
"This lift door opens out into the service hallway," Solace said in a
low tone.
She and Ferus stood by the door. Trever watched them. Something was
passing between them, and he supposed it was the Force. He couldn't feel
it, but he was starting to recognize its presence, just by the quietness
that surrounded Ferus when he accessed it. Then, without a word being
spoken, Ferus stepped forward and cut a hole in the door with his light-
saber. They stepped through.
The hallway was empty. Trever followed behind as the two Jedi moved
quickly and silently. He almost tripped on a conductor wire, but caught
himself just in time. He broke out into a sweat at the thought of the noise
he would have made if he fell.
In and out, Solace had said. Attract no attention.
This hallway had been used recently. He saw evidence of scrape marks
along the power vents, as though they'd been pried off. Was the Empire
looking for something hidden in the Temple? They'd heard the same rumors he
had about treasure being kept here. Of course, according to Ferus,
Palpatine had started the rumors, but that didn't mean Imperial officers
knew that.
Why had there been conductor wire on the floor?
Ferus accessed a doorway to the main hallway.
Trever could see the door to Malorum's office. It was open. They could
hear the sound of others in the building, but the hallway was clear.
Quickly they crossed the hallway and went into the office. Ferus
hurried to the desk.
"The holofiles - they're gone. So are the data-pads."
Solace looked around. "It's been cleaned out."
"I guess Vader wanted Malorum back under his nose."
"I won't learn the name of the spy now," Solace said in disgust.
Ferus frowned. He went to the window and looked out, keeping out of
sight. "Where are the troops?" he wondered. "This place was crawling with
them when we were here last. You'd think there would be even more."
"Something's wrong," Solace said. "I feel it."
"I feel it, too."
"
Let's find the lightsabers and get out of here," Solace suggested.
The glowlights dimmed for a moment, then resumed. It was just a
glitch, Trever told himself. But something was making him uneasy. Something
that had nothing to do with the Force, and everything to do with the
Empire.
The wire he'd almost tripped on. The scratch marks on the power vents.
"Wait," he said.
He whipped out his servodriver and hurried to the power panel. He
unscrewed it from the wall and looked inside.
"Trever, what is it?"
"Power leakage," he said. "Something is sucking the power from the
core generator."
"Why?"
"I can think of only one reason," Trever said. "A version of a sleeper
bomb. They've tapped different power stations, all at once, to fuel it.
They're draining the power to build the explosion. They've gone into
different power vents. I'd say they wanted to tap enough power to blow the