The Desperate Mission

by Jude Watson

  "Then you must remember this - everything you learn in lightsaber

  training - "

  " - can be used in life training," Ferus completed.

  There was a short silence. "But what," Ferus said, "would be an

  unexpected way to give myself up?"

  "At last," Obi-Wan said, "you have asked the right question."

  Ferus stood at Roan's bedside.

  "Hey, partner."

  "Hey, partner."

  "Any excuse for a lie down, I'd say."

  Roan smiled. "Well, I sure never got a day off, working with you."

  "He's doing better every hour," Arnie Antin said.

  Roan looked hard at Ferus. "You're giving yourself up, aren't you?"

  "Yes, but not in the way you'd expect." Ferus turned to Obi-Wan. "My

  old friend has a plan." Wil, Rilla, and Arnie looked over at him.

  "We can't take the deal at face value," Obi-Wan said. "If we do,

  everyone will die. Instead, we will ensure that everyone will live."

  "How?" Wil asked.

  "By using what you already have, not what you think you need," Obi-Wan

  said.

  "What do we have?" Wil asked. "We don't have many weapons, or ships...

  "

  "All we have is each other," Rilla said.

  "Exactly," Obi-Wan said. "And that is all you need."

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Obi-Wan took Ferus to the narrow, entwined streets of the Moonstone

  District. Wrapped in a cloak, Ferus passed through the streets without

  being recognized.

  "What are we doing here?" Ferus asked, a hint of impatience in his

  voice. "I'm running out of time...."

  "You have seven more hours."

  "So you want to go shopping?"

  "We're going to meet up with someone," Obi-Wan said. "A friend of

  yours, who, by the way, asked me to pass along a message to you."

  "What's that?"

  'You stink like a bantha.'"

  Ferus took this in, then laughed. "Trever? The kid who was always

  hanging around the office?" They turned a corner into the alley and saw the

  boy, just struggling to push his gravsled out from its parking space behind

  a garbage container.

  Trever looked up and saw Obi-Wan.

  "No," Trever said. "No, no, and no."

  Ferus threw back the hood of his cloak.

  Trever paled, and took a step back. "You're alive." Relief flooded his

  face, and it told Obi-Wan everything he needed to know.

  "We need to talk," Obi-Wan told Trever.

  Trever took them to the place where he slept at night - Obi-Wan didn't

  think the word "home" described it. He led them down another alley to a

  gray door, which he opened with a code.

  "The foreman lets me sleep here," he said. "I give him a deal on

  stuff." He pushed open the door to a closet. The room was surprisingly

  warm.

  "It's next to the heaters," Trever explained. "Nice in the wintertime.

  Have a seat."

  The room was furnished with a rolled-up sleep mat in a corner and one

  chair. The only other place to sit was the floor, so Ferus and Obi-Wan sat

  down. Trever sat down next to them.

  "Can I get you something? Frosted cakes? Juice of the dewflower?"

  Trever grinned. "Just kidding. I don't have anything."

  His joke seemed forced, and Obi-Wan thought he knew why.

  "What did you steal from the Olin/Lands office?" he asked Trever.

  Trever's face seemed to close down. "Nothing." Ferus went still.

  Trever didn't look at him. "Right before Ferus and Roan were arrested."

  "I told you, nothing," Trever said. "Is this why you came? Because - "

  "Trever, it's all right," Obi-Wan said. "I think you need to tell

  Ferus. Was it something small, something you thought they wouldn't miss'?"

  "I thought it was no big deal," Trever said in a rush. "I thought... I

  thought it was something they were going to throw away. An old power droid

  with a busted motivator. They used to use it for backup power, but they put

  it in the junk pile."

  Ferus put his head in his hands.

  "You were throwing it away! Everything else I left alone, so in case

  they came back, they'd find it just like it was. The Imperials took away

  their data-pads and their files, so I thought, a broken droid... I could

  just sell it on the black market."

  "The droid," Ferus said. "We planted our coded files into the

  motivator. There's a way to access a data card.... It makes the motivator

  look broken. It was our secret system."

  "Who did you sell it to?"

  "Just another kid. I was in the district, and he asked if I had any

  equipment for sale. I didn't think..."

  Obi-Wan glanced at Ferus. "I think that boy was Boba Fett. I think he

  found out that Trever was in and out of your office. I think he found the

  files, and brought them to Malorum, and they were able to break the code.

  That's how Malorum knew that you and Roan had founded the Eleven. That's

  how they found your list of clients. Not the list on your datapad, but the

  real list... the list that included Dona." He turned back to Trever. "And

  you knew it. You suspected that you'd sold the droid to the wrong person."

  "I didn't know for sure," Trever mumbled. "But yeah, I guessed it. I

  mean, Ferus and Roan were arrested right after. You were always straight

  with me, Ferus. I wouldn't have done it to you on purpose, even for all the

  credits on Bellassa. I mean, I'd steal from you from time to time, but I

  wouldn't turn you in."

  "Now you can make up for it," Obi-Wan said. "You can help Ferus."

  "How?"

  Obi-Wan outlined what he needed. Trever was already shaking his head

  before Obi-Wan had finished.

  "This is the craziest idea I've ever heard," he said. "Anyway, why do

  you need me?"

  "Because you know Mariana's routine," Obi-Wan said. "And you know

  where, and how, to steal what we need."

  "Look," Trever said. "I'm sorry for what I did to you, Ferus. But I

  don't stick my neck out. That's how I survive."

  Ferus leaned in closer. "We're asking you to do something that's hard,

  " he said. "You think resistance is futile. That's what they want you to

  think. You think if you just take care of yourself, that is enough. That's

  what they want you to think. So you make your life safe, and you follow

  their rules. That's what they want you to do. And meanwhile, they steal

  your homeworld right from under your nose. And they tell you that your life

  is better. They tell you that they're giving you peace and freedom, and

  they expect you to buy what they're selling you. They're counting on you to

  be quiet, to listen to their HoloNet and believe their lies. Are you going

  to give them what they want?"

  Obi-Wan looked at Ferus. This was the charismatic leader the others

  had spoken of, the man who spoke plainly but could inspire. He could see

  the change in Trever, he could see how the boy raised his head as purpose

  flooded him again.

  "I'll do it," he said. His eyes gleamed at Ferus. "But don't think

  it's because you convinced me. It's because I like a good show."

  On the surface, the city had not changed. The Ussans came home from

  work, ate their evening meal, watched over their children. But beneath

  these ordinary thin
gs another purpose hummed. After months and months of

  helplessness, the people of Ussa were asked to risk. And they responded.

  Ferus sent a message to the garrison. He would surrender at daybreak,

  but on one condition - that all the prisoners be released first.

  He would stand outside the gates of the garrison, on the Commons. When

  every one of the prisoners had walked out, he would walk in.

  Just before dawn, Obi-Wan sat in a small air-speeder in an alleyway

  off the Commons. The people of Ussa were thick in the streets. The Commons

  area in front of the garrison had been cleared by the stormtroopers, who

  stood outside the garrison gates, force pikes pointed out toward the crowd.

  The crowd was silent, but they did not move. Bundled against the cold

  in their cloaks, they faced the gates, gazing down the green sward of grass

  toward the garrison, black and ominous in the gathering light. Beyond those

  gates was the prison where their loved ones were being held.

  Wil had been worried that they would be ordered to disperse, but Obi-

  Wan had guessed correctly that the Imperial officers would want every Ussan

  to see the extent of their ruthlessness. They would pretend to release the

  prisoners, but once they had Ferus, they would catch them in the net of

  stormtroopers ringing the Commons. He was sure of it. His job was to time

  his rescue of Ferus perfectly. If the people of Ussa followed through, he

  would have a clear shot.

  Mist rose from the grass. The sky was dark gray, but the shadows were

  beginning to lighten as a sudden hush came over the crowd. Ferus walked

  slowly through the streets, and they parted before him.

  He walked down the long grassy lawn alone, a tall figure in a brown

  traveling cloak. He stopped at the gates of the garrison.

  The silence grew until not even a cough, a footstep, could be heard.

  Not even an indrawn breath.

  The gates slowly opened. A man appeared on the steps, wearing his

  bright yellow prison uniform. Another appeared. Then a woman. And then they

  all streamed out into the Commons. A squad of storm-troopers walked

  alongside them, keeping them together.

  The prisoners milled in the grassy square, confused, fear on their

  faces. They searched the crowd anxiously for the familiar faces of family

  and friends.

  Malorum appeared on the steps. He spoke, and his voice was amplified

  so that every citizen could hear it. "We are grateful to the citizens of

  Ussa for their cooperation in handing over the criminal Ferus Olin - "

  A murmur rose from the crowd. Handing over! They did not hand him

  over! He came of his own free will.

  A squad of stormtroopers surrounded Ferus, their blaster rifles

  trained on him.

  "Unfortunately, because of the unruly crowd, we will release the

  prisoners one by one to their families, but only after they undergo

  additional security checks - "

  A moan grew from the crowd and gathered in intensity. Someone shouted

  "No!" So close to freedom, the prisoners began to move forward. Nothing lay

  between them and the streets filled with their families.

  "No," Obi-Wan whispered. "Don't move. Not yet..."

  "The prisoners are rioting! Seize them!" Malorum called.

  Here it is, Obi-Wan thought. The double cross. He shot up into the sky

  in the airspeeder, but he kept it hovering. If he went too soon, the

  stormtroopers would turn on the prisoners. It was agonizing, but he had to

  wait a few more seconds.

  The people of Ussa shouted in protest, and began to move toward the

  prisoners. The storm-troopers raised their force pikes.

  His hands tightened on the airspeeder's controls. He had to wait until

  the stormtroopers were distracted. If they thought he was coming in to

  attack, they would open fire.

  The people of Ussa threw off their cloaks.

  They rushed forward in a wave. The stormtroopers were overwhelmed. And

  confused - suddenly there were uniforms everywhere. A vast sea of yellow

  prisoner uniforms, but also Imperial officers, here and there. They could

  not fire their blasters or use their force pikes if there was a chance

  Imperial officers could be in the crowd.

  Obi-Wan shot forward as the citizens flowed onto the Commons. They

  mingled with the prisoners, enfolding them until in a matter of seconds it

  was impossible to tell who had been a prisoner and who had not. And there

  were hundreds more behind them, all in uniforms, all massed in the streets,

  pouring out of doorways.

  Trever had stolen the uniforms Mariana collected to launder, and even

  the material the prudent tailor had stockpiled. Working all night, each

  citizen had either found or fashioned a uniform until the entire city was

  ready to meet the Imperials.

  The idea of a prisoner became meaningless. Every citizen in Ussa was a

  prisoner. And what Obi-Wan had counted on had happened - Malorum could not

  give an order to shoot, because he could not - not yet, anyway - mow down

  the citizens of an entire city.

  Soaring above, Obi-Wan thought he had never seen such courage. Every

  citizen was willing to give his or her life. Everyone was committed.

  Malorum, he could see, was furious - and frustrated. With a crisp

  order, he turned, and the stormtroopers surrounding Ferus suddenly clamped

  stun cuffs on him and pulled him toward the doorway.

  No! Obi-Wan exclaimed in his mind. If they moved Ferus inside that

  garrison, he would never come out again. He was too dangerous to allow to

  live.

  They had been taking a chance, of course. They had counted on the

  diversion to ensure that Obi-Wan would be able to get to Ferus in time. But

  Malorum's words had enflamed the crowd, and they had surged forward a few

  crucial seconds ahead of time. Obi-Wan was still too far away.

  The garrison doors were closing. Obi-Wan would not let it end this

  way. He would not lose Ferus. Not like this.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  Obi-Wan flipped the airspeeder sideways and dived down, aiming it

  directly at the closing gap at the garrison front doors. He heard the

  screech of metal as he squeezed into the gap, and he heard a clunk as

  something on the side of the speeder was sheared off. He just hoped it

  wasn't something crucial; he didn't have time to look.

  Ferus was being borne away down a wide hallway, surrounded by

  stormtroopers. Fortunately, the ceiling here was very high to allow

  transports and machinery through. With the stun cuffs binding his wrists,

  if he made a wrong move they could send a charge that would bring him to

  his knees. He had felt Obi-Wan, although the stormtroopers hadn't seen him,

  not yet. Obi-Wan felt a surge of the Force as Ferus sent it flying toward

  him.

  Malorum happened to turn. He was dressed in a hooded robe, as always,

  and Obi-Wan could only see dark holes for eyes, the dead black of hate.

  He drew his lightsaber. He had no choice. Now Malorum would know for

  sure, if Fett had not told him yet, that a Jedi was still alive. He did not

  like to expose himself this way.

  But Obi-Wan knew he had to do it. It was beings like Ferus who would

 
pave the way, who would keep fighting, who would weaken the Empire in a

  thousand small ways that would add up to eventual victory. Now he

  understood Qui-Gon's words. He had seen firsthand the loyalty Ferus could

  inspire.

  As the airspeeder descended, he slashed at the stun cuffs. He felt the

  shock all the way up his shoulder as the charge rang through him, but the

  stun cuffs clattered to the floor. He did not flinch, did not stop. He

  could feel the Force moving, pulsing, and he used it to Force-push the

  stormtroopers away as he reached down a hand for Ferus.

  Ferus grasped his hand. The Force ran through them, a chain that would

  not be broken.

  He pulled, and Ferus came up, propelled by his own strength and by the

  strength of the Force. Ferus swung one leg over the airspeeder and Obi-Wan

  pushed the engines hard. The speeder rocketed up, wobbling a bit from the

  added weight of Ferus and whatever had fallen off that had compromised its

  balance.

  The blaster fire began. Obi-Wan had to deal with the speeder. He

  tossed the lightsaber back to Ferus. Ferus jumped to stand on the