Star Wars: The Last of the Jedi, Volume 5 (12 page)

Vader didn’t have to speak. Ferus knew he was angry. He could feel how difficult it was for Vader to suppress it. Behind his words was fury and frustration. He had gotten to him just by
standing here, just by existing.…

Something tickled Ferus’s memory. Something familiar about this scene. What was it? He felt there was something here that he should be able to grasp but couldn’t.

“Lord Vader?” Vader’s comlink crackled. “Space cruiser seen leaving the area, sir.”

“Go after it!” Vader commanded.

“Too late for pursuit, sir. I sent a patrol ship after it.”

“Send everything you have.”

Vader switched off the comlink. “It does not matter,” he said. “They cannot leave the planet.”

The helmet turned back toward Ferus. The blank eyes seemed to study him. Then Vader turned and walked off, his cape swirling behind him.

Keets and Curran sat on the floor together in the holding room.

“What’s taking Sauro so long?” Keets asked.

“I don’t know,” Curran said. “But the longer we’re here, the better. Once we get into an Imperial detention center, we’re sunk.”

“You mean we’re not sunk now?”

The door hissed open. Zackery stood there, a reluctant look on his face. “Senate regulations say I have to send in food.”

Keets brightened. “Things are looking up.”

A cook droid wheeled in. “Things are done by the book in the Senate, young man,” she advised Zackery.

“Don’t call me young man!” Zackery shouted at her.

“Sorry, old man!” the droid trilled.

Zackery snorted and stamped out, but left the door ajar. He stood, his hand on his blaster, and watched.

Keets looked at the droid closely. Despite the fresh paint job, he recognized the antique droid WA-7. It was the same droid that had worked in Dexter’s Diner. She’d served him
sliders and the slop Dex called a drink at least a hundred times.

Yes, things were definitely looking up.

She placed a tray on the floor next to them. A large pot of liquid, two mugs, and two veg turnovers. She took the items off the tray and then took the tray away again. “Enjoy!” she
said.

She began to wheel out. Keets reached for the cups.

“I’m not thirsty,” Curran said.

“Oh, you’ll like this.” As soon as WA-7 was between them and Zackery, Keets took the small blaster out of the pot.

Curran’s reaction time was excellent for a once-bookish senatorial aide. He jumped to his feet and charged as Keets moved forward with the blaster. At the same moment, WA-7 threw the heavy
metal tray at Zackery’s neck. It hit him hard, and he staggered backward. Keets flipped the blaster and used the hilt to knock him on the head. Zackery fell heavily.

Keets turned to the three security droids and blasted them into smoking metal.

Keets and Curran stepped over Zackery’s inert body. They peered out into the hallway. The Senate was coming to life again as Senators, aides, and droids reported for work. Intent on their
business, no one gave them a second glance. Together with WA-7, they moved into the stream of workers.

“I suggest a fast exit,” WA-7 said. “I can find my own way out. Say hello to Dex for me!”

She wheeled away. Keets and Curran knew the Senate building as well as the homes they’d grown up in. Within moments, they had found the closest exit. They were free.

Solace steered Astri’s star cruiser straight into the hold. They all climbed out and made their way to the cockpit.

“So far so good,” Oryon muttered. “No Imperial guards rushing the ship.”

“Contact the dockmaster and get clearance,” Solace said. “That will be the real test. I’ll start the departure checks.”

They all stayed in the cockpit, too anxious to find seating. Astri kept Lune close by her side.

“Request permission to take off,” Oryon spoke into the comm unit.

“Checking data,” the dockmaster replied.

Minutes ticked by.

They exchanged worried glances.

“It’s taking too long,” Solace said.

“Of course they changed the registry numbers!” Sauro screamed at the Imperial officer sitting at the databank that monitored all Imperial traffic. “Look for a
ship that matches its description.”

The officer keyed in more data. He sent another holographic space map into the air.

“Now give me the data from every spaceport near its last known position,” Sauro said, pacing behind him.

“Senator, there is a ship on the landing platform on Samaria.…”

Sauro stopped pacing. Samaria! Of course. The hijacking hadn’t been random at all. They’d gone straight to the planet where Ferus Olin was. How could he have missed it? He’d
been so blind.

“That’s it. Get me the dockmaster, now.”

“The spaceport is still in the hands of the Samarians, sir, not us—”

“Just get him!”

A moment later, an obviously nervous dockmaster was on the comm.

“Yes, there is an Imperial ship. It’s a diplomatic ship. It’s been cleared for departure.”

“Stop that ship! Now!” Sauro shouted.

“But sir, it’s an
Imperial
ship,” the dockmaster said patiently. “You must have misunderstood me. All Imperial ships are cleared to—”

“Listen to me.” Sauro leaned toward the comm. “Revoke the order and stop that ship or I will personally escort you to an Imperial prison for the rest of your life.”

“Ah, sir, I’m sorry. But I’m afraid the clearance has already been granted. The ship just cleared Samarian airspace. Sir.”

Sauro slammed his hand down on the console, breaking two sensors.

His assistant hovered by his elbow. “Sir,” he whispered. “The Emperor would like to see you. Now.”

Darth Vader left the mess of the botched pursuit behind and climbed into his custom-made airspeeder. He sat for a moment as his driver waited for orders.

Ferus Olin. So insignificant that Vader had forgotten about him. He had been a blip in his past. Something that had happened long ago, a small jealousy that had never blossomed into a real,
mature hatred. He would have been happy never to have seen him again.

But of course he survived the Clone Wars. He hadn’t been a Jedi.

Vader didn’t think of him as a rival. He had never even achieved the status of a Jedi. He had left as a Padawan. A student. Ferus couldn’t come close to matching his power.

But why was he here? Why had his Master employed him at all?

There could be only one answer. Ferus could be one of the few left in the galaxy capable of becoming a Sith apprentice. Capable of being trained, capable of rising to the heights of power.

Of course it was laughable to think this could be the case. But perhaps his Master didn’t think it so laughable.

Vader was still hampered by the incredible injuries he’d endured. He could never have the full power the Emperor had. It was the unspoken thing between them. The thing he could never
change.

Vader let his artificial hands relax before they clenched.

No, Ferus was not a serious threat. But he had won anyway, had he not? The saboteur had escaped. Ferus had aided in that escape. Of that he had no doubt.

Had there been another lightsaber? Had Ferus found another Jedi?

The old jealousy surged in him, the old envy.

He didn’t try to dismiss it. Now he knew how to use it.

The deeply enjoyable part of his conversion to the dark side of the Force was this feeling of sureness. The dark side eliminated doubt.

He never wanted to live with doubt again.

He never wanted to be reminded of what he’d been.

He nodded to his driver, who pushed the speeder engines and lifted the craft into the air. He would control this situation. Sauro was not the problem now.

Ferus Olin was.

Ferus stood concealed behind one of the columns of the spaceport and watched as the Imperial ship took off from the landing platform in Sath. He had to be sure his friends were
safe.

What now?

He turned his face toward the city. Astri had managed to tell him how to solve the problem with the BRT droid computer. If Larker gave the okay, the city could be back to normal as early as
tomorrow morning, the changes made to protect those fighting the Empire.

He was anxious to return to the secret base. Anxious to see the progress Raina and Toma had made, anxious to see how Garen was faring. And it was hard to say good-bye to Roan. It would have been
good to ride through the atmospheric storm to get to the asteroid. Good to be with friends. To rest, even for just a day.

But something was telling him not to leave. Things had changed. He had taken on a job for the Emperor. He was now working for the Empire, at least on the surface. He was certain that Palpatine
didn’t trust him, but that wouldn’t prevent him from becoming a double agent.

He was certain that Palpatine would have another job for him, and soon. They were both aware of the game they were playing.

He would risk it.

Risk it, and learn what he could. He’d enter the heart of the darkness he hated and feared.

He would need all his strength, he knew, to survive it.