The Last of the Jedi_ Underworld Part 3

"You were right," he said. "That was some ride."

Ferus glanced around. The kitchen had always been a busy place. The Jedi who had an interest rotated their service, and they were all willing to sneak a growing youngling a treat at any time of day or night. Now it was more or less intact, but, like most of the places he'd seen, strewn with debris and blackened by smoke. An attempt had been made in one corner to restore its function. He could see that the stove was working and a table had been cleared and set up for dining....

The Force surged, a warning, only a half second before he heard the door open.

He really had to work on his Force connection. What was the use of a warning if suddenly twenty stormtroopers appeared in your face?

"Whoa!" Trever dived to the floor as blaster fire streaked through the air. Ferus's lightsaber danced, deflecting the bolts.

He spoke urgently under the cover of the noise. "There's another exit by the stoves. Go, now!" He barked out the order, and Trever took off, running in a crazy pattern that made it hard for the stormtroopers to get a fix on him. Ferus retreated, keeping his lightsaber moving, and thinking, as a Jedi would, three steps ahead.

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 pa.s.sage 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 Bella.s.san 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 pa.s.s 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 pa.s.sed. 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 a.s.sistant 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 little too long.

"Two intruders were spotted and are being tracked," Malorum finally said. "I a.s.sure 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 a.s.sure you."

"a.s.surances 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 Bella.s.sa. 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 a.s.signment."

"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 a.s.surance. 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 Ma.s.sa..."

Ferus strained to hear. There it was again - Polis Ma.s.sa. 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 hoa.r.s.e, 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 gla.s.s 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. .h.i.t 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 s.n.a.t.c.h 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 gla.s.s, and then let go. He knew the Force would carry him.