by Jude Watson
entire Temple."
"It's Malorum," Ferus said. "That's why he cleared out his office.
Vader told him to do it, so he's doing it. Even though Vader wasn't
serious. It's Malorum's way to disgrace Vader in the eyes of the Emperor.
He can claim that Vader gave the order."
"Do you have any idea when it could blow?" Ferus asked Trever.
"It's just a guess," Trever said. "But if that glitch means what I
think it means, we could have just made the shift to reserve power."
"Which means what?" Ferus asked.
"Which means soon. Minutes." Trever swallowed. "We don't have time to
leave the way we came."
"We could go out the front entrance," Solace said. "Take our chances.
Leave the Temple and let it be destroyed."
"I can't," Ferus said.
Solace nodded. "Neither can I."
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
They raced through the main hallways. There was no time for
subterfuge.
Malorum and his officers had withdrawn most of the stormtroopers, but
they had left attack droids to continue the patrols, to prevent
interference from intruders. Ferus bounded toward the first group as it
wheeled to engage them. His lightsaber moved rapidly as he mowed through
them from one side while Solace took the other. She was all movement and no
wasted motion, her lightsaber a blur. She was faster and better than Ferus
and together they destroyed the droids in only seconds. They met in the
middle and raced through the gap they'd created, smoke rising around them.
Trever kicked through the hot metal and followed.
They knew where the central core generator was. The only chance they
had was to shut it down before the bomb was fully armed.
Not trusting the turbolifts, they swung downstairs, leaping down and
letting Trever catch up when they had to pause to dispatch more attack
droids. They made it to the power source, a white room where the mighty
sublight generator hummed. The reserve power light was blinking.
"Here's the bomb," Trever said, hurrying over to it. "They didn't
bother to hide it. You've got to shut down the main generator. But do it
gradually, or it could trigger the bomb."
"Thanks for telling me." Ferus turned his attention to the power-core
controls. He knew how to do this. He had made it a personal course of study
to find out how the infrastructure of the Temple worked. Quickly, he
accessed the power computer bank. He went through the necessary series of
steps to shut down the system. He went slowly, powering each subsystem down
from green to yellow to red.
The lights flickered and failed. They heard the gentle sigh as the air
system shut down.
"What now?" Solace asked.
"We wait," Trever said. "And hope we don't blow."
Solace held up her lightsaber, which gave a soft blue glow. Trever got
out his glow rod. The seconds ticked by. He looked at the power indicator
on the bomb. Slowly, the indicator began to move.
"It's draining," he said. "It won't arm." He looked up at Ferus. "You
can kill it now. It's dead."
Ferus swiped a clean strike through the bomb. The device split into
two neat halves.
"How long before they figure it out?" Solace asked.
"Soon," Ferus said. "I would imagine that Malorum is nearby. He'll
want to see it blow."
"We stopped him this time. But all he has to do is set another one,"
Trever said.
"I think Vader will find out and stop it," Ferus said. "That's my
guess, anyway. Word will get back. If the Emperor wanted the Temple
completely destroyed he would have ordered it done. He wants it to remain.
It's a symbol to the galaxy - the wreck of the Jedi Order. But to us, it's
a symbol of what we can be again."
"I don't know if it's a symbol of anything anymore," Solace said. "I
just know it was my home, and I don't want them to blow it up."
They walked out of the central power control center and started down
the hall again. Suddenly they heard the noise of stormtroopers clacking
down the hallway. Ahead, from this vantage point, they could see the
entrance to the Temple. As they looked, the doors flew open and
stormtroopers poured in. Malorum was at the head. They could hear his voice
boom, bouncing off the high stone walls.
"Find them!" he screamed.
A sea of white flooded the main hallway. They turned and ran. They
could not meet this display of force. Overhead, seeker droids began to fan
out, searching for them.
They ran back the way they had come. They had to get to Solace's ship.
It was their only hope for escape.
Pursued by a seeker droid, they raced down the hallway. Ferus leaped
and twisted, slicing it in two.
They could hear the stormtroopers behind them, running now. "They must
have picked us up on surveillance," Solace said.
They had seconds. Ferus hurried Trever through the hole to the
turbolift shaft. Solace followed. Blaster fire peppered the lift door as
Ferus stood, deflecting it. When he was sure Solace and Trever were inside
the craft, he turned to leap inside the hole.
At that moment, at least fifty more stormtroopers appeared, some of
them on AT-RT walkers. If Solace waited for him, they would all be captured
or dead.
He looked at Trever, whose eyes were wide, pleading. "I'll be back!"
he yelled.
"I told you not to say that!"
Ferus deactivated his lightsaber and lifted his hand. Solace saw his
intention and leaped up momentarily to catch it as it flipped through the
air. He would allow himself to be captured, but not his light-saber.
"Now go!"
Solace hesitated. He saw how close she was to joining him. He couldn't
let her.
"You've got to get him out of here!" Ferus shouted.
As Trever screamed and hammered her back with his fists, Solace pushed
the controls, and the ship took off.
It had all taken less than a moment. He knew Malorum would want to
take him alive. Ferus turned toward the onslaught, defenseless now, and
alone.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
He sat in a prison. Somewhere. He hadn't been taken off Coruscant, he
knew that much. He had a bruise on the back of his head where they'd hit
him with a stun baton. His legs still tingled from the blow to the back of
his knees.
It was only the beginning, he knew.
He had been in an Imperial prison before and had escaped before they
tortured him. He didn't think he would be that lucky twice. The last time,
Malorum had been the head officer.
One thing you really didn't want, Perils reflected through his
crashing headache, was an Imperial Inquisitor with a grudge.
He lifted his head when the doors swished open. Malorum walked in.
Ferus could feel his enjoyment of the situation. Ferus decided then and
there that no matter what they did to him, he was going to give Malorum a
hard time.
"We've got to stop meeting like this, Malorum," he said.
"Very amusing."
"No, I mean it. We really do. You've just got to get out of prison.
See the galaxy. Have
some fun - "
"I'm having fun right now. I'm enjoying this immensely."
"Wow, me too. At last, we're bonding."
"So let's talk."
Ferus nodded and stretched out his legs. The pain nearly made him
wince, but not quite.
Be a Jedi, Ferus. Be the Jedi you never were, for star's sake. Accept
your fear and find your center.
"Let's talk about the Jedi. I underestimated you, Ferus. I thought you
left them and never looked back. But you've been doing nothing else but
trying to save them. Who is the Jedi you were with at the Temple?"
"I was with thousands of Jedi at the Temple. And it was so long ago...
"
"You know what I mean. Today. When you broke into Imperial property.
What is the name of the Jedi you were with on Bellassa?"
Ferus pretended to frown. "Funny, he never mentioned it."
"You never caught his name?"
"He never dropped it."
"I find that hard to believe."
"Now there's the difference between you and me. I find it absolutely
believable. If all your friends had been wiped out, do you think you'd be
going around telling people your name? I don't think so. You'd keep it to
yourself, I think."
"If I was a coward."
"Ah, in my opinion, cowardice is underrated. It keeps you alive."
"Is being alive so important to you? That's a pity."
"Are you feeling sorry for me now? I didn't know you cared."
Malorum laughed. "You think I haven't seen this before? Bravado in the
face of certain death? You'd be surprised how often those about to die put
on a show. You aren't unique."
"I don't care much about being unique. Remember, I was raised a Jedi."
"Yes, you're all the same, I suppose. Hypocrites. Hungry for power.
You were about to take over the Senate, you tried to assassinate Emperor
Palpatine... all while wearing those Jedi cloaks of humility. It was a good
scam, but it's over."
Ferus waved a hand in the air. "I love the rhythm of the party line.
Just say the lies loud enough and long enough arid put a drumbeat behind
it, and the next thing you know, everyone is singing the same tune."
"The truth is that - "
"The truth," Ferus said quietly, "is that the Republic is now an
Empire, and power is consolidated in the hands of one man. He will do
anything to keep it, anything to make it grow, and you are his lackey."
"This isn't a debate. As you say, it's been fun, Ferus Olin. But if
you aren't going to cooperate - "
"You have ways to make me talk? Let me think. Torture is still against
the bylaws of the Senate. Last time I heard."
"Then you're wrong. The Senate approved the Emperor's call for more
freedom in how he handles enemies. In times such as these, extreme measures
can be called for."
And so the Senators continued to give the Emperor anything he wanted,
Ferus thought. He was changing the galaxy, breaking the covenants the
Senate was founded on, and they were voting yes to it. The Sith was clever.
Always he acted with the "approval" of a Senate that could not say no.
"I'm sending you to a prison world where no one goes. And if you don't
reveal the name of the Jedi you know are alive, you will be executed for
crimes against the Empire. Do you think anyone will care? They've already
forgotten your name on Bellassa."
"Well, I never call, I never write..."
"I'm talking to a dead man," Malorum said. "And it's time for my
lunch."
With the same indifference he'd shown throughout the interview,
Malorum turned and walked out.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
As soon as Solace had landed the ship in its parking place tucked
under the cavern wall, Trever vaulted forward and slapped his hand on the
cockpit canopy release. Even as it opened, he clambered out over her.
"You left him! You just left him!" he shouted. "It's your fault they
caught him!"
"He gave himself up, Trever," Solace said, jumping off the ship and
landing lightly next to him. "There was nothing I could do. He left me no
other choice."
"Jedi don't leave Jedi!" Trever felt his fury take him over. "But you
do, don't you? Twice that I know about. You don't know anything about
loyalty!"
Solace stood, impassive. He couldn't tell if she was angry. She didn't
seem angry. He wanted her to be angry, he wanted to fight.
"My choices are not your business," she said.
"Ferus is my business," Trever said. "He's my friend."
"We'll find him," Solace said. "Wherever they take him, we'll find
him."
Trever heard her words as though from a distance. They didn't make
sense for a moment. "What?"
"I said we'll find him. I won't stop until we do. This isn't over. But
first we need supplies and information. I have to - "
Solace suddenly stopped. She appeared to be listening, but there was
nothing to hear.
"Solace, what - "
She turned and ran, silently and swiftly, along the catwalks. She made
a leap so impossible that Trever knew it was Force-assisted, vaulting over
the catwalks to gain time.
He ran after her, his feet pounding up the stairs. He was halfway to
the settlement when he heard it. Blaster fire. Screams.
A bloodied Keets appeared above. Suddenly he was hit from behind and
tumbled off the catwalk. He landed at Trever's feet, his body twisted,
blood pooling from a wound.
Solace's assistant, Donal, ran toward the edge of the catwalk.
"We're under attack!" he screamed.
Solace was right, Trever thought. This isn't nearly over.
He readied himself for the fight....
