Star Wars: The Last of the Jedi, Volume 9 (6 page)

Ferus tuned out the noise of children’s laughter, the wind in the tall grasses. He needed to hear this conversation.

The young woman put her hand on the toddler’s hair and stroked it gently. “Yes, Leia. I see it, too. No one will get hurt again.”

“Memily won’t fall.”

“No, blossom. I won’t fall.” The young woman hugged the little girl.

Leia?

Was that a common name on Alderaan? Could the toddler be Bail’s daughter? Ferus searched his memory. He’d read the file on the palace inhabitants on the way to Alderaan. Winter was
Leia’s playmate, who lived in the royal household.

Stunned, Ferus walked away from the group before they noticed him. So Leia was the toddler who had saved her caregiver. Leia had a possible Force connection. Leia was the child the Inquisitors
were looking for.

Did Bail know?

A new thought blazed across Ferus’s brain.

Did
Obi-Wan
know?

Why else had he been so insistent that Ferus travel to Alderaan?

Well, thanks, Obi-Wan. Maybe the next time you send me off to investigate, you’ll give me all the facts.

Ferus tried to shake off his annoyance. This went beyond his own feelings. There was an Imperial spy on Alderaan, and Bail’s family was in danger.

Hydra moved toward him, her cloak sweeping the ground behind her. Ferus noted how she moved straight through the grass, not caring about the children, her face impassive, never smiling. The
mothers and fathers at the park had noticed her, and Ferus saw how they drew closer to their children as Hydra walked by.

He signaled her not to approach him and headed for the exit. It was important that he not be seen with her.

At the exit to the park, she came up to him. “Find anything?”

He looked at her, into her dark eyes, shiny and impersonal as stones. He would have to protect Bail’s family against her, too.

“No,” he said. “Nothing.”

Later that day, Ferus left Hydra at the office of Official Records. Reluctantly he made his way back to the palace. He had no idea what he would do. He couldn’t just come
out and tell Bail he feared for his family. Bail would think it was a trick.

He made his way through the official entrance, down the twisting path. He struck off in a different direction this time. The flowers gave way to fruit trees, then vegetables in neat rows. He was
in the kitchen garden now.

Double doors were flung open onto a small slate patio, and he heard the sound of humming and smelled fresh bread. Ferus walked forward.

The same young woman he’d seen in the park—Memily—was now wearing a long apron and a colorful head-wrap. She stood at the counter, chopping fruit. Around her was a spotless
kitchen, a long wooden table that stretched the length of the room, mellow wood polished from years of use. A counter held six loaves of warm bread.

“Stop right there,” the young woman said without turning. “Whoever it is, you should know better than to invade my kitchen on baking day.”

“Then you shouldn’t let the smell out into the garden.”

She turned, smiling, wiping her hands on her apron. “You must be here for the meeting. You can go through those doors and turn left for the reception rooms. Here.”

She cut a thick slice of bread and spread it with a honey mixture. “I’ll be bringing refreshments to the meeting, but you can sneak a piece. One slice, that’s all.”

Ferus took a bite of the bread and let out a sigh. “Best in the galaxy,” he praised.

“I don’t fall for flattery.”

“I didn’t think you would.”

He munched on the bread, watching Memily’s quick, efficient movements as she chopped fruit and then spooned it into small pastry shells.

“For the children,” she said. “They call these Memily’s baskets.” She smiled. “I’ve seen Senator Organa sneak them, too.”

“I don’t blame him,” Ferus said. “The family seems very close,” he added.

“Oh, yes, it’s a pleasure to work here. The children fill the house with laughter. I do double duty, you know, and watch them sometimes just for the fun of it. This is a royal
household, but you’d never know it. There’s no protocol here. The Queen has been here in the kitchen, kneading bread with me, many times. Leia, too. They want to bring her up right, you
know. Strong and sure, but knowing that she’s blessed to have so much. You have to start early. When she came to them, it was a stroke of good fortune. We knew how sad the Queen had
been.”

Ferus nodded, but he wasn’t sure what Memily meant. “It must have been hard, to see her that way,” he said. Sometimes a neutral comment would bring you information you
wouldn’t get with a question.

“She wanted her own children. It wasn’t meant to be. But a newborn comes and it becomes the child you’re meant to have. Leia has been a great gift to the household.”

Leia was adopted.
The news surprised Ferus. And Leia had been a newborn when she came here, which meant she’d been adopted at the end of the Clone Wars. That made sense. The war
had created many orphans.

Ferus stood. “Thank you for the bread.”

Memily smiled her good-bye and he left the kitchen.

Ferus headed toward the public wing of the house, where Bail had received him earlier. He found himself in a broad hallway and heard the murmur of voices. He drew closer, trying to focus on the
sounds. Normally they would be undetectable, but he reached out with the Force.

“…I declined because I think it’s too soon,” Bail said. “Breha agrees with me.”

“I see your thinking. Alderaan can always join a united resistance movement once it’s firmly established. There’s no need to place us in danger.”

“That’s not my reason, Deara.” Breha spoke now. “We would share the risk if we felt the moment was right. That’s not the issue. If you disagree, please tell us. We
value your opinion.”

“I agree with you and Bail, Breha. But there is something else. Something disturbing I’ve heard. There are many in Aldera who feel they should form a resistance movement. And prepare
for invasion, should that come. They feel we should reexamine our weapons policy in light of what’s happening on other planets. What if Alderaan is invaded?”

“If Alderaan is invaded we can hardly hope to defeat the Empire’s forces,” Bail said. “We have no weapons, no attack ships.”

“But the people feel they would want to defend themselves.”

“If we got through the Clone Wars without arming ourselves, we can outlast the Empire,” Breha said, her tone sharp.

“Of course. I’m just repeating what I’ve heard.”

Ferus heard the sound of boots hurrying along the hallway. He faded back and concealed himself around a corner.

“Raymus Antilles!” It was the Queen’s voice. “We started the meeting without you, but we can—”

“I have news.”

The doors shut behind Raymus. Suddenly Ferus couldn’t hear a thing. He walked closer, making no sound. His breathing slowed; his movements were quick but completely noiseless. Not a rustle
of cloth, not a brush against a wall, not even a disturbance of air. Ferus closed his eyes. He let the Force guide him. The noises of the palace came to him, sounds he hadn’t even registered,
sounds he hadn’t heard. Conversation outside in the garden. Memily closing the oven door. An insect was scratching behind a wall….

The door was wood, and there was a new barrier behind it…something to muffle sound. Durasteel most likely. But even durasteel was slightly porous. It was made up of particles, like anything
else, like fabric, like wood. And through those spaces he could slip, all attention, everything focused on sound.

Raymus: He has landed at the spaceport. He’ll be here in moments.

Bail: This is not unexpected. Palpatine was bound to send his enforcer sooner or later. The question is, what does he want?

Queen Breha: What should we do?

Raymus: You must receive him, of course. But Bail, if you have a message for Mon Mothma, give it to me now. I can still slip away and get to the
Tantive
. If he is authorized by the
Emperor to search he won’t find anything.

Bail: Here. Take this.

Raymus: They could shut down our landing platform, our hangars…they could imprison Bail….

Breha: He wouldn’t dare.

Raymus: They’ve done it to others.

Breha: We must give the appearance of cooperation. We must avoid an Imperial Governor at all costs.

Bail: Go now. Do not travel to Coruscant directly but head out to the TerraAsta spaceport and get lost in the heavy galactic traffic there.

Suddenly, Ferus felt the dark side of the Force surge. It was a feeling he was accustomed to now. Usually it was followed by the swish of a cape and the
whoosh, whoosh
of a breath mask.
Darth Vader had arrived.

Following his Force connection now, Ferus headed down through the sunny hallways to the back of the palace. He saw Vader immediately. The Dark Lord strode directly through the vegetable garden,
crushing everything beneath his boots.

It was time to stall him. Ferus needed to give Raymus a chance to get away.

He found a floor-to-ceiling window that slid open noiselessly with a wave of his hand over the sensor. Vader looked over as he stepped out onto a stone terrace.

“Lord Vader,” Ferus said, crossing to greet him. He looked down pointedly at the plants, twisted and matted, at Vader’s feet. “Doing your usual work, I see.”

“Why are you here?” Vader demanded.

“I needed permission from Senator Organa to search classified files,” he said.

“You hardly need
permission
,” Vader said.

Behind Vader, he suddenly saw a flash of white, a blur of pink. Winter and Leia ran through a fountain at the far end of the garden.

His heartbeat accelerated, but he knew Vader would be able to detect any nerves, so he used his Force-training to slow it down. He would need to distract him, though. If indeed Leia had a
Force-connection, Vader might be able to pick it up.

“The investigation is going well,” he said. “Inquisitor Hydra is at the office of Official Records right now.”

Vader made an impatient gesture.

“But I’m sure we’ll conclude this investigation soon,” Ferus continued. “Our next stop is Mustafar,” he added.

Vader didn’t move. He didn’t betray surprise, but Ferus felt it. For the first time, he had penetrated Vader’s mask. He knew it. He had rocked him. If they’d been
dueling, this would have counted as the first contact, the first aggressive move that would surprise his opponent.

Behind Vader, he saw Breha quickly hustle the girls out of the garden.

“This is a waste of my time,” Vader said. “As usual.”

He pushed by Ferus.

Ferus wasn’t insulted. Not in the least.

Mustafar. Amie had been right. Whatever had happened to Vader had happened there.

Now he just had to find out what.

Mustafar
!

What did Olin mean? What did he know?

Vader could feel his heartbeat push the breath through his mask more quickly. Little explosions of air rang in his ears. How he wished he could throw off this mask, peel off this armor, and get
the body he knew back! The strong legs and arms, the fluid movements, the ability to throw himself down on meadow grass next to Padmé….

Stop.

He would not allow those thoughts.

For a moment he had thought of Naboo. Had almost remembered a day with Padmé.

The memories were dimmer, but they were not gone. They could still administer a fresh shot of agony if they came.

He needed Zan Arbor’s memory drug. As soon as he was finished with Organa, he would head back to Coruscant and shake that woman like a Nek battle dog with a bone until she worked day and
night to perfect it.

He would get rid of the memories. And get rid of Ferus Olin. The plan was in place.

Bail turned away from the security monitor, where Darth Vader and Ferus Olin had been conferring. Too much Imperial activity on his planet. Until now the Emperor had treated
him more like a pesky insect than a real threat. That had suited his purposes. But now the Empire was becoming consolidated, the Emperor had turned his eye to Alderaan. Definitely not good
news.