Star Wars: The Last of the Jedi, Volume 9 by Jude Watson Read Free Book Online Page A

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