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

turned his eye to Alderaan. Definitely not good
news.
    Vader had entered the compound by using the family gate, heading straight for the private family wing. It had been done deliberately, just to let Bail know that there was nothing in this royal
compound that Vader wasn’t aware of. He wanted this visit to seem like an invasion.
    Bail closed the panel on the security screen and left his office quickly. He decided to meet Vader head on.
    He walked without hurrying toward the back rooms of the palace, the private family rooms that Vader had now polluted with his presence. He had already sent Breha to keep Leia out of sight along
with the other children. He would stand between Vader and his family and his homeworld. He would not let the corruption in.
    The Dark Lord lurked in the inside-outside room they used in the mornings and evenings because the blush of sunset made it glow like a flower. Bail couldn’t stand the sight of him
there.
    “Lord Vader, if you would follow me to the reception room,” he said coldly.
    Vader ignored the request. “It has come to my attention that you are organizing a protest against the installation of Imperial Governors.”
    “It is the right of any Senator to deliver votes against measures adopted by the majority.”
    “You are trying to organize a voting bloc.”
    “And I am within my full rights to do so.”
    “You would not think so if you were charged with treason and thrown in an Imperial jail.”
    “You wouldn’t dare,” Bail said. “The Senate may be controlled by the Empire, but it still exists. You cannot charge a Senator with treason for following procedural
rules.”
    “The rules have changed,” Vader said.
    “I haven’t been informed.”
    “A special session is taking place at this moment. Call off your voting bloc or the treason charge will stand.”
    Frustration and anger roiled in Bail. No matter how he twisted and turned, the walls were closing in on him. He saw a future ahead where the Senate would cease to exist. Justice and reason would
die with it.
    “I should add that the Emperor sees a need for an Imperial Governor here on Alderaan.”
    Bail stiffened. “Alderaan has no reason for an Imperial Governor. We have a stable society. There is no risk for the Empire here. We have no weapons.”
    “What you have is
insubordination.
The Imperial Governor will arrive in two days.”
    Vader turned and left the way he had come, out through the wide doors and across the grass, cutting through the trampled garden on his way to the family gate.
    Only then did Bail allow himself to tremble. He put out a hand behind him and slowly sank onto a chair.
    Things were changing too fast. He was failing to see the Emperor’s next step. He needed to be quicker.
    He needed to confer with Mon Mothma.
    He remembered the striking woman who had come to his office…Flame. She had been vetted by those close to him. She was the real thing. She was linking the resistance members, planet by planet.
What she had done so far was impressive.
    Alderaan couldn’t hold out alone. He would need allies. Secret allies. Especially if they sent an Imperial Governor. Deara told him that there were those who were reconsidering the use of
weapons. If there were only a few, soon there would be more.
    Moonstrike could be a way out for Alderaan. A confederacy of planets would give them support. If he and the other Senators joined, it would be a political and grassroots alliance, and that could
be potentially powerful. He had sent a message to Mon Mothma with Raymus Antilles, asking her to meet with Flame.
    Maybe it was time he reconsidered. Maybe it was time to join Moonstrike.

Zan Arbor had one of the apartments that took up an entire floor, in one of the upper levels of the tower. Trever stood in front of the door, running his fingers across its
edges. A little discreet explosive would blast the lock. But he had to cover his tracks, too; he couldn’t leave evidence that he’d been