"He was promoted beyond his competence, we thought," Palpatine said. "But look at him."

"He is a fool," Darth Vader said.

"Yes," Palpatine admitted. "He is exactly what we need."

Ferus milled among the crowd, trying to pick up what the mood was. It was apparent that the ministers had been swept along in the tide of Bog's self-regard. Bog's speech had moved through the city like wildfire, and the HoloNet on the planet was rebroadcasting it to cheers at every gathering place in Sath.

He noted how the ministers flocked around Bog but left the prime minister of Samaria by himself. Ferus moved toward him. He had been waiting for days to get Larker alone.

"Do you hear them?" Larker said to him. "They are transferring their loyalty to an Imperial advisor. Which I suppose makes you happy."

"Not particularly."

"You're one of them."

"No. I did a job for them. There's a difference."

Larker gave him a long look. "Keep telling yourself that," he said softly.

"I know that you hired Astri Oddo to sabotage the computers," Ferus said quietly. "I arranged for her escape. She must have contacted you."

"She did."

"Then you know you can trust me."

Larker's gaze roamed the crowd. "I can't trust anyone."

"If Bog continues to whip the city into a frenzy about the Roshan threat, you can step forward and admit it was you who gave the order to sabotage the computers, not the Roshans."

"And if I do that, I'll be arrested, and Bog will become governor," Larker said.

"You might not have a choice," Ferus said. "Bog is lining up support among the ministers to oust you."

"They won't betray me, in the end," Larker said. "I've been working on establishing this agreement with the Roshans for years. The ministers all support it. The time to keep industrial secrets is over. We are each technological innovators, but if we work together we can make even bigger strides. We are experts in macrotechnology - we can run cities, planets with our systems. They have made enormous strides in microtechnology. Their droids are among the smallest in the galaxy, with the most sophisticated systems. We had a setback when Rosha sided with the Separatists during the Clone Wars. They were deeply involved with the Trade Federation. But they've come to regret it. Now we can achieve a real trade agreement. We can share our technology."

"Not if the Empire has anything to say about it."

"They don't. They don't interfere in systemwide trade agreements. They don't want the galactic economy to crash."

"No, they just want to control it. Why do you think Bog is so against the trade agreement?"

Larker shrugged. "Because I support it. That's reason enough. He knows that the average Samarian fears the Roshans, so he'll use it as a wedge to gain support." He gave Ferus a searching look. "You say you're just a contract worker, working for credits. You know something about me that could bring me down, yet you don't use it. Why?"

"Because I'm on your side. And I could use your help. The Emperor has asked me to find the resistance and offer them amnesty if they disband."

Larker looked at him sharply. "And you expect them to do this?"

"No. But I was hired to deliver the message personally. If I can find them and talk to them, I might be able to help them. I was one of the founding members of the resistance on Bella.s.sa. We struck many blows against the Empire after it took over the government. The city rose against them."

"But the Empire is still in control."

"You can't kick the Empire off your planet. You can only make it hard for them to control you. And you wait for better opportunities."

"So," Larker said, "you were one of the founders of the Eleven, and yet here you are. Were you offered amnesty by the Emperor, too?"

"Yes."

Larker looked at him with contempt. "So you took it and abandoned your cause."

"Not exactly," Ferus said. He couldn't explain fully. It would compromise his mission. "I am still working for the cause, but . . . in a different way."

But it was too late. He'd lost Larker.

"I can't help you," Larker said. "I don't know anything about the resistance, anyway."

Just then the a.s.sistant who'd been lurking nearby approached. Larker seized on the interruption. "Yes, Dahl?"

"The Roshan delegation would like to speak with you. Robbyn Sark especially is anxious to go over some details of the agreement."

"Of course." Larker nodded at Ferus and started across the crowded floor. Ferus watched as he said a few words into the aide's ear. Dahl nodded.

A shadow fell across the tiles, and Darth Vader appeared next to Ferus.

"You had a long conversation," Vader calmly observed.

"He's a chatty guy."

"Do not forget who you are working for. Larker is not to be trusted."

"The way I see it, n.o.body is to be trusted around here. But thanks for the warning."

"The Emperor gave you an a.s.signment. I expect a full briefing."

"You can expect it, but you won't be getting it." Ferus was beginning to enjoy himself. "The Emperor's instruction was to report to him directly on my progress. No one else. And that would include you."

Vader said nothing for a moment. Ferus only heard the rasp of his automated, eerie breathing.

Then Darth Vader abruptly turned and strode away. His meaning was all too clear to Ferus: I'm going to enjoy destroying you.

Chapter Five.

Oops. Ferus had tried to keep out of Vader's way. He really had. But apparently he hadn't succeeded.

Ferus waited outside the Hall of Ministers. He rested against the platform of a large sculpture, slabs of stone and chunks of plastoid and quadrillum that were supposed to represent a gigantic version of a droid's sensor suite. More than anything, the Samarians worshipped technology. He didn't think much of the sculpture, but it hid him from notice and gave him a clear view of the huge double doors of the exit.

After only a moment or two, Larker's aide, Dahl, walked out the door and briskly through the front gates. Air taxis patrolled this area of Sath, busily whisking ministers from one government building to another. Dahl activated the blinking search signal on his personal droid, the method Sathans used to hail air taxis. A vehicle pulled up immediately.

Ferus hailed his own taxi the old-fashioned way - he held up his hand.

His driver followed the taxi in front without a question. The taxi ahead soared through the traffic lanes in no hurry and with no attempt to lose a tail. Obviously Dahl had no idea he was being followed and took no precautions. That was odd. Perhaps Ferus had read the situation wrong. He had a.s.sumed that Dahl was Larker's liaison to the resistance, but if that were so, Ferus would have expected him to take evasive action routinely.

The air taxi stopped at a cafe and Dahl hopped out.

Well. Ferus would either get a lead on the resistance, or lunch.

Ferus had his own taxi pull up a block ahead. He followed the ramp back to the caf. He tracked Dahl as he moved through the crowd. Dahl headed toward the back, where Sathans were ordering food and drinks at a service bar. Keeping out of sight in case Dahl looked back, Ferus drifted off to the right. Dahl joined the line.

Suddenly a young woman behind Ferus stepped back into a waiter, who dropped the tray full of empty gla.s.ses he was holding. The gla.s.ses crashed to the floor. Ferus quickly melted back in case Dahl turned, as everyone else in the caf did.

But Dahl didn't turn. He slipped through the crowd and disappeared.

Swiftly Ferus turned back and headed for the front entrance. He had no doubt that Dahl had gone out a back exit.

A cla.s.sic move. Use the distraction to lose the tail, if it was there. Dahl was just being careful. Ferus exited, making sure there was no one behind him. He turned down a side street and Force-leaped up to the roof of the building, landing without a sound. He ran lightly across the roof. Looking down, he could see Dahl quickly heading down a back street, checking behind him to make sure no one was there.

Leaping from rooftop to rooftop, Ferus was able to keep Dahl in sight as he moved through the climate-controlled walkways that crisscrossed all the city levels in Sath. At last he turned into a Speeder Exchange, a large lot where used airspeeders were for sale. Dahl moved from one speeder to the next, appearing to consider them.

Ferus leaped down into an alley that connected to the lot. From here he had a perfect vantage point.

A salesman drifted over, but Dahl shook his head and walked away. Dahl slipped into a yellow speeder, checking out the controls casually. Then he jumped out again, checked out a few more speeders, and left.

Ferus had seen what he'd come to see. He'd just witnessed a drop. He let Dahl disappear down the street. He waited.

In another moment, the curly-haired young woman who'd caused the distraction at the caf entered the lot. She smiled at the salesman, walked through the lot examining different vehicles, and climbed into the yellow speeder. She put her hands on the controls and examined the dashboard.

She got out, shrugged at the salesman, waved, and continued down the street. Her personal droid was a metallic red, and her tunic was snug-fitting and reached down to her black boots. She was dressed as a typical stylish young Sathan.

And she was in the resistance.

Ferus followed her by the same method, leaping from roof to roof and occasionally, if there were good sight lines, from the walkway one level above. He was good at this. Skills he had learned as a Jedi had been honed as he worked in his own business, and later as a member of the resistance on Bella.s.sa.

The woman entered a small cantina. Ferus waited a few minutes, then strolled inside. The woman sat at a table in the back. An older man had joined her. Ferus took a seat at the bar.

He considered his next move. The most direct was most likely best. He would just approach them.

He was about to get up when he felt something small and cold nudge him in the back.

"Yeah, it's a blaster," a deep voice said. "So don't make a move. I'd like a word with you in the alley."

Chapter Six.

Trever had thought he could handle just about anything the galaxy could throw at him at this point, but he'd barely made it through the storm, and the ship was failing as it approached Samaria. He had the coordinates where Flame would be - thanks to a quick search of Toma's private database - but he had about two more minutes before he lost his engines and crashed.

Maybe it hadn't been the brightest idea to take off like that.

Well. At this point he had nothing to lose. He'd either be s.p.a.ce dust. or he'd succeed in landing and finding Flame . . . and Ferus. Trever gritted his teeth and kept his hands on the sweat-slicked controls. The craft was a bit out of control now. His plan was to come in fast and hug the ground in the hopes of evading any Imperial tracking sensors. Technically, Trever was supposed to check in and land at the main landing platform in Sath, but rules made him itchy, and Imperials made him break out in hives.

When he hadn't been worrying on the journey, he'd been checking out the nav database. The area he was supposed to land in lay outside Sath. Samaria had vast areas of wilderness, and the Crystal Forest was one of them. Although it was a popular destination for tourists and campers, much of it was still wild.

The Crystal Forest had formed millions of years before, when the planet was an ice planet. Crystals had formed cliffs and treelike shapes that towered hundreds of meters high. It was supposed to be an inspiring sight, but all Trever cared about was that it would provide good cover.

Suddenly, as Trever gripped the controls of the failing ship, he saw the area below. It looked like a red haze at first, but as he approached he was able to differentiate the gnarled ma.s.sive forms in tones of rust and orange and gold that rose from the planet's surface. It was oddly and eerily beautiful.

The ship shuddered and groaned, then heeled to starboard. Trever had to push the failing engines to avoid slamming into one of the towering shapes. Now he was in the thick of it, the ship with its screaming engines lurching and stalling as he desperately looked for somewhere to land.

This place had seemed so galactically cool from the relative safety of the atmosphere. But the treelike forms weren't so cool when you were heading straight toward them. This place had its own weather system, too. Winds howled through the canyons created by the formations, slammed against the ship, and caused Trever to scream out loud when metal shrieked from the impact of a sharp crystal sc.r.a.ping along the side.

He had to bring the ship down. He had to do it or he would die.

Desperately searching now, Trever descended. One wing of the ship bashed into a crystal formation, arid more red lights suddenly blinked insistently on the control panel.

"Just hold on," Trever muttered.

Coming up fast on his right, he saw a small clear s.p.a.ce on the surface. He remembered a trick of Ferus's. He cut the engines, turned hard right, crossed his fingers, let out a howl of desperation, and held on as the ship shuddered, creaked, and then dropped like a stone into the opening.

Trever felt his body fly up with the impact. His teeth slammed into his lower lip. He heard a horrible tearing noise and the ship made a quarter turn, then stopped. With a gasp, the engines died.

Trever, however, was still alive. He thought.

It took him several minutes to be able to move. His body shook from the effort it took. With trembling fingers he dabbed at the blood on his lip with the hem of his tunic.

"Get a grip. You're safe." He said the words out loud. He was embarra.s.sed that he'd been in such a state of terror. He'd been through a lot in the past month or so with Ferus. He'd thought he was brave. He'd never realized how much of his bravery he had borrowed from Ferus.

He raised himself from the chair and looked around. The ship had basically collapsed around him. The c.o.c.kpit was intact, but he could have trouble exiting if the ramp didn't work.

He pressed the release. To his relief, it squeaked open. It didn't slide all the way down, but that wasn't a problem. He wiggled to the top and jumped. The forest floor was like transparisteel, smooth and cold.

Flame had given Toma the coordinates where she would land and said she'd wait there for at least two hours, in hopes that Toma could send someone to meet her. The two hours were up about a half hour ago, but Trever hoped she hadn't given up yet. He got his bearings on his datapad map and struck out for the coordinates.

Although the surface temp readout on the ship had prepared him for heat, the hard crystal formations and the forest floor radiated coolness into the air. Trever kept up a good pace. The place was quiet. No forest creatures could live in this environment; there was no vegetation, no water. Trever hoped he'd b.u.mp into Flame soon. This place was starting to spook him out.

Suddenly the quiet was broken by a soft whirring he recognized as a speeder engine. Trever wanted to rush forward but he had learned caution on Bella.s.sa. He slipped behind one of the formations and waited.

Two airspeeders zoomed out from between the formations. Imperial stormtroopers, four in each vehicle. He could tell they were tracking someone. They made a hard right and streaked off.

After another moment he heard another speeder. He flattened himself against the crystal, feeling the points against his back.