The Desperate Mission

  if any other Jedi have survived?"

  Obi-Wan hesitated. The fact that Yoda was still alive was another

  secret. "I know of only one for sure, who I cannot mention," he said.

  "There might be some who have gone underground. There's no way to tell.

  There was a beacon calling Jedi back to the Temple, to be slaughtered. We

  managed to replace it with a signal saying to stay away - but at that

  point, it may have been too late. There may not be any others left."

  Ferus leaned forward, forearms on his knees, hands clasped. "I find

  that hard to believe. There's got to be a way to find them. The Jedi were

  too powerful to be completely wiped out. There must be others who survived,

  just as you did. I think of that question. It haunts me."

  Obi-Wan shook his head. "I'm sorry, Ferus. It is impossible to

  believe, but you must believe it. The Jedi are gone."

  The firelight glinted in Ferus's dark gaze, licking it with orange. "I

  will never believe it," he said. "And now that you're here, we can do

  something about it."

  Obi-Wan was already shaking his head. "I have my own task to fulfill.

  I will help you now, but then I must leave and never return."

  "You can't mean that."

  "I do."

  "But there is so much to fight for."

  "My days of fighting are over, for now."

  "What can be more important'?"

  Obi-Wan didn't answer.

  "I don't like having to question a Jedi Master," Ferus said. "Old

  habits die hard. But are you kidding me? You'd rather hide than fight?"

  The words and the manner shocked Obi-Wan. He kept silent in

  disapproval.

  "Now don't get all Jedi-proper on me," Ferus said. "I can see it on

  your face. I'm not your apprentice, Obi-Wan. You deserve my respect, of

  course. But I've learned to speak frankly. This is a new reality, a new

  galaxy."

  "We fought and died in the new galaxy," Obi-Wan said, feeling a prick

  of irritation.

  "I know that," Ferns said. "What I meant is that the galaxy has

  changed. To choose exile over engagement dooms us all to domination and

  despair."

  "Ferus, I'm not one of the Eleven," Obi-Wan said. "I'm an old friend.

  I didn't come here to be recruited."

  "So what is your answer to the Empire?"

  Obi-Wan looked into the fire. He could feel the word on his lips, but

  he didn't want to say it. He knew it would infuriate Ferus. "Wait."

  "Wait?"

  Ferus looked as though he wanted to leap out of the chair and throttle

  Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan held his gaze steadily. The galaxy may have been

  different, but he still knew how to subdue a turbulent apprentice.

  Ferus suddenly smiled and leaned back against the cushion Dona had

  placed behind him. "I remember when that look used to scare me. It almost

  scares me now. Almost, Obi-Wan."

  Ferus spoke so amiably that Obi-Wan felt his irritation drain away. Of

  course Ferus wouldn't understand his decision.

  Obi-Wan sipped his soup. "There is something else I must tell you," he

  said. "There is an Imperial security officer, an Inquisitor named Malorum -

  "

  "Yes, I've met him," Ferus said. "He was there for the interrogations,

  though he didn't speak."

  "He has a Force connection."

  Ferus nodded slowly. "I suspected that... I wasn't sure. It's been so

  long since I've used the Force. It's still part of me, but I don't access

  it."

  "Do you know anything about him?"

  "I know he's distinguished himself at the highest level," Ferus said.

  "He's said to be Lord Vader's special pet. He can choose his own

  assignments."

  "He is very interested in capturing you, that much I know," Obi-Wan

  said.

  "Well, he'll just have to be disappointed," Ferns said. "I don't

  intend to revisit an Imperial jail cell again." He picked up his spoon.

  "Now, I suggest we do as the Jedi do..."

  Obi-Wan smiled. "When food arrives, eat."

  Obi-Wan thought he would have trouble sleeping, but the rest his body

  craved overtook him. Wrapped in Dona's hand-loomed blankets, he fell asleep

  by the warmth of the fire.

  In the morning, Obi-Wan had a glimpse through the window of an

  impossibly wide blue sky, white-capped mountains in the distance.

  "Dona doesn't like me to open the armorweave curtains, but over here

  we can't be seen on the mountainside," Ferus said, once Obi-Wan was up.

  "Did you sleep well?"

  "Yes, thank you," Obi-Wan said. He thought it strange to be having

  such an ordinary conversation, guest to host, under these circumstances. It

  felt so normal, when the situation was anything but normal. Obi-Wan still

  wasn't used to the new position he found himself in. Ferus was no longer a

  Padawan. Every rule that had bound them together was gone.

  Dona hurried into the kitchen, clutching her morning robe to her

  throat. "There is news," she said. "I was able to access the HoloNet."

  Ferus snorted. "We can't believe anything we hear on that. It's

  controlled by the Empire."

  "I'm afraid this is all too true," Dona said. "The mass arrests in

  Ussa... the Empire has issued an ultimatum. If the city does not give up

  Ferus Olin within twenty-four hours, everyone held in the mass arrest will

  be executed. The order came down six hours ago."

  The color faded from Ferus's face. His body went rigid.

  "So that was why they did it," Obi-Wan said. "They arrested so many in

  order to catch only one."

  "I have to go back," Ferus said. "I have to give myself up."

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  He didn't have a choice. If he didn't do it, innocent people would

  die. Even as he got up from the table, Ferus frantically began to calculate

  how long it would take him to get to Ussa. Dona didn't have a cruiser

  capable of going that far, but she had a friend in the village...

  "Wait," Obi-Wan said, putting a hand on his arm.

  All of Ferus's fury at the Empire funneled down into the man standing

  before him, blocking his way.

  "Is that all you can do - wait? I have to leave now!" Ferus couldn't

  believe that Obi-Wan was the same Jedi he once knew. He remembered Obi-Wan

  as cautious, but this was ridiculous.

  "I just mean you should consider how you return," Obi-Wan began.

  "There might be a way to - "

  A soft alarm suddenly rang on the databoard in Dona's kitchen.

  "Penetration," she said. "Someone is in the airspace. Let me survey - "

  An explosion sent debris raining down on them while a wall of air sent

  them flying. Ferus sailed backward in what seemed like slow motion, riding

  a cushion of air. He landed hard on the kitchen floor, his head banging on

  the counter behind him. He saw the table flying toward him, and he knew

  with a cold certainty he was able to grasp in less than a second that it

  would fall on his injured leg. He reached out for the Force, but it was a

  blind, instinctive gesture without any power behind it. He could feel the

  Force, but not access it.

  To his surprise, the table flew across the room. He saw Obi-Wan had

  Force-pushed it even as he himself hit the floor. It fell inside the small
/>
  crater where once there had been a hand-hooked rug.

  Above his head he could see blue sky. The assault had punched a hole

  in the reinforced roof.

  Obi-Wan was already moving, glancing through the window as Dona waved

  a frantic hand over the sensor for the armorweave curtains.

  "It's the Firespray that tailed me from Ussa."

  Ferus gently grabbed Dona's hand. "It's too late," he said. "I don't

  think the curtains are going to stop this."

  She looked up at the space where most of the roof had been. "Of

  course."

  "Do you have a transport?" Obi-Wan asked her. "Nothing that can outrun

  that," Dona said.

  "And we have no cover if we run," Obi-Wan said.

  "We don't have to run," Dona said. "The house can withstand attack for

  a time, but we'd better not stay. This way."

  It was then that the door blew open in a blast that sent them all

  diving for cover.

  Behind an overturned chair, Ferus peered toward the door. A creature

  blocked out the light from outside. It was a cyborg, its body covered in

  armor. But there was a laser cannon where the head should have been. It

  aimed directly at him. He saw the red targeting light pulse.

  So there were two of them. One in the air, one on the ground. This was

  definitely not good news.

  Obi-Wan was a blur of movement, his lightsaber a slashing glow. He

  barreled forward, aiming for the being's head. The being had to step away,

  ruining his aim. The laser cannon boomed, but it missed Ferus and thudded

  into the kitchen sink. Water shot into the air, and flames erupted.

  "Go!" Obi-Wan shouted.

  Ferus helped Dona to rise. Together they rushed from the kitchen. Even

  as he moved to bring Dona to safety, Ferus's mind worked furiously. He

  couldn't leave Obi-Wan.

  Ferus raced to a hidden compartment in the hallway wall. He knew where

  all the weaponry was concealed in the house. He slung a blaster rifle over

  his arm and loaded his pockets with C16 grenades. He tossed Dona a few, and

  she tucked them in her belt. He knew she always had a blaster strapped to

  her ribs. He slid out an electrojabber and held it by his side as he

  hurried her along down the hall, blasterfire ripping through the roof over

  their heads and blasting through the floorboards.

  Dona reached the trapdoor hidden in the floor and pressed the release.

  Ferus helped her inside the opening. "Go," he said. "Get to the village.

  They don't want you. Only me."

  "I can't leave you."

  He took both of her hands in his as the house shuddered with the

  impact of another laser cannon blast. "You have done enough. More than

  enough. I'll never forget it. Plus, this house is about to be destroyed.

  Now get out of here."

  She let go of his hands and slid down the ramp.

  Ferus raced back to the kitchen. In a glance, he saw that Obi-Wan had

  succeeded in keeping the intruder trapped in the doorway. The intruder,

  meanwhile, had succeeded in destroying the kitchen. Fire blazed along one

  wall, and the other was partially demolished. Obi-Wan was busy avoiding the

  strafing fire from the attacking ship above and the pounding of the laser

  cannon on the creature's head.

  Ferus used the electrojabber like a javelin, and threw it. It smashed

  into the creature's chest and stayed there. Although the cyborg was

  armored, the force of the blow sent it staggering backward and paralyzed it

  momentarily. It crashed to its knees.

  "This way!" Ferus shouted to Obi-Wan.

  He had left the trapdoor open. Obi-Wan sailed in and slid down the

  ramp. Ferus followed, hitting the control as he went. The trapdoor slid

  smoothly shut after them.

  Sound became muffled as they slid down to the floor and got to their

  feet.

  "There's an entrance to the old mining tunnels we can access down

  here."

  "Where's Dona?" Obi-Wan asked.

  "I sent her ahead to the village. We'd better not go that way. If they

  do manage to find the tunnels, we should lead them away from her."

  Obi-Wan nodded. "Let's get moving."

  Ferus put his hand on what appeared to be sheer rock. The sensor was

  exactly where Dona had showed him. The hidden door opened smoothly, and

  they stepped inside.

  "These used to be mutonium mines, before the mineral ran out. There's

  a maze of tunnels all through the mountains. Dona explored them when she

  first arrived here - she knows them like the back of her hand. She gave me

  a lesson on direction a couple of days after I arrived, in case I had to

  escape alone. I have a general idea of how to get to the other side of the

  mountain. Maybe they won't figure out how to get down here."

  "Somehow I doubt that," Obi-Wan said. "Lead on."

  Ferus started down the tunnel. The miners had blasted through rock to

  form the tunnels, and they were reinforced with large durasteel beams that

  served as supports. The glow lamps no longer worked, but Ferus's eyes

  adjusted quickly, and they were able to move faster.

  "Do you think they followed you here?"

  "No," Obi-Wan said. "No one tailed me from the landing spot. They

  found you another way. The cyborg with the laser cannon for a head - "

  "Handsome creature. Charming way to introduce oneself. Why knock when

  you can blast a door down?"

  " - any ideas on who sent him?"

  "I heard a rumor in prison, that Malorum had a team of bounty hunters

  working for him. One was called D'harhan, a cyborg that was more like a

  walking assault weapon. Must be him. I never heard about a Firespray."

  But Obi-Wan had an idea about the second one....

  "I wish I knew what was happening up there," Obi-Wan said, with a

  glance up at the tunnel ceiling.

  "Once you closed the door to the mines behind you, it activated a

  warning. The next one who tries to open it will detonate a small explosive

  charge," Ferus explained as he hurried down the tunnel. "We should be able

  to hear it down here. Then we'll know they found the tunnel."

  Ferus's heart was pounding, but it wasn't the aftermath of the

  assault. All he could think of was the citizens of Ussa slated for

  execution. "Every minute I spend down here is a minute I'm not traveling to

  Ussa. The executions are scheduled to start in less than a day."

  "You must focus on the present moment," Obi-Wan said. "Not on what

  might happen."

  "Obi-Wan, I'm warning you," Ferus said. "If you keep sounding like a

  Jedi Code doc, we are really not going to get along."

  "So, what are we looking for?" Obi-Wan asked. "Water. I know there's

  an exit by an underground lake."

  They kept on going, pressing on. Suddenly, they heard a muffled thump.

  "I guess they found the door," Ferus muttered.

  They quickened their pace, almost running now.

  Ferus doubted the explosion had stopped them. Although it would be a

  nice bonus if it had blown that laser cannon into a few choice pieces of

  scrap.

  "Even if they survived that blast, there's no way they can find us,"

  Ferus finally said. "The tunnels are a maze, and they'll get lost. I'm

  lost. There's no
way they - "

  They heard the whistle of the rocket behind them. They dived to the

  floor as it zoomed overhead and thudded into the rock. The ceiling tilted,

  and rocks rained down, but the tunnel did not collapse.

  "You were saying?" Obi-Wan asked.

  "Who are those guys?" Ferus asked, coughing out the grit from his

  lungs, and they started to run.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  The smaller one wore armor, a helmet, and wrist and knee rockets. Obi-

  Wan could deflect the blaster fire with his lightsaber, but that meant he

  had to keep turning, and the only thing that could protect them from the

  laser cannon was running. Luckily, their pursuers had to be somewhat

  careful. Too much cannonfire could bring down the tunnel on all of them.

  He hadn't used his lightsaber in so many long months. Yet it felt

  perfectly balanced in his hand, and his movements were quick and graceful.

  He was able to run and twist to deflect fire, able to leap and whirl, his

  lightsaber in a controlled arc of movement, and not have to think about how