Star Wars: The Last of the Jedi, Volume 9 (11 page)

“If you must.”

He got the distinct impression when he disconnected that she was either exasperated at his incompetence or suspected his loyalty. Neither was a good sign.

Sitting in on interviews with Alderaan citizens with Hydra gave Ferus a close-up look at dignity and fear.

Dignity: The Alderaanians detested them but treated them with courtesy.

Fear: The Alderaanians knew the Inquisitors had the power to throw them in an Imperial prison without trial or charges.

Hydra was good at her job. He watched the way she inspected the dwellings, her gaze lingering on family holo-photos, the way she asked detailed questions about the ages of the children. She held
their fear in her hands and squeezed.

The interviews made Ferus feel ill.
I need to stop doing this. I’m not cut out for it.

The Sith Holocron whispered in his head, in his own voice,
You underestimate your ability to be cruel.

By the end of the day, Hydra was barely concealing her fury. None of the Alderaanians gave up a single name of anyone they knew at the park. They all claimed that the park was
too crowded, they didn’t know anyone that day, or maybe they would provide a first name, a common name that would be impossible to trace. Hydra even interviewed the children and drew the same
response. It was obvious that the children had been prepared as well as the adults.

It reminded him of the solidarity and courage of the resistance on his homeworld of Bellassa. It made him proud.

Hydra checked her data list at the end of the day. “I can always do a second round of interviews. Maybe start detentions off-planet.”

“I don’t think this warrants it,” Ferus said. “Let me see the list.” He checked over the names that Hydra had compiled. “You missed a name,” he said.
“Sona Ziemba.” He would have let it pass, but it wasn’t like Hydra to overlook something. Why had she?

She glanced at it. He saw no expression on her face. “Let’s check it out.”

Sona Ziemba lived in a large apartment block nearby. The building was in a crowded neighborhood of workers. It was the time of workers going home, of preparations for the
evening meal, of the satisfaction of a day well spent, and Ferus felt his own isolation even more keenly as life swirled around him. He was apart from all this now.

There is nothing here for you to miss. Ordinary life is nothing.

No, ordinary life was everything.

You are kidding yourself. Recognize that and begin a more important journey.

His thoughts were so loud he wondered if Hydra could hear them.

They took a turbolift up to the fifty-third floor. They rang the bell at the apartment and a pretty woman answered the door. A dark-haired girl raced behind her, chasing a toy. To his surprise,
Ferus recognized them. He’d seen them the very first day. The girl’s name was Tula.

The woman’s face froze when she saw their Inquisitor’s cloaks.

“Sona Ziemba?”

Slowly, the woman nodded. Her eyes darted from Hydra to Ferus.

“I am Imperial Inquisitor Hydra, and this is Head Inquisitor Ferus Olin. We have a few questions for you regarding your presence in Grasslands Park one week ago Thursday.”

Hydra walked past her, not waiting for the woman to invite her in. Ferus followed.

“Were you there on that day?”

“I’m there every day.” Sona Ziemba swallowed. “With my daughter. My husband and I had a business, and it failed. And my mother…she used to take care of Tula, and she
died last fall…so I take her there every day….”

Ferus recognized the signs of someone giving more information than needed because they were nervous.

“Did you know about the incident where someone almost fell into the sea when a barrier wall gave way?” Hydra asked.

“I didn’t see it.”

“But you know about it?”

“Some of the mothers and fathers were talking about it, yes. We talk…”

Hydra whipped out her datapad. “Can you give me names?”

A slight hesitation alerted Ferus that the woman was about to lie. “I don’t know their names. Just the other parents. We just chat sometimes. We don’t ask each other’s
names.”

Hydra made a notation.

The door opened behind them. A tall, thin man walked in, his arm filled with a basket of food.

Again, Ferus was surprised. He had seen that man the first day at the park, through his electrobinoculars. Now he realized why the shadowy spy looked familiar. They were the same.

“Dartan!” Sona said with relief. “You’re home. These are Imperial Inquisitors. They’re asking about Grasslands…something that happened there.”

“Strictly routine,” Hydra said.

Ferus felt the back of his neck prickle. Hydra had given the man an
It’s all right
signal. She’d hidden it well, but he had seen it. Hydra knew the man was a spy. And Ferus
was guessing that the man’s wife did not.

That was why Hydra hadn’t bothered to investigate this woman. There was no need. If Sona Ziemba had known something, she would have told her husband. And it would have gone straight into
his report.

Looking around the tiny apartment, Ferus felt a rush of sympathy. This family didn’t have much. The wife had lost her job.

Dartan put the basket down. Ferus recognized food from the market. Perhaps Dartan worked there.

No doubt he had been corrupted by the idea of wealth for his family. That’s how many spies were recruited.
Just keep your eyes and ears open,
the Imperial recruiter would say in a
friendly way.
You don’t have to betray your neighbors. Just give us bits of information.

And so the person would pass along something, then another thing, and before he knew it he was compromised. He would be asked to do more and more until he found himself on top of a warehouse
building with electrobinoculars trained on the main spaceport. And then there was no turning back.

One day he would realize that he’d betrayed not only his neighbors, but everything he believed in.

Now Ferus knew how it happened. Dartan had been bored with the spaceport, had turned his electrobinoculars down to the park to seek out his wife and daughter…and had seen the incident with
Leia. He had reported it because he had nothing else.

“You work at the market?” Ferus asked.

Dartan nodded.

“Have a good evening,” Hydra said. “We’ll contact you again if we need to.”

As they descended to street level, Hydra spoke. “An Imperial Governor will be arriving tomorrow,” she said with satisfaction. “Organa forced the Emperor to take a stand here.
It was a stupid move to send Antilles fleeing when Lord Vader arrived. Did he think the Empire’s reach didn’t extend to TerraAsta?” She snorted. “So much for his so-called
intellect. Alderaan will soon discover that it can’t operate if it doesn’t cooperate with us.”

Ferus walked out into the soft evening air. His mind buzzed with the information Hydra had just dropped.

Dartan Ziemba couldn’t have reported that Raymus Antilles had left Alderaan. He had left secretly. Bail had sent Raymus Antilles to the TerraAsta spaceport in a personal communication in
front of only a few trusted people in the palace. Someone must have overheard, or have placed a bug in the reception room.

There was another spy on Alderaan.

Only this spy was more dangerous. This spy was at the palace.

Ferus was in his quarters when the signal appeared on the emergency coded channel. Obi-Wan had surfaced at last.

Ferus felt the balled-up frustration of the past days. He didn’t bother greeting Obi-Wan. “You
knew
that Leia Organa was the Force-sensitive child!” he spit out at
Obi-Wan.

Obi-Wan’s lined face was impassive. “Ferus—”

“Don’t deny it.”

“I’m not denying it.”

“You could have saved me a whole lot of trouble! Why did you let me fly blind on this case?”

“I didn’t tell you for two reasons. One, I wasn’t positive it was Leia Organa. And two, if it was her, the only way I’d know how vulnerable she was would be to let you
track her.”

Ferus shook his head. “I can’t even follow that
sentence,
let alone your reasoning.”

“I had to know if there was a spy on Alderaan. The only way to know was for you to follow in his or her footsteps…without knowing it.”

“Well, let’s elect you Minister of Withholding Information, then,” Ferus said furiously. “I’ve been chasing around Aldera like an idiot.”

Obi-Wan grinned. Ferus’s annoyance grew. That smile of Obi-Wan’s—so rare, and then so engaging when it appeared. That hadn’t changed.

“Hardly an idiot,” Obi-Wan said. “You found out who Leia was. That means she’s more vulnerable than I thought. I bet you found the spy who turned her in.”

“No thanks to you,” Ferus muttered.

“Tell me about Leia,” Obi-Wan said unexpectedly. “Is she strong in the Force?”

“It’s hard to say,” Ferus said. “I didn’t pick up anything at first. She definitely has a Force-connection, but without support or training it will likely wither.
She will have it, but those around her won’t know it. She will be exceptionally quick and bright, perhaps, with fast reflexes. Right now she is vulnerable to being picked up only by another
Jedi.”

“Or a Sith.”

“Or a Sith, yes. As the years pass, this will change.”

“Tell me about the spy.”

“The spy isn’t the problem. My take is that he’s a low-level functionary, a spotter. It’s clear he’s doing it for the money. He has a post overlooking the main
spaceport. Probably reports on unusual arrivals and departures. I’m guessing he saw what happened with Leia that morning and reported it because he didn’t have anything else to give
them. I know he tracked some kind of shipment through the spaceport. But what it is and why, I don’t know.”

“So what is the problem?”

“There’s a mole in the palace. Another spy. Someone close, who Bail trusts.”

Obi-Wan let out a breath. “How do you know?”

“Someone reported where Raymus Antilles was going to break his journey at the TerraAsta spaceport. The only ones who knew were Bail’s inner circle. A servant could have been
listening. He trusts everyone in that place.”

“You have to tell him.”

“I’m the enemy, remember? Bail doesn’t trust me. I have to help him without him knowing that I’m helping him. I can’t keep turning up at the palace for no reason.
Unless you have a suggestion.” Ferus said this last sentence with a twist of irony. So far, Obi-Wan hadn’t been much help.

“I’ll talk to Bail,” Obi-Wan said. “I’ll tell him you’re on our side. He’ll believe me.”

“You’re going to let Bail know that you’re alive?” Ferus asked, surprised.

“He already knows,” Obi-Wan said.

Ferus almost threw the comlink against the wall.

“Is there anything else you’re not telling me?” he barked.

“There is a great deal,” Obi-Wan said, “but it wouldn’t help you to know it.”

“So you say.”

“Go to the palace,” Obi-Wan said. “I’ll contact Bail.”

His reception this time was completely different. Once they were in private, Bail welcomed him warmly, grasping his shoulder as he shook his hand. “You are doing
important work,” he said. “Those of us who oppose the Empire owe you a debt.”

“You put yourself on the line every day in the Senate,” Ferus said. “I should be thanking you.”

“Come into my study. We can talk with our friend.” Bail ushered Ferus into his study. A hologram of Obi-Wan was waiting there. “I sent everyone out of the palace today at
Obi-Wan’s request,” Bail said. “And I upgraded to highest security in my office. Everything we say will be scrambled, coded, and then erased.” He turned to Obi-Wan.
“Now, my good friend, tell me why you asked for these things.”

“Ferus believes that there is a spy in your household,” Obi-Wan said.

“Impossible,” Bail answered immediately. “Everyone here is either family or friend. Even the servants.”

“Even if that’s so,” Ferus said, “I heard from Hydra that Imperial security knew beforehand that Raymus Antilles would be landing at TerraAsta. It was not a random stop.
He was targeted.”

“But when I gave Antilles that order, there were only Breha and Deara present,” Bail said.

“Someone must have been listening,” Ferus said.

Bail shook his head slowly. “I can’t believe it.”

“You have to believe it,” Obi-Wan said. “You have to set a trap for the spy. To have one that close is dangerous not just to you…”

“But to Leia as well,” Bail said. “Yes, I see that.”

“We have to set a trap,” Ferus said.

Bail nodded his agreement before turning to Obi-Wan. “I’m glad you contacted me. Something has been on my mind. Have you heard of a group called Moonstrike?”

“Yes,” Obi-Wan said. “Ferus has done a few favors for the leader, Flame.”

“She contacted me about Alderaan joining the group. Apparently there is to be a first meeting of resistance leaders from planets in the Core. Mon Mothma and I have decided to go very
slowly with our resistance efforts. What will be strong must be built with care. But Flame has a different take. Perhaps a better strategy is to strike now, when the Empire is just beginning to
consolidate its power. Alderaan is vulnerable. Things are changing so fast. I want to protect my homeworld if I can. If we had alliances willing to help us….” Bail let his voice trail
off.