Free [Last Of The Jedi] - 07 by Secret Weapon (Jude Watson) Page A

able to lose himself in the crowd.
    He wasn’t followed; he was sure of that. He walked down the familiar streets. Despite the fact that he was worried and frazzled and worn out, he felt something in him lift. Just to be walking these streets, without an escort. Just to be himself, no matter how short a time.
    Before they had both left for the Clone Wars, he and Roan had talked about what they would do if they were separated, if Bellassa were overrun, if… There were so many ifs in those days, Ferus thought. But not nearly as many as now. So they had staked out several areas in and around Ussa for a meeting, then assigned each place a code. They also chose several places in the city and several methods to alert each other. Ferus hadn’t forgotten any of it.
    Roan had indicated to him to proceed to their third secret meeting place, in the Cloud Lake District, near their old office. It was a large, bustling cafe. Ferus entered, carefully keeping his hood over his face so that he wouldn’t be recognized. He knew this cafe well. Roan had no doubt chosen it because it was always crowded, and it had three entrances and exits.
    Roan was waiting.
    Ferus kept moving, but his eyes blurred and it was hard to see. The cafe was full, and it was a swirl of color and motion, of sound that hit his ears in a continuous roar. He felt overwhelmed by the sensation. It was home, and there was Roan, waiting. For one impossible moment it was as though nothing had changed.
    It was not the way a Jedi was supposed to see or hear. It was not the way a Jedi was supposed to feel. A Jedi shouldn’t want to go back. A Jedi should accept where he was. He was conscious of Dona at a nearby table. That helped to steady him. He was able to survey the room, look for exits and strategies should they be discovered. Only then did he look back and feel pleasure at seeing Roan again.
    He sat at the table. “It was so strange to see you sitting here.”
    Roan knew exactly what he meant. “Like nothing had changed.”
    “When everything has.”
    Roan’s sad eyes were the same clear green-gray. He was growing healthier by the day. The torture procedures he’d undergone at the Imperial prison had not changed him as Ferus had feared they would.
    “Trever?” Ferus asked.
    “Is fine. He’s here, on Bellassa.”
    Ferus nodded. The relief he felt made his legs feel weak.
    “He came to the base in a new ship, thinking we’d all welcome him with open arms. Well, we welcomed him.”
    Ferus smiled. “At least he came back.” “That’s what he said.”
    Roan allowed a moment to pass, a moment of shared silence. His hands rested on the table, one hand cupped inside the other in a way that only Roan had.
    “Why did you call for me?” Ferus asked. He didn’t know how much time they had, but it wasn’t much.
    “The Eleven are concerned with your role on Bellassa,” Roan said. “Sentiment in Ussa is running against you. I realize that for you that’s a secondary consideration. But it is a blow to the resistance movement. And we’ve had many of those lately. Are you learning anything we can use?”
    “Not yet,” Ferus admitted. “I’m kept on a very short leash. But I did get a quick peek at Vader’s code cylinder files. There’s something on it called Twilight that I want to look into. A large-scale operation. And then there’s the question of the factory retooling here in Ussa. What’s really going on with that?”
    “Are the two related?”
    “Could be, but I don’t think so. Twilight has all the earmarks of a snare operation, like Order 66. The plans here involve something big, some kind of technology that the Empire is developing that’s so secret only a few at the top know about it.”
    “Who? Vader?”
    “Vader, for one. Moff Tarkin, too.”
    “Tarkin. He’s a nasty piece of work. Seems to have his fingers in plenty of pies.” Roan thought for a moment. “Can you get us in to where they keep records?”
    “I don’t know. I’ll have