Free Star Wars: The Last of the Jedi, Volume 3 by Jude Watson Page B

a rank odor. “Careful,” he said. “Looks like some toxic waste down here.”
    “The system must have been primitive,” Rhya said. “They used rails for transport.”
    Keets looked up. “There are still conduit lines in the ceiling. I wonder where they lead.”
    “It sure doesn’t look like Solace,” Hume said. “But the tunnel could lead us there.”
    Ferus heard a whisper above. That was his only warning as a black shape suddenly dropped from the ceiling into their path.
    He didn’t have time to grab his lightsaber hidden in his cloak. That’s how fast the creature was.
    He was a short being, with compact muscles, and wore a close-fitting helmet over his features. His waist was tightly cinched with a belt that held a variety of weapons. He didn’t assume a
threatening pose, however. He seemed casual as he watched them move closer, the Erased all holding their weapons and training them on him.
    “You mentioned Solace,” he said.
    Ferus nodded, watching him warily. “We want to go there.”
    Gilly and Spence moved to the man’s rear, and Keets, Oryon, Hume, and Rhya moved in even closer. The intruder didn’t seem rattled in the least.
    “I can take you,” he said. “It will cost you.”
    “Why should we trust you?” Trever asked.
    “Because your choices are limited here at the crust,” he replied. “Either find it yourself, or use me.”
    “How do we know you can find it?” Keets asked.
    “Because I’ve been there. I’m the only one who’s been there and has come back.”
    They knew part of what he said was true. They had heard of those who’d gone to Solace, but they’d never heard of one who had returned.
    “You’ve got to do better than that,” Ferus said.
    “What many don’t know is that long ago, before Coruscant was a city-world, it had vast oceans,” the intruder said. “The oceans were drained and pumped into caverns below
the crust. That’s where you’ll find Solace.”
    The others exchanged glances. It sounded real to them. It made sense. That was why it was safe, why even the Empire would have a hard time finding it.
    “What’s your name?” Ferus asked.
    “Just call me Guide,” the intruder replied. “I left my name behind long ago. Like you, I have wiped out all traces of my past.”
    Something is off here
, Ferus thought. There was something odd about Guide. But then again, there was something odd about everyone down here.
    Guide was right. They didn’t have much choice. It was the only lead they’d found since they started. Slowly, Ferus nodded.
    “Take us there,” he said.

Guide held up a glowlamp. “Best to keep close down here. Watch out for duracrete slugs. They’re especially aggressive.”
    “I think we’ve already been introduced,” Trever muttered.
    They kept to the middle of the tunnel as they walked. The walls dripped moisture. Occasionally they would pass a reeking toxic pool, glowing strangely in the darkness. They heard slithering
noises, but no creatures appeared.
    “The original cities of Coruscant were built on the crust, centuries ago,” Guide explained as they walked. “Much of the infrastructure is still underground. Most of the water
and power tunnels have caved in, but there was a people-moving system that relied on some sort of primitive engine that connected to a track in the ground. These tunnels were built out of blocks of
stone, and some are still intact. Later they were used to pump the oceans into the caverns. That’s where we’re going.”
    They walked until they lost a sense of where they were and whether it was day or night above them. Ferus began to feel the lack of sleep and decent food. He pushed on.
    Suddenly he heard the echo of lapping water. Guide stopped. “The water will grow deeper, but we’ll come to catwalks that will take us above it.”
    Soon they splashed through ankle-deep water. Up ahead he saw a crude stairway, and as Ferus followed the stairs with his eyes he saw that it connected to a series