[Last Of The Jedi] - 05(10)

Wil grinned. “You didn’t tell us you were a Jedi.”

Solace clipped her lightsaber back onto her utility belt. “You didn’t ask.”

“Let’s get out of here,” Arnie said. “Another squad will show up before long.”

They all squeezed into the speeder. “You should lay low for a while,” Wil said, shooting out of the hangar and steering away from the house-to-house search. “When they find the stormtroopers, they’ll put a lockdown on the city.”

“Good advice, but we don’t have time to lay low,” Solace said. “Take us to the Imperial landing platform.”





CHAPTER FIVE


Ferus had been in the city systems computer center for hours now. The room hummed with the intricate panels and datascreens, all controlled by a giant droid known as Platform-7. It was a variant of a BRT droid computer, big as a room, especially built to run Sath. Here, everything having to do with the city functions was tracked — space lanes, glowlamps, public fountains and parks, the power grid, the credit systems of all businesses. When the center had functioned smoothly, it had made living and working in Sath easy. Now that it was malfunctioning, it was almost impossible to trace where and how it had gone wrong.

Bog had stayed for only a short time, eager for Ferus to solve the problem. He’d become bored quickly and had left, with a hearty command to contact him as soon as he’d found the problem.

Ferus was no closer now to finding where the worm had originated than he had been when he arrived. He stared at the datascreens with their streaming code, his eyes burning. He had expected cleverness, but this was diabolical.

Usually, computer thieves couldn’t help but leave fingerprints, little eccentricities of code that you could follow if you knew what to look for. Some led to dead ends, but eventually he was able to follow the code back to the source. Not this time.

Ferus pushed away from the console and closed his eyes. This was a matter the Force couldn’t help him with. He had a feeling he was going about this the wrong way. He couldn’t use any of his old methods. He had to think in a new way.

Motive. Why would somebody foul up an entire city?

The first thing he thought was that they would attempt to steal a large amount of credits from the City Bank, where all transactions were recorded and all wealth was deposited. But that area checked out. No attempts had been made. He wondered if a citizen had been trying to get out of paying the heavy taxes most Sathans paid in order to live in such a smoothly functioning society, where all of their needs were met. But if that were the case, there was no way to track it. Along with birth and death records, the tax rolls were a mess.

Maybe the culprits were trying to cover something up. Maybe it was revenge. Ferus spun around in his chair, trying to think. Without detailed knowledge of Sathan society, he couldn’t begin to puzzle out emotional motives. He was reluctant to go that route until he had to. He’d rather attack the problem at its source.

Suddenly an idea made him bolt upright.

Ferus thought a moment, then typed in a span of dates, requesting city records for vehicle purchases.

Checking, the computer replied.

It didn’t matter what the motive was. Whoever did this had to get off the planet. Ferus had a hunch. The Empire had shut down the spaceport in record time. What if the saboteur had intended to leave but was trapped on Sath?

If his luck was with him, the registration names would pop up. The random nature of the bug meant that some systems still worked, as long as no one checked them. He’d have a few seconds, that’s all.

In minutes, a long list of names flashed up on the datascreen.

Ferus hit the buttons to print it out, but in reply his screen read, Sorry, unable.

It was the same answer he’d been getting all morning. By this time, he was imagining he heard regret in the computer’s bland, agreeable tone.

He’d have to memorize the names, and fast.

Bog stuck his head in the door. “Any progress?”

“No,” Ferus replied shortly. He moved through the names, trying to memorize them. It was similar to a Temple exercise when he was a Padawan. But he feared his mind had been sharper when he was a boy. Distracted, he moved through the list again.

Bog walked in and read over his shoulder. “Vehicle Purchase Registration Request Records? What does this have to do with anything?”

The names began to slither and slide offscreen, a sure sign that even though he’d been able to access them, another part of the system was now breaking down. “Nothing, and everything,” Ferus told Bog. “I have to check each component of the city records to see if I can find the hidden bug.” The names suddenly disappeared and the screen went blank. Ferus hit a few keystrokes.