“You’re Flame, aren’t you?” Trever asked.
“Who wants to know?”
“Your contact,” Trever said. “Toma sent me.”
Her gaze ticked up and down, from his boots to the top of his head. “Aren’t you a little young?”
Annoyed, Trever ignored the comment. “I’m Trever Flume. I started in the resistance on Bellassa.”
She popped a water canister and took a swallow, tossing another one to him. “How’d you hook up with Toma?”
“We share the same hideout. I’ve got an Imperial death mark on my head.” Trever tried not to sound like he was boasting, just stating a fact. He wanted this woman to know that he was someone to be reckoned with. “I’ve been traveling with Ferus Olin.”
She looked interested for the first time. “I’ve been trying to find Ferus Olin. He was a hero of the resistance on Bellassa. Then he disappeared.”
“Toma said you’re trying to network the resistance movements in the Core Worlds.”
“It’s a start. We’re not going to get anywhere if we’re not organized.” Flame sat astride a crystal formation that formed a sort of bench. “I’ve learned one thing in my life great wealth makes things happen. If we can fund resistance movements through one central organization, we can make progress. All it takes is wealth. Wealth creates opportunity. Simple.”
“Toma said you were one of the wealthiest citizens on Acherin.”
She smiled. “I was loaded. Now I’ve got quite a bit stashed here and there, and I’m looking for more investors. It’s not only freedom fighters who hate the Empire. There are some very rich businesspeople who fear their businesses being taken over. You can’t sell goods in a galaxy ruled by fear.”
“So are you in this for justice, or so you can create more wealth for yourself and your friends?” Trever asked.
“What’s the matter with both? I’m a realist, not a dreamer. Most beings aren’t idealists. Most want to know what’s in it for them.”
“You’re speaking my language,” Trever said admiringly.
“So, can you hook me up with Ferus Olin?”
“That’s why I’m here. Torna thought we might be able to help each other.”
She tossed the empty water canister into the speeder. “What’s his deal? What’s he trying to do?”
Trever wasn’t about to spill the beans on the secret Jedi base. “Since I’ve been with him, he’s been basically trying to escape from Imperial jails,” he said. “You’ll have to ask him that question.”
“I have another mission here,” Flame said. “I’ve got an idea that can help the resistance. What makes Samaria unique? And I don’t mean this place,” she said, waving a hand at the crystal formations around her. “Personal droids. Everyone has them including the Imperial advisor. They gave him one to thank him for saving the city.”
“He didn’t save the city,” Trever said. “He just took the credit.”
“Doesn’t matter. If he’s got a personal droid, that means it’s tracked his every move for the past two days. Listened in on every conversation. If we could get our hands on that droid… .”
“We might learn something.”
“And it will be a way to show the resistance that I mean business. Stealing it won’t be easy, though.”
Trever grinned. “It will be for me.”
Chapter Ten
Ferus was put through to the Emperor immediately. The hologram floated in front of him, full-size. Palpatine’s hood was drawn over his head, and Ferus could only see a trace of the yellowish skin, the slash of a mouth.
“I have located the resistance and delivered your message.”
“Excellent.”
“They will consider your offer.”
“Will they accept?”
Ferus was expecting this question. He thought the chance was zero, but he had to keep Palpatine happy and Vader away. “I think there is a slim chance,” he said. “They are disheartened because the majority of Samarians don’t support resistance. So they feel isolated. I don’t get the sense that there are very many of them. They don’t trust me, of course.”
“Continue to monitor the situation. Did you gain any information that would be helpful to Lord Vader?”
“Just a drop. The used speeder stand on Telos Street. But I’m sure they’ll change it now. I haven’t told him about it my orders were to report to you first.”
“I will inform him. You have done well, Ferus Olin.”
“Lord Vader isn’t happy that I’m reporting to you,” Ferus added. He was hoping to probe Palpatine a bit.