“Trever!” Flame called. “We’ve got to go now!”
“Go,” Ferus said. “Promise me you’ll get back to the base.”
Trever held his gaze. He said nothing.
Trever turned his back and started up the ramp.
“No matter what, I’ll find you!” Ferus called.
Trever didn’t turn.
Ferus felt a wrenching in his heart, a feeling he was making a terrible mistake. He stood, watching the ship take off.
May the Force be with him.
Chapter Eighteen
Ferus sensed the change in activity as he entered Imperial headquarters. Officers rushed by. Service droids were loaded onto gravsleds. Bog Divinian had been legally elected, and now the Imperials could truly take charge.
“Ferus!”
Aaren Larker appeared, coming out of a narrow side corridor. He beckoned to Ferus, who followed him into a small meeting room.
“I was hoping I would find you.”
“I’m sorry about the vote.”
“I should have seen it coming,” Larker said bitterly. “I counted on the loyalty of those who once were my friends. And now my Roshan friend will die for my blindness.”
“Robbyn Sark is safe, I hope,” Ferns reported. “By now he should be off-planet and on his way to Rosha.”
“Thank the stars,” Larker said. “Now, I have a proposition for you. I heard that you’ve been ordered to find the thief of Bog’s droid. No doubt Vader wants you to produce anyone with ties to Rosha.”
“I can produce no one,” Ferus said.
“Yes, you can,” Larker said. “Me.”
“You didn’t steal Bog’s droid,” Ferus said.
“So you do know who stole it.” Larker smiled. “Nonetheless, I will take the credit for it.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Vader is going to turn this city upside down just to prove a point. I can’t let that happen. I can give this to my city, at least.”
“I won’t let you do it,” Ferus said. “You’ll be arrested.”
“They won’t arrest me,” Larker argued. “I may not be the prime minister any longer, but I still have enough of a following on Samaria for them to be cautious. I can claim that I was trying to find evidence of Bog’s bribes. The accusation is out there, thanks to the resistance. There will be some who’ll believe me. It’s worth a shot if I’m to keep my base of support.”
Larker put his hand on Ferus’s arm. “I’m the only one Vader will believe. And if he has an excuse to go raiding the city, you and I know he’ll use it as an excuse to locate any resistance members.”
“Vader hardly needs an excuse.”
“Sath doesn’t need any more unrest. I promise you, as long as I agree to publicly support Bog’s story, he’ll let me go. They’ve gotten exactly what they wanted.”
“I can’t let you do this,” Ferus said.
“It’s done,” Larker said, and walked out the door.
Two days later, Ferus sat in the BRT computer room, his head in his hands. He had just heard the news.
Aaren Larker had been arrested and charged with theft and conspiracy. He was taken to a Samarian prison. On his first day there, he was killed by a guard. Official reason: He was trying to escape.
Ferus had no doubt that Darth Vader had given the order to have him killed. Larker had underestimated Vader’s cruelty. Vader didn’t care about how it would look. All he wanted was control. Now he had it.
Dinko had been arrested. Ferus had been unable to contact Nek or Firefolk.
He’d heard no news from Rosha. With the HoloNet down, there was no way to hear anything except through official Imperial reports, which he could not trust.
He still didn’t know if the Roshan delegation had made it out of Samarian airspace, but he assumed
Flame had been successful or he would have heard.
He felt a surge of sickness wash over him, and he raised his head just in time to see Darth Vader at his door. Loathing and rage surged through him.
Murderer, he thought.
“The inauguration is starting soon.”
Ferus stood.
“The HoloNet is back up again,” Vader said. “Perhaps you will be interested in its first broadcast.”
Vader waved his gloved hand over the sensor, and the screen blazed to life.
At first, Ferus couldn’t make sense of what he was seeing. Explosions. Stormtroopers rushing through an official building. But it wasn’t Sath he was looking at.
The Samarian announcer spoke in triumphant tones. “The invasion of Rosha has begun. Their constant refusals to allow Samarian access to their technologies has resulted in a blow for liberty.”
Smoke and fire. Devastation and destruction.