Wil and Amie looked at Roan. “What happened?” Wil asked him.
“Ferus contacted me. It’s tonight,” he said. “He has some sort of contact at the factory who will help us.”
“Good,” Wil said.
“The question is, who should go? We only have a fifteen-minute window. Ferus’s contact will shut down security at three in the morning. We could open this up to more members of the Eleven, but it would take time to set up. I think a three-person team makes sense. We can do more exploring that way. We’ll hit the computer system and search the main office. Wil, you’re out because of your injury. And, Dona, there’s nobody better I’d want watching my back, but you don’t have experience with this kind of thing. So anybody want to volunteer?”
Everyone raised a hand. Even Dona.
Roan smiled and leaned back. “All I can say is, it’s good to be back on Bellassa.”
“I should go,” Trever said. “I know how to work with Ferus. I know what he’s thinking, and believe it or not, I can obey orders.”
“I want to go,” Amie said. “I have got the most scientific background. If we’re lucky enough to get into the computer files, I can translate any technical jargon.”
Amie and Roan looked at Trever.
“Don’t say I’m too young, because that always sends me into a full-scale laser cannon mode,” Trever said. “Besides, I’m better at sneaking in and out of places than all of you put together.”
“Can’t argue with that,” Roan said.
“All right, it’s decided,” Wil said. “Roan, Amie, and Trever. Tonight.”
Chapter Sixteen
In his rough traveler’s clothes, Ry-Gaul looked like countless others, beings uprooted by the Clone Wars and the Imperial takeover and looking for a place to call home again. But as she walked beside him, Solace could feel the strength of the Force.
“How did you escape Order Sixty-six?” Solace asked.
“I was on a secret mission,” he said. “Only Yoda knew about it. I was on a world in the Outer Rim, under cover. I left Tru Veld at the Temple. He was working on a valuable research project.”
“The Temple was invaded,” Solace said. “Everyone was killed.”
Ry-Gaul closed his eyes for a moment. “I thought he’d be safer at the Temple. If he’d come with me, he would be alive.”
“Decisions are not for regret, but for understanding ” Solace said. The familiar words of a Jedi saying felt soothing in her mouth.
“I heard the lies the Empire was spreading about the Jedi one day in a cantina,” he said. “I realized that everyone I knew was dead.” He looked down at his large, white hands. “I wanted to go back to Coruscant immediately, but I was almost caught at a checkpoint as I tried to make my way there. A couple a man and wife rescued me. They smuggled me back to their homeworld and offered me a place to stay. They were scientists. They found me a new identity, and I was readying myself to leave again when they disappeared. I’ve been looking for them ever since.”
“Well, you’ve attracted the notice of the Empire,” Solace told him.
“I know. But I couldn’t stop looking. The more I looked, the more I uncovered. Other scientists are missing. Some go willingly. Others seem to have been forced. And I’m sure the Empire is behind it.”
“They’re using them for something,” Solace said, looking at the others. “We have to tell Dex about this.”
“Ferus should know about it, too,” Clive said. “It might help him on Bellassa.”
“We’re close to the Orange District,” Solace said. “You’ll be safe there.”
They took a lift tube down a hundred levels to the Orange District. They walked quickly through the passages, taking the smaller streets. They approached the long, serpentine alley where Dex’s safe house was located.
“Look, there’s Lune,” Astri said, a surge of happiness lighting her voice.
She started toward the group. Solace tensed. She noticed that Curran and Keets were careful to keep him in front of them, shielding him from the street. Instead of turning into the alley, they went left.
“Astri, wait,” Solace said. “Something’s wrong.”
It was an absolute rule that anyone who suspected they were followed must not turn down the alley. It could expose Dex’s safe house.
Worried now, Solace split off from the group and quickened her pace.
She was too late.
The stormtroopers burst out of an unmarked airspeeder and released seeker droids with blasters into the air. The blasterfire caught Curran, who went down. Keets wheeled around, holding Lune tightly against him. Solace leaped toward the airspeeder, her lightsaber held aloft.