“I contacted Flame. You’re both going to Coruscant.”
“I want to help here!”
“You can’t, Trever. It’s only a matter of time before they start looking for you, too. They’ve traced the vehicle that you and Amie and Roan took to the factory, and they know you were part of the group. There was a hidden security cam at a checkpoint. Flame has volunteered to get you off-planet, and Dexter Jettster has agreed to allow both of you to enter his safe house on Coruscant. You have friends there who are waiting for you.”
Trever looked from Wil to Dona. What they weren’t saying, but what he knew, was that if he insisted on remaining, he would endanger all of them. He had to find the courage not to stay but to leave.
He rarely thought about whether he was brave. He had bounced from one situation to another and held himself together more out of stubbornness than anything else. Courage didn’t live in him, the way it had lived in Roan. Trever knew now that he had never been brave before, only ignorant. Despite the battles he’d seen, the things he’d witnessed, he’d never truly realized what he was up against until last night.
He couldn’t find his courage. He just had to accept his fear. And keep on going.
He nodded his agreement. In his heart he said his first good-bye to Roan. He knew that letting go of Roan would be done by centimeters, a small bit at a time.
But he did not say good-bye to Ferus. He would see him again. If he let go of that hope, he would let go of too much.
During the flight to Coruscant, Flame let him be, allowing a comfortable silence that gave him room to sleep and try to eat and gather himself for whatever came next. Dex had arranged a landing site for her, and she concealed the ship in a hangar that held many battered, and no doubt unregistered, vehicles.
“Coruscant is finding ways to get around the Empire,” Trever said, looking around.
“It’s inevitable,” Flame said. “Even a powerful government can’t patrol every centimeter of space.” She turned to him. “We find the places they can’t get to, and we hide there.”
Trever thought of the asteroid base. A tiny wisp of hope, as ghostly as smoke, twined through him. He climbed out of the starship and trailed behind Flame as she strode toward the turbolift.
They descended to the Orange District. Trever remembered the way. He never forgot a route. He led the way now, through the twisting amber-toned streets, to the alley full of switchbacks and dead ends that led to Dex’s safe house.
They walked into chaos. Astri stood, straining to get around Oryon, who was blocking the door with his large frame. Keets sat on the steps, his head in his hands. Curran, his shoulder bandaged, leaned against the wall. And Dex in a repulsorlift chair, floated nearby, his four hands gesticulating, one pair clasped, the other waving.
“Astri, we can help you if you let us,” Dex was saying. “We need a plan.”
“I can do it myself. We’re wasting time!” Astri stamped her boot. “With every second you’re holding me back, they’re taking him away! He could be off-planet at any moment, he could be anywhere!”
“What happened to Lune?” Trever asked, stricken. No one answered him.
“We know where he is.” Curran’s voice was soft. “That’s what we’re trying to tell you.”
“Where is he?” Astri wheeled to confront him.
“We need a plan,” Oryon repeated. “You can’t go there and ”
“Where is he?” Astri screamed.
“He’s been taken to the Imperial Naval Academy,” Dex said. “He’s been enrolled.”
“Bog,” Astri said bitterly. “I knew he was behind this; I just didn’t think he could have the wits to pull it off.”
“He didn’t need wits, he needed resources,” Clive said. “He has that now. Sano Sauro is in charge of the academy. It’s a demotion for him, but Bog and Sauro are allies from way back, as you know.”
“You can’t go running there by yourself,” Dex said. “There’s high security all around it. Even parents can’t get in if they don’t have clearance. And you won’t have clearance.”
“So what’s your great plan?” Astri asked, a challenge in her voice. Her chin lifted, and her eyes flashed her defiance. Trever could see she didn’t trust anyone to go after Lune but herself.
The others exchanged glances. “Well, we dont have one yet,” Oryon admitted. “We just discovered where he was a few minutes ago.”
“Astri, my lovely, you’ve got to trust us,” Clive said. “Such as we are. Look around. We have plenty of skills here. We’ll figure it out. We’ll get him back. All of us.”