One stormtrooper began to call in the information, while two others went to the back of the skiff. Clive’s stomach twisted as they flung aside the tarp, but Amie had been hidden more cleverly than that. They stood examining the various items on the skiff.
Clive was just deciding on his next move when a streak of blasterfire suddenly ripped across the front of the Imperial airspeeder. A stormtrooper sitting in the Pilot seat was hit. The blast didn’t kill him but it did stun him. He was knocked backward, his helmet striking the seat.
Flame emerged from the crowd. In a flying leap, she booted the stormtrooper out of the seat and swung herself in. The airspeeder shot forward, plowing down the two stormtroopers who were inspecting the back of the skiff.
As the first stormtrooper reached for his blaster Flame vaulted over the back bed of the skiff and into the pilot seat. Dona jumped back aboard and the skiff took off. Blasterfire streaked through the air. Pedestrians flattened themselves on the roadway. Clive could see Ry-Gaul and Solace, concealed by the pileup of speeders, intercepting the fire with their lightsabers when they could.
The stormtroopers raced for their airspeeder. They ignored their injured comrade and jumped in.
Clive knew that the next move of the Jedi would be to engage the stormtroopers directly, probably through one of those Jedi Force-assisted giant leaps that would no doubt expose them to all and target them for a full-scale hunt.
He reached into his utility belt and withdrew two small objects. He threw them as hard as he could and watched in satisfaction as they hit the airspeeder’s two exhaust pipes.
The repulsorlift engine fired, then died. The stormtrooper pounded on the control panel. The engine started up and died again.
Flame and Dona were well away by now. Clive reversed direction and then strolled down an intersecting boulevard, Amazing what some dried blumfruit strips and a little synthplaster could do. Bounce right into an exhaust and clog it just enough to stop an airspeeder from its needed acceleration boost. Who needed a blaster when you had good tools?
“She’s hurt,” Dona said.
Dona supported Flame as they staggered into the safe house. Amie hurried behind. The others crowded forward to ask questions, but Amie held up a hand.
“Stay back. I’m fine. Someone get me the med kit.”
They all watched as Flame was lowered to the floor. She put her head back and closed her eyes. Once again Clive was jolted by a familiar feeling.
I’ve seen her before.
Amie administered bacta and a painkiller. “It’s not bad,” she told Flame. “You’ll be feeling better in a minute or two.”
Flame nodded, biting her lip.
Only now did Amie allow Wil to approach her. He held out his arms and she stepped into them.
“Flame, we owe you a debt,” Wil said.
Without opening her eyes, Flame said, “Do you trust me now?”
“We trust you,” Amie said.
But Clive still wasn’t sure.
He had an itch. And when he had an itch, he scratched,
He knew he wouldn’t get rid of this nagging feeling until he did some digging. Toma had been the one to bring Flame to their attention. He had known her back on their shared homeworld, Acherin.
Clive sighed. The last thing he wanted to do was take a side trip to a planet he’d heard was in the middle of a civil war. But it looked like that’s where he was going.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Ferus filed in with the rest of the workers on the late shift. He wore the white med tunic with his ID tags around his neck. No one gave him a second glance. Following Malory’s description he made his way through the hallways to the door marked INFORMATION CENTER. He swept his card through the sensor and heard the click with relief. Malory had promised she could enable him to enter, and she’d come through.
He had received at last the all-clear code from Wil on Bellassa. Amie was safe. He only hoped there wouldn’t be a massive retaliation from the Imperial governor.
Here on the night shift there wasn’t much to do for the info tech workers, so it was lightly staffed. A doctor or med trainee might call on them to enter a patient, but EmPal no longer had an emergency unit that took in all Coruscant citizens in need of care. Instead, patients were Emitted by physicians. The high costs limited those admissions to Senators and the rich corporate people who now clogged Imperial City.
A plump young man sat at the console, crunching his way through a meal of root chips and a pressed protein slider. “Hey, new guy,” he said as Ferus walked in.
Ferus sat at the other chair. “Ty Ambler,” he said, giving the name on his ID tag.
“Jakohaul Lessor,” he replied. “Just call me Jako. You just lucked into the sweetest job at EmPal, buddy. Not much doing here.”