[Last Of The Jedi] - 08(24)

Alder took out his comlink and entered the data. He spoke into it, quickly explaining who Clive was and asking if Warlin would speak to him.

Clive took the comlink. There was no picture, but Warlin’s voice came through clearly, “Come at dawn tomorrow,” he said.

“I’d like to come tonight.”

“Not possible, I’m traveling. I’ll meet you at my house - Alder can lead you there.” There was a burst of static, and Clive missed his next words.

“I didn’t hear you - what was that?”

“I have been waiting for this. Something about… that day … always bothered me.”

The communication ended. Frustrated, Clive handed the comlink back to Alder.

He would have to wait until tomorrow.



He knew he would barely sleep that night, and he didn’t. It was still black outside when he rose and quietly pulled on his boots. Alder came a moment later, just a shadow in the darkness.

Without a word, Clive rose and followed him through the empty streets. The moons hung low in the sky and only the softest smudge of gray signaled the beginning of the day. Even with the bit of light it was still hard going on the pockmarked stone walkway. Occasionally they stepped into the road and slogged through the mud created by an overnight rain. The drops had snaked rivulets through the dust-shrouded plastoid. Soon, Clive was completely lost in a world of dirt and rain.

“He’s just up ahead,” Alder said. “And the sun is coming up.”

Pale fiery light lit the edge of the building. It had come through better than most, with a whole stone wall intact. Alder walked forward and knocked on the wooden door. Clive heard the echo inside.

When no one came to the door, Alder turned to him. “Maybe he was delayed.”

“Maybe.” Clive stepped forward and pushed against the door. Something was against it on the other side. Something soft. With dread in his throat now, he pushed harder.

Legs. Arms. And then, with the door half-open, he saw the man, curled up, one arm outflung, sightless eyes open.

“Warlin?” Clive asked.

Alder nodded. He knelt and closed Warlin’s eyes. “Rest with the ancients, my good friend,” he said softly. He looked up at Clive, anguish on his face.

“This is what has happened to us,” he said. “Acherins killing Acherins. Some in Eluthan thought he was a spy. He took too many chances. Just so he could see his daughter. They killed him for that.”

But was that why he’d been killed? Clive wondered.

He wanted to howl his frustration. He’d never know.





CHAPTER FOURTEEN


Trever waited after lights-down. All the first-year recruits had chambers near each other. The rooms were packed tightly in a grid in the center of the complex. Every ten rooms shared a common room with banks of consoles for research purposes. From his chamber he could see the common room door.

Soon he saw Lune move like a shadow through the hallway. He slipped into the common room and the door slid shut. Technically, the recruits were supposed to retire when the lights went down, but this rule, Trever saw, was one of the few that wasn’t enforced. The workload was so crushing that patrols looked the other way if students were still at dataports late at night.

Trever waited a few minutes and then darted across the hall and accessed the common room door. Lune sat at a console.

Trever sat next to him. “We should explore the delivery points for food and materials … maybe there’s a way out that way.”

“All pickups are scanned,” Lune said. “In the first week, somebody tried to get out and he was packed off to solitary for two weeks. Then he had to have a shadow, like I do.”

“Okay then, do you have any ideas?”

“The hangar,” Lune said. “Tomorrow we have a special piloting class there, right?”

“And?”

Lune shrugged. “We steal a ship.”

“Steal a ship? Hey, that’s a full moon idea. No problem. While Maggis is teaching, we just hop in the cockpit and …”

“No, not while he’s teaching,” Lune said. He turned and looked at Trever. Trever felt a jolt. Lune was younger than he was, just a skinny kid, but his intensity was spooky. He had a feeling Lune could figure out how to break in and steal a ship.

“You always brag about cracking security systems,” Lune said.

“Well, sure,” Trever said. “I can steal a transport. No problem. Maybe break into a warehouse. But this is imperial security.”

“Every system has a flaw. You just have to find it. I heard that somewhere,” Lune said.

Trever grinned. Lune had heard it from him. He’d heard it from Ferus. “Well, I do happen to have a couple of half-alpha charges. Not enough to blast down a hangar door, I don’t think, but we could try.”