[Last Of The Jedi] - 08(28)

And that’s when he figured out that it wasn’t just a durasteel scrim, but some sort of alloy used for blast protection. Probably duranium. It wasn’t skin; it was armor.

Once he’d seen that, he continued his inspection until he’d found what he was looking for -the slightest of bumps, regularly spaced, indicating power feed lines. Enough power feed lines to supply a turbolaser.

He had to ask himself why a storage area needed blast protection as well as offensive weapons.

He had to get in there.

The facility was quiet now. Patients were in for the night with only regularly timed checks by the med droids. Malory had given him the schedule. Ferus walked through the halls and hopped on the turbolift. He waved his hand over the sensor for the topmost floor. He knew from the blueprints that this turbolift didn’t go all the way to the top of the tower. None of the nearby ones did. No doubt there was one, but it would take him ages to find it. He only had less than an hour before the end of his shift; at dawn, his security card would become inactive and the place would start to come alive.

There was a small service turbolift, built for the med droids. It ran from the landing stage up to the tower. This turbolift also went to the landing stage and terminated there. At that point the two shafts had an access point, no doubt to allow worker access in the event of repairs or breakdown.

He hoisted himself up to the top of the turbolift and pushed through the access door. He stood on the top, balancing on the speeding cab. The numbers were a blur on the walls as the floors were counted off, but he would be able to see when the shaft ended. The only trouble was that he’d be going very, very fast.

He called on the Force. Time needed to slow down. Everything had to be absolutely clear. He needed perfect timing. And luck. Luck would be good.

Not luck, he told himself. He had to get out of those old patterns of thinking. Jedi didn’t need luck. They had the Force.

He had to believe. Believe he could fly into the other shaft completely blind, not knowing if there would be something, somewhere, to grab onto.

There. There it was. Through the blackness and the rushing air he could see the ceiling of this shaft. And there, on his left, a small shift in the darkness that indicated the opening to the parallel shaft. Ferus gulped. It looked awfully … small. He had to have perfect accuracy in timing and position or he’d hit a permacrete wall at top speed and turn into Jedi-jam…

Ferus told his mind to shut up and let the Force work.

No room for doubt.

He leaped.

He felt the Force move around him. He could see everything up close and clearly - the texture of the shaft wall, the exact quality of the darkness he was leaping toward. He flew into the other shaft with only centimeters to spare.

Immediately he saw the service turbolift several stories above. He wouldn’t be able to use it to grab onto. It was stopped. It didn’t surprise him; he doubted there would be med droids moving between the floors at this quiet hour. But on the other wall of the shaft he saw a power line cable bolted into the wall. Bolts big enough for handholds.

He felt the surge of the Force guiding him, and it was an infinitely easy matter to fly across the space, grab the bolts, and plaster himself against the wall. Ferus let out a breath. He’d made it. Sort of.

He made his way up the shaft using the Force and his liquid cable line. He calculated the floor he needed and found the door. It would be a squeeze, but he could make it.

He was able to activate the turbolift sensor on the outside to open the door. That was lucky. He didn’t want to use his lightsaber if he didn’t have to. He didn t want to leave any evidence of a Jedi break-in. He needed to be able to return to his life as a double agent.

Ferus stepped inside into a darkened room. He could feel the dark side of the Force suddenly surge. He had landed in a med droid recharging station. A line of tripedal med droids were lined up in inactive mode. Ferus walked past them toward an archway. Beyond it was a corridor that led toward the interior of the round tower.

Immediately his senses were on alert. There was activity here. Something was happening. Ferus let the noises drop away one by one. The hum of the air units and machinery, the slight buzz of the light tubes overhead. Somewhere he heard the clack of a droid making rounds, but it was several corridors away.

The Living Force was here, too.

Voices.

He crept forward. A door ahead had a small surveillance window. He risked a peek.

A blond human female in a luxurious cloak stood blocking his gaze into the room. Jenna Zan Arbor. What was she up to? He wasn’t surprised to see her. He knew she was working for the Empire now. He’d seen her name copied on secret documents for a large-scale weapons delivery system. During the Republic, she had been a most-wanted criminal. She had introduced terrible viruses into populations and then offered her own vaccines to cure them. She’d made a fortune. During Ferus’s very last mission, he had seen her trying to contact a Sith Lord on Korriban, the seat of Sith power, No, be wasn’t surprised she was enmeshed with the Empire. It attracted beings like her.