[Last Of The Jedi] - 08(6)
“She hasn’t been tortured,” Ferus said. “But I’ve learned they’re transferring her off-planet to a prison world.”
Dona rose from her seat by the window. Her broad, lined face was full of worry. “We can’t let that happen.’
“No,” Ferus agreed, “we can’t. She won’t survive there.”
“What about Flame?” Wil asked. “Should we involve her?”
“She’s right. She’s wasting her time if we don’t let her inside the Eleven. And what she’s offering can help us. Especially now.”
“What do you mean?”
“If we’re to have any effective resistance on Bellassa, we have to make sure the children are safe.”
“Evacuation?” Dona asked.
“Possibly. It might come to that. We couldn’t pull off that sort of massive operation without help.”
“Do you think we should include her, then?”
“I think we should give her a test. We’ll involve her in the operation to rescue Amie, but she won’t know the details. That way, Amie will be safe, but we’ll have the benefit of Flame’s expertise. She’s an incredible pilot.”
“Tell us your plan,” Wil said.
“I don’t have a plan, exactly. Just some ideas. I’ve got the transfer point and the time - we have two days.”
Wil frowned. “That’s not much time to plan. I don’t want to endanger Amie. Maybe we should attack from the air.”
“They’ll be expecting that. They won’t be expecting a rescue effort here. The crackdown has shut down the city. They won’t imagine we’ll be able to pull it off.”
Dona placed her broad hands on her knees. “Then we do it here.”
“How?” Wil asked. “Where is the transfer point?”
“They’re using the Imperial landing platform outside the hangar on the outskirts of the city. That hangar is restricted to high-priority traffic. We’ll have to rescue her, then take her through Ussa to here. I don’t think we can risk taking her off-planet.”
“Take her all the way through the city? That’s insane,” Wil said. “Do you know how many checkpoints we’d have to get through?”
“I know exactly how many. We can use some of the safe passages the Eleven have worked on.”
“But they aren’t complete!”
“There’s a tunnel under the lake.”
“It’s not complete, either.”
“Well, we’ll have to work on it, then,” Ferus said. “It’s going to have to be ready in two days. In the meantime, we get the strike force together.”
Wil nodded, thinking hard. “It will take time. My best operatives are in the mountains now.”
“Don’t worry,” Ferus said. “I have a strike force on the way.”
CHAPTER FOUR
Ry-Gaul, Solace, and Clive shot through the holographic portal in the tanglewoods of Bellassa. Ferus had contacted them, and they’d taken off from Coruscant within the hour.
Solace glanced at Ry-Gaul. She was no chatterbox, but Ry-Gaul was the most silent being she’d ever met. Since they’d found him on Coruscant, on the run from the Empire, he’d told his story briefly and then rarely ventured an opinion or observation. Solace didn’t mind the quiet, but she knew it was driving Clive crazy. If she had a sense of humor, she’d find it funny. Luckily she didn’t have the time or temperament to be amused.
“Hey, mates,” Clive said. “We had to dodge ten Imperial patrols and a buzz droid or two, but looks like we made it. I say whew. Glad to be here. Don’t all speak at once.”
Solace kept her eyes on the console. “Look for that landing site. I have the general coordinates, but they move the site for safety. We need a visual.”
“There.” Ry-Gaul’s voice was low.
“He speaks,” Clive muttered.
Solace saw it ahead. A scrim of bush and knotted tree trunks, but a clear space for a small craft to land. She eased the ship inside.
They scrambled out of the cockpit hatch. Someone stepped out of the tangle of underbrush and held up a hand. It was Ferus.
Their meetings were infrequent now that he was a double agent. Solace felt a rush of gladness at seeing him. Could it be she was actually starting to grow fond of him?
He walked toward them, and the pleasure she felt was suddenly invaded by unease. Something was wrong.
He nodded to Ry-Gaul. “I was overwhelmed when Solace told me you were alive. Every Jedi we find is a gift. To find someone I knew… someone I had mourned…” Ferus faltered. His eyes were wet.
“I remember you well,” Ry-Gaul said. “I do not remember you this emotional.”