[Last Of The Jedi] - 07 (12 page)

Life would go on around him, but he wouldn’t be the same. He turned a different face to the galaxy now. The grief had changed him forever. He felt that as clearly as he could feel the ferrocrete against his cheek.

Roan’s death had introduced fear to his life. His powers were so puny compared to what he faced. His will had carried him through. Now he realized that in the most secret recesses of his heart, he had held out one hope. That one day this would be over and he could go back to his life with Roan. He hadn’t known the meaning of family when he’d been with the Jedi, but now he did, and the loss of it was impossible to bear.

Which proved he wasn’t a Jedi. Attachment shouldn’t be his reason for going on.

If he wasn’t a Jedi, what was he?

And what did it matter? For soon he’d be dead. How curious to feel that he wouldn’t mind.

But before they killed him, he would replay Roan’s death again and again.

The lightsaber moved so fast, it was as though it jumped from Vader’s hand. The mortal strike was assured and driven by the Force, the dark side that surrounded Vader and pulsed steadily from him. He had only been a blur.

Ferus suddenly sat up. He had heard a voice as clearly as if it had been spoken aloud.

Break it down, Ferus.

Obi-Wan? That was what he would say, in that cool way that could be so annoying.

Break down the movement; don’t see it as a blur. You ‘re a Jedi — yes, you are! — so be a Jedi.

He didn’t feel like a Jedi. But he would obey that voice and try to break it down.

He closed his eyes and grabbed the memory. This time he struggled to leave his feelings behind. He had to see it clear.

He saw Darth Vader move now. He saw the curl of his cape. The way he turned his body, the position of his feet, the way his arm moved. He had used a classic Jedi shun move, rotating the lightsaber 360 degrees, but the rotation had moved so fast he’d been unable to track it.

Break it down.

Form IV. Then Form VII, the most advanced Jedi form. Done aggressively, with impeccable control.

Coldness gripped his heart. Jedi moves.

The movement had been done with a grace and finesse that rendered it not part of a drill but part of Vader’s body. He brought an individual flair to it that made it his own.

Something familiar about that form. An aggression, a confidence … It struck a memory he couldn’t touch. But who could it be?

If he could only know how old Vader was. Had he been on the Council? Such expertise suggested it.

I know him. I know the way he moves.

But everyone he’d studied with was dead. He couldn’t say for certain that every Jedi he’d ever met was dead, but he knew the fate of all the Padawans. It had to have been an instructor, or perhaps a Jedi Master who had been away for long periods, so long he had lost his connection to the Jedi Temple, and Palpatine had exploited it. …

How could a Jedi be turned? It didn’t seem possible, not to any Jedi he had personally known.

His door hissed open. Emperor Palpatine himself stood in the doorway, flanked by Red Guards.

Ferus rose to his feet.

Palpatine swept in, his hands hidden in the folds of his robes. The guards stayed outside as the door hissed closed.

“I am considering your fate,” he said.

Ferus didn’t react. He waited for the trap.

“It was a regrettable incident. Apparently you noted the security breach — although you lied about my asking you to monitor security. Perhaps we can accept that you were zealous in your desire to impress me — and unfortunately those who broke in were known to you.

Naturally, Lord Vader believes that you were part of the mission, and I must say, in a contest between his word and yours he will win.”

Ferus wondered what Palpatine was getting to.

“And the fact that you took arms against Lord Vader is, of course, grounds for execution in itself. Yet.”

Palpatine walked a few steps closer. Ferus wished he wouldn’t. The air around him was so foul.

“I will confide in you that lately I feel that Lord Vader has been overreaching his authority. The killing of Roan Lands, for example. Very bad. We are in the midst of a delicate operation here on Bellassa. We want the support of the people. Support for the resistance was weakening, and now it will be inflamed again. Very unfortunate. It is my task to achieve stability in the galaxy. This means I am allowed to break the rules. The rules, for example, about punishment for attacking an Imperial high officer.”

Ferus still didn’t speak. He would let this play out. He had no interest in what Palpatine would say. He was done playing this game.

“If only I had someone I could really trust,” Palpatine said. “Someone who understood my goals. If I found that someone, the gifts I could give him would be … immense.”

Ferus looked away. He wished Palpatine would stop talking.

‘The power over life and death,” Palpatine said.

Ferus didn’t turn, but he felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise.

“Ah, I see I have your full attention at last. I can teach you things that will make you more powerful than Vader. It will take time. But only time.”

More powerful than Vader. Was it possible?

“Yes, it is possible,” Palpatine said. “For I created him, did I not?” He took another small step toward Ferus. This time Ferus didn’t shrink back.

“You have the potential to be the greatest Jedi ever known,” Palpatine hissed. “You have all the raw materials. You only lack training. You will be able to use the Force in ways you never dreamed of.”

Palpatine paused, letting his words hang in the air.

“Too much to grasp, is it? Let us take it step-by-step, then. First, I will put the Inquisitors at your disposal. Senator Sano Sauro has a plan to gather Force-adepts. Lord Vader isn’t interested in this, but it has possibilities. But you could take over the search for the Force-adepts. With the help of Inquisitors. Sauro is getting nowhere because he doesn’t understand the Force. It takes a Force-adept to find one.”

He could do this. He could gather the Force-adepts, and instead of turning them over, he could bring them to the asteroid.

And all the while he would be growing more powerful. Until he could challenge Lord Vader himself.

This time he would not find himself hanging in the air like a useless, boneless thing, at Vader’s mercy.

This time he would be the one to surprise Vader. Vader would be the helpless one. And Roan would be avenged.

Vader had made him a broken man, but he could be put back together.

He met Palpatine’s gaze for the first time. He looked into the dark pits of his eyes.

“I’m ready to learn,” he said.