Star Wars: The Last of the Jedi, Volume 3 Read Online Free PDF Page B

Masters.
    The staircase was gone. He climbed up a stack of rubble instead, Trever scrabbling behind him. They reached the balcony and ran down to the rear door.
    He slid it open just a centimeter to look out. This time he had a few seconds to monitor the activity outside. A small knot of officers were walking away down the hall while several
stormtroopers marched toward them. He’d have to time this carefully so that the stormtroopers would pass and the officers keep going before he and Trever ran out.
    Downstairs he heard the squad searching the library. Any moment now they would appear.
    The stormtroopers passed. Ferus and Trever had to take the chance.
    Ferus slipped out of the library, Trever as close as a shadow. The troops didn’t turn as they continued down the hall.
    Ferus raced the short distance to the doors to the Room of a Thousand Fountains and burst through. Trever ran next to him now, keeping up without effort. At the end of the path, Ferus stopped
and released his liquid cable line, grabbing Trever at the same time. The line pulled them to the catwalk above.
    “I’m starting to get used to this,” Trever grunted as he jumped down onto the catwalk.
    There. Ferus saw the small, grated door at the end of an open stairway. He ran up and put out a hand, hoping that the Force would be there. The grated door popped off. He and Trever jumped
inside, and he replaced the grate.
    The tunnel was dark, but after a moment he could see. Avoiding the circuits and wires, they began to crawl down the tunnel.
    “This runs in the wall,” he said in a whisper. “So tread lightly.”
    He pictured where they were now, on the same level as Yoda’s private quarters. When he thought they were near the door, he held up a hand and Trever stopped behind him. There was a grate
just ahead. Ferus bent down and looked. He was directly opposite Yoda’s quarters. He could see the slats of the window blinds. The hallway was empty. He curled his fingers around the grate,
ready to ease it off.
    Ferus suddenly heard approaching footsteps.
    Malorum. Striding in his Inquisitor’s robes, an assistant hurrying by his side. Stopping outside the door of Yoda’s chambers.
    Ferus felt it, a slight disturbance in the Force. Obi-Wan had picked up on what he’d suspected: Malorum was Force-sensitive. He cloaked his own connection to the Force, even though Ferus
doubted Malorum was adept enough to feel it.
    “Don’t sound the general alarm,” Malorum snapped. “By all means look, but look quietly. Lord Vader has decided to pay us an unannounced visit. I don’t want him to
know about this until the intruders are caught.”
    “Yes, sir.”
    Ferus felt the dark side of the Force surge in a sickening wave, so powerful he inadvertently shrank back. He knew what it meant.
    The Sith Lord had arrived.

Ferus’s breath felt sucked from his lungs. Darth Vader was on the other side of the wall. From his position near the floor he could only see the Sith Lord’s boots,
but he could hear the rasp of his breath mask.
    Their only hope was that Vader wasn’t looking for them.
    “The situation is normal, you say,” Vader remarked in a deep, booming voice.
    Malorum had taken a few steps forward so Ferus could no longer see him. “Yes, as you can see. I arrived a day early—I like to do that, surprise them. It keeps everyone on their toes,
and it’s a good way to learn things that—”
    “You came back a day early because I ordered you to. If you can stop complimenting yourself long enough, perhaps you can explain why squads are patrolling the hallways.”
    “Strictly routine. I believe in constant readiness.”
    “Malorum, do you think I’m a fool?”
    “Excuse me, Lord Vader?”
    The power of Vader’s anger filled the hallway. “This is a waste of time, and I hate wasting time. I put up with you because you are useful...for now. So I give you a choice. Tell me
the truth, or continue your lies.”
    Ferus could almost feel Malorum’s