Star Wars_ Rebel Force 05_ Trapped - Alex Wheeler [18]
They deserve to know, he thought. Orphaned children, alone in the galaxy. They deserve to know they are family.
But even without the truth, it was obvious they still had each other. Some part of them must have known the truth.
Div slouched against a wall in the back of the room. Ferus had requested his presence, and the Rebel leaders had agreed. Div had been slightly harder to convince. But in the end, he had stayed.
"I've spent the last two months tracking Darth Vader's actions," Ferus explained to the assembled group. It had been a difficult task. If he ventured too near, Vader would surely sense his presence and the game would be up. So he'd shadowed the Dark Lord from afar, searching desperately for some clue to his agenda—and some way to foil it. He'd arrived on the Star Destroyer in a TIE fighter equipped with an illegal hyperdrive—his escape route. Keeping the elaborate modifications secret meant keeping the TIE under his sole control. This was the only reason he'd made sure to be behind the controls when the fighters were scrambled. If he hadn't been there, Luke would have flown straight into the Empire's arms. Only luck had saved him. And they couldn't count on luck to do it again.
"And among other things, I've learned that Vader has become very interested in an Imperial commander named Rezi Soresh."
"I've never heard of him," General Dodonna said.
"Not surprising," Ferus said. "Soresh keeps a low profile. He's a master bureaucrat—
just shuffling flimsiplast to all appearances. But he's managed to amass a surprising amount of power, and he's ambitious for more. He has a new plan for currying favor with the Emperor: killing the pilot who destroyed the Death Star."
Every head in the room turned toward Luke.
"Soresh is the man who hired the assassin you know as X-7," Ferus continued.
In the back of the room, Div shifted his weight. It was his only reaction to the words.
His face remained blank, his eyes facing forward. But Ferus could sense the shame rolling off him in waves. He told himself he wasn't working for the Empire, Ferus observed. He's been lying to himself for too long, and now it hurts to face the truth.
He would have borne that pain himself if he could have. But it was Div's burden—and it might be exactly what he needed.
"X-7 has dropped off the radar," Ferus continued. "Even Soresh has lost track of him.
But Vader is on his tail. He has agents sweeping the galaxy for any record of his attempts on Luke's life, anyone he may have hired…"
Now the faces turned to look at Div. Ferus nodded. "Yes. Lune Divinian is Vader's last link to X-7. That Firespray's files contain all the information Vader's agent has been able to collect on X-7. He was on his way to deliver that—and Div—to Vader."
"I don't understand," Leia said. "Why does Vader care what this Soresh is up to? And why is he so determined to find X-7?"
"That's still unclear," Ferus said, although he was increasingly sure he knew exactly what Vader was up to. And it terrified him. According to Ferus's sources, Vader had learned that Luke was the one who'd destroyed the Death Star. He'd made it a priority to hunt down the Rebel pilot himself—and had made it clear to his men that Luke was not to be killed.
It sent a chill up Ferus's spine. Because if Vader was keeping Luke alive, it could mean he knew who Luke really was.
And had plans for him.
"What we do know is that X-7, Soresh, and Vader are all bound together—and I believe if we can find X-7 before they do, we might be able to use him."
"We can find him," Luke said confidently. "We just need the right bait. And obviously—"
"No!" Leia exclaimed. She turned to Luke. "It's too dangerous."
"I can handle it, Leia," Luke said, visibly annoyed.
"I'm not saying you can't handle it. I'm saying it's a foolish risk."
"It's a worthwhile risk. You'd want to do it."
Ferus cut in. "It's the wrong strategy," he explained. "We don't want to draw