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Star WarsThe Last of the JediBook 9Master of Deceptionby Jude Watson###############################################################################GUIDE TO CHARACTERSTHE LAST OF THE JEDIObi-Wan Kenobi: the great Jedi Master; now in exile on TatooineFerus Olin: former Jedi Padawan and apprentice to Siri Tachi; now a double-agent working for the Empire in order to undermine it wherever he canSolace: formerly the Jedi Knight Fy-Tor Ana; became a bounty hunter after the Empire was establishedGaren Muln: weakened by long months of hiding after Order 66; resides on the secret asteroid base that Ferus Olin has establishedRy-Gaul: on the run since Order 66; found by SolaceTHE ERASEDA loose confederation of those who have been marked for death by the Empire who give up their official identities and disappear; centered on CoruscantDexter Jettster: former owner of Dex's Diner; establishes a safehouse in Coruscant's Orange DistrictOryon: former head of a prominent Bothan spy network during the Clone Wars; divides his time between Ferus's secret asteroid base and Dex's hideoutKeets Freely: former award-winning investigative journalist targeted for death by the Empire; now hiding out in Dex's safehouseCurran Caladian: former Senatorial aide from Svivreni and cousin to Tyro Caladian, the deceased Senatorial aide and friend to Obi-Wan Kenobi; marked for death due to his outspoken resistance to the establishment of the Empire; lives in Dex's safehouseKEEPERS OF THE BASERaina: renowned pilot from the Acherin struggle against the EmpireToma: former general and commander of the resistance force on AcherinTHE ELEVENResistance movement on Bellassa beginning to be known throughout the Empire. First established by eleven men and women but grown to include hundreds in the city of Ussa and more supporters planet-wide.Roan Lands: one of the original Eleven; friend and partner to Ferus Olin; killed by Darth VaderDona Telamark: a supporter of the Eleven; hid Ferus Olin in her mountain retreat after his escape from an Imperial prisonWil: part of the original Eleven; now its lead coordinatorDr. Amie Antin: loaned her medical services to the group, then joined later; now the second-in-command but also spying as a doctor in the EmPal SuRecon on CoruscantFRIENDSTrever Flume: Ferus Olin's thirteen-year-old companion; former street kid and black market operator on Bellassa; now an honorary member of the Bellassan Eleven and a resistance fighter presently on Coruscant on a secret missionClive Flax: former musician; corporate spy turned double agent during the Clone Wars; friend to Ferus and Roan; escaped with Ferus from the Imperial prison world of DontamoAstri Oddo: formerly Astri Oddo Divinian; left the politi-cian Bog Divinian after he joined with Sano Sauro and the Separatists; now on the run hiding from Bog; expert slicer specializing in macro-frame computer code systemsLune Oddo Divinian: Force-adept eight-year-old; son of Astri and Bog Divinian; now hidden on a secret asteroid base under the tutelage of Garen MulnLinna Naltree and Tobin Cantor: husband and wife; friends of Jedi Ry-GaulFlame: mysterious and wealthy friend to the Eleven and other resistance groups; now on CoruscantOTHERSBreha, Queen of Alderaan: wife of Bail Organa and adoptive mother of Leia; daughter of Padme Amidala and Anakin SkywalkerBail Organa: husband of Breha and adoptive father of Leia; a Senator on AlderaanHydra: head of the Empire's evil InquisitorsJenna Zan Arbor: an evil scientist employed by the Empire; working on an anti-memory drug on CoruscantCHAPTER ONEBail Organa stood at the window and watched his daughter Leia run through the gardens. Every day she learned new skills and grew steadier on her feet. His wife, Breha, sat cross-legged on the grass, laughing as Leia picked flowers.Bail found that he was holding his breath. He let it out slowly.They had thought the incident was nothing. An acci-dent averted, nothing more than that. Leia had been with one of her caregivers, Memily, who worked in the kitchen but also volunteered to help out with the children. They had gone to a park at the other end of the city of Aldera to play, somewhere Leia had never been before. The park ended in high sandstone bluffs that overlooked the sea. There were fences along the perimeter, cleverly designed in a latticework that looked like white branches but were actually durasteel.Except one of the areas was weakened, and Memily had been about to lean against it to admire the view.Bail still wasn't sure exactly what had happened. Memily had told him the story, still shaken from the experience. She'd sworn that Leia, who was not yet a year old, had suddenly twisted her head and thrown her laserball directly at the spot. The laserball had hit the fence, which had shook so hard that Memily had been warned of its instability.Perhaps Memily wouldn't have fallen. Perhaps the fence would have held. Perhaps Leia had just randomly thrown the laserball.Recounting this, Memily had fixed Bail with her large dark eyes. She was a young woman from the coun-try, still a bit cowed by the atmosphere at the royal palace. "It was like she knew, sir," she'd said. "Like she saw something before it happened. I saw it in her eyes. Then she smiled at me and . . . kept on playing."Memily was completely trustworthy; everyone in Bail's palace was. All those who lived on the grounds were either family or were related to the family's most trusted allies. Memily was the daughter of an old friend. Bail knew that she would have never talked about the incident to anyone but him.But somehow this tiny incident, this minuscule rip-ple in the middle of an ordinary day, had been reported to the Empire.Someone had seen it, and someone had talked, and maybe that person had told the story at the spaceport, a place from which someone might have taken it back to Coruscant, Spies were everywhere now. The Empire paid handsomely for the merest scraps of information. So someone, at some point, had thought that the Empire might be interested in word of a child with amazing reflexes.Imperial informers were now a part of life in the galaxy, Bail supposed, but he didn't believe there were any on Alderaan. The society here was too close-knit, and everyone was bitterly opposed to the new Imperial order. It was just bad luck that the news had gone so far ... all the way to the Imperial Inquisitors.Bad luck. Was that it? A Jedi wouldn't say so. A Jedi would say that the dark side of the Force now moved through the galaxy, tempting some, encouraging others to exercise their worst impulses.The good news was that nobody knew that the child was Leia. There was just a report of a child, neither male nor female, and a caregiver who had quickly hustled her away. He couldn't fault Memily for that, but it had attracted attention.Bail glanced around the room, at the transparisteel doors that marched along one entire wall, so that the gardens would be seen in full display. Leia called this room the "inside-outside room." The palace had always been an open place. That was the Alderaan way. Any citizen could come to the door and knock. Bail had security placed here during the Clone Wars, but it was minimal. Breha had fought him even about that. She would not change her planet's traditions for the sake of a repellent regime, she said, her chin lifted in that way he knew so well.She was right, actually. If the Empire wanted access to this place, they would get in no matter how much security he ordered.Now two Imperial Inquisitors were due to arrive later that day. He had told Breha to take Leia away for the duration. He could see them now, heading toward the private gates the family used to enter and exit the official palace compound. Bail felt better knowing that Leia wouldn't be at home.Not that an Inquisitor would pick up anything strange. Leia was a normal toddler. Advanced for her age, yes, but he'd never seen any evidence of Force sen-sitivity in her. He had hoped, instead, that whatever she had inherited from her true parents had been all from Padme. Her intelligence, her courage, perhaps some of her grace . . . not just her brown eyes.Yet part of Anakin Skywalker was there, too. Bail had hoped it wouldn't be. In this galaxy, ability with the Force would be a burden to his child, not a gift.So much to hide, Bail thought. The Inquisitors would come, and they would walk the city, and they would comb through records, and they would invade the pri-vacy of the citizens of Alderaan, and if Bail had anything to do about it, they would find nothing and leave. The report of a toddler with an amazing pitching arm would be tossed aside, as well it should, lost among the millions of tips the Imperial investigators received from those trying to curry favor, trying to move up in the system.Bail sighed. He would have to cooperate. But he wasn't about to make it easy.CHAPTER TWOFerus Olin resisted the urge to tug at the collar of his Inquisitor's robe. To him the robe was unnecessarily ominous-looking. The hoods were designed to conceal the face. He had remarked to his fellow Inquisitor, Hydra, that it seemed counter-productive to wear such a fright-ening costume if you were trying to coax information out of reluctant subjects, but Hydra had merely stared at him with her flat, expressionless gaze and said, "The Empire does not coax."Right. He knew he should really pay attention to this new Imperial lingo. They didn't coax, they didn't ask, they didn't defer, they didn't take into account that any-one they came in contact with was in fact a living, breathing creature...
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