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calculations. The beat went on a little too long.
    “Two intruders were spotted and are being tracked,” Malorum finally said. “I assure you they will be found. You see, in a way, this proves the success of my plan to trap the
Jedi. One of the intruders has a lightsaber.”
    “Really.”
    “So the rumors we spread worked.”
    “In order for a trap to work it must capture its prey. You do not have a Jedi in custody. Instead, someone is still on the loose.”
    There was a note of false lightness now in Malorum’s voice. “Temporarily, Lord Vader, I assure you.”
    “Assurances don’t interest me.”
    Lord Vader sounded almost...bored. He treated Malorum with contempt. Ferus had heard that Malorum was Lord Vader’s special pet, his protégé. Obviously this was a piece of
unfounded gossip.
    “And I recall,” Vader continued, “that you let a Jedi slip through your fingers on Bellassa. And now there is another Jedi somewhere on Coruscant.”
    “I have a spy who has infiltrated that Jedi’s group. I am waiting for a report—”
    “Your tedious obsession with trapping Jedi has led you to neglect your orders. I have given you a simple task—to clean up Coruscant, level by level, down to the very crust, until it
is totally under our domination. You were to ferret out every possible pocket of resistance. You were to plan a strike and wipe out the Erased. We can’t have resisters turning into
heroes.”
    “Now just a minute, Lord Vader,” Malorum said. “Coruscant is hardly an ordinary assignment.”
    “If you are not capable of the job, I’ll find someone else to do it.”
    “Of course I am capable, Lord Vader—”
    “Then do it and do it now. You want to rid yourself of intruders? Blow up the Temple.”
    Ferus stiffened.
    “Blow it up?” Malorum asked.
    “Why not?”
    “But my private office is here! Valuable records would be lost.”
    “You overemphasize your own importance.”
    Ferus could actually hear the breath that hissed out of Malorum’s lungs. “I see what you’re doing. You’re trying to discredit me in the eyes of the Emperor. You want to
destroy my work, my files...” Then he stopped. “Wait. I see now. You weren’t serious.”
    “Interesting what has just now emerged, isn’t it? You have files here that have not been banked with Imperial security? That is a violation of the Emperor’s
directives.”
    This is a battle
, Ferus thought.
Malorum wants Vader’s job. He wants to be the Emperor’s pet. And Vader knows exactly what he’s up to.
    Now there was an element of smugness in Malorum’s tone. “I have permission from the Emperor himself to keep files private that I feel could jeopardize an ongoing
investigation.”
    “Do I need to remind you of your own inferiority?”
    Vader’s anger served to quash Malorum’s assurance. It was a frightening thing to feel it turned on you, Ferus reflected. He was glad he was behind the panel.
    “I have no secrets from you, Lord Vader. There are reports that you haven’t seen yet, files that need additional notes...I have spies everywhere on Coruscant, as you know. Reports on
our progress on surveillance in the sublevels...”
    “At last you’re telling me something I want to know.”
    “Not to mention certain delicate matters I’ve been pursuing for your sake alone, Lord Vader. For example, the rumors about Polis Massa...”
    Ferus strained to hear. There it was again—Polis Massa. Something was at stake, something big, but he didn’t know what.
    If Malorum thought he was going to impress Darth Vader, he was wrong. His boast had the opposite effect. Ferus could feel it now, the slow burn of Vader’s rage as it built.
    “Lord Vader—”
    Malorum’s voice was hoarse, as though he was gasping for breath. Still, Ferus could hear the fear in it.
    “I...beg...you—”
    A strange thing was happening. The grating in front of Ferus was vibrating. Then the actual wall was vibrating. He heard a cracking sound. Vader was