"An interception," said Honest Gjon. "Not exactly a robbery, since it isn"t real mmoney, yes. It"s counterfeit credits. They are made on Bogg 2, then sent by light-air balloons to Bogg 9 when the alignment of the mmoons is just right."
"The atmospheres brush together and the balloons pa.s.s from world to world," said Aia. "Like we did, yes."
"A smugglers" trick," said Honest Gjon. "And if we pick off one balloon on the way, no one will mmiss it."
"They will think one just got away, yes," said Aia. "Of course, catching it on the fly requires a very good pilot with a very good ship.
You may be too young, yes."
"I want a third," said Boba. "When do we go?"
"In about ten minutes," said Aia. He looked at Honest Gjon and winked. "I told you he would do it, yes?"
From s.p.a.ce, Bogg 2 looked like a dry dirt clod, spiked with mountains. Boba cruised over slowly, then put Slave l into a slow holding orbit just above the atmosphere.
"No lights, no electrics, no radio," said Honest Gjon. "That way we can"t be seen. The trick is to try to catch the balloon as it rises. If you get close, I will hook it into the hatch."
"We should let the first one go, so they don"t suspect anything, yes," said Aia. "Then grab the next one."
"Sounds like a plan," said Boba.
"Look," said Honest Gjon. "Here comes number one."
He handed Boba a viewfinder. Boba saw a red balloon rising out of a mountain valley.
He handed the viewfinder to Aia. The balloon rose swiftly in the low gravity. It streaked past, into the stormy s.p.a.ce between the moons. A gondola hung below it, packed with bales of credits.
Money! thought Boba with a grin. Money is power! If only his father could see him now. He knew he would be proud.
"Here it comes," said Honest Gjon. The second balloon was on its way. It had an even larger gondola hanging beneath it. Even more money, Boba thought.
Aia tracked it with the viewfinder and then with his naked eye, while Boba operated the ship. "Back up a hair, yes. Now forward. Now up, yes. Whoa!"
Honest Gjon opened the ramp and pulled in the balloon. "Got it!"
"Great," said Boba. "Now let"s close the ramp and get out of here."
"One more," said Aia.
"I thought two was the plan," said Boba. "They will see us if we stay too long. They"ll send someone up after us."
"One mmore can"t hurt," said Honest Gjon. He held up a fistful of brand-new credit notes.
Why not? thought Boba. More is better. If the black book didn"t say that, well, it should!
He pulled the ship back into place and held it steady, adjusting for the varying gravity of the spinning moons.
"Number three!" said Aia. Honest Gjon went to open the ramp.
The red balloon was getting closer and closer. Honest Gjon went down to open the ramp and pull it in. The gondola underneath it was even bigger than the one before.
More money! More is better, Boba thought, with a grin.
"O000ps," said Honest Gjon. "Slight problem." "You"re all under arrest for counterfeiting," said a gruff voice.
Boba turned and saw Honest Gjon in the doorway. He was not alone.
Standing beside him was a trooper in a security uniform, holding a blaster.
Oh, no! thought Boba.
"It"s not our money," said Aia. "It"s all a mistake, yes. We"ll give it back!"
"Who cares about the money?" said the trooper, with a cruel smile that was all teeth. "I"m officially confiscating this ship in the name of the law. It"s contraband."
Boba was thinking: No way! Give up Slave I, his father"s ship? But what could he do with a blaster pointed at his face?
Then he remembered a trick Jango had taught him.
"Move over, kid," said the trooper. "And put your hands up where I can see them. Now!"
"Yes, sir." Boba set the power on FULL AHEAD and punched in DELAY 4. Then he stood up with his hands over his head and slowly backed away from the controls. He counted silently: four, three The trooper grinned. "That"s better," he said, motioning with his blaster toward the open hatch. "Now grab some air, all three of you."
Two, one Boba lunged, grabbing the back of the pilot"s seat as the engines roared to life and Slave I suddenly sprang forward. The trooper, Aia, and Honest Gjon all flew through the air and hit the back wall in a clump.
WHACK!.
THUMP!.
Boba held onto the seat and threw the ship into a sharp turn.
Honest Gjon and Aia grabbed the dazed trooper, one on each arm. They dragged him to the still-open hatch - and shoved him out!
Boba grimaced as he brought the ship back under control. "Murder of a security trooper. Now we"re in big trouble!"
"He"s got a parachute, yes," said Aia.
"He"s no trooper, anyway," said Honest Gjon. "That uniform was as counterfeit as the credits. That was a hijacking that failed."
"We did it!" said Boba as he set the ship down on Honest Gjon"s landing pad. His heart was still pounding, but he had saved Slave I. And made some money, too.
"How many credits do we have?" he asked. "Let"s divide them three ways, so I can get out of here."
"That"s the bad news, yes," said Aia. "They all flew out the door when we shoved him out."
"All but one," said Honest Gjon. He handed Boba a hundred-credit note. "Take it, you deserve it all. And you"re going to need it on Coruscant."
Boba put the money into his pocket with the pathetic little ten.
Even though he had only made a hundred credits, he felt that Jango Fett would have been proud.
He had found out what he needed to know on the moons of Bogden. He had even made a few friends (or, as Jango would have called them, allies.
No friends, no enemies. Only allies and adversaries).
Now it was time to head for Coruscant and find Tyra.n.u.s.
He shook hands with Honest Gjon, but Aia insisted on giving him a big hug. "Boba, continue your quest, yes. But take care. You are too trusting. Watch your back, yes?"
"Yes," said Boba. "Thanks, Aia."
They hugged again, then Boba got into Slave I and took off. It was only after he was in deep s.p.a.ce, preparing to shift into hyperdrive, that he noticed that the hundred-credit note was missing from his pocket.
And so was the ten.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO.
In the endless, intricate web of civilized and half-civilized worlds that make up the Galactic Core, some planets are obscure and hard to find. And, others are hard to miss.
Coruscant is in the second category.
The coordinates are easy to remember and even easier to punch into a starship"s navigational computer: zero zero zero.
It is here that civilization begins. At the heart of the Core Worlds. At the very center of the Known Universe.
Coruscant. The planet that is a city; the city that is a planet.
Boba awoke when Slave I shuddered out of hyperdrive and slid into normal s.p.a.ce.
He shook his head to clear it of the dreams that always crowded in during hypers.p.a.ce jumps.
And there it was. The legendary city planet, covered by pavements and roofs, towers and balconies, parks and artificial seas. Coruscant was one immense metropolis from pole to pole.
Not a green spot nor an open field; no wilderness, no forests, no ice caps. Coruscant was one enormous planetwide city, covered by slums and palaces, parks and plazas. It spun below in all its glory, welcoming Slave I as it had welcomed pilgrim and pirate, politician and pet.i.tioner, wanderer and wayfarer since the Republic"s first beginnings millennia ago.
And now it awaited Boba Fett. An orphan seeking only to please his father"s ghost.
Hopeful again at last, Boba eased Slave I into suborbital approach, past the big orbiting mirrors that gathered and focused the light of Coruscant"s faraway sun.
The starship hit the atmosphere and began to slow. Boba descended in big looping turns, past the towers of the wealthy and powerful, past the hanging gardens, and into the commercial zones reserved for uninvited visitors. With traffic crowding in on all sides, this was a much more harrowing approach than on Kamino or the moons of Bogden. Boba"s heart tightened in his chest. Would they find him here?
He felt a slight b.u.mp and let go of Slave /"s controls. The ship was locked into autopilot, being flown "by wire" on a microbeam. It would land itself.
That was fine with Boba. He had other things to worry about. Money, for starters. He would need to pay his landing fees before he could take off again. Then there was the problem of the Jedi. If they were really after him, as Taun We had warned, they might have a warrant out on Slave I. He could be arrested as soon as he touched down.
He needed some guidance. Maybe the book would help. It seemed to open when he needed it, or at least when it had something to say.
He pulled it out of the flight bag. Sure enough, it opened. But the message was even more mysterious than usual: Watch out for things that go too well.
That"s hardly my problem! Boba thought. He closed the book, disgusted, and put it away. He watched nervously as the ship eased in toward the s.p.a.ceport, slipping smoothly between the towers and under the lighted walkways and gardens of Coruscant.
Slave I b.u.mped down, light and easy. No alarms went off.
Boba lowered the ramp. He scanned the landing pad, ready to run if need be.
n.o.body was watching. n.o.body was around.
This was Coruscant. n.o.body cared about an insignificant little ship like Slave I. Or its insignificant little ten-year-old pilot.
Boba"s first emotion on landing was relief.
His second was fear. The Jedi had eyes and ears everywhere. And especially on Coruscant. Would they find Boba before he found Tyra.n.u.s?
Boba didn"t fear the Jedi as much as he feared failure. Would he disgrace his father"s memory by failing in his first test, the search for Tyra.n.u.s - and self-sufficiency?
"Welcome to Coruscant," said a disembodied droid voice.
"Sure, whatever," muttered Boba.
Carrying his flight bag with the black book and the battle helmet, plus a few extra pairs of underwear and socks, he climbed down out of the ship. He started down the escalator toward the streets.
Boba had read enough about Coruscant to know that it was arranged in layers according to cla.s.s and function.
The upper levels were for the rich and powerful. Looking up, Boba could see their towers and gardens reaching up into the clouds.
The middle levels, where he had landed, were for both business and pleasure. The streets were filled with creatures from all over the galaxy, rushing around, buying and selling, or just sightseeing.
The lower levels were said to be dangerous. They were the outlaw zones, filled with fugitives, pirates, and criminals - all the denizens of the underworld that lay beneath the Imperium.
Boba hoped all would go well on the lower levels when he went to find the Golden Cuff. He"d had quite enough adventure, thank you. He just wanted to find Tyra.n.u.s.
Boba was in luck.
The Golden Cuff was a little hole-in-the-wall on the upper layer of the lower levels, just under the lower layer of the middle levels.
It was far enough down that the light was dim and the neon signs could glow all day. But not so far down that one had to hire a posse of armed guards to cross the street.