Fett knew what the Trandoshan was talking about. The Lyunesi were one of six sentient species on Ryoone, a planet down-spiral from one of the remoter sectors of the Outer Rim Territories. Unusually dismal conditions had been brought about millennia ago by a seemingly permanent suspension of volcanic ash in the upper atmosphere, resulting in a ruthless compet.i.tion for survival. The other inhabitants of Ryoone would have wiped out the Lyunesi long ago if the fragile creatures hadn"t mastered the arts of interspecies communication. Their skills went far beyond mere translation of words and meaning; surrounded by enemies, with the continuation of their own breed dependent upon every nuance of language and gesture, the Lyunesi bought their lives with interpretive skills far beyond even the most highly developed protocol droid. On Ryoone, that meant they made possible all the fluid and rapidly shifting diplomacy between the planet"s other species, the madly dissolving and re-forming alliances, the declarations of war and swiftly terminated peace treaties between sentient creatures who didn"t even share the same metabolic basis, let alone language. In the galaxy beyond Ryoone, the Lyunesi were found at every communication nexus, sorting out and fine-tuning the messages and negotiations between one wildly dissimilar sector of the Empire and another.
All that expertise at reading other species" inten tions and secrets had its downside, though. From time to time various Lyunesi fell prey to their own sensitivity. An all-consuming pa.s.sion seized them; worse, it was nearly always reciprocated by the object of their desire. Unlike members of the reptilian Falleen species, whose conquests were achieved with a notable coldness and lack of feeling, Lyunesi and their hypererotic targets rapidly found themselves in situations where neither partner was left with a shred of self-preserving intelligence. Given the high-level diplomatic stations where Lyunesi were so often found, the results were usually catastrophic.
And fatal.
"I know the story," said Boba Fett. Both in general and in the specific case of Oph Nar Dinnid, which his own sources had told him about. "Better that a high-ranking female should get involved with someone like Prince Xizor. The experience is reputedly more intense and pleasurable, and after it"s over, the female might still be alive. If she keeps her wits about her." Fett supposed that with someone like his sometime employer Xizor, that was what pa.s.sed as chivalry. "The problem with Lyunesi is that they"re not smart enough to be heartless."
"Yeah, well, this Dinnid person managed to get himself into a large-capacity vat of nerf waste." Bossk sneered; he had been born without those wasteful, sentimental emotions. "He was working for one of the major liege-holder clans out in the Narrant system; I won"t say which one-"
"You don"t have to. They"re all alike." Boba Fett was well acquainted with those clans; they were really more loose confederations of genetically linked species, with deep layers of ritual obeisance and internal blood oaths patching over their differences. It didn"t work; they needed the ultradiplomatic Lyunesi around just to keep from killing each other off. A good gig for the natives of a backwater world like Ryoone-as long as they didn"t screw up.
But they always did.
"Let me guess," said Boba Fett. "Dinnid"s employers found him in a, let"s say, compromising position with a wife or daughter from one of the top clan houses."
"Got that one right." Bossk"s eyes glittered as sharp as his fangs. A Trandoshan"s enjoyment of another creature"s troubles went far beyond the mere antic.i.p.ation of profit to be gained thereby. "All the way to the top. Right up to the supreme liege-lord himself. And just like these Lyunesi-they"ve got no sense at all-the revelation of the affair was in public. At one of the formal clan-oath ceremonies, couple thousand sublieges and their retinues all in their lord"s great hall. Somebody accidentally struck the curtain behind the dais, it collapses, and there"s our Oph Nar Dinnid and the liege-lord"s alpha concubine, for all the galaxy to see. Like I said: no sense at all."
Bossk"s description of events matched what Fett"s sources had told him. "It"s remarkable that this Dinnid person got out alive."
"I take it back: the guy had some sense." Bossk shrugged. "Not enough to keep himself out of trouble, but at least enough to have already planned his escape route when the nerf droppings. .h.i.t the ventilation system. There was a lot of confusion in the great hall-you can imagine-and Dinnid hightailed it out to a speeder he"d kept fueled and waiting, with its destination coordinates already programmed in."
"Where could he go? Where he"d be safe, that is." Boba Fett already knew the answer, but continued with his pretense. "The Narrant liege-lords have a sense of honor that doesn"t easily accept embarra.s.sment. They"ll stop at nothing to get someone who has publicly humiliated them back in their grasp."
"True." Bossk gave a quick nod. "That"s why this particular lord has put up such a killer bounty for the merchandise he wants. He can"t just take his own troops out and hunt down the little idiot, haul him back, and get whatever satisfaction he can out of Dinnid"s hide-at least, not without spreading the story even farther afield. So, naturally, the lord wants the bounty hunters to do his dirty work for him."
Silence was always a desired commodity in the bounty-hunter trade. Boba Fett had made a specialty of quick, efficient-and quiet-work. "With that kind of credits being put up, I expect every bounty hunter in the Guild will be going after Oph Nar Dinnid."
"It"s not that easy," said Bossk. "The sneak not only had his escape means planned, he had the perfect place to hole up figured out as well. He"s with the Sh.e.l.l Hutts."
Boba Fett had heard that much as well. Of all the Huttese clans, the Sh.e.l.l Hutts were the least numerous, and the most removed from the various alliances and interconnected dealings that bonded the other Hutts together. The Sh.e.l.l Hutts didn"t even look like their distant brethren, except in bulk and physiognomy; they had the same basic body ma.s.s and large-eyed, slit-mouthed faces, perfect for greedily stuffing a.s.sorted wriggling tidbits into. In that sense, of wanting to control everything on which their immense eyes fastened, they were identical to the rest of the Hutts.
Identical in anatomic toughness as well, with thick leathery skins impervious to blaster shots and acids, and vital organs so deeply buried under layers of blubber that they couldn"t be even nicked with a vibroblade-the only physical threat that Hutts feared was specific bands of hard unshielded radiation, the kind whose toxic effects built up in their bodies" shielding fat rather than being dissipated through normal excretion processes. That had kept the Hutts from extending their criminal enterprises to certain areas of the galaxy. Until one of the Huttese clans, sometime in the hazy millennia of the past, had given themselves what their own genetics had failed to: protective armored casings, bolted and welded together from heavy durasteel plates, supported and maneuvered about by built-in repulsor fields. All that showed of the Sh.e.l.l Hutts" soft, gelatinous flesh were their jowly faces, protruding tortoiselike from iris-collared ports at the front of the floating ovoid cases. Even the Sh.e.l.l Hutts" delicate little hands were hidden inside, manipulating the controls for the externally mounted grasping devices. Those seemed to work just as well at grabbing onto and holding big chunks of ill-gotten wealth.
"Why would the Sh.e.l.l Hutts be interested in a comm handler on the run?" Boba Fett had had dealings with various members of the Sh.e.l.l Hutts; he knew they didn"t do anything without a credits-related reason, just like the other Huttese. "If they need that level of translation and diplomacy skills, they can just buy whoever"s on the market. Someone who doesn"t have a price on his head."
"Oph Nar Dinnid made himself valuable to them." A trace of grudging admiration sounded in Bossk"s harsh voice. "Seems he had memory aug-mentors surgically implanted in his cortical areas, and stuffed them full of the Narrant system"s top-secret business information, dealings, and records that he had access to from working as the supreme liege-lord"s protocol intermediary. There"s a lot of data inside Dinnid"s head that the Sh.e.l.l Hutts have found to be pretty interesting. And profitable."
"So? That"s not something that would keep Dinnid safe for long. The Sh.e.l.l Hutts aren"t exactly reticent about stripping data out of somebody"s memory and then tossing the remains out like an empty husk."
Bossk leaned closer, close enough that Boba Fett could smell blood and meat through his helmet"s air filters. "Dinnid may be an idiot, all right, but he"s not that kind of idiot. The memory augmentors he had installed inside his skull have a time-based readout function wired into them. All the secret business data from the Narrant system that he"s carrying is released a few bits at a time-plus it"s under an autodestruct encryption. The Sh.e.l.l Hutts try to crack his head open to get at the data, everything gets wiped. But that"s not even the best part. They can"t even tell how much data is inside Dinnid. Basically, he"s valuable to the Sh.e.l.l Hutts for an indefinite period of time; it could be decades before the information is done spooling out of him."
"That was clever of him." As with the rest of the story that Bossk had just related, Boba Fett feigned hearing it for the first time. "But it also means that the Sh.e.l.l Hutts aren"t going to let go of him for a good long time."
"d.a.m.n straight," agreed Bossk. He tapped a single claw against Boba Fett"s chest. "It"s not going to be easy, prying him out of their hands. That"s why the bounty hunters aren"t going out one by one to try and pull off this job. It"s going to take a team to nail down this piece of merchandise."
Fett had been expecting this as well. "Are you making me an offer?"
"Maybe." Bossk pulled back, taking another scan around the chamber and toward the rough-hewn door. "Let"s face it: things have been pretty tense around here since you showed up." The Trandoshan"s slitted eyes bored fiercely into the dark visor of Fett"s helmet. "There"s a lot of talk going on, from the old guard like my father and the rest of the Guild council, all the way down to the rawest bounty hunter on the membership list."
"What kind of talk?"
"Don"t mess with me," growled Bossk. "You"re valuable to me right now, but if you start getting funny, I"ll eat your brains out of your helmet like a soup bowl. If I"m making you an offer, then it isn"t just about catching hold of this Oph Nar Dinnid guy-though that should be reason enough for you to be interested. But it"s about the future of the whole Bounty Hunters Guild. There"s going to be some big changes coming down here, and people are lining up on one side or another, depending on which way they think it"s going to go. Frankly, I"d rather have you on my side than not-but whatever side you"re on, I"m still going to win. It"ll just be easier with you than without. And it"ll be easier if you and I and a couple other handpicked barves pull off this Dinnid job. The bounty we"ll get from it will buy us a lot of friends. But more than that, it"ll show some of the fence-sitters around here just who"s got what it takes to snag the hard merchandise. The ones who can do this job are the ones who should be running the Guild."
"You"ve thought a great deal about this." Boba Fett kept his own voice level and free of emotion. "Again-I"m impressed."
"Cut the flattery." The point of Bossk"s claw dug a little deeper into Fett"s chest. "All I want to know is, are you with me on this one?"
Bossk"s eyes widened in surprise as Boba Fett"s hand suddenly grabbed the other"s fist, squeezing the bones hard enough to grate them together beneath the overlapping scales. Fett slowly and deliberately moved Bossk"s captured hand away from himself, like setting a peculiar and unlovely art object at a distance.
"All right." Fett released his durasteel-hard grip. "I"m with you."
Sulkily, Bossk rubbed the joints of his hand. "Good," he said .after a moment. "I"ll talk to some of the others. The ones who"ll make the kind of team we need." He stood up from the stone bench. "I"ll let you know how it"s going."
Boba Fett watched the Trandoshan pull the chamber"s door shut behind himself, then listened to the sound of his footsteps fading down the corridor outside. It"s almost sad, thought Fett. The poor barve didn"t know just how well things were already going.
But he"d find out. Soon enough . . .
"Your son has just concluded his visit." The major-domo for the Bounty Hunters Guild headquarters bowed his head, an obsequious grin on his face. "And his conversation with the unsavory individual known as Boba Fett proceeded just as you, in your ever-present wisdom, predicted it would."
Cradossk regarded the bobbing figure of the Twi"lek, all crouching curtsies and avarice-brightened eyes. The glistening, bifurcate head tails of his underling reminded him of both Nirellian ground-slugs and uncooked sausages. That notion sparked an automatic twinge of hunger in his gut-but then, most things had that effect upon him.
"Of course it did." In his own luxuriously appointed quarters, Cradossk fidgeted with the heavy straps of his normal business garb, the fabrics a minor-keyed visual symphony in somber yet tasteful grays and blacks. The gaudier robes he"d worn at the banquet welcoming Boba Fett to the Guild had been hung by the majordomo in a vacuum-maintained, humidity-controlled closet. "Things go as I predict them, not because of any wisdom I might possess, but because of a tiresome lack of wisdom on other creatures" parts."
"Your Worshipfulness is entirely too modest."
Ob Fortuna worked his way around Cradossk, pale and clammy hands darting out to make some final adjustments to his employer"s everyday outfit. "Would I have foreseen such things? Or your ill.u.s.trious colleagues on the Guild council? Not very likely."
"That"s because you and they are fools alike." The thought depressed Cradossk; all the burdens of leadership weighed upon his shoulders. There was no one to help him guide the Bounty Hunters Guild through these perilous shoals, in which conspiratorial enemies thronged like pack sharks. Not even his own son. Sp.a.w.n of my seed, Cradossk mused gloomily. It just showed that true rapacious savvy was derived more from experience than genetics. I shouldn"t have been so easy on him, when he was just a little reptile.
"Someone else is here to see you." The major-domo made a few more final adjustments to Cradossk"s garb. "Did you call for him? Should I grant him admittance?"
"Yes to both questions." The fawning Twi"lek was getting on his nerves. "And it"s a private matter. So your presence is not required."
The majordomo ushered in the bounty hunter Zuckuss, then disappeared on the other side of the door he closed behind himself.
Of all the younger, rawer bounty hunters who"d gained admittance to the Guild, Zuckuss had always seemed one of the least suited for the trade. Cradossk gazed at the breathing-masked figure in front of him and wondered why any rational creature would place himself at such risk; it was like a child playing a dangerous adult game, where the wagers were one"s own life and the forfeits were measured out in pain and death. His original motivation for pushing Zuckuss, with that less-than-imposing stature and dangling tubes of breathing-a.s.sistance apparatus, onto Bossk had been to give his son an easily disposable partner, someone who could be sacrificed in a tight situation with little regret or loss to the organization. There were more where Zuckuss came from; would-be bounty hunters, with inflated notions about their own skills and toughness, were always lining up at the Guild"s doors. This particular situation had changed, though; Cradossk had another use for young Zuckuss.
"I came as quickly as I could." Zuckuss was visibly nervous. And audibly: the breath tubes curving at the bottom of his face mask fluttered. "I hope it isn"t anything that-"
"Calm yourself." Cradossk lowered himself into a folding campaign chair made of femurs reinforced with durasteel rods. "If you were in any kind of trouble, believe me, you"d know about it already."
Zuckuss didn"t appear rea.s.sured. He glanced over his shoulder, as though the door of the chamber had been a trap mechanism snapping shut.
"Actually, there"s nothing wrong at all." The bones of the chair were worn smooth beneath Cradossk"s palms. "Much of what you"ve done has met with my approval."
"Really?" Zuckuss turned his gaze back toward the Guild leader.
"Of course," lied Cradossk. "I have had reports concerning you. My son Bossk is not easily impressed-that is, with anyone other than himself. But he spoke quite highly of you. The business with that accountant . . . what was his name?"
"That was Posondum." Zuckuss gave a quick nod. "Nil Posondum. It"s really a shame that didn"t go better. We nearly had him."
Clawed hands spread wide, Cradossk"s shrug was both elaborate and soothing. "One does the best one can. Not everything happens the way it should." To say something like that required genuine acting ability on his part. "Bad luck can happen to anyone." Inside himself, Cradossk still felt like pulling off both his son"s and Zuckuss"s heads for s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g up that job so badly. Boba Fett had made complete fools out of both of them, and then repeated the ignominy when he"d slipped past them to come sailing into the Bounty Hunters Guild headquarters. "Don"t worry about it. There"ll be other times, other chances. There"s always another piece of merchandise."
"I"m . . . glad you feel that way. . . ."
"You have to take the long view in this business." He had given the exact same lecture to Bossk, and had been sneered at, years ago. "You win some, you lose some. The trick is to win more than you lose. Go for the averages."
"That"s true, I guess." Zuckuss"s anxiety level now seemed genuinely lowered. "Except for Boba Fett. He always seems to win."
"Even Boba Fett." One of Cradossk"s hands made a grand, all-encompa.s.sing gesture. "You wouldn"t know it just by his reputation, but he and I go back a long way, and I can tell you that he"s had his share of times when he"s come up empty. Don"t let that general aura of invincibility fool you."
"Well . . . it"s hard not to be impressed. The things that are said about him . . ."
Cradossk leaned forward in the campaign chair and jabbed a claw into Zuckuss"s chest. "I"ve been in the bounty-hunter trade a long time, boy, and I"m telling you now, you"re every bit as tough a barve as the great Boba Fett."
"I am?"
"Sure you are." In a Gamorrean"s eye, thought Cradossk to himself. He continued with the pitch. "I can tell. There are certain-shall we say?-ineffable characteristics of the born bounty hunter. Someone with the appet.i.te and the skills for succeeding in this trade. I can smell "em. That"s why I"m the head of the Bounty Hunters Guild, just because of my being such a keen judge of character." He tapped the side of his snout with one claw. "And my instincts tell me that those are exactly the skills you have."
"Well." Zuckuss slowly shook his head in amazement. "I"m . . . flattered."
It"s too easy, thought Cradossk. Telling creatures what they wanted to hear, down in however many hearts they carried around inside themselves, was the quickest and surest way to get them ready for sticking the knife in. Their defenses went down like so many security shields with surge-blown power fuses.
"Don"t be." He had this Zuckuss exactly where he wanted him; time to spring the rest of the trap. "The truth in this matter is important to both of us. Because there"s something I need you to do for me. Something important."
"Anything," Zuckuss said quickly. He spread his gloved hands apart. "I"d be honored-"
"That"s fine." With his own upraised hand, Cradossk cut off the young bounty hunter. "I understand. Loyalty is another one of those characteristics, so important in our trade, that I discern in you." He tilted his head to one side, displaying an uneven, insinuating smile. "But we have to choose our loyalties, don"t we?"
"I"m not sure I know what you mean. . . ."
"You"ve worked with my son Bossk on a couple of jobs. So you"re loyal to him, aren"t you?"
There was no hesitation before Zuckuss spoke. "Of course. Absolutely."
"Well, get over it." The partial smile disappeared as Cradossk slouched back in the campaign chair. "Your loyalty is to me. And that"s for a very simple reason. There"s some rough times coming around here-as a matter of fact, they"ve already started. Some creatures aren"t going to come out the other end of those times; there"ll still be a Bounty Hunters Guild, but it"s going to be a lot smaller. You want to be one of those that survive the shakeout, because the alternative is death." He peered closer at Zuckuss, seeing himself reflected and magnified in the other"s eyes. "Am I making myself clear?"
Zuckuss gave a rapid nod. "Perfectly clear."
"Good," said Cradossk. "I like you-that"s why I"m making you this kind of offer." In truth, it was a Trandoshan characteristic to despise all other life-forms, and he wasn"t making any exception in this case. "You stick with me, and there"s a good chance you"ll make it. I"m not just talking about survival, but really getting somewhere in this organization. Loyalty-to the right creatures, that is-has its rewards."
"What . . . what is it you want me to do?"
"First off, keep your vocal apparatus muted, concerning what we"re talking about right now. The first part of loyalty is being able to keep a secret. Any bounty hunter who can"t keep his mouth shut isn"t long for this galaxy, at least not in any organization that I"m running."
Another fast nod. "I can keep quiet."
"I figured as much." Cradossk let his smile reappear. "We"re all scoundrels here, but some of us are better scoundrels than others." He leaned farther forward this time, close enough that the breath from his flared nostrils formed momentary clouds on Zuckuss"s eyes. "Here"s the deal. You"ve heard about the Oph Nar Dinnid job?"
"Of course. Everybody in the Guild is talking about it."
"Including my son Bossk, I take it?"
Zuckuss nodded. "He"s the one I heard it from."
"I knew he"d jump on it." Cradossk got some satisfaction from that; his sp.a.w.n was at least ambitious, if not overly smart. "He likes the big jobs, with the big payoffs. This Dinnid job is just the kind of thing to get him salivating. Did he say anything about putting together a team to go for it?"
"Not to me."
"He will," said Cradossk. "I"ll see to that per sonally. My son may show some initial reluctance to having you on the team, but I"ll make it worth his while to take you along. There"s some equipment to which I can provide access, some inside information sources I"m sure he"d find valuable-that sort of thing. More than enough to make up for whatever share he and the others would have to cut you in on for being part of the operation."
"That"s very . . . kind of you." Suspicion was discernible behind the curved lenses of Zuckuss"s eyes. "But why would you do something like that?"
There was hope for this creature yet; he wasn"t a complete idiot. "It"s very simple," said Cradossk qui etly. "I do something for you"-he tapped his claw against the top of the other"s face mask-"and you ... do something ... for me." With the last word, the point of Cradossk"s claw tapped against his own chest. "Now, that"s not too hard to understand, is it?"
Zuckuss nodded slowly, as though the claw in front of his face had hypnotized him. "What is it . . . that you want me to do?"
"Now, that"s simple as well." Cradossk rested both his hands on the bony arms of the campaign chair. "You"re going to go out with the team that my son Bossk is putting together to snag this particular piece of merchandise named Oph Nar Dinnid. The difference between you and Bossk, however, is that you"ll be coming back."
It took a few seconds, but illumination finally struck Zuckuss. "Oh . . ." The nod was even slower this time. "I see. . . ."
"I"m glad you do." Cradossk gestured toward the door. "We"ll talk some more. Later."
When Zuckuss had scurried out of the chamber, Cradossk allowed himself a few moments of self-satisfied musing. There was lots more to do, strings to pull, words to be whispered in the appropriate ears. But for now, he had to admit to himself that he actually did like this Zuckuss creature. To a degree, thought Cradossk. Just smart enough to be useful, but not smart enough to realize how he was being used-at least, until it was too late. He might even feel some regret when it came time to eliminate Zuckuss as well.
But such, Cradossk knew, were the burdens of leadership.
It had taken some doing, plus prying and digging with various tools improvised from stiff, sharp-pointed pieces of wire. But those were the sorts of skills that Twi"lek males were born with. The result, after nearly a year of surrept.i.tious work on the part of the majordomo, was a tiny, undetectable listening hole, up near the ceiling of the anteroom to Cradossk"s private chamber. Better than any electronic snooping device; those could always be de tected with a basic security scan-sweep. The majordomo, even as he was listening to the conversation between Cradossk and the young bounty hunter Zuckuss, congratulated himself on his cleverness. One had to be clever to survive working for carnivores like these.
Using a combination of toeholds between the wall"s ma.s.sive stones and an ornamental wall hanging depicting the Guild"s past glories, Ob Fortuna clambered down from his eavesdropping post. He had heard Cradossk dismissing Zuckuss, their secretive discussion over for the time being. Past experience enabled the majordomo to calculate precisely how long it would take for someone to turn from in front of the bench in which the Guild leader always sat, and walk the few meters to the chamber door. It was just long enough for the majordomo to get back down and brush the dust and cobweb fragments from himself, as though he had been standing there all along, waiting like a good and faithful-and non-conspiratorial-servant.
"I trust your talk was pleasant?" The majordomo escorted Zuckuss to the next door, leading out of the anteroom to the corridors of the Bounty Hunters Guild headquarters. "And that you found inspiration in it?"
Zuckuss seemed distracted; it took a moment for him to respond. "Yes . . ." He gave a nod as he walked. "Very . . . inspiring. That"s the word, all right."
Idiot, thought the majordomo. He had heard every syllable that-had pa.s.sed between this creature and Cradossk. Whether Cradossk was aware of it or not, there were no secrets around here. Not as far as I"m concerned.
"Excellent." The majordomo smiled, showing all of his own sharp-pointed teeth. He held open the anteroom door, using his other hand to keep his head tail from falling across his shoulder as he gave a precisely calculated bow. "I trust we will have the pleasure of your company again."
"What?" Standing in the corridor, Zuckuss gazed at him as though puzzled by those simple words. "Oh . . . yes, of course. I imagine you will." He turned and walked away, like one weighted by a new and unforeseen responsibility.
The majordomo watched him go. He was more familiar with the various shades of meaning attached to Cradossk"s utterances. Nothing was ever as it seemed on the surface. The poor bounty hunter didn"t have a clue as to what kind of lethal mess he was getting into.
But Ob Fortuna did. He glanced behind him, across the length of the anteroom, to make sure that the door to Cradossk"s chambers was still closed. Then he hurried down toward the opposite end of the corridor, to where the others who would be interested in this conversation would be waiting. With his hands tucked inside the folds of his long-skirted robes, he was already calculating the profits that would come from another piece of information bro-kering.