[Boba Fett] - 1(14)

There, on a flat ledge under a cliff on the side of the mesa, was a small ship. A starship. A Delta-7! Could it be…?

Just then Boba heard someone - or something - behind him on the trail.

He ducked behind a rock just in time.

The man who hurried past him along the trail was as familiar as the starship. As familiar, and as unwelcome.

It was the Jedi who had pursued them through the asteroid rings. The Jedi the torpedo had blasted. Obi-Wan Kenobi. Back again!

Boba watched from behind his rock as the Jedi opened his starfighter’s hatch and climbed into the cockpit. Boba thought he was about to take off, but he didn’t bother to close the hatch.

Whatever the Jedi was up to, Boba knew it was no good. He had to stop him. But how?

From where he was hiding, Boba could see over the rim of the mesa, all the way to the entrance to the stalagmite city. There was the drowsy Geonosian sentry he had slipped past.

The Jedi’s starship was hidden from the sentry - but Boba wasn’t.

But how could Boba raise an alert?

Boba picked up the biggest piece of mica he could find and wiped it on his sleeve until it shined like glass. Then he used it to reflect the light from Geonosis’s sun, which was just peeping over the rings. He tilted the mica slab back and forth until he could see a flash of light across the sentry’s eyes.

Then he did it again. And again.

Had the sentry seen it?

He had! He was coming down the path, toward the mesa’s edge. Boba couldn’t risk being seen, so he left the trail and scrambled up a steep ledge to the top of the mesa. When he got to the top of the mesa, he saw the Geonosian guard at the edge of the cliff, looking down. Boba knew he had sighted the Jedi starfighter, because he was talking excitedly on his comm.

Success! Or so it seemed. Boba ran toward the base of the tower - then skidded to a stop.

The gate was closed. He was stuck outside. How could he get inside without being discovered?

Then he got lucky again. The gate suddenly swung open and out came a squad of droidekas. They were in such a hurry to capture the Jedi that they didn’t notice Boba, flattened against the rock wall.

He was able to slip through the door just before it closed behind the droidekas.

Safe! Boba was just about to breathe a sigh of relief when he felt a strong metal gauntlet on his shoulder. It felt gentle, yet stern.

“Where you heading, son?” asked Jango Fett. “Where have you been?”

“Uh, outside. Sir.”

“Come upstairs. We need to talk.”

Boba followed his father up the stairs and into the apartment. There was nothing he could say. There was nothing he could do. He was found out, and he knew it.

He sat down on the couch and watched while his father took off his battle armor and laid it carefully on the floor.

“Another adventure?” Jango Fett asked with a slight smile as he brewed himself a cup of nasty Geonosian grub-tea.

“I’m really sorry,” Boba said. “Really really sorry.”

“Sorry for what?” his father asked. “Disobeying you.”

“And that’s all?”

“I-I guess,” Boba said.

“What about lying to me?”

“I didn’t lie,” said Boba. “I admitted I was outside.”

His father’s smile was gone. “Only because you were caught. If you hadn’t been..”

“I guess I would have,” said Boba. “I’m sorry for that, too.”

“I accept your apology, then,” said Jango. “As a punishment you are confined to quarters until I say otherwise.”

“Yes, sir.” Boba breathed a sigh of relief. Confined to quarters meant grounded; it meant he had to stay in the apartment. It wasn’t as bad as he had expected.

“It would be worse,” said Jango Fett, “except that I owe you one.”

“You do?!”

“Sure. For our Jedi friend The one who somehow managed to escape us in the asteroids. He’s been captured now, thanks to you. You alerted the sentry, even though it meant you might get in trouble. You did the right thing.”

“Yes, sir. Thank you, Dad. I am sorry I disobeyed you.”

“I am, too, Boba,” said Jango Fett with a smile. “But I’m proud, as well.”

“You are?!”

“I would be worried if you didn’t disobey me at least once in your life. It’s part of growing up. Part of the process of gaining your independence.”

Boba didn’t know what to say. Did his father really believe he had only disobeyed him this one time?

So he tried to hide his smile, and didn’t say anything.





CHAPTER ELEVEN


Confined to quarters.

It could have been worse. But it was still pretty bad. Boba’s lonely life got lonelier now that he was stuck in the apartment.