[Boba Fett] - 1(24)

But what about Whrr? he thought as he pressed the button for the turbolift. Wasn’t Whrr a friend? It was all too confusing to think about!

Boba was still lost in thought when the turbolift arrived. Then the door slid open, and

It was a Jedi. A woman, young and tall.

Boba ducked aside and let her walk past. He kept calm, kept walking.

“Siri? You’re too late,” said Taun We from inside the apartment.

“You bet I’m gone!” said Boba as he opened the garbage chute and dove in. He closed his eyes and held his breath as he fell - down, down, down… .

It wasn’t the fall he feared, it was the landing. The trash pile at the bottom would either be hard or…

000MPH!

Soft! Luckily, it was all old clothes and paper.

Boba was surprised to find himself grinning as he brushed himself off and ran out the door, toward the safety of Slave I - and flight!





CHAPTER EIGHTEEN


One good thing about stormy Kamino - there are lots of electrical disturbances to cover your tracks, even from radar.

Boba Fett knew that once he had lifted off the landing pad, he would be hard to follow. He buried Slave I in the thick, gray clouds, changed course a few times just to be sure, then punched up through the atmosphere into the quiet of space, and a long, slow orbit.

Back into The Big Isn’t.

At last it was time to check the black book. The message that his father had promised would guide him after he was gone.

He grasped the cover tightly, prepared to pull hard. But the cover opened easily. Instead of pages and print, Boba saw a screen.

It was just as Jango had said. It was not a book at all, but a message screen. An image was coming into focus, a planet..

No, a face. Becoming clearer.

Boba’s father’s face.

It was dim but it was him. Jango Fett’s eyes were wide open. He looked sad, though; sadder than ever.

“Boba.”

“Father!”

“Listen up, Boba. You are only seeing this because I am gone. Because you are on your own. Alone.”

Boba didn’t have to be told that. He was feeling very alone.

“That is the way. All things must end. Even a parent’s love, and I am even more than a parent to you. Remember me, and remember that I loved you. “

“I will, Father,” Boba whispered, even though he knew his father could not hear. “I will never forget you.”

“There are three things you need, now that I am gone. I can only point you toward them. These three things you must seek and find on your own.”

On your own. The words had a cold, familiar sound.

“The first is self-sufficiency. For this you must find Tyranus to access the credits I’ve put aside for you. The second is knowledge. For knowledge you must find Jabba. He will not give it; you must take it. The third and the most important is power. You will find it all around you, in many forms. But beware, sometimes it is dangerous. And one last thing, Boba…”

“Yes, Father! Anything!”

“Hold onto the book. Keep it close to you. Open it when you need it. It will guide you when you read it. It is not a story but a Way. Follow this Way and you will be a great bounty hunter someday. I was sure of it when I was alive, and I am sure of it still…”

The picture was fading. “Father!”

The screen was blank. Jango Fett was gone. Boba closed the black book. The cover sealed with a soft click.

Wow.

Boba didn’t know whether to smile or cry, so he did both, while he sat with the black book on his lap. It was just a message screen, just a recording. But to him it was something very precious. It was his only connection with his father.

It was home and family.

He felt less alone.

Boba gave the black book a little pat and slipped it into the flight bag for later.

Then he stretched, and looked around.

Slave I was in high orbit. The planet Kamino was covered with storms far below. It looked like a marble made of mud and snow. On all sides, above and below, the stars beckoned.

Boba scanned through Slave ‘s energy and environmental systems. Enough for one more hyperspace jump. Then he would have to refuel and refit.p>

Boba leaned back and planned his next step.

First things first, Jango always said. And according to Jango, or Jango’s memory, Boba’s first task was to find Tyranus. The Count. The man for whom Jango had created the clone army.

Boba had seen him in person, for the first time, on Geonosis. But he was sure that Tyranus had fled in the chaos of the battle in the arena. He didn’t seem like the sort who would submit to being captured by the Jedi.

Where would he have gone?

Boba closed his eyes and remembered his father’s voice, talking to the Jedi in Tipoca City: “I was recruited by a man called Tyranus on one of the moons of Bogden….”