Slave I was gone.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Boba sat down on the ground, under the wheeling, spinning Bogden moons. He was dizzy again. The tea had worn off completely.
His starship was gone. So was the black book that contained Jango Fett’s code. So was his father’s battle helmet - his legacy.
Even his money was gone, except for ten credits.
Gone, all gone. How could he have been such a fool? How could he have let his father’s memory down? How could he have trusted Honest Gjon? He put his head in his hands and moaned in dismay and self-disgust.
Then he heard a clucking sound. “Tut, tut, yes.”
It was Aia. “I was afraid of this,” the skinny moon-being said. “That’s why I ran back. But I was too late. That Honest Gjon is a crook, yes.”
“So are you,” Boba pointed out. “You steal things.”
“Only my fingers steal,” said Aia, holding up both webbed hands. “And only what I need, yes.
To prove it, I will help you find Honest Gjon. Not so honest, yes.”
Boba felt a glimmer of hope “Where did he go?” “His shop. He tears ships down for parts. So they can’t be traced, yes.”
“Then we must hurry,” said Boba, jumping to his feet. “Before he begins to tear Slave 1 apart. Where is this shop of his?”
Aia pointed straight up, toward a jagged, spinning moon.
“Oh, no!” Boba sat back down. “He has taken it to another world.”
“Yes, of course. He thinks you can’t follow, yes.” “But he’s right! I can’t!”
“But you can,” said Aia. “Come. Come with me, yes.” And he took Boba’s hand and pulled him to his feet.
“If you were any older or any bigger, this would be a problem, yes,” said Aia as he led Boba up the path. “As it is, we may just make it, yes.”
“Make what?” The path twisted and turned up a rocky hill overlooking the landing pad.
“You will see, yes.”
Boba saw - and didn’t like what he saw. The path ended at a cliff.
Boba gripped Aia’s big hand and leaned out, looked up, looked down. Above, he saw darkness, a few moons, and many stars. Below, he saw only darkness.
He was dizzy again.
“The gravity waves rise and fall with the moons, yes,” said Aia. “If you get high enough, and if you know what you are doing, you can ride them. Like a bird on the wind, yes.”
All of a sudden, Boba got it. And he didn’t like it.
He backed away from the edge of the cliff, but not fast enough. Aia was already stepping off into thin air - and pulling Boba with him.
Boba was falling.
Then he wasn’t.
He was rising, soaring, slowly at first and then faster, faster, faster. Rising up through the air.
“You have to ride the vectors, yes,” said Aia, whose coat was spread wide like a kite, like wings. He squeezed Boba’s hand. “When one vector gives out, we cross to another, yes.”
Let’s hope so, thought Boba.
Aia pulled Boba with him. They plummeted down, then started to rise again.
They were heavy one moment, weightless the next.
Boba ignored the lump rising in his throat for as long as he could.
Then he lost it.
“Yu-ck!” said Aia. “If I had known you were going to do that… I would have… yes…”
“Sorry,” said Boba.
He was feeling less dizzy. The higher they soared, the easier it got. All Boba had to do was hang on to Aia’s hand and follow. Other figures darted in and out of the clouds. All of them were small like Aia.
Aia waved at them.
“We are the couriers, yes,” he said to Boba. “We are the only ones light enough to travel from world to world. You too, yes. As long as you stay with me.”
Don’t worry, Boba thought, squeezing Aia’s hand. I’m sticking with you!
It was getting cold. Boba looked down. He immediately wished he hadn’t.
Bogg 4 was a tiny lump of stone and dust, far away. The stars were too bright. It was hard to breathe.
We’re almost in space! Boba thought. We have soared too high!
“There, Bogg 11, yes,” said Aia, pointing up ahead to where a smaller, darker moon was about to cross Bogg 4’s orbit. Gravity was pulling at both moons, tangling their clouds together in long streams, like seaweed.
“The foam is where the atmospheres brush one another,” Aia said. “That is where we make the jump, yes.”
“And if we miss…”
“Space is cold,” said Aia. “Eternity is cold. Hang on, hold your breath, yes!”
Boba held his breath. But he couldn’t hold on. His fingers were numb and stiff with cold. He felt Aia’s hand slipping away.
“No!” cried Boba silently, since there was no air with which to shout or scream.