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 Tyranus.
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 space, preparing to shift into hyperdrive, that he noticed that the hundred-credit note was missing from his pocket.