Though it all looked dead, it was alive. Boba saw tiny brown-robed creatures scurrying through the oily wasteland. He saw birds the color of dirt, like smears against the sky. There were no cities, but every few kilometers a smokestack belching fumes marked the site of a refinery or recycling plant, run by scurrying oil-smeared droids.
“Slower, kid.”
Aurra Sing consulted a code on her wristwatch. “It should be along here somewhere. Look for a lopsided hill and a lake - there it is!”
The “hill” was a heap of foul refuse a thousand meters high. Twisted, leafless, mutant trees grew from its ravaged slopes, fed by the continual rain that oozed from the stinking clouds.
The “lake” was a pool of iridescent liquid the color of bile. Following Aurra Sing’s instructions, Boba set the ship down on a flat spot between the lake and the base of the hill.
“Don’t shut it off.”
“Huh?”
“The ship. Leave it running. I’m getting out of here. You’re staying. This is it.”
“You can’t leave me here! You can’t steal my ship!” said Boba.
“Who says? The ship is my pay,” said Aurra Sing. She opened the hatch and lowered the ramp. “There is a door in the side of the hill. As soon as I leave, it will open for you. My client is waiting for you inside. Don’t forget your flight bag.”
She tossed it out, onto the stinking, steaming “ground.” Boba ran after it. She closed the ramp behind him.
“You can’t just leave me here!” Boba yelled, banging on the hull of the ship. “I’ll run away!”
“Look around - I don’t think so!” she yelled back. “I’m gone. Good luck, Boba Fett. I hope you can live up to your father’s reputation. He was the genuine article. Who knows, maybe someday you will be, too. I liked the way you handled that bartender.”
Boba could hardly believe it. She had rescued him, then betrayed him, then robbed him, and then complimented him! And now she was about to leave him alone on the foulest planet in the galaxy. He banged on the hatch in a rage, but instead of opening, it sealed with a hiss.
He felt truly alone now. There was no one he could trust.
Slave ‘s engines whined. Boba knew that sound. He stepped back, out of the way. He watched helplessly as the starship - his starship! - rose into the noxious clouds and disappeared.p>
Once again, he felt dangerously close to tears. At the same time, he could barely breathe. Suddenly, he heard a sound behind him.
He turned. A door in the hillside was sliding open. Inside, Boba could see a brightly lighted hall, leading to a carpeted stairway.
Boba didn’t wait to be invited. Coughing and gagging, he ran inside.
Now what? Boba thought as the door slid shut.
Before he had a chance to answer his own question, he heard a voice behind him. “Welcome to Raxus Prime, Boba Fett.”
The voice was familiar. So were the lean, lined face and the hawk like eyes.
“Count Tyranus! I mean, Count Dooku!”
“You are among friends now, Boba,” said the Count. “You can call me anything you please. Count will do.”
“My father told me to find you,” said Boba.
“And I made sure it happened,” said the Count. “I see that Aurra Sing did a superb job and delivered you here safely.”
“Yes, sir,” said Boba. “I mean, no, sir. You see, she stole my ship, and it’s…”
The Count smiled and raised his hand. “Don’t worry. Your ship is safe. Everything will be fine from now on. You must be very tired.”
Boba nodded. It was true.
“Don’t worry about a thing,” said the Count, placing his cold hand on Boba’s head. “Come, let me show you to your room. Let me carry your bag.”
Boba followed him up the long stairs. The carpets were deep and soft. Who would have imagined that there was such an elegant palace on the planet of garbage? Even the air was sweet. There was only a very faint foul smell from the planet outside.
“I have big plans for you, Boba,” said the Count. “Plans that would have made your father proud. But first you need to rest. You must be tired after all your travels.”
Boba nodded. He had packed a lot of adventures into just a few days. The escape from the Jedi starfighter on Geonosis, the escape from the Jedi woman back on Kamino, the recovery of his ship and the robbery gone wrong on the moons of Bogden, the struggle with the bartender on Coruscant…
He had lost the ship, but he would get it back. The Count had promised, hadn’t he? Something like that.
A lot of stuff for a ten-year-old, he realized. He was tired. But he was also confused. He knew he should be happy. He had been lucky. He had completed the first part of his quest. He had found Tyranus. Now he would find Wisdom.