CHAPTER ONE
Some people believe that space is empty. Boba Fett’s father, Jango Fett, had been one of those people.
“Space is emptiness,” Jango had told his son. “And emptiness is useless, until it is filled with work, or energy, or people, or starships. A good bounty hunter may seem invisible at times. But he knows how to use the space around him. And if he is using that space, it is not empty.”
Boba did not think space was empty. Gazing out at the space that surrounded his ship, Slave he thought that space was full, and brilliant, and beautiful. There were planets everywhere, and stars. He saw distant flares of green, or gold, or red that were nebulas, or galaxies, or even vast starships.
Still, he did agree with his father on one thing. No matter what intergalactic space was, Boba knew he had to make the most of it.
“Approaching destination,” a cool, computerized voice from Slave I’s controls informed him. “Approaching Tatooine.”
Boba leaned forward. He ran his hand across Slave I’s piloting console. His fingers touched buttons, switches, and skin-sensitive navigational aids. He smiled.
He was part of the complex space inside this starship. His starship, since his father’s death. Just days ago, on the planet Aargau, Boba had seized Slave I back from Aurra Sing, the notorious bounty hunter who had stolen it from him.
Aargau was the galaxy’s banking planet. There, Boba had also regained what remained of his father’s fortune - just enough credits to spend on outfitting Slave I for this journey.
“Estimated time of landing, 01200 mesarcs,” the computer said. “Breaching Tatooine airspace.” Tatooine.
Boba Fett stared out at the planet before him. It was a vast bone-colored sphere, streaked here and there with darker brown and white. In the distance, Tatooine’s twin suns blazed dull orange. They were like demonic eyes staring back at Boba.
No, space was not empty.
He leaned forward and punched a command into the control console. With a dull roar, Slave I pierced the desert planet’s atmosphere. The ship began to hurtle toward Tatooine’s surface. The twin suns grew smaller, less bright. But they remained ominous. Boba gazed out at the desert world, grimacing.
This sure isn’t a place where you’d want to spend much time, he thought.
Sandstorms, oceans of sand dunes, drought-stricken canyons, moisture farms, and unrelenting heat. From what Boba had heard, Tatooine filled its own space with some pretty awful stuff.
So remind me why I’m going here?
Boba smiled grimly. He knew the answer to that question.
His father, Jango, had been killed by a Jedi Knight named Mace Windu. But as one of the galaxy’s greatest bounty hunters (the greatest, in Boba’s opinion), Jango had lived every day knowing that he might die.
And he had loved his son. To prepare Boba in case the worst ever happened, Jango had left him a book. In this book were screens of information, advice, and encouragement. All were written in his father’s own words. Sometimes the book showed his father’s own image, too.
“Hold onto this book,” Jango Fett’s face and voice told him when Boba looked inside the book. “Keep it close to you. Open it when you need it. It will guide you when you need guidance. It is not a story but a Way. Follow this Way and someday you will be a great bounty hunter, Boba.”
That was what Boba wanted more than anything. To be a great bounty hunter, like his father had been. To know that his father would have been proud of him.
Sometimes, late at night when he was alone and scrolling through the book, Boba pretended that his father was still alive, somewhere.
But he could never pretend that for very long.
Now the book was in his pocket. Boba did not need to look at it. He knew the advice it held for him regarding Tatooine.
“For knowledge you must find Jabba,” the book said. “He will not give it; you must take it.”
Jabba the Hutt! One of the galaxy’s most notorious gangsters and crime lords! And Tatooine’s most famous, if disgusting, resident.
Jabba was why Boba was about to make landfall on this forsaken, desolate planet.
Boba had already found Tyranus. That was how Boba had ended up on Aargau. Tyranus was the agent who had selected Jango Fett to be the source for the Republic’s clone army.
But Tyranus was also Count Dooku, who was leading the Republic’s enemies, the Separatists.
And only Boba had the knowledge that these two people were the same.
Knowledge is power, his father had always told him. But even the power of knowledge could be limited.
For knowledge you must find Jabba. He will not give it; you must take it.
Boba had escaped from Aurra Sing and Aargau, but he needed more credits to survive. He needed more power. He needed more knowledge. He took a deep breath, then reached for the console and entered the coordinates for Mos Espa, Tatooine’s bustling spaceport.