“But you got the weapons?”
Ygabba smiled. “Of course.” Then her smile faded. “We have no choice. If we don’t do as Libkath orders, bad things happen.”
“What kind of bad things?”
“Kids disappear. We never see them again. Libkath sells them as slaves or indentured servants. Or worse.”
Her expression darkened. Boba thought of how bad off Ygabba and the others seemed now. If something was worse than that, it must be really, really bad.
“Where do the weapons go?” he asked. Ygabba shrugged. “Smuggling is big business on Tatooine. Some people say it’s the only business. There are a lot of people who want weapons.”
Boba thought for a moment. “So you’re saying these weapons were smuggled here in the first place. Now Libkath is double-crossing whoever smuggled them in, by stealing them?”
“That’s right. And the only reason he gets away with it is that no one suspects us. Like I said before. Grownups never take us seriously. Until they catch us.”
Suddenly she got up. “Well, I better get going. I have to meet the others.”
Boba said, “Ygabba, wait.”
She stopped. “What?”
“Why don’t you just escape? I mean, Tatooine is a big planet. Libkath couldn’t track you all down if you all ran away. And you said the toxin wouldn’t be released unless you left the planet.”
“True.” She shook her head sadly. “But the little ones are too small. They could never keep up with the rest of us.”
“But you could go for help,” said Boba. “Someone would have to listen. Someone would have to help.”
Ygabba’s eyes brimmed with tears. “We have no families, and for those of us who still have relatives, he threatens to kill them if we ever go home. Life is hard enough for them here on Tatooine. We can survive in Mos Espa. Someday, when we’re older, we will find our way back home. I don’t know how. But we will.”
Boba stared at her. He nodded. “I think you’re brave, Ygabba. If there’s some way I can help you and the others, I will.”
Ygabba looked at him. She smiled. “Thanks, Boba.”
She glanced up at the sail barge. Its banners were being unfurled. The airsailing crew was pulling up lines and getting ready to leave.
“Looks like you found what you were looking for, too,” she said.
Boba stood beside her. “Yes. Jabba agreed to take me on - as a bounty hunter!”
He couldn’t keep the pride from his voice.
Ygabba looked at him. Slowly, she smiled. “Boba Fett, bounty hunter! I definitely won’t forget that.”
“No. And I won’t forget all of you, either.”
From the sail barge came the fanfare of a trumpet. Jabba the Hutt was ready to depart.
“Good-bye, Ygabba!” Boba called as he ran to the barge. He grabbed a rope ladder and quickly climbed it, swinging himself on board. Rough hands grabbed him and pushed him onto the deck.
“Get below!” a Gamorrean guard shouted at him. “No riffraff where Jabba can see you!”
“I’ve been invited by Jabba,” Boba protested. “As a bounty hunter - “
Harsh laughter came from the guard. “Get below with the other hired guns!” he brayed, and shoved Boba toward a door.
“You - !” Boba started to shout. Then he thought better of it. He gave one last look out toward the arena. A small figure stood where the dome had been, watching him.
“Go’wan!”
A huge gnarled hand shoved Boba through the door into the darkness of Jabba’s barge.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
On the upper deck, Jabba and his invited guests drank and ate. Music played. Acrobats tumbled and Twi’lek dancers leaped and turned. The barge’s sails filled with air, as the great vessel came about and sailed majestically above the ground, heading for the Western Dune Sea. Overhead, stars burned through a sky black as Hapes velvet. The air smelled of roasting meat, of sweet, cool fruit sherbets, of flowers imported at fabulous expense from distant green worlds. A Mrlssi harpist played and sang while Jabba sat on his throne and crammed handfuls of writhing worms into his mouth. Jabba’s guests wandered across the deck. They gazed out at the starlit desert beneath them, laughing and scheming and drinking Jabba’s fine Chandrilan wines.
Unfortunately, Boba had only a glimpse of all of this splendor. He could only hear the music and merriment, and smell the mouth-watering odors of rare meats and fruits.
He was in the hold beneath the upper deck. There were no stars here to light the darkness. The space was dimly lit by swaying light globes suspended from the ceiling. There was no food or water. The air was close and hot, and stank of dirty straw and penned beasts. Off-duty crew members milled about, cursing and gambling away their pay. Some slept in hammocks slung along the walls. A few ‘amused themselves by poking sticks into cages that held new pit beasts bound for Jabba’s palace.