But it was gaining.
It was Durge. Hunting Boba.
“Let’s see if we can lose him,” Boba said. Ahead he saw a long, ragged line in the sand. A canyon.
He steered the jet pack so that he dropped into the canyon. It was ten or twenty kilometers long. And it was cooler than the open air high above.
Boba flew through it. He zigzagged along the canyon passage. He lifted his helmet and let the cool air touch his cheeks.
Then he saw the end of the canyon approaching. He lifted up, up into the hot dry air. He looked behind him.
There was no sign of Durge.
Lost him.
He looked ahead.
Ulp!
There, very close now, was Mos Espa.
And there, hovering just meters away from Boba, was Durge’s speeder!
“Got you!” shouted Durge. He started to stand, a flamethrower at the ready. He took aim. The speeder rocked slightly as he got his balance.
“We’ll see about that,” retorted Boba. Stealthily he reached down for the ignition switch on his jet pack. He stared boldly at the armored bounty hunter.
“Three,” counted Boba to himself. He watched Durge take aim. He waited until the very last second. “Two… one - “
Fire exploded from the flamethrower. At the same instant, the jet pack’s flames went out. Boba dropped like a stone.
Where his head had been, a ball of fire burst.
Boba switched the jet pack back to full power. He somersaulted, kicking at the air until he was parallel to the ground far below. With a roar his jet pack sent him arrowing forward, beneath Durge’s speeder.
“You - !”
Durge howled in rage. Another flamethrower burst exploded harmlessly behind Boba, then another. The speeder rocked as the bounty hunter jumped back behind his console. The vehicle turned to pursue Boba.
“I can outrun him,” Boba said aloud. He wasn’t sure if this was true. But he felt better saying it. “I can do this….”
He looked up. Tatooine’s two suns glared through the haze. Boba angled himself so that the suns were directly in front of him. If he did this right, their blaze might momentarily blind Durge.
And a moment was all Boba needed to escape!
He headed to where the bazaar was most crowded, vendors shouting their wares and hundreds of beings haggling for bargains.
“If I can get in there, I can lose him,” said Boba. “Then I can find Ygabba…”
He glanced back. Sure enough, Durge’s speeder had slowed. Boba could see the reflected glare of sunlight on Durge’s body armor.
Boba looked ahead. There was no way Durge’s speeder could manuever through the slow throng of shoppers.
“This is it,” murmured Boba.
He cut back on his jet pack’s power. His stomach seemed to drop from him as he fell forty meters. Almost immediately he powered back up and zoomed straight ahead. He raced just over the heads of the bewildered beings. He looked back.
Durge was out of sight. Boba had lost him!
He turned gleefully. He amped the jet pack’s power to full.
Ahead of him was where he’d find Gilramos Libkath.
Ahead of him was triumph - or death.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Boba knew he would be easier to spot if he was flying.
“I should get down there,” he said, staring at the maze of streets and alleys below. “I can hide from Durge, at least for a little while.”
But he didn’t have a little while. He had, hardly any time at all.
And he didn’t know exactly where Gilramos Libkath’s lair was.
Boba frowned. He cruised slowly above cantinas and docking areas. In the distance, he saw the battered outline of Mentis Qinx’s facility. He imagined he could see Slave I, waiting.
“I’ll be there soon,” he said.
He looked out again. Not very far off, a huge building rose. It nearly blotted out the sky. The arena.
Gilramos’s lair was near the arena!
He swerved, dropping until he flew only a few meters above the ground. A few merchants glared at him as they scurried past. Boba shrugged.
“Beats walking!” he yelled at them.
Ahead of him the main road ended abruptly. Boba surged upward, flying above a high wall. Beyond were more alleys. He saw water vendors arguing and a bantha waiting patiently outside a cantina door.
But he didn’t see where Ygabba had taken him before.
He powered up, soaring a few meters higher. He looked down.
And saw it.
Below him was the familiar outline of a gutted Theed cruiser. Dead vegetation clung to its sides. Broken glass, scrap metal, and litter covered it.
To the casual viewer, it was just another wrecked starship.
To Boba, it was the first step toward freedom. Here goes nothing.
He powered down, trying to slow his descent. Still, when he touched down it was with a jolt. “O000f!”
He reached for the wall, steadying himself. He switched off his jet pack. He patted it.