[Bounty Hunter Wars] - 03(123)

“True enough.” Kuat nodded. “That’s exactly what I had him do. But how do you know about Fenald?”

“There was encoded material attached to that fabricated evidence when I found it inside the freight droid that had been converted to a spy device. I didn’t have time to break the encryption seal then, but when I was coming back from Tatooine, where I had retrieved the evidence from another bounty hunter named Bossk, I managed to crack it. The encrypted material was Fenald’s own identity code, including his connection to Kuat Drive Yards. He probably put it there so he’d have the ability to blackmail you by threatening to reveal to Xizor-or Palpatine or the Rebel Alliance-exactly where the fabricated evidence had come from, and who had been responsible for it.”

“I wouldn’t put it past him.”

“Here’s the other question,” said Boba Fett. “Did you also order Fenald to make arrangements for Kateel of Kuhlvult

to

be

abducted

and memory-wiped?”

“Of course not,” said Kuat stiffly. “That’s absurd. What motivation would I have for wanting something like that done?”

“Then this Fenald could have been following someone else’s orders when he contacted a go-between named Nil Posondum and made those arrangements?”

“Very likely.” Kuat smiled ruefully. “I know from personal experience that Fenald was capable of working for another at the same time he was my head of security. Loyalty, as I found out, was a negotiable item with him; he double-crossed me when members of some of the other ruling families conspired to take over Kuat Drive Yards.”

“Fenald’s treachery might have been even more complicated than that. Apparently he was double-crossing Kodir of Kuhlvult at the same time.”

Kuat’s brow creased. “What do you mean?”

“What better way for Kodir to have gotten your confidence-and the security head position-than to expose Fenald as a traitor to you? And the best way to do that would be to arrange for it with Fenald himself. Especially since Fenald had already been working for Kodir while he was still your security head. In fact-” Boba Fett’s voice drew taut as a durasteel wire. “Fenald was working for Kodir-following her orders-when he set up Kodir’s sister Kateel to be abducted and memory-wiped.”

“Interesting,” said Kuat, “if true.”

“It’s true, all right. The only thing I needed to find out was whether or not you had ordered the acts committed against Kateel of Kuhlvult-and as you’ve pointed out, you’re beyond having any interest in lying about the matter. So that leaves Kodir as the only one who could have given that job to Fenald to take care of.” “How do you know that?”

“Simple,” replied Boba Fett. “When Kodir intercepted me with the KDY security division cruiser, she also found her sister Neelah-or Kateel, her real name-aboard the ship I had been using. Yet Kodir deliberately concealed any reaction to seeing Neelah there; in particular, Kodir showed no surprise at Neelah’s not recognizing her in return. So Kodir knew that a memory wipe had been done on Neelah. If Kodir hadn’t found that out from you-because you had been the one who ordered it-then logically, it must have been done on Kodir’s instructions. It’s easy enough to figure out what Fenald did: he had orders from you for one job to be taken care of on the sly, and he had orders from Kodir for another, different job that had to be kept quiet. So he put more credits in his own pocket by using the go-between Nil Posondum to hire just one lowlife, Ree Duptom, to take care of both jobs. Fenald must have gotten a good rate that way. The only problem was that when Duptom was accidentally killed, it left a mess for both you and Kodir of Kuhlvult to worry about, without either one of you knowing that the other was involved. But it took getting information from both you and Kodir to figure out what must have happened back then.”

“I’m impressed.” Kuat regarded the bounty hunter thoughtfully. “You’re a creature of considerable intelligence; a shame that you found no better use for it than being a bounty hunter.”

“It suits my personality.”

“Perhaps so. But that makes me wonder about something else.” Kuat’s gaze grew sharper. “You’ve gone to a lot of trouble, not to find out what you needed to know-because you already knew that. You’ve risked your life coming here to find out what someone else, this female named Neelah, desperately needs to know. That kind of tenderheartedness isn’t exactly your style, Fett. Unless…”

Kuat managed a thin smile. “Unless you’ve developed some other interest in her besides just business.”