[Bounty Hunter Wars] - 03(22)

“Don’t worry.” Boba Fett glanced over his shoulder at the viewport, then back to her again. “That’s something else we’ve got in common. Rebellions are for fools; I deal with the universe as it is. So we’re not going anywhere near Endor.” He slowly shook his head. “Let them battle it out. And whoever wins … it’ll make no difference. Not to creatures like us.”

She found a measure of comfort in his words. Though not without sensing the irony of accepting the wisdom of someone who would kill her, or cash her in to the highest bidder, if it suited him. It’s all business, thought Neelah. Nothing more than that.

“Leave me,” said Boba Fett. He swiveled the pilot’s chair back toward the cockpit controls. “I have other things to take care of.”

Neelah realized she had nothing more to say. He had won again. Before she’d even had a chance to make a move.

She turned away, stepping through the hatch and then starting down the ladder to the ship’s cargo hold.

He smiled when she saw Neelah coming down the ladder. “Sounds like we’ve got something in common also,” said Dengar. “You didn’t have any luck with him, either.”

The resulting scowl on the female’s face amused him. “What do you know about it?”

“Come on.” From where he sat against one of the hold’s bulkheads, Dengar pointed to the open panel and the same comm lines that Neelah had tapped into. “More than one can play that kind of game. I heard everything both you and Boba Fett said up there.”

“Good for you,” Neelah said sourly. She sat down with her back against the opposite bulkhead. “Congratulations-now you know as much as I do. Which isn’t much.”

“Actually… I do know a little more than you.”

Neelah’s brow creased in puzzlement. “You found out something? About where we’re going?”

“Of course not.” Dengar shook his head. “If Boba Fett wants to keep quiet about his intentions, at least I’m not stupid enough to pry into them. But that’s the future; that’s what is going to happen, and right now we don’t have any say about that. I guess that’s just how things are when you accept a partnership with Boba Fett.” Leaning back against the bulkhead behind him, Dengar spread his hands apart. “The past, though-that’s another thing. Now that, I do know something about.”

“Great.” The scowl deepened on Neelah’s face. “You mean this story you’ve been telling me … this history of how Boba Fett broke up the old Bounty Hunters Guild and everything that happened after that.”

“Precisely,” said Dengar. “You’ve already learned a lot from me. More than you’re probably willing to admit. You’ve got a lot better notion now of how Boba Fett operates-and how far you can trust him-than you did when we left Tatooine.”

“For all the good it’s done me-” Neelah crossed her arms across her breast. “You might as well have stayed quiet.”

“So?” Still smiling, Dengar raised an eyebrow. “You don’t want to hear the end of it, then? Not too long ago, you were pretty interested in the story. Enough to hold that blaster pistol on me, to get me to keep on telling it.”

“I’ve changed my mind,” said Neelah. “What’s the point? He won, he survived, other creatures didn’t-pretty much business as usual for Boba Fett. Big deal.”

“Very well.” Dengar was interested in seeing how long this mood of hers would last. “Of course, there’s always the chance that the end of the story would have something you need in it, the one clue that would unlock a whole lot of other puzzles. But if you don’t want to take that chance-it’s up to you.”

“That’s right.” Neelah closed her eyes and tilted her head back. “So don’t bother me with it.”

The mood, and the feigned sleep, lasted all of five minutes. Then one of her eyes opened, then both. She glared at Dengar with them.

“All right,” Neelah said finally. “So finish it, already.”

It was a small triumph, but still worthwhile. And it would pass the time until they reached whatever destination they were headed for. “You’re not going to bother pointing the blaster at me?”

Neelah shook her head. “I’m right at the point where that’s probably not such a good idea. The impulse to blow you away might be a little too irresistible. So let’s skip it. Just start talking, okay?”

“Fine,” said Dengar. “Whatever you want…”





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