“So what did you want to know?”
Dengar pulled himself back from his grim meditations to the hard-eyed female regarding him from the other side of the chamber.
“Same thing I wanted to know before.” He nodded toward the entrance to the subchamber. “What’s your connection with Boba Fett?”
Neelah shook her head. “I don’t know.”
“Oh,
that’s a good one.” Dengar gave a quick, derisive laugh. “You come sneaking in here-not exactly the smartest thing to do-and you don’t even know why.”
“That’s what I came here to find out. That’s why I wanted to talk to him.” Neelah glanced toward the subchamber, then back toward Dengar. “That’s why I left him where you would be sure to find him-“
“Wait a minute,” said Dengar. “You left him?”
She nodded. “I found him before you did. But I knew there was nothing I could do for him, not with what the Sarlacc had done. He needed medical attention-more than anything I could do. I took a chance that you’d take care of him. That you’d keep him alive.”
“And why’s that so important to you? He’s a bounty hunter, and you were a dancing girl in Jabba’s palace.” Dengar peered more closely at her. “What’s he got to do with you?”
“I told you before-” Neelah’s voice rose to a fierce shout. “I don’t know! I just know that there is a connection-some kind of connection-between the two of us. I knew that back when I first saw him. In the palace, in Jabba’s court. When that fat slug had poor Oola killed … when she was tugging against the chain, and the trapdoor in front of the throne was opening …” Both of Neelah’s fists were trembling and white-knuckled. “All of the other girls were watching from the passageway … and there was nothing any of us could do… .”
“There never is,” said Dengar. He could taste his own bitterness in his mouth. “That’s how things happen in this universe.”
She wasn’t here in this chamber with him; she was lost in her own memory. “And then we could hear her screaming … and I couldn’t look anymore. That was when I saw him. Just standing there at the side of the court … and watching. …”
“Bounty hunters,” said Dengar dryly, “make it a habit to stay out of other creatures’ business. Unless they’re paid to do something about it.”
“And when the screaming was over, and Jabba and the others were still laughing … he was still there. Just as before. And still watching.” Neelah closed her eyes for a moment as a shudder ran through her slight body. “And then … the strangest thing … he turned and looked at me. Right into my eyes.” Her voice filled with both fear and wonder. “All the way across Jabba’s court … and it was like there was nobody else there at all. That was how it felt. And that was when I knew. That there was something between the two of us.” She refocused her gaze on Dengar. ” ‘Connection’ isn’t the right word. It’s something else. Something from the past. I even knew his name, without asking anyone else.” Neelah slowly shook her head. “But that was all I knew.”
“All right.” The story intrigued Dengar. A matter of practical
interest as well: If this female
meant something to Boba Fett, then knowing just what it was might give him an additional bargaining chip. “You said it was something from the past. Your past?”
She nodded.
“Well, that’s a start. But nothing you can remember, I take it?”
Another nod.
“So how did you wind up at Jabba’s palace?”
“I don’t know that, either.” Neelah’s fists uncurled, empty and trembling. “I don’t know how I got there. All I remember is Oola … and the other girls. They helped me. They showed me …” Her voice ebbed softer. “What I was to do …”
Her memory had been wiped; Dengar recognized the signs. The confusion and welling fear, and the little bits and pieces, scraps of another existence, leaking through. No wipe was ever complete; memory was stored in too many places throughout the humanoid brain. To go after every bit, eradicating them all, would probably be fatal,
a
reduction
beyond basic
life-maintenance processes. There were easier, and less expensive, ways of killing a sentient being. So someone, thought Dengar, wanted her alive. Fett?
“What about your name?” Dengar nodded toward her. ” ‘Neelah’-was that something you remembered?”