His brain felt weighted down with all these questions stacking
up on top of each other. Mysteries
and skulduggery were what one dealt with in the bounty-hunter trade; all this reminded Dengar of why he had wanted to get out of it. There must be an easier way to make a living.
Or a safer one. Now he had two potential bombs on his hands, either one of which could result in a quick death for him, if he was lucky, or a messy one, if his luck ran true to form. It hadn’t been bad enough getting involved with Boba Fett’s fortunes; now he had to deal with the enigmatic Neelah as well. She was a loose laser cannon by herself-if she’d had a blaster, Dengar supposed he would’ve been crisped by now-plus there were those unseen figures from her past, who’d put her here. They might not be too happy about her turning up again. If they were the kind of people who hired Boba Fett to do their dirty work for them, they wouldn’t be likely to have too many scruples about eliminating everyone hooked up with her.
None of it looked good. Which had its own upside: The more risk, Dengar reminded himself, the more profit. That, more than anything in the so-called Hunter’s Creed, was what governed the actions of bounty hunters, from Boba Fett down to himself. If there was a chance of being partners with Fett, and reaping the rewards from that, he would have to ramp up his courage to a new level.
“All right,” said Dengar aloud. He unfolded his arms and pointed to the female on the other side of the hiding place’s main chamber. “Let’s work out an arrangement, you and me. Stipulation number one: Don’t try to kill me. If we’re going to get anything accomplished around here, that’s a basic requirement.”
Neelah
appeared to think it over, then nodded. “Okay.”
“And if you try, I’m going to make sure it’s your corpse that gets thrown out of here. Got me?”
She nodded again, with just a trace of impatience.
“Number two: I’m in charge here. I’m running the show-“
Neelah’s anger flared. “Wait a minute-“
“Shut up,” said Dengar. “It’s for your own good. And it’s just for the time being. You get back to wherever you came from, you get your real name and everything that comes with it returned to you, then you can do whatever you want. But right now you don’t even know who you are, you don’t know who might be gunning for you, you don’t know anything about what the galaxy’s like once you get off this little rock heap’s surface. Even if you could find some way out of here without my help, you might poke your nose into some place like Mos Eisley and get your whole head detached from your neck. There’s plenty of types who’d do that for you, even without knowing who you might be.”
His lecture had a visible effect on her. “Very well,” said Neelah sullenly. “You’re in charge. For now.”
The things I put up with, thought Dengar to himself. It was all for Manaroo’s sake; he had to keep that in mind. On the other side of all this, there was her, and a life together with the female he loved. If I get that far.
“I’m glad we understand each other.” Dengar pointed to a larger, open niche at the farthest end of the chamber. “You might as well make yourself comfortable down here. I don’t want you wandering around topside. There’s food and supplies; anything else you need, just let me know. I’ll have those two medical droids give you a quick scan, to make sure you’re all right. Tatooine’s got some nasty bugs you can pick up.”
Neelah looked straight back at him. “What about Boba Fett? That’s why I came here.”
“That’s number three. You don’t see him, you don’t talk to him, you don’t have anything to do with him, unless I’m right there with you.”
“Why?”
“Like I told you before. For your own good.” Dengar indicated the subchamber with a tilt of his head. “That guy’s one dangerous barve. If there’s some kind of connection between you and him, it might not be one that’s to your benefit. When he’s got his strength back, he might kill you just as easily as look at you. And you won’t be asking any more questions then, believe me.”
The message seemed to sink in. “All right,” said Neelah. “Whatever you say.”
There was more that he hadn’t said. His precautions weren’t just for her sake. I don’t want the two of them conspiring against me, thought Dengar. Even before Boba Fett got his full strength back, that razor-sharp mind of his would be working and scheming away. Fett would be fully capable of making his own deals with Neelah that she wouldn’t be able to resist falling in with. A bounty hunter didn’t get the drop on people just with weapons that someone could see and feel burning through one’s gut; the history of what Boba Fett had pulled off with the old Bounty Hunters Guild indicated that he was a master at ensnaring sentient creatures in subtler traps. Though you wind up just as dead, thought Dengar, either way. And if Boba Fett had been lying and playing for time, back when Dengar had found him out there in the Dune Sea’s wastes, the quickest way to dissolve any partnership would be to use Neelah as his cat’s-paw.