[Bounty Hunter Wars] - 01(47)

Rebels’ desperation leads them to places that the Imperial stormtroopers and all our spies and informers

are incapable of entering-or if they do go in there, they don’t come back out except as corpses. The creatures that live in those shadows may be scum, but they are clever scum, for the most part. The Rebellion can deal with them, but the Empire can’t. We need intermediaries that are just as clever and ruthless, and the only ones that fit the requirements are the bounty hunters.”



“Your bickering does not interest me.” The Emperor’s voice was like the lash of a whip, pulling both Vader’s and Xizor’s attention toward the throne. Palpatine’s hard gaze shifted toward Xizor. “Even if what you say is true-even if, Xizor, you have convinced me that your words contain any wisdom-there are still problems with the course you recommend. True, I prefer terror and fear to any other 1 means of ensuring obedience to my commands;

fear

|

obliterates sentient

creatures’ essences, and that is always a worthwhile result. But I have no absolute aversion to buying the services the Empire requires, whether from bounty hunters or anyone else. Perhaps Boba Fett and the others have no spirits to be eradicated; if there is still something within them that can be driven by greed, then I can use that. But you still have not convinced me that these bounty hunters are the efficient tools you say they are.”



“My lord, I speak only of-“



“Silence.” The Emperor grasped the throne’s arms and leaned forward, gaze boring into the slit pupils of Xizor’s eyes. “There is little that I do not know of in this galaxy. I know more than you can imagine, Xizor; remember that. And 1 know a great deal about Boba Fett and the others, the ones who belong to the Bounty Hunters Guild. Before you ever came to my court, I was aware of Fett; not everything that you regard as a mystery about him is a secret to me. He wears the armor of the Mandalorian warriors; he’s earned the right to that armor, by his own prowess. Lord Vader possesses some of the knowledge that belonged to the Mandalorians; I pos sess more. Believe me, you deal with Boba Fett at your own peril. But in that, he is unique among the bounty hunters. You recommend them to me as tools that I can use against the Rebellion; I say that indicates you are a fool, Xizor. The Bounty Hunters Guild is a joke in which I find no amusement.”



Xizor bowed his head. “You anticipate the arguments that I wish to make, my lord.”



“I anticipate nothing but more idiotic prattle from you. The bounty hunters with which you display such an obsession are a fading remnant of what they once were. The Bounty Hunters Guild is an organization of senile, aging creatures and incompetent young bumblers. If any of them had the least amount of skills, they would wash their hands of the Guild and go independent like Boba Fett.” Deep disgust sounded in the Emperor’s voice. “The Guild members band together and cling to each other because they know they would have no chance in the galaxy on their own. That’s why Boba Fett has nothing to do with them.”



“On that point, my lord, I must respectfully offer a correction.” Xizor displayed a thin smile. “The renowned Boba Fett, the most feared bounty hunter in the galaxy, has already applied for membership in the Guild. And I anticipate that Cradossk and the others on the Bounty Hunters Guild council will have no objection to his becoming one of their number.”



“That

is impossible.” Vader’s words were flatly emphatic. “I have had enough experience with Boba Fett to know that he would never do such a thing. He values his independence too much, and he has nothing but contempt for the Bounty Hunters Guild. You’ve gone from unamusing jests, Prince Xizor, to unconvincing lies.”



“I neither jest nor lie, Lord Vader.” He turned back toward the Emperor on the throne. “Boba Fett has applied for membership in the Bounty Hunters Guild at

my instigation. He does not know that it was my idea that he should do so, or that his actions in this matter serve the purposes of the Empire. I used an intermediary to plant

the notion in Boba Fett’s head, one

whose discretion is sufficient for this task.” Xizor had no intention of revealing his involvement with the assembler Kud’ar Mub’at; to do so would only heighten Vader’s suspicions about his network of shady and outright criminal contacts. “As with everything he does, Boba Fett’s actions in this matter are motivated by his own greed.” As were Kud’ar Mub’at’s; he had gone to the assembler and pitched the scheme to it as the leader of the Black Sun organization, and not as the loyal servant of the Emperor. “His greed matches that of the aged Cradossk and all the rest of the Bounty Hunters Guild. They all think they have something to gain by this change in their relationship to each other. But it is really you,