One that I will win, thought Xizor. And after that, it would be time for other plans and schemes. For all his respectful words, the Force and the Emperor’s mastery of it meant nothing to him. Of what use was the greatest power in the universe-if it even existed at all, and wasn’t
just some figment of Vader and Palpatine’s imaginations-when it was in the hands of a fool? An aging one, at that, so obsessed with the Rebellion that he would allow a greater danger to him walk the corridors of his palace. He doesn’t know, thought Xizor, keeping his own face a mask as he gazed at the Emperor. Despite having given himself over to the dark side of the Force, Emperor Palpatine didn’t suspect what was still hidden in the shadows surrounding him.
“Go about your self-appointed business, Xizor.” The Emperor’s hand made a dismissive gesture. “You plot and work to bring about other creatures’ destruction; this pleases me. Knowing what I do about Boba Fett and the members of the unfortunate Bounty Hunters Guild, it is a process that I do not anticipate will take long to achieve the desired results. Come and report to me again when these sharper tools are ready to be delivered into my grasp.”
“As you wish, my lord.” Xizor bowed, then turned. The edge of his caped robes flared with that motion, the thick rope of his bound hair swinging across the exposed ridges of his vertebrae.
“I also will want to hear of your success.” Lord Vader’s holo image spoke as Xizor strode from the Emperor’s throne room. “Or the lack thereof.”
Xizor couldn’t help smiling to himself as he left the presence of the Emperor and his chief servant. There would be successes, of that he was confident. But not the kind they expected.
“I must warn you, my lord.” The great doors to the throne room had sealed shut once again, leaving Va-der in private consultation with the Emperor. “Better you should surround
yourself with fools than one
with
such ambitions.”
“Your warning is acknowledged, Lord Vader.” Emperor Palpatine gave a knowing smile. “But it is hardly necessary. Prince Xizor likes to keep secrets from me. But I see more deeply into his heart than he realizes.”
“Then let me eliminate him for you. And remove the possibility of his treachery.”
“And eliminate as well the value he has for me?” The Emperor slowly shook his head. “He is a sharp-edged tool in himself, Vader. He cuts through difficulties with ease. This scheme he has initiated against the bounty hunters-it is a stroke of genius. Even Boba Fett, as smart as he is, will have little conception of what forces have been brought against him.” The thin smile showed on the withered face again. “There is a great satisfaction
that
comes from turning
a
sentient creature’s own strengths against him. Fett and the others like him will soon find out just how that works.”
Lord Vader’s image was silent for a moment before speaking, words softer than his rasping breath. “And Prince Xizor?”
“His time will come as well,” said the Emperor. “When he will learn the same.” He gave the same gesture of dismissal with one hand, “Now go.” The Emperor turned his throne toward the stars, the vast reaches that extended before him. “I have other things to contemplate.”
11
The first quarters they gave him were hung with silken brocades, the richly worked tapestries mirrored in the floors inlaid with precious metals. “I don’t think so,” said Boba Fett.
He prevailed upon Cradossk’s majordomo, an obsequious Twi’lek like the ones so often encountered in high-level service
positions, to move him to a more spartan residence in the Guild compound. It didn’t take much to convince the nervously smiling and bowing creature to accede to his wishes; merely stating them and turning the threatening visage of his helmet toward the other was enough.
“I hope you’ll find this more to your liking.” The Twi’lek majordomo’s name was Ob Fortuna; his head tails, the bifurcated appendages that curved from his skull and rested on his shoulders like overfed snakes, glistened with a sheen of perspiration. He resembled a distant clan member that Fett had seen in Jabba the Hutt’s entourage. The little space, an empty cubicle carved from the planetoid’s underlying rock strata, and the corridor through which he’d led Boba Fett, was chill enough to make his breath visible. The sweat was provoked by the bounty hunter’s presence. “If there’s anything else you require …”
“This will do fine.” Boba Fett looked away from the Twi’lek and scanned the bare stone walls. “Leave me.”