[Bounty Hunter Wars] - 01(72)

And profitable.”



“So? That’s not something that would keep Dinnid safe for long. The Shell Hutts aren’t exactly reticent about stripping data out of somebody’s memory and then tossing the remains out like an empty husk.”



Bossk leaned closer, close enough that Boba Fett could smell blood and meat through his helmet’s air filters. “Dinnid may be an idiot, all right, but he’s not that kind of idiot. The memory augmentors he

had installed inside his skull have a time-based readout function wired into them. All the secret business data from the Narrant system that he’s carrying is released a few bits at a time-plus it’s under an autodestruct encryption. The Shell Hutts try to crack his head open to get at the data, everything gets wiped. But that’s not even the best part. They can’t even tell how much data is inside Dinnid. Basically, he’s valuable to the Shell Hutts for an indefinite period of time; it could be decades before the information is done spooling out of him.”



“That was clever of him.” As with the rest of the story that Bossk had just related, Boba Fett feigned hearing it for the first time. “But it also means that the Shell Hutts aren’t going to let go of him for a good long time.”



“Damn straight,” agreed Bossk. He tapped a single claw against Boba Fett’s chest. “It’s not going to be easy, prying him out of their hands. That’s why the bounty hunters aren’t going out one by one to try and pull off this job. It’s going to take a team to nail down this piece of merchandise.”



Fett had been expecting this as well. “Are you making me an offer?”



“Maybe.” Bossk pulled back, taking another

scan around the chamber and toward the rough-hewn door. “Let’s face it: things have been pretty tense around here since you showed up.” The Trandoshan’s slitted eyes bored fiercely into the dark visor of Fett’s helmet. “There’s a lot of talk going on, from the old guard like my father and the rest of the Guild council, all the way down to the rawest bounty hunter on the membership list.”



“What kind of talk?”



“Don’t mess with me,” growled Bossk. “You’re valuable to me right now, but if you start getting funny, I’ll eat your brains out of your helmet like a soup bowl. If I’m making you an offer, then it isn’t just about catching hold of this Oph Nar Dinnid guy-though that should be reason enough for you to be interested. But it’s about the future of the whole Bounty Hunters Guild. There’s going to be some big changes coming down here, and people are lining up on one side or another, depending on which way they think it’s going to go. Frankly, I’d rather have you on my side than not-but whatever side you’re on, I’m still going to win. It’ll just be easier with you than without. And it’ll be easier if you and I and a couple other handpicked barves pull off this Dinnid job. The bounty we’ll get from it will buy us a lot of friends. But more than that, it’ll show some of the fence-sitters around here just who’s got what it takes to snag the hard merchandise. The ones who can do this job are the ones who should be running the Guild.”



“You’ve thought a great deal about this.” Boba Fett kept his own voice level and free of emotion. “Again-I’m impressed.”



“Cut the flattery.” The point of Bossk’s claw dug a little deeper into Fett’s chest. “All I want to know is, are you with me on this one?”



Bossk’s eyes widened in surprise as Boba Fett’s hand suddenly grabbed the other’s fist, squeezing the bones hard

enough

to grate them together

beneath

the overlapping scales. Fett slowly and deliberately moved Bossk’s captured hand away from himself, like setting a peculiar and unlovely art object at a distance.



“All right.” Fett released his durasteel-hard grip. “I’m with you.”



Sulkily, Bossk rubbed the joints of his hand. “Good,” he said .after a moment. “I’ll talk to some of the others. The ones who’ll make the kind of team we need.” He stood up from the stone bench. “I’ll let you know how it’s going.”



Boba Fett watched the Trandoshan pull the chamber’s door shut behind himself, then listened to the sound of his footsteps fading down the corridor outside. It’s almost sad, thought Fett. The poor barve didn’t know just how well things were already going.



But he’d find out. Soon enough …



“Your son has just concluded his visit.” The majordomo for the Bounty Hunters Guild headquarters bowed his head,