“Jacen Solo.”
“Uh-huh.”
“I heard about your daughter.”
“What’s he done to you? Wouldn’t have thought he was in your circle.”
“I’m back with the Imperial Remnant, “she said.
Well, that would make every Moff’s day, Fett thought. He almost smiled. “For how long?”
“Depends. Gil Pellaeon’s on his way to back up Solo at Fondor. I take it you know there’s going to be fleet action there.”
“I have my sources.”
“Want to help me out with your hundred finest?”
“Depends what you want to do.”
“Standby team. I’d like you backing me up for old times’ sake-I’m there in the wings in case things go badly for Pellaeon. The Moffs, of course, can rot, and so can the GA.”
But Sintas is here. And Jaina Solo.
Fett was quietly appalled at the thought. He’d never had to worry about things like that in his life. He had always been able to go where he wanted and do whatever paid him best because there was nobody else in his life, not even peripherally.
“Fett? Are you there? Is it a fee issue? I can still pay.”
“Just thinking. My-ex-wife was found alive.”
Now it was Daala’s turn to fall silent.
“I’m glad for you, “she said eventually.
“It’s not like that, Daala.” He reacted without thinking farther. Job. Business. You’re in control here. “Okay. Maybe not a hundred, but I’ll show with some handy hardware. Send me the data.”
“I’ll need you in the next twenty-four hours.”
Fierfek. “Deal. Usual terms.”
Fett parked by the main entrance to Beviin’s farm, still working out how he was going to handle the logistics, nothing more. Thinking about the emotional wreckage was one step too far today. When the doors parted, the big main room where all the cooking and eating and wholly alien family stuff happened was like the arena at Geonosis: exposed to attacks from all sides. Mirta and Jaina sat at the battered wooden table with Sintas between them. Beviin and Medrit both had their boots up on the bench, arms folded, chatting idly.
They all stopped and looked at him. The urge to retreat was almost too much.
Yow’re seventy-one. You can’t keep running from this.
Fett took off his helmet and nodded at Sintas, even though she couldn’t see him.
“Sin, “he said, completely automatically. It was her pet name. He hadn’t used it in decades. It ambushed him, but he blundered right on, hoping she didn’t notice. “How are you doing today?”
“You’re Boba Fett, “she said.
“Yeah.” Here we go. The wheels are about to come off. He glanced at Jaina, because it was easier than looking at Mirta right then. “So you remember.”
“You told me a day ago… or whenever.” She looked okay: she looked great, in fact, but then she always did. The heart-of-fire necklace hung around her neck. “I lost track of the last few days. But I’m not forgetting the things people tell me right away.”
She pushed her chair back and stood up, tottering a lit-tle, feeling her way along the backs of chairs and around the table toward him. Mirta jumped up to guide her; Beviin and Medrit scrambled to get their legs out of the way. She managed to walk right up to Fett and grabbed him by his biceps as she almost fell against him.
“Wow, you wear armor.”
Fett could think of nothing except to deal with it as he dealt with combat. He followed the first impulse that came into his head. “Do you remember what I did to you?”
Sintas stared up into his face. “No. All I know is that you found me after a long, long time. And that means you’re not going to look like I’d remember, anyway.”
He couldn’t wait for the ax to fall any longer.
“We split up, Sin. A year or two after Ailyn was born. I’m sorry.”
Sintas had always been tough. She was a bounty hunter, for fierfek’s sake; she could take a lot in her stride. She was going to have to live the rest of her life, starting now. Lying to her was a lousy way to begin it.
She frowned a little, creasing the top of her nose. “But you still came to rescue me, “she said at last. “You can’t be all that bad.”
Fett had to switch off or run. He looked to Beviin, who always hauled him out of the mire at times like this, and got a discreet thumb gesture to step outside. Mirta caught Sintas’s arm and sat her down. Jaina followed Beviin outside, as if this mess was any of her Jedi business.
“Bob’ika, Sintas can remember things from the time she was revived, “Beviin said quietly. “She’s got nothing from before then, although she knows she’s from Kiffu and that she had a daughter. Jaina thinks…”