The Fight to Survive

by Terry Bisson

  thought. Is he here to follow me, to force me down, or to blast me out of

  the sky?

  Boba wasn't about to find out.

  He knew he couldn't outrun the starfighter. And since he barely knew

  Slave /'s weaponry, he couldn't outfight him. That left only one option.

  He had to outsmart him.

  Instead of heading for space, Boba dove into the canyons and mesas

  that surrounded the stalagmite city. Using all the maneuverability of the

  craft, he sliced through the narrow canyons, turning right, then left, as

  fast as he could.

  The starfighter was gaining. But that was okay. That was part of

  Boba's plan.

  He remembered a trick his dad had told him about. A trick that had

  been used on Jango Fett once, and once only. (No trick ever worked on Jango

  Fett twice.)

  Boba slowed where the canyon forked, left and right. He fired a

  missile at the canyon wall on the right, then turned left and landed on a

  narrow ledge under the shelter of a cliff.

  Boba shut off his engines and waited. And waited.

  If the trick worked the Jedi starfighter would see the marks of the

  explosion of the wall, and turn back. If it didn't...

  If it didn't, the starfighter would appear around the corner, lasers

  blazing. Or call for backup, and the sky would fill with starfighters. Or..

  .

  Finally, Boba quit waiting and restarted his engines. The trick had

  worked. The Jedi starfighter had seen the explosion and turned back.

  Boba grinned with satisfaction as he took off again. He thought I hit

  the wall!

  Boba pushed Slave 1 up into the rings and beyond. He had never been

  alone in space before.

  He had felt alone on the planet after his father's death, and

  particularly after burying him. But this was different. There is alone and

  there is alone.

  There is no place more lonely than the vacuum of space. Because space

  is No Place.

  In space, there is only Not. Zero. Absence. And the absence of

  absence...

  Welcome to The Big Isn't.

  Boba shivered at the thought of the emptiness around him-then pushed

  the thought aside. He had no time for The Big Isn't. He thought of his

  father and his code: A bounty hunter never gets distracted by the big

  picture. He knows it's the little things that count.

  Boba had a job to do. He had to find the black book.

  Boba slipped into high orbit, above the rings.

  Geonosis below looked almost peaceful. It was hard to believe it had

  just seen the fierce fighting that had killed his father - and hundreds,

  perhaps thousands, of others.

  It was a beautiful sight, but Boba didn't intend to spend time

  enjoying the view. He was already preparing the ship for a hyperspace jump.

  For a return, this was a simple process. Since Kamino was the last

  place Slave I had been, all

  Boba had to do was reverse the coordinates on the navcomputer.

  The ship would take care of the rest. So he did.

  And so did it.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN,

  In hyperspace, all sectors of the galaxy are connected. Near is far

  and far is near.

  The ship was falling into a hole. No, out of a hole.

  Boba was back in "normal" space.

  He was floating in orbit around what looked like a ball of clouds

  stitched together with lightning.

  Stormy Kamino!

  Home. Or as much of a home as Boba Fett had ever known.

  Boba rubbed his eyes, stretched, and put Slave I into descent

  trajectory. Gray clouds whipped past like torn flags. Lightning flashed on

  all sides; thunder boomed. As the little starship slowed below supersonic

  speed, rain splattered the cockpit's transparisteel.

  Boba adjusted his speed and circled down slowly toward the lights of

  Tipoca City. He had watched his father do it several times, but this was

  his first time at the controls.

  The funny thing was, he didn't feel alone. It was almost as if Jango

  Fett were right there behind him. Boba could almost feel the big hand on

  his shoulder.

  Smooth! He cut the engines and eased onto the landing pad with hardly

  a bump.

  The weather in Tipoca City was normal, which meant there was a big

  storm in progress - which was all right with Boba. He didn't want to be

  noticed.

  He had worn the battle helmet, so that anyone watching Slave I landing

  would think there was an adult at the controls. But he needn't have

  bothered.

  The landing pad was deserted. There was no one around.

  Boba threw on a poncho and scrambled out of the cockpit, after setting

  the ship's environmentals on INPUT to take on air and water, both plentiful

  on Kamino.

  Especially water - it was pouring rain!

  The little library at the end of the street corridor was dark. Boba

  banged on the door.

  "Whrr, are you there?"

  Was he too late? Or too early? Boba was warp-lagged from hyperspace,

  and he realized he had no idea what time it was in Tipoca City.

  "Whrr, please. Open up!"

  The light behind the slot came on.

  Boba wished the door would open so that he could go in, out of the

  rain, but the library was only a branch.

  An awning slid out, though, to protect him from the rain. And he heard

  the familiar whirring and clicking inside.

  "Whrr, it's me."

  "Boba? You're back! Where have you been? What happened?"

  A short question with a long answer. Boba told Whrr the whole story,

  from the time he and his father had left the planet in a hurry, to the

  horrible scene in the arena, where he had seen his father killed.

  "Oh, Boba, that's terrible. You are an orphan, at only ten. Do you

  have enough to eat? Do you have any money?"

  "Not exactly," said Boba. "A few crackers. An extra pair of socks."

  "Hmmmmmm," whirred Whrr.

  "I'll be okay," said Boba. "But I have to get something my father left

  with me. By accident I left it with you."

  "A book?"

  "Yes! You remember! It looks like a book, anyway. It's black, with

  nothing on the cover. I returned it by mistake, with the last books I

  brought back right before I left."

  "I will be right back."

  There was a whir and a click, a clank and a clatter. Soon Whrr was

  back - with good news!

  "Here you are," he said, passing the black book through the slot. "But

  there is a fine, you know."

  "A what!?"

  "There's money due on this book. Quite a bit."

  "It's not even really a book. Besides, I didn't check it out. It's

  mine! I left it with you."

  "Exactly," said Whrr. "Which means the library owes you, let's see,

  two hundred and fifty credits."

  "That's impossible - " Boba began.

  "Sorry," said Whrr, passing the money through the slot. "A fine is a

  fine and must be paid. Now go on about your business, Boba, and good luck.

  Come and see me sometime. If you're ever around."

  I get it, Boba thought. I'm a little slow, but I get it.

  "Thank you, my friend," he said. "Someday I will come back to Kamino.

  I'll come by and see you then, I
promise."

  "Good-bye, Boba," Whrr said through the slot. The light went off and

  Boba heard a strange snuffling sound.

  Must be the rain, he thought, because everybody knows that droids

  don't cry.

  Boba could hardly believe his luck! Two hundred and fifty credits

  would buy groceries and supplies, even clothing, with some left over for

  fuel. This was vital - since he didn't know how to access his father's

  accounts.

  And he had the black book! He patted it under his poncho, where he was

  carrying it out of the rain.

  Before heading off-planet, Boba wanted to make one stop.

  He wanted one last look at the apartment where he and his father had

  lived, where he had spent the first ten years of his life (although, of

  course, he didn't remember most of it).

  Fortunately, it was on the way back to the landing pad.

  As Boba rode up in the turbolift, he wondered about the locks. Had

  they been changed? Would they still recognize his finger and retinal

  prints?

  He never found out. The door was wide open.

  The apartment was dark. It was spooky. It no longer felt like home at

  all.

  Boba closed the door and was just about to turn on the lights when he

  heard a voice behind him.

  "Jango."

  It was Taun We.

  Boba could barely see her in the dim light from the window. She was

  sitting on the floor with her long legs folded up out of sight under her

  long body.

  "I saw Slave I come in," she said.

  Boba crossed the room and stood in front of her.

  Taun We looked up, startled. "Boba!? Is that you? Where's your father?

  "

  Boba had always regarded Taun We as a friend. So he sat down and told

  her.

  "You poor child," she said, but her words were cold and mechanical.

  Boba realized she wasn't such a friend after all.

  "What were you about to tell my father?" he asked.

  "The Jedi," she said. "They came and took the clone army, after you

  and your father left. They also wanted to question Jango Fett further. Now

  that he is dead, they will want you."

  "My father hated the Jedi."

  "I have no feelings for the Jedi," said Taun We. "Of course, we

  Kaminoans have few feelings for anything. It is not in our nature. But

  fairness requires that I tell you that they are after you. Just as I have

  told them that Slave I has landed in Tipoca City, and that you and your

  father would probably be coming here."

  "You did what!?"

  "I must be fair to all," said Taun We. "It is in my nature."

  "Thanks a lot!" Boba said, heading for the door. He didn't bother to

  shut it after him. He couldn't believe Taun We had betrayed him to the

  Jedi. And he had thought she was a friend. Then he remembered his father's

  code: No friends, no enemies. Only allies and adversaries.

  But what about Whrr? he thought as he pressed the button for the

  turbolift. Wasn't Whrr a friend? It was all too confusing to think about!

  Boba was still lost in thought when the turbo-lift arrived. Then the

  door slid open, and

  It was a Jedi. A woman, young and tall.

  Boba ducked aside and let her walk past. He kept calm, kept walking.

  "Siri? You're too late," said Taun We from inside the apartment.

  "You bet I'm gone!" said Boba as he opened the garbage chute and dove

  in. He closed his eyes and held his breath as he fell - down, down, down...

  .

  It wasn't the fall he feared, it was the landing. The trash pile at

  the bottom would either be hard or...

  000MPH!

  Soft! Luckily, it was all old clothes and paper.

  Boba was surprised to find himself grinning as he brushed himself off

  and ran out the door, toward the safety of Slave I - and flight!

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  One good thing about stormy Kamino - there are lots of electrical

  disturbances to cover your tracks, even from radar.

  Boba Fett knew that once he had lifted off the landing pad, he would

  be hard to follow. He buried Slave I in the thick, gray clouds, changed

  course a few times just to be sure, then punched up through the atmosphere

  into the quiet of space, and a long, slow orbit.

  Back into The Big Isn't.

  At last it was time to check the black book. The message that his

  father had promised would guide him after he was gone.

  He grasped the cover tightly, prepared to pull hard. But the cover

  opened easily. Instead of pages and print, Boba saw a screen.

  It was just as Jango had said. It was not a book at all, but a message

  screen. An image was coming into focus, a planet..

  No, a face. Becoming clearer.

  Boba's father's face.

  It was dim but it was him. Jango Fett's eyes were wide open. He looked

  sad, though; sadder than ever.

  "Boba."

  "Father!"

  "Listen up, Boba. You are only seeing this because I am gone. Because

  you are on your own. Alone."

  Boba didn't have to be told that. He was feeling very alone.

  "That is the way. All things must end. Even a parent's love, and I am

  even more than a parent to you. Remember me, and remember that I loved you.

  "

  "I will, Father," Boba whispered, even though he knew his father could

  not hear. "I will never forget you."

  "There are three things you need, now that I am gone. I can only point

  you toward them. These three things you must seek and find on your own."

  On your own. The words had a cold, familiar sound.

  "The first is self-sufficiency. For this you must find Tyranus to

  access the credits I've put aside for you. The second is knowledge. For

  knowledge you must find Jabba. He will not give it; you must take it. The

  third and the most important is power. You will find it all around you, in

  many forms. But beware, sometimes it is dangerous. And one last thing,

  Boba..."

  "Yes, Father! Anything!"

  "Hold onto the book. Keep it close to you. Open it when you need it.

  It will guide you when you read it. It is not a story but a Way. Follow

  this Way and you will be a great bounty hunter someday. I was sure of it

  when I was alive, and I am sure of it still..."

  The picture was fading. "Father!"

  The screen was blank. Jango Fett was gone. Boba closed the black book.

  The cover sealed with a soft click.

  Wow.

  Boba didn't know whether to smile or cry, so he did both, while he sat

  with the black book on his lap. It was just a message screen, just a

  recording. But to him it was something very precious. It was his only

  connection with his father.

  It was home and family.

  He felt less alone.

  Boba gave the black book a little pat and slipped it into the flight

  bag for later.

  Then he stretched, and looked around.

  Slave I was in high orbit. The planet Kamino was covered with storms

  far below. It looked like a marble made of mud and snow. On all sides,

  above and below, the stars beckoned.

  Boba scanned through Slave /'s energy and environmental systems.

  Enough for one more hyperspace jump. Then he would have to refuel an
d

  refit.

  Boba leaned back and planned his next step.

  First things first, Jango always said. And according to Jango, or

  Jango's memory, Boba's first task was to find Tyranus. The Count. The man

  for whom Jango had created the clone army.

  Boba had seen him in person, for the first time, on Geonosis. But he

  was sure that Tyranus had fled in the chaos of the battle in the arena. He

  didn't seem like the sort who would submit to being captured by the Jedi.

  Where would he have gone?

  Boba closed his eyes and remembered his father's voice, talking to the

  Jedi in Tipoca City: "I was recruited by a man called Tyranus on one of the