The Fight to Survive

by Terry Bisson

  moons of Bogden...."

  The moons of Bogden. That was a start.

  Boba did a search in the ship's database. Bogden was a swampy,

  uninhabited planet in a far sector, surrounded by "numerous tiny

  satellites."

  The moons of Bogden...

  Boba punched in the coordinates. Then he hit the hyperdrive switch,

  and hoped for the best.

  The stars started to dance as hyperspace wrinkled around the starship.

  Boba leaned back and crossed his fingers for luck.

  "Here goes, Dad," he breathed as he closed his eyes. "I'll do my best

  to make you proud of me."

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  Even though Boba had looked up Bogden in the database, he wasn't

  prepared for what he found when. Slave I came out of hyperspace. "Numerous'

  satellites" indeed!

  He was orbiting what looked like a handful of pebbles someone had

  tossed into the air.

  Bogden was a small, gray planet, surrounded by a swarm of tiny moons.

  Boba counted nineteen before he quit. It was hard to keep them straight.

  They were all shapes and sizes. The smallest was barely big enough for a

  ship to land on, while the largest had room for mountains, a city or two,

  and even a dry sea.

  Day and night were erratic on these tiny circling worlds. Some were in

  darkness, some in light. Several had atmospheres; most did not. Boba

  scanned them all, looking for a city with a spaceport; or at least a town

  with a spaceport; or at least a town.

  Many of the moons seemed uninhabited. Boba rejected one pear-shaped

  lump that oozed volcanic fumes, and another that was covered from pole to

  pole with gravestones. He decided against one that was covered in ivy that

  looked carnivorous. He passed on one that was all ice and one that was all

  ash and smoldering embers.

  Finally Boba located a moon that was roughly spherical, half in light

  and half in darkness. At least it looked occupied.

  He aimed for the largest cluster of lights he could find. The

  atmosphere was thin and shallow, and soon Slave I was in an approach

  trajectory over what looked like a small city scattered through several

  rocky valleys.

  The ID-scan gave the moon's name as Bogg 4.

  Boba aimed for a wedge of lights that looked like a landing pad. He

  clicked Slave 1 out of auto and began to set her down.

  Smoothly and easily, and then...

  Whoa! Something was rocking the ship, almost like a windstorm.

  Boba fought the controls, trying to slow the descent.

  Later he remembered a joke that went, "It wasn't the fall that was

  bad. It was just the last centimeter."

  So it was with Boba. He made a perfect landing except for the very

  last part.

  CRUNCH!

  Slave I was tipped over on its side. Boba tried to right it, but it

  wouldn't move. According to his damage control panel, he had bent one of

  the landing struts.

  At least no one was watching. The landing pad seemed deserted. Boba

  got out of the cockpit to survey the damage.

  He felt dizzy. It looked bad. Two struts were good but the third was

  bent almost double.

  He had no idea how to fix it. He got the flight bag down from the

  cockpit and looked through it for a repair manual. But there was only the

  black book his father had left him.

  Boba pulled the black book out of the flight bag. Maybe there would be

  something in it that he could use. If he ever needed it, it was now!

  The book opened easily. On the screen inside were two lines, looking

  like something out of Jango Fett's code:

  Never tell the whole truth in a trade. A favor is an investment.

  Darn! Nothing about landing gear, Boba thought, closing the book.

  He was putting it back into the flight bag when he heard a high-

  pitched voice behind him: "Whose ship?"

  Boba turned.

  A small humanoid was approaching. He had beady eyes, a long snout, and

  narrow, hooved legs. Boba recognized him by his chin beard and purple

  turban as a H'drachi from the planet M'Haeli. But modified: His right arm

  had been replaced with a multipurpose tool extension.

  He wore coveralls with words stitched over the pocket:

  HONEST GJON

  STARSHIP SERVICE

  "we will warp you"

  "My ship," Boba said. Then he remembered that he was just ten, and

  looked it. "I mean - it's my father's."

  "And where mmight this father of yours be?" asked the H'drachi.

  "Unavailable at the moment," said Boba. "But you can talk to me."

  "Honest Gjon at your service," said the H'drachi. "This is mmy landing

  pad. Which mmeans you owe me a landing fee. And it looks like you mmay need

  repairs as well."

  "Looks like it," Boba admitted. Still feeling dizzy, he checked in his

  pocket for the credits Whrr had given him. He had planned to spend them on

  food and fuel. But now...

  "How much to fix a strut?" he asked.

  "How mmuch you got?" asked Honest Gjon. Boba was just about to say two

  hundred and fifty credits, when he remembered the black book:

  Never tell the whole truth in a trade. "Two hundred credits," he said.

  Honest Gjon smiled at him. "Mmy mmy, what a coincidence. That's

  exactly how mmuch it costs." So maybe the book helps with repairs after

  all, Boba thought as he gave Honest Gjon two hundred credits. He still had

  fifty for himself.

  Plus, as a courtesy, the H'drachi agreed to waive the landing fee.

  Boba gave Honest Gjon the access codes to Slave 1 and headed toward

  the lights of the little town. As soon as he started walking, he understood

  why the landing had been so difficult. Something was shaking Bogg 4. He had

  hardly gone ten steps before he ended up in a ditch.

  He scrambled to his feet - then fell to his knees again. He felt

  dizzier than ever. It was as if the ground were rocking under his feet -

  and yet everything looked stable.

  The rocks stayed stationary. The ground didn't move.

  Boba stood up again, carefully. He took a step, then another. So far

  so good. The dizziness came and went, and, finally, Boba realized what it

  was that felt so strange.

  It was the gravity itself! It was strong one moment, weak the next;

  now tilting him forward, now back. It came and went in waves.

  Boba started off again, uneasily, holding onto a stone wall that ran

  along the road. By the time he got to the edge of the town, he was walking

  in a more or less straight line.

  Or so he thought.

  "I see you're a newcomer," said a voice from behind him. "A newcomer,

  yes."

  Boba turned and saw a skinny male in a long black coat. He looked

  almost human except that he had white feathers instead of hair on his head,

  and his long fingers were slightly webbed. His face had a pinched, worried

  look, as if it had been shrunk.

  "I can tell by your walk," said the being in the long black coat. "By

  your walk, yes."

  "So what?" Boba said. The dizziness was making him sick to his

  stomach, and he wasn't feeling too friendly. "And why does the gravity here

  come and go like the wind?"

  "Why, you have it exac
tly," said the man, or whatever he was. "It's

  the moons crisscrossing, now cancelling one another, now doubling their

  pull. It makes walking hard. That's why we locals prefer to soar, yes."

  Boba looked for wings under the long coat, but he didn't see any. "You

  are a native, then, of this world?"

  "Bogg 4? No. Of all the moons, of all the moons, yes. Say, you're

  pretty good, kid. Pretty good, yes."

  "Huh?"

  "At the walking. You've almost got it down, yes."

  They introduced themselves to each other and walked together into the

  town.

  Aia (for that was his name) explained to Boba that the moons of Bogden

  were a kind of outlaw heaven, where no warrants were served and no

  questions were asked.

  "What does that mean?" Boba asked.

  "It means that no one wonders why a ten-year-old boy is wandering

  around on his own. No one, yes."

  And it was true. Boba was even more invisible here on Bogg 4 than he

  had been on Kamino or Geonosis. The streets in the town were crowded with

  creatures from every corner of the galaxy, all walking with the same

  rolling gait, and none paying the slightest attention to Boba and his

  companion.

  The gravity came and went in waves as the moons overhead (and unseen

  "below") slid in and out and around one another, sometimes dark, sometimes

  bright. Boba was still dizzy. But he was getting used to it.

  "So tell me," said Aia. "Why are you here, yes?"

  "A short visit," said Boba cautiously. He wasn't sure who he could

  trust and who he couldn't. "I'm looking for a certain man who hired a

  certain bounty hunter."

  "Lots of bounty hunters on Bogg 4," said Aia.

  "Dangerous characters, yes. They come here to hang out and trade info.

  To get new jobs. They usually only associate with one another, yes. Never

  with their prey. You don't have a bounty on you, do you, yes?"

  Boba laughed. "No way. I'm the son of a bounty hunter."

  "Here, then," said Aia, stopping in front of a low tavern that fronted

  on the narrow street. A wooden sign said THE BONNY BOUNTY. "This is where

  the bounty hunters hang out, yes."

  Boba looked in the window. The place was almost empty. He could see

  long tables, guttering candles, and a smoky fire. "I will wait here, then,"

  said Boba, "while my ship is being repaired by Honest Gjon."

  "Honest Gjon?" said Aia. "Oh dear, yes." "Is something wrong?"

  "I mean, no, nothing. Never mind. I'll leave you here, yes."

  "You're not coming in?" Boba asked. Aia was his only guide. The last

  thing he wanted was to be alone in this strange place.

  "No, my, uh... religion forbids it, yes."

  "Religion, my reptilian foot!" Suddenly two figures were standing in

  the open door of the Bonny Bounty. "He's not coming in because he's a

  thief!" said one. "And he knows that we know it!" said the other.

  On the right was a birdlike humanoid with leathery skin and a broad

  beak. Boba recognized him as a Diollan. On the left was a green and

  reptilian Rodian. Boba knew that members of both species often became

  bounty hunters.

  "This man is wanted for picking pockets!" the Diollan said.

  "He stole from me, too," said the Rodian.

  They grabbed Aia, each taking one of his skinny arms. "Oh, no, yes,

  no!" cried Aia, excitedly. He twisted and turned but couldn't get free.

  Boba thought of the black book: A favor is an investment. Maybe if he

  did Aia a favor, it would pay off. At least he would have a guide. "How

  much does he owe you?"

  "Twenty credits," said the Diollan. "Same here," said the Rodian.

  "Here." Boba counted out forty credits, twenty for each. That left him

  ten. He wondered if it would be enough to buy something to eat.

  The Rodian and the Diollan let go of Aia while they counted their

  money. As soon as his arms were free, Aia opened his black coat like a

  kite, bent his knees

  And jumped. Straight up. He soared up, over the rooftop, and out of

  sight.

  Boba watched, dismayed. There went his investment.

  The Rodian and the Diollan barely noticed. They turned and went back

  inside the tavern. Boba followed them. Surely they owed him something. He

  had done them a favor, after all, by giving them their money back. "Maybe

  you can help me," he said. "Are you bounty hunters?"

  "Sure are," said the Rodian, with a laugh. "Are you bounty?"

  "I am Jango Fett's son," said Boba. "Perhaps you knew him?"

  The Diollan and the Rodian both looked at Boba with new interest. They

  took him to a table and signaled for the innkeeper, who brought food and

  tea. The tea was bitter but it made Boba feel less dizzy.

  In fact, the more he drank the less dizzy he felt. "We knew your

  father," the Rodian said.

  "A great bounty hunter and a great man," said the Diollan.

  Boba told them the whole story of how his father had died and

  everything that had happened since. He hoped he could trust them because

  they were his dad's colleagues.

  Somehow, talking about his father's death made Boba feel better. It

  made it seem less like a tragedy and more like a story. Boba wondered if

  that was why people told stories - to get over them.

  "My father mentioned a client," Boba said. "I thought I might find him

  here."

  "His name?"

  "Count, uh.. " Boba suddenly remembered that Tyranus was a name no one

  was supposed to know. "Count Dooku," he said, using the name the Count had

  used on Geonosis.

  "Dooku?" said the Diollan.

  "Not here!" said the Rodian.

  "You must go to - Coruscant!" they both said together.

  "Are you sure?" Boba asked, confused. Coruscant was the planet where

  the Republic and the Jedi had their headquarters. Why would Tyranus be

  there?

  "Yes, yes, absolutely sure!" said the Rodian. "Positively. Go to the

  Golden Cuff tavern in Lower Coruscant," said the Diollan.

  "Tell the bartender who you are looking for," they both said together.

  "He'll know immediately what to do!"

  "Thanks!" said Boba. He tried to pay his bill but the bounty hunters

  insisted on treating him. Boba thanked them again and headed back to the

  landing pad where he had left his starship with Honest Gjon.

  As soon as he had left, the Diollan and the Rodian turned to each

  other and grinned.

  "That's the best kind of bounty," said the one. "The kind that

  delivers itself and saves us the fuel... and the trouble!" said the other.

  The tea was wearing off, Boba could tell, as he headed back for Honest

  Gjon's landing pad. He felt dizzy again. Not as dizzy as before, but a

  little bit

  The moons of Bogden were wheeling across the sky. Some were small,

  some were large; some were dark, and some were bright.

  Boba could hardly believe his luck. He had picked the right moon, Bogg

  4. He had found the right bounty hunters, the Diollan and the Rodian. And

  on his very first try, he had located Tyranus. He had even eaten dinner,

  and it hadn't cost a credit!

  A favor is an investment. He had meant to do the favor for Aia.

  Instead he had done it for the bounty
hunters, and it had paid off.

  Now all he had to do was get in his starship and go to Coruscant.

  There was only one problem. The landing pad was empty.

  Slave I was gone.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  Boba sat down on the ground, under the wheeling, spinning Bogden

  moons. He was dizzy again. The tea had worn off completely.

  His starship was gone. So was the black book that contained Jango

  Fett's code. So was his father's battle helmet - his legacy.

  Even his money was gone, except for ten credits.

  Gone, all gone. How could he have been such a fool? How could he have

  let his father's memory down? How could he have trusted Honest Gjon? He put

  his head in his hands and moaned in dismay and self-disgust.

  Then he heard a clucking sound. "Tut, tut, yes."