The Fight to Survive

by Terry Bisson

  He felt truly alone now. There was no one he could trust.

  Slave /'s engines whined. Boba knew that sound. He stepped back, out

  of the way. He watched helplessly as the starship - his star-ship! - rose

  into the noxious clouds and disappeared.

  Once again, he felt dangerously close to tears. At the same time, he

  could barely breathe. Suddenly, he heard a sound behind him.

  He turned. A door in the hillside was sliding open. Inside, Boba could

  see a brightly lighted hall, leading to a carpeted stairway.

  Boba didn't wait to be invited. Coughing and gagging, he ran inside.

  Now what? Boba thought as the door slid shut.

  Before he had a chance to answer his own question, he heard a voice

  behind him. "Welcome to Raxus Prime, Boba Fett."

  The voice was familiar. So were the lean, lined face and the hawk like

  eyes.

  "Count Tyranus! I mean, Count Dooku!"

  "You are among friends now, Boba," said the Count. "You can call me

  anything you please. Count will do."

  "My father told me to find you," said Boba.

  "And I made sure it happened," said the Count. "I see that Aurra Sing

  did a superb job and delivered you here safely."

  "Yes, sir," said Boba. "I mean, no, sir. You see, she stole my ship,

  and it's..."

  The Count smiled and raised his hand. "Don't worry. Your ship is safe.

  Everything will be fine from now on. You must be very tired."

  Boba nodded. It was true.

  "Don't worry about a thing," said the Count, placing his cold hand on

  Boba's head. "Come, let me show you to your room. Let me carry your bag."

  Boba followed him up the long stairs. The carpets were deep and soft.

  Who would have imagined that there was such an elegant palace on the planet

  of garbage? Even the air was sweet. There was only a very faint foul smell

  from the planet outside.

  "I have big plans for you, Boba," said the Count. "Plans that would

  have made your father proud. But first you need to rest. You must be tired

  after all your travels."

  Boba nodded. He had packed a lot of adventures into just a few days.

  The escape from the Jedi starfighter on Geonosis, the escape from the Jedi

  woman back on Kamino, the recovery of his ship and the robbery gone wrong

  on the moons of Bogden, the struggle with the bartender on Coruscant...

  He had lost the ship, but he would get it back. The Count had

  promised, hadn't he? Something like that.

  A lot of stuff for a ten-year-old, he realized. He was tired. But he

  was also confused. He knew he should be happy. He had been lucky. He had

  completed the first part of his quest. He had found Tyranus. Now he would

  find Wisdom.

  So why had he felt a cold chill when the Count put his hand on top of

  his head?

  Probably just nerves, Boba thought as he followed the Count up the

  stairs, toward his room. And his unknown future.