Part 11 (1/2)

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 b.u.t.ton 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 s.p.a.ce, 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.