by Terry Bisson
Interesting, thought Boba. It was something to do. "Every day?" he
asked eagerly.
"Oh, no," said the Geonosian. "Only special occasions."
Rules.
Rules are made to be broken.
That was not part of Jango Fett's code. But it is part of the Kids'
Code, thought Boba. Anyway, it oughta be.
Boba was making excuses. He was getting ready to break his father's
Off-Limits Rule.
He was preparing to slip out of the stalagmite city, to the red mesa.
He was trying to pretend it was all right, that it was something he
had to do.
He was looking for adventure.
And he was about to find it.
The first part was easy.
The main door to the stalagmite city was on ground level, down below
the landing pad. It was guarded by a drowsy Geonosian sentry, whose job was
to watch for intruders, not escapees.
It was easy to slip past him.
As soon as he breathed the outside air, Boba realized how much he
hated the musty smell of the stalagmite city. It was great to be outside!
He wanted to explore the glittering trails he had seen from above. He
followed the first one he saw. It led down the side of the red rock mesa.
The glitter was chips of mica - rock as smooth and shiny as glass that
marked the trail and made it easy to follow.
Boba was just rounding a corner on a steep cliff when he heard a
scream.
Then a growling noise.
He stopped - then proceeded more cautiously, step by step.
On the narrow trail ahead, two spike-backed beasts were fighting. They
were growling, each pulling at one end of what looked like a furry rope.
The rope was hissing in a high-pitched tone.
The rope was a ten-foot snake, covered with fur. Its mouth and eyes
were in the center of its long, furry body.
The lizards, which Boba assumed were the dreaded massiffs, were about
to tear it in half with their long, razor-sharp teeth.
Then they saw Boba - and dropped the snake. Boba backed up one step.
The massiffs both moved forward one step. Growling.
Boba backed up another step. The cliff was to his right. To his left,
and behind him - nothing but air.
The massiffs moved forward again. Two steps this time.
Snarling.
Boba kept his stare locked on the massiffs' red eyes. He felt that if
he looked away for even an instant, they would charge.
They moved forward again, side by side.
Boba knelt down and, feeling with one hand, picked up a slice of mica.
Without looking, he tested it with his fingers. It was as sharp as a knife.
Suddenly he jumped up and threw it, spinning, toward the massiff on
the right.
YELP!
A hit! But the other massiff was in the air, leaping toward Boba. He
heard a snarl, and felt hot breath on his face, and ducked his head, and...
00W0000!
The massiff missed him and flew off the cliff, howling as it fell
toward the jagged rocks below. Boba straightened up.
The other massiff was bleeding over one red eye. It was backing up,
slinking away.... Then it turned and ran.
The snake lay on the trail, nursing its wounds.
Boba's heart was pounding.
Maybe breaking the rules is not such a good idea, he thought. He was
lucky to be alive.
He considered turning back - but decided that would be pointless. He
was already halfway around the mesa. So he stepped over the dazed snake and
continued on the path.
He had seen the path from above. He knew it would lead back to the
entrance. He would sneak back in, and his father would never know he had
been outside.
Then he heard something behind him. Something on the path.
The wounded massiff?
Boba felt a sudden chill. He looked back over his shoulder. It was the
snake.
It was slithering along after him.
Boba stopped.
The snake stopped.
Its mouth in the middle of its body was smiling - at least it seemed
to be smiling. And it was singing, a sort of rushing sound, like water
falling. It sounded strange out here in the desert. It reminded Boba of the
rain on Kamino, or the waves.
"Go away," said Boba.
The snake kept singing. It slithered a little closer.
Boba backed up. "Go away!"
The snake slithered still closer. Boba picked up a rock - a sharp
piece of mica.
"Go away."
The snake looked sad. It stopped singing. It slithered away into the
rocks.
Boba was making his way up the path, toward the top of the mesa, when
he saw something strange.
There, on a flat ledge under a cliff on the side of the mesa, was a
small ship. A starship. A Delta-7! Could it be...?
Just then Boba heard someone - or something - behind him on the trail.
He ducked behind a rock just in time.
The man who hurried past him along the trail was as familiar as the
starship. As familiar, and as unwelcome.
It was the Jedi who had pursued them through the asteroid rings. The
Jedi the torpedo had blasted. Obi-Wan Kenobi. Back again!
Boba watched from behind his rock as the Jedi opened his starfighter's
hatch and climbed into the cockpit. Boba thought he was about to take off,
but he didn't bother to close the hatch.
Whatever the Jedi was up to, Boba knew it was no good. He had to stop
him. But how?
From where he was hiding, Boba could see over the rim of the mesa, all
the way to the entrance to the stalagmite city. There was the drowsy
Geonosian sentry he had slipped past.
The Jedi's starship was hidden from the sentry - but Boba wasn't.
But how could Boba raise an alert?
Boba picked up the biggest piece of mica he could find and wiped it on
his sleeve until it shined like glass. Then he used it to reflect the light
from Geonosis's sun, which was just peeping over the rings. He tilted the
mica slab back and forth until he could see a flash of light across the
sentry's eyes.
Then he did it again. And again.
Had the sentry seen it?
He had! He was coming down the path, toward the mesa's edge. Boba
couldn't risk being seen, so he left the trail and scrambled up a steep
ledge to the top of the mesa. When he got to the top of the mesa, he saw
the Geonosian guard at the edge of the cliff, looking down. Boba knew he
had sighted the Jedi starfighter, because he was talking excitedly on his
comm.
Success! Or so it seemed. Boba ran toward the base of the tower - then
skidded to a stop.
The gate was closed. He was stuck outside. How could he get inside
without being discovered?
Then he got lucky again. The gate suddenly swung open and out came a
squad of droidekas. They were in such a hurry to capture the Jedi that they
didn't notice Boba, flattened against the rock wall.
He was able to slip through the door just before it closed behind the
droidekas.
Safe! Boba was just about to breathe a sigh of relief when he felt a
strong metal gauntlet on his shoulder. It felt gentle, yet stern.
"Where you heading, son?" asked Jango Fett. "Where have you been?"
"Uh, outside. Sir."
"Come upstairs. We need to talk."
Boba followed his father up the stairs and into the apartment. There
was nothing he could say. There was nothing he could do. He was found out,
and he knew it.
He sat down on the couch and watched while his father took off his
battle armor and laid it carefully on the floor.
"Another adventure?" Jango Fett asked with a slight smile as he brewed
himself a cup of nasty Geonosian grub-tea.
"I'm really sorry," Boba said. "Really really sorry."
"Sorry for what?" his father asked. "Disobeying you."
"And that's all?"
"I-I guess," Boba said.
"What about lying to me?"
"I didn't lie," said Boba. "I admitted I was outside."
His father's smile was gone. "Only because you were caught. If you
hadn't been.."
"I guess I would have," said Boba. "I'm sorry for that, too."
"I accept your apology, then," said Jango. "As a punishment you are
confined to quarters until I say otherwise."
"Yes, sir." Boba breathed a sigh of relief. Confined to quarters meant
grounded; it meant he had to stay in the apartment. It wasn't as bad as he
had expected.
"It would be worse," said Jango Fett, "except that I owe you one."
"You do?!"
"Sure. For our Jedi friend The one who somehow managed to escape us in
the asteroids. He's been captured now, thanks to you. You alerted the
sentry, even though it meant you might get in trouble. You did the right
thing."
"Yes, sir. Thank you, Dad. I am sorry I disobeyed you."
"I am, too, Boba," said Jango Fett with a smile. "But I'm proud, as
well."
"You are?!"
"I would be worried if you didn't disobey me at least once in your
life. It's part of growing up. Part of the process of gaining your
independence."
Boba didn't know what to say. Did his father really believe he had
only disobeyed him this one time?
So he tried to hide his smile, and didn't say anything.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Confined to quarters.
It could have been worse. But it was still pretty bad. Boba's lonely
life got lonelier now that he was stuck in the apartment.
"Jango; Fett was very busy; talking business with the Count and the
Geonosian they called Archduke, among others. Boba knew better than to try
to sneak out.
Confined to quarters.
Boba missed his library friend, Whrr.
He was trying to construct a model starfighter from bits of wire when
the door suddenly opened.
There in his battle armor stood Jango Fett. "Come, son," was all he
said.
That was all he had to say!
Boba scrambled to his feet and followed his father down the stairs; He
was glad to get out of the apartment, for any reason. And he always felt
proud, following his dad. He knew that anyone who saw them was thinking:
That's Jango Fett. And that's Boba, his kid. He'll be a bounty hunter,
too, someday.
There was a hush in the dim underground halls. Boba could tell
something important was happening. He wondered what it was.
He knew better than to ask. He was lucky enough just to be out of the
apartment.
At the end of a long corridor, they encountered a milling crowd of
Geonosians. Some had wings on their backs; others didn't. A uniformed
sentry waved them through, to the head of the line, and into a huge room
with tall ceilings. Though the room was filled with Geonosians, it was so
big it seemed almost empty. Every footstep and every cough echoed.
The Archduke and some other officials were seated in a sort of high
box at one end of the imposing room, with about a hundred Genosians looking
on. Two people stood looking up at them. Something about the way they stood
told Boba they were prisoners. But proud, rebellious prisoners.
Jango and Boba squeezed into a crowd of Geonosians at the side of the
room.
Somebody banged on something and the room got quiet. Almost, anyway.
Everybody turned to look at the prisoners. Boba had to stand on tiptoe to
get a good view.
One prisoner was dressed like a Jedi. He was a lot younger than the
Jedi called Obi-Wan.
Maybe he's an apprentice, Boba thought. Though why anybody would want
to be a Jedi was beyond him.
The other prisoner was a woman. And not just any woman. She was the
most beautiful woman Boba had ever seen. She had a kind, gentle face - the
sort of face he had always imagined his mother might have had, if he'd had
a mother.
"You have been charged and found guilty of espionage," said one of the
Geonosians.
Another chimed in: "Do you have anything to say before your sentence
is carried out?"
The woman spoke up proudly. "You are committing an act of war,
Archduke. I hope you are prepared for the consequences."
The Archduke laughed. "We build weapons, Senator. That is our
business. Of course we are prepared."
Senator. Boba was shocked. He pulled his father's arm. "What's a
Senator doing here, as a prisoner?"
"Shhhhhh!" Jango hissed.
"Get on with it!" demanded another official, a Neimoidian with mottled
green skin and bright red eyes. "Carry out the sentence. I want to see her
suffer."
It was the other Jedi that Boba wanted to see suffer, not the wannabe
- and certainly not the woman. The persistent Jedi. The one they had killed
again and again. Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi.
But where was he?
The Archduke answered Boba's question. "Your other Jedi friend is
waiting for you, Senator. Take them to the arena."
The arena! Finally they were going to get to see some action. It was
what Boba had been waiting for.
And yet, somehow, he dreaded it.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Like almost everything else on Geonosis, the arena was carved out of
solid rock. Yet because it was open at the top, the arena was the brightest
place in the entire underground city.
The seats were filled with excited Geonosians, all flapping their
wings and screaming with excitement, even though nothing was happening yet.
Vendors in bright costumes worked their way through the stands,
singing and whistling to advertise their trays of live insects and other
Geonosian treats. Boba loved it, even though he wasn't tempted by the
squirming tidbits, He could hardly believe his luck. He was out of the
apartment, no longer confined to quarters. He was in the arena, about to
see a show. Plus, he and his father had the best seats in the house.
They were sitting with the Archduke and the other officials. Jango
Fett and Boba followed the Count into the official box. The crowd started
cheering wildly, and, at first, Boba thought it might be for his father, or
even for the Count.
Then he looked down toward the center of the arena and saw the
entertainment.
The Jedi prisoners.
They were chained to three posts: the young Jedi to one; the Jedi
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called Obi-Wan to another; and the beautiful woman to the third.
A fat Geonosian official cleared his throat and stood up to make a
speech.
"The felons before you have been convicted of espionage against the
sovereign system of Geonosis. Their sentence of death is to be carried out
in this public arena henceforth."
The crowd was cheering like crazy, and the fat Geonosian sat down,
smiling, as if he thought the cheering were for him.
The littlest Geonosian official stood up and waved his stubby arms.
"Let the executions begin!"
Boba had mixed feelings. He hated the older Jedi, Obi-Wan, who had