• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

Aurra Sing glared at the attendant. She looked at the attendant's uniform: She was wearing a blaster.

"What about you?" snapped Aurra. "You're armed!"

"Don't you listen?" the attendant asked in disbelief. "Citizens may carry arms. In fact, it is unlawful for citizens of Aargau to not carry weapons."

Aurra Sing turned to stare at Boba. "What about him?" she demanded.

Aurra pointed at Boba angrily. "Why aren't the guards on him?"

The attendant looked at Boba. He made sure to appear as young and innocent as possible - this was the chance he'd been looking for. The attendant shook her head, almost in sympathy for the boy.

"He is not armed," she said in her calm voice. "On Aargau, free citizens may come and go as they please, once they have received clearance. This boy has received clearance. And he has broken no rules.

He can decide for himself."

She turned to Boba. "Boba Fett. Do you want to accompany your guardian to the ship? Or do you want to remain here?"

Freedom! "I'll wait here," he said, trying not to let his excitement show.

For a moment he thought Aurra would lunge at him. But then she seemed to think better of it. After all, would a real guardian attack her charge?

"You better wait!" she snapped. "I'll be right back, so you better not move!"

The guards stood beside her, glaring. Aurra turned.

"Let's get this over with," she said. She started walking toward Slave I, a guard at either side.

But when they reached the docking bay she looked back at Boba one last time. Her face was calm, but he could see the rage in her eyes.

Still, when she was out of sight, Boba couldn't help grinning to himself. At last. He was on his own.

CHAPTER FIVE

Boba stared at the shadow that was Slave I waiting in the docking bay. He could no longer see Aurra or the guards.

But he liked looking at the ship - - his

ship The Mandalorian

helmet his father had left him was still on board, where Boba had stored it, safe from Aurra Sing He wished now that he had thought to bring thee helmet with him. It had saved his life when he wore it, back on Raxus Prime.

And, with the helmet on, he could be mistaken form adult. That could be useful, sometimes.

But other times - like now it was also useful to be a kid. No one expected a kid to be as smart as Boba was, or as self-sufficient No one expected a kid to know that Dooku and Tyranus were the same person.

And no 'one expected a kid might have plans that didn't include a parent or guardian. Especially a guardian like Aurra Sing, who was only using him - and would get rid of him the moment she didn't need him anymore. He had no doubt about that.

Boba knew he only had a very short time until Aurra returned from the ship. When she got back, he would have to go with her to one of the lower levels to get his father's fortune. Boba knew she could not be trusted. If she had the chance, she would double-cross him.

And she has no right to the money at all, Boba thought angrily. My father intended that fortune for me! Not some other bounty hunter - and especially not Aurra Sing!

But without Aurra, he had no way of knowing where to find his father's treasure. It was somewhere here on Aargau - but where? The attendant had said it would be on one of the first three levels-but each level was enormous. Without any credits, Boba might as well be back on toxic Raxus Prime.

He sighed loudly. Then, remembering where he was, he turned a little worriedly and looked at the attendant in her boring Banking Clan uniform.

He expected her to be watching him. Isn't that what grown-ups did?

Watched you all the time, so you couldn't move, or even think, on your own? Boba hated it, just as much as his father had hated any kind of supervision, by the Bounty Hunters' Guild - or anyone else.

But the attendant seemed to have forgotten all about Boba Fett. She stood behind the desk with her back to him. She was talking into a communicator and scanning a computer screen.