Star Wars_ Boba Fett 03_ Maze of Deception - Elizabeth Hand [7]
The info card! Aurra Sing had forgotten to take it back!
It was still in its slot on the desk, gleaming softly in the harsh red light.
"Wow!" Boba whispered to himself in excitement.
If he could get it, he might be able to use it to locate his father's fortune!
Boba looked around furtively. Across the plaza, the security droids hovered near a bank of turbolift doors. On the other side of the plaza, a group of uniformed guards stood at ease, talking. Several people wearing clothes that identified them as members of the Banking Clan were walking toward the desk.
In a minute they would be here. The attendant would turn to greet them
And Boba would lose his chance! Quickly, he reached across the desk. For an instant his hand hovered above the shining card. Then, quick as lightning, he grabbed it.
That was easy! he thought. He glanced at the desk. The attendant still had her back to him - but as he watched, she began to turn.
Quickly, Boba put his head down.
Don't run, he thought, even though every nerve in his body was firing RUN!
Don't look back - even though every second he imagined the attendant noticing and shouting at him to stop. He began to walk away, as fast and as silently as he could. He crossed the plaza, his head still down, his sweating hand clutching the shining card. He headed toward the turbolifts that descended to the lower levels.
Don't look back, he kept repeating to himself. Don't look back!
But more than anything, that was what he was dying to do - look back, and see if Aurra Sing was leaving Slave I.
Any minute now she would return.
He forced himself to keep going. It was one of the hardest things he'd ever done. Boba's instinct, always, was for action - to run, to fight, to outwit anyone who tried to stop him. But right now, only silence and stealth would save him.
And the ability to blend in. To not draw attention to himself.
Boba stared at the floor beneath him, cold and red and gleaming, clean as everything on Aargau was clean. Maybe twenty meters ahead of him was the wall, and the rows of huge turbolifts. What was it the attendant had said about them? Boba tried to remember.
As first-time visitors to Aargau, you are cleared to visit Levels One through Three. This is where off-world banking accounts and precious metals are stored. Your own credits will be on one of those levels.
Boba's hand tightened around the shining card he had snatched from the desk. If it gave him access to his father's credits, he could get it all for himself-and leave Aurra Sing out of the deal completely!
The thought made Boba hopeful. Then, suddenly, from behind him came footsteps.
"Hey," someone called. "You - !"
Boba's throat grew tight. His hope faded. He had forgotten one of the first rules of bounty hunters - stealth.
He had let himself be seen.
"You!" the voice came again - a familiar voice. "I said, wait!"
Boba's heart was hammering inside his chest. He looked straight ahead, to where the wall of turbolifts loomed. They were just a few yards off now. There were a lot of doors, but one of them should open soon. If he sprinted, he might make it - or he might be captured by whoever was behind him.
Boba didn't look back. His hand clutched the shiny card - the key to what was rightfully his. His heart was pounding so hard his chest hurt. A few steps ahead of him he could hear the grinding sound of more turbolifts moving upward. They slowed to a halt as they approached the Security Level.
"Hey - !"
The voice came again, directly behind him! Run! thought Boba.
He sprinted the last few steps. Immediately before of him, a line of green lights blinked above another turbolift door.
"Approaching Security Level One," a mechanized voice announced.
"Please stand back from the doors."
Boba jumped forward. In front of him, the green lights turned to red. Someone touched his shoulder. Boba stared