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It took only minutes. More servants scurried down from the sail barge, gathering the dome's contents. Gambling equipment and furniture was carted off. It would be stored in the vessel's cargo bays during the journey to Jabba's palace.

Jabba's palace. Boba had heard rumors about that place.

What he heard wasn't good. Not at all.

And now that he'd seen Jabba in the flesh, Boba was pretty sure the palace would be even worse than the rumors. He had better be ready for anything.

He leaned back and adjusted his helmet. He switched on the infrared vision feature. Immediately everything around him was shrouded in black and red.

"Ugh!" said Boba, grimacing.

Now he could see all of Tatooine's nighttime vermin. Sandrats scurried everywhere, feeding on trash left by arena goers. Sand scorpions scuttled from rock to rock, their pincers held high.

Boba saw several small figures creep from the shadows, unheeded.

They snatched a metal crate and were gone in an instant.

Libkath's army at work, he thought with grudging respect.

"You look pretty happy," a low voice said behind him.

Boba whirled. "Ygabba!"

Behind him stood a slender figure clad in rags. "Got it in one,"

she said, and smiled. With one dirty hand she touched the edge of his helmet. "Huh. I think I liked you better without that. Aren't you hot in there?"

"Yeah. And thirsty."

Ygabba moved to crouch beside him. "Well, I can help you with that, at least. Here - "

She held out a small container of water. Boba looked at her, then took it gratefully. He glanced around to make sure no one else was watching. Then he pushed up his helmet and gulped the water.

It smelled strongly of dust and purification chemicals. There were bits of grit and sand in it. It was way too warm.

It was the best water he had ever tasted.

"Thank you," he said when the last drop was gone. He handed the container back to her, and lowered his helmet's visor. "Did you find what you were looking for?"

She nodded. "We did. All those droids guarding that tank back there? That was just a decoy. The real shipment was hidden with a shipment of water from a moisture farm near Bestine. That's where this came from," she added, holding up the empty container. "To tell you the truth, I'd rather have taken the water."

"But you got the weapons?"

Ygabba smiled. "Of course." Then her smile faded. "We have no choice. If we don't do as Libkath orders, bad things happen."

"What kind of bad things?"

"Kids disappear. We never see them again. Libkath sells them as slaves or indentured servants. Or worse."

Her expression darkened. Boba thought of how bad off Ygabba and the others seemed now. If something was worse than that, it must be really, really bad.

"Where do the weapons go?" he asked. Ygabba shrugged. "Smuggling is big business on Tatooine. Some people say it's the only business. There are a lot of people who want weapons."

Boba thought for a moment. "So you're saying these weapons were smuggled here in the first place. Now Libkath is double-crossing whoever smuggled them in, by stealing them?"

"That's right. And the only reason he gets away with it is that no one suspects us. Like I said before. Grown-ups never take us seriously.

Until they catch us."

Suddenly she got up. "Well, I better get going. I have to meet the others."

Boba said, "Ygabba, wait."

She stopped. "What?"

"Why don't you just escape? I mean, Tatooine is a big planet.

Libkath couldn't track you all down if you all ran away. And you said the toxin wouldn't be released unless you left the planet."

"True." She shook her head sadly. "But the little ones are too small. They could never keep up with the rest of us."

"But you could go for help," said Boba. "Someone would have to listen. Someone would have to help."

Ygabba's eyes brimmed with tears. "We have no families, and for those of us who still have relatives,