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Boba raced toward it, quick as a heartbeat. He grabbed one end of the spit. The metal was warm, but not hot. With a grunt he yanked it up, turning.

"You!" shouted Durge. One hand held a blaster, the other a dagger.

But all Boba saw was the Mandalorian skull blazing on his chest. He gave a shout, then swung the long metal pole. The sizzling squid's tentacles fanned out like blades. They struck Durge in the face. For a moment he was blinded.

"Argh!"

But a moment was enough. Boba drove the metal pole at Durge's chest. The squid exploded into globs of burning fat, spattering Durge's face.

"That'll teach you!" yelled Boba. He turned, panting, to Jabba.

"Now, if we could - "

"Not quite, Mandalorian!"

Boba darted to one side - but not fast enough. Something whistled toward him: Durge's blade. Boba ducked. He felt a glancing blow on his helmet. There was an instant of utter darkness. Then light and air poured like water across his face. Beside him he heard a sickening thump.

"What is this?" shouted Jabba in surprise. He heaved himself halfway from his throne. One plump hand pointed at the floor.

Boba blinked. He stared at the ground beside him Into the empty eyes of his battle helmet.

"He's only a boy!" shrilled one of Jabba's Twi'lek dancers. Her blue skin gleamed as she looked disdainfully at Durge. "The new bounty hunter is a boy!"

"A boy?" echoed Jabba. For a moment he was silent.

Boba froze. His hand reached for his helmet, but he didn't dare move. A few meters away, Durge also stood watching him, his goal of unmasking Boba accomplished.

Then Jabba began to laugh. "A boy! And he defeated Durge!"

"He will not live to manhood!" With a cry Durge started toward Boba.

"Stop!" roared Jabba. Immediately a dozen Gamorrean guards surrounded the bounty hunter. Durge raised his blaster.

Then more guards appeared. Reluctantly he holstered the weapon. The gaze he turned upon Boba held more fury and pure hatred than Boba had ever seen. When he spoke, it was in a low voice that only Boba could hear.

"I will hunt you down. That is my assignment, and I never leave an assignment unfinished."

Quickly Boba turned away. He picked up his helmet and held it beneath his arm. Then he looked up at the throne. He knew the crime lord was his best chance at protection.

"0 Wise Jabba," he said. "Let me serve you. Arm me. Give me a speeder. Then tell me your bidding, and I will do it."

"Arm you?" Jabba's mouth split into a taunting smile. "But you have no need of arms! You have just shown us that! As for my bidding..."

The sluglike gangster looked from Boba to Durge. "Someone has interfered with my smuggling operation here on Tatooine. He has a ring of thieves who help him. They steal my weapon shipments. Then he sells the weapons."

"Who does he sell them to?" asked Boba.

"To the Separatists." Jabba leaned forward. "But I do not care who he sells them to. I care only that he has taken what is mine. I want him destroyed. I want his supporters killed as well."

Boba nodded. "Do you know his name?"

"Yes. He is a Neimoidian. His name is Gilramos Libkath."

"Gilramos Libkath?" repeated Boba in disbelief. "That's what I said," replied Jabba impatiently. "Do you know of him?"

Libkath! That's the name Ygabba used - for the Master!

Boba hid his dismay. "Do I know of him?" he repeated.

Quickly he looked aside at Durge.

The hated bounty hunter was easily twice his size. Durge was armed.

He had a speeder. He hated Mandalorians.

And, to judge from the way he stared at Boba, he hated Boba most of all.

I was lucky just now, Boba thought. I've taken Durge by surprise -

twice.

He will never let that happen again.

Boba's hand tightened on his helmet.

My greatest strength right now is knowledge.

I know who Gilramos Libkath is. I know where he is.

Boba corrected himself. Where he