Star Wars_ Boba Fett 05_ A New Threat - Elizabeth Hand [23]
"Get Glynn-Beti's attention!" Boba shouted at Ulu Ulix over the roar of battle. "Otherwise we're dead!"
"Master!" yelled Ulu. "Master, here - !"
On the ground, Master Glynn-Beti looked up. She was small and slender, with a vaguely feline face crowned by flowing reddish hair. Even from this distance, Boba could sense the power she held.
A Jedi's power.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
"Ulu Ulix!" The Jedi's voice rang out sharply over the din. She sounded angry, but also relieved, She turned to the, clone sentries.
"Hold your fire!"
Boba angled the swoop down to within a few meters of the AT-TE. It landed with a bump. Ulu clambered off. He smoothed the folds of his Padawan's robe. Then he looked at Boba.
"I don't know how to thank you," said the three-horned alien. "I don't even know your name. Although there is something familiar about you...."
Ulu frowned slightly, thinking. Boba said nothing. He felt light-years older than Ulu. Light-years older than he had been when they first met.
Fortunately he didn't need to say anything. Because General Glynn-Beti was bustling toward them now. And she looked like she had plenty to say.
"Ulu! What were you thinking?" She glared at the young alien. Ulu Ulix stared at his feet, abashed. "You put this entire mission in jeopardy!"
"I am sincerely sorry, Master," Ulu said. "I am ashamed of my actions. But I only wanted to help."
"Help?" Glynn-Beti scowled at him. Then she looked at Boba, still on his swoop. "This stranger is the one who helped!" The Jedi bowed slightly. "I am in your debt, stranger. My profound thanks for saving the life of this most foolish of Padawans."
Boba nodded. "You're welcome." He was uncomfortably aware of Glynn-Beti's keen gaze boring into him. But an instant later her attention was elsewhere.
"Trooper!" she commanded. "You may all resume your watch! As for you - " She turned to Ulu Ulix. "You will remain by my side for the rest of this maneuver. Unless you prefer to wait on board the troopship?"
Ulu Ulix shook his head swiftly. "No, Master! I will obey this time."
"Good." Glynn-Beti began to walk away. But she had only taken a few steps when she stopped. She turned and stared at Boba.
Uh-oh, he thought.
"What is your place in this battle, stranger?" she asked. Her voice was calm, but there was a threat hidden in it. "You are not part of my battalion. And you are obviously not working for our enemy. You have not come from there - " She tilted her head at the citadel of Mazariyan. When she turned back to Boba her gaze was piercing. "We have sent some of our most valued soldiers inside - ARC troopers. They seldom fail us. Not one has returned from that place. Have you?"
Boba hesitated. The Jedi might be able to detect a lie. If she did, she could take him prisoner, whether or not he had saved her Padawan. At worst, he might languish in a Republic cell. At best, she could send him off-planet, back to Tatooine - where he would face the rage of Jabba the Hutt.
A prison cell might be preferable to that.
Boba stared back at Glynn-Beti. He was very glad she could not see his face behind his helmet.
"No. My sympathy lies with the Xamsters," he said.
The Jedi seemed to mull this over. Finally she nodded. "Very well.
I will not detain you. The natives of Xagobah are in dire need of whatever help they are given." She beckoned Ulu Ulix to her side. "Come.
We have much to do."
"But Master - " Ulu stopped. He gazed up at a dark blur in the violet haze of Xagobah's atmosphere. "What about the ramship?"
"We are well aware of the ramship, Ulu. Someone more experienced -
and wiser - than you will deal with it."
Ouch! thought Boba. Wonder who that might be? He watched as the Jedi and her Padawan headed back toward the AT-TE.
Just before they boarded the AT-TE, Glynn-Beti turned and shouted back to Boba, "Yes. Someone else will take