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BAAMMMM!

Boba fired a direct hit - right between the eyes!

"GLOOORB!" The gigantic slug's roar rose to a bubbling shriek of pain. Its head swayed back and forth, giving Boba another chance to fire

- and another!

"Yes!" Boba crowed.

Two more hits! The space slug writhed in agony.

Its knife-edged teeth clashed as it recoiled from the bounty hunter. Greenish blood spattered Boba as the space slug retreated with a long, bubbling cry, sliding back into its hole.

"Yuck!" exclaimed Boba, wiping slug goo from his body armor. "Just after I got it all cleaned up, too!" He sheathed his weapon then removed his helmet, checking it for damage. Then he hurried toward his ship.

"That was pretty good."

Boba froze in his tracks. A few feet away Anakin stood, staring at him intently. Boba knew the Jedi was deciding what to do about him.

But he couldn't know what was going on in Skywalker's head. Did it matter that he'd just saved the Jedi's life? That this was the second time he'd saved a Jedi since he'd started the hunt for Wat Tambor?

Anakin shook his head, then looked Boba up and down as he approached.

"Yeah, that was pretty good," the Jedi repeated. "Not bad at all, considering."

"Considering what?" snapped Boba. He stared

challengingly

at Skywalker. Boba really didn't want to draw arms against this particular Jedi - but he wouldn't hesitate if he had to.

"Considering you're getting ready to set your course for Coruscant," said Anakin.

"Huh?" It took a moment for the words to sink in. When they did, Boba allowed himself a small smile. Yes!

But Boba was careful not to let his true emotions show outside of his mask. He had another, secret motive for going to Coruscant. And Skywalker could never learn what that was.

"Yes. You can go to Coruscant - under these conditions," added Anakin. He gave Slave I's repaired wing one last careful look. Then he headed toward his starfighter.

"I'll give you the coordinates," Anakin continued. "And the signal for takeoff. I'm handing you over to Governor Tarkin. He'll escort you to the Chancellor. If you don't like those conditions, you're history. When you enter Coruscant airspace, follow his lead. And your weapons have to remain on your ship."

Boba bristled. "Why?" he asked angrily. "I'm not your prisoner!"

"No, you're not. But he knows Coruscant, and you don't. I know who can be trusted - "

"I trust nobody," said Boba. Already he had a plan for what he would really do on Coruscant.

His eyes met Anakin's unflinchingly. "No one but myself."

Anakin looked at him. Then he nodded, turning to ready his ship for departure.

"We have a lot in common, Boba Fett," he said as he clambered into his starfighter. "Perhaps we'll meet again."

CHAPTER TEN

Coruscant!

Far below Slave I, the glittering planet stretched like a vast computer circuit, blinking and glowing with thousands of domes, towers, skyscrapers, air-speeders. The high-rises lifted into the sky, their brilliant lights blazing gold and silver and scarlet. The hazy atmosphere seemed bathed in eternal sunset. It was beautiful and impressive and very, very big.

Boba had never been to Coruscant. He knew that the planet was covered by a single vast metropolis, Galactic City. Galactic City housed the galactic government, overseen by Chancellor Palpatine. And in the shadow of Galactic City's looming towers sprawled the planet's great underworld. This was a seedy place where criminals held sway. Boba knew of it from Jabba the Hutt. The Hutt clan controlled a good part of Coruscant's black market, though a petty crime lord named Hat Lo managed things for them.

But something else was on Coruscant, too, something even more important to Boba

The Jedi Temple, where the Jedi High Council met - and where Mace Windu could be found.

"Mace is a senior member of the High Council," Boba said to himself. "He will have dealings with Palpatine. Somehow I'll use Palpatine to get to Mace Windu. And then..."

Boba thought of his