Star Wars_ Rebel Force 03_ Renegade - Alex Wheeler [24]
"Who hired you?" Luke asked, hoping to learn something that would help him.
The Trandoshan offered only an icy smile. "You'll find out soon enough.
Though you'll wish you hadn't."
"At least let my friend go," Luke said. "He's got nothing to do with this. He's never even met Han."
"This worm?" Bossk asked. "Head softer than yours, it seems. He might already be dead. And if he's not, he will be soon."
"He's done nothing!"
"The Scorekeeper rewards triumph, not mercy," Bossk said. "You expect me to sacrifice my jagganath points for your soft-headed human? "
Luke groaned. He'd heard all about the Trandoshans from Han, who bore a heavy grudge against the race of notorious Wookiee-hunters. Trandoshans believed they would be greeted after their death by an all-powerful Scorekeeper who would tally up the number of points they'd achieved and offer them a divine reward.
They accrued points by killing.
"Our friends will come after us," Luke threatened him.
Bossk's lips widened, revealing his jagged teeth. He spit out a harsh, rasping noise, his tongue flickering. The laugh of a lizard. "Your friends think you're dead," he said. "A few fragmentation grenades saw to that."
"They'll come for me," Luke said steadily.
Bossk shrugged. "Night's coming," he said. "That'll make a nice dream."
Then, without warning, his clawed foot shot out and caught Luke in the stomach, hard enough to send him and Jaxson rolling a few meters through the sand.
As the twin suns dipped beneath the horizon, Bossk dragged Luke and Jaxson into a shallow cave, then lay down across its entrance. Luke realized even the burly Trandoshan wasn't nuts enough to travel through the Jundland Wastes at night. They would pass the dark hours in the relative safety of the cave and start out again in the morning.
Which meant Luke had until morning to figure out how to escape.
"Is he asleep?" Jaxson whispered just as Bossk's eyes fluttered shut. His scaly arms were wrapped tight around his blast rifle. Bands strapped around each leg were packed with flare pistol cartridges.
"You're alive!" Luke whispered back, deeply relieved.
"Of course." Jaxson sounded annoyed. "So how are we getting out of here?"
They were tied back to back, lying with Luke facing Bossk, and Jaxson facing the back of the cave. "If I could just get out of these," Jaxson mumbled, straining to escape from the restraints. But after a few minutes of struggling, he gave up.
"No use," he muttered. "Looks like we're lizard food."
"Maybe not," Luke whispered. He couldn't reach his lightsaber. But maybe Jaxson could. "Can you reach around to my utility belt? On the right side?"
Jaxson wriggled in the restraints, fingers stretching toward the hilt of the lightsaber. "Almost—" he said, frustrated. "Can't—got it!"
Jaxson slipped the hilt out of Luke's belt. Luke twisted his hands toward Jaxson's and fumblingly groped for the lightsaber.
"Is it some kind of knife or something?" Jaxson asked.
Luke didn't answer him. The lightsaber was back in his hands. Now he just had to figure out what to do with it.
Activating the glowing beam with his hands tied behind his back would have been risky enough. But with Jaxson tethered to him, the risk doubled. If he sliced blindly, he could easily cut off one of their limbs.
But they had no choice.
Luke had done his best with the training exercises Obi-f0 Wan had taught him. He'd spent hours in the forest, a blindfold across his eyes, using the lightsaber to deflect sting bursts he couldn't see. And every once in a while, he felt it, that mysterious connection to the Force. Every once in a while, the Force would guide his motions, and he would strike smoothly and surely, even with his eyes closed.
But that was practice.
"Don't move," he whispered.
"What do you mean?" Jaxson sputtered. "What are you going to do?"
Luke closed his eyes. He let the Force