Star Wars_ Tales From Jabba's Palace - Kevin J. Anderson [0]
KINGPIN, TWO SUNS, A HUNDRED ROGUES
MALAKILI—The professional monster trainer was transferred from the Circus Horrificus to care for Jabba’s pet rancor. But the voracious carnivore was only the second most dangerous beast in the palace.
MELVOSH BLOOR—The academic came to study Jabba at his palace—and discovered a new meaning for “publish or perish.”
OOLA THE DANCER—Despite the chain around her neck, her grace was her glory. As Jabba drooled and tugged upon her chain, she stood her ground—on the edge of eternity.
GARTOGG THE GAMORREAN—Dim-witted, friendless, the palace guard patrolled the ill-lit back hallways where nothing ever happened. Now he has a chance to solve a murder, make a name for himself, and make some new, if decidedly odd, friends.
BIB FORTUNA—Jabba’s majordomo had big plans for himself—to overthrow the Hutt and take over his palace and his riches. But a traitor should be careful, for those involved in his plot may have plans of their own.
BOBA FETT—Famous as the galaxy’s fiercest bounty hunter, he learned firsthand about the slow death faced by the unfortunates who landed in the Great Pit of Carkoon—and how mercy and vengeance are sometimes the same thing.
TALES FROM JABBA’S PALACE
A Bantam Spectra Book / January 1996
SPECTRA and the portrayal of a boxed “s” are trademarks of Bantam Books, a division of Random House, Inc.
®, ™, © 1995 by Lucasfilm Ltd. All rights reserved. Used under
authorization.
Interior illustrations by Michael Manley, Aaron McClellan, Al
Williamson, and Lucasfilm Ltd. Courtesy of West End Games.
Copyright © 1995 Lucasfilm Ltd.
Cover art by Stephen Youll.
Cover art copyright © 1995 by Lucasfilm Ltd.
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
For information address: Bantam Books.
eISBN: 978-0-307-79625-7
Bantam Books are published by Bantam Books, a division of Random House, Inc. Its trademark, consisting of the words “Bantam Books” and the portrayal of a rooster, is Registered in U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and in other countries. Marca Registrada. Bantam Books, 1540 Broadway, New York, New York 10036.
v3.1
To SUE ROSTONI
who has been more helpful than any of Jabba’s minions could have ever been, offering suggestions, troubleshooting obstacles, and navigating me through a forest of details that would have given even a Hutt a headache!
Acknowledgments
Thanks go to Lucy Wilson for being so enthusiastic about the idea of anthologies in the first place, Tom Dupree for his efforts at Bantam Books, and Bill Smith at West End Games for providing the foundations for so many of these stories. And, as always, Rebecca Moesta Anderson, for putting up with me at times when she probably should have just fed me to the rancor.
—KJA
October 1994
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Epigraph
Introduction
A Boy and His Monster:
The Rancor Keeper’s Tale
Kevin J. Anderson
Taster’s Choice: The Tale of Jabba’s Chef
Barbara Hambly
That’s Entertainment:
The Tale of Salacious Crumb
Esther M. Friesner
A Time to Mourn, a Time to Dance: Oola’s Tale
Kathy Tyers
Let Us Prey: The Whiphid’s Tale
Marina Fitch and Mark Budz
Sleight of Hand: The Tale of Mara Jade
Timothy Zahn
And Then There Were Some:
The Gamorrean Guard’s Tale
William F. Wu
Old Friends: Ephant Mon’s Tale
Kenneth C. Flint
Goatgrass: The Tale of Ree-Yees
Deborah Wheeler
And the Band Played On: The Band’s Tale
John Gregory Betancourt
Of the Day’s Annoyances: Bib Fortuna’s Tale
M. Shayne Bell
The Great God Quay:
The Tale of Barada and the Weequays
George Alec Effinger
A Bad Feeling: The Tale of EV-9D9
Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens
A Free Quarren in the Palace: Tessek’s Tale
Dave Wolverton
Tongue-tied: Bubo’s Tale
Daryl F. Mallett
Out of the Closet: The Assassin’s Tale
Jennifer Roberson
Shaara and the Sarlacc: The Skiff Guard