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“Yeah, well, what does that overfed vermiform know? Do you really think I’d come anywhere near this place if I didn’t have the money?”

Greedo’s hand tightened on his gun. He wasn’t sure if insulting one’s employer required special action on the part of a bounty hunter. What Solo said about being on Tatooine was logical, though. If somebody was after your hide, would you fly into his back pocket? This is going to be easy.

“Skak, trn kras ka noota, Solo.” All right, then give me the money, Solo. “Vnu sna Greedo vorskl ta.” Then Greedo will be on his way.

“Yeah, tell ya what, Greedo … tell ya what. It’s not quite that simple. The loot is bolted into the frame of the Falcon here. Secret hiding place. Understand? Why don’t you come back tomorrow morning and I’ll hand it right over, easy as pie. How’s that sound?”

“Nvtuta bork te ptu motta. Tni snato.” No, get it right now. I’ll wait.

I’m not letting this gulley fish slip out of my grasp, Greedo thought … especially with Warhog watchin’ me from the shadows.

“I can’t get it right now. Listen, if you can wait till tomorrow, I’ll throw in a little bonus—a couple thousand credits just for you. How’s that sound?”

That sounded good.

“Prog mnete enyaz ftt sove shuss.” Make it four thousand credits.

“Four thousand? Are you crazy—? Oh, all right, ya got me over a barrel, pal. We’ll do it your way. Four thousand for you, first thing in the morning. It’s a deal.”

Without another word, Solo turned his back on the bounty hunter and began cleaning a spanner. He palmed the little blaster, just in case the green kid changed his mind. But a minute later Chewie gave his “all clear” grunt and Solo relaxed.

“Great, Chewie. Can you believe the nerve of that guy? Now we got to finish prepping the ship tonight. When that punk comes around tomorrow morning, all he’s going to find is a big grease spot on the hangar floor!”

Warhog Goa sipped a Starshine Surprise and glanced around the Mos Eisley Cantina. The bounty-hunter crowd was thinning out. A lot of hunters had gotten their contracts and jumped. Some of ’em were probably already stalking targets in the streets of cities a thousand parsecs away. “Solo doesn’t plan to pay you,” he said, looking at his protégé. “Don’t you get it? It’s a stall.”

Warhog noticed the two Rodians sitting in the booth near the entrance lobby. They nodded to him and he nodded back. “You ought to meet those two Rodies, Greedo. They’re good hunters. I’ll bet they can teach ya stuff even I don’t know. Want me to introduce you?”

Greedo looked down at his drink. Goa wouldn’t know about the dan wars. I never told him. He wouldn’t know about the time the ships came, hunting the Tetsus refugees. Tetsus just don’t talk to strange Rodians. He wouldn’t know that, because I never told him.

Yeah, but what’s the point? I’m a bounty hunter now, that’s the important thing. Bounty hunters hang together, drink together, trade war stories, help each other out of jams. So after I take my first bounty, after Solo pays me and I hand the money over to Jabba, after the word starts to get around … then I’ll make friends with those guys. They’ll respect me and we’ll have a drink together and they’ll tell me some great stories and I’ll tell them about how I saved Dyyz and Goa by blasting Gorm right through his electronic guts.

“… so, like I say, Greedo, there’s two sides to every deal with Jabba. That’s my lesson for today. If you collect the debt, you’ll be in Jabba’s good graces. But if you let Jabba down, you’re as good as dead.”

Greedo tried to sound scornful. “Don’t worry, Warhog. Solo will pay. First we find out for sure if he’s got the money with him. Then, if he doesn’t hand it over, I’ll kill him and take it.… You still going to work backup—in case the Wookiee tries anything?”

“Sure. That’s the plan, ain’t it?”

“Wknuto, Goa.” Thanks, Goa.

Han Solo’s ship, the Millennium Falcon, was still sitting in the docking hangar when Greedo walked in shortly after sunrise the next morning.

Han Solo was nowhere to be seen. Greedo tried to open the Falcon’s hatch,