Star Wars_ Tales From the Mos Eisley Cantina - Kevin J. Anderson [49]
Ponda Baba roared in inarticulate rage, Evazan let out a bellow, and the young human flew past her, landing in an ignominious heap beneath a nearby table.
“No blasters! No blasters!” screamed Wuher.
There was a sound like tearing silk, and Kabe shrank closer to the old desert dweller, cowering until she was almost covered by his cloak. Ponda Baba shrieked, Evazan howled with pain, and something dropped to the floor with an ominous thud.
Kabe peered out, to see that the thing on the floor was Ponda Baba’s arm, fingers still twitching as they tried without success to fire the blaster again. The old man stepped back gracefully, and the searing blade of light that was his weapon (a weapon Kabe had never seen before) flicked out. Abandoning all thought of robbery, she scampered back. As the old man helped the youngster up, the boy staggered, staring in disbelief at the still-twitching arm … and his heel crunched down on Kabe’s toes.
She squeaked shrilly at the sharp pain. Damn! Humans are heavy! Whimpering, limping, Kabe retreated into the darker recesses of the room, waiting for them to clean up. Luckily, they hadn’t spilled her juri juice …
“You mean you’ll help me?” Kabe stared up at her friend, amazed.
Muftak nodded. “There’ll never be a better time to take the town house. The Hutt is away at his palace and the city is in chaos.”
The little Chadra-Fan gazed at him goggle-eyed, the aftereffects of juice slowing her thoughts. Suddenly, she dropped her half-eaten falotil fruit to the dusty floor of their lair, jigging ecstatically. “I knew you had it in you, Muftak!”
He nodded, wishing he were as confident. The Hutt’s vengeance would be terrible indeed if they were caught, but the store of treasures in Jabba’s town house, deliberately displayed to tempt the greedy, would be easy pickings if Kabe’s “secret” entrance panned out. The Talz had made his decision on the way home from the cantina, carrying the unconscious Kabe in the crook of his arm.
Muftak looked around the dwelling they’d shared for almost five years. Kabe’s little nest, his sleeping perch, a trunk holding their few possessions. Nothing, really. And the future would only be worse.
“We’ll be able to leave this dump,” said Kabe, as if she’d read his thoughts. “Maybe buy our own cantina. Live in real style.” Disdainfully, she scratched a crumbling wall, sending a little avalanche of dirt onto the floor. “The credits will be worth a little risk, you’ll see.”
The Talz scratched his head, buzzing softly. “There’s no sense in waiting. Tonight.”
Kabe nodded happily.
Nighttime. Muftak, surprisingly agile for his size, pulled himself over the lip of the roof, until he was crouched on the main dome of Jabba’s town house. Cautious as always, he drew his ancient blaster, scanning the rooftop for signs of life. The moon was heading down, losing its luster among distant clouds, leaving them in near-total darkness.
Ahead of him, Kabe was already halfway up the dome, moving quickly. She stopped suddenly, and Muftak made out a large, crescent-shaped orifice just below the dew-collector array. Replacing the weapon in the sling across his back, he climbed, claws scrabbling, up the rough pourstone surface.
“See, Muftak,” the Chadra-Fan whispered, knotting the climbing rope she’d carried to the dew-collector base, “it’s just like I said. It hasn’t changed since I discovered it. Just the standard security net. Hear that? Air currents singing along the edges of the metal door. One good shove, and it’ll give.”
Muftak crouched beside the portal. “Hard to believe,” he said. “Can you hear anyone inside?”
Kabe listened, ears twitching. “Just snores on another floor. No one moving around.”
“Then here goes.” The Talz got a good hold on the sill and pushed. The access portal slowly gave, bending inward, then the hinges broke and the metal fell away. A muffled clank sounded from somewhere below.
“The vibrations haven’t changed,