Star Wars_ Tales of the Bounty Hunters - Kevin J. Anderson [53]
Unfortunately for Dengar, Jabba learned about the plot before the bomb was ever completed. Upon the rather prescient advice of Bib Fortuna, who assured Jabba that Dengar was making a bomb, Jabba assigned Boba Fett to watch Dengar.
Boba Fett was easily up to the task. A microtransmitter dropped into one of Dengar’s holsters performed the trick. When Dengar delivered the bomb to Barada, their words gave proof of the conspiracy.
When Boba Fett informed the Hutt that he had uncovered the plot, Boba Fett asked, “Do you want me to remove the bomb?”
The Hutt laughed, a deep and throaty laugh that shook his great belly. “You would deprive me of my amusement? No, I will have the bomb dismantled, and I will make certain that Tessek is with me when it is set to explode. I will enjoy watching him squirm. As for Barada—I will make him wait for a few weeks for his punishment.”
“What of Dengar?” Boba Fett asked. “You can’t toy with him. He’s too dangerous.”
Jabba squinted his huge dark eyes and looked narrowly at Boba Fett. “I will leave it to you to punish him, but do not give him an easy death.” Jabba brightened, and his eyes opened wide. “It has been a long time since I let one of my enemies feel the bite of the Teeth of Tatooine!”
Boba Fett nodded curtly. “As you will, my lord.”
• • •
That day was busy for Dengar. The surgeons who had operated on him so long ago had cut away his ability to feel fear, but at certain odd times he found that he moved with a new bit of energy, found his heart beating irregularly. It was, he knew, just a ghost of what others felt when they feared, but he found it invigorating. The bomb on Jabba’s skiff was set to go off early the next day, so Dengar became concerned that night when plans suddenly changed.
Dengar had been resting in his quarters when Luke Skywalker suddenly appeared at Jabba’s palace and attempted to rescue Han Solo. Jabba foiled the young Jedi’s attempt and threw Skywalker into a pit with Jabba’s pet monster, the Rancor. Skywalker surprised everyone by killing the beast.
The sound of the rancor’s death cry rattled the palace, waking Dengar, who hurried to Jabba’s throne room and reached the top of a small staircase in time to hear the sentence pronounced upon Han Solo and his friends. They were to die in the Great Pit of Carkoon.
The palace became a madhouse. Jabba’s henchmen ran about arming themselves, preparing vehicles. Two Gamorrean guards scrambled up the stairs past Dengar, and one grumbled, “Why we need hurry?”
The other guard backhanded him, sent him staggering against a wall. “Idiot! We no want Rebels come. If they learn Jabba wants to kill Skywalker and Leia, we in for big fight!”
Dengar looked for Tessek in the crowd below, trying to spot the gray-skinned Quarren’s mouth tentacles, wondering if this would change their plans.
But some of Jabba’s men already seemed to have the Quarren under guard. They were standing close at his back, and Dengar could only hear snatches of conversation. Tessek was begging Jabba for his life.
In a moment, Jabba sent the Quarren to pack, and Tessek scurried away through an exit in the far wall.
Dengar ducked back into the hall, into the safe shadows. Had Jabba found the bomb? Obviously Jabba suspected something.…
But the Hutt hadn’t killed Tessek, and he hadn’t sent guards after Dengar. So Jabba couldn’t have had proof of the treason. Which suggested that the Hutt had merely heard rumors of their plans. Or perhaps Jabba had some other reason to threaten Tessek.
Still, Dengar didn’t want to be around here right at the moment. If Jabba found that bomb, heads would roll. Dengar didn’t want his head to be one of them.
There was still time to escape. It might well be that Jabba wouldn’t discover the bomb at all, and if that were the case, he might be on or near the skiff when it exploded. The plot might still succeed. In any case, whether it succeeded or failed, it