Star Wars_ Tales of the Bounty Hunters - Kevin J. Anderson [69]
He needed only to get them aboard the Hound’s Tooth.
But his primary target was Chewbacca. He wasn’t forgetting that rich bounty … nor his humiliation at Gandolo IV … for a microsecond.
He made his way to Docking Bay Six, where the Hound’s Tooth sat under bright lights, guarded by Imperial stormtroopers. Three of the other Hunt ships had already blasted off. The Hound glistened, too new to have collected a patina of scars, pits, and scorch marks. Aware of the staring stormtroopers, he marched stiff-legged to its ramp. “Bossk,” he announced. “Boarding.”
It took the Hound less than a second to check his voice pattern. “Confirmed,” said a metallic baritone voice. Bossk liked a ship that could speak for itself. He’d paid extra for responsive programming. The Hound’s Tooth dropped its port boarding ramp.
He hustled up into the cockpit. Hurriedly he checked his security systems, paying particular attention to the port sleeping cabin.
Satisfied, he strode along a curving passage to one of his aft holds. His passengers would need enough space to store three hundred kilos … of what? Puzzling over the question, he flicked his tongue. Whatever they brought, the Hound soon would identify it, and Bossk soon would own it.
He took up a position inside the Hound’s Tooth’s main airlock and waited for his boarding party.
Tinian approached across the Executor’s mirror-bright deck. She steered a repulsor locker with her left hand, keeping her right hand near the blaster that hung from her slouch belt. A black duffel hung over her left shoulder.
“Welcome aboard the Hound’s Tooth. You and your companion will share the port cabin,” he told her. “I left its hatch open. Walk directly in and stow your gear. I’ll join you later.”
She steered into the ship’s comfortable dimness.
He turned his attention to the far more interesting sight of Chenlambec leading two Imperial service droids. Each droid hauled a large storage locker, and the Wookiee hefted a weapons crate over his head.
“What’s in there?” Bossk addressed a squatty draft droid on two tractor treads.
Chenlambec growled unintelligibly. Bossk suspected he’d just been cursed. He flicked his tongue in reply, then pushed away from the bulkhead. “Follow me.”
He led aft out of the brilliant light, past the passenger cabin toward his smaller cargo bay, where he’d cleared a few meters of deck space. “Pile it here. Touch nothing else.”
Chenlambec hooted at the service droids. They set down their burdens, swiveled on their treads, and squeaked back toward the passage, returning to the Executor’s droid pool.
Bossk’s huge, red-and-bronze X10-D service droid rolled forward. Chenlambec backed away from it, baring his teeth.
“ExTen-Dee will secure your objects for flight—” Abruptly Bossk felt a presence behind him. He spun, automatically aiming his blast rifle.
“Easy, Bossk.” Tinian stalked into the cargo bay with both hands raised. “What is that monster?”
“I told you to go to your cabin.” Bossk let his rifle dangle again. The X10-D unit was no monster, but to humans and Wookiees, who needed excessive light to see clearly, the droid would look enormous. “That is my draft droid.”
Tinian walked around the gleaming red unit. Roughly Trandoshan in shape, the X10-D had retractable piston arms that could stretch out three meters, a massive conical torso, and self-propelling roller feet. “I suspected you two would need me to translate before everything was stowed where you wanted it,” she said. Touching X10-D’s glimmering chest, she added, “Maybe you won’t.”
“I will tell your companion where to stack his lockers, and ExTen-Dee will secure them,” Bossk answered. “On this ship, droids and Wookiees are ordered to listen,