"Any way of finding out what they're discussing?"
"Negative again," replied Kodir. "Balancesheet val-ues its privacy as much as Kud'ar Mub'at did. That freighter is shielded against every distance-operational spy apparatus we've got. Short of cracking open the hull with one of our own laser cannons, that meeting is com-pletely secured."
"Too bad." For both myself—and Boba Fett, thought Kuat. If there had been some way of determining exactly what the bounty hunter was discussing and scheming with the arachnoid assembler, Kuat would have been able to more accurately assess what kind of threat Boba Fett's continued existence represented to him and to Kuat Drive Yards. But as it was, he'd have to err on the side of caution...
And eliminate Fett.
"That's the situation at this point." Kodir's voice broke into his thoughts. "I await your decision about what to do next."
"Have you got this freighter of Balancesheet's in your weapon-sights?"
"Not yet," said Kodir. "We're out of range for that. But that problem can be corrected very shortly."
"Then do so." Kuat had already made his determina-tion about the bounty hunter's fate. "And when you've locked on to the target, proceed with its destruction. I want complete annihilation of the freighter and all living creatures aboard it."
"We could be a little more surgical in our approach. It wouldn't be too difficult to disable the freighter, then board it and extract Boba Fett without harming the oth-ers. We could eliminate him alone—that is, of course, if there were some value to be placed on the lives of the others with him." Kodir expanded on the option she had presented. "Balancesheet, for instance; the assembler has its uses for us."
"Not enough of them." Kuat shook his head, though there was no way that Kodir could see him. "Not enough to outweigh the disadvantages of having it remain as a witness to our actions against Boba Fett. I don't want any of this traced back to Kuat Drive Yards. So proceed as I indicated."
"Very well. I'll report back when the operation is con-cluded." From the faraway ship, Kodir broke off the comm unit connection.
In the resulting silence, Kuat of Kuat could hear the felinx asking for attention, its voice a mere guttural whine. He reached down and scratched behind its ears.
"Believe me," said Kuat. "It'll be for the best..."
"Not so fast," said Suhlak. "There's a couple of other things that have to be taken care of before we go any-where."
The hunt saboteur hadn't moved toward the transfer hatch that would have led both him and Boba Fett to his waiting Headhunter. Fett and the others aboard Balance-sheet's freighter gazed at him impatiently.
"Now what's the problem?" Neelah set her hands on her slim hips. "I thought we already figured out, we don't have time to waste."
"Look, I'm just trying to help you out here. So you'll be like a satisfied customer and all. I've got a reputation to maintain," Suhlak said testily. "If all you wanted was for me to get this bounty hunter here to Tatooine, quick and quiet, I can take care of that for you. But you want a roundtrip; you want me to bring Fett back here as well. Now that's going to be kind of hard for me to pull off if this whole freighter and everybody aboard it is gone by the time Fett and I return."
"Why would we be gone?" Puzzled, Dengar stared at the hunt saboteur. "Where would we go?"
"You wouldn't have gone anywhere, pal, except up in flames." Suhlak shook his head in disgust. "None of you even knows what's sitting out there, keeping a watch on your every move. But there's a light cruiser, top of the li ne, from the Kuat Drive Yards, keeping surveillance on this tub right now. Matter of fact, it's a KDY ship; I iden tified it when I snuck past it. It's the Kuat Drive Yards' main security enforcement vessel, and it's armed and very dangerous."
"It didn't spot you?" Boba Fett gestured toward the hull of the freighter and the empty expanses of space out-side it. "They don't know you're here?"
"Naw; I've got my ways of sliding past something like that—especially when their attention is fixed on some-thing else, like this freighter here."
Neelah looked over at Fett. "What do you think they want?"
"Given the fact that the last time any KDY ships got this close to me, they unloaded enough bombs to atom-ize a few square kilometers of the Dune Sea, I'd expect that this one isn't going to be any friendlier."
The arachnoid assembler Balancesheet had scurried over to its freighter home's detect and tracking screens. "It would appear," it announced, "that not only is our young friend correct about the presence of this other ship, but that we also have a limited time in which to de-termine what to do about it. It's come within range of my ship's scanners, and is continuing to head this way."
"All right," said Boba Fett with rapid authority, "here's the deal. I can get away with Suhlak, just like we planned, but this freighter won't be able to either outshoot or out-run that KDY ship. But the KDY security forces aboard it undoubtedly are bearing down this way, because they figure I'm aboard here." He pointed to Dengar and Nee-lah. "You two—get back aboard the Hound's Tooth and head out, full thrusters, to open space and prepare for a hyperspace jump to the Oranessan system. They'll as-sume that it's me aboard the Hound, and they'll follow after you."
"But then what?" Dengar pointed with his thumb toward the cruiser's image on the screen. "If we go into hyperspace, that KDY ship won't be able to follow us."
"They will, if they know your destination. Before you make the jump, fire off a comm transmission with a minimum encryption level, giving the details of the ren-dezvous point. Suhlak and I will already be out of range, but the KDY ship will be able to pick it up. When you come out of hyperspace, it'll be right behind you. Then all you'll have to do is stay out of its reach until I'm fin-ished with my business on Tatooine and can hook up with you again. Then we can lose them for good."
Dengar shook his head. "I won't be able to elude that KDY ship for very long, out there in the Oranessan sys-tem. Wouldn't it be simpler to jump there, and then as soon as the KDY ship shows up, make another quick jump to some other point that we can use for a ren-dezvous? That way, we'd already have lost them."
"Only for as long as it would take KDY security to tap their information sources and find out just where you were waiting for me. And if I were delayed getting back from Tatooine, you'd still have the same problem of eluding the KDY ship. In the Oranessan system, at least, there'd be a chance of pulling that off." Boba Fett made a quick sharp gesture with the flat of his hand. "Maybe not forever—but then, all you have to do is elude them for long enough. And that way, Suhlak and I would have an even better chance of making it to Tatooine without getting intercepted."
"Smart." Suhlak nodded in appreciation. "I always like improving my odds."
"Oh, I approve as well." Balancesheet had scuttled back onto the metal ledge alongside the larger figures. "You can just draw the Kuat Drive Yards ship away from here, and I won't have anyone firing laser cannons at me. Much better."
"Right—and you won't be tempted to find some way of turning me over to them." Boba Fett gestured toward the transfer hatchway. "Now it's really time to get going."
Moments later, Neelah and Dengar were back aboard the Hound's Tooth. In the forward viewport of its cockpit, the smaller shape of Suhlak's modified Z-95 Headhunter had already shot away, detection by the approaching KDY cruiser blocked by the imposing bulk of Balancesheet's freighter. The flare from the Headhunter's main thruster engines dwindled to a streak of light, then was gone.
"Hold on—" In the pilot's chair, Dengar grabbed the Hound's thruster controls. "I'm not waiting around, either."