"Did you hear me, pal? I asked you a question."
Bossk's initial impulse was to drop one of his own hands down to the side of his belt, pull out his blaster pistol, and bring its cold muzzle up against the bridge of the ex-stormtrooper's nose. He was stopped from doing so by the sure feeling that it would be a bad idea. Either he wouldn't move fast enough, and he would find himself looking into the business end of Voss'on't's weapon, or he would have to blow away a valuable piece of living merchandise. Either way, his profits or his ability to go on breathing, he would lose out.
"Why do you care?" Bossk kept any sign of his thoughts or emotions out of his voice. The ex-stormtrooper had caught him off-guard-Voss'on't had moved so stealthily and quietly that Bossk didn't have any warning of his approach." You mind your business, and I'll take care of my own."
Voss'on't leaned in closer to the Trandoshan." My business," he said softly," is remaining alive. I don't like anyone interfering with it."
"What makes you think-"
"Shut up." Voss'on't's expression had started out as one of simmering anger, and that hadn't changed." Keep your hands flat on the table, where I can see them. I get nervous when creatures have both their hands and their weapons where I can't keep an eye on what's going on." The cold eyes narrowed their gaze." Believe me-you don't want me getting nervous."
Bossk unfolded his claws from around the stone mug and flattened them against the table." There. Satisfied?"
"Not very. I still want to know what you're doing here." The next words came out as a snarl." Bounty hunter."
Great, thought Bossk disgustedly. He must've spotted me as soon as I walked into this place. The whole time that Bossk had been sitting and nursing along the revolting drink he'd been served, believing he was pulling off his end of the operation, nobody had been fooled at all. Or at least the target of the job hadn't been.
"That's a new one," said Bossk with as much mildness as he could summon up." I've been accused of being a lot of different things, on a lot of different worlds, but that's the first time anybody's called me one of those." One corner of his scaly muzzle lifted in an approximation of a smile." Sure you're not just looking for a fight?"
"I don't fight; I'm a very peaceable kind of person." Voss'on't either didn't bother to smile or was incapable of it." I just kill people. Especially creatures who mess around with me."
"Good thing I'm not in that category." Where was Boba Fett? Bossk felt the scales across his shoulders tightening with irritation. The whole operation was blowing up in Bossk's face-perhaps literally, if Trhin Voss'on't reached for his own blaster pistol-and the other bounty hunter was nowhere to be found. He's off-planet somewhere, seethed Bossk, and I'm about to be killed by the hard merchandise we came here to collect.
"You can be in the category of dead, if I don't like your answers." Voss'on't turned his scarred head to one side, peering closer to Bossk." Now, some creatures might think I've done some stupid things. And I could even agree with them; getting on the wrong side of Emperor Palpatine isn't a recipe for longevity."
Bossk nodded." That's more problems than I've got."
"I'm the only problem you've got right now. And that's enough. Because one stupid thing I didn't do is
get myself into a situation where I knew there'd be a bounty placed on my head, without compiling a little personal database of just who was most likely to show up looking for me."
"Ah. I see." The thoughts inside Bossk's head raced at an even faster clip. Now would have been a real good time for Boba Fett to have turned up." I suppose. . . that would be the smart thing to do."
"That's right. . . Bossk." The ex-stormtrooper practically spat out the name. Keeping his gaze on the Trandoshan, he reached behind himself, grabbed the chair from an empty table, and pulled it around; he sat down, leaning over the back of the chair." How's things with the Bounty Hunters Guild these days?"
Bossk managed a shrug." Could be better."
"That's your name, right?"
There was no point in lying." You got it."
"Your old man used to run the Bounty Hunters Guild." A sneer crept into Trhin Voss'on't's words." Guess you're not quite up to that, huh?"
Bossk's cold reptilian blood went up a couple of degrees." Look-" He was close to not caring about the consequences of reaching for his blaster." Let's just leave Guild politics out of the conversation, okay? That doesn't have anything to do with you."
"It might," said Voss'on't with a trace of amusement." Especially if it gave somebody like you the desire to score a huge bounty. A bounty like the one Palpatine's got riding on me. You could do a lot with that kind of credits, couldn't you?"
"What if I could?" Bossk eyed the man with deepening suspicion." Anybody could. That's probably why the Emperor is willing to spend the credits. You know? To motivate creatures, to get them to do what he wants-that's what credits are for."
"Huh. Believe me, pal-the Emperor has other ways of 'motivating' creatures. I know; I've been motivated plenty of times in the service of the Empire. And those ways aren't all as pleasant as credits in your pocket."
Bossk shrugged." Those other ways don't work on bounty hunters. Credits are the only thing that motivates us."
"Good for you." Voss'on't gave a slow nod." I forgot; you're all rough and tough, fearless types."
"Fearless enough."
"Let me tell you something else. All the credits in the galaxy won't do you any good, if you're not alive to spend them." Voss'on't's gaze narrowed even farther." And I can arrange that. I've already done it for a couple of others in your line of work, who showed up out here on my doorstep."
"So I've heard." The reports, from Bossk's subordinates in the Guild Reform Committee, had come to him while he and Boba Fett had still been tracking down Voss'on't's hiding place. At least half a dozen other bounty hunters, all of whom had gotten a jump on making a try to capture Trhin Voss'on't, had gotten this far, to this backwater world and this crummy dive-and no farther. Bossk supposed the bodies had been hauled out and dumped in one of the abandoned quarries at the edge of the slowly disintegrating colony structures. There had never been any concern in Bossk's mind that any of the other bounty hunters might actually collect the bounty posted for Voss'on't. None of them had ever had a chance.
"Then you're a slow learner," said Voss'on't." You should've paid attention to what happened to those other bounty hunters. Right now, you don't even know what you've walked into. I had a lot of credits to spend, when I got done selling off what I
stole-and there wasn't anybody I had to split those credits up with, either."
"No-" Bossk slowly shook his head." Not by the time you got done with them."
"You would've done the same, if you were in my situation."
"True." Bossk shrugged. Getting rid of one's partners was all in the course of ordinary business, if you could get away with it." Who wouldn't?"
"Nobody with any sense," said Voss'on't grimly." And I had sense enough to spend the credits making sure that some top-level bounty hunter such as yourself wouldn't be hauling me back to Coruscant and the Emperor's palace anytime soon."
That remark puzzled Bossk. If he spent the credits on some kind of defenses-it was the same question that had puzzled Bossk before-then where are they? Either they were well hidden, or Voss'on't had gotten cheated on them.
He was willing to bet that it wasn't the latter. Those other bounty hunters, the ones that had already come this way, wouldn't have gotten killed so readily if Voss'on't's defenses were illusory.
Besides. . . it was always wiser to assume that when somebody boasted of their ways of arranging your death, they weren't lying. Especially when it came from a former Imperial stormtrooper.