It hadn't taken long to find the explosives: Slave I's detector circuits had already done a preliminary search through the entire ship, narrowing the possible site of an unauthorized mass to somewhere behind the main holding cage. Boba Fett had quickly located the explosives, extracted them, and stuffed them aboard a cargo module. Neelah held a worklight up above her head, directing its beam into the space between the bulkhead's durasteel ribs, as Boba Fett and Dengar had unwedged the bulky object and dragged it out to the center of the compartment's floor.
Before jettisoning the module, Boba Fett had wired into its power circuits a small device that he had brought down from the cockpit area.
"What's that?" Neelah had pointed to the device.
"An ID overlay transmitter," Fett had replied as he'd closed the cargo module's hatch and stood up." Programmed with Slave I's identification codes. Strictly short range, and without the hard-encryption levels that would get it past a real ID inquiry. But it should be enough to fool-for just long enough-the uninvited guest who left this little package here."
The rest had been easy. Once the cargo module had shot out from Slave I, its navigation circuits had sent it homing toward the other ship lying in wait. Boba Fett had cut his own ship's thruster engines, holding back and keeping directly behind the cargo module,
still traveling forward. The explosion, when Bossk had pushed the button, had given enough cover for Boba Fett to hit the thrusters with full power and come swooping up alongside the Hound's Tooth. He had been inside the other bounty hunter's ship, with his own surprises ready to go, before Bossk knew what was happening.
All of that fast strategizing had been easy enough for Neelah to follow. That was then, though; this was now." I still don't understand," she said aloud," why you didn't kill that Bossk or whatever his name is, instead of just throwing a scare into him like that."
"It's simple." Boba Fett didn't look over at her, but continued making adjustments to Slave I's navigation coordinates." Right now, the whole universe believes I'm dead. Or at least those parts of it that concern themselves with the fate of bounty hunters."
"That's true," said Dengar." When I went into Mos Eisley, the story about you falling down the Sarlacc's throat was all over the spaceport."
"I anticipated that would be the case." Fett punched in a few more numbers." Sometimes it can be a productive situation to be dead. Or at least to have creatures think you are."
"So you let Bossk get away? After he saw that you're still alive?" Neelah couldn't fathom what she was hearing." Doesn't that defeat the whole purpose of this little charade? Once he makes his way into Mos Eisley, he'll blab the truth to everyone who'll listen to him."
"No, he won't." Boba Fett gave a single shake of his helmeted head." You are not experienced with basic Trandoshan psychology. They are an egotistical species; the only creature worse in that regard is a Hutt. But then Hutts have more reason to be; they're considerably smarter than Trandoshans. Bossk is at least intelligent enough to realize that he benefits from a universe-wide belief in my death. With my absence from the scene, many will regard him as being the number-one bounty hunter still working the trade. Merchandise to be located and secured will come his way, and there are the benefits to the ego as well; those have always been a bigger motivation to him. If it's not credits in my pocket, I'm not interested in it."
Obviously, thought Neelah. She decided to keep her mouth shut, at least this time.
"For Bossk, it is a matter of pride," continued Fett." He enjoys being fawned on and flattered; much of the animosity he bears me is due to his conviction that I somehow cheated him out of inheriting the leadership of the old Bounty Hunters Guild. That's a hard thing for him to forgive. He may hate my guts, but he's not going to relate any stories about my still being alive that make him look like a fool. When he gets to Mos Eisley, he's going to have a hard enough time telling the cantina habitues why he no longer has the Hound's Tooth; it's been his ship for a long time. He's not about to tell anyone that he got frightened out of it like a Biituian fen-hare."
"Okay. . ." Dengar nodded slowly as he mulled it over, leaning his shoulder against the side of the cockpit hatchway." So you don't lose anything by letting Bossk go. But what do you gain out of it? That's worth having an enemy like that still aiming for you?"
"Simple-I gain an effective mouthpiece for the story of my death. There may be isolated sectors of the universe that haven't yet heard of that unfortunate event; some creatures may be very interested to find out about it. At the same time, some of the things in my immediate plans might inadvertently give rise to speculation that I am still alive. Better that we should have Bossk in a gossip den such as Mos Eisley, with every scoundrel on the inhabited worlds passing through and listening in as he does his best to convince everyone of just how dead I am."
Neelah was impressed, in spite of herself. He thinks of everything, she grudgingly admitted. It was no wonder that he had clawed his way to the top of the bounty hunter trade. The amount of bloodied corpses he had left behind himself must be equally impressive.
"You forgot about one thing." A smug expression showed on Dengar's face." We're sitting, right now, aboard something that gives the whole game away. Slave I is known throughout the galaxy as being Boba Fett's ship; soon as other creatures spot it cruising into their systems, they're going to suspect-or they'll know-that you're alive. And up to your old trade again."
"I'm glad to see that I don't have a fool for a partner." Any trace of sarcasm was filtered out of Boba Fett's voice.
"So what are you going to do about it?" Neelah felt sure that the bounty hunter had already figured out the answer.
"That is a simple matter as well." Boba Fett raised one of his gloved hands from the cockpit controls and gestured at the bulkheads surrounding them." Dengar is correct in his assessment that this ship reveals me to be still alive-but only if I'm actually in it. An abandoned Slave I reads out a considerably different message. If it's found drifting and empty, then most sentient creatures will make the logical assumption that I am in fact dead; the ship will confirm the stories they've already heard. For something as valuable to me as Slave I, the only way that it would fall from my grasp would be if I were no longer among the living. Or so most creatures will believe."
Neelah gave a nod; it made sense to her." But you'll still need a ship," she pointed out." You can hardly walk from here to where you'll want to go."
"How fortunate then that we have another ship available to us." With a simple gesture, Boba Fett indicated the cockpit's forward viewport. In the distance outside, framed by stars and the blackness of space, the Hound's Tooth floated." Granted, it does not have the capabilities of this one-no ship doesbut it'll suffice. Bossk was not such a failure at the bounty hunter trade that he didn't have the funds available to him to put together a decent enough system." Fett gave a slight shrug." With a few minor modifications, it should serve our own purposes well enough. Once its ID profile is broken out and overridden, with a new ID programmed in, the ship won't even be recognizable as Bossk's-so no one will catch the discrepancy that the Hound's original owner is somewhere back on Tatooine, while his ship is light-years away from there. That should provide us all the anonymity we require."
"I suppose that explains why you didn't just blow up Bossk's ship, with him still aboard." One thing still puzzled Neelah, in addition to all the other mysteries that still existed." But why such a big need for secrecy?"