I won't miss this time.

He raised his hand. Mace Windu was just meters away. Boba stared at the Jedi, summoning all his strength. All his hatred.

His thumb pressed the trigger.

The dart sang from the palm shooter like an enraged hornet. It spun, glittering, through the air, straight for Mace Windu's throat.

I got him! Boba's mind sang in triumph.

Mace Windu flinched. His hand shot into the air. Between his fingers the saberdart shivered like a trapped insect.

"No!" groaned Boba.

Mace Windu flung the deadly dart into the shadows. He stepped toward Boba, his lightsaber poised to strike.

Boba Fett was cornered.

"This is my final offer of surrender," said the Jedi Master.

"No," said Boba in a low voice.

He would never surrender.

The Jedi took another step toward him. Boba thought of his friends back on Tatooine.

Good-bye, Ygabba. Good-bye, Gab'borah. I'll miss you.

He thought of his father, fighting until the very last. Boba lifted his head and stared fearlessly at Mace Windu.

"There are worse things than death," the bounty hunter said, raising his flechette pistol.

"There are," the Jedi replied in his powerful voice. "You are brave indeed, stranger. I would have spared your life. But now you leave me no choice - "

His raised his arms. The glowing light blade tore through the air.

"STOP!".

A deafening shout of command filled the room. Heavy footsteps echoed as uniformed guards raced in. The Chancellor's Red Guards surrounded Mace Windu and Boba.

More footsteps sounded. Another figure entered the room, clad in the luxurious robes denoting his high rank.

"Who dares disrupt this place?" he demanded. It was Supreme Chancellor Palpatine.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN.

"Your Eminence," said Mace Windu. He deactivated his lightsaber and took a respectful step back. "I arrived a few minutes early for our meeting, and found this intruder in your antechamber."

He gestured at Boba. Palpatine turned. He stared at the bounty hunter. The Supreme Chancellor nodded at Boba, almost imperceptibly.

"This man is not a stranger to me," said Palpatine. "I was expecting him."

"Expecting him!" Windu exclaimed. "But - "

Palpatine turned to calmly face the Jedi. No longer was Palpatine the soft-spoken, thoughtful figure who had first come to prominence in the Senate. Now the Chancellor radiated power - and arrogance.

"Do you dare question me?" he asked. "This bounty hunter has important information - information vital to the Republic! And will your bickering interfere with him bringing it to us?"

For a moment the Jedi said nothing. Then he nodded.

"I was unaware of your meeting. My sole concern was for your safety and the safety of the Republic."

Palpatine waved a hand toward the Red Guards. "As you can see, I am not unprotected. I am, as always, grateful for your support. But now, Master Windu, you may leave."

Palpatine inclined his head toward the door. Boba blinked. He swiftly replaced his weapons, and waited.

Mace Windu bowed slightly. But his eyes were on Boba. "Yes, your Eminence. The Jedi Council will question this bounty hunter after his meeting with you - "

"Perhaps."

Mace Windu walked to the door. At the last moment he paused and looked back at Boba. A long, hard look. Then the door closed behind him.

Boba was alone with Supreme Chancellor Palpatine.

"I seem to be having a problem with people arriving early for their meetings," the Chancellor said smoothly.

He looked at Boba and smiled, but there was no warmth in his eyes.

Boba nodded. "I regret the inconvenience," he said.

He took a step forward, wincing at the pain. The Chancellor gestured at Boba's helmet.

"You may remove that," he said in his calmly ominous voice. "I know who you are - Boba Fett."

Boba sucked his breath in sharply. Then he did as the Chancellor had commanded, and held the helmet at his side.

"I know you are the Hutt clan's foremost bounty hunter," Palpatine went on. "I also know that you yourself are being hunted - by Count Dooku. And by Durge."

"I don't deny it," Boba replied.

"You say you have news for me. Information." Palpatine's eyes glittered. His hands smoothed the folds of his rich, long robes. "I am waiting."

Boba glanced at the Red Guards, and Palpatine motioned for Boba to follow him into his office. Once they were alone, Boba spoke.

"You are at war against the Separatists," said Boba. "Count Dooku leads the Separatist cause. He is your most dangerous enemy and has vast droid armies. You have gathered a powerful force of clones. These clones were created by someone named Tyra.n.u.s. Tyra.n.u.s is your ally - or so you think.

"But I know the truth, Chancellor."

Boba stopped.

The time had come for him to reveal what he knew. The secret had given him strength and purpose for years. He would reveal it now, to the Supreme Chancellor.

By aligning himself with Palpatine, Boba would gain more strength.

He would be well paid for his information. Then he could leave and return to Tatooine in triumph, even though Wat Tambor had eluded him.

"I am waiting," said Palpatine in a low voice.

"I learned of this when I was a prisoner of the Count on Raxus Prime. I was a boy then. He thought he had no need to fear me. But he was wrong."

Boba took a breath. Then he said, "Count Dooku and Tyra.n.u.s are the same person. Your greatest enemy created your armies. It is a trap."

Palpatine lifted his head. His greedy, deepset eyes gleamed with avarice and the joy of knowledge. The joy of power.

The joy of triumph.

"I know," he said.

CHAPTER NINETEEN.

Boba hesitated. "You... already know?" Palpatine nodded. His hands slipped inside the folds of his robes.

"There is nothing I do not know," he said. "Nothing that is worth knowing, anyway."

"But - but why - "

Palpatine's hand shot out, ordering silence. "That information is not yours to command, Boba Fett. It is mine alone."

Palpatine looked closely at Boba, then continued. "I have heard much of your prowess as a tracker and bounty hunter. I know how your father died. I know who killed him - and why. When you arrived here I knew you would hunt down that Jedi Master."

Boba stood, stunned.

"I have already arranged for your ship to be brought here from the Jedi Temple," said Palpatine.

"You will be escorted to it in a few moments. You will leave Coruscant immediately. And you will say nothing of this meeting to anyone - ever."

Palpatine withdrew his hand from his robe. He held it out to Boba.

A shining credit cube glittered in his palm.

"This should be ample compensation for you, bounty hunter. I believe we have an agreement and I believe we share a common enemy."

Palpatine's mouth curved in a small, sinister smile. Boba looked at him, then at the credit cube. He took the cube, then nodded.

"I will never say a word," Boba replied.

"You had better not," said Palpatine calmly. From the hallway echoed the sound of the Red Guards.

Boba pulled his helmet back over his head. He grimaced, but he could live with the pain. He could live with returning to Tatooine.

He could live with a lot of things, with the fortune Palpatine had given him.

CHAPTER TWENTY.

Slave I shot into the velvety sky above Coruscant. Far, far below, the spectral lights of Galactic City shimmered and glowed, then began to grow fainter and fainter as Boba's ship hurtled off. In.a few moments, Coruscant was only a glittering speck in all the galaxy.

And soon, even Coruscant had disappeared.

Behind the controls, Boba Fett sat pensively. He'd already arranged for Palpatine's credits to be stashed in an account on Aargau. That way, Boba could access them whenever he needed them. And no one else could - not even Jabba.

The Huttese gangster might question Boba returning without Wat Tambor. But as the battle between the Republic and the Separatists continued to rage, Boba suspected that Jabba would find other things to occupy his greedy little mind.

Besides, Boba was no longer intimidated by the thought of Jabba the Hutt. Boba had enough credits to last him the rest of his life. He could pick and choose his bounties, selecting only the ones that challenged him.

And there would be plenty of those! He'd already heard rumors of a kidnapping on Rodia. But first he might take a little time off and amuse himself. The All-Human Free-For-All on Jubilar would be held soon. He might go to that. He could use a break....

The past was behind Boba now. His father was long buried. Boba had not killed Mace Windu, but he suspected that great troubles awaited him - and all Jedi. And the love and respect Jango had felt for his son would not die. And Boba's love for his father would not change, either.

Mace Windu had been a powerful opponent. And a worthy one. But there would be many more. Boba Fett knew that. He leaned forward, staring out at the vastness of s.p.a.ce.

It was a big place, the galaxy. Endless, dangerous, exciting. A million adventures waited out there, for anyone bold enough to take them.

Boba's course was set. He had a ship full of weapons, and Slave 1 was the best ship in the galaxy.

Boba smiled. The future was his.

And he was on his way to seize it.