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Zuckuss pointed to the ladder leading to the cockpit.
"He's still up there. I think he's getting ready for the arrival of the Shell Hutts' negotiator."
His guess was proved correct when Boba Fett's voice crackled from a speaker mounted on the bulkhead. "We'll need to make room," said Fett over the ship's internal comm system. "I've just been informed that the negotiator is one of the Shell Hutts; they didn't send one of their pet intermediaries. If we're going to get one of those tanks aboard here, we'll need all the space we can get."
"I don't see how ..." Zuckuss turned, looking around the Slave I's holding area. "The only room down here is in the cages."
"So?" Boba Fett's voice spoke again. "What's the problem?"
Bossk glared at the cages where Boba Fett kept his captured pieces of merchandise, en route to collecting the bounty on them. "I'm not going in there," he growled.
"You're the biggest one here," Zuckuss pointed out helpfully. "Except, of course-" He pointed to D'harhan's massive bulk, the laser ca
The three bounty hunters looked over at D'harhan.
"I don't know," said Bossk. Even he seemed in timidated by the presence of a fully charged laser ca
Zuckuss and the other two bounty hunters stepped back, spines against the bulkhead, as the roused D'harhan slowly stood up, the segmented metal tail drawing around behind him. The housing of the laser ca
"Watch out!" Zuckuss's cry was involuntary, triggered by the sight of the indicator lights on the laser ca
On the gridded floor, with his arms pulled over his head, Zuckuss heard the quick, sharp sizzle of a laser bolt, then another; their glare lit up the space, stinging his eyes. In the quiet that followed, he could smell ozone and scorched metal.
Lifting his head, Zuckuss saw the lights on the side of the animate laser ca
"there," spoke D'harhan's voice box aloud.
"NOW YOU SHOULD HAVE ... NO OBJECTIONS."
"Your point is valid." IG-88's circuitry had re covered completely from the sudden burst of laser fire.
The droid stepped over the bars of the fallen door and into what was left of the cage, then turned around.
Bossk regarded D'harhan for a moment longer, his slitted eyes looking up at the cooling laser ca
That'll take some fixing, thought Zuckuss. Con sidering the proprietary attitude that Boba Fett natu rally took toward the Slave I and its fittings, he was more than relieved that D'harhan had blown the holding cage hinges and not him.
At that moment Boba Fett appeared on the ladder coming down from the cockpit. The bounty hunters watched as Fett's visored gaze turned toward the cage in which he transported his merchandise, then down to the barred door lying in front of it.
"That's coming out of your share," Fett told D'harhan.
The black-gloved hand moved across the voice box's keyboard. "no, it's not."
For a moment longer they stood facing each other-one masked behind the visored helmet, the other faceless except for the muzzle of the laser ca
"There's a ship approaching." Zuckuss pointed to the viewport. "It must be the Shell Hutts' negotiator."
In the viewport, a spherical craft moved closer to the Slave I; a simple off-planet shuttle, it displayed tortoise insignia of the Shell Hutts and a diplomatic emblazon showing its unarmed status. The shuttle's forward hatch had already deployed its docking arms, ready to hook up with the Slave I's transfer hatch.
A few moments later, as Zuckuss ma
"Ah, Boba Fett!" The casing, studded with rivets and various maintenance ports, swung about in the holding area, past the other bounty hunters and toward the figure standing near the metal ladder. A leering smile formed on the Shell Hutt's face. Tiny mechanical hands dangled beneath a gleaming chromium collar, sealed tight around the wattled gray flesh of its neck; the claws, delicate as a scuttling sea crab's, clicked happily against each other. "How pleasant to see you again."
Fett's response was dry and emotionless. "My feelings, Gheeta, are the same as the last time we met."
Bossk spoke from the holding cage. "You know this creature?"
"We've had ... business dealings." Fett didn't look back at the Trandoshan. "A couple times before."
"And very profitable they were, too." The cylinder with the Shell Hutt inside bobbed slightly as it turned toward Bossk. "At least ... for some people." The smile on Gheeta's face soured. "I hope," he said to Boba Fett,
"that you're not expecting the same degree of trust that you found previously on Circumtore." The little crablike hands snapped their metal claws together, hard enough to produce sparks. "After that last affair of yours, Fett, you're not going to be greeted with open arms."
"I don't need to be." Boba Fett stood face-to-face with the Shell Hutt. "You're a business creature, Gheeta, and so am I. Warm sentiments have nothing to do with it.
If you're ready to do business, then we have something to talk about. If you're not ready, then we don't."
"The same old Boba Fett." The Shell Hutt's head, its jowly neck bound by the floating cylinder's collar, managed an appreciative nod. "It's good to know that some things in this universe never cliange. Just what business is it you've come to Circumtore to discuss?"
"I think you've got a pretty good idea of that."
Gheeta's expression turned sly, the lids over his large eyes drawing halfway down. "It wouldn't be something to do with a certain Oph Nar Di
"Stop wasting time!" Bossk's angry shout broke in.
"You know damn well that's what we're here for!"
An amused glance from the corner of one eye, then Gheeta looked back at Fett. "Your associate has a charming directness about him."
Fett nodded. "Among other virtues."
"The others must be well concealed," said Gheeta dryly. One of the metal hands reached up to scratch between the wattles at the side of his neck. "You realize, of course, that the party under discussion-this Di
Spare me, thought Zuckuss, watching the exchange between Boba Fett and the Shell Hutt. Throughout the galaxy, the treachery and outright malice that Hutts showed toward any who found themselves in one of their windowless palaces was proverbial. Zuckuss had heard things about how the infamous Jabba, the preeminent Huttese crime lord, went through so-called guests and the more disposable type of servants that made his flesh crawl. That was the difference, Zuckuss supposed, between Boba Fett and a creature like this Gheeta. Fett didn't go out of his way to hurt or even kill anyone-if it hap pened, it happened-whereas Hutts in general took an active delight in other creatures' suffering.