The Hunters and the Hunted 3

I had not been kidding when I had told Thrawn that I had known Boba Fett for most of my life, although I wasn’t sure the word known really applied. I really knew very little about him personally when I actually thought about it, but that never really bothered me. My father had always treated the bounty hunter with cordiality and respect. The two men had always spoken to each other more like old work colleagues than anything else but I had never really noticed or thought about it until now. He had always been a peripheral part of my life.

I sat across the small table from Fett and played with the small salad I had brought along with his meal. I wasn’t particularly hungry but letting him eat alone seemed rude. He did not converse while he ate and if he enjoyed the food, he didn’t say but I guessed that he was hungry because he finished it all. Once the plates were cleared away I poured spiced coffee from the carafe and he sipped it with a relish that reminded me of my uncle’s jaxes when they were given a fish treat.

“I see the ability to make decent mek’kefa runs in your family.” He commented, using the traditional name for the drink. I just smiled and cradled my warm glass in my hands. I tried not to stare at his face but I couldn’t help it. The last time I had seen him I had not known about my birth parents, now I did and this man wore the face of my biological father. It was unnerving and strange.

“Do I have something on my chin?” he asked after a long moment’s silence.

I shook my head. “No. I was just wondering how it was you were able to make this meeting so quickly.”

“I was in the neighbourhood, I told you that.”

“So you did, in all the excitement of seeing you again, I forgot.” My words were tart to cover up the fact that I had been staring at his face.

Boba smiled, that terrible, beguiling smile that always made me a little bit nervous and a little bit curious both at the same time. “I had work here and then you all dropped out of hyperspace right on top of me.”

“Lord Vader’s timing is usually better than this.” I said. “Work? I suppose that would be Han Solo.” I said remembering the rumours I’d heard. “Haven’t you been after him for a while now?”

He shrugged his shoulder slightly. “The man leads a charmed life but Jabba wants him badly enough to make it worth my while.” This wasn’t a lie but he was more annoyed than he let on. It didn’t sit well with his reputation that Solo kept slipping through his fingers.

“I would venture to say that Lord Vader wants him even more so.” I told him.

He smiled grimly. “Don’t suppose you have any more details on that, do you?”

I shook my head. “I do a lot of things for Lord Vader but actually making his business deals for him isn’t one of them. He wants to talk with you directly, but you would know how this works better than I would, you’ve done this for him before, right?”

“Vader and I have crossed paths many times, so yeah, you might say I know the drill. Usually though he makes me wait on board my ship. This royal treatment is unusual so I can only assume I have you to thank for that or he wants something more than I would be willing to give.”

I shrugged. “I don’t know, he just asked if I knew you and then left instructions.”

He looked at me for a moment and I felt as though his dark eyes could see clear through to my soul. “Well, lucky me then.” He said breaking the awkward silence.

I toyed with my glass and smiled a little. It felt strange to sit across from him, and I didn’t know what else to say but I felt I had to speak because the silence was overwhelming.

“You said you’d heard stories about me?” I asked, breaking the silence that made the air claustrophobic.

Fett’s smile was slow and predatory. “I heard you have a little bit of a pest problem.”

“Jyrki Andando,” I sighed. “Did papa tell you?”

“He mentioned it to me when I last saw him, but I knew about it before, word gets around and you seem to be a hot topic for Galactic News and HoloNet gossip.” He said.

I rolled my eyes. “Doesn’t this galaxy have anything better to do?”

Fett laughed. “Apparently not. So, it’s true then? You are being stalked by that black haired mechanic you had a crush on?”

I made a face. “Yes, it’s true.”

Fett frowned. “Why?”

I shrugged. “I am not really sure. When Jyrki heard I was working for the Empire, for Lord Vader he went ballistic. He’s convinced he has to save me but his methods are a bit unconventional.”

“As I heard it, his methods almost got you killed.”

I nodded glumly and at his urging told him what Jyrki had been up to. When I was done he sat back on the couch and stared at me. The set of his mouth told me he wasn’t overly impressed with the whole goings on.

“I can deal with him for you.” He said flatly, coldly after a lengthy pause.

“No.” The word was out of my mouth before I could even think to take it back. My answer earned me a raised eyebrow. So I tried to explain. “It’s complicated and someone is already dealing with it.”

“Ahhh, let me guess, Vahlek Akosh.” He said with some distaste.

Now it was my turn to raise an eyebrow.

“Your father mentioned the Tze’yusha’Jin was looking into it but I got the distinct feeling there was more to the story than he was letting on.”

“Like I said, it’s complicated.”

“Families usually are, little lady, but this guy is hunting you and no one seems to be doing anything about it.” He told me curtly. “I can.”

“Well then…, if Uncle Vahlek can’t deal with Jyrki will the offer still stand?” I asked after thinking about it.

Fett smiled slightly. “It will, “He paused then added, “as long as I am still alive.”

I nodded, sighed and regarded him for a long moment. “Why would you do this for me?” I asked finally.

“You remind me of my daughter and I owe your father a large favour.” He said after a very long pause.

I had to work at keeping my jaw from hitting the floor. “You have a daughter?” I asked. He could not have shocked me more if he had said he was really a Jedi knight in disguise on a mission to kill Darth Vader.

He nodded, sipped his coffee and drew a deep breath. “Yes, a long time ago I was married for a brief time. It didn’t work out but I have a daughter from the union. Ailyn would be about six or seven years younger than you I guess, I have not seen her in a very long time.”

I was so surprised I didn’t know what to say.

He smiled in a way that softened his face. “Not exactly the hardened bounty hunter image you had in your mind?”

“I just never pictured you as a family man.” I said.

“Well, apparently I’m not.” He said sharply and I regretted my words immediately which must have shown on my face.

“I’m sorry, I mean no offence.”

He leaned forward. “Look, I have known you since you were an annoying, precocious child who thought I was some sort of super being. You followed me around like a little love sick bantha pestering me with all manner of questions until I had to beg your father to get you out of my hair.” He smiled slightly at the memory he had of me. “Your dad and I go back a ways, long before he ever got married and settled down actually, though I bet he’s never told you that. I owe him, which I don’t like. You are his daughter; I’ve known you a long time. Now I hear you are being stalked and hurt by a guy you used to adore for taking a government job. That doesn’t sit too well with me especially since I can do something about it for you, clear up my debt to your dad and not have to see the worry on his face every time I ask how you’re doing when I get my ship fixed. I want him concentrating on my boat not on his kid! I don’t want to have to find a different docking bay just because I find it disturbing to hear you are being hunted. That would piss off your dad and annoy the hell out of me, which trust me, you don’t want.”

I just stared at him. It was one of the longest speeches I had ever heard him give and it completely took me by surprise.

“Is there any more mek’kefa?” he asked when I found myself with nothing to say.

I poured him another glass. I still could not wrap my head around the revelation that he had a family. It made me wonder just how much he really knew about me and my crazy family. How much my father had really told him. I had always known that there was a sort of strange friendship between Boba Fett and my father but I had not realised that they had known each other before my father was married. I sighed. My father’s murky past was something he never discussed. It was as much a secret as who uncle Vahlek really was. It seemed to me that my family was full of dark secrets which tended to involve shady characters from the wrong side of town.

“Working for Vader seems to agree with you.” Fett said after a long silence.

I nodded. “I like my job, despite its hazards.” I told him, “And I am good at it, it seems.”

That earned me a smile. “Well my guess would be if you weren’t you wouldn’t be here.”

“It sure beats working at the palace.” I retorted.

“Different location, same story.” He replied airily. “Last I heard you were embroiled in a big scandal with a disgraced officer.”

“Well, don’t believe all you hear.” I shot back.

“So you aren’t involved with a high ranking Imperial Officer who was recently publicly disgraced and sent packing to the nether regions of space?” he asked with a sly smile.

“I didn’t say that.” I didn’t want to get into this conversation at all.

He laughed. “You have this uncanny ability to get yourself involved with all the wrong people.”

“Since we are being so personal, can I ask you a question about your family?” I asked suddenly annoyed enough to cross this line.

“You may ask.”

“I heard from a reliable source that your father was the man who was the template for the clone soldiers who fought in the Clone wars. Is this true?”

A shiver of emotion passed across Fett’s face and I wasn’t certain he would answer me but he did. “Yes that is true. His name was Jango Fett.”

“I also heard that you are not actually his natural born son but a naturally matured clone of his.” I was pressing my luck and I could feel him fight against some emotion I couldn’t place.

“Yes, that is also true.”

I sat back and bit my lip, staring at his face. He met my stare evenly, his dark eyes hard and angry, but the anger wasn’t directed at me.

“Why do you want to know this?”

“How much about me do you really know?” I countered.

“Not enough to know why you are asking these particular questions.”

“Then I guess papa never mentioned to you that I am actually adopted and not his or my mother’s biological child, did he?”

Fett shook his head. “No, he failed to mention that.”

“It was kept a secret. I didn’t know until shortly before I left to work for Lord Vader and not so long ago I found out who my biological parents were.” I paused to look at his face but his expression gave nothing away. I continued. “My biological mother was a Jedi and the man who sired me was the Arc Clone commander she worked along side, who would eventually hunt her down and kill her. He never knew he had a child, she hid me away to save my life and paid for that with her own. When I look at your face I am looking at the face of my biological father and the man who executed the woman who gave birth to me. So, how do they call the offspring of clones in relation to other clones? What does this make you to me, a brother? An uncle? A cousin? What!?” my words tumbled out, rapid and cross. The silence in the room after I had nothing left to say was heavy and awkward. We started at each other for a moment then he broke the deadlock.

“You must get your looks from your mother because I don’t see much of my father in you at all.” He commented dryly.

I got up from the table and paced the room. I was angry, hurt and confused all of a sudden and I didn’t understand any of this or how to deal with it.

“Merlyn, what is it that you want from me?” he asked. “You told me this for a reason, so what is it?”

“I don’t want anything from you. I just wanted you to know.”

“I have nothing to give you.” He said.

“I am not asking for anything from you!” I snapped, and then backed down a bit. “Maybe I just needed to know as well.”

“So you just wanted to add to your already complicated family with yet another complicated member?”

I stood still, ignoring his question and regarded him for a long moment. I wondered if he was right and all I really wanted was some sort of connection to people who had actually given me life. I stared at his face, searching for something that was familiar in myself. I shifted my weight and folded my arms across my chest, making a face as I did so.

He surprised me with a throaty chuckle. “Now, that stance and that expression I do recognize.” He said. Then he leaned forward, his elbows resting on his knees, with a slight smile, he added. “I don’t know what you want me to say. Family is a complicated thing for me as well. I grew up with my father more often gone from home than he was there, leaving me to be raised by the Kaminoans and droids. I was ten years old when I watched the Jedi Master, Mace Windu, decapitate him ruthlessly on Geonosis. I didn’t exactly have a stellar childhood and I have no idea how families are supposed to function. I suppose that’s the reason my own marriage didn’t work out.” He drew a deep breath. “Your biological father would probably have been an Alpha Class Recon Commando. They were clones who were unaltered in anyway to allow for independent thought. I am a little surprised to hear he fulfilled Order sixty-six. Many of the Alphas didn’t.”

“Order sixty-six?” I had heard of this but the details were sketchy.

Fett sighed. “It was an order that was encoded and trained into each and every clone to recognise the Jedi as traitors to the republic at a time of the command being given.”

“Why?”

“You’d have to ask Palpatine that, he was the one who arranged for it to happen, of course no one knew that at the time.”

“The Emperor?”

Fett nodded.

I frowned. “So what you are telling me is that the Jedi purge had been planned for even before the Clone War started?”

“It would appear so.” He said.

I let out the deep breath I had been holding. “Then it was inevitable that my birth mother die.”

“Perhaps. Who can say what is meant to be or not.” He said with a shrug. “Destiny is something only the fortunate believe in.”

“But the Emperor planned it?”

He stared at me for a long moment and nodded slowly once. “Yes, it would appear he did.”

The slow anger that ate its way up through my being must have shown on my face because Fett’s expression changed indifference to curious. He went to say something but before he could my comm peeped. I answered it tersely then shoved the ache of fury that was trying to consume me down as deep into my gut as it cold go. There was just not enough hatred in the galaxy for Palpatine.

“Lord Vader has returned and will see you now.” I said, almost relieved that this entire conversation was over.

Fett nodded and stood up. “Time to get this show on the road.” He said as he picked up his helmet. I bit my lip as I watched him. I didn’t really know what to think of the conversation we had just had. The entire thing had had a very surreal quality to it. He regarded me for a moment then asked. “Tell me something, does Vader know about your birth parents?” he asked.

“Yes.” I said.

Fett smiled, it was a nasty, cold smile. “That man has a vile sense of humour.” He said to himself.

I didn’t back up when he stepped over to stand in front of me. I didn’t pull away when he curled a finger under my chin and raised my face upward. I didn’t look away from his gaze when he stared into my eyes.

“You may not physically resemble my side of the family, such as it is, but now that I know it’s there, I see him in your expressions.” He said. “You have his tenacity and I imagine a bit of his temperament. I don’t know what one would call the relationship between us either so why don’t you just call me a friend and we’ll leave it at that. I wouldn’t go around bragging about it though, if I were you, not everyone loves me, you know.” He cautioned with a grin. Then he let go of my chin and put his helmet on. “So… are you taking me to Vader or do I have to go and find him myself?”

“I’ll take you.” I said.

“Then lead on, little lady.” He said. “But think about my offer. Seeing as you’re family, I’ll be pissed if this moron kills you.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” I said as we left the room.