What he didn't see was another vehicle of any kind.

"Come on!" urged Elan. "I'll get you there faster than anyone can!"

"All right," Boba said, resigned. He climbed into the airspeeder, glowering at Elan. "But if you try to sell me something, Sleazebaggano, you're dead!"

"Sell you something?" Elan yanked at the controls. With a squeal, the airspeeder shot up through the high-rise canyons of Coruscant. "I wouldn't dream of selling you something! Especially not something highly illegal and fatally toxic, like a saberdart."

"A saberdart?" Boba held tight to his seat, as the airspeeder narrowly avoided slamming into a building. "You have a saberdart?"

"I never said that," Elan replied. The airspeeder shot past another speeder full of willowy young Dathomir witches. Elan waved at them.

"Girls! h.e.l.l00000!"

The witches stared back in ill-disguised disgust. The red airspeeder rocketed upward, as Elan continued.

"I never said that, because to possess a saber-dart is a criminal offense. And I, of course, am a respected member of Coruscant's business community. But yes, I do have one."

Elan took one hand from the controls. The air-speeder wobbled dangerously as he seemed to pluck something from thin air. The object glittered, as Elan turned and handed it to Boba.

"One saberdart, no waiting. No payment, either-consider it a gift, a token of my great admiration for your bounty-hunting skills. Oh, you might mention it to Jabba, if you feel inclined," said Elan. "Put in a good word for me. A word to the wise, as they say."

Boba took the saberdart. He looked at it suspiciously, but it seemed to be genuine.

"How did you - " he began, but Elan cut him off. "I'd tell you," he said, "but then you'd have to kill me. Trust me, it's real."

In the near distance, the Jedi Temple's towers loomed. The airspeeder began to slow. Quickly Boba shoved the dart onto his utility belt.

The speeder came to a stop on the docking platform. Boba climbed out.

"Thanks," he said grudgingly.

"Anytime!" said Elan. He looked up at Boba and wiggled his antennae. "Just remember - tell your friends! Tell your enemies! I stand behind all my products! One-hundred-percent pure, satisfaction guaranteed!"

With a farewell wave of his antennae, Elan powered up his vehicle.

The bright-red airspeeder shot into reverse. Then it rocketed off into the haze.

Boba watched it go. Then he turned and hurried toward the Temple entrance.

Got to find Mace Windu, he thought with iron determination. His hands traced over his flechette pistol and his concealed daggers. Last of all he checked that the saberdart was where it could be easily deployed.

Got to finish something that Mace Windu started, a long time ago.

And then - then it will be time to start on a new life.

Because once he had avenged his father's death, Boba knew he would be ready to take Jango's place in the world. Not as a boy, but as a man.

He saw Slave I waiting in its docking bay.

"I'll be back soon," he said, smiling slightly at sight of his ship. As he pa.s.sed, he reached to touch the wing that Anakin Skywalker had fixed. "When I return, the sky's the limit."

Then, silent and unseen, Boba Fett entered the Jedi Temple.

The final hunt for Mace Windu had begun.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN.

It was early evening now. Most of the Jedi were at meals, or tending to private weapons practice, or research in the Archives library.

Boba made his way quickly and stealthily through the Temple's winding pa.s.sages.

Word must have pa.s.sed among the Jedi that Boba was here on official business and was not to be detained. The few Jedi he pa.s.sed scarcely gave him a look.

"Typical Jedi arrogance," Boba murmured.

He felt almost disappointed that no one confronted him. He'd like to take out a few Jedi on their own turf!

Still, Boba knew he had no time to waste on anyone but Mace Windu.

I'll have plenty of other chances to take out Jedi sc.u.m, he thought. First things first!

It didn't take him long to figure out where the members of the Jedi Council had their quarters. It took him even less time to find an alcove housing a worn door. He opened the door carefully and peeked inside.

"A service corridor!" said Boba under his breath. "Just what I needed! "

He checked to make sure no one saw him, and slipped inside. The pa.s.sage was completely empty and smelled of dust. A few dead Coruscant botflies were scattered on the floor, but nothing else. Boba checked the walls, then took a few scans using one of his handheld nav aids.

"Yes!" gloated Boba.

The tiny computer showed a grid of red and green lines: a map of the Council Members level. The secondary pa.s.sage he stood inside was a disused corridor that ran parallel to the central hallway.

If I follow this pa.s.sage, it will lead me straight to Mace Windu's chambers. I just have to get there before he leaves for his meeting with Palpatine!

Boba shoved the nav aid back into his utility belt. Then he stealthily began to run, his feet making no sound in the narrow pa.s.sage.

In a few minutes he had reached the next level, then the next.

Finally he saw another door in the shadows. His footsteps slowed.

"Got to be careful here," he whispered.

This door led to the corridor that went directly to Mace Windu's chambers.

But Boba certainly didn't want to meet Windu where others might see them and come to the Jedi's aid. Very slowly he cracked the door open and peered out.

The corridor was empty. Ruby-colored light slanted down from viewscreens high overhead. Outside, it was sunset on Coruscant.

Boba looked around carefully. Then he quickly slipped into the central pa.s.sage. He ran without a sound to where the hallway ended.

There, a single black doorway loomed.

The door to Mace Windu's chambers. The door to Mace Windu's death!

Boba slid his hand over the flechette pistol. He looked over his shoulder to see if anyone had spotted him.

No one was there.

Slowly Boba drew the pistol. He c.o.c.ked its safety, then crept toward the door. Moments from now, he would confront his enemy.

Mace would be deep in thought, preparing himself for his meeting with the Supreme Chancellor. He would be stunned to see Boba burst into his room. He would have no chance to defend himself. Not even a lightsaber could deflect hundreds of flechettes!

And not even a Jedi could withstand the deadly toxins released by a saberdart.

Boba's hand was on the door. His heart pounded as he took a deep breath.

He thought of his father, Jango, lying decapitated in the arena. He thought of Mace Windu lying dead. He recalled Jango's face breaking into a rare smile as he read to his son in their home on Geonosis "This is for you, Father," whispered Boba. He raised the flechette pistol.

Then, with all his strength he pushed the door open. Weapon ready to fire, Boba Fett lunged inside the Jedi's chamber, and found himself face- to-face with Nothing.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN.

It can't be!

Boba looked around in frustrated rage. The chamber was empty. He swiveled, his pistol ready to fire, and looked around.

There was no one. Even without checking the rest of the room, Boba's hyper alert senses registered the truth.

The Jedi Master was gone.

Boba quickly sheathed his weapon. He strode to a round, low cushion of the type favored by high-ranking Jedi, stooped, and laid a hand upon it.

It was still warm. Windu must have left just minutes before.

Boba fought a surge of fury. He'd been so close!

But he wasn't going to let Mace get away so easily. Boba knew where he was bound - to his private meeting with Palpatine in the Senate Building. Boba had no idea where in that vast building he might track down Windu.

But Boba had no doubt that he would succeed in finding him. He turned and started for the door, then stopped.

Too dangerous to go back out there now. Someone might see me and alert Windu....

He drew the door closed. He began a quick search of the chamber, looking for something that might be useful.

A minute later he found it - a small monitor tucked into the wall.

Boba activated it, then brought up the most recently viewed screen.

"Got it!" he crowed.

The screen showed an itinerary, generated by the Supreme Chancellor's office. There was a reminder of the time for Mace Windu's private meeting, just fifteen minutes from now. There was a memo regarding the meeting's topic.

EXTREMELY URGENT was all that Boba bothered to read before scrolling down.

And there was a map of the Senate Building, showing the exact location of Palpatine's antechamber, where the meeting would be held!

"Perfect," said Boba. He memorized the data and shut the monitor off. Then he hurried across the room. One wall was covered by a long curtain. Boba grabbed the curtain and yanked it back.

Crimson sunset light flooded the chamber. A floor-to-ceiling shuttered window looked down onto the gleaming towers and chasms of Galactic City.

"Nice view," said Boba. "Hate to ruin it, but - "

His booted foot smashed through the transparent material. Cool air flowed inside, along with the sounds of the night city - airspeeders, distant voices. Boba stepped to the very edge of the sill. He looked down, adjusting his helmet for night vision.

"There it is," he said.

In the distance, he could see the immense dome of the Senate Building shining in the twilight. Boba tensed. Wind rushed past him through the shattered window. Somewhere in the Jedi Temple, someone would be looking for the mysterious envoy in Mandalorian armor.

No one could find him here.

Boba stared at the vast expanse of Galactic City, its lowest depths more than a kilometer below him.

He took a step forward.

He jumped.

For a second he was in free fall. Then his jet pack roared to life.

Boba angled the controls so that he flew swiftly from the Jedi Temple.

Seconds later it was safely behind him, hidden by other towering skysc.r.a.pers.

He flew toward the Senate. If anyone had wanted to, they could have looked up and seen him - a tall figure in dark-green body armor, his head hidden by a Mandalorian battle helmet.

But no one knew to look for Boba Fett. He flew swiftly and unseen through the great city's high rise canyons, past shining buildings and domes, past bright clubs teeming with nightlife. He saw air-speeders and swoop bikes, air limos, taxis, freighters. Once he even thought he glimpsed Elan's bright-red speeder, darting down to the lowest levels of the city.

But Boba had no time for any of that now. He had only one thought in mind: Find Mace and destroy him. Even meeting with Palpatine paled beside that.