Kevin J. Anderson - Tales from Jabbas Palace (Star Wars) (Book 2)

WELCOME TO TATOOINE: ONE CRIMINAL
KINGPIN, TWO SUNS, A HUNDRED ROGUES

MALAKILIThe professional monster trainer was transferred from the Circus Horrificus to care for Jabbas pet rancor. But the voracious carnivore was only the second most dangerous beast in the palace.

MELVOSH BLOORThe academic came to study Jabba at his palaceand discovered a new meaning for publish or perish.

OOLA THE DANCERDespite the chain around her neck, her grace was her glory. As Jabba drooled and tugged upon her chain, she stood her groundon the edge of eternity.

GARTOGG THE GAMORREANDim-witted, friendless, the palace guard patrolled the ill-lit back hallways where nothing ever happened. Now he has a chance to solve a murder, make a name for himself, and make some new, if decidedly odd, friends.

BIB FORTUNAJabbas majordomo had big plans for himselfto overthrow the Hutt and take over his palace and his riches. But a traitor should be careful, for those involved in his plot may have plans of their own.

BOBA FETTFamous as the galaxys fiercest bounty hunter, he learned firsthand about the slow death faced by the unfortunates who landed in the Great Pit of Carkoonand how mercy and vengeance are sometimes the same thing.

TALES FROM JABBAS PALACE
A Bantam Spectra Book / January 1996

SPECTRA andtheportrayalofa boxedsare trademarksofBantam Books, a divisionofRandom House, Inc.

, , 1995byLucasfilm Ltd. All rights reserved. Used under
authorization.
Interior illustrationsbyMichael Manley, Aaron McClellan, Al
Williamson, andLucasfilm Ltd. Courtesy of West End Games.
Copyright 1995 Lucasfilm Ltd.
Cover artbyStephen Youll.
Cover art copyright 1995byLucasfilm Ltd.
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For information address: Bantam Books.

eISBN: 978-0-307-79625-7

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v3.1

To SUE ROSTONI

who has been more helpful than any of Jabbas minions could have ever been, offering suggestions, troubleshooting obstacles, and navigating me through a forest of details that would have given even a Hutt a headache!

Thanks go to Lucy Wilson for being so enthusiastic about the idea of anthologies in the first place, Tom Dupree for his efforts at Bantam Books, and Bill Smith at West End Games for providing the foundations for so many of these stories. And, as always, Rebecca Moesta Anderson, for putting up with me at times when she probably should have just fed me to the rancor.

KJA
October 1994

If I told you half the things Ive heard about this Jabba the Hutt, youd probably short-circuit!

See-Threepio to Artoo-Detoo

Jabba the Hutt has many enemies.

Called a vile gangster by some, Jabbas criminally gained wealth and power has placed him in a dangerous position in his guarded citadel under the twin suns of Tatooine. Though few openly covet Jabbas wealth, this does not stop them from plotting in secret.

The Lady Valarian, the female Whiphid owner of the Lucky Despot hotel and casino, is Jabbas chief rival. Hairy and tusk-faced, with a voracious appetite (some say literally) for males of her species, she keeps a low profile, planning in the long term.

Prefect Eugene Talmont, stationed in Mos Eisley, is the Imperial in charge of the Tatooine garrison. He hates his backwater assignment and hopes that by eliminating Jabba he can find a way out of the arid hole where he has landed.

Then there is the mysterious order of Bomarr monks, who originally built the enormous citadel for their solitude in the desert depths. The monks, wrapped in their ethereal concerns, seem oblivious to the fact that Jabbaand many other bandits in the decades before himusurped their stone fortress. But no one can know what the quiet, uncommunicative monks are really thinking.

Jabba is always on his guard, but little does he suspect that his greatest nemesis will come in the form of a single Jedi Knight, who walks in alone from the desert

Note: For the readers convenience, all alien languages have been translated into Basic.

T he unidentified ship tore through the brittle atmosphere of Tatooine with a finger of fire, trailing greasy black smoke. Waves of sound, sonic booms from the crashing ship, made an avalanche through the air.

Below, the Jawa sandcrawler continued its endless path across the Dune Sea looking for forgotten scraps of abandoned metal, delicious salvage. By sheer luck the crawler stood only two dunes away when the plummeting ship struck the ocean of blind sand and spewed a funnel of dust that glittered like mica chips under the blazing twin suns.