The Hunger 6

Galt laughed. "The cage is made from gnarltree roots. Not strong enough to hold dragonsnakes, but strong enough to hold you. Now I have to make sure your friends are still out looking for the girl. I'll be back." Still laughing, Galt left the hut.

Slowly, Zak reached for the bars and gave them a hard shake. "It won't do any good." The voice was low and rough, and came from the shad- ows of the cage next to Zak's. "Who's there?" Zak asked. The voice wasn't Hoole's, nor did it belong to Platt, Tru'eb, or any of the other smugglers. But it was familiar somehow. He could see someone crouching in the back of the cage, mostly covered by shad-
ows. "Who's there?" he asked again. No response.
Zak leaned closer, but he still couldn't make out the prisoner's face. He looked around, and spotted something tucked in a far corner of the hut. It was a gray helmet, battered and worn. Zak had seen that helmet several times before. Only one person in the galaxy wore a helmet like that. "Boba Fett," he whispered. The prisoner did not respond. Zak shook his head in disbelief. He tried to see through the gloom to look at Boba Fett's face, but the shadows were too thick. "I can't believe they caught you."

"How did they catch you?" he asked the bounty hunter, still barely believing he was actually speaking to Boba Fett.

A grunt came from the shadows. "I arrived on Dagobah. I was tracking you. A dragonsnake was tracking me. Difficult to kill." Zak didn't know if the bounty hunter meant himself or the dragonsnake.
Fett continued. "Lost consciousness. Woke up in here."

"The Children must have found you in the swamp and
brought you here. You know they're cannibals, right?" Fett shrugged. "You don't look too concerned," Zak said.-Chpt.15 pgs.96-97