Read Tales from Mos Eisley Cantina for Free Online Page B

a bounty hunter?”
    Greedo puffed out his chest. “Yeah. My friend Warhog Goa said he’d teach me the trade. He said some of the best bounty hunters are Rodians.”
    Anky became an instant believer. “Do you think he’d teach me to be a bounty hunter, too?”
    Greedo hooted. “I don’t think the Skups were ever known to do much in the way of bounty killing.”
    Anky looked crestfallen. The Sionan home world was noted mostly for the master thieves it had produced.
    “Come on, Anky. Let’s look at the inside of my ship.”
    But the Corsair’s hatch was locked. Since Shug wasn’t around, they’d have to ask Warb to unlock it. They made their way back through the packing crates and clutter and headed toward the YT-1300 where Warb and the smuggler were working. They were almost to the freighter when Greedo spotted a pair of Dekk-6 power couplings sitting on a workbench, next to Shug’s milling machine.
    Greedo knew right away they were Dekks. Dekk-6’s were the best. Modog couplings used to be the best, but starship technology was advancing very rapidly, thanks to the Empire and its insatiable military needs.
    Fremp spotted the Dekks too, and both youths stopped to admire the gleaming components. A pair of Dekk-6’s could cost twenty thousand credits—that’s how advanced they were.
    “I’ll bet Warb is planning to put these in that junk heap he’s workin’ on,” said Greedo. “He’s going to have to mill the casings, to fit the converter flanges on that old freighter.”
    “These are just what we need for your new Corsair,” said Anky, fingering the expensive hardware. “They’ll drop right in.”
    Yes . Greedo had already felt an impulse to steal the Dekks. They were brand-new, they were beyond beautiful, and he would never find their like stripping Hutt caravels.
    A bounty hunter needs a fast ship. My ship will be the best. I will replace every part of my ship with the most advanced components I can buy or steal. No one will outrun The Manka Hunter.
    Greedo looked around casually and scanned the garage. Warb and the smuggler were floating a heavy power cell up the gangway of the YT-1300. They disappeared through the hatch.
    No one was watching.
    Greedo slipped off his rancor-skin jacket and wrapped it around the fist-sized couplings.
    “Come on, Anky. Let’s go. I gotta meet Goa in twenty minutes.”
    “Right. Let’s go.”
    Suddenly Greedo felt powerful shaggy paws grip him around the waist and hoist him into the air. He dropped the skin jacket as he kicked and struggled, and the Dekk couplings clattered onto the floor.
    “ HNUUAARRN! ”
    “Te kalya skrek, grulla woska!” Put me down, ya hairy heap!
    The Wookiee turned Greedo with his paws so he could look into the snouted green face. “NNHNGRRAAAGH!” Greedo saw bared teeth and angry eyes, and he wilted. Anky Fremp was already heading for the door.
    “What’s goin’ on, Chewie?” The tall Corellian smuggler appeared, with Warb at his side. The smuggler had his right hand on a holstered blaster.
    “HNNRRNAWWN.” The Wookiee’s groans were just terrifying noise to the youth, but the smuggler seemed to understand them perfectly.
    “Stealing our Dekk-6’s, huh? Great. What kind of shop you guys running, Warb? Do you know what I had to pay for these Dekks?”
    “Sorry, Han. I told Shug I didn’t trust these street kids, but he took a liking to the green one … You know the rules, Greedo. I’m goin’ to have to tell Shug about this. If you know what’s good for ya, you’ll get out of here and never come back … that is, if the Wookiee don’t break yer neck first!”
    The big Wookiee was still holding the terrified Rodian a meter off the floor, as if waiting for a signal from his friend the smuggler.
    “Wait a minute,” said the smuggler. “Don’t hurt him, Chewie. I’m going to teach the little sneak a lesson … Where’d you put those burnt-out Modogs, Warb?”
    The Wookiee lowered Greedo to the floor, but kepthis