I think there’s a chance for Jabe Calwell, if he can get away from Orrin. I know, I know—it wasn’t Palpatine alone who corrupted Anakin. Anakin had flaws of his own. Flaws I failed to see, that I didn’t prepare him to deal with. But the Emperor played a role. I don’t know if it would have been possible to isolate Anakin from his influence. I tried—but too late. Jabe is another story, I think.
Another chance to get it right.
I understand. I am not here to find redemption, saving random youngsters from destruction. I’m not even here to atone, as Annileen suggested earlier. I know I’m here for one reason.
To protect Luke Skywalker.
And to be ready when he—and Bail Organa, or whoever supports hope in the galaxy—needs me. If I achieve absolution in that act, fine. But it’s secondary.
And so, I fear, is everything else around me. Annileen. The oasis. These people. It’s all got to be secondary. The only way I can act on a galactic scale is by doing nothing locally. Nothing at all.
No matter what my mind or my heart tells me.
You’ve heard me these last few weeks. At least I hope you have. You haven’t talked to me, but I hope you’ve heard me. You know I’m failing again—this time, at being a hermit. Obi-Wan keeps taking charge of Ben Kenobi’s life. We’re one and the same, of course. But the Obi-Wan part of me wants to help someone, to do something right. To be a Jedi! Only then will I feel that I am able to live in peace while others are suffering.
I’ve had such trouble, reconciling it all. How can Ben exist if Obi-Wan won’t let him?
But the Force is showing me the way.
It will be difficult, but there is a path I can walk among all these influences. One that will provide some justice, while giving me the privacy I need to do my job. It depends on many things going right, and making use of that message drop I mentioned a few weeks back.
And then there are my “allies.” I can never assume what the Tuskens will do. They are capable of unforgivable things. I know what a group did to Anakin’s mother, a few years ago: Padmé told me that much. I always felt there was something more that she wasn’t telling me—maybe something that had to do with Anakin’s fate. I don’t know that I’ll find those secrets here. But A’Yark, at least, seems to feel responsible for her people. I will hope that Orrin admits his guilt and turns back—but if he does not, I must try to prevent further harm all around.
So many things to consider.
But when the suns rise, I think I can make it all work out. I think.
Well … there is one more potential wrinkle.
Annileen. She cares for me—and rightly or wrongly, I’ve drawn upon that. Just this hour, I’ve set my plans for her in motion. But what if she doesn’t want to go along with them?
What then?
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
MORNINGS ON TATOOINE HAD never failed Orrin Gault. And this one was better than his wildest dreams.
He hadn’t had much time to dream—or sleep—after leaving the Claim the night before. He’d gone home to find an empty house, quiet but for the usual soft thumping in the office—a sand-mouse behind the shelves. Mullen and Veeka were out back, burning their Tusken outfits. That had always been the plan, in case of discovery.
Veeka had bandaged her shoulder where Ben had caught her with the gaderffii; Mullen had a bruised tailbone from his fall. Orrin had stood in the cold with them, working out their next moves.
Those moves started at the Claim. The second sun had scarcely been up when Orrin activated the Settlers’ Call. After minutes of the screeching siren, the workers of the oasis appeared in front of the garages, waiting to be directed. It hadn’t taken long. Many were headed to the Claim for breakfast and were hungry, which was just how he wanted them.
Today they’d be fighting for Orrin’s benefit. And someone new.
“You see, Wyle?” Orrin said, looking across the milling throng of vigilantes. “There’s my army. Your army.”
“Yeah,” Wyle Ulbreck said. Standing beside Orrin, the old man looked tired beyond measure. His nose was broken and bandaged, and he carried something Orrin had never seen him with before: a small oxygen bottle, which he tapped every few breaths. “We still have to wait for my guys to show up,” he muttered. He spat on the ground.
Orrin smirked. Ulbreck had been a surprise, a fabulous bonus. Orrin would have triggered the Call anyway, to execute his next move. But moments after first sunup, a driver had brought Ulbreck to a stop in front of him. The old man had spoken grudgingly then, of how his forces had failed him the night before, and how his Magda had nearly died. Then he’d said the words that Orrin had longed to hear for years: “I want in.”
The plan had worked after all. Amazing!
It made sense, Orrin thought. Ulbreck had seen Ben’s arrival, but not Orrin’s unmasking. And a scout had sighted Plug-eye leaving the territory. It had been enough to make Tatooine’s tightest miser pay the price for protection. Ulbreck was having the appropriate amount in aurodium-plated ingots trucked in, as soon as someone extricated the filthy things from beneath his refresher station.
It was enough to pay off a large portion of Orrin’s debt to Jabba. Orrin was going to throw the retaliatory strike in for free.
And that would take care of yet another matter. Ulbreck’s presence meant Ben hadn’t gone to him to accuse Orrin. At least not yet, presuming he intended to at all. Orrin’s secret could be kept safe. And shortly, the whole chapter would be closed.
Things were going to be okay.
Orrin spied Annileen walking from the store to the garages. He hadn’t dared to set foot in the store, but he did note that she must have asked Tar Lup to stay over and work the breakfast shift. That was fine. She probably needed rest, after the night before. He felt bad about that, but he’d make it up to her. Starting now.
Excusing himself from Ulbreck’s side, he walked over to Annileen. She wore her heaviest-duty work clothes; her hair was pulled back. She looked at him warily.
“A little bit of good news, Annie,” he said. “I won’t need as much money as I thought.”
“Fine.”
“I thought you’d like that.”
“Fine.” Looking straight ahead, she saw Ulbreck. She stepped forward. “Are you okay, Wyle?”
Orrin watched nervously as she approached the old man. He knew Jabe might have told Annileen about the raid, but that was all the boy knew.
Her words put Orrin at ease. “I’m sorry this happened to you and Magda,” she said, clutching the old man’s hand. “Really sorry.” Parting from him, she shot a bitter look at Orrin.
That was fine, Orrin thought. She would protect her son, and she would be set back some money. But she’d get over it.
Annileen stopped to look at the mustering masses. “What’s this?” she asked, almost indifferently.
“You heard the Call,” Orrin said, knowing well that anyone with eardrums had heard it. “You know how it works. There was an attack. There’ll be an answer.” He looked at her. “Is Jabe all right?”
“He’ll be fine. He’s not working today.” Spying Gloamer at work in the garages, she excused herself.
“Are you going to wish us luck?” Orrin said, smiling. It was too much, he realized. Annileen simply walked away faster.
Oh, well, he thought. It’s better if she doesn’t hear the rest, anyway.
“I can’t belieeeeve this, mistress,” Gloamer said.
“That’s the offer,” Annileen said, reviewing the document on the datapad. “You’ve been doing a great job with the garages, and I know you’ve had your eye on expanding.”
With his eyes set far back in his elongated cranium, the Phindian mechanic always looked a little mournful. But now even Annileen could read his surprise. He’d invited her to the garage to tell her that the parts for her
old landspeeder had finally arrived. Instead, he’d gotten the deal of a lifetime.
“Running a shop!” he said, long arms in the air. “I don’t knoooow. I don’t knoooow how—”
“I doubt that,” Annileen said, patting him on the back. “You’re good with customers. And there’s not much to hustling power cells and ale. Talk to Tar. He knows how. And he’d like the chance.”
The mechanic hummed contemplatively. Finally, he nodded, stepping back a meter so he could offer his tremendously long limb in a handshake. “I will maaaake the credit transfer,” her said, taking the datapad.
“You can’t tell anyone,” she said. “Not until tonight, after we leave.”
Gloamer nodded. The Phindian’s head tilted ninety degrees. Yellow eyes studied her sadly. “Wheeeere are you going?”
Annileen smiled gently. “On an adventure.”
She turned from him and walked back into the hallway to the Claim. Exhaling, she leaned against the wall with a thump. Had she just done that? Did I really just sell the store?
Even more amazing was the fact that her kids were going along with it—so far. She’d learned upon waking that Kallie and Jabe had heard her talking to Ben, after all; they’d heard the last part, anyway. Jabe was still in such a lather over the raid that he was ready to move to the Corporate Sector. And Kallie had been so smitten with Ben since their first meeting that the prospect of him sweeping in to rescue her family from dishonor perfectly fit the myth.
Still, the last hour had been tough. On seeing Ulbreck arrive, Jabe had feared the worst; Annileen had coaxed him from hiding and assigned him the job of getting the house packed up. And Kallie, out in the livery, had realized what leaving really meant. There was no obvious successor to take care of her beloved animals, and Annileen’s best idea, letting the people who rented the critters today keep them, wasn’t sitting well with Kallie.
It wasn’t sitting well with Annileen, either. Walking through the shop, she saw them all there: Bohmer, at his table with his mug; Leelee, hastily addressing another stack of boxes; even Erbaly Nap’tee, counting buttons out loud as she rummaged through a drawer filled with secondhand clothes. How could she leave all this?
She could imagine her mother’s voice in her head. What could Annileen be thinking? She cared for Ben, yes. More deeply than she’d imagined possible at this stage. No one else had measured up to Dannar Calwell. But did Ben really expect her to give up everything, just on the prospect of bad times ahead?
Nella Thaney would turn her daughter right back to the garages. She’d have Annileen tell Gloamer it was a joke, and he’d forget it. The mechanic didn’t understand humor anyway. Annileen might not even have to protect her family from fallout at all; from the side door, she could see Orrin, a smile on his face as he talked to Ulbreck. Orrin would find a way to fix his troubles. He always did. And Ben faced no danger—Orrin was just a blowhard! Why go through with this?
Annileen already knew why. She knew, and it had swept all doubts away. All that remained was seeing what Orrin had planned.
She slipped outside the Claim to watch the spectacle. It was easy to hide in the crowd; the mob was the largest she’d seen. It wasn’t just the regular vigilantes, now. Wyle Ulbreck’s landspeeders sat packed with farmhands, parked along the western dune. Mullen and Veeka were passing weapons to the riders. Annileen wondered how Orrin could even be seen in the crowd, much less make himself heard.
She soon found out.
“Everyone, listen up!” Orrin bellowed. Annileen looked up. Orrin had climbed the service ladder and was clinging to Old Number One. With his free hand, he held to his mouth a loudhailer, a portable amplifier that boomed his voice across the parking area.
“This is a big day,” he said. “And a terrible day. One of us has turned traitor!”
A buzz went through the armed crowd. A traitor, here?
“Well, don’t worry. He’s not one of us,” Orrin added. “You’re all good people. But you know him: Ben Kenobi!”
Annileen gulped for air. The name Kallie had overheard was suddenly on everyone’s lips.
“You heard right,” Orrin said, speaking through the green metal device. “You may have seen him coming around, may have heard people talk. Crazy Ben, someone called him. Living in the desert, talking to himself. Well, he’s crazy all right. He’s a Tusken-lover!”
“No!” Annileen heard someone shout.
“I know,” Orrin said. “Hard to believe any settler would help those monsters. But here’s what we know. Kenobi popped up here right after Plug-eye’s day raids started. He ran out of the store after his first visit without even taking what he bought! And the next time we saw him? The Tuskens attacked the Claim!” His voice rose. “He was here when they attacked, but he didn’t fight ’em! Then he supposedly saved Annie Calwell from Plug-eye by talking to the Tuskens. Talking to them!”
The crowd rumbled with shock. Talking to Tuskens? Impossible!
“I hear you,” Orrin said, lowering his pitch. “But it makes sense. No barbarian could figure out the Settlers’ Call, right? Well, Kenobi helped ’em. He’d heard me talking in the Claim. He knew Ulbreck’s ranch was the only place that wasn’t covered.” He nodded in Ulbreck’s direction, below. “Well, the Tuskens stole a vaporator unit from Master Ulbreck a couple of days ago. And then last night, they hit his home. And Kenobi was with them!”
Annileen watched, hypnotized, as a farmhand set out a box for Wyle to stand on. The old man seemed shaky.
“Gault is right,” Ulbreck called out to the listeners. “I did see Kenobi. But he was scrapping with the Tuskies, I thought. I’m not sure. My Maggie was in trouble—”
“Because of Kenobi,” Orrin quickly interjected. “Because of the Sand People he brought there! I’m willing to bet old Ben was mad at his partners. He was there for Wyle’s money, I’ll wager—and the Tuskens don’t care about money. They started fighting.”
Another ripple in the crowd. Everyone knew about Ulbreck’s fortune.
Orrin shook his head sadly, so all could see his emotion. “This Kenobi—if that’s even his name—I don’t know him. He showed me one face, a false one. I don’t know if he’s a bandit, or if he’s gone Tusken, as crazy as that sounds. It doesn’t matter. What matters is he’s put good folks in jeopardy. And we’re gonna stop him forever!”
Blasters fired into the air. Annileen cringed. This wasn’t what she’d expected at all! Ben had said Orrin would round up some allies, but she’d expected more oafish farmhands of the Zedd sort. This was something different. The force was too large, and Orrin was different, too. He was electric. Telling the vigilantes of Ben’s hideout in the Jundland Wastes, a place no decent person would live, Orrin sent a hateful energy through the gathering, rousing the crowd to action.
He’d made the sale, jumping from wheedler to warlord with a few words. She’d never seen anything like it. And certainly not from him.
Orrin hit his crescendo. “We take care of our own. So follow me—and let’s ride!”
A raucous, angry cheer went up. Engines started, one after another, as more blasters went off. Annileen nearly dropped to her knees, life drained from her limbs. This couldn’t have been what Ben was expecting. Who could have expected it?
Orrin shimmied down from the tower and turned. Mullen and Veeka were waiting, holding a spread-open flak jacket. Orrin stuck his arms out, and they dressed him in it like a warrior king.
Stepping toward his USV-5, Orrin spied Annileen. He winked, and was off.
Dust blew against the store as one blaster-bedecked speeder after another whizzed away. Watching helplessly, Annileen flashed for a moment on the retaliatory raid after the oasis strike. That day, she’d grabbed the speeder bike and gone with Ben to follow Jabe. But now it was Ben in danger. Ben, who’d saved Jabe. Ben, who’d told her in the night not to follow, that he could take
care of Orrin.
Annileen looked back at the garages, mostly empty now but for her two landspeeders. Staring at the leased luxury vehicle, she suddenly remembered something.
She dashed back into the store. Tar, serving children dropped off by their parents, looked at her from the dining area, startled. Annileen ignored him and rushed behind the counter. Kneeling, she overturned the trash bin and started rummaging.
Amid broken glass, she found the red comlink she’d discarded the night before. She clicked it on and hit the page key.
“Hello? Who is this?” asked the genteel voice on the other end of the link.
“This is Annileen Calwell,” she said, speaking urgently. “I’m a neighbor of Orrin Gault’s. I know who you are. And you need to know what he’s about to do!”
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
TURN BACK NOW.
Jabe had said the words at the store, supposedly Ben’s message to Orrin. Now, as Orrin checked his blaster, the farmer heard the words again. Or thought he did, in the wind whistling past his landspeeder.
Orrin hadn’t known what to make of the message. If Ben planned to extort him, there’d have to be a meeting to parley. If he’d simply planned to expose the Gaults, he’d have come to the Claim. Or perhaps he would have gone in search of someone in authority, oblivious to the fact that no such power existed here.
It didn’t make sense.
“Fifteen clicks to Kenobi’s hut,” the goggle-wearing Mullen said, guiding the vehicle.
Orrin nodded. Holstering the blaster, he looked around in awe. His USV-5 rode at the apex of a flying wing of hovercraft, rocketing to the southwest. Every vehicle the Settlers’ Call Fund operated was here, plus Ulbreck’s teams. Orrin doubted there had ever been so many vehicles traversing the desert at once.
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