Star Wars - Tatooine Ghost Read online

  "That's what I was told, but I never met Anakin." Dama sat in a chair next to Leia, slipping smoothly from the role of innkeeper to new friend. "He was gone before Beru met Owen. From what I understand, it would have been better if he stayed with his mother."

  "That has to be the biggest understatement I've ever heard." Leia studied the image of the slave woman. Of her grandmother, Shmi Skywalker. "Do you see a resemblance between us?"

  Dama put her hand on Leia's and did not even look at the journal. "I saw it the minute Jula brought you into the lobby. Even if he hadn't told me that I needed to open the luxury wing and keep you out of sight, I think I would have seen it in your eyes."

  "In my eyes? Really?" That was not the good news Dama seemed to believe. Leia poured herself a glass of friz and moistened her drying throat, then said, "I still don't understand how Shmi came to be Owen's stepmother."

  "Owen's father bought Shmi from Watto."

  "Bought her?" Leia's heart grew as heavy as fleckstone. "So Luke belonged to Owen and Beru?"

  The thought occurred to her that she might have belonged to the Larses as well at one time. She began to have visions of being traded to some smuggler as an infant. It could explain how she and Luke became separated.

  But Dama looked confused by her question. "Their property? Why would you think that?"

  "Didn't the children of slaves belong to the masters, as well? My memory of Outer Rim law is pretty hazy, but I seem to recall that in most cases-

  "Shmi wasn't Cliegg's slave!" Dama chortled. "Where did you get that idea? He bought her freedom. He married her. This was after Anakin was freed and left to become a Jedi."

  "I see." Leia thought of Shmi's struggles to find out what had happened to her son. "Did she ever see Anakin again?"

  Dama shrugged and pointed at the journal. "You'll have to look in there." She placed her hands on the table and started to rise, then caught herself and stopped. "But I think my sister did meet Anakin once, after he became a Jedi and came back to rescue his mother from the Sand People."

  Leia's blood went cold. "My grandmother was taken by Tusken Raiders?"

  Dama's expression grew somber. "I'm afraid so."

  "But Anakin-my father-came back and found her." Leia phrased this as a statement because it was what she wanted to believe. "He saved her."

  Dama finished rising, then spoke in a gentle voice. "He brought her back." She laid a hand on Leia's shoulder. "I don't know whether she was still alive when Anakin found her-Beru would never say what he told them about that. But she was dead when he returned to the farm."

  Leia found herself fighting to push down the lump in her throat. "What happened then?"

  "They buried her, then Anakin left."

  "On the moisture farm?" Leia asked. "Is that where she's buried?"

  Dama nodded. "Out beyond the western edge of the sand berm. Cliegg's buried there, too. They used to stand there together and watch the twins set."

  "I didn't see any headstones."

  Dama shook her head. "After Luke arrived, I noticed their headstones were missing. All Beru would say about it is that Owen didn't see a need for anyone to know where Shmi was buried."

  Leia was silent for a minute, trying to absorb everything she had just learned, then finally reached up and patted the hand on her shoulder.

  "Thanks for taking the time to speak with me, Dama. It's late, and I know you have work."

  "Not so much." Dama withdrew a datapad from her pocket and placed it on the table. The screen showed an image of the Sidi Driss's lobby. "It's linked to the security monitors-twenty different vidcams, all hidden. I gave a 'pad to Chewbacca, too. I thought you'd like to keep an eye on things."

  "You're very thoughtful," Leia said. "It will take more than money to repay your kindness."

  Dama waved her hands. "It's nothing. But I do need to ask one thing. It's about the Squibs."

  Leia's pulse quickened. "They're not leaving, are they?" With awaiting an answer, she stood and turned toward the door. "I thought Chewbacca was keeping an eye on them."

  Dama cut Leia off at the door. "They're not going anywhere. That's actually the problem."

  She looked away, obviously hesitant to bring something up.

  "We'll pay for whatever they steal."

  Dama shook her head. "Squibs don't steal, at least not the way you mean. It's just that they're using a lot of water. A lot of water- and I have a caravan watering up out on the edge of the property. I'll run dry."

  "I'll have Chewbacca talk to them," Leia said. "He has a way of reasoning with Squibs."

  "Thanks," Dama said. "I appreciate that-and so will the Askajians."

  "Askajians?" Leia asked. "On Tatooine?"

  "Refugees. They're the ones waiting for the sandcrawler- though I think their patience is at an end. They're packing up to leave tomorrow." Dama pointed at the datapad she had given Leia. "Keep that on. If the Imperials come, take the back way out. You remember what I showed you?"

  Leia nodded. "The false room."

  "Good." Dama opened the door and stepped into the hall. "I'll let you know if I hear they're coming, but you know how they can descend on a place. Worse than skettos."

  The door closed, leaving Leia alone to reflect on what Dama had said about how Shmi had died. Well aware of the Sand People's reputation for cruelty, Leia found herself tormented by her own imagination, reacting viscerally to the very vagueness of what she had learned about the circumstances of her grandmother's death. How horrible it must have been, how frightening and lonely. Knowing that Shmi's one wish would have been to see her son again, Leia found herself hoping that Anakin had reached his mother before she died, that she had seen him just once as a Jedi. It was a strange feeling for Leia, for it forced her to see him for the first time not as Darth Vader, but as the son Shmi had loved so dearly. It sent a prickle down her spine.

  Leia asked Chewbacca to deal with the Squibs, then checked on Han. Finding him sound asleep, she returned to the sitting room and replayed the previous entry. An administrator on Coruscant had finally replied to Shmi's 'Net message: Anakin was well, but the Jedi did not discuss the activities of their Padawans even with parents.

  Even that was enough to elate Shmi. Leia asked for the next entry.

  20:45:06

  Kitster is coming over tomorrow with a vidrecording he has of the Boonta. I'm not sure I want to see it again, Annie. Watching it the first time was hard enough, and now I know that when you win... that I must give you to your destiny.

  I remember when Watto bought his first Podracer and told you to fix it for him. You were barely nine, but you were so clever, getting it running all by yourself. Before I knew it, Watto had you test-driving it. I was so angry I threatened to plastiment his wings together and drop him in a solvent vat. And I would have, too, had anything happened to you.

  12:18:07

  Kitster is running late. Rarta Dal is keeping him very busy over at the Three Moons, so that holodisk he bought must be serving him well. He says he's earning enough to buy his freedom by the time he is grown. Wald is not so patient. When he finishes building his swoop, he says he's going to race his way to freedom. I hope he doesn't hurt himself-but it's wonderful to see them dreaming of such things. I think your example gives them courage.

  Even your friend Amee has a plan, though she won't say what it is. I think she is still upset that I didn't keep her secret when she said she was going to marry you, so she would be part of the family when you won our freedom. But how could I have? That was the first I had heard of Watto's plans to have you race his Podracer.

  Toydarians!

  And you weren't much better. When I told you the Hutts were taking bets on which lap you would crash in, that no one believed you would finish, do you remember what you said?

  "Then everybody's going to lose their money."

  Leia checked the time. She knew she should arrange watches with Chewbacca and try to rest. But she also knew she was too agitated to sleep. With Han
recuperating and stormtroopers scouring the desert, she was afraid the Imperials would find Banai and Killik Twilight first. Then there was the risk of being discovered themselves. Less populated than a single floor of their residence tower back on Coruscant, Anchorhead would make a pretty quick and easy search.

  But most of all, Leia was frightened of how the journal entries were changing her perceptions, of how she was coming to view her father through Shmi's eyes as well as her own. He had been Darth Vader, cruel, brutal, and ruthless. He had stood for all Leia hated about the Empire, had been one of the things she hated about the Empire. And he had been Anakin Skywalker, the nine-year-old slave boy who was the center of his mother's world, who won a Podrace and inspired others to dream of freedom.

  Leia was reminded of the old diplomat's paradox, that the facts often concealed the truth. She was entering into a new realm, driving out into that land of mirage and intuition where reality was never what it seemed, and the nature of an object depended on how one looked at it.

  Sighing, she requested the next entry, and young Kitster Banai's smiling face appeared on the display and began to speak.

  13:20:08

  Hi Annie! I hope you get to see this someday. Wald and I tried to record your race off your mom's viewscreen at the arena, but all we got were the voices of your mom and a few others. Then a couple of days ago, Rarta Dal gave me a vidrecording of the whole Boonta. I thought you might like it if I patched them together and saved it for you.

  "With my voice?" Shmi asked. "Oh, Kitster, I don't think that's a very good-"

  The display flickered, then shifted to a view of the Mos Espa Arena in its glory days, with a hundred thousand spectators sitting in the stands and a dozen and a half Podracers waiting on the track, engines roaring.

  An odd voice said, "Mesa, no watch. Dissen gonna be messy!" The starting light flashed green, and all but two of the Podracers roared off down the track.

  The reverberating voice of an announcer called, "Wait, little Skywalker stalled!" A moment later he added, "Looks like Quadi-naros is having engine trouble also."

  Then Anakin's Podracer came to life and began to shoot orange flames from its engines.

  "Bloah!" The curse was in Shmi's voice. "It started." Anakin shot after the others. After that, the image switched to a view of the front of the field, where the brutal nature of the sport became immediately apparent as the leader-identified by the announcer as Sebulba-pushed a competitor into a gorge wall. Another crash followed moments later, and by then Anakin was coming up fast.

  By the end of the first lap, he was leading the rear pack and moving up on the leaders. He dodged through the flying debris of a wreck caused when a wrench flew out of Sebulba's Pod into the engines of a competitor. Another Podracer crashed at Dune Turn after a band of Tusken Raiders shot out an engine.

  Anakin came up behind Sebulba, and the third lap became a race only between them. Sebulba made his move in one of the canyons, repeatedly bumping Anakin's Podracer.

  "Oh, that Dug!" Shmi sounded more worried than angry.

  Anakin was forced onto a service ramp and launched what appeared to be hundreds of meters into the air, and it seemed certain he would crash. Instead, he did a quick control thrust and returned to the track-in the lead.

  But the race was far from over. Sebulba came up hard on Anakin's tail. Then something fell off one of Anakin's engines. The engine started to smoke, Anakin lost power, and Sebulba took the lead.

  "Skywalker's in trouble!" the announcer reported.

  "Annie, be careful!" Shmi cried. "Shut it down!"

  Anakin put out the fire and came up again. Sebulba resorted to old tactics and slammed into Anakin once... twice... three times...

  "That little human being is out of his mind!" the announcer called.

  The crowd gasped.

  "They're side by side!"

  The crowd groaned.

  Anakin and Sebulba remained neck and neck, hooked together at the Pods.

  The crowd returned to silence.

  "They've pulled apart... they're coming apart... no, wait, Sky-walker's regaining control... Sebulba's the one coming-"

  Anakin crossed the finish line, leaving Sebulba spinning in the dust behind him, and the crowd broke into a tremendous, thundering cheer.

  The image shifted scales and showed Anakin's Podracer coming to a skidding stop in the center of the track. He shut down his engines, climbed out of his cockpit, and was immediately greeted by Kitster and Wald. With the crowd converging around them, they took turns hugging him and slapping him on the back.

  Leia paused the image and spent a long time looking at the young boy with the sparkling blue eyes, thinking how happy he looked... and how innocent. Had she known him then, had she never met Darth Vader, she might have agreed with Wald: She might have believed they could not be the same person.

  Leia resumed viewing.

  The crowd converged, and the three boys were lost in a swirling mass of humanity. The display flickered; then Shmi's face took the place of the arena, her eyes shimmering and wet.

  I was so proud of you, Annie-I am so proud of you. And I am also happy that now you are safe at the Jedi Temple... where I hope you aren't doing such dangerous things!

  Han's groggy voice sounded through the door, calling for Leia. She stopped the diary and rushed into the bedroom. He was propped up on his elbows, looking around the darkened room with an expression as pained as it was confused.

  Leia went to the bed and took his hand. "How are you feeling?"

  He squinted up at her for a moment, then finally flashed a cracked-lip smile. "Thirsty."

  "I'll get you something to drink."

  Han nodded eagerly. "Make it two. Gizers."

  "I don't think so."

  Leia fetched a glass and two canisters of bactade from the other room. She was glad to see Han awake, but she expected to see him more fully recovered after three bags of rehydration solution. He still looked weak. Dehydration could cause organ damage. If he wasn't better by morning, she would risk a visit to the medcenter. The Darklighters had warned her that most of the staff were city-beings who probably could not keep a secret while looking down the barrel of an Imperial blaster, but Leia would rather shoot a few stormtroopers than stand idly by while Han slipped away.

  She returned to find him sleeping again. She changed the bag on his hydration drip, then checked his vital signs on the portable monitor and kissed his cracked lips. It was like kissing a Barabel.

  She returned to the sitting room couch and picked up her grandmother's journal. For a moment, it refused to play again, but at last, after flipping through a few unintelligible data skips, it began.

  15:36:09

  I hope you will forgive some of the things I said on Kitster's recording. I truly wanted you to win-but even more, I wanted you to survive. You know how those races always frightened me.

  I can't tell you how I struggled with the decision to let you race for Qui-Gon that day. When you noticed his lightsaber, you were so convinced he had come to free the slaves... it crushed me to hear him tell you the truth. But as Qui-Gon himself said, you give without thinking of yourself. How could I say no when you hatched your plan to win the parts they needed to repair their ship?

  A slave boy helping a Jedi. To me, it seemed matters should have keen the other way around. I would have said no, and I know you would have forgiven me. But you wouldn't have forgotten, either. For the rest of your life, you would have remembered the Boonta Eve and how your mother wouldn't let you help a Jedi. And that wouldn't have been fair to you. I couldn't deny you the chance to be the hero you dreamed of.

  Leia continued to play the journal, listening to Shmi recount how well Kitster and Anakin's other friends were doing, and what kind of mood her master Watto was in that day. At times, she seemed genuinely concerned about the Toydarian, for he had begun to suffer bouts of melancholy. Shmi seemed to believe that Watto genuinely missed the boy. Leia had trouble accepting this, but was force
d to at least allow for the possibility when Shmi reported that Watto had actually made a gift to her of the ten credits she had borrowed to help pay for her message to the Jedi

  Council.

  Leia was finally starting to grow tired when Han's voice

  sounded from the bedchamber.

  "Leia? Are you still up?"

  "Yes, Han." Leia hit the STOP key and tucked the journal into her pocket. "Are you ready for those drinks now?"

  "Are they Gizers?"

  "Can you sit up?"

  "Maybe you ought to come see."

  Leia went into the room and found Han lying flat on his back. His hands were folded behind his head and he was smiling at her crookedly. And he seemed to know where he was.