been too brisk, I knew I could follow his trail. Threepio talked me into letting him come along, claiming he could reason with the R2 unit. He hadn’t been too good at that so far, but if he came along, then it meant I’d be able to keep an eye on him, too. He claims to be loyal, but so did Artoo—right before he took off.
We picked up some of Artoo’s trail, heading straight for the Jundland Wastes. That was interesting, because that was the direction Ben Kenobi lived in. It was also where the Sand People were rumored to be hanging out.
I’d brought my blaster pistol along, just in case. I’m a pretty good shot with it, if I do say so myself. But I’ve never shot anything bigger than a womp rat, and they’re not exactly bright. Vicious, yes, but pretty dumb, too. I wasn’t sure I could bring myself to kill a Sand Person, though. They may be savages, but they’re intelligent beings.
Even shooting one in self-defense would make me feel funny.
Not that I got the chance. We headed out and finally picked up Artoo. He was trundling along a canyon, still headed for the Dune Sea.
I ordered him to stop, but he refused. He kept carrying on about his mission, the secret plans, and having to get to Obi-Wan Kenobi. I have to admit, I thought he was just overheating. And what an imagination! All that stuff about a secret mission was unbelievable.
But things went from bad to worse. Artoo detected something, so I checked it out with my electrobinoculars. I caught sight of a couple of banthas, being watched by a Sand Person. At first, I didn’t get it. They always rode one to a bantha. Why was there only one Sand Person, with two banthas, then?
Simple. The other Sand Person was stalking me!
But before I could figure this out, it attacked me, knocking me down. I didn’t even get a chance to use my blaster.
Sand People are really tall and built like steel walls. This one knocked Threepio over a short drop and slammed me into the ground.
Then it came at me with its gaderffii stick.
Staring right into the face of death does something to you. I mean, I had never really thought about dying before. I always knew it happened to everyone eventually, but not to me, not now . Even the crazy flying races I’ve done with Biggs and Windy were more like games than something that could kill you. But I saw in the way it attacked that it was going to kill me. It raised its weapon.
And I was too stunned to fight back.
I thought I was doomed. That this was the end. I’d never get to explore the galaxy. Never see the stars up close, or visit any other worlds. I couldn’t believe I was going to be killed for the contents of my landspeeder and a couple of droids.
It seemed so futile, so pointless, dying out there like that.
And then there came this really strange noise—it took me a couple of seconds to recognize it as a krayt dragon. It howled and echoed all over the place, sending tingles up my spine, it did worse than that to the Sand Person, though. I couldn’t see his face, of course—but every muscle in his body spelled fear . The next thing I knew, the Tusken Raider was gone.
First of all, I was really glad to be alive. I knew how lucky I was. And second, I was getting really scared, lying there on the ground as the creature that scared the Tusken Raider approached me. But I simply didn’t have the strength to get up and flee for safety. I’d banged my head pretty badly when I fell, and I couldn’t get to my feet.
Then the monster appeared.
If I hadn’t been so shaken, I might have laughed. The monster turned out to be an old man in protective robes, carrying something like a horn, through which he blew to produce that terrible shriek. It was old Ben Kenobi, and he’d managed to save my life a second time!
His fingers obviously had some skill, because he managed to help me to my feet by manipulating my aching muscles and nerves. That and a sip of water had me feeling better in a couple of minutes.
It turned out that
We picked up some of Artoo’s trail, heading straight for the Jundland Wastes. That was interesting, because that was the direction Ben Kenobi lived in. It was also where the Sand People were rumored to be hanging out.
I’d brought my blaster pistol along, just in case. I’m a pretty good shot with it, if I do say so myself. But I’ve never shot anything bigger than a womp rat, and they’re not exactly bright. Vicious, yes, but pretty dumb, too. I wasn’t sure I could bring myself to kill a Sand Person, though. They may be savages, but they’re intelligent beings.
Even shooting one in self-defense would make me feel funny.
Not that I got the chance. We headed out and finally picked up Artoo. He was trundling along a canyon, still headed for the Dune Sea.
I ordered him to stop, but he refused. He kept carrying on about his mission, the secret plans, and having to get to Obi-Wan Kenobi. I have to admit, I thought he was just overheating. And what an imagination! All that stuff about a secret mission was unbelievable.
But things went from bad to worse. Artoo detected something, so I checked it out with my electrobinoculars. I caught sight of a couple of banthas, being watched by a Sand Person. At first, I didn’t get it. They always rode one to a bantha. Why was there only one Sand Person, with two banthas, then?
Simple. The other Sand Person was stalking me!
But before I could figure this out, it attacked me, knocking me down. I didn’t even get a chance to use my blaster.
Sand People are really tall and built like steel walls. This one knocked Threepio over a short drop and slammed me into the ground.
Then it came at me with its gaderffii stick.
Staring right into the face of death does something to you. I mean, I had never really thought about dying before. I always knew it happened to everyone eventually, but not to me, not now . Even the crazy flying races I’ve done with Biggs and Windy were more like games than something that could kill you. But I saw in the way it attacked that it was going to kill me. It raised its weapon.
And I was too stunned to fight back.
I thought I was doomed. That this was the end. I’d never get to explore the galaxy. Never see the stars up close, or visit any other worlds. I couldn’t believe I was going to be killed for the contents of my landspeeder and a couple of droids.
It seemed so futile, so pointless, dying out there like that.
And then there came this really strange noise—it took me a couple of seconds to recognize it as a krayt dragon. It howled and echoed all over the place, sending tingles up my spine, it did worse than that to the Sand Person, though. I couldn’t see his face, of course—but every muscle in his body spelled fear . The next thing I knew, the Tusken Raider was gone.
First of all, I was really glad to be alive. I knew how lucky I was. And second, I was getting really scared, lying there on the ground as the creature that scared the Tusken Raider approached me. But I simply didn’t have the strength to get up and flee for safety. I’d banged my head pretty badly when I fell, and I couldn’t get to my feet.
Then the monster appeared.
If I hadn’t been so shaken, I might have laughed. The monster turned out to be an old man in protective robes, carrying something like a horn, through which he blew to produce that terrible shriek. It was old Ben Kenobi, and he’d managed to save my life a second time!
His fingers obviously had some skill, because he managed to help me to my feet by manipulating my aching muscles and nerves. That and a sip of water had me feeling better in a couple of minutes.
It turned out that
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