Star Wars - Kenobi

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!