Star Wars - Kenobi

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