Star Wars - Kenobi

daughter looked over to see Annileen picking up the blaster rifle from behind the counter. Jabe, suddenly aware, dropped his broom. “Do you need to activate the Settlers’ Call?”
    “No,” she said, passing him another rifle. “This is a Calwell Call. Get your gun, Kallie. We’re about to have company.”

CHAPTER EIGHT
    THE SANDCRAWLER HAD STARTED its journey in the south, far beyond the great pass. There, the Jundland high country separated to allow entry into the Western Dune Sea, for anyone daft enough to go there. The land between the pass and the oasis was almost featureless, making it easy to spot the metal behemoth rumbling toward the store.
    Still, Annileen was thankful for Orrin’s early warning. The machines made decent time, for their size, and the alert had given her time to lock away the cash. By the time the rolling rummage sale trundled to a stop in the south yard, Annileen and her children were there waiting for it.
    Wearing her gray-brimmed safari hat, Annileen stood in the sandcrawler’s shadows. The suns blazed high over the angled nose of the vehicle; if there was anyone up in the control cabin, she couldn’t see them. It didn’t matter. There was something she had to do now, something she’d done for twenty years of prior impromptu visits by the Jawas. Something she’d seen Dannar do during her first year clerking—a thing that told her then that he wasn’t just another grubber who’d go broke in a year.
    “Let’s do this,” Annileen said, snapping the power cartridge into her rifle.
    “Aw, Annie,” Leelee said. She and the other customers had emerged when they heard the sandcrawler approach. “You’re not gonna shoot ’em?”
    Annileen said nothing, instead leading her children to the side of the vehicle. Foul steam emanated from the behemoth’s overheating engines. “You know the drill,” she said. Jabe and Kallie nodded, even as the mighty ramp began to creak open. The ramp end hit the ground with a muted clang. The Calwells raised their weapons—
    —and turned them on their crowd of customers. “Now hear this,” Annileen said. “This land is my property. If there’s any trading to be done with the Jawas, I’m going to do it. If you don’t want to pay my markup, you get on your dewback and head on up to the Mospic Range, or wherever they’re going next.”
    A low, agitated rumble came from the crowd. Annileen responded by firing once into the air.
    “I’m serious,” she growled. She glared at the gathering. “Any one of you tries to buy a rivet from these guys, know this: I’m not gonna shoot the Jawas. Selling’s what they do. They’re never going to comprehend property lines. You, on the other hand, know very well where you are, and what the rules are. So you might as well go back inside. If there’s anything worth having, we’ll put it on sale—after we’ve wiped it down.”
    Her point was made. Grumbling patrons of the Claim started to wander back into the building. Annileen hadn’t had to shoot anyone in a long time. One stun blast every few years was usually enough to convince people that this was her commercial terrain. She would let Gloamer come out from the garages and deal directly; in slower years, he’d supplemented his business by buying defunct equipment from the Jawas and refurbishing it. But the store already took a percentage on his trades, so that was in the family.
    A tiny figure in a brown cloak and hood appeared on the ramp. Half her height, the Jawa’s glowing eyes met hers. He gave a wave. She nodded back. “Keep an eye on them,” she told her children, still on guard. “Make sure they don’t steal anything.”
    Kallie laughed. “Who? The Jawas or our customers?”
    “Both. Kallie, you watch the Jawas. Jabe, you get back inside and mind the place before they start drinking straight from the taps.”
    Jabe moaned. “I’ve been in there all day!”
    “Fine. Then you stay out here and Kallie goes inside.”
    Kallie gave her mother an anguished look. “That’s not fair, either. My job is outside, remember?”
    Annileen looked coyly at the young woman. “Ah, yes. That was you outside earlier, telling all my diners about how Ben saved you from killing yourself.” She struck her forehead with her palm in mock surprise. “Oh, wait. That was inside, wasn’t it? Now scoot!”
    Kallie stomped back into the Claim. Jabe gave a triumphant hoot and marched to where Mullen and Veeka were standing with several of the