Star Wars - Kenobi

comb underneath his backside. Blanching, Orrin chucked it out the window—
    —and saw the pair of figures topping a dune to the northeast, approaching him. Finding his electrobinoculars, Orrin studied the sight.
    “Well, what do you know,” he said aloud. “One chance lost, another found.” He put the hovercraft into motion.
    The USV-5 coasted to a stop just short of the new arrivals. As caravans went, Orrin thought it pretty meager: a hooded man, walking alongside a heavily laden eopie. Neither reacted as Orrin triggered the landspeeder’s open-topped mode.
    Orrin smiled. “Hello, there!”
    “Greetings.”
    “That’s a big load you’ve got.”
    The sandy-haired nomad eyed him warily. “It’s mine, if that’s what you’re wondering. I’ve come from the store.”
    Orrin chuckled. “Oh, I know. You don’t have the wardrobe for a Tusken.” The farmer deactivated the engine and climbed out. “I’m Orrin Gault. This is my land here—”
    “My apologies,” the traveler said, looking back at the horizon. “Is it possible to get to the Calwell store without crossing the Gault land?”
    “Not really, no.” Orrin grinned. He offered his hand. “I think I know who you are. You’re that Ben I’ve heard so much about.”
    Ben took Orrin’s hand and shook it, tentatively. “Heard … about me ?”
    “From Kallie Calwell. The Calwells and the Gaults—we’re close. And I owe you a debt of thanks. It sounds like you saved her from herself.”
    Ben lowered his eyes. “I think Kallie embellished some. I was passing through and lent a hand. Anyone else would do the same.”
    Orrin liked the sound of that. “Quite right. But still, let me get you a drink.” He turned back to the landspeeder.
    “We’re a ways from a cantina,” Ben said, puzzled.
    “But not from the canteen.” Orrin produced a gleaming silver flask and offered it to Ben. “Enjoy.”
    Ben nodded and opened the vial. He drank—and did an immediate double take. Gasping, he mouthed, “Wow.”
    “And that’s lukewarm,” Orrin said, smiling broadly. He slapped the windshield of the landspeeder. “I know you’re on your way somewhere, Ben, but the least I can do is show you around. For a new neighbor.”
    Ben looked up, cautious. “How … do you know I’m a neighbor?”
    Orrin laughed. Something about wearing hoods made half the newcomers on Tatooine think they were on a secret mission. “I doubt you’re making supply runs for the Jawas. They went the other direction, anyway.” He gestured toward the landspeeder. “Come on—just for a few minutes. You trespass, you get the guided tour. You might say it’s the penalty.”

CHAPTER ELEVEN
    THE USV-5 ROCKETED ACROSS the dunes. Hill after hill bristled with shining new vaporators, metal stalagmites stabbing into the sky. Ben sat quietly in the passenger seat, taking it in. He’d resisted the tour, at first. But Orrin had brought out an emergency canvas shelter from the landspeeder, and within moments the eopie was inside, munching on the feed it had been carrying.
    Orrin watched Ben out of the corner of his eye as he drove. The man seemed quiet—and, thankfully, unmarked by whatever had happened at the Claim. Orrin felt bad about that. The oasis regulars, his kids included, could be rough on newcomers.
    “I’ll tell you,” Orrin said again, “I’m sorry about whatever happened back in the Claim. When my kid called—I knew in a second who was to blame. You got any little ones, Ben?”
    “Just the eopie,” Ben said.
    The farmer laughed. “I’ll tell you, if kids were as teachable as eopies, this hair would still be black. Annileen’s are something, too—but you already saw that with Kallie.”
    “Energetic,” Ben allowed.
    “And all trouble.”
    Ben looked at him. “But worth it?”
    “Don’t put words in my mouth,” Orrin said, feigning seriousness—before breaking out into laughter again. “No, most days I work out here with Mullen and Veeka—and sometimes Jabe, Annileen’s boy. You met him?”
    “At the sandcrawler,” Ben said simply.
    “Lot to keep track of, I know. Sometimes it’s hard for me to tell where Annie’s family stops and mine begins.” He elaborated briefly on his friendship with Dannar, and how Annileen had been running the shop since Dannar’s death. “That Annileen—she’s a tower of power.”
    Ben nodded, and returned to idly staring out the window.
    Orrin smirked. If Ben were interested in Annileen, that should have