Anakin's Fortress - Book II (temporary cover)

Five - Botheration

Assumptions are dangerous things to make, and like all dangerous things to make — bombs, for instance, or fresh meiloorun pie — if you make even the tiniest mistake you can find yourself face to face with the ghosts of the past.
Year 10

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Kat

It took two days to track the kid down with an older man, and it was only after I set up camera feeds on various city entrances after deciding he might not be in the city. Sure enough, I catch sight of them driving a speeder in around midday.

I leave Annie on the ship the entire time, and this is no different. My hope is that she protects the ship, but honestly, I'm not confident it will still be here when I get back.

I find them almost an hour later after getting turned around again and again. To say I'm overwhelmed by the chaos is an understatement.

I wait until I'm positive they're distracted and attach a tracker to the bottom of their speeder. Then, I go to find one to rent. I barter with parts I brought, no idea if I actually got a good deal as the Didynon and I didn't speak the same language. But, I left with a speeder and a lighter bag.

After returning to the shuttle to grab a couple more rations and another canteen, I cruise to the edge of the city and wait. The speeder is much easier to fly than a ship, though I'll admit I receive a few looks.

When the chrono says 1620, the speeder that looks even older than mine flies past me. Using the tracker to verify it's them and to keep far enough back to stay completely out of sight, I follow.

And follow.

And follow.

As the first sun nears the horizon, I'm worried I might fall asleep. It's so hot, we've been driving for hours, and I haven't slept well since Letty went to Tatooine weeks ago. I'm so used to the hum of the engine and the eerily quiet desert that I'm beginning to wonder if they'll even make it to their destination today.

And then, about four hours after I left the city, their tracker stops a klick ahead.

I should be more nervous than this. I should be panicking. But now I'm tired, and with a small feeling of victory from even finding the kid, I simply slow my speed and creep toward the tracker.

Far in the distance, there appears to be something, so I stop and pull out my binoculars. Sure enough, it appears to be a hut like the ones I've seen here and there, with rounded roofs and nothing but sand all around.

I circle what I believe to be the property line three or four times, constantly keeping an eye on the house.

There isn't a fucking ounce of protection, and for some reason, this pisses me off. But, it also confirms for me that Anakin can't know about the boy. Whether he wants to be a father doesn't matter, he wouldn't leave his own blood unguarded. On that, I'm positive.

I eventually settle on a small cliffside far enough away for me to post up and watch. I don't know what I'm looking for—the mother, maybe? Another glimpse of the boy?

Regardless, I'm there a long time. The suns had long since set by the time I parked the speeder, and the temperature dropped quickly. I did get to see the boy again, maybe an hour after I began my watch. He came seemingly out of the ground and messed around with stuff I couldn't see, and eventually, that same older guy came out and was talking to him, pointing at something before disappearing once more into the ground. The kid spends another ten, maybe twenty minutes outside before going back into the house. By then, it's almost midnight.

I take a stim at 0400. Worst case, I crash when I get back to the ship and leave once I get some rest.

Having never taken a stim before, I'm wildly surprised when, within moments, I'm wide awake and energized. I go about taking notes—the coordinates of what I've decided is a moisture farm, details about their speeder and the old man. I'm mindlessly doodling ideas for a safety perimeter, just to pass the time, when the first sun begins to rise, bringing warmth back into the cool desert night. I put everything except the binocs back into the speeder and stretch, preparing to sit down on my little perch and watch for them to wake up. Surely I'll see the mother today, right?