"Now what? My hands have officially run out of doodling space." Alice said.
"Same here." Ruth replied.
"Ditto." said Audrey
"Dance party?"
"There's no room."
"Outside there is."
"What if someone drives by?"
"Backyard."
"It'll be fun. Here help me open the windows. "
"Here, pull up my playlist on the computer"
"Turn it up all the way, "
"Yes! Jar of Hearts! My favorite song!"
"It's hard to dance too…"
"We can sing"
So they sang. The girls danced to a few more then wanted to play truth or dare. They kept the music running, although much quieter.
After awhile it was Alice's turn.
"Truth or dare?"
"Dare."
"I dare you to go down to the crick and bring up a pail of mud and water."
"Okay, that isn't that scary. Jeesh, really. Very hard dare, Audrey."
Oh, how Alice wished she had chickened out.
She grabbed a pail out of the toy chest and turned.
"If I don't come back, tell my "parents" the coyotes ate me."
Audrey and Ruth took it literally.
Alice strolled down the hill to the little crick surrounded by trees. She started to fill up the pail and she heard a crack behind her. She dropped the pail and whirled around. She was faced by five men in white armor. The one in front said,"Here she is. Set for stun force." Alice screamed when she saw the gun, and turned to run. She splashed through the crick and kept running, torn by brambles and old barbed wire. She fell and cut a huge gash in her knee. Blood poured down her leg onto the ground. She stumbled to her feet and ran faster. She had almost made it to her yard, but a pole of green electricity hit her side and she dropped to the ground instantly. The man who had shot her knelt and rolled her over to see if she was breathing. "She'll be all right. Report to Lord Vader."
"W-where'd she g- go?"
"I don't know."
"She screamed…"
"I think she hid and is trying to scare us."
"It's been forever."
"Should we go look?"
"Maybe."
She turned and yelled "Alice! Come on! It's not funny!"
No reply.
"Let's go look"
Alice didn't feel the men drag her onto the ship. She didn't see the space rushing by as they flew to something that looked like a small metal moon. She didn't feel them drag her to a man in black armor with a long, flowing cape. She didn't hear them say,"Lord Vader, we have her." She didn't know anything. But this is what happened next. The man glanced at her. His head was covered by a helmet, so they didn't see his eyes flick from her gashed, bloody knee, her scratched, bleeding arms and legs, her torn clothes, her tangled hair, to the burn on the side of her shirt where the beam had hit her. He growled through his mask,"I said unharmed!"
"Sir, she-"he gasped for breath as the man strangled him on the spot without even touching him. "Get a medical droid!" he snapped to the remaining four men.
"Y- Yes, Lord Vader." The men tripped over themselves as they scrambled out of the room.
Alice woke up to two robots dabbing stuff on her leg. She glanced down at herself, now in a hospital gown thing. "Stop that! It stings."
"Lady Clearwater, it will help-"
"How do you know my name?"
"Master has told us."
"What?"
"Master-"
"Never mind. "
"Lady, you should be patched up in-"
"I'm fine!"
Alice had nightmares about this all the time. Robots, spaceships, glowing swords… they were awful. Survival mode kicked in. She put on an innocent little girl face.
"Who's Master?"
"Lord Vader, a Dark Lord."
"Why does he want me?"
"We were not told that, Lady. Our apologies."
"Okay… umm, apologies accepted."
"He has ordered us to bring you to him."
"Uh, will he kill me?"
"Probably not."
"Okay… Can you take me?"
"We must finish-"
Alice stood, but she got woozy really fast and collapsed again.
"Poor child." The droid said when she woke once more. She was dressed in a black robe now. She had metal handcuff binding her hands.
The droids helped her to her feet. This time, she didn't faint.
"Why am I wearing these?" Alice asked as she held up her hands.
"We believe it is necessary. "
Alice sighed but didn't respond.
The droids escorted her down the hall and into a large chamber. Inside a man in black armor stood waiting. Alice just stood limply as the droids exited, staring at the floor. "Those won't be necessary." He flicked his hand and the handcuffs clattered to the floor. Alice still didn't move. He gave her this "Join me" speech, and Alice played innocent. She agreed. And he believed her.
When the droids came to lead her out, she waited until the exact right second. She had paid close attention on the way down, and remembered where the escape pods were. She backhanded the tall droid in the face and slammed her fist on the other one's dome, causing their lights to flicker feebly. She ran and punched the red button, and an alarm sounded, and the pod opened. She heard the men in white armor starting to stampede down the hall as she climbed in. She quickly pulled down the lever and the pod shot off.
"WHAT!" Darth Vader roared upon hearing the news.
"Y- yes, Lord Vader, she h- has es- es c- caped" the Admiral stuttered nervously.
Vader clenched his fingers and the Admiral was soon dead.
"Should we send more troopers, milord?"
"That is not enough. And they did not follow orders the last time. "
"Then what should we do to capture her unharmed, Lord Vader?"
"Send a call out to the Bounty Hunter's Guild. And make sure Fett hears about it also."
"Yes, milord." The General bowed his way out of the room.
After awhile, Alice saw a huge orangey yellow planet with two suns up ahead. She maneuvered the escape pod towards it, managing to land without killing herself. Alice had, apparently, landed on the outskirts of a small town. She could get help there. Fight or flee mode had shut down and she was shaking with fear. She was alone. She was probably going to be dead if those people ever found her again. And she knew nothing of this universe.
Alice heard boys' voices.
"Holy crap, it's an Imperial escape pod!"
"What's it doing here?"
"Why is it an escape pod? Something really bad must have happened for them to use it."
"Should we check it out?"
"I don't know."
"What if troopers are inside?"
"We should really see…"
"Let's go! They aren't gonna kill us on sight! Jeesh!"
"We should at least wait for the other kids-"
"You mean the older kids you want to hang out with so bad?"
"Yeah. Maybe I do!"
"They aren't that cool. Just moisture farmer's kids."
"Aren't we all?"
"That or slaves."
Alice slowly opened the door of the pod, which was lying on its side and stuck her head out. She saw several hover bike things show up at once. Teenage boys got off and removed their helmets.
"What are you guys looking at?"
"Give me those." One of the boys grabbed the binoculars the kids were looking through.
"And Imperial pod? Here?"
"Let's go check it out!"
"I don't know…"
"C'mon, you guys are such wimps. This could be our chance for adventure!" one of the teenagers said.
"Then you two go alone!"
"Fine! C'mon, Koi."
Alice climbed shakily out of the pod as the two boys approached. It wasn't helping her nerves that they were both really, really cute.
The pod rolled a little as she jumped down, landing on her knees in the hot sand.
The younger boy extended a hand out to her to help her up.
"Thanks," Alice said.
"What were you doing in an Imperial escape pod?" the older one asked.
"Why is it any of you concern? Maybe I'm a Sith queen." She glared at him condescendingly and tossed her hair.
"Very likely." He said sarcastically.
"Seriously, who are you and how did you end up from the Death Star to here?" the other kid asked.
"Alice. Alice Clearwater. I went down to the crick behind my house on a dare, got knocked unconscious by men in white armor, woke up by two fussy robots, heard a persuasion attempt to get me to the "Dark Side" by someone called "Darth Vader", pretended to agree, then hit the emergency lever on an escape pod, sounded the alarm by accident, and wound up here."
"Wow."
"Really?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"I don't know. I'm happy I didn't get strangled."
"You have family near here?"
"No."
"Where did you come from?"
"I have foster parents. I hate them."
"You have a place to stay?"
"What does it look like?"
"I'm guessing no."
"You guessed right."
"I'm Koi, by the way."
"And I'm Luke."
"Nice to know."
"Really, kid where are we gonna take you? And you gotta get new clothes."
"Don't look at me, how am I supposed to know?"
Luke glanced at his watch.
"Crap, I gotta meet my friends in an hour."
"So you're ditching me? "
"No, you two are coming with me, and we're getting her something less conspicuous."
Luke, Koi, and Alice ran back to Luke's speeder.
"How are we all-"
"Just get on between Koi and me. It'll be fine."
Alice opened her mouth to protest, but he chucked her the helmet. She slid it over her shining blonde hair.
"Just get on, we don't have much time."
"Fine." Alice muttered, grateful of the helmet to cover her blushing. She was very aware of herself now that she was sandwiched between two incredibly cute boys, and was forced to wrap her arms around one. And the other one had his arms wrapped around her waist.
Finally, the ride ended, although a small part of her never wanted it to end. A very small part. Luke parked the speeder and Alice removed his helmet and handed it back.
Ten minutes later, Alice spun around in her new tunic and skirt in front of Koi. Luke had turned to pay the woman in charge of the shop.
"This feels so weird compared to jeans!"
"I think you look beautiful."
Alice froze mid spin.
"Omigosh, did that just come out of my mouth?"
"Yes, yes it did," Luke laughed from behind them.
"Whoops…." Koi muttered.
Alice giggled, causing her to snort.
"Let's go. We have twenty minutes!"
Alice and Koi waited for him, and strolled around the market a bit.
Eventually, Koi mentioned that Alice could stay with him, if she had nowhere else.
"Can I, for a bit? This place… it's so big… I want to see more." Her eyes shone with the idea.
"You mean this old rock?"
"No, this whole galaxy…. I want to see more."
"I feel the same. My parents… aren't my parents."
"You were adopted?"
"I suppose."
"Me too."
They passed the Mos Eisley catina, Alice paused.
"Do you have music like my planet does?"
"What do you mean?"
"Like this… Her mama named her Lucky on a starlit night, a rabbit's foot in her pocket, she dances in spite of the fact that she's different and yet she's the same and sings, do do doot do do doo…"
"No."
"Here's another: And who do you think you are, running around leaving scars, collecting your jar of hearts, tearing love apart, you're cold from the ice inside your soul.."
"Nope."
"Wow. Life without music…"
"We have music! Listen!"
"Not like that! Like what I sang."
"We don't have that. But I like your voice."
"Thank you."
"Please sing more."
Ten minutes later, Luke walked out to see the two holding hands as Alice sang "…Her mama named her Lucky on a starlit night…"
"Oh- kay…." Luke muttered.
"Oh! Hi!"
"Where's she going? I have to pick up droids for my Uncle Owen."
"She's coming to my place. For awhile, anyways…"
"I want to see more. " Alice explained.
"So do I, kid."
"Let's go."
Alice had to deal with the sandwiching again, but she leaned back into Koi.
"See ya, kid." Luke said to Alice.
"'Bye " Alice replied
"Mom! I brought a friend…" Koi yelled into the house.
Vader turned to address the assembled bounty hunters.
"You may use any means necessary, but I want her alive!" He literally shook his finger in Fett's direction.
"No disintegrations!"
Fett gave a barely perceptible nod.
"Go!"
Fett strode silently onto the Slave. He had inquired about everything. The troopers reported that she had escaped in a pod. And according to the readings… She should have landed on Tatoonie. He smirked behind his visor. This bounty was huge… plenty of credits. And for a nine year old girl…
"Who landed where!" Luke repeated.
"Fett. Boba Fett. He landed here on Tatoonie."
"Who' s he looking for?"
"Some girl, apparently. The Empire has a huge price on her head."
"I gotta go."
"Wait-"
Luke was already out the door. He kicked his speeder into gear. His first chance to be a hero…
"Luke! Come back! You still have to clean the-" Uncle Owen called after him.
He parked it outside Koi's house and banged on the door.
"Hi. What are you doing-" Alice started to say as she answered the door.
"You have to hide. Fast. Fett is here. Now. Looking for you!"
"Whose doing what?"
"A famous bounty hunter is after you. "
"What the crap are you talking about?"
"Just come on!" Alice jumped onto the back of the speeder and Luke floored it, taking them to his farm.
"Hide?"
"Where!"
"In the vaporator!"
"In the what!"
"In there!" he pointed to a large metal tank. He opened the top and Alice ducked down inside.
She huddled there for a long time, she didn't know how long. Eventually the door opened and she heard someone walk in. She held her breath.
She heard Luke say, "Boba Fett! What are you doing in this dump of a planet!"
"You know perfectly well."
"What do you mean! I haven't done anything!" he protested. Alice had to admit, he was a pretty good actor.
"Where is the girl!"
"What girl?"
"The child! The one you're hiding here, now!"
"What are you-"
"You know! Where is she!"
"I- I-" Alice heard a blaster shot and stifled a scream.
He heard.
Alice knocked over the tank in her frantic efforts to escape and the lid fell off. She scrambled out and ran, relieved to see the tank next to hers had been shot at, not Luke. She made it about a hundred yards when she fell and twisted her ankle. There was a sickening crack and her world went black.
When she came to, she was in a small holding cell. Alice looked at her ankle. To her surprise, it was wrapped tightly in hard white gauze. She got up and tested her weight on it. She could walk okay. She saw, beyond the bars, a bunch of equipment, evidently spilled from a container that lay on the floor near it. She noticed that she could easily slip through the bars.
Alice slowly exited the cell and picked up one of the pieces of equipment. A wrist gauntlet, by the looks of it. It was gray- ish green- ish, and had some form of dart gun mounted on top. She practiced firing and smiled. She wasn't planning on staying long.
She limped up the steps and picked the lock on the door. She opened it a crack and peered through. The door led to the cockpit.
The man sitting in the ship was wearing gray green full body armor, but his helmet was off and lying on the floor nearby. He was going through information on a large viewscreen. She aimed at the back of his head and fired.
Boba Fett never knew what hit him.
Alice found that she hadn't been out for very long. They were still on Tatoonie. She set the ship on autopilot, headed for some planet called "Hoth" then she crept off the ship.
Alice decided she would stowaway on ships until she got back to Earth. Or woke up from this nightmare. She walked through a sort of parking lot for ships, and found one that was unlocked. It was called the Millennium Falcon.
She slipped onboard and started searching for a suitable place to hide. She stepped walked through the hallway and her footsteps seemed to echo louder than before. Was it just her nerves?
She walked into the cockpit and doubled back. Nope. It wasn't. A section of the floor sounded like it was hollow. She tried prying up the floor and succeeded. She slipped inside and let the floor close down on her.
She waited. And waited. And waited. She dozed off a couple of times, and jerked awake when she heard voices.
"I'm telling you Chewie, we can't afford to lose this spice cargo! Jabba'll have my head if I don't pay him off in a week! We have to move it, no matter the risk of the Imperial officers seeing us!"
There was something that sounded like an animal grunting and roaring.
"What! Fett's here! No way!"
More animal sounds.
"Then we gotta hurry and get out of here before he finds us!"
More animal noises.
"Let's go! I don't care what you smell!"
More animal sounds.
"There can't be a stowaway, I swear I locked it!"
More grunting from the beast.
"Fine then. Let's check!"
