The Boy Who Cried Raiders

Setting: Approximately a standard year before ANH. Luke Skywalker tries to convince his friends that a strange old woman is more than what she seems.

"There! There she is!" cried Luke Skywalker from the driver's seat of his landspeeder.

His female friend, Camie, was sitting in the passenger seat and she followed Luke's pointed finger to the crowd of humans and aliens. She spotted the one particular old woman with whom Luke had been ranting about all morning. She was an elderly woman with black-gray speckled hair and walked with a cane. She was just coming out of a popular cantina.

Camie exclaimed, "Wormie, that's just an old lady."

"That's what we're supposed to think. I saw her in there talking to some Rodians."

"Ok, so she has friends in low places. And what were you doing in Chalmun's Cantina? You're lucky Wuher didn't chase you out."

"He didn't see me. I snuck in behind a huge Ithorian."

Camie asked, "So what was the old woman talking about to the Rodians?"

Luke looked down at the steering control of his landspeeder. "I don't know. I couldn't hear that far away. I'm pretty sure it has to do with Jabba."

Camie scoffed. "Everything on Tatooine has to do with Jabba. That's not news, Wormie. Can we go now? I have to meet with Fixer at Tosche."

Luke looked over at the attractive, chestnut-haired girl Luke had known for all of his childhood. "You and Fixer are seeing a lot of each other lately. Anything I should know?"

"None of your business. Me and Fixer are just...casual. For now."

"I've heard that before."

Camie gave Luke a soft punch in the arm. "Shut up, Wormie. You seem to be more interested in older women now." After he ignored her remark, she glanced back at the old woman walking at a slow pace and asked, "What makes you think she's dangerous?"

"I don't know if she's dangerous. There's just something about her that's not real. I've never seen her before yesterday."

"Oh, a visitor on Tatooine. That is news. Of course, we will have to kill her. Though, I have to say, Wormie, that out of all of your lame brained ideas, this one takes the prize for the most creative."

Luke only sighed and said, "I wish you'd stop calling me that."

She smiled brightly. "I like it. You can blame your old friend, Biggs, for your nickname."

"Biggs would believe me."

"I don't know. Sometimes I believe that Biggs went along with your outrageous stories just to shut you up."

"No. Biggs listened to me."

"Well, let's ask him. Ohhh, that's right, you can't. He's gone to the Academy. He's escaped the clutches of Tusken Raiders, Jawas, and sweltering temps. He's probably cooling off on some huge battle cruiser."

"Not sure that's a good thing."

Camie sighed. "Oh, don't you start on the Rebellion. It's getting old."

"Maybe the old woman is part of the Rebellion."

"And she's here on Tatooine to speak to some greasy Rodians? Don't see it, Wormie. Come on, I'm bored. Fixer's waiting for me. Tank and Windy are probably already there. Are we done with the conspiracy theories with old women?"

As Luke started the engine of his speeder, he said, "Fine. I'm pretty sure I know what inn she's staying at."

"Please don't, Luke."

"Oh, so it's 'Luke' now."

"Seriously, she's just an old lady."

"And if she's not?"

"Then it's still none of our business. Or yours. Really, Luke, the scum of the galaxy flock here to be unnoticed. Why can't you leave things alone?"

"Status quo just isn't me, Camie."

"You certainly didn't come from your uncle's side of the family."

As Luke drove past the cantina, he uttered, "Maybe Windy will understand."

Later that evening...

"Yeah, there she is. I can see her in the room through a window," said Luke while looking through his macro binoculars. "And there's a man with her now."

Laying beside Luke on the abandoned storage unit was his friend, Windy. He yawned as he said through fatigue, "Maybe she's lonely. At least she upgraded from two Rodians."

Luke seemed to ignore his friend's response and mentioned, "She left the window open."

"How un-spy-like of her."

This time, Luke replied, "I never said she was a spy. Although, she could be."

"An old hag as an Imperial spy. The Empire really must be desperate."

"She doesn't have to be Imperial."

"Luke, if you're suggesting she's a Rebel spy I'm taking a hydro spanner to your skull. Camie was right. You are obsessed."

"I am not. I'm just–oh, Windy, look! He's armed!"

"Great stars, Luke. So is every visitor on Tatooine. You live longer when you're armed on this sand trap."

Once again, it seemed Windy was speaking to the air as Luke stated, "I'll bet if we can get closer behind that old load lifter we can hear what they're saying. It's right under the open window."

"Be careful with the 'we' business."

Luke glanced sideways to his friend. "Aw, come on. Where's your sense of adventure?"

Windy shot back, "I lost it a few seasons ago when our dewback dumped us in the middle of the Jundland Wastes."

"Ben rescued us."

"That crazy old man is creepy. You better keep an eye on him, Luke. He pays a little too much attention to you, if you know what I mean."

"That's nonsense, Windy. He's just an old hermit."

Windy motioned toward the inn. "So could this old woman."

"No. There's something else about her."

"What? What is it, Luke? What is it about her that's special?"

"I don't know. I just...have a feeling. I can't explain it."

"Well, it's getting late. I gotta get back before my dad shuts down the power for the night. You should do the same. I know how your uncle reacts when you come home after power down."

"I'll leave in a few minutes. I'm going to get closer to hear them."

"Good thing I brought my speeder." Windy lifted himself up off the storage unit and looked at Luke still laying there watching the room. "Your funeral, buddy."

After he heard Windy's speeder drive off, Luke was alone. In many ways, he had always been alone. The twin suns were just about to disappear under the horizon. A dim yellowish haze lit the area. Luke removed his macros from his face. Windy was right. Uncle Owen would be furious if he came home late. He set up the excuse that he had to go into Anchorhead to get a pressure regulator gauge for an East grid vaporator and repair it tonight for the morning. What his uncle didn't know was that Luke repaired the vaporator earlier that day. Luke figured it would give him some time to keep an eye on this mysterious old woman. He couldn't get her out of his mind. And he didn't know why. He seemed to always have a great instinct for knowing things that many people dismissed. No one believed him. Biggs had. But, he left. Luke couldn't wait until he was of the age when he could leave this planet. Not that he didn't love his aunt and uncle. Luke wanted to be so much more than a farmer.

Luke shook off his thoughts and decided to act. If he was going to find out about this woman, he would have to do it now. He climbed off the storage unit quietly. He crouched low to swiftly move under the load lifter that was positioned directly under the window of the old woman's room. He could hear them speak. He heard the woman first. He listened in silence.

"I tell you, Xun, if you want to get in good graces of Jabba then this job is the way to do it. It's a deal of a lifetime. Credits will be flowing for us." Her voice crackled with age but kept a youthful tonality. Luke couldn't place her accent, which almost sounded like a Neimoidian. Underneath those thoughts, he screamed mentally with joy that he had been right about the woman being connected to Jabba.

The man named Xun answered in a gruff voice, "Look, I know it sounds intriguing. It's too risky."

"The Empire will never know. You just use your talents to open safe and we have our money. I know the head of security personally. He knows we be coming soon. The guards are a joke. Civilians with a badge slapped on them."

"And if we succeed, the credits will be flowing more towards your way."

"Naturally. My plan. Now, are we doing this? I'll give you twenty."

"Hours?"

"Seconds."

Luke could hear Xun grumble in frustration. "D'oiya, no offense, but I don't know you."

"I tell you we have mutual friend. Tekai Boratch. He was your prison mate on Kessel all those years ago."

"Right. How is Tekai these days?"

"He's all right considering he'll be on a respirator for the rest of his life."

"Courtesy of decades deep in the spice mines. That didn't stop him from drinking the worst psunuberry wine ever made. He still drink that?"

A silence fell before the woman named D'oiya replied, "Now, now, Xun. You should have remembered that Tekai never drinks."

"Oh, yeah, I forgot."

"Like hell you did. That was a test for me. As you can see, I passed. Let's stop playing games, shall we? I give you until morning to give me answer. Remember, I have a boss who hates delays."

Luke could sense that she was ready to escort Xun out, and he made a move to leave. His foot was caught on the safety release bar of the load lifter and the lever made a rather loud clang. Luke froze as his adrenaline kicked in.

He heard Xun cry out, "What was that?"

"Somebody out there. Could be one of Jabba's."

"Or worse. I'll go check it out. You stay here."

Luke had never been around firearms much in his life, but he could at least detect the sound of a blaster being charged. He quickly calculated the distance to where his speeder was parked. If he ran now...

He took off like a podracer towards his escape. He barely heard the old woman yelling behind him, "There he is! It's just a boy!"

Luke ran as fast as he could, dodging in and out of corridors and alleys. He ran with a speed that amazed even himself. He finally reached his decrepit landspeeder. Though it was on its last repulsors, he cherished the sight of it in the semi-darkness. He began to climb in the driver's seat...and froze when a hand grabbed the back of his tunic.

"Ah, what do we have here? An eavesdropper. What's your hurry, kid?"

Luke was face to face with a dingy looking man with scars on his face. He had piercing eyes that bore into Luke. He answered the man nervously, "Nothing, sir. I...I didn't hear anything."

"Then why you running? Who sent you? Jabba? You one of his lackeys?"

"N..no one sent me, sir. I was...curious."

"Curious? You do know what curiosity gets you, right? I want the truth, kid. What did you hear?"

Luke knew the man was willing to do anything to get Luke to talk. He made it easier for him. "Everything. Or some of it."

"Then you must know our names. Don't you, boy?" He shook Luke's collar.

"Yes. Yes, it's Xun. And the woman is D'oiya."

Xun let go of Luke's collar and brought his blaster up to aim at Luke's head. "That's all you had to say."

Luke could feel the barrel of the blaster at his skull. His life started to flash before him...until. A voice deep within himself called out. Not this way.

Just before the click of the trigger, Luke exclaimed quickly, "You can't trust her!"

Xun pulled the blaster away from his head. "What are you talking about?"

"D'oiya. She's not who she says she is."

"And just how does a snot-nosed kid happen to know that?"

"I...I don't know. I just do. I can't explain it. It's just a feeling."

"A feeling? Well, I have a feeling that you're making this up to save yourself."

"Well, I am trying to save myself. But I'm not making it up. I've had a feeling about her all day. I've been following her."

"That's kind of sick, kid. You see how old she is."

"No, it's not like that. She's hiding something. I don't know what it is. My friends don't believe me." Luke took a moment. And he knew. "But you're starting to. Aren't you?"

"I haven't decided yet."

"Please believe me, sir...Xun. She really didn't know about your mate on Kessel. She asked someone about him."

"Kid, there's only a handful of people who know about me and Tekai, and most of them are still rotting away on Kessel."

Luke concentrated on when D'oiya spoke about Tekai. There was a name underneath her thoughts. It was distant. It suddenly appeared in his mind. He didn't know how. "Drayall."

Xun grabbed Luke's collar again. "How did you know about Drayall?"

"I didn't. She did. It was on her mind."

Xun let go of Luke again but looked at him strangely. He squinted his eyes. "What are you, boy? Force sensitive?"

Luke crinkled his brow. "I...don't know what that means."

"Never mind. Ok, genius, what do I do about her?"

"Ask her about her boss."

"Her boss? Why?"

"I don't–"

"That's right, you don't know. This is kriffin' crazy. I must be nuts listening to you. But there's no way you could have gotten that name on your own. And I like your honesty about saving yourself. That took guts, kid. I'll let you go. But if you're lying...well, let's just say I've never killed a child. There's always a first time."

"Ok. Thank you, sir...Xun. But–"

"What?"

"I'm eighteen. I'm not a child."

"Don't push me, kid. Now get lost!"

Luke complied with ease and sped off in his landspeeder.

The next morning...

Luke entered Tosche Station with his head down. His friends knew why.

Windy was the first to call it. "Your uncle gave you an earful last night?"

"Yes," Luke slowly admitted. "But not why you think. I told him I was working on the pressure gauge on one of the East vaporators last night. He checked on it and saw it was already fixed. And that I wasn't there."

"What did you tell him?" asked Camie from Fixer's lap.

"I told him I was out with you guys and my landspeeder broke down when I came home."

His friend's laughter filled the room.

Windy said, "At least it was something believable. What really did happen last night?"

Camie warned, "Tell me you didn't eavesdrop on that old woman."

"Yeah, I did. And I paid the price for it. The man she was with caught me listening. He put a blaster to my head. I told him to not trust the old woman and he let me go. He liked my honesty."

The cries of disbelieving laughter was deafening to Luke.

Fixer was still laughing when he said, "Luke, you fibber. You might have convinced Biggs with that poodoo, but he's no longer here."

Camie agreed. "Yeah, Wormie, that's a tall one. One of your better ones."

Windy looked over at Fixer and asked, "Up for a game of pool?"

"Sure," Fixer answered before he motioned to Camie to get off his lap. She did so but gave him a quick peck on the cheek first.

Luke looked at his childhood crush with defeat and almost didn't hear Fixer ask, "You in Luke?"

"No," Luke replied sadly. "I can't stay. I have to get back home."

Windy chuckled. "Uncle Owen grounded you?"

"Pretty much."

Camie mentioned, "That's what you get for following old ladies around."

Luke watched his friends getting set to play electronic holograph pool and then turned to leave. He was outside in the extreme heat once again heading towards his speeder. He spotted a crowd of people and aliens gathered around and it caught his interest. He neared the crowd and then realized where he was. They were surrounded by the same inn where the old woman stayed. He worked his way through the crowd to see two officials carry a stretcher that held a body covered with a tarp.

Luke nudged the closest man. "What happened?"

"Eh, some guy offed himself last night."

"What was his name?"

"I don't know. Something Kun, or Zun, I think."

Luke put it together and muttered just loud enough for the crowd to hear, "She killed him."

The crowd murmured with disbelief.

Luke repeated, "The old woman. She killed him last night. He mentioned her boss like I told him too and she killed him."

"What woman?" cried another man.

"There was nobody with him," replied another woman in the crowd.

Luke cried, "Yes there was! She was an old woman who walked with a cane. And she had a strange accent."

The man who Luke originally spoke to said, "There was no woman, kid. The man was found in his refresher hanging by his neck with his own belt. The way I heard there were empty Death Sticks all around the room. I'm surprised it doesn't happen more often on this miserable planet."

"But she was–"

"Now don't start spreading rumors, kid. You don't just cry out 'Raiders' in a room and leave."

Luke gave up and started to head back to his speeder. He glanced back at the man and exclaimed, "I'm not a kid!"

"Whatever. Move along then, boy."

Luke climbed into his landspeeder and drove away. Alone.

Later that afternoon...

The old woman was busy with the navi-computer setting up for her next jump into hyperspace. Since that would take a few minutes, she motioned to flip on her holoprojector. She had to send a message first.

Within moments, her boss appeared as a six-inch blue-white hologram.

"It is done," she announced to him, cherishing the abandon of her false accent.

"Excellent. You have done well for someone your age."

"Age is deceptive."

"That it is. I trust you left Xun in a delicate situation."

"One that he can't survive. He won't be embezzling Imperial credits anymore."

"Well done."

"What's next?"

"Patience, my dear. I may have a mission for you soon. I will call for you. However, I will use an alternative means of communication."

She assured him, "This is a secure line."

"I have no doubt. Nevertheless, I believe you are ready."

"Of course I am. What do you want me to do in the meantime?"

"You may rest for now."

"I don't like to rest."

"I understand. Please don't take it as a suggestion."

"Very well. I'll listen for your call."

"I can see that you will be a great asset."

"Thank you."

And off he went. The image disappeared. No goodbyes. No endearments. Once he gets his point across, he leaves.

She didn't mention the boy.

Xun came back to her room last night to explain about him. He knew things. Things he shouldn't have known. She asked him why he didn't kill him. The boy told Xun not to trust her. She was more than what she seemed, he said. He mentioned Drayall. How he got that name, she'll never know. But that was all it took. The boy made Xun mistrust her enough to end their deal. No matter. That was Plan B anyway.

She knocked him out and injected several Death Sticks into his body. She then carried him to the refresher and tied his belt around his neck. That would answer many questions.

The whole time she thought of the boy. The things he knew. Could he have been using the Force? No. That was too rare. She wondered. She made sure she didn't mention it to her boss. He wouldn't question why she didn't pursue it. The dust bowl planet was too insignificant. There was another reason she didn't mention the boy. She wished she knew what it was. She almost had the urge to go back and research the boy herself. That was a waste of time. The mission was over. Xun was dead, albeit earlier than anticipated. On to the next one, wherever that may be.

She proceeded to take off her black-grey wig and peel off her prosthetic fake nose. Her true red-gold hair flowed over her shoulders like a waterfall. Age was indeed deceptive. Yet, the boy saw through her disguise. Maybe there would be time someday to investigate him.

Someday.

Her Z-95 Headhunter sped off into hyperspace.

The end.