DISCLAIMER: I don't own Star Wars and I'm not making any money out of this.

CHAPTER 3

Luke had woken up the next morning, feeling the gritty sand of Tatooine under his face. The door to his cell burst open and he was ordered to come out. Then, after loading several heavy crates aboard a space ship, they (because there were several other children there) were each thrown a meager ration bar. Luke scowled at this, as he was used to having blue milk for breakfast, but ate it without any comment, not knowing when the next 'meal' would be. There were only boys in the compound, but Luke soon noticed how the others kept their distance and that, although looking overworked, none were hurt as bad as he was. He didn't talk to anyone during that day, or the following two, but that might have been because he never got close enough to anybody. In the evening he was escorted back to his cell.

On the forth day, after polishing the entire floor of the space ship, under Trek's vigil eyes, occasionally receiving a kick in the ribs, he was lead not to his cell, but to another, where twelve other boys lay on the dirty floor. Luke thought that perhaps he had been only kept alone because he had been sick, and that all the other boys slept together cramped in small rooms no bigger than the one he had occupied alone. Suddenly he felt guilty for having taken so much space by himself, and the compassion he felt increased when he caught sight of the miserable faces that surrounded him. The boys looked more than tired and hungry, Luke thought they suffered from something terrible because except from the ingrained sadness, there didn't appear to be any life in them.

This didn't discourage him, though, as he approached one of the boys and began to introduce himself.

'Hello', Luke said in a lively voice that contrasted with the deep silence in the room, 'my name is Luke Skyw…' but he didn't get to finish as the door burst open behind him and he could see all the other boys soundlessly gathering together.

'What did you just say?' Trek demanded angrily, and Luke could see the man was going to have a fit any moment now.

'I said my name is Lu…' Luke didn't manage to get the rest of it out as he found himself on the ground, face red and hurting. Unlike the first day in this place, he didn't get up that fast, or easy, his previous wounds unhealed and hurting. As soon as he got to his feet it began again. Furious fists assaulted his stomach and ribs and, although he knew it was in vain, he kept trying to resist them, to find some closure and reprise from the pain.

'You're lucky we're selling you in two days. Otherwise you would have gotten much worse' Trek spat, and before leaving, he pulled out his blaster and stunned Luke.

Sixteen hours later, Luke woke up in one of the compartments of the space ship he had cleaned. He didn't know why he was awake while the rest of the boys that were with him slept, but as laser fire challenged the ship's shield (how did he know it was laser fire, Luke asked himself) Luke knew it had been his danger alarm that had woken him. He could hear Trek shout something and get equally panicked replies from his crew, but he couldn't make out what they were saying.

The men were desperately trying to avoid the large ship that was attacking them. They had just loaded some supplies on Rodia, and before they could enter hyperspace, the Imperial Navy had shown up. Their ship was under attack, and it was just a question of time before the Forsyte Moon would be drawn inside the Star Destroyer by a tractor beam. All they could do was land back on Rodia, and hope to be able to disappear in the city they knew so well. Trek, on the other hand had different plans: he didn't want anybody making away with their precious cargo, and decided they had more chances to escape the imps by fighting them on the surface.

*

Slavery was outlawed in the Galactic Empire, but the current policies were no different from those of the Old Republic. Any person found guilty of promoting slavery was convicted to serve a life sentence on Kessel – the Empire's own slave colony. However, there was no interest for finding the slave networks, the only convictions took place when the local governments or the Navy happened to stumble across their loaded ships – such as now. Unbeknown to the general public but known to the Emperor, Darth Vader was not satisfied with the current situation. He had obtained a ban on slavery on the Outer Rim worlds, but the Empire had a feeble presence on planets that were still controlled by local gangsters and populated by space pirates and smugglers. Although the Emperor had commanded Vader's interest towards more important matters, the Dark Lord could not dismiss the ship identified as the Forsyte Moon that greeted them when coming out of hyperspace.

'Captain!'

'Yes, My Lord'

'Allow them to land and organize a boarding party', the booming voice of Darth Vader was heard across the entire deck, although the giant was standing by the windowsill, facing outwards.

'My Lord, wouldn't a tractor be…' the captain's helpful comment was silenced when Vader's helmet slowly turned to face him.

'Yes, My Lord' the man turned abruptly and left as fast as he could, thanking his lucky star for delaying the death he so clumsily almost brought onto himself.

*

Trek had just landed the Forsyte Moon when the Imperial Scout ships surrounded it. 'So much for them sending only one team' Trek thought and cursed under his breath. There was no going back now, but he would be damned if they would take him without a fight. 'If only we had something to trade!' He smiled at that. Their cargo hold was full with 'something to trade', but none would be of use in the present circumstances.

'Aim for that one' he said indicated the closest ship. The Forsyte Moon's guns came to life. None of the imperials expected such resistance. Their shield was not up and as the powerful beam caught them, the ship exploded. One enemy was down but there were still plenty to blast them into eternity. Wondering why they hadn't done so already, even to avenge their own loss, the Forsyte Moon kept firing at the now advancing troops, without any luck this time, due to the positioning of its weapons, which were meant to hit only ship-sized targets, in the air, not on the ground.

*

Aboard the Star Destroyer's deck, Darth Vader strode impatiently. He was in no hurry to finish this assignment and to return to the Imperial Center, but still, he couldn't suppress a feeling of anticipation. He also felt a disturbance in the Force. The signal was weak, but he thought it had enough power to be worth an investigation.

'Ready my shuttle.' He couldn't wait any longer, so he decided to see for himself what exactly it was about the slavers' transport that had created the disturbance.

The Stormtroopers were marching along the ' Moon's hallway, dragging two limp bodies towards the ramp of the ship, where another was lying unconscious. Trek had been the first to meet the troops and now he lay face down and motionless, just inside the ship. The troops had already opened the cargo hold and were now marching the children outside. 'That's our merchandise,' Trek thought angrily, then remembered he was playing unconscious, waiting for the right moment to escape.

Another shuttle landed and Lord Vader descended down the ramp. He strode towards the captured vessel, acknowledging an officer who informed him about the nature of its passengers: three adult males, two human one alien and twenty one slaves, all children. In cases such as these, the procedure was to return the children who still knew where they lived to their families and to sent the others to an orphanage. Two officers on board were presently doing just that, inquiring about the home planets and families of the terrified bunch of children.

'Do you know where you live?' one of the officers demanded for the tenth time that afternoon. Luke stared at the man in front of him. He had been asked a question, and he knew the answer. But didn't say it loud. Maybe it was the tiredness; maybe it was the pain in his side, or maybe just the pain of standing up. He felt like drowning in a sea of gray. He needed rest and he needed to sleep somewhere that was neither the gritty sand nor the vibrating deck of a ship. He wasn't angry with the man that kept him up, just annoyed, tired and lost in a strange place with strangers that dressed alike, had the same height and didn't feel 'colored'. Although Tatooine was one giant dust ball, Luke thought the planet had a nice enough color. The sky above the dunes was so blue it defied comparison. He used to stare at the sky for hours on end, until his uncle would shout at him. He used to dream about flying among the stars and visiting different planets. Well, he was on a planet now, but so far it didn't feel like big deal. Maybe because he was still on the ship. Luke turned towards the exit, squinting against the light. It was late afternoon and the sun was setting behind a forest that surrounded several ships. But Luke had been in the dark for so many hours that for him, the forest appeared covered in light. The forest. Plants were rare on Tatooine and he had never seen as much as a patch of the grass he knew covered whole planets. Here there were so many shades of green… The air felt different too, it felt like the air in the 'fresher after a real water shower.

As Luke followed the queue of children that were being escorted outside – the ones to be taken to an orphanage – his eyes, hungry for more colors and shapes fell on a dark clad figure that stood apart from the troops. The few children who had dared raise their heads, froze when catching sight of it, or started backing away. Luke was beginning to feel dizzy and supposed it was because of the large quantity of water in the atmosphere. His eyelids began to droop and his steps were less steady. He felt like he was going to be sick any moment now and didn't feel like there was anything he could do about it. Somehow, he doubted the men dressed in white would help him very much. He did wish it wouldn't happen in front of the black clad figure – now that would be embarrassing! Too late he recognized the discomfort for what it truly was, his danger alarm. Looking over his shoulder he saw Trek get up, grab a blaster from an unsuspecting Stormtrooper and point it at him. Without giving it a second thought, Luke did the first thing that came to him and turned sharply to the left, so he was hidden behind the large frame of the caped man. The movement had been too abrupt and he tried to steady himself as well as his erratic breathing, while gripping the man's cape with one hand, the other holding tightly to his leg. When he realized what he was doing, Luke let go, feeling stupid and embarrassed. How could he have thought that Trek was aiming for him? He was nobody. He was just Luke, and by the way the troops had frozen and were now looking at him, he was in big trouble. His mind repeated the moments he had missed while daydreaming: Vader's inquires about the men, the order to terminate them - the reason for Trek's sudden awakening.

Without something to hold on to, his knees gave out and he fainted.