Chapter 11: Local Investigations
If Bant had been unhappy about Mos Eisley, the Great Chott salt flat didn't to much to improve her opinion of Tatooine. They had landed their ship a fair distance from one of the moisture farms close to the salt flat. In theory that would give them less chance of being detected by prying eyes, though Tahl wasn't entirely sure about the choice. They might be out of sight for humans, but she wasn't too convinced about the infamous Tuskens, though. Yet, there had been no life signs outside the farm when they approached so they decided to give it a try.
They'd barely set their feet on the dry soil when Bant notices her skin itching more than she'd ever experienced in her whole life.
"Kriff it," she muttered.
"I beg your pardon?" Tahl said, exquisitely polite.
"I'm itching and my skin seems to change."
"How so?"
"I don't know, it's more red than usual and it seems to be crackling a bit."
"You stay," Tahl decided. "It must be the salt in the air. Your skin is made for an aquatic environment and the amount of salt particles flowing with the sand here must be irritating. We don't have protective gear for you so stay with the ship and if you can, try to check the maps over the area and see if you can find…something. Chirrut and I can visit the farm. Actually we may look less threatening if there's only two of us."
"But…" Bant tried.
"No but's. You stay. I do not want to return with a crackled Padawan who looks like she's as old as Master Yoda."
The thought almost made Bant laugh, so reluctantly she agreed and retreated into the relative comfort of their ship. Tahl and Chirrut continued towards the homestead they'd seen from the air.
…
The homestead was not overly large seen from ground level but Tahl could sense there was more about it than what met the eye. Good thing hers didn't function then.
"It's a dome," Chirrut explained. "I've read about it. Most of the rooms are actually underground to try to keep the heat at bay. It keeps the heat out during daytime and has an insulating effect towards the night chill in the desert during nights."
Tahl knew the concept very well from several worlds she'd been to through the years but she let the boy finish his explanation anyway. Then she felt him tense beside her, and she felt another, more distant presence.
"Let me guess," she said softly, "we've got a committee coming to greet us?"
"Not really, but there is a man with a blaster," Chirrut explained unhappily, "and he does not seem happy to see us."
"Likely not," Tahl agreed, "people living out here tends to be reserved towards strangers. It's a dangerous place."
"Hello there," she called in the man's direction, and she could feel the tiniest bit of his hostile demeanour soften.
"Hello," a deep voice answered.
"No need for weapons," she said, "my young friend and I don't want to harm you in any way. We'd just like to know a bit about the area. Do you live here?"
"Yes," the man answered carefully.
"He's lowering the blaster," Chirrut whispered.
"I am Tahl Uvain," Tahl said calmly, "and my friend here is Chirrut Îmwe. We're sent from an archive, investigating an old story that should have it's origin from this area. It's basically a myth from centuries ago, but we try to find if it has some founding in real events."
"Nah, not many fairytales around here as far as I know," the man laughed softly. "But my wife may know more about it. She likes to read in the evenings."
"May we talk to your wife?" Tahl asked politely.
The man hesitated for a moment and then he shrugged.
"You seem more polite than most beings around here. I guess it's OK. At least you asked first."
He stretched out a rough work hardened hand towards Tahl and greeted her: "I'm Cliegg Lars and this is my family's homestead for years back. My wife, Aika, is indoors trying to get our son to sleep. He has a fever, but nothing critical."
"Pleased to meet you, Mr. Lars," Tahl said.
A rumbling laughter came from the man: "We're not so formal out here. Cliegg will do fine."
He led them towards the buildings that made up the homestead. Two domed buildings, likely a building for living and some technical building was placed next to a courtyard. The domes cast a welcome shadow over a part of the courtyard. A rather narrow staircase made from sand stone led to the inner quarters of the living dome.
"Aika," Cliegg called softly. "We have guests."
Shortly after a young pale woman looking surprisingly fragile, appeared from a corridor. Brown, curly hair was tied back in a neat bun from which some strands of hair tried to escape. She looked at the guests with a quizzical expression in her face.
"This is Tahl and Chirrut," Cliegg informed her, "they're searching for the origin of a myth from this area. Have you ever read anything about it?"
"What kind of myth?" Aika asked. "There are several, from different ages. Please have a seat and maybe some water and tell me more about what you're searching for."
Tahl and Chirrut gratefully did as they were told, and Tahl re-told the story she's heard from the old man on the market square.
Aika nodded slowly: "Ah, yes. The warrior queen. That is definitely a local myth. She was said to come from the mountains in the Wastes. Nobody knew who she was, only that it was said she was human. Nobody believed it, of course. A human couldn't have survived among the Tuskens, so most likely she was a female Tusken of origin. It's said that she gathered the Tusken tribes and made them stop fighting each other. Then she gathered forces and went towards Mos Eisley with her warriors. Some say she wanted to gather all the people on Tatooine to one people. Others are convinced they wanted to plunder the city. Nobody knows for sure, of course."
"That's more or less what the man on the market place said too," Chirrut chimed in, a bit disappointed.
"I'm sorry that I couldn't be of more help," Aika said softly. "However, the stories says she came from somewhere around the Krayt pass. It's a narrow canyon leading into the mountains. We never go there 'cause that's where the krayt dragons breed and it's not considered healthy to disturb them in breeding season. Actually it's not healthy to disturb them at all."
"I'd say you're right," Tahl agreed, "thanks anyway. At least we learned that she came from this area, if she ever existed at all. When we heard about her in the city we assumed that it might be a local story only, but after what you've told us it seems more likely that she's actually existed once."
And with that they bid their hosts goodbye.
…
Bant felt slightly embarrassed. She'd never thought that it would be physically impossible for her to go on such a simple mission. Tahl's comforting words about lack of protection gear didn't help much in that matter, but as she had no real choice she settled down with holomaps over the area. They were slightly boring to say the least. The open salt flat stretched out widely before her, even more boring on the map than in reality. She moved the map towards the distant mountain range where Jundland Wastes was.
The mountains formed a wide arc towards the salt flat and rose quite steeply from it. About mid-way in the arc Bant could see a discontinuity in the rocks. She zoomed in more, and moved the center of the map to see the landscape beyond the discontinuity. A rather narrow valley opened and twisted and turned among steep hills and mountains. Bant followed it, carefully noticing any irregularities she could see in the cliffs.
"This would have been soooo much easier if I'd knew what I was looking for, " she complained to herself.
And then she saw it. Deep inside the valley where the canyon opened up to a surprisingly wide plain she saw the 'something' Tahl had asked to look for. Or at least she saw 'something'. She had no idea what it could be but it didn't follow the shapes of the nature surrounding it. It seemed to be more…symmetric and shimmering. Even on the map she could see that whatever it was reflected the sun. It was too small to be a ship or even an escape pod, but it definitely seemed to be something that didn't belong there. She made a new attempt on zooming in but then the 'something' turned into a blurry blob.
They would have to go there. Definitely. She was almost sure that their small ship would be able to land nearby the construction.
….
Tahl was surprised and definitely happy when she heard about Bant's findings. While Chirrut eagerly bent over the holomap and agreed that there was something deep into the mountains, Tahl made the decision.
"I do not like what Lars said about the Krayt dragons, but if we can land close to the whatever it is, it should be safe enough. We can take off pretty fast if we have to and get outside the reach of the Krayts. I'd say we check this one too before we return home."
The two youths agreed eagerly.