Chapter 12: Jundland Wastes

Far into the horizon where the Great Chott salt flats ends, the ragged hills and mountains which among the locals is called Jundland Wastes begins. Nobody really knows what is in there, but it is generally accepted that the land is one of Tuskens and krayt dragons and not a place where any sensible human being (or any other being) in their right mind would set their foot.

The small ship flew low over the salt flat in a low speed that barely was able to keep them up. Bant had a very concentrated frown on her face. She knew so very well that she was no Obi-Wan Kenobi when it came to flying, and even more far from being a Garen Muln. But neither she nor her Master were certain about Chirrut's abilities to manoeuvre the ship in cramped spaces. They knew he had some connection to the Force but they weren't sure how far it went.

Letting Tahl do the piloting seemed like an even worse idea. In her youth she had been a good pilot and in open space she could still do it well, but landing a ship in a valley surrounded by steep mountain sides…? They weren't too sure how that would end. Using the Force was all well and good but some old fashioned sight surely wasn't a disadvantage given the circumstances.

"Take her up a bit," Chirrut instructed as he sat bent over a section of the holomap. "We should go in over that pass but we need to get above the mountains."

"Above!" he repeated with some stress in his voice when Bant was too slow at reacting for his likings.

They made it. Barely.

"Keep above the mountains," Tahl instructed as well, "you're not participating in a pod-race, Padawan mine."

"As if I ever would," Bant hissed between clenched teeth.

And just as that they were over the pass, over the mountains and the valley they had seen on the holomap stretched out before them.

"Down, before we end up in no man's land," Chirrut ordered.

"This is no man's land," Bant retorted dryly. "Can you see any welcoming Tuskens or krayts or other beings down there?"

"Nope."

"Then this is as good place as any, and we should be fairly close to 'it' whatever it is I saw," Bant said and set the ship down with a soft movement that surprised herself most of soft humming of the engines tuned out and everything became quiet.

"Well done, Padawan," Tahl praised. "I knew you could do it. You're a better pilot than you give yourself credit for."

"Thanks, Master. Do you think I can go outside here?"

"Give it a try," Tahl agreed, "you felt it quickly enough near the homestead so you should get the answer as soon as we open the hatch. If it's too bad you just have to remain indoors here as well."

Bant nodded unhappily, knowing well that her Master had a valid point. She just…wanted to see her finding with her own eyes.

The hatch opened and the three of them stepped out into open air. Here, up in the mountains the air was surprisingly fresh. It was almost as a normal planet. Bant checked her gills and skin thoroughly. No itching. No clogging.

"I can do it," she said with a broad grin, "the salt concentration isn't high enough to bother me here."

"Good," Tahl said, " and squeezed her shoulders fondly, "we wouldn't have liked to have you sitting caged in the ship again."

During this exchange of pleasantries Chirrut had kept quiet, staring at a form about half a klick in front of them.

"It's there," he said, "it's really there, and it is a ship. Or a capsule. Or something like that."

Bant looked up. For the first few moment she had been to concerned about the physical environment to really see, but now she saw it too. What had seemingly been too small for being a ship when they looked at the holomap, now bore a striking resemblance to a small spaceship. it seemed like it had once upon a time plunged into the packed soil and now about two third of it could be seen above the ground. Seen from space it had seemed even smaller due to the angle the images in the holomap had been taken from. The high grass and some rugged stones around it hadn't helped much either.

They approached carefully. The grass seemed to be stepped down around the ship but as much as both Bant and Tahl reached out into the Force they couldn't feel any living beings close. Except the krayts. Tahl could feel the presence of the giant animals but they were reasonably far from the valley and didn't feel upset or angry. More tired and relaxed.

They slowly, almost reverently, went around the ship. Easily done, since it was so small. On the other side they could see some fine lines in the dull metallic grey hull. A hatch?

"Do you think it's…Anera's?" Bant whispered.

"It surely seems old enough," Chirrut commented. "I've read a bit about ships in the archives and you can see this old fashioned welding between the plates. They haven't been doing it this way for centuries, that much is certain."

Bant couldn't resist. She approached the ship and touched the hatch.

"It seems so…intact. I wonder if we can open it?"

Tahl nodded pensively. "If it has been resting here for centuries I assume it should be safe. Someone has been here recently and there were many of them, so I guess it cannot be too dangerous. At least they were alive so they could leave again."

Bant chuckled. This was Tahl's well known dry sense of humor, that much was certain. Carefully she laid her hand on the hatch. Nothing happened. As, she had to admit, expected. She hadn't supposed it would magically open after centuries half buried in the soil, but again - she had to try.

"It's locked."

"Or maybe just stuck," Chirrut encouraged.

A new attempt gave the same result. The hatch didn't move at all.

"Let me try," Tahl said softly, and knelt down beside the small vessel. Her hands moved lightly over the ancient hull and found the contours of the hatch. The two youths hardly dared to breath. Then a slight movement could be felt in the metal, hardly more than a vibration, and the hatch opened partly.

"Wow," Bant exclaimed, very unjedilike."It's open."

"At least partly," Tahl confirmed. "I don't think I can get it fully open without making too much marks in the ground and I think we shouldn't leave too many traces.

Bant nodded, and peeked in.

"It's dark," she stated, quite superfluous. "But I can see a capsule inside. Hopefully there is no-one inside. It is open."

"Can any of you get inside?" Tahl asked. "I'm sure I cannot get through the opening."

The two youths looked at each other, doubtfully.

"You're the smallest," Chirrut said mournfully, clearly wanting to be the one entering the ancient ship.

"I think I can manage," Bant agreed reluctantly. "Yes, I can do it. Besides, my eyes are more adapted to darkness than yours."

And with that she wriggled through the narrow opening.

Tahl and Chirrut could hear her muffled voice from inside.

"No, nobody here, fortunately. The cylinder is totally empty, but it seems almost like a bed. There is a small kitchenette behind it. Not much though. Seems like the cylinder has worked like a sleeping place for the space traveller. There are some tubes going into it so I assume oxygen could be fed into it while the ship was in space to save the air cleaning system from re-oxygenizing more than necessary. And…oh….."

Her voice trailed off.

"What?" Tahl asked anxiously, "Are you OK?"

"I…yes….but there is a small ragdoll here. Seems like something a child would have brought with her. " Bant's voice was quivering slightly by the thought of the child who had abandoned it's best friend inside the ship.

"Or a young girl evacuated from her family and home planet," Tahl said thoughtfully.

They could hear Bant moving around inside the ship and felt the vibrations when she climbed over the capsule and up to what would have been the rear end of the ship.

"Be careful," Tahl admonished.

"I am! I just thought I saw something partly hidden up here. Ah, yes, I was right. There it is. Get out of my way, I'm returning to daylight with today's catch."

And with that she rather ungracefully backed out of the hatch with a small notebook in her hand.

"Look what I found. The dry desert air must have preserved it to some extent."

"If that is Anera's book that family really must have been a family of writers," Chirrut grumbled, but the dry comment didn't do anything to hide the broad grin on his face.

"Let's return to our own ship and see if we can translate whatever that is written in it," Tahl agreed, "just let me close this hatch again."