Chapter Four--On the Lam
"So now," Beru said to Luke later that day, "You and I are on the lam. We have a whole spectrum of people we need to avoid: your mother, your father, the Emperor, Obi-Wan, the rest of the Knights, the Jedi Extermination Squads, the Imperials--the list, if I do say so myself, is endless."
They were sitting in a passenger cabin of the tramp freighter *Ayidaman*. Beru had chosen it over more conventional transport, because she wished to leave as little trail as possible. It was also cheaper. But there were drawbacks. It was dangerous at times, and she would have to choose her spots carefully. She did not want to avoid the Imperials only to be sold to slavers. She had sensed that the captain of the *Ayidaman* was honest, or at least honest enough for her purposes.
The freighter was on a not-very-predictable route through the Middle Rim. Beru suspected that its captain and crew were smuggling on the side, but that was not her concern, unless they were maladroit at it. Boardings by the authorities would not suit her purpose; she could not afford to endanger herself or the baby. Her assessment of the captain of the freighter reassured her, though. Captain Trarch was a stolid, laconic man, and he did not appear to be a gambler, unless the odds favoured him by a good, long margin. He had accepted her money, and had not asked to see her papers. Though the fare he had asked was greater than scale, she noted. He knows something is up, she thought, but he doesn't consider the risk to himself great enough to turn down the money. Her failure to protest the higher fare probably confirmed his suspicions, but they needed to depart Nineveh quickly, and she did not feel like arguing. She and Luke had been allotted a cabin, small, dusty, and rather hot, but tolerable. Beru settled in. The crew were polite, but distant. Like their captain, they were not talkative.
But Beru did not know what Amidala would do, and she felt anxious about it. If she came after them, she would have to abandon her daughter to do so. Beru doubted that she would go that far--*if* she were in her right mind. If Dr. Sydos had more backbone, she might have relied upon him to prevent her, but Beru knew that he would not openly intervene. She hoped that Amidala would summon Obi-Wan to deal with it instead. She sighed. The political situation was desperate, and she doubted that he would be able to respond immediately. If so, she and Luke might be on the run for rather a long time.
The baby appeared quite content with his new situation, which rather surprised her. She had supposed that he would view their flight with anxiety, but he appeared calm, as long as he was within her orbit. The crew did not ask questions about him, but they had, to Beru's surprise, produced an array of children's toys for his amusement. They had offered these to her rather off-handedly, but she noticed the majority of the crew managed to be in the vicinity to see how their gift was received. She knew the drill; she thanked them profusely and they had been pleased.
Beru hoped to disembark on one of the Middle Rim planets on the freighter's route, but there was always some problem: political instability, Squad activity, Imperial interest, unsuitable culture, lousy weather. She wondered if she was afraid to leave the security of the *Ayidaman*. Probably. She knew that they would have to make the jump soon.
In the end, the decision was made for her. They had landed on Mycolo, a planet that she soon deemed unsuitable. It was run by huge agricultural concerns. The only city was small, and she feared that she and Luke would be too noticeable. She was heading back to the freighter when she encountered Captain Trarch. He was carrying her luggage on her back. Beru's stomach lurched.
He said, "I'm glad I caught you."
"Trouble?" Beru asked anxiously.
He nodded. "Imperials. They asked us if we had any passengers. I said no. They searched us anyway. The crew cleared your stuff out and hid it off-ship before they reached your cabin."
He put the luggage down. He dug in his pocket, and produced an object. Beru flushed. It was her light saber. He offered it to her. "You need to be more careful. If it had been a Squad, we couldn't have helped you."
Beru took it. "Thank you for your help," she said numbly.
He smiled thinly. "We don't want to be caught transporting Jedi. A good way to get your licence revoked, and your ship impounded."
Beru was silent. There was a good bounty being offered by the Empire to those who turned in fugitive Jedi. The Captain knew it as well as anybody. But she knew better than to mention it.
The Captain was offering her something else. Automatically, Beru took it. She realized that it was her fare. She looked at him. He avoided her eyes.
"No-you earned this-"
He said, "You're going to need every credit you've got before you're through." He stared at the air above her head, "I've got kids myself-so do most of my crew. We won't say anything."
He handed her a folded paper. "This is the address of a local inn. They know me there. You can stay there for a couple of days. Then take the regular shuttle service to Mykonos. It's still in this system, but it's a better bet for a longer stay. That's the best I can do for you."
"I don't know why you would do this much."
"Not everybody believes the propaganda the Imps are spreading about the Jedi. But some people do, and others are greedy, so you want to be careful." He smiled at her, and ruffled Luke's hair. "Take care of the little guy, will you? The crew wanted me to bring his toys. They're packed with the rest of your things."
They shook hands, and with a wave, the Captain disappeared into the crowd. Beru felt chastened. She *had* been careless. It hadn't been disastrous, through sheer luck, but she would have do better in the future.
The inn Captain Trarch recommended proved to be much like the *Ayidaman,* clean, but not fancy, with something that hinted at discretion. The proprietors accepted them without comment after she mentioned the Captain's name. She decided to follow his advice and they took the regular shuttle to Mykonos a day later. There were no searches on the inter-system shuttles; at least, not yet.
Looking back, Beru was never certain when her plans changed. At first, they had been simple: run for it and stay lost until Ben Kenobi returned to sort out the mess. No problem. Let *him* do the heavy lifting. Gradually, she began to realize that it might not be that simple. Suppose, for instance, that Ben did not believe her? Suppose he refused to believe that Amidala was a danger to her own son? Suppose she was accused of kidnaping? Assault, abduction, and theft. Great. I've never done anything like this before, Beru thought. Now I'm in trouble for sure. She had not really meant to stun Amidala, but the overwhelming fear she had felt from the baby had changed her mind. Luke had no illusions about his mother; he had known that he was in trouble.
Then there were other considerations. Like giving Luke back to his mother under any circumstances was quickly becoming a less and less viable option. He had decided that Beru was his mother. End of discussion, as far as he was concerned. And she was reluctantly beginning to agree with him. He was a high-maintenance child, and in her opinion needed full-time attention. He would never get that from Amidala, even if she overcame her fear and dislike of him; obviously the little girl was her favoured child. His mother hated him, his father was out of the question, and Obi-Wan's record at raising children was not encouraging. Would Amidala consider her as a possible foster parent? She doubted that swift stun blast she had given the young Queen would help her cause there. She had also reluctantly concluded that relying upon Obi-Wan to back her against Amidala was a mistake. Males, when faced with the young monarch of Naboo, tended not to think in straight lines. Luke was the exception there. Amidala's antipathy toward him was fully reciprocated. His mood had lightened as soon as they left Nineveh, and the exit from his mother's vicinity appeared to cheer him up immediately. The last of his colic disappeared, he gained more weight, and because of Amidala's rigorous separation of the children since their birth, he appeared not to miss his twin, either. He reveled in Beru's full attention.
She couldn't help it: she had become fond of him. She couldn't say why. Once his health problems cleared up, he had become an attractive enough child, though not in his sister's league. At first his definite resemblance to his father had disturbed her, but after awhile, she ceased to notice it--he looked like himself. A small, rather thin baby, was pale straight hair, pale eyes, pale complexion. She had even stopped noticing the Force in him so much: when content, he didn't throw tantrums. But her presence was necessary for his contentment. She learned this the hard way. A single attempt to leave Luke with a babysitter had proved a disaster.
His mother had left her mark, for he was leery of strangers, tolerating them only when held by Beru. He tormented the unfortunate babysitter, howling at the top of his lungs during the whole of Beru's absence. Beru sensibly concluded that day-care was not an option.
This placed her in a dilemma. She had some carefully hoarded money, but it would not last forever. She had to therefore get a job. Luckily, she did have some useful training. She had qualified as a slicer, and had kept it up while with the Knights. Luke, however, was still breast feeding, and the thought of trying to wean him at this juncture made Beru wince. It would have to be a job where she could take him with her.
Then there was the problem of their lack of papers. Beru had a fake passport, nothing very fancy, but Luke had nothing, not even a birth certificate. Neither Obi-Wan nor Amidala had registered the children's birth. She had bought some high-grade computer time and altered her passport to include Luke. Not very well, but then forgery was not her area of expertise. So far no one had challenged her about the baby. If people see a small fair-haired woman carrying a small fair-haired child around, she thought, they assume said child is hers. Beru did not deceive herself regarding the consequences should they encounter a Jedi Extermination Squad. But so far, the Squads had concentrated on the Core Worlds and the Inner Rim. That would not last forever.
There were plenty of refugees from the Clone Wars about. It was easy enough to blend in. Beru told people that she was a war widow. No one questioned her story. No one doubted her when she said Luke was her son. But already Beru noticed that the Empire was tightening its grip. In certain places, stricter controls were being instituted. She would soon need better papers, a better story, a place to hide. She hid her light saber in inspections.
Finally there was an insidious little voice in her head--why go back at all? To face Amidala's retribution, and Obi-Wan's recriminations? To a situation that showed no sign of change and increasingly frustrated her? To face the Extermination Squads? Why not keep going? Find a place of her own. She hadn't had one since she was seventeen. She could take Luke with her. Why not? His mother didn't want him, but she did. Why lie to herself? She liked having a child of her own. Luke was a lot of trouble, yes, but oddly enough, Beru was happier than she could remember being in a long, long time. It was a complete change from her old life.
She grinned to herself. All she needed to do to obtain child care advice was stand in a line-up. Other women invariably commented on the baby, and were delighted if she asked their opinions on child-care matters. It beat holo-vids, and was a lot cheaper, too. Beru repeated her cover story so often, she had almost begun to believe it herself.
On the short-term, they could manage. But on the long-term? Could she raise Luke by herself? And where would they go? She was a space-brat and had no home planet. Her mother come from Alderaan, her father from Fektiz. She held citizenship on both planets. She felt Alderaan was too risky. It would be a prime target for the Squads. Fektiz was a Middle Rim planet, with a small trading zone, and vast stretches of territory under an interdict, due to hard-bomb contamination during the Wars. No place for baby, for one, and too hard to hide in, for another.
"Where shall we go?" she asked Luke. "Any ideas?" She had formed the habit of talking to him as though he were an adult. He didn't seem to mind, and even appeared to understand her conversation at times. Either that, or she was going spacey. His background was no help. He had been born on Nineveh, but that was obviously not an option. Naboo, his mother's planet was equally out of the question. She recalled that Anakin was from one of the Outer Rim planets--Tatooine, she thought. The same one as Ben. It was something--and not the only thing, alas--they had in common. Not a good idea, either. Beru sighed. "It's credit-flipping time, my child," she said to Luke, who laughed.