"It just isn't fair." Chris said as he retrieved a box of cleaning tools from a shelf in the garage. "Paul was right. I'm never gonna get out of here."
"Is there anything I might do to help, sir?" A-10 inquired from his place in the corner. His robes had been washed and he'd taken a much needed bath.
"Not unless you can alter time, speed up the harvest, or teleport me off this rock." Chris answered sarcastically.
"I don't think so, sir." A-10 said, not really understanding the sarcasm. "I'm only a student and not very knowledgeable about such things. Well, not in this system anyway. As a matter of fact, I'm not even sure which system I'm in."
"Well, if there's a bright center to the universe you're in the system that it's farthest from. " Chris explained bitterly.
"I see, sir."
"You can call me Chris."
"I see, sir Chris."
"Just Chris." Chris said with a small laugh.
"Oh." A-10 replied, slightly miffed. "And I am A-10dr, human-student relations. And this is my counterpart, Tim2-Sax2."
"Hello." Chris responded casually as he started to clean Tim2's sax. "This horn's pretty banged up. It looks like you boys have seen a lot of action."
"With all we've been through, sometimes I'm amazed we're still living. What with the rebellion and all." A-10 commented, almost to himself.
At these words Chris jumped up, his tools completely forgotten.
"You were with the Brass against the Empire?!" he asked, shocked.
"That's how we came to be in your services. If you take my meaning, sir."
"Have you been in many battles?" Chris asked excitedly, completely forgetting that he'd told A-10 not to call him sir.
"Several, I think. Actually there's not much to tell. I'm not much more than an interpreter, and not very good at telling stories. Well, nothing of any interest anyway."
"Oh." Chris said, clearly disappointed. He knelt next to Tim2 once more to finish his work.
"Well my little friend." Chris grunted as he reached down into the bell of the sax, only to find that there was something blocking it. "You've got something jammed in here real good. Were you on a cloud case or a-" Chris started to ask, but he was interrupted yet again.
Chris had flipped a hidden switch on the object in the sax bell, which happened to be a holographic projector. The tiny projector emitted a high-pitched whine. Chris jumped back just as the holographic image of a young woman appeared out of the bell.
"Help me, Jason Kenobi. You're my only hope." the woman said. She continued to repeat the plea, as if the recording was broken somehow.
"What's this?" Chris asked, shocked for the second time that day.
"What is what?" A-10 said, trying to speak to Tim2. "He asked you a question. What is that?"
After a few beeps from Tim2, A-10 gave his answer.
"Oh, he says it's nothing, sir. Merely a malfunction, old data. Pay it no mind."
Chris stared at the image, mesmerized.
"Who is she? She's beautiful."
"I'm afraid I'm not quite sure, air. I think she was a passenger on our last voyage. A person of some importance I believe. Our captain was returning-" A-10 started to say.
"Is there any more of this recording?" Chris asked him.
A-10 turned to ask Tim2 and got a most unusual answer.
"He says that he's the property of Jason Kenobi, a resident of these parts, and it's a private message for him. Quite frankly, sir, I don't know what he's talking about. Our last master was Section Leader Antilles. But with all we've been through, Tim2 has become a bit eccentric."
"Jason Kenobi. I wonder if he means old Ben Kenobi." Chris said aloud.
"I beg your pardon, sir. Do you know what he's talking about?" A-10 asked.
"Well…I don't know anyone named Jason." Chris said, climbing to his feet. "But old Ben lives out beyond the Dune Sea. He's kind of a strange old Baritone."
Chris paced a bit before turning back to the image.
"I wonder who she is. It sounds like she's in trouble. I'd better play back the whole thing." Chris said as he reached for Tim2's sax. But Tim2 backed away when Chris came near. He let out a stream of warning whistles.
"Behave yourself, tim2. You're going to get us into trouble. It's all right. You can trust him. He's our new master." A-10 chided the younger student.
Tim2 beeped a quick explanation.
"He says that the neck strap you gave him has short-circuited his tenor sax. He suggests that if you remove the strap, he might be able to play back the entire recording."
"All right. There you go." Chris said, unclipping the strap and pulling it free of Tim2's neck.
But the second the neck strap was away, the young woman vanished into thin air.
"Hey! Wait a minute? Where'd she go?! Bring her back! Play back the entire message!" Chris fumed at the little student.
Tim2 played a few notes of confusion.
"What message?!" A-10 exploded, outraged. "The one you've just been playing! The one you're carrying inside your rusty saxophone!"
"Chris! CHRIS!!" Aunt Courtney's voice suddenly drifted into the garage.
"I'm sorry, sir. But he appears to have picked up a slight flutter." A-10 apologized to Chris.
"Here, see what you can do with him. I'll be right back." Chris said, handing A-10 a pair of pliers and heading for the tunnel.
"Just you reconsider playing that message for him!" A-10 rounded on Tim2 angrily once Chris was out of ear-shot.
Tim2 whistled a question to the taller student.
"No! I don't think he likes you at all." A-10 answered matter-of-factly.
Tim2 beeped yet another question.
"No. I don't like either." A-10 answered.
Tim2 played a small note of sadness before turning away from A-10.
Chris made his way to the kitchen and was met with the uncomfortable silence of his aunt and uncle. He sat down with them at the dinner table and tried to eat his food but he couldn't manage it. There was just too much on his mind. So he finally decided to confess his suspicions to his uncle.
"You know, I think that mechanic student we bought might have been stolen."
"What makes you think that?" Uncle Will asked through a mouthful of food.
"I stumbled across a recording while I was cleaning his sax. He says that he belongs to someone called Jason Kenobi."
At these words Will and Courtney shared a secret glance of concern.
"I thought he might have meant old Ben. Do you know what he's talking about?"
"Mm-mm." Will answered, shaking his head.
"I wonder if he's related to Ben." Chris said to himself.
"That woodsy is just a crazy old man. Tomorrow I want you to take that student to Bell Station and have its memory erased. That'll be the end of it. He belongs to us now." Will said sternly.
"What if this Jason comes looking him?"
"He won't. I don't think he exists anymore. He died about the same time as your father."
"He knew my father?" Chris asked, looking up in surprise.
"I told you to forget it." Will said, giving Chris a reprimanding look. "The only concern is to prepare those new students for tomorrow. In the morning I want them in the south field working on those condensers."
Chris bowed his head. But he eventually looked up again with another question in his eyes.
"I think those new students are gonna work out fine. In fact I- I was also thinking about our agreement. About me staying on another season." Chris said hesitantly.
His guardians stared at him expectantly, waiting for him to continue.
"And if these new students do work out I want to transmit my application to the academy this year." he finished.
"You mean the next semester before the harvest?" Uncle Will asked.
"Sure. There's more than enough students." Chris argued.
"Harvest is when I need you the most. It's only one season more. This year we'll make enough from the harvest, I'll be able to hire some more hands and then you can go to the academy next year. You must understand I need you here." Will tried to explain.
"But it's a whole other year!" Chris protested.
"It's only one more season!" Will said, getting impatient.
"Yeah that's what you said when Paul and Andrew left." Chris complained bitterly as he rose from the table.
"Where are you going?" Aunt Courtney asked him.
"Looks like I'm going nowhere." Chris retorted sarcastically as he headed back down the main tunnel of their underground home. "I gotta go finish cleaning that sax."
Once Chris was out of earshot Courtney turned to her husband.
"Will, he can't stay here forever. Most of his friends have gone. It means so much to him." she said, almost pleading.
"I'll make it up to him next season. I promise." Will answered with a tender glance at his wife.
"Chris just isn't a farmer, Will. He has too much of his father in him." Courtney said with a small laugh.
"That's what I'm afraid of." Will said, all tenderness suddenly gone from his face as his mind drifted back to darker days.
Chris strode into the darkened garage. He looked around for the two students until he found A-10 hidden in a corner.
"What are you doing hiding back here?"
"It wasn't my fault, sir! Please don't fire me!" A-10 pleaded. "I told him not to go but- he's crazy- insane! He kept babbling on about his mission!"
"Oh no." Chris whispered, finally putting two and two together and racing out of the garage.
Chris headed above ground, A-10 hot on his heels. He scanned the horizon for any sign of the small student. The sky was already growing dark.
"That Tim2 has always been a problem. These Woodwind students are getting quite out of hand. Even I can't understand their logic at times." A-10 said, coming up behind Chris.
"How could I be so stupid?! He's nowhere in sight. Blast!" Chris mentally kicked himself as he continued to scan the desert.
"Pardon me, sir. But couldn't we go after him?"
"It's too dangerous with all the Drummers around. We'll have to wait until morning."
"Chris! I'm shutting the power down!" Uncle Will called from the house.
"All right! I'll be there in a few minutes!" Chris shouted back. "Boy, am I gonna get it. You know, that little student is going to cost me a lot of trouble." Chris said to A-10 as they headed back in.
"Oh, he excels at that, sir."
The next morning, as the sun rose over the Littleton desert, Will came out of the hovel calling for his nephew.
"Chris! Chris! CHRIS!!"
Getting no response, Will made his way to the kitchen where he found Courtney making breakfast.
"Have you seen Chris this morning?"
"He said he had some things to do before he started today, so he left early." Courtney explained.
"Did he take those two new students with him?"
"I think so."
"Well, he'd better have those units in the south field repaired by mid-day or there'll be hell to pay."