I still need a beta. (Revised 3/26/05)

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Fifteen-year old Luke Skywalker walked back to the house, brushing the dust off of his tunic, but the formerly white tunic now was permanently engrained with the fine sand of the desert planet Tatooine. He had been working on a moisture vaporator that was located more than a mile away from the Lars homestead for the third time that week, and it seemed that his live only consisted of walking back and forth from the house to the stupid vaporator. While he still wanted a speeder, weeks like that made him almost delirious for his own transportation, but he still could not afford it, even after four years of saving up his allowances. Uncle Owen did have his own speeder, but the machine was twenty years old and it was so slow that it felt that droids could move faster than the old machine. Owen would only take it to the farthest reaches of the farm. If the old, decrepit thing still worked, which it did not always do. Owen had let Luke pilot it once, but it had overheated so badly that it was in the shop for three weeks. How was Luke supposed to know not to take it above a walking pace?

Trudging through the small dunes, Luke snorted furiously as a small gust sent dust flying all around him, wrapping around him like a cyclone. Great, he thought, just what I need. Now there is even more dust on my clothes. Up ahead, barely a quarter of a mile, he could see the power generator above the house glittering in the heat. As he went closer, he noticed that Aunt Beru seemed to be waiting for him. Why would she be standing out in the heat waiting for him? He was not late and he had not done anything lately to get him in trouble—not serious trouble anyway. All he did was play some games with his emergency money.

As Luke approached his aunt, she said nothing, just turned around and walked down towards the house. Luke stood there a moment stunned. Was she truly that angry? She had never given him the silent treatment before. And what were a few credits for some games? She had told him once to take some money every time he went very far, just in case he needed to contact her for some reason. He was supposed to put the money back when he returned, but he never did. She knew about that though…did she not? He realized that she was almost inside and that he should be following.

Luke ran quickly down the stairs and followed his aunt inside the kitchen. The cool air was like balm on his tanned skin. While he may have been raised on the planet, sometimes the heat still got to him. Aunt Beru sat down heavily on a chair in the kitchen. He pulled up a chair next to her. "What is it, Aunt Beru?" he asked, almost afraid of what she would say. She had a troubled expression on her face.

"Luke," she began sounding more afraid than angry. Aunt Beru was afraid? She had never sounded afraid before, even during the Tusken Raider attack several years earlier. "Your uncle was attacked on his way back from the northern vaporators this morning. He's fine," she said, holding up a hand to stop him from asking, "but you can't go to school for the next couple days. You'll need to work the southern and western vaporators till he's better. I'll be in charge of the northern and eastern sections. It might be a week or so before your uncle can work again. You're also in charge of getting the supplies from Anchorhead. We're okay for today and tomorrow, but you'll have to get supplies after that, okay?"

Luke just sat there stunned. He felt horrible. He had wanted a speeder, but not like this. What if Uncle Owen did not get better soon? He would have to work on the farm and would not be able to go to school. If he did not finish school he could not go to the Academy in a couple of years. He would have to be a farmer!

"No!" he cried, his possible fate scaring him more than the thought of Tusken Raiders. Beru had gotten up to prepare some food for Owen, but turned around at the shout. She came over to him.

"What is it, Luke?" she asked soothingly, gently smoothing his hair.

Panic-stricken eyes looked up into calm eyes. He was going to say he did not want to be a farmer, but he just could not say it, not to her face. He felt like a coward. "I hope Uncle gets better," he managed to force out. Beru smiled knowingly and patted his hand.

"Don't worry, honey," Beru said tranquilly. "He'll be alright in a week or so."

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This was not Luke's idea of fun. For the last five days all he had done was fix the same errors in the moisture vaporators over and over again. Or, if he was not fixing a stupid moisture vaporator, he was piloting the galaxy's slowest speeder over the desert trying to get to another broken or old vaporator that decided this was the time to stop working properly. Oh, what he would give for a speeder that actually worked and worked all the time!

With another twist of the hydrospanner, the last vaporator of the day was done. Of course other vaporators needed repair, but he still had to go to Anchorhead to get supplies. Nothing could be compared to the joy of flying more than two hours one way just to get a day's worth of supplies, thought Luke sarcastically. He hopped into the speeder and carefully started the engine, being careful not to accelerate the engine so it would not overheat again. A minute later, Luke was puttering across the desert. He passed several other settlements and farms, but after an hour it was only empty desert as far as the eye could see. He wanted nothing more than to soar across the desert as fast as possible, but having the speeder break down and being stranded was not worth it. He passed several Banthas about an hour later. Finally, he saw the outskirts of Anchorhead.

Anchorhead was considered to be a city even though it only had about 15,000 inhabitants, mainly because of its trade and economic capabilities. It was not nearly as notorious as Mos Eisley, but it still was not the safest place for a fifteen year old boy to be. Every once in a while, Storm Troopers for Mos Eisley would have to come in to remove the more dangerous criminals that threatened the local economy, but they soon left again. Luke made it through the city in fifteen minutes. He parked the landspeeder at a respectable location and started making his way through the city. He quickly got the supplies from the usual dealers, promising the usual harvest payment, since, like most farmers, the Lars had little money to spare through most of the year. Once his shopping was done, he made his way back to his speeder.

Then he saw it: glimmering red in the sunlight, the newest speeder available flew directly in front of him. The SYG-2088, the fastest and most powerful speeder yet that was not controlled by the Imperial Navy. It also was the most expensive. Luke thought enviously as it turned a corner by him, It must cost at least 35,000 credits. That's what Uncle Owen's had cost when it was new. He could only dream of that amount of money. Luke stood transfixed as he saw it pass him. A young man, wearing the fashion worn in Mos Eisley, was piloting.

Oh, what would he give…

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There we go! That was this chapter! Okay, let's see. Luke has his temptation, and his weak mindedness when it comes to money is apparent. I wonder what he'll do in the next chapter?