21.
Zo tossed her non-refundable ticket into a waste bin as Mando led her out of the StarPort. Streams of travelers hurrying to and from their docks swerved around them like Mando was an impassable boulder. Zo supposed he was. The tall, broad Bounty Hunter in nearly-indestructible armor went where he wanted and changed course for no one. She wondered if he even noticed the way people avoided him or if it was so routine he stopped registering it.
She hadn't realized she fell behind him, watching him stride through the crowds with unchecked confidence until he glanced over his shoulder and slowed his long strides while she caught up. "I borrowed Peli's speeder," he said, hovering his hand over the small of her back to steer them towards the bike. She relished the warmth radiating from him through her tunic and felt a pang of longing.
"What is it with you and antiques?" She muttered, cringing at the sight of the rusty old bike. "You've got more than enough credits. You could buy something from those idiot street racers. Travel in style for once. Maybe something cherry red with a big muffler, have them paint some flames on the side–"
"Mir'sheb." He muttered, swinging one long leg over the hovering speeder bike. He adjusted his cape so it wouldn't fly into her face, then motioned for Zo to sit. She tightened the straps of her backpack and slid behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist. The sky darkened, street lamps glowed to life, and the more unsavory characters of Mos Eisley slunk out of the growing shadows as they rode back to Peli's. The fortress-like doors rolled up as they neared, then quickly lowered behind them. Peli rushed out of her office, her curly hair even more disarrayed than usual as she ran towards them.
"Oh, thank goodness you're back!" She called.
"Is something wrong with Grogu?" Zo asked as she and Mando got off the speeder.
"Besides that terrible name? Yeah!" Peli shot back. "He won't stop cryin'! Started an hour or two ago and hasn't stopped! I've tried every snack I've got, singin', dancin' …just get him to stop already!" She pleaded, grabbing the frizzled hair strands at her temple and tugging.
Guilt twisted her insides as Zo realized Grogu's hysterics must have started when she purchased her one-way, non-refundable ticket. Mando brushed past both of them with a resigned sigh. They followed the Mandalorian inside Peli's home and towards the sounds of the wailing child.
A cyclone of toys, cookies, map disks, and other detritus flew around Grogu. He stood in the eye of the storm, sobbing, shoulders shaking, fat tears soaking his robes. Mando fought against the gale winds, struggling to get to his Foundling. Toys and blocks bounced off his armor like plastic asteroids. "Kid! Stop!" He yelled into the wind. A great burst of energy rippled out from Grogu, and Mando tumbled across the floor, bouncing off Peli's kitchen counter and then coming to a rest at the woman's feet.
"See! See what I mean!" Peli waved frantically at the scene in front of them. "I've seen temper tantrums— I used to work for Jabba the Hutt— but this is a whole new level!"
Zo took a deep breath as she stepped over Mando's prone form and into the storm of cocoa brownies. She cocked an eyebrow, crossed her arms over her chest, and was more than a little impressed with his control. "Grogu, Padawan, enough of this." She said sternly. He opened one almond-shaped eye and looked at her. "Enough." She repeated. He stopped crying, opened both eyes, and cooed sourly at her. The storm blew out, and snacks and toys fell to the ground as Grogu ran toward her. "I'm sorry, young one. I made a mistake." He blew a raspberry at her as she kneeled in front of him. "That was very impressive. However, if only you would do that during practice and not in the middle of our friend's kitchen." Zo murmured as she scooped him up into her arms.
"Don't encourage him." Mando groaned, pulling himself slowly to his knees.
Peli jumped around Mando and rushed towards the baby, exclaiming, "Oh! Thank the Force!" She pinched his cheeks, and Grogu gave her a tired coo. "You little womp rat, you gave Auntie Peli a run for her credits, didn't you?" Grogu yawned and snuggled into Zo's arms. Peli sighed and clicked her tongue as she surveyed the destruction that used to be her kitchen. "Look at this mess…" she lamented, then put two fingers in her mouth and blew out a shrill whistle. Her gaggle of pit droids tumbled in, followed a few seconds later by the little BD unit. "Alright, let's get this place cleaned up." She ordered. The droids beeped their understanding and scurried off to start cleaning. She noticed Zo's appraising look and wrapped her hands around her hips. "What's with the look?"
Zo shook her head, "That saying: 'thank the Force.' What do you know of the Force?"
"Oh, that!" Peli laughed. "Just something my mom used to say. Her sister- well, she had these talents. She went away when she was really young to get special training with the Jedi…I never did believe what the Empire said about them. The Jedi weren't traitors. Ma tried to help my auntie, but the Empire got to her first." She shook her head, and Zo felt the sorrow ebb out of the usually chirpy woman. "Some of us still remember, remember how it was when they were keepin' the peace….." She tapped the lightsaber hanging from Zo's belt before turning away.
Zo snuggled the yawning baby closer to her chest. "We remember too, don't we, young one."
"Peli, I'm sorry. We'll help get this straightened up." Mando said, toeing an empty box of cheese doodles out of his way.
She waved him off, "Forget about it, Mando. The kid's entitled to his tantrums. Hell, we've all been there." She teetered back on her heels as BD rushed over her toes with a mini dustpan held between his little pincer hands. "Let the droids do the cleaning; it's what I pay 'em for!" She laughed.
"Ah, hell, I almost forgot! I think I found that settlement y'all are lookin' for."
"Mos Pelgo? You found it?"
Peli nodded as she fired up her old computer. "That glitch got me thinking of some stories I heard after the Battle of Endor." She bent down and searched through the mess on the floor until she found a disk and inserted it into the computer. "It was a free for all out here, roaming bandits, Imperial remnants takin' what they wanted, and then the collectives, kriff...I never left the city; hell, I haven't been outside the walls since the Fall…." The viewscreen glowed to life, showing a planetary map of Tatooine. Her fingers flew over the keyboard, and the map zoomed in. "This here is Mos Eisley." She pointed to a section of the map, more flying fingers, and the next settlement came into view. "Here's Mos Espa, and way out here is the Jundland wastes and that glitch you found on the map, Mando."
"Thank you for the geography lesson, Peli, but I still don't see how this helps us find Mos Pelgo." Mando drawled.
Peli scoffed, "These maps are post-Imperial. What if someone paid off the Majordomo to have the maps altered?"
"Who would have the power to do that?" Zo asked.
"There were rumors that the mining collective claimed a few smaller settlements as their own once they realized the Empire wasn't gonna be sending any more credits or workers their way. If they had enough power to wipe out entire settlements, what's a little bribery to cover their tracks?" She inserted another disk into the computer, and a different grainy terrain map of the planet appeared on the screen beside the one they were studying. "I found this disk in the bottom of a box. Mos Eisley, Mos Espa," Peli repeated, pointing to the quadrants they were familiar with. "And way out here…. "
"Mos Pelgo," Zo breathed as the settlement appeared out of the Jundland Wastes. She looked up into Mando's dark T-shaped visor and saw only her sly smile. He sighed, dropped his head, and was quiet for a moment while the Jedi gloated.
"Thank you, Peli," Mando said. "We should go now." He added, looking back to Zo.
"Wait? What? Now?" Peli squawked. "What in the Force do you need to find way out there anyways?"
"There was a Mandalorian sighted in Mos Pelgo. If I can reunite with my people, I can chart a course through the Coverts and get the child and Zo safely back to their kind."
"Ya can't leave now. It's dark. There are acid lizards, the Sarlacc. The dunes are crawling with Sandpeople-"
"I've never had a problem with the Tuskens."
"Ok, well then, how about the mining guild? Those sons of banthas are stone-cold killers, slavers...who knows what they're capable of if they got an entire town wiped off the map. That clunker of yours is gonna be visible miles out. They will shoot you out of the sky…."
Zo placed a calming hand on the other woman's arm. "Then we'll leave at dawn. Take the speeder; go in as non-threatening as possible."
Peli nodded, liking that plan much better. "I can watch the womp rat while you two seek out adventure." Grogu smiled in his sleep as she affectionately rubbed a finger under his chin.
"Thank you for the offer, Peli," Mando said. "But we stay together."
They left early the following day before Tatoo I crested the horizon. Zo had to cajole the extra grumpy baby out of bed and entice him with a stack of Peli's fresh pancakes. He munched on his breakfast with a surly scowl plastered on his little green face while Mando attached the pram to the speeder. Zo found the little BD snoozing on his charging pad and asked him to help find a couple of pairs of sunlight goggles for her and the baby. Peli gave her a jar of an herbally-smelling tincture she promised would prevent sunburn. Zo smeared the cream on the grumpy baby's wrinkly skin.
"He doesn't need those." Mando groused as Zo slipped the goggles over Grogu's big eyes and tucked his robes around his exposed skin. She was worried about the effects of the suns and hot sand. A sunburnt Force-sensitive monster was something she wanted to avoid if at all possible.
"Not all of us are wearing temperature-controlled armor, Mando," Zo replied, smearing the cream onto her face and neck, then slipped her goggles over her eyes.
He mounted the speeder. "My armor isn't temperature controlled," he replied as Zo clambered on behind him and got comfortable.
"Must get pretty kriffing hot under all that steel." She said, scooting close to him, her legs pressing against his hips, arms once more wrapping around his waist.
"Sometimes."
The DUM droids once again raised the bay doors to the garage, and they took off towards the city walls then the vast Jundland Wastes beyond. As the suns rose, the scurrying creatures that thrived in the cool darkness of the dunes burrowed back into the sand. They rode past roving herds of wild banthas and giant ronto. More than once, Din suddenly changed course, avoiding something only the thermal sensors in his helmet could detect. Zo glanced back over her shoulder once and saw a four-armed sand ape climb out of the swirling sand and attempt to give chase. She didn't look back again.
A dusty ragtag group of weather-beaten buildings appeared in the dunes like a mirage just as the suns coasted to the meridian. Mando slowed the speeder as they approached the settlement. The few people caught unaware outside quickly ducked into the nearest building.
"Anyone going to try and kill us?" Mando asked as he parked the speeder outside a saloon.
Zo closed her eyes and concentrated on sensing for threats. She shook her head after a moment. "I don't think so. But I do sense mistrust and fear. A lot of fear…." She said, opening her eyes and peering at the old buildings.
"How about giant spiders?" He asked, helping her off the bike.
Her lips twitched with a smile. "No. But I'm pretty sure there's a nest of steelpeckers in that old grain silo."
Mando looked to the silo, one hand surreptitiously sliding to the blaster on his hip. "What the fuck are those?"
"Giant vultures that eat metal," Zo answered, unbuckling Grogu from his pram and setting him on her hip. "Beskar's probably a delicacy."
"I'd like to see them try to eat my Beskar'gam," Mando muttered. "I'll shove a thermal detonator down its throat, see if they like the taste of that."
She laughed at his surliness as she removed the goggles from Grogu and checked the baby for sunburn. "Come on, Bounty Hunter, let's get inside and get a drink before the steelpeckers make a snack out of you." She said, tapping her knuckles across his Beskar.
They walked down the rickety wooden sidewalk. The brittle, old wood squeaked and popped with each step announcing their arrival well before Zo waved the batwing doors open, and they stepped inside. A weequay man stood behind the bar. His wrinkled brown face was drawn in fear as he lay eyes on the tall Bounty Hunter.
Grogu cooed and waved on little hand at the frightened man. He swallowed audibly, his mouth moving as he tried to regain the composure to speak. "What can I get for you?"
Zo gave him a genial smile as she slid onto a barstool and set Grogu on the chipped wood bar. "How about we start with something cold to drink for the kid and me?"
He nodded stiffly, sweat beaded on his brown tree-bark like skin, his long dreadlocks swishing softly against his shoulders as he reached under the bar. His hands shook as he sloshed cold water into two glasses and then slid them to Zo and Grogu. "Be calm, friend." Zo sent a soothing breeze of warm Force energy towards him. "We mean no harm to you or your people."
The bartender visibly relaxed, some of the tension in his shoulders eased, the bunched, worried wrinkles between his eyes smoothed out. "Anything else I can help you strangers with?"
Din stood behind Zo, wrapping his hands on the back of her chair. "We are looking for a Mandalorian. We were told they were sighted in your town."
"Mandalorian, hmm. We don't get very many strangers way out here. Can you describe him to me?" The man replied as he wiped up the spilled water with his rag.
"They would look like me— wearing armor like mine."
He nodded, "Ah…well, the only other person I've ever seen with armor like that is the Marshal."
"The Marshal? Yes, we need to speak with them as soon as possible." Mando said, leaning forward with excitement.
"News of strangers travels fast. I'm sure he'll be here shortly."
No sooner had he finished the statement did the batwing doors swing open, and another man slowly walked in. This man was not quite as tall or broad as Mando. His armor was dinged, the green and red paint chipped and dulled by the harsh suns. But he walked with the same sense of authority and poise. He paused just inside the cantina, his dark T-shaped visor zeroing in on the strangers at the bar.
"Got some folks here that wanna speak with you, Marshal." The bartender said.
The Marshal nodded once and held out one gloved hand toward a table. "Well then, please, take a seat." His voice was soft and smooth with a twang that only came from
people born and raised in the furthest reaches of the Outer Rim. Zo could feel Mando's cautious excitement. This is what—who— he had been searching for all these long months on the run. Yet he stayed with Zo as she gathered Grogu in her arms, and together they moved towards the other Mandalorian.
"Taanti, pour us three glasses of spotchka, will ya?" The Marshal called as he sat down with a heavy sigh. The bartender, Tannti, rushed from around the bar and set down a glowing blue bottle of spotchka and three glasses. Then hurried back to the safety of his bar
"We have been searching for you for many parsecs. My Foundling and I were separated from my—" Zo and the baby nearly ricocheted off Mando's back as he froze midstep. His back went rigid, his hands itching to grab the blasters at his sides. The exhilaration wanting to burst from his chest at the sight of another of his people, turned to fury as the Marshal removed his helmet and set it down beside him.
The Marshal gave him an easy smile. "Never met a real Mandalorian. Heard stories, though." He chuckled as he poured the spotchka.
Zo took a step back as a wave of white-hot anger erupted from Mando. "Mando, let's just—"
"Where did you get that armor?" He cut her off, his body still rigid under the layers of Beskar. Zo might not know what Mando looked like under the helmet, but she knew from the angle he held his head he was glaring death at the Marshal.
"Bought it off some Jawas."
"Who are you?"
"Cobb Vanth, Marshal of Mos Pelgo." Cobb sipped from his glass of spotchka. "Now, I know you're probably upset seeing me wear this getup, but—"
"Hand it over."
Cobb's dark eyebrows nearly disappeared under his messy mop of salt and pepper hair. "Excuse me?" He set the glass down and leaned back in his chair. Long, lithe muscles stretched under the dark red fabric of his shirt.
"The armor. Take it off, or I will."
Cobb smiled again. His dark hazel eyes crinkling around the edges with bemusement."We really gonna do this? In front of the kid and your woman." Zo cringed as more anger seeped out of Mando, but she had to admit that Cobb Vanth had guts of steel.
"He's seen worse. And she's done worse. Now take the fucking armor off before I peel it off your corpse, aruetti." He didn't even bother to correct Vanth about Zo being 'his woman'; all he could think of was getting the armor, the Beskar his people bled for, away from this heretical outsider. His quiet anger burned so brightly Zo was surprised his Beskar wasn't glowing like the setting suns.
"Mando," She stepped forward, not daring to touch him but willing her voice to reach him under the heavy strata of anger and disappointment. His helmet tilted just enough that she knew he heard her and felt her trying to soothe his anger.
She took another step forward and placed a comforting hand on his arm. His fists slowly uncurled as Zo handed
Grogu to him before sliding into the seat across from the Marshal. "I sense you and your people have seen much bloodshed. I'd hate for them to witness more."
It took a moment, but Cobb tore his dark eyes away from the Mandalorian and looked at her. "He always sends his woman to do the negotiating?"
She reached across the table and took one of the glasses of spotchka. "I'm not his woman. I'm his friend, and I can be your friend too." Zo took a sip of the bright blue alcohol. "Give the armor to Mando."
"It's mine. I need it." Cobb knocked back the rest of his spotchka, and Zo smiled at him. She liked his stubbornness.
"It is not yours," Mando growled, taking a menacing step forward.
Zo reached across the table, wrapping her hand over Cobb's. "Listen to me, Cobb Vanth." The stubborn resolve evaporated, and Cobb leaned forward, gripping her hand earnestly. Din felt some of the incensed anger leave him only to be replaced by taught jealousy as Cobb's thumb absent-mindedly stroked hers. "The Mandalorian is honor-bound by his creed to retrieve the Beskar and return it to his people."
"Of course…" He smiled, all dimples and bright white teeth.
"Give the armor back to Mando, and we will leave you and your people in peace." Her words were soft as silk as they slid across Cobb's mind.
"Okay!" Cobb pushed away from the table, fiddling with the straps on his shoulders. Zo let out a breath and glanced over her shoulder at Mando. He gave her a barely perceptible nod of his head.
She sipped her spotchka while Cobb worked on the armor. After a moment, she turned in her seat and looked towards an empty space in the corner of the cantina. "What is that?" She asked no one in particular as she stood.
The Marshal slipped the Rising Phoenix off his back and set it on the table next to the empty shot glasses. "What is what?" He asked, loosening a shoulder pauldron.
"That." Zo moved towards the cantina doors, lightsaber humming to life at her side as the ground beneath them began trembling. Glasses behind the bar shook. Taanti dove forward, saving an expensive looking bottle from tumbling off the top shelf.
"Shit." Cobb cursed as her grasp on his mind disappeared. The deep rumbling and earth-shaking grew closer. "Shit." He repeated, following her outside. Mando and Grogu were on his heels as they stepped into the bright suns.
Townspeople ran inside buildings as the ground rolled like stormy waves. A woman pushed past her neighbors, screaming, "Mina! Mina!"
"Here, mama!" A little girl yelled from the other end of the settlement. She carried a wooden pail full of bluish bantha milk that slopped over the edge as the ground shook. The tremendous hairy animal behind her brayed and stomped its large feet from within its pen.
"She's not gonna make it—" Cobb reached for the controls of the Rising Phoenix only to realize it wasn't on his back. "What the fucking hell?" He looked at his feet and behind them as if the rocket pack had fallen off while he was unaware. The little girl tumbled, the pail rolled away from her, and the mother screamed. Dirt, sand, and rocks sprayed into the air as something unbelievably massive moved underneath their feet, headed straight for the child.
"I am one with the Force. The Force is with me." The thought flared through her mind before she fully realized what she was doing. Zo dimly heard Mando yell for her as if he was already far away. She opened herself to the energy around her. She was nothing but a blur, a streak of fiery red hair reflecting the light of the two bright suns as she dashed in front of the roiling storm under them.
"Zo!" Din yelled again, the burn of panic crawled up his back. There was no way he could reach her and the screaming kid before they were lost.
One moment the child was struggling to get her feet under her, screaming for her mother, apologizing for the spilled milk. Then the ground opened in a swirling vortex of sand as the creature undulated through the bedrock. Giant razor-sharp fins broke through the earth, and the girl disappeared. The mother fell to her knees, screaming in pure anguish. Zo jumped across the growing divide and vanished in a plume of sand. Then she reappeared, skidding to a halt next to the woman, the little girl clutched tight in her arms. She handed the girl to her mother and ushered them inside the closest building before turning back, her violet lightsaber back in her hand like that tiny weapon could hold off the giant creature.
The weaving ripples of dirt continued past the town center heading straight for the bantha pen. The animal brayed once, low and worried, as the ground beneath it trembled and rolled. The mammoth thing breached through the ground like a whale through water. There was a brief glimpse of teeth and scales, and dark eyes larger than Zo was tall before the bantha disappeared into the hungry maw and the monster dove back into the ground.
Cobb turned and eyed Mando. "She really just a 'friend'?"
Din grit his teeth, swallowing down the 'No' that wanted to pop out, and instead silently watched as Zo sprang back across the street, not trusting the freshly tilled earth. "What the fuck was that?" She gasped, landing next to Mando as the earthquake slowly receded as it swam away from town. He reached out a hand and brushed a chunk of gravel from her hair.
"That was a Krayt dragon." Cobb rubbed his mouth, watching her with newly acquired interest. "Now, where the hell did I put that rocket pack?"
"Rising Phoenix," Mando growled.
"What?" Cobb asked, returning to the shade of the cantina. Taanti was polishing the long U-shaped bar top as if the appearance of a giant sand serpent happened every Taungsday.
"It's a Rising Phoenix. It is a great honor to carry one, an honor that comes with sacrifice and dedication—"
Cobb made an impressed noise as he spotted the pack on the table. "Is that so?" He slung the Rising Phoenix onto his back and readjusted the magnetic clasps.
Mando nudged Zo and tilted his helmet towards the Marshal. "What?" She asked, looking from Cobb then back to him.
"The armor."
Zo nodded, "Oh right." She attempted to refocus on Cobb, but the sight of that monster devouring the bantha whole kept replaying in her mind. A beast like that could destroy this entire settlement in the blink of an eye; it was a wonder of the Force that it hadn't happened yet. "Give the armor to Mando." It was a less than half-hearted attempt to mind-trick him again.
"And why the hell would I do that? This armor helps me protect this town from bandits, Tuskens...My People look to me to protect them."
"Zo Mara," Mando warned. "Try harder."
She waved away his concern as she retrieved Grogu from his arms and bounced the baby against her hip. "The krayt dragon…what do you plan on doing about it?" She asked instead of trying to coerce him again.
Cobb laughed, quick and void of humor. "Do about it? The krayt dragon's been terrorizing these parts long before this settlement was established.…."
Zo was silent for a moment. "The Mandalorian armor– He can't leave without it. It would be better for everyone if we could come to a beneficially mutual agreement."
Cobb touched his mouth again, dragging one thumb slowly along his lower lip. "I could think of a few things that would be beneficially mutual."
Din curled his hands into tight fists. He didn't like the easy smile that curled the Marshal's lips as he candidly appraised Zo. He also didn't like how she smiled back or the change in her vitals that his scanners picked up. Her heart rate ticked up another few beats, and her skin temperature rose even though she rolled her eyes and looked away from him. "We need to talk." He wrapped his hand around Zo's upper arm and turned them away from Cobb.
She sat Grogu on the bartop in front of Taanti before letting him lead her to a corner of the bar. "I'll take a Bespin sunrise and something kid-friendly for the youngling." Zo jerked her chin at Mando, "Add it to his tab."
"I don't have a tab," Mando grumbled as he led her to a corner of the bar out of earshot of the Marshal.
"Guess you do now, friend," Taanti responded, mixing Zo's ordered drinks.
"Whatever you are thinking about doing, the answer is no." He said, pressing her back into the corner, his broad frame blocking her view from Cobb.
"These people need our help." She set her jaw defiantly and looked up at him.
"These people are not our problem." He placed his hands on the wall on either side of her head, caging her between his arms as he leaned down to stare at her. "Quit fucking around and get that armor."
"I can't…I can't do that to him." She replied.
"What kind of useless Jedi are you then?"
"I'm going to let that slide Mandalorian because you're angry and disappointed," Zo warned quietly. "I'm sorry this hasn't panned out like you wanted… but you're stuck with a useless Jedi and a fifty-year-old baby for a while longer—"
"We aren't making this about anything more than the armor, Zo Mara."
"He's telling the truth about the armor. He needs it to help protect his people—"
"Out of the question."
Zo sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Gods be damned, will you stop being so kriffing stubborn. If we help him get rid of the krayt dragon—"
"Why don't they move their kriffing settlement?"
Zo snorted, "Really, Mando? There are families and children here. They can't just up and move."
"Why the krif not?"
"This is their home. They have bled and died to protect it. Their death and sorrow is soaked into the ground, into the buildings, and the fucking air. This place is all they have."
Mando was silent; his warm breath hissed out of his helmet and through her hair. "God damn it." He muttered, dropping his helmet after a moment. He was as stubborn as a bordok mule, but he wasn't heartless, despite the well-rehearsed act.
"I can't take on the krayt dragon by myself," Cobb said from behind them. Mando dropped his arms and looked over his shoulder. Cobb hooked his thumbs in his gun belt and met his stare. "Help me kill it, and the armor is yours."
Mando turned to face the Marshal and crossed his arms over his chest. "Fine, we'll head back to Mos Eisley and get my ship. Blow it out of the sand from the sky."
Cobb's eyes followed Zo as she slipped from behind the Mandalorian and retrieved her waiting cocktail. Grogu's ears happily twitched as he drank from a large glass of brightly colored juice. "The ship won't work. It'll feel the vibrations and burrow further underground…I know where its den is, though."
"How far?"
"Not far, but it'll be dark soon, and if the Sand People catch us on the Chott salt flats after nightfall …well, it probably ain't gonna be pretty."
"The Tuskens won't be a problem. We leave now."
Grogu burped, and Zo slurped the last of her cocktail, waiting for Cobb's answer. He gave a resigned nod, "I'll get my speeder."