Darth Vader. What did he want with an eleven-year-old kid like her? Tess knew one thing for sure—something was significant that she was not seeing in its entirety yet. It was not a coincidence that the Princess of Alderaan—Uncle Bail's daughter—was a prisoner on the Death Star at the same time Tess was.
The only connection that Tess and the princess had was through Bail Organa. And if they were out to get revenge on Bail Organa by kidnapping his daughter and whatever Tess was to him, there would be no point to destroying his home planet, which they probably knew he was on. No, this couldn't have anything to do with Bail directly.
The door opening yet again interrupted Tess' thoughts. To her relief, it was not Darth Vader standing there, but an older man with gray hair in a dark brown cloak. Once relief subsided, confusion took over.
"You don't look like you work here," Tess told him, standing up.
"I don't, do I?" the kind-looking older man agreed, looking down at his robes. "I assume you are Tess?"
The girl nodded.
"Well, Tess," the man said. "I am Ben Kenobi, an old friend of Bail Organa's. Now, we don't have much time, so I need you to listen carefully."
"You're a friend of—?"
"Tess, we don't have much time," Ben Kenobi reminded her, his voice still kind. "I need you to go down this hall, take the elevator down to the landing platform, and there you'll see an old-looking ship. Tess, get on that ship. Now, run!"
"Will you be there?" Tess asked nervously, taking steps backwards towards her destination. Though he was trying not to worry her too much, she sensed the urgency in his voice.
"No," Kenobi told her. "But you will be safe there. Now go, Tess."
Ben Kenobi gave her a gentle nudge in the right direction. Tess obediently raced down the hall until she found herself in the elevator. It all happened so quickly, as if her body was put on autopilot. She heard blasters firing from somewhere else in the building.
Before she knew it, she was in front of an old-looking ship. She had never seen one like this before—the ships she saw on Alderaan were always the latest technology. Still, Tess felt she could trust the man who set her free and snuck up under the ship until she could scatter up the ramp.
As soon as she reached the top, Tess heard a male voice cry out 'NO!' from nearby. She spun around and saw a familiar brown cloak collapse from human form to a pile on the ground. The culprit was Darth Vader himself, his red lightsaber illuminating the space around it. The outburst seemed to come from a blonde man in a white tunic near him.
But Tess did not have the time to mourn the man who had helped her. The blaster fire was getting closer and people were rushing towards the ship.
Tess raced through the tiny halls of the ship as fast as she could, trying to find some sort of back room where the occupants would not likely look. She didn't know if they would be friendly or not. All she knew was that this was her ticket out of being Darth Vader's prisoner and she was not going to jeopardize that.
Tess heard the blasters get louder and heavier as the stormtroopers closed in on the people who planned to get out on this ship. Clearly, they were not supposed to be leaving.
"Please make it…" Tess whispered to herself. "Please make it…"
Sure enough, she heard what sounded like a ramp closing up as the ground beneath her feet played with the gravity. The ship was in the air—they were going to make it! They were going to escape! Tess could have cried out in relief and triumph but she was still thinking that revealing herself would not be a good idea.