Star Wars: I Am a Slave ✓

Chapter 32 - Teedo and the Droid

As the brutal Jakku sun set and a half-dozen scavengers walked in with their salvage from the graveyard, Rey sped across the desert on her walker. When she arrived at her modest home, a fallen AT-AT walker in the graveyard, she marked another day off her wall. She did not know why she kept marking them, except out of habit. She had not counted them in ages. There must be over 7,000 marks by now.

She prepared her meal of bread and green meat. She scraped the meat in the pan and flipped it over as her bread rose quickly on the stove. Her X-Wing fighter doll watched the daily ritual from a shelf near the stove. Wilted red flowers, which Rey had found growing in Niima, reminded her that no matter how bad the situation is, beauty still existed.

She grabbed her food and took it outside under the shade of a walker foot. After eating, she cleaned her bowl by licking it. She watched as a ship launched many kilometers away. She wondered if it was a First Order ship joining the vessels above the planet or someone trying to escape.

She grabbed her fighter helmet that was beside her and placed it on her head. She pretended she was the pilot of that ship, escaping the terror of the First Order, smugglers, or even Unkar Plutt.

Then she heard it: binary. Out here? It sounded like it was in distress. It must be a droid. Someone must be capturing a droid—probably a Teedo for parts. Not while I'm around! Rey thought as she quickly took off the helmet and ran across the top of the walker to the road, grabbing her staff that was thrust into the sand as she ran.

As Rey crested the dune, she viewed a Teedo on a luggabeast with a small spherical droid in a net. The droid kept "groaning" in binary while Teedo tried to get it under control, yelling at it in Teedo. Rey yelled in the Teedo language, "Tal'ama parqual!"

The Teedo struggled some more and said some unintelligible words to Rey. Rey ran toward the droid, yelling, "Parqual zatana!"

Rey threw down her staff, knelt down, and cut the net that trapped the droid with her curved knife. The Teedo continued to yell at Rey, threatening her, but unable to do anything else. His clan had already had experience with Rey and her staff, and they knew to steer clear of her.

Rey stood and fiercely yelled, "Noma!"

The Teedo barked, "Ahh!" Rey was not sure what he actually said, but the intention was clearly not favorable. The small droid rolled clear of the netting and beeped aggressively in triumph as the Teedo departed, taunting the stranger.

Rey quieted the droid with "Shhh!" The droid quieted instantly. "That's just Teedo. Wants you for parts. He's no respect for anyone."

The droid's head tilted, as it sighed in response. The two watched as the Teedo disappeared from sight, and then the droid beeped a question.

Rey looked at the droid and noticed something. She kneeled in the sand as she said, "Your antenna's bent." She looked back at the departing Teedo and then popped the antenna out of the droid's cranium. She straightened the antenna while she said, "Where do you come from?"

The droid beeped a sarcastic reply. As Rey reattached the antenna, she responded, "Classified? Really?" The droid continued to beep at her. "Me, too. Big secret."

Once the antenna was reattached, Rey turned and motioned with her left hand behind her. "Niima Outpost is that way. Stay off Kelvin Ridge. Keep away from the Sinking Fields in the north. You'll drown in the sand."

The droid beeped a few more sentences as Rey stood to leave and grabbed her staff, rolling a few meters toward her. Rey admonished, "Don't follow me." She pointed behind her with her right hand. "Town is that way."

The droid seemed to beg, moving its cranium from side-to-side. "No!" It begged again and waited. Rey stopped and thought about her decision. A droid? Really? I don't have the power for it. I barely have enough to run the glow lamp now.

Then she heard that voice from her dreams. She could almost see his form waver in the heat emanating from the sand. "Rey . . ." Rey glared back stubbornly. "Rey . . ." admonished the voice more insistently. "This little droid needs you."

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