Star Wars: I Am a Slave ✓

Chapter 33 - Disturbing Dreams

When Rey reached the walker, the funny droid used his tow cables and winches to haul himself into the belly of the beast. Rey grabbed her plate and set it back on the shelf, settling down for the night in her bunk. The droid beeped out a stream of binary.

Rey, tired, looked at him. "No, we can't go to town now. Your friend won't be there tonight. No one will be there tonight."

More beeps echoed through the walker. "Yes, I'm sure," repeated Rey. The droid spat out some more beeps. "Look, first thing tomorrow, we'll head to Niima Outpost. I'll return you to your friend and collect my reward. But now, I need to sleep." Rey covered her head with her blanket and turned her back on the little droid, eager to sleep. The droid rolled over to her and continued to beep at her.

Rey rolled back at the droid, surprised to see it right in her face. "Hey, I need to sleep, so if you don't mind, go park it over there. You can plug into the generator if you need power, but leave me alone." Rey rolled back to face the bulkhead thinking, No reward is worth this.

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That night, Rey slept fitfully. It started out with the dream—no, the memory—of her mother. The green Rodian pulling her away from Rey; Unkar pulling Rey away from her. Rey awoke, screaming for her to come back, fear encompassing her. The droid in the corner by the generator beeped at her, compassionately. Rey looked at him, at once annoyed that someone else had heard her scream and touched that someone cared, even if it was a droid.

Her next bout of sleep was about droids, or a droid, to be exact. She had never had this dream before, but there was something about it that was seemed very familiar. She dreamed that she was about a meter high in a small house with white plaster walls and large windows that let the sunlight stream in. A blue-and-white astromech droid stood in front of her, beeping and whirring. She held a doll in front of his face, not the fighter pilot doll she had made herself, but a real doll—a little girl doll with dark hair like her own and a porcelain face. The droid continued to beep and whirr as she played with him.

She then heard a crisp, proper voice say, "Artoo-Deetoo. Stop playing with Rey. It is time for her nap."

Artoo beeped something snotty at the golden protocol droid and spun his head in derision. Rey giggled.

The golden droid continued, "Now, you stop that. Rey is going to pick up your bad attitude."

Little Rey spoke, "Oh, Threepio, I'm not even tired a little bit. Please let me play a few minutes longer."

Another voice was heard from the hallway, it was a smooth female voice filled with warmth yet firmness. "Rey, obey Threepio." Her mother walked into her room while saying, "Nap time, and then you can play with Artoo some more later."

"But what if Uncle Luke leaves while I'm sleeping?" asked Rey.

"He won't," promised her mother. Rey saw her face again—abruptly waking from her dream, crying this time in sorrow.

The little droid was next to her bunk, murmuring beeps of compassion. "I'm all right. Just some bad dreams." The droid beeped a question. "Dreams of things that might have been, that never will be."

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She fell back asleep, hoping her sleep would be undisturbed. At this rate, she figured she would not have any rest at all. This time she dreamt of an ocean. This was a dream she had experienced many nights before, and it was the most disturbing of them all. Nothing but ocean and ocean and ocean. How she even knew what an ocean looked like, she had no clue. But she knew it was an ocean. And then, as she flew over the ocean, maneuvering the freighter's controls, she saw it—the island. The island that called to her. The island with the steps. The island with the old man. The old man with the compassionate eyes, eyes filled with tears. The man who loved her. And as always she woke before he said anything to her.

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Her last dream was finally something she could handle—she was flying, flying the X-Wing again that she had sold to Unkar. Taking it up across the desert sky and sending it into spins and turns, dives and ascents. As she landed the craft in her dream, she changed from being in an X-Wing cockpit to a freighter cockpit. It looked like the YT-1300 freighter cockpit from her flight simulator. As she reached over to prime the fuel pump that should not be there—

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The little droid rolled himself at her bunk, running into it, beeping madly. Rey rolled over, covering her ears with her blanket, hoping to be able to go back to sleep and enjoy her dream of flying. All of a sudden, the droid stripped her blanket off and poked her with one of his appendages. She sat up and growled at the little guy. "Do you mind? I was finally dreaming something nice!" moaned Rey. She stared at him, but he just ignored her, constantly hitting her bunk.

Rey gave in and got up. After breakfast, she would take that droid into town and give it back to his master. But she had not food for breakfast, she remembered dejectedly. At least tonight she would get a good night's sleep!