Star Wars_ Children of the Jedi - Barbara Hambly [181]
The old man raised up his bandage-wrapped hands and began to speak. The other Raiders sat enraptured as stories spilled out in low grunts and barely recognizable sounds that might have been words.
Luke translated for Han. “He’s telling of their exploits, how they took an entire stormtrooper regiment many years ago. How they slew a krayt dragon and took the pearls out of its gullet. How they defeated another Tusken clan, slaughtered all their adults, and adopted their children into the clan, thereby increasing their numbers.”
The storyteller finished his tale and squatted lower, gesturing to the young apprentice who glanced around. Two Tusken Raiders stood on either side of the boy, holding their gaffi sticks with the axheads pointing down at the apprentice. The storyteller raised a trembling hand and turned it sideways like a knife blade. The apprentice hesitated for a moment and began to speak slowly.
“Now what?” Han said.
Luke answered. “That boy is being trained as the clan’s next storyteller. The Tuskens believe very much in inflexible tradition. Once a story is set down as an oral path, it must remain forever unaltered. This boy has learned the story: he is now telling about a raid on a moisture farmer who attempted to bring peace between humans and Jawas and Sand People.”
“But why the weapons?” Han said. “Looks like they’re ready to snuff the poor kid.”
“They will, if he makes so much as one mistake. If the boy alters a single word, the storyteller will chop down with his hand, and the Raiders will kill the apprentice immediately. They believe that speaking the stories in any manner other than the way they were originally told is great blasphemy.”
Han said, “Not much room for mistakes, is there?”
Luke shook his head. The other Tuskens were concentrating completely on the boy’s speech. “The desert is a hard place, Han. It allows no room for mistakes. The Sand People are a product of that environment. They have harsh ways, but such harshness has been forced upon them.”
The boy finished, and the old storyteller raised his other hand in a congratulatory gesture. The young apprentice slumped with trembling relief, and the other Sand People muttered their appreciation.
After a while, the fire was banked and began to burn low. The Tusken Raiders settled down for the night.
“I’m going to get some rest,” Han said. “You haven’t slept in two days, Luke. Can’t you wait until they all go to sleep, then catch a nap yourself?”
Luke shook his head. “I don’t dare. If I stop monitoring their thoughts, if I release my hold on their minds, they might suddenly realize we’re not supposed to be with them. If somebody sounds an alarm, we’re lost. Besides, a Jedi can go a long time without rest.”
“Whatever you say, buddy,” Han said.
“We should reach Jabba’s palace by tomorrow,” Luke said with weary hope.
“I can’t wait,” Han said. “I mean, we had so much fun the last time we were there.”
THE OLD REPUBLIC
(5,000–33 YEARS BEFORE STAR WARS: A NEW HOPE)
Long—long—ago in a galaxy far, far away … some twenty-five thousand years before Luke Skywalker destroyed the first Death Star at the Battle of Yavin in Star Wars: A New Hope … a large number of star systems and species in the center of the galaxy came together to form the Galactic Republic, governed by a Chancellor and a Senate from the capital city-world of Coruscant. As the Republic expanded via the hyperspace lanes, it absorbed new member worlds from newly discovered star systems; it also expanded its military to deal with the hostile civilizations, slavers, pirates, and gangster-species such as the slug-like Hutts that were encountered in the outward exploration. But the most vital defenders of the Republic were the Jedi Knights. Originally a reclusive order dedicated to studying the mysteries of the life energy known as the Force, the Jedi became the Republic’s guardians, charged by the Senate with keeping the