The astromech came waddling down from its position of concealment as Ben began dividing all his new goods between his own pack and the larger backpack Faskus had made. “Good news, Shaker,” Ben said. “Several power packs. If you have adapters, we can keep you going for a long time.”
But Shaker’s response didn’t sound happy. The droid kept its optics trained on Kiara and Faskus, trilling a discordant note.
“Yeah,” Ben said. “It’s sad.”
Even sadder was what he’d have to do in a minute. But his duty was clear. He had to get the amulet to Jacen. And that meant not taking chances with his resources.
He thought about asking Kiara to move so he could claim the final two blankets, but decided that such a request was unnecessary. Four blankets would be enough for just him.
He spent a few minutes using more cord to tie the big backpack to Shaker’s dome, and then he began walking.
He didn’t hear Shaker following. He turned to see the R2 still in place. Its optic sensor glided back and forth, staring first at him, then at Kiara. “C’mon, Shaker.”
The astromech began waddling in his direction. Ben imagined that he could sense reluctance in its pace, but he pushed the thought away. Shaker had never met these people before, and therefore it could not care about them.
“Hey!” Kiara sat up. Snow was accumulating in her hair, and tears were freezing to her cheeks. “You can’t go. Daddy said you were going to take care of us.”
“I’m sorry,” Ben said. “But I didn’t say I would.”
“You can’t leave him! The animals will eat him!”
“I’m sorry.”
Turning his back on the girl a second time took an act of will, but recognition of his duty gave him the strength to do it. fie began walking again, slowly, and Shaker followed.
The droid trilled, a long and complicated communication. Ben opened his datapad, and it had received Shaker’s message: WHAT IS OUR DESTINATION?
“I had a look at Faskus’s datapad.” Ben tapped his pouch to reassure himself that the ‘pad was still there. ” There’s information on Ziost that I don’t have. Like the coordinates where he was supposed to set down, the cave where he was supposed to leave the amulet - I guess he abandoned that part of the plan after he got hurt - and a lot of locations marked RUINS. I bet that wherever there are ruins, there’s stuff to find. Maybe even people. Maybe even the base that TIE fighter is from. We’re headed for the nearest ruins site. I bet Faskus was, too.”
WHY ARE YOU LEAVING THE GIRL BEHIND?
That caused Ben’s stomach to knot up again. “Because if she’s with us, we’ll go through our resources faster, like our food. And we might not get to where we need to go. Our mission is more important than her life.”
IS THE MISSION MORE IMPORTANT THAN YOUR LIFE, TOO?
Ben thought about it for fifty meters of travel. “Yes.”
THEN TELL ME YOUR MISSION SO THAT IF YOU FALTER I CAN ABANDON YOU AND COMPLETE IT.
Ben turned and round-kicked the astromech in its dome. Shaker squawked and fell over. But the bindings Ben had used to lash the big backpack in place did not loosen. “Shut up, you, you walking hot plate. If you didn’t have a few useful systems to go along with that malfunctioning droid brain of yours, I’d leave you, too.”
Shaker didn’t offer a response. It didn’t try to right itself.
Ben forced himself to calm down. He’d wait until he was sure he didn’t need the astromech anymore, then he’d crush it in a vise or throw it out an upper-story viewport.
No, that made no sense. It was valuable property. He could sell it for passage to another planet, if he could find someone willing to take him.
With a sigh, he righted the astromech, then continued walking.
An hour later, as they crossed a lightly forested ridgeline, Ben’s datapad beeped. But Shaker hadn’t made any noise indicating he was trying to communicate. Ben stopped and opened his datapad.
Images of his parents swam into focus on its diminutive screen. They were both smiling.
“Ben,” Mara said. “In case you hadn’t noticed-you’re fourteen!”
“Congratulations on another birthday,” Luke said. “So whatever torture your teachers, including me, had in store for you today-forget it. Report to me for some birthday credits, and the rest of the day is yours to enjoy.”
Their images faded to blackness.
Shaker came up behind Ben and waited with a droid’s patience.
Oddly, Ben felt as though there were nothing inside him, as if he had suddenly become a Ben-shaped balloon filled with gas. Gas could not think, and neither could he, for a long moment.