I…I didn’t know what to do.
“If we take the lander down, I’m sure we can find an outpost with some fuel,” Veebee said, looking at a map of Geonosis as she waited for my response. “Then we can find somewhere with long-range comms and call someone who can actually help.”
We couldn’t do anything else.Starstall’s long-range comms were junk, and it wasn’t like this lander was equipped for anything other than ferrying passengers. There were no guns on it. No armaments. Not enough water to get us through a single week.
I stared down at my fingers. Maybe if we just waited here, the ship would come back?
That’s silly, Ardent, I told myself, and I knew it was, but it sounded so much more likely than…
“Arie?” Veebee said.
I’d never been this far away from home before, this far away from myStarfarer. I didn’t know what to do. I’d never had to think about anything outside of the ship, not really. And now…
Now…
Run, my dad had said. There had been fear in his voice.
What was happening on that ship?
“I think Veebee has a good idea,” Sian said for me, pointing to one of the outposts on the map. “Let’s try that outpost. With any luck, it might also have a subspacecommunicator and we can flag the ship down that way.”
N2-0 bleeped in agreement.
“What do you think, Arie?” Veebee waited a moment longer for my opinion, but when I didn’t give one, the droid switched the pilot controls to herself and moved the shuttle through the rings and into the atmosphere.
I was useless, anyway.
We went to three different outposts on Geonosis, but every one of them had been gutted and picked clean by scavengers. At the third one, we began to lose hope and had even less fuel than when we’d first landed. The air was dry and dusty like on Tatooine, but somehow the planet was evenmoredesolate-looking, the surface peppered with mesas and buttes. From the ground, even the sky looked red, making it almost impossible to tell the difference between the harsh arid landscape and the stars. Husks of buildings left to decay, vast abandoned droid factories squeezed between pillars of orange rock, half-buried speeders, smears of civilization left to rot.
The third outpost was on one of those outcroppings of rock, nestled so snugly into it that we almost flew right past. At a glance, it was clear that the place had been abandoned a long time ago, too.
Still, it was worth a shot to get out and look around.
“We shouldn’t stay here long,” Sian said, beginning to fidget. He seemed to have a habit of biting his bottom lip when he worried, so much so that he’d almost bitten it raw by then. “Geonosis is never a good place to end up.”
“The Imperials are long gone,” Veebee said, dismissing him with a wave. “The New Republic weeded them out.Again.”
“I don’t just mean people, Vee.”
“Alas, I have heard that some of the best honey comes from Geonosian hives. Imagine if I could use it in my cuisine….”
N2-0 bleeped, whirling around to her.
VB-35 put her hands on her hips. “Well, that’s rude. I know I can’t taste it, but that’s why I havehimhere.” And she jabbed a finger at Sian.
He sighed. “The things I live to regret…”
“I hope you don’t mean my cooking.”
“Never, chef.”
Veebee narrowed her eyes at him.
I barely listened as I took a walk through the abandoned outpost. All the technology was picked clean, the wiring and the vent grates. It was just a husk of a building made out of sandstone and dust. On the floor in the main operations room, bleached-white bones were scattered across the ground. Person or animal, I didn’twant to look too closely, and the place was too quiet for my nerves.
I kept picking at my nails, digging into my cuticles as I tried to think of something—anything. I didn’t notice that Sian had come into the outpost after me until he grabbed my hands, separating my worrying fingers and stilling them.
A knot formed in my throat. My mouth wobbled. “I’m sorry, I’m just scared.”
