Nude on the Beach

Nude on the Beach
One Moment in Time
precious time
Red Hat Girl
Several slight depressions in the sand caught Luke's attention. Walking a littlefaster, he came up next to them and studied them for a moment before calling back toKenobi. "Looks like the sandpeople did it, all right. Here's Bantha tracks…" Lukenoticed a gleam of metal half-buried in the sand. "And there's a piece of one ofthose big double axes of theirs." He shook his head in confusion. "but I neverheard of the Raiders hitting something this big." He leaned back, staring up at thetowering, burned-out bulk of the sandcrawler. Kenobi had passed him. He was examining the broad, huge footprints in thesand. "They didn't," he declared casually, "but they intended that we—and anyoneelse who might happen onto this—should think so." Luke moved up alongside him. "I don't understand, sir." "Look at these tracks carefully," the older man directed him, pointing down atthe nearest and then up at the others. "Notice anything funny about them?" Lukeshook his head. "Whoever left here was riding Banthas side by side. Sandpeoplealways ride one Bantha behind another, single file, to hide their strength from anydistant observers." Leaving Luke to gape at the parallel sets of tracks, Kenobi turned his attention tothe sandcrawler. He pointed out where single weapons' bursts had blasted awayportals, treads, and support beams. "Look at the precision with which this firepowerwas applied. Sandpeople aren't this accurate. In fact, no one on Tatooine fires anddestroys with this kind of efficiency." Turing, he examined the horizon. One ofthose nearby bluffs concealed a secret—and a threat. "Only Imperial troops wouldmount an attack on a sandcrawler with this kind of cold accuracy."