He squeezed my hands tightly. He didn’t offer consolations. He didn’t tell me it was silly to be scared, that being scared was useless. He simply let me feel it and gave me quiet comfort, and in turn I closed my eyes and pressed my face into his chest and listened to him breathe.
In and out.
In and out.
It didn’t dampen the worry in my head, which was terrible for morale, but at least I pulled myself back together enough to finally draw away from him. “Thank you.”
He nodded and led me back out into the afternoon. The sand in the wind stung my skin, and I winced against the sharpness of it.
The reality was, Dad had told us to run, but I couldn’t. Runwhere? Getting back to theStarfarerwas theonly option. The galaxy was too wide, and my home was small enough to get lost in it, I finally realized.
“Okay,” I said to Sian and the droids, “anyone got another plan?”
The droids exchanged looks. Veebee shrugged. “I guess another outpost?”
“I’m sure they will all be like this—chess ko!” Sian yelped as Noola scrambled up his pant leg and dug under his jacket, hiding herself there. “What the—what’s wrong, girl?” He paused suddenly, glanced around. His eyes widened. “Get back to the ship.”
I didn’t understand. “What?”
“Now!” he cried urgently, grabbing my and Veebee’s arms. “Back to the ship!”
We barely got two steps before a hulking shadow darted out from behind one of the outcroppings of rock between us andStarstall. It shook itself out, crouching on all fours, its many black eyes glittering in the shade.
It prowled forward, shaking its head.
Veebee said, “I believe that is a massiff.”
Sian reeled back, quickly pulling his arm up to block me. “Isn’t this place supposed to be sterilized?”
“Apparently they were wr—incoming!” VB-35 cried as the hulking creature jumped toward us. We ducked, scattering away as it clambered onto a rock, lips partingon its long canine muzzle. There were dozens of spines along its back, some chipped, its leathery hide turning gray with age. It opened its mouth wide, a smile filled with long daggerlike teeth.
We backed toward the ship. The creature lowered into another crouch.
We froze.
I heard something behind us, too. Which was odd, because the only thing behind us was the ship, and no one was on the ship. A part of me didn’t want to look, but I did anyway. Something slithered out from underneath our ship and into the sunlight. It didn’t look like it had a front or a back, and after a moment of looking at the mass of flesh, I realized the creature’s eyes and mouth were in the center of its long body. Which was so,sogross.
“That,” Veebee said, “is a sand worm.”
The massiff bared its teeth.
The sand worm coiled tightly as if preparing to strike.
“Do they want to eat us or eat each other?” I wondered aloud. My back met Sian’s, and we pressed together tightly, hands finding each other—something to hold on to. On one side was the massiff, on the other the sand worm. The two droids were at our sides.
“I think they want to eat us, but they don’t want to share,” Sian replied. “The dog’s about to pounce.”
“So is the worm,” I relayed. I began to wonder which one I would rather be eaten by—the weird worm or the canine? They both sounded like terrible options.
“Okay, when I tell you to run, you run, yeah?” He slowly reached into his jacket and pulled out that stun blaster I had seen him use back on Coruscant.
“Yeah,” I agreed.
“Okay.”
Suddenly, the massiff lunged. Sian aimed his stun blaster and fired off two shots. They hit the creature square in the chest, and with a yelp it bit the dirt. The sand worm dove for it, terrifying mouth open, and bit into its hide, wrapping its body around it.
“Run!”Sian cried, pushing N2-0 to go faster. We made a break forStarstall. I grabbed N2-0’s other side, and we hauled them up the ramp quickly. Veebee followed, stumbling.
