Star Wars, Der letzte Jedi / Star Wars - The Last Jedi: Expanded Edition

Luke Skywalker stood in the cooling sands of Tatooine, his wife by his side.

The strip of sky at the horizon was still painted with the last or­ange of sunset, but the first stars had emerged. Luke peered at them, searching for something he knew was already gone.

What did you think you saw? Camie asked.

He could hear the affection in her voice but if he listened harder, he could hear the weariness as well.

Star Destroyer, he said. At least I thought so.

Then I believe you, she said, one hand on his shoulder. You could always recognize one even at high noon.

Luke smiled, thinking back to the long-ago day at Tosche Station when he d burst in to tell his friends about the two ships sitting in orbit right above their heads. Camie hadn t believed him she d peered through his old macrobinoculars before dismissively tossing them back to him and seeking refuge from the relentless twin suns. Fixer hadn t believed him, either. Nor had Biggs.

But he d been right.

His smile faded at the thought of Biggs Darklighter, who d left Ta­tooine and died somewhere unimaginably far away. Biggs, who d been his first friend. His only friend, he supposed.

His mind retreated from the thought, as quickly as if his bare hand had strayed to a vaporator casing at midday.

I wonder what the Empire wanted out here, he said, searching the sky again. Resupplying the garrison at Mos Eisley hardly required a warship the size of a Star Destroyer. These days, with the galaxy at peace, it hardly required a warship at all.

Whatever it is, it s got nothing to do with us, Camie said. That s right, isn t it?

Of course it is, Luke said, his eyes reflexively scanning the lights that marked the homestead s perimeter. Such caution wasn t necessary no Tusken Raider had been seen this side of Anchorhead in two decades but old habits died hard.

The Tuskens are gone nothing left of them but bones in the sand.

For some reason that made him sad.

We ve

Jason Fry is the author of Star Wars: The Last Jedi and has written or co-written more than forty novels, short stories, and other works set in the galaxy far, far away. His previous books include the Servants of the Empire quartet and the young-adult space-fantasy series The Jupiter Pirates. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife and son and about a metric ton of Star Wars stuff.