Luke scrambled backward and found himself against a steep drop. The Raider stalked him slowly, weapon held high over its rag-enclosed head. It uttered a gruesome, chuckling laugh, the sound made all the more inhuman by the distortion effect of its grid-like sandfilter.
Luke tried to view his situation objectively, as he had been instructed to do in survival school. Trouble was, his mouth was dry, his hands were shaking, and he was paralyzed with fear. With the Raider in front of him and a probably fatal drop behind, something else in his mind took over and opted for the least painful response.
He fainted.
None of the Raiders notice Artoo Detoo as the tiny robot force himself into a small alcove in the rocks near the landspeeder. One of them was carrying the inert form of Luke. He dumped the unconscious youth in a heap next to the speeder, then joined his fellows as they began swarming over the open craft.
Supplies and spare parts were thrown in all directions, from time to time the plundering would be interrupted as several of them quibbled or fought over a particularly choice bit of booty.
Unexpectedly, distribution of the landspeeder’s content ceased, and with frightening speed the Raiders became part of the desertscape, looking in all directions.
A lost breeze idled absently down the canyon. Far off to the west, something howled. A rolling, booming drone ricocheted off canyon walls and crawled nervously up and down a gorgon scale.
The sandpeople remained poised a moment longer. Then they were uttering loud grunts and moans of fright as they rushed to get away from the highly visible landspeeder.
The shivering howl sounded again, nearer this time. Bu now the sandpeople were halfway to their waiting Banthas, that were likewise lowing tensely and tugging at their tethers.
Although the sound held no meaning for Artoo Detoo, the little ’droid tried to squeeze himself even deeper into the almost-cave. The booming howl came closer.
Judging by the way the sandpeople had reacted, something monstrous beyond imagining had to be behind that rolling cry. Something monstrous and murder-bent which might not have the sense to distinguish between edible organics and inedible machines.
Not even the dust of their passing remained to mark where the Tusken Raiders had only minutes before been dismembering the interior of the landspeeder. Artoo Detoo shut down all but vital functions, trying to minimize noise and light as a swishing sound grew gradually audible. Moving toward the landspeeder, the creature appeared above the top of a nearby dune…
责任编辑：mman
