So they continued at a normal town cruising speed, Luke hoping that the imperial troops were bent on business elsewhere. No such luck. One of the troopers raised an armored hand. Luke had no choice but to respond. As he pulled the speeder over, he grew aware of the attention they were receiving from curious passersby.
Worse yet, it seemed that the trooper’s attention was in fact reserved not for Kenobi or himself, but for the two unmoving robots seated in the speeder behind them.
"How long have you had these ’droids?" the trooper who had raised his hand barked. Polite formalities were to be dispensed with, it appeared.
Looking blank for a second, Luke finally came up with "Three or four seasons, I guess." "They’re up for sale, if you want them—and the price is right," Kenobi put in, giving a wonderful impression of a dessert finagler out to cajole a few quick credits from ignorant Imperials.
The trooper in charge did not deign to reply. He was absorbed in a thorough examination of the landspeeder’s underside.
"Did you come in from the south?" he asked.
"No…no," Luke answered quickly, "we live in the west, near Bestine township." "Bestine?" the trooper murmured, walking around to study the speeder’s front.
Luke forced himself to stare straight ahead. Finally the armored figure concluded his examination. He moved to stand ominously close to Luke and snapped, "Let me see your identification." Surely the man sensed his terror and nervousness by now, Luke thought wildly.
His resolution of not long before to be ready to take on anything had already disintegrated under the unwinking stare of this professional soldier. He knew what would happen if they got a look at his formal ID, with the location of his homestead and the name of his nearest relatives on it. Something seemed to be buzzing inside his head; he felt faint.
Kenobi had leaned over and was talking easily to the trooper. "You don’t need to see his identification," the old man informed the Imperial in an extremely peculiar voice.
责任编辑：mman
