As soon as they were well past, the door slid open a crack and a metallic face peered out. Below Threepio’s leg, a squat barrel shape struggled for a view.
"I would rather have gone with Master Luke than stay here with you. Still, orders are orders. I don’t quite know what all the trouble is about, but I’m sure it must be your fault." Artoo responded with a near impossibility: a sniggering beep.
"You watch your language," the taller machine warned.
The number of old landspeeders and other powered transports in the dusty lot which were still capable of motion could be counted on the fingers of one hand. But that was not the concern of Luke and Ben as they stood bargaining with the tall, slightly insectoid owner. They were here not to buy, but to sell.
None of the passersby favored the hagglers with so much as a curious glance.
Similar transactions which were no more pleas or threats to be exchanged. As though doling out vials of his own blood, the owner finalized the sale by passing a number of small metal shapes to Luke. Luke and the insectoid traded formal good- byes and then they parted, each convinced he had gotten the better of the deal.
"He says it’s the best he can do. Since the XP-38 came out, they just aren’t in demand anymore," Luke sighed.
"Don’t look so discouraged," Kenobi chided him. "What you’ve obtained will be sufficient. I’ve enough to cover the rest." Leaving the main street, they turned down an alleyway and walked past a small robot herding along a clutch of creatures resembling attenuated anteaters. As they rounded the corner Luke strained for a forlorn glimpse of the old landspeeder—his last link with his former life. Then there was no more time for looking back.
Something short and dark that might have been human underneath all its wrappings stepped out of the shadows as they moved away from the corner. It continued staring after them as they disappeared down a bend in the walkway.
责任编辑：mman
