The Rise And Fall Of Darth Vader Read Online Free PDF

was suddenly surrounded by Sand People.

    * * *

    Anakin awoke with a start. Just as they had appeared in his dream, a group of Sand People now encircled him, silhouetted against the predawn sky. They carried blaster rifles and long gaffi sticks, double-edged axlike weapons made from metal scavenged from wrecked or abandoned vehicles. Anakin was completely at their mercy.
    As he wondered what the Sand People would do to him, Anakin heard a guttural muttering from nearby. Beyond the group that stood around him, more Sand People were lifting and carrying away the Tusken that he’d rescued. The injured Tusken was the one who’d spoken, and his words caused the other Tuskens to slowly back away from Anakin.
    Within seconds, all the Sand People were gone, leaving Anakin unharmed. Maybe they were grateful to me for helping their friend. Maybe the Tuskens aren’t so awful after all.
    “Master Anakin, they’ve gone!” C-3PO cried as he stepped away from his position beside the speeder, where he’d been hiding. “Oh, we’re lucky to be alive! Thank goodness they didn’t harm you!”
    Anakin stood up and looked around. The speeder and the other droids were where he’d left them, but the injured Tusken’s blaster rifle was gone. The only evidence of his encounter with the Sand People was the depleted contents of the speeder’s medical kit and their footprints in the sand.
    It’s almost like the whole thing never happened, As the twin suns began to rise and the stars faded from the brightening sky, Anakin decided it was time to head home.

    * * *

    His return to Mos Espa went as Anakin expected. After he’d snuck C-3PO back to Slave Quarters Row, his worried mother had nearly smothered him in hugs. When he delivered the droids to Watto, the angry Toydarian nearly lost his voice after bellowing reprimands for several minutes. Watto calmed down a bit after seeing the quality of the droids that Anakin had obtained from the Jawas, but by the end of the day, nothing had really changed. Tatooine was still a harsh, lawless world, and Anakin was still a slave.
    The following day, however, something remarkable happened. That was the day a Naboo starship landed on Tatooine, and Anakin’s life was forever changed.

CHAPTER FIVE

    It was midday in Mos Espa, and Anakin was cleaning fan switches in Watto’s junkyard when his master loudly summoned him into the junk shop to watch the store. Inside, Watto was talking with a tall, bearded man who was dressed like a farmer; the man was accompanied by a rubbery-jointed humanoid alien with mottled skin and eyes on the top of his head, a girl dressed in rough peasant clothes, and a dome-headed, blue astro-mech droid.
    While the tall man and the astromech followed the hovering Watto to the scrap yard to look at engine parts, Anakin hitched himself up onto the counter that snaked through the shop and studied the girl. She had delicate features, her skin too perfect for a peasant. She appeared to be a few years older than him, and Anakin found himself unable to take his eyes off her.
    “Are you an angel?” he blurted out.
    She smiled - his heart soared - and said, “What?”
    “An angel,” he responded as she stepped closer to him. “I’ve heard the deep space pilots talk about them. They are the most beautiful creatures in the universe. They live on the Moons of lego, I think.”
    “You’re a funny little boy,” she said sweetly. “How do you know so much?”
    “I listen to all the traders and starpilots who come through here. I’m a pilot, you know, and someday, I’m going to fly away from this place.”
    “You’re a pilot?” she said, as if she found it hard to believe.
    “Mm-hmm. All my life.”
    “How long have you been here?”
    “Since I was very little, three, I think. My mom and I were sold to Gardulla the Hutt, but she lost us, betting on the Podraces.”
    Sounding surprised and alarmed, the girl said, “You’re a slave?”
    Even though the girl had assumed