Star Wars
                                
                             Pearls in the Sand

                        by Veronica Whitney-Robinson


     "What are you talking about, Ackli?" one of his Zabrak friends murmured
while Sipping at his almost-empty tankard.
     "I saw them," he hissed, leaning so far across the filthy little  tabie
that he looked as though he was sleeping on it, "I found krayts."
     At the mention of the fabled dragons, supposedly  four  to  five  times
larger than the oldest of banthas, the few patrons of the tiny tavern in the
remote outpost grew silent. Most  dismissed  the  Mon  Calamarian's  claims,
saying he was drunk or had heat stroke - or both. But a few pricked up their
ears, including two robed figures near the back of the cantina. As  soon  as
she heard the word "krayt," Dusque Mistflier pulled back  her  desert  robe,
revealing a full head of long, sandy-brown hair. She narrowed her gray  eyes
and strained to hear the Mon Calamarlan better. The human was intrigued.
     "I saw them," he said, talking more to his tankard now than  to  anyone
else in the cramped cantina, sensing even in his drunken state that  no  one
believed him. Most of the other patrons had gone back  to  discussing  other
topics, from the latest moisture-vaporator model to the increase  of  Tusken
Raiders east Of the tiny outpost of Mos Taike. The topic of dragons was  not
a new one; the inhabitants of  Mos  Taike  and  indeed  a  good  portion  of
Tatooine had heard  of  their  existence.  Not  many  spoke  of  seeing  the
creatures, however, because not many survived such an encounter.
     "And I saw where they go to  die,"  Ackli  said  so  quietly  that  the
declaration  was  nearly  lost  beneath  the  mournful  whine  of  the  lone
slitherhorn player, who continued to play whether or not anyone watched him.
As before, several heard Ackli's claim and wondered at the Implications.
     One of the Zabraks in Ackli's company, his face covered with a  variety
of tattoos, propped up the Mon Calamarian,  none  too  gently.  He-demanded,
"Could you find the place again?"
     Ackli  brushed  the  Zabrak's  hands  away  as  though  he  found  them
offensive. "'Course I could. I could do it with my eyes closed."  As  If  to
prove the point, he closed his eyelids and opened them again.
     "if he's telling the truth ..." the Zabrak said  to  the  other  Zabrak
sitting at the small table with the Mon Calamarian.
     ",.. then there might be bonei or nests,1' the other finished for  him,
"and we both know what that might mean."
     Even from her booth, Dusque could hear the absolute greed  in  the  two
Zabraks' voices. She turned to he; companion, who was lowering his own hood.
     "Did you hear that Tendau?"
     As soon as his domed head was visible,  the  Ithorian  regarded  Dusque
with a  look  she  knew  well:  one  of  caution  mixed  with  reproach  and
resignation,
     "I suspect I do, child," he replied slowly,  his  voice  echoing  oddly
from his twin mouths.
     The young woman leaned closer to Tendau's tall frame and whispered, "If
they do know where the krayt graveyard is, imagine what  that  might  mean!"
She no longer bothered to disguise the growing excitement in her voice.
     "Oh, I am imagining what it might mean, make no mistake," the  Ithorian
said. "Being consumed by krayts, running from greedy treasure hunters..."
     "It will be fine." She laid a delicate hand against his  long  fingers.
'This is a real opportunity. Can you picture how impressed  Willel  will  be
when we return with genetic samples of canyon krayts? And, just maybe, we'll
find that precious item everyone who has ever followed these  animals  hopes
to discover."
     Tendau smiled at her genuine eagerness, and Dusque knew  she  had  just
about won him over. "We've got enough samples and tissues from feral banthas
and bocatts to more than satisfy Willel's request," she said. "It wasn't  as
if it was the most challenging of missions anyway. Just  sandy,"  She  tried
unsuccessfully to comb her fingers through her caked hair for emphasis.
     "And we won't have another chance to  go  out  again  for  weeks,"  she
added. "I think the next thing on the agenda is s trip  to  Naboo  for  some
sort of creature-handler event. You and I both know how boring that will be,
watching a bunch of novices who think they understand the nuances of  animal
behavior strut around with their beasts,"
     "Not the most glorious of assignments,  I  agree,"  Tendau  said,  "But
this - "
     "- is a once in a lifetime opportunity," said Dusque.
     "And if the Mon Calamarian is mistaken!"
     'Then we'll have added only half a day or so to our trip, and  no  harm
done." She flashed a big grin as she heard the Ithorian  sigh,  Dusque  knew
she had persuaded him,
     "All right," he said, "but I hope we will not regret this."
     "We won't," she assured him, "I'm certain of it."

                                    ***

     Dusque and Tendau followed  the  two  Zabraks  and  the  now-sober  Mon
Calamarian for several hours. As soon as they had left behind the  few  tiny
buildings that comprised the isolated post of Mos Taike -a  place  so  small
there wasn't even a shuttleport - there was little else except sand and wide
open space to distract them.
     Although Tendau was bulky and had some difficulty maneuvering over  the
dunes, he kept pace with the smaller,  lighter  Dusque.  Even  though  their
light-colored cloaks and environmental suits  offered  protection  from  the
suns as well as camouflage on the sand, Dusque could feel a small trickle of
sweat roll down between her shoulder blades. If she was already beginning to
feel uncomfortable, she could only guess at what the Ithorian was suffering,
with his larger frame and somewhat delicate feet.  In  all  their  years  of
service to the Empire as bioengineers, however, Dusque had never once  heard
him complain of hardship. Tendau's love of all the creatures throughout  the
galaxy had driven him from his herd ship Co service in the Empire, where  he
could unravel the secrets of nature down to the genetic level.  Dusque  knew
he was willing to sacrifice much for that prize,
     And for some reason Tendau had taken a liking to Dusque, the only woman
in the elite circle of bioengineers. Her other colleagues tended  to  regard
her with disdain, and she always felt as though she had to  prove  something
to them. She felt as though she were perpetually the new  recruit  to  their
ranks and could never hope to bridge the gap between  their  experience  and
her own expertise, no matter how hard she tried. The other bioengineers made
Dusque feel that she could not rise to their lofty level - not ever.
     It was different with the Ithorian, Perhaps it was simply because  they
were both strangers on a strange world that they had forged a friendship  in
the sterile environment of their profession. Or maybe it  was  because  they
both were genuinely fascinated by nature and what made things tick that they
had bonded. For  whatever  reason,  they  had  become  good  team  and  were
fortunate enough - or were both disliked enough - that they were assigned to
missions together on a regular basis.
     The missions they received were not  the  best.  Typically  they  found
themselves collecting mundane genetic samples of less-than-unusual creatures
in some of the  most  backwater  locations  in  the  galaxy.  Dusque  always
listened to those around her, however, and she had more than  once  stumbled
across tales of a creature of unusual size or rarity because of her  careful
observation. She always managed to convince Tendau to come  along  with  her
and she found that the prizes she discovered were enough to mollify those in
charge enough that they overlooked her transgressions. She preferred to  ask
for forgiveness rather than for permission when on assignment.
     The twin suns of Tatooine beat down mercilessly upon the golden  sands.
Everywhere she turned, Dusque saw only gold and blue  in  endless  expanses.
She lowered her hood and wiped the sweat  from  under  her  long  hair.  She
turned toward Tendau and saw that he had followed her cue  and  removed  his
hood as well,
     "How are you doing?" she asked.
     'I'm -"' Before he could get out another word, he  was  interrupted  by
the whine of la serf ire.
     "That sounded like it came from  over  that  dune,"  Dusque  said.  She
pointed toward the last direction in which they had seen the trio of looters
heading, She ran toward the blasts. "C'mon."
     As they headed cautiously up the dune, Dusque saw a woolly  beast  with
large, curved horns swing it's head up from the other side of the crest-
     "Banthas," Dusque whispered as she slowed her pace, "and blasters."
     "It can only be Tusken Raiders, "Tendau said, drawing up alongside her.
     "Sand People," she hissed, Dusque was well aware of the  Sand  People's
ferocity and penchant for cruelty.
     They- dropped to the ground and crawled along the hot sand the rest  of
the way up to the ridge. From their position, they  could  see  a  group  of
three Tusken Raiders with five tethered banthas near an impromptu camp.  Two
of the three Tuskens had drawn their rifles and were  firing  on  the  three
fortune hunters from Mos Taike.
     "Those greedy idiots stumbled right into them," Dusque said.
     "And they don't seem to be faring very well," Tendau observed.
     Dusque looked around and saw little that could help the situation,  She
had only a simple Twi'lek dagger, and  she  knew  that  Tendau  had  only  a
survival knife. Neither of them carried any other type of weapon - certainly
nothing that would match a Tusken rifle or gaffi stick. She  would  have  to
think of something else. Scanning the scene, she saw  only  one  thing  that
might work.
     "Tendau," she said quietly, "slip down along the south side,  and  I'll
go down the north side. We've got to cut those banthas loose  and  get  them
running."
     The Ithorian smiled at her plan. "It  is  about  all  we  can  do,"  he
whispered back. "I hope it works."
     "So do I."
     With that, she started sliding down one side of  the  ridge  as  Tendau
slid down the other, putting them at opposite sides of  the  small  herd  of
banthas. Dusque began to cut away at their tethers,  hoping  that  the  Sand
People would be too distracted by their immediate  prey  to  turn  back  and
check on their mounts. Fortunately, she and  Tendau  managed  to  cut  every
tether undiscovered. She nodded  to  the  Ithorian,  and  the  two  of  them
proceeded to jostle the herd's matriarch until she started to move, Just  as
Dusque suspected, the rest of the herd followed her  lead,  and  soon  every
bantha had broken into a run, and Dusque and Tendau barely made it  up  over
the ridge before one of the three Tusken Raiders noticed that  their  mounts
had fled, Dusque was counting on the  fact  that  the  Tusken  Raiders  were
greedy but mercenary. The three opportunists from Mos  Taike  couldn't  have
amounted to more than sport to  the  desert  dwellers  and  were  of  little
monetary value to them, but their mounts would be too precious to  lose.  As
it turned out, Dusque was right.
     When the first of the Sand People noticed that their banthas had broken
free, he yelled to his companions in their strange tongue.  It  was  only  a
matter of seconds before the others gave up their attack on the Zabraks  and
Mon Calamarian and scrambled to their feet. The three fortune hunters wasted
no time in fleeing from their pinned-down position and  heading  east.  They
surely wanted what might exist in the graveyard as much as Dusque  did,  and
didn't seem to wonder why their fate had suddenly changed - they simply took
advantage of it. Looking south, Dusque  could  see  the  three  Sand  People
diminished against the horizon as they trailed after their mounts.  She  and
Tendau had remained undetected by both parties,
     "Let's keep going," she told the Ithorian, and they continued  trailing
the former cantina patrons.
     For the next thousand meters or so, little happened. Dusque and  Tendau
kept a discreet distance from the trio, remaining mindful that other Raiders
might be lurking between the shifting dunes. They grew more and  more  tired
as they trudged farther into the desolate desert, but they could not stop to
rest because their quarry did not. Even though there was only the  slightest
breeze, it was enough to cover the trio's  erratic  tracks  in  only  a  few
moments. Dusque was concerned they would lose their trail if she and  Tendau
slowed their pace, so they pushed on, Dusque hoped  they  were  nearing  the
location the Mon Calamarian had spoken of back in Mos Taike,  but  her  mind
started to churn over what they were going to do with their competitors once
they got there, It turned out not to be much of an issue.
     As they climbed up another steep incline, Dusque turned back  to  check
on Tendau, She could see that he had tired tremendously but wouldn't  say  a
word to indicate it. She couldn't let her zeal for the potential prize  wear
him down any further.
     "Why don't we stop for a while?" she said, surprising herself with  her
own raspy voice.
     "I was thinking the exact same thing, little lady," Dusque  heard  from
behind her. She whirled around to see the trio lined up on the other side of
the dune where she and Tendau were  standing.  The  two  Zabraks  had  small
holdout blasters drawn. The Mon Calamarian stood slightly behind  them  with
an almost ashamed look on his  face,  as  though  he  couldn't  believe  the
manners of the company he was keeping.
     The one who had spoken motioned to Dusque and Tendau with his blasters.
They were in no position to argue, so they climbed down the slope  to  stand
in front of the armed Zabraks.
     "Arid just who might you be?" the second one demanded.  "Chasing  after
our treasure?" The first Zabrak shot him a look, and Dusque thought he  must
have been afraid that his companion had already revealed too much.
     Took," Dusque started to explain, raising her slim, white hands in  the
air in a gesture of someone trying to  fend  off  an  argument,  "we're  not
trying to steal anything you think is yours. My colleague and I are Imperial
bioengineers under Emperor Palpatine, and we -"
     "Bloody scientists!" The first Zabrak  spat  and  raised  his  blaster.
Dusque realized she might have just sealed their fate, as  there  were  many
who hated the Emperor and his servants, especially this far  from  the  core
worlds.
     "Wait," the other Zabrak said. "I'm not prepared  to  shed  blood  over
these pearls, and I'm definitely not prepared to have the  Empire  breathing
down my neck any more than it already is. I've got a better idea,"
     "What do you have in mind?" the first asked, and Dusque could hear that
the anger in his voice had been replaced by the emotion  felt  by  many  who
believed themselves to be on the wrong side of the Empire; fear,
     "Let's let the desert claim them," the second said, "By the time anyone
finds them, they'll be mostly bones. I'm sure, given their line of work.  It
wouldn't be the first time one of them met with a fatal accident."
     "That's a good point," the Mon Calamarian chimed in. He seemed eager to
avoid bloodshed as well.
     The first Zabrak, who had been so  eager  to  blast  them,  took  their
knives and waved them to sit down. "One of those knives is mine," the second
Zabrak said.
     As Dusque and Tendau followed the Zabrak's orders, the wind picked  up,
and although there was still at least half an hour before the second sun  of
Tatooine set, darkness fell quickly,
     "Sandstorm corning," the Mon Calamarian shouted to be  heard  over  the
growing howl of the wind. "Just leave them. The sand beetles will take  care
of them."
     The second Zabrak had yanked Dusque's arms  behind  her  back  and  was
lashing them together when  visibility  dropped  to  nearly  nothing.  "Good
enough," he shouted to his twin and the trio took off, still maintaining  an
easterly direction as best as Dusque could tell.
     As soon as they were out of sight, Dusque shouted, "Are you all right?"
     The Ithorian managed a rueful smile. "You do manage to get us into  the
most interesting predicaments,'' he yelled back,
     Dusque rose to her feet and stumbled in the darkness,  kicking  at  the
ground. With the reduced visibility, it took a few moments before  she  felt
the thud she was hoping for, She dropped to her knees and groped  until  she
found the jagged rock she had kicked.  Dusque  began  to  saw  her  bindings
against the stone.
     "I'll be right there," she shouted. She realized that, in the midst  of
the swirling sand that bit her face, she had no idea where Tendau  was.  She
was momentarily confused. It took only a-little effort  to"cut  through  the
leather thong that the Zabrak had used to bind her. Now she had the daunting
task of finding Tendau.
     'Tendau!" she shouted above the howl. She turned about wildly and tried
to remember which direction she had taken when she had begun  searching  for
the rock. She tried to slow her breathing and calm her hear!, realizing that
she was verging on panic.
     As she decided which direction to take, she noticed the  sandstorm  was
weakening. She remembered, now that she had regained  some  composure,  that
these storms never seemed to  last  long  on  Tatooine.  Like  many  of  its
indigenous animals, Tatooine's sandstorms were quick - and often deadly.
     "Tendau!" she called again when she thought she saw his bent  form  ten
meters away. Even as she raced back to him, she was amazed at  how  far  she
had actually walked. She shook her head at the power of disorientation  that
the short storm had wrought,
     As she dropped to his side, Dusque noticed with concern that Tendau was
hunched over. Then she realized he had assumed that  position  to  hide  the
domed head perched atop his long, curving neck.
     "Are you okay?" she asked as she untied his hands.
     "As usual," he finally answered, "I believe I am as all  right  as  you
are." The sandstorm had nearly abated,  and  Dusque  could  see  his  gentle
smile.
     She smiled in return, but her expression faded to a wince when she  saw
his bloody wrists. Obviously, he had been struggling against his  bonds  the
entire lime she had been looking for a way to free herself, and she realized
that nothing was worth the pain of seeing her friend injured.
     As she helped him to his feet, Dusque said, "It won't take us too  long
to return to Mos Tarke now that we aren't trailing them any longer,  C'mon."
She moved to turn back, but the Ithorian remained steadfast.
     "It would be incredibly wasteful to retrace our steps when  we  are  so
near to our goal," he said.
     "You want to go on?" she asked, incredulous,
     "Don't you'"
     "Yes... I do."
     "Then let's continue," he said, taking the lead. "I  don't  think  they
could've gone too far with the storm,"
     Dusque shook her head and smiled, partly at her companion's  resiliency
and partly at his loyalty. He knew how this quest had caught  her  attention
and how she hated to leave anything unfinished. And he was willing to see it
through to the end. She was touched by the prize she already possessed:  his
friendship. As they tracked the mercenary trio as best they could, one thing
nagged at Dusque. She  mulled  it  over  and  over,  and  then  she  finally
mentioned it to Tendau.
     "You know what seemed strange?" she said. The fact that he called  what
we are searching for 'pearls.' Didn't that seem a bit odd? I mean,  I  guess
they do resemble pearls somewhat, but why would he have chosen that - '
     "Look," Tendau interrupted and pointed to something at the eastern  end
of the rift they were standing aiop. Glinting  in  the  starlight  was  what
looked like a series of white arches, perfectly shaped and perfectly  spaced
apart. Even from a few hundred meters away, Dusque realized what they were.
     "Krayt bones," she breathed. She grinned at Tendau and was ready to run
down the hill. But before she could take a step the  now-familiar  whine  of
lasers cut through the night. There were  multiple  blasts,  and  they  were
growing louder. Dusque and Tendau, seeing only scrub and brush around  them,
dropped to the cooling sand for cover, A moment later, the Zabraks  and  the
Mon Calamarian appeared al the eastern end  of  the  rift,  running  in  the
opposite direction. Every once in a while, one of  the  Zabraks  turned  and
fired behind them, but for the most part they simply ran as  fast  as  their
legs would carry them. They  were  nearly  out  of  sight,  and  Dusque  was
beginning to question their sanity when a cry ripped through the night.
     Coming out of the darkness from the eastern end of the  rift  were  not
one but three krayt dragons. Dusque held her breath in awe. She had  studied
the Information on the creatures - or what  little  information  existed  on
them - but she had never dreamed she would be so close  to  one,  let  alone
three. The first two were much larger,  so  she  guessed  the  third  was  a
juvenile. All three had the distinctive  crown  of  five  horns,  and  their
bodies were greenish. Even from where they lay, Dusque could see  the  large
spines protruding from every .pat of their armored skin, and the twin spikes
at the end of their tails.
     As best as she could estimate, the smaller krayt must have been as tail
as two average humanoids at the haunches, while the older  dragons  were  at
least twice as big as that. It was supposed that the  animals  continued  to
grow until death. If that were truly the case, Dusque wondered how  old  the
specimens in front of them might be-Just  as  quickly  as  the  dragons  had
appeared, they disappeared in the opposite direction, still  in  pursuit  of
the three intruders.
     "It looks like our 'associates' have drawn the  animals  out  for  us,"
Tendau said quietly, although there was no need for whispers.
     "Let's not waste the chance," Dusque replied, starting to run down  the
hill where the krayts had appeared, the Ithorian directly behind her.
     As they entered the rift, Dusque could hardly breathe. There  were  not
just one or two skeletons, but  hundreds  upon  hundreds.  As  she  wandered
through the boneyard, easily passing through the partial ribcages as  though
they were tunnels, Dusque marveled at how many of the creatures  had  passed
away, each one inexplicably drawn to the same spot. The place  reminded  her
of some of the other creatures she had encountered in her work, animals that
always returned to the same place to spawn. Some  of  those  creatures  were
known as "terminal spawners," because they died soon  after  reaching  their
destination. Dusque hoped that was the explanation in this case.
     As Dusque and Tendau moved deeper into the rift, passing skulls and the
remains of claws,  something  winked  reflected  starlight  from  the  sandy
ground. Dusque moved toward it as  her  colleague  reminded  her,  "We  best
collect what samples we can. I don't think we have much time."
     Nestled in the center of one of the many ribcages was an object  nearly
the size of Dusque's head. She hefted the thing up and held  it  out  for  a
better look. Its surface was a creamy color, and the object  glowed  softly.
It was perfectly smooth, and Dusque realized  that  the  krayts,  like  many
reptilian species, must swallow  stones  and  churn  them  around  in  their
gizzards to aid digestion- perhaps for years.
     "Pearls," she said, and although the boneyard was an odd place for  It,
she burst into laughter. "Pearls," she said again, almost breathless.
     "Dusque," Tendau said. The tone of his voice caused Dusque to whip  her
head around.
     She gasped and let the krayt pearl fall to her feet.
     "Ohhh," she said in awe.

                                    ***

     In the tavern, a few of the newly arrived travelers from Mos  Espa  sat
around the bar. After a few Tatoome Sun burns, the talk turned to the fabled
canyon krayts and their treasures,
     "I heard that the graveyard is littered with  their  pearls,  each  one
worth a fortune," said a young Rodian to his female  companion.  "I'll  find
one for you," he told her before stealing a kiss. She giggled delightedly,
     "Don't be stupid," a human snapped  at  him,  "Not  only  is  there  no
graveyard, there's no such thing as a krayt or a pearl. All that you'll find
out there are some giant sand beetles that will be more than happy to make a
meal out of you." He and his companions shared a hearty laugh.
     "He's right," came a strong female voice from the back of the room.  In
a dark corner of  the  tavern,  a  cloaked  figure  rose,  left  her  hooded
companion, and walked to the bar.
     The woman pulled back her hood to reveal a  head  of  light-brown  hair
full of sand and dust. Her gray eyes twinkled with delight.'There is such  a
thing as a krayt, and there are  fortunes  beyond  belief  out  there,  just
waiting for discovery."
     Not to be outdone by the young woman, the human who had discouraged the
Rodian demanded, "And how do you know?"
     "Because not only have I been there I have brought back  one  of  their
treasures."
     The room grew silent in anticipation. Dusque lifted a sack onto the bar
and carefully opened it, Slowly, she withdrew a single,  pearly  object  and
held it with great reverence high in the air.
     "Aww," the Rodian moaned, "That's no treasure, just a  worthless  egg."
And the patrons returned to their drinks, disappointed.
     But Dusque heard none of it. She stared at the gleaming krayt  egg  and
sighed, "Priceless."