Still, with the way the creature eyed both Egara and me, it set my teeth on edge and my stomach to grinding like an old cement mixer.
“Evening,” Egara said pleasantly.
“Evening,” Piggy said, barely even moving his thick lips.
“We came this way looking for a merchant ship,” Egara said. “Is it far ahead?”
The figure ran his eyes over him and pursed those purple lips.
“That would depend on who’s asking,” he said.
“My name is Egara. I’m the captain of a pirate ship and I would like to open negotiations.”
“You seem to be missing your ship, captain,” Piggy said with a sneer.
“It’s not missing,” Egara said. “It’s out there with my crew. But there’s one thing it’s missing and that’s my shuttlecraft.”
Piggy’s eyes moved to one side and a smile curled his features.
“I’m not sure we have a shuttlecraft among our stock,” he said. “I suggest you turn back and look elsewhere.”
Piggy turned, making the leather of his uniform squeak.
Egara moved so fast, it was like a magic trick.
One second my hand rested on his, and the next, his hand was wrapped around Piggy’s upper arm.
The figure turned back, just enough for him to find Egara out the corner of his eye.
His attention dropped to Egara’s hand resting on his arm.
Egara didn’t release his hold.
“My crew left me a shuttlecraft that I believe you now have in your possession,” Egara said, his tone turning cold. “You would be wise to return it to me.”
Piggy stared at Egara but not for long.
He turned his head to one side where a loud clacking noise arrested my attention.
I gasped as a fellow piglike creature dressed in identical long flowing robes of black rounded a shallow sand dune.
Another appeared on the other side, penning us in.
I might have shown I was surprised but Egara didn’t.
Maybe he’d heard them there, or maybe he hadn’t, either way, his body remained tense.
Those twin shivs tucked in his pants remained within easy reach.
The figures were armed with strange weapons shaped like crossbows.
I suspected they didn’t fire bolts of cold metal but unloaded from the glowing glass orb of plasma underneath.
“We wondered why the guards and their drones were out in full force,” Piggy said. “I suppose now we know. If we were to shoot you down, it wouldn’t make much difference to us. The guards would be relieved we’d dealt with one of their escaped prisoners.”
His eyes drifted over to me.
“And returned their… property to them,” he said.
The armed guard closest to me shifted his target from Egara to me.
I’d seen Egara fight.
He could take out two, maybe all three of the figures before they could confidently defend themselves.
But with me present, I suspected fighting was the last thing on Egara’s mind.
He released Piggy but didn’t ease his tensed muscles.
He shared a look with me.
It was both humble and reproachful.
“Everything’s going to be all right,” he said.
There was a curl to his smile that dimpled his chin and gave me a little hope he wasn’t only saying that to allay my fears.
“Bring them,” Piggy said.
As he trudged through the sand, the two guards followed on our heels, the glowing orbs of plasma casting our shadows across the sand that stretched and clipped at Piggy’s heels.
We were prisoners once again.
They led us into a broad valley that’d been cleared on one side.
Random objects protruded from the sand and a dozen other piglike creatures stood in circles cradling metal cups in clipped trotters.
They turned and watched us with tiny black eyes, like raisins drying in the sun.
They wore goggles of varying size. Some were big and wide and round, others even smaller than Piggy’s.
A couple raised their trotters and squinted, forming wrinkles on either side of their eyes like used tea bags.
The object that took up most of the space was a long cylindrical structure.
One side was raised and perched on a hydraulic arm. A ramp lay half submerged by sand that led inside.
Attached to the front of the building was what appeared to be a giant drill bit.
It was chipped and stained with dirt, and some of the teeth were missing from having chewed dirt and hard rocks.
A pair of rudimentary robots fussed over the dust, sweeping it up into tiny dustpans.
Lights blinked on the top of their heads, flashing red every time they sensed more dust and sand that needed clearing.
Piggy drew to a stop outside the cigar-shaped building.
“Watch them,” he said, issuing an order to our guards, their weapons still trained on us.
The dozen other figures fingered the blaster pistols at their waists.
I peered closer at the weapons hanging from their belts.
One was an empty handle that didn’t support a blade.
Could they be real-life lightsabers? I wondered.
Their rotund bearers sure didn’t look much like the powerful Jedis from the movies.
Piggy marched toward the cigar-shaped building but didn’t ascend the hatch into the main room.
Instead, he proceeded until he reached the door at the end.
He rapped on it with his small gloved fist.
A moment later, a slat like a 1920’s speakeasy slid open and a pair of stained yellow eyes peered out.
The exchange they shared was short-lived.
The door squeaked open and Piggy marched inside.
The door shut behind him and we were left surrounded by enemies.
“What now?” I said, speaking at the corner of my mouth.
Even if these piggy creatures were hard of hearing, I doubted they couldn’t hear me.
“Now, we wait,” Egara said.
Well, thanks. That really helps.
“But what are we supposed to do?” I said, pressing him. “What if they turn us over to the prison guards?”
“They won’t unless the reward for us is more than what they can get out of doing business with us.”
“You think there’s a bounty on us?”
“Not much of one. Not yet. The prison guards will think they can find us themselves. Why pay for something you can get for free?”
“Then what are we going to do?”
“I’m going to get my shuttlecraft back. Then, we’re going to get
