Soundtrack:

❶ "Landspeeder Search" • Star Wars: A New Hope OST

❷ "Approaching the Death Star" • Star Wars: Return of the Jedi EST

❸ "The Pit of Carkoon" • Star Wars: Return of the Jedi EST

❹ "The Dune Sea of Tatooine" • Star Wars: A New Hope OST

❺ "Luke Confronts Jabba" • Star Wars: Return of the Jedi EST

❻ "Wookiee Prisoner/Detention Block Ambush (Medley)" 1:53–2:10 • Star Wars: A New Hope OST

Luke hung on for dear life as his Uncle Owen raced his yellow V-35 Courier landspeeder across the desert. The V-shaped nose and three repulsorlift engines reverberated over the desolate wasteland.

Squeezed beside Owen in the tight cockpit, Beru clutched Luke's legs. Even though Uncle Owen had insisted on strapping in Luke like cargo, the boy was still able to tilt to the left and right as his uncle maneuvered the speeder around the rocky outcroppings of the desert.

The stocky moisture farmer pulled the speeder to a halt on a cliff above the city. "Mos Eisley Spaceport."

The small boy peered over the edge of the speeder, seeing the city for the first time in his life. Look at the size of that thing! White buildings with thick walls crowded against each other. Spacecraft landed and launched from the spaceport.

The farmer boy raised his macrobinoculars to watch as another craft approached—a Lambda-class Imperial shuttle. All white with two angled wings and a vertical stabilizer, the craft was the most beautiful thing Luke had ever seen.

Wonder who's on that shuttle. Only the high-ranking officers get those. 

He inhaled as he followed the shuttle's graceful approach to the spaceport. Luke slipped into a daydream for a minute, pretending he was the pilot shuttling that very important officer to Mos Eisley.

Uncle Owen startled him out of his fantasy. "Luke, remember, no wandering off. Stay close to your aunt and me at all times. And keep your mouth shut. Do you hear me?" He emphasized this request with a chunky finger pointed right at Luke's eyes.

"Yes, Uncle."

"If you're good, we'll stop by the spaceport to look at some of the ships before we head home."

Luke's bright smile quickly changed to a deep frown. Yeah, right, you never keep your promises.

As they waited in line under the twin hot suns, the sweat evaporated quickly. Even though it was still early morning, the temperature had already risen above thirty degrees. Their lips cracked, and their skin baked under the broiling glare.

The queue snaked around the landspeeders jamming the side streets. By the manner in which Owen rose on the balls of his feet and peered ahead, he had not yet identified the census location. Luke followed as the heard of humanoids took a step forward, moving a meter at a time, shuffling along in order.

The white armor of the Imperial Stormtroopers gleamed in the brutal sunlight while they held their rifle blasters across their chests and monitored the queue. 

Luke wiped the sweat from his brow. They must be broiling in that armor. 

But even the people in the queue suffered. One elderly woman with her skin wrinkled from the harsh planet's dual suns, swayed in the heat. A stormtrooper yanked the granny back into line and shoved her against the stucco wall. Her eyes unfocused as she slid down the wall.

Another man, taller than Uncle Owen with muscles bulging under his shirt, grabbed the trooper's shoulder and turned him. "What you trying to pull here? Have some respect—"

A resounding thump from the blaster butt knocked the breath out of the man. Doubled-over, he backed into line.

The filtered voice of the stormtrooper threatened, "Next time, we'll use the other end."

The mass of people straightened up their line and looked straight ahead, not daring to even glimpse at the Imperial soldiers.

Luke passed the time trying to identify all the aliens in line. Sand People, Jawa, ooh, that's a Wookiee. I'm sure it is. But what's that? He tugged on his aunt's sleeve, but she put her finger to his mouth. He stared at the parched amphibian with large dark eyes and tentacles that draped over his shoulders. Oh, I know, he's a Nautolan. 

Ooh, a Hutt! I didn't expect to see one of those. Must be important. Got a Weequay guard. The juvenile Hutt scooted his slug-like form across the dusty road while the Weequay bodyguard strutted beside him. The muscled humanoid with cracked, leathery skin gave an air of foreboding as he pounded alongside his charge. His long, dark braids swinging to and fro made it seem almost like a pleasure jaunt.

A few hours later as the twin suns Tatoo I and Tatoo II crested in the blue sky, the Lars family neared the census headquarters. 

Hope they have some water in there. Guess we should have conserved our canteens. Luke wiped the sweat from his forehead. He tapped the empty white container, hoping for even a drop of moisture left. When none came out, he grunted and screwed the cap back on and attached it to his utility belt. 

The boy looked around, hoping the stormtroopers were not watching. Maybe I can break away and get some water at that cantina over there. No one seems to be ar— 

Luke jumped back in line as a squad of troopers led three Tusken Raiders—or Sand People as they were commonly known—past his family to the rear of the building. The Tuskens' wrappings fluttered in the wind, but Luke did not miss their fearful tremors.

Aunt Beru pulled the wiggly boy back, pushing him in between the hot confines between her and Owen. With her body, she hid his face from view.

The boy shuddered when muffled blaster shots and terrifying screams echoed through the alley. He tried to break free to see what would happen next, but his uncle maintained a strong grip on him. But he heard. There was no mistaking the screeches of Tuskens nor the howls of the Wookiees that followed.

Stormtrooper squads surrounded the few Wookiees in line. They attached security binders with decisive clicks and oppressed sniffle-grunts that reverberated down the tightening Mos Eisley alley. When the troopers directed the towering captives past Luke toward the spaceport, he caught a whiff of the Wookiees' musty scents and wrinkled his nose. When Luke turned his body from the offensive smell, his uncle grabbed him by the shoulders to keep him in line.

The boy pulled away from his uncle's grasp. "It's not fair!" 

His uncle grabbed him by the arm and glared at him. The large man shoved the boy behind him, next to a stucco wall. He covered Luke's mouth.

The small boy grimaced at the silent discipline, calming himself before the stormtroopers shot them. Finally, Owen released him.

They all held still as a stormtrooper commander passed by their area. His filtered voice said, "Next word from any of you, and you'll join those grungy Sand People."

Luke shuddered and muffled a squeal in his sleeve.

When they reached the thick blastdoor of the census office, Owen and Beru trembled under the gaze of the hardened soldiers. 

Inside the headquarters, meter-thick stucco walls kept much of the heat out. It was like stepping into the cooling box on a day after Aunt Beru was roasting a bantha. A long counter stretched twenty meters from one end of the room to the other.

Imperial bureaucrats sat behind the counter, with an entire squad of fourteen stormtroopers standing guard behind them. Stormtroopers maintained tight control at their stations throughout the room.

The soldier in charge of the queue nodded to Luke's uncle. Owen led them to the next open window.

At least it's cooler in here. Luke wiped the sweat from the back of his neck.

The man behind the counter asked without looking up, "Name?"

Uncle Owen cleared his throat. "Lars, Owen Lars."

"Date of birth?"

"10.21.-23 Imperial Calendar."

"Residence?" The man's voice shook with weariness.

"Lars Homestead, beyond Tosche Station, Parcel number 2187-1138."

"Occupation?"

"Moisture farmer."

"Family?"

"Married to Beru Whitesun these last 17 years."

"Her date of birth?"

"2.21-20."

"Children?"

"One son. Luke. Born 1.1.01."

The clerk looked up with surprise. "Happy birthing day, young man. You must be a very special boy. You're the first person I've met who was born on the Empire Day. With luck like that, you should make a fine Imperial officer one day."

With his mouth agape, Luke stared at him. 

"Luke, be courteous and thank the man," Beru said with a grim smile.

"Thank you, sir," he mumbled.

The man smiled back at Luke before pressing a few buttons on his datapad. "Now, I will start with you, Lars. Retinal scan, fingerprints, and blood samples. Won't take but a moment."

Owen stepped forward, allowing the man to process the samples.

Before submitting to the procedure, Beru asked, "Why exactly does the Empire need our blood samples?"

"Nothing to worry about. Just want to match up the war orphans with their families." The officer's crisp Coruscanti accent lilted at the end.

Luke knew he was not telling the entire truth. Darkness hovered over the man now. He knew the man was hiding something, something that would affect him. In any case, they would know he was not Uncle Owen's son, that he was only a nephew.

Young Skywalker felt his Aunt Beru's fear increase. Something inside him screamed for him to escape, to run away from this place as fast as he could.

While his aunt put forth her arm for the blood test, Luke turned around in silence and fled, weaving through the stormtroopers and citizens.

"Stop that boy." A stormtrooper aimed his blaster rifle at him.

Luke turned his head when the safety clicked.

Aunt Beru yelled, "He's just afraid of needles. Don't shoot him. Please!"

The boy kept running, straight into the street adjoining the census headquarters. When he turned his head to the front, a speeder travelling at 80 KPH collided with him. Blackness took him as he collapsed to the hard-packed dirt.

Did you know . . .

● We are still in the glory days of the Galactic Empire. Emperor Palpatine, the Sith Master Darth Sidious, rules with an iron fist. The Rebel Alliance is still in its infancy. Wookiees are slaves.

● Tusken Raiders are also called by the epithet "Sand People." They are nomadic humans whose dress is related to their worship of the sand and the preservation of the little water on Tatooine. [SPOILERS:] In Attack of the Clones, a band of Tusken Raiders abducted Shmi Skywalker (Anakin's mother), abused her, and left her to die. Anakin held her as she died and then massacred the entire tribe in retribution.

Tell me what you think . . .

● What would you have done in Luke's situation at the end?

● How do you feel the two opposing parenting styles of Owen and Beru work together?