Karr Piloting

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By the time Karr and RZ-7 emerged from hyperspace, they found themselves on the Kessel Run, a specific route usually used by smugglers to transport spices to unsavory customers.

“I feel we might be out of our element here, sir,” RZ-7 said.

“All the better. We already know what we know. Let’s start learning things we don’t know.”

“I’d like to point out, sir, that I am fluent in many languages, but in none of them does that make any sense. Also we’re coming up on Oba Diah and its moon.”

The two travelers pored over the maps they were able to download. Not a great deal of survey work had ever happened on the sad little moon, and enough of it was classified by various militaries over the years that it all felt woefully incomplete.

“But look, right there. That’s a canyon, right?” Karr stared closely at the holomap.

“I see cliffs, yes. I think?”

“Well, the rest of the planet is as smooth as an Umbaran’s scalp, so let’s start there.”

The droid hesitated. “What about the criminals that Pyke warned us about? Do you think this is one of their settlements?” He indicated a little encampment a few klicks to the east.

Karr enlarged the map as big as he could make it. “I can’t tell. On these images, it almost looks abandoned, doesn’t it?”

“Let’s hope it is. If it’s not, this trip may not go as smoothly as the others have so far.”

He tried not to let the dire possibilities dampen his spirits. “Let’s set down on the other side of the canyon. Even if it’s not an empty settlement over there, maybe no one will see us.”

“Very good, sir, but let’s be careful. This will be your first landing.”

“I hear that any landing you can walk away from is a good one.”

The droid said, “I tend to set a higher bar, but I guess that is true. However, if we can’t also fly away from this landing, it’ll mean we’ve crashed on a desert moon that might be abandoned or might be crawling with criminals.”

“I hate it when you’re right. Your diagnostics are up to date?”

“Yes, sir.”

“And I’ve read every manual I could find in this thing, so between us, we’re about as prepared as we’re going to get.”

“Very confidence-inspiring, sir.”

“Thanks, Arzee. Now submitting coordinates to…a spot that looks like it might be a decent place to set down. I guess.”

Ten minutes later, the Avadora dropped with only a couple of bumps and bounces at the bottom of the canyon’s north edge—in a clearing that once might have been a waterway or might have only been a wide, shallow sinkhole that settled into dust.

“That was…not as smooth as I had in mind, but we can walk away—so I’m calling it good.” Karr unbuckled himself from the pilot’s seat and stumbled before getting his footing. The ship had landed on ground that wasn’t quite level, and the boy was rattled from his first experience bringing a starship to a planet’s surface. Even a week before, he would’ve never dreamed it was possible. Now he was chasing Jedi rumors from system to system.

Even though he was still frightened and permanently overwhelmed, he grinned from ear to ear.

“Systems seem to be sound, and no damage is reported from the engines or shields, so I’d call it a success, as well.” The droid unfastened his safety belt and wobbled, then steadied himself. “Scanning for fragments of heavy metals, or other signs of wreckage.”

“Cross your fingers for Jedi remnants, not weird crime-family business.”

“If I had traversable phalanges, I would absolutely do that.”

Karr laughed. “You know what I meant.”

“I did. And the ship’s scanner has picked up evidence of a crash, I believe. A few klicks to the west of here.”

“Seriously? Is it the shuttle?”

“Unclear, sir. I’m detecting pieces of metal, but nothing large.”

Karr sighed. “Well, let’s go find what we can. It’s odd but I almost wish that Pyke was wrong.”

“I understand, sir. He did have a little too much exuberance in his family’s achievement. But if we do find something that connects to the Jedi, then it’s a win-win.”

“True, true,” Karr replied as he strolled down the ramp.

Outside, the air didn’t feel too different from Jakku—hot, dry, and flecked with blown bits of sand and gravel. But the canyon offered a little protection and a lot of shadow, so it wasn’t quite so bad as the desert land from which they’d come. At his hip, Karr wore a canteen he’d found in the ship’s tiny galley area that didn’t remotely qualify as a kitchen; on his face, he had a protective visor he’d found stashed under a seat—so the glare didn’t blind him. He’d taken every precaution possible, but it still didn’t feel like enough.


- Force Collector, Chapters 11 and 12


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The edges of the vision fluttered and melted, and Karr felt many things all at once. First he felt stupid. It had never dawned on him to touch RZ-7, because they were practically inseparable. What the droid saw, Karr saw, and what they didn’t observe together they shared with each other. It hadn’t even crossed his mind that RZ-7 could witness something without noticing it. Second he felt confused. What were his parents talking about exactly? What would drive him mad? Did he have a tumor? But most important, he felt angry—angry that he was being lied to about…something. Something big. And he intended to find out what.

Karr’s stomach was in knots, but his eyes became steely as he stared at the empty pilot seat. He had learned a lot in the past few days, but had he learned enough to pilot the ship home by himself? He sat in the chair and buckled himself in.

Hell, yeah, he thought. In fact, there were a number of things he was about to do that he had never done before.

[...]

The trip back home felt infinitely shorter than the trip that had taken Karr so far away from it, just a few short days before. There was no more hopping, skipping, or jumping from moon to moon, star to star—it was just a straight shot back to the little planet of his birth, his entire life so far…and possibly his future, too. He paced in the ship on the final ride, wondering if he was making the right decision, fearing that he wasn’t, but knowing full well that his anger and adrenaline made it his only option.

As he maneuvered the Avadora back through Merokia’s atmosphere, he thought about all the things that had changed since he left. About the boy who had set out with friends to follow a tale and the young man who was returning home alone to finish the story.

No one was around when Karr landed the ship on Maize’s family’s landing pad, just as no one was there when they had taken off. He wished RZ-7 could see the great job he was doing bringing the Avadora in, and decided to include him anyway. “Look at this, Arzee! We’ve come a long way from just being able to walk away from a landing. Owned it like a pro!”

Once the ship’s landing gear was fixed firmly and he had powered everything down, Karr grabbed what he could of RZ-7’s remaining parts and threw them into a bag. He grabbed the bulk of the droid’s body around the waist, and the two of them exited the ship like old friends coming home from a party. Only Karr wasn’t ready to celebrate. He was ready for answers.

When he finally got home, he slammed the door behind him and stormed past his brother, shouting “Where are mom and dad?” Not waiting for an answer, he made a beeline for the living room, where he found his mother measuring the waist of a clothing mannequin.


- Force Collector, Chapters 18 and 19


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