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bitten by a kreetle as a hatchling, and had been snapping at everything in sight since. Annileen assumed her daughter had the sense to stay away—but she never knew. Breaking dewbacks wasn’t a safe job for an assassin droid, much less a seventeen-year-old girl. But Dannar Calwell had never accepted limits, and his oldest child wasn’t about to, either. Stubbornness bred true.
    Annileen had hoped her son, Jabe, would be different. But it wasn’t turning out that way. And between the emergency siren, her kids, and the customers today, Annileen had just about had it. She glared out the window and winced.
    In pain. “Ow!”
    “That’s new,” Leelee said, depositing her parcel and some credits on the counter. She pointed to Annileen’s hands. “You have literally cut off your own circulation with your apron strings. Appropriate. A little on the nose, though.”
    Looking down, Annileen quickly unwound the fabric from her reddened palm. “You’re the range psychiatrist now?”
    “No, but I’ve got five children of my own. And I know if you keep staring at Kallie, she’s just gonna try to ride the crazy one.”
    Annileen turned away from the window. “Now, that’s where you’re wrong,” she said, collecting the money. “It’s always the kid I can’t see that I’m worried about.”
    Jabe had already been long gone with the prospectors when the Settlers’ Call had sounded. Her son knew very well what Annileen thought about him getting anywhere near Orrin’s business. But as far as she could tell, the boy didn’t care at all. She just didn’t understand him anymore. Jabe had something everyone on Tatooine dreamed of: a guaranteed life of safe, indoor work, filling his father’s shoes. Instead, the stubborn teen kept sneaking away with Orrin’s work crew. Sure, Annileen knew the boy had eyes for Orrin’s daughter, Veeka. But he had no more chance with that hellion than he had of becoming Chancellor of the Republic—or whatever they called it these days.
    No, Annileen concluded, he’d gone with the crew this morning in retaliation for having been made to clean the cookers before dawn. And if he followed them into danger, that’d be spite, too. That irritated her beyond measure. Spite was stupid. Even Kallie was too smart to ride Snit just to make a point. And Annileen had always figured Jabe had sense … her sense. He’d give the Tuskens the same berth, wouldn’t he?
    She was afraid she knew the answer. She found her inventory datapad and returned to staring at it. She couldn’t read a word, of course. She only saw Jabe—and Orrin.
    Orrin. The Claim had thrived long after Dannar’s death because Annileen had one steadfast rule: she never let anyone have anything on account. There was only one exception: Orrin, Dannar’s best friend and sometime business partner. Orrin and Dannar’s friendship had gone back years, long before Annileen had come to work at Dannar’s store as a teenager. The two men had so many side deals that she’d always felt awkward trying to set limits. But Orrin was sorely testing her patience now, dangling the possibility of range work for her son.
    Orrin’s family was a mess. Why did he meddle with hers? Aggravated, she tried to focus again on the datapad.
    “You’re holding it upside down,” Leelee said from behind.
    Annileen didn’t look up. “Are you still here?”
    “I’m waiting for my change.”
    “You’re out of luck. Change is the one thing Tatooine doesn’t have.” Taking a deep breath, she looked back at Leelee and smiled wanly. “How much was it?”
    Leelee waved her hand. “Keep it. Maybe you can pay Dr. Mell to give you something to help you relax.”
    “Yeah,” Annileen said. “Like a ticket to Alderaan.”
    As if Leelee’s words had summoned him, the local physician, a Mon Calamari man, popped his head in the side door.
    “Annileen, are they back yet?” Mell wore a special cowl supplying his tentacled head with moisture, but he was flushed