When they arrived back to the AT-AT, Ani said, "Grab the crate with the parts from the junk pile and bring it out here."
Rey obeyed and dragged the heavy crate out. Ani could have easily brought it with the Force, but he was purposefully having Rey do as much of the heavy work herself to build her strength.
"Why do I need this junk?" Rey asked as she struggled with the heavy shipping crate.
"Open it. We're looking for the two repulsor lifts."
"The what?"
"The repulsor lifts. Take one part out at a time."
As she did, Ani identified each part. Then he had her go over the names again. Finally, he allowed her to take the two repulsor lifts and instructed how to put the speeder together.
It took almost two months to finish the speeder, requiring not only time to assemble the piece, but time to salvage from different wrecks as well. The most important pieces Rey had to reclaim from the Ravager's landing craft bays at night, so that the other salvage crews would not harass her.
Ani was patient with her as she made mistakes or as parts that seemed to be fine needed to be repaired and reinstalled.
But today was the day. If Rey could not get the speeder to work, she was going to have to hitch a ride with a salvage crew to Niima Outpost and sell the few parts she had left for rations. The ration packets Ani had stolen for her were gone.
Rey climbed aboard the one-seater speeder. She primed the engine and flicked a few toggles before igniting the thrusters. The engines shuddered and then died. She tried the sequence again, holding her breath. And again. And again. And again. And still nothing. She kicked the speeder and banged on the top of it with her fists, yelling at it in frustration and dissolving into tears.
"Stop, Rey," Ani said. "Your anger is not going to solve this problem."
"It's not going to work, Granddad."
"It will. Just need to figure out where the connection is loose."
Rey hopped down off the speeder and raised the side of the engine compartment. "Trace the cables. Tighten every connection."
The scavenger did so and then tried the start-up sequence again. Nothing.
"Check the hoses. Run your hands across each one, checking for any leaks."
She wiped her hands on her dirty clothes, wishing not for the first time for the luxury of a real bath, but knowing that would not be coming any time soon. She started with the hoses at the front of the compartment and worked her way to the rear thrusters.
"Here it is—got a nick in this hose." She grabbed the binding tape out of her bag and tightly wrapped the hose.
"We'll need to find a replacement hose eventually. That tape won't stand up to the heat that long," Ani said.
When she had closed the engine compartment again, Rey climbed atop the speeder. She primed the engine, flipped the toggles, and hit the ignition. The engines coughed again. Rey hit the ignition again, and after a short cough they came to life. Rey screamed in exultation.
She grabbed the controls and hit the throttle with her foot. The speeder rocketed forward across the sand. Rey held on for dear life, as the power and the speed exhilarated her. She spent the next hour speeding around the graveyard, testing the small craft's abilities.
As the sun reached its zenith, Rey headed back to the AT-AT. She grabbed her carry bag, stuffing as many parts as would fit inside it. She shoved her staff on her back and climbed back on top of the speeder, heading into Niima Outpost.
Rey approached the bazaar with trepidation. Had it only been a few weeks since she was last here, forced to clean parts at that table? The parts she had with her were clean already, but she knew on her next trip she would be spending time at the table, paying a fee to use the scrubbers and the water.
A line of four beings stood in front of Unkar's trading booth. The crime boss appeared to be in a bad mood today, but Rey could not do anything about it.
She needed rations, and she needed them today. She grabbed the hooded cloak out of her bag and put it on. It made her sweat more, but she hoped Unkar would take her for a Teedo and not recognize her. She hoped he thought her dead after the speeder attack a few months ago.
When it was Rey's turn, Unkar yelled, "Next!"
Rey reached up and put her pieces on the counter.
Unkar lifted the first piece and looked over it. He made a guttural response. Then he took the next piece, pleased with it as well. After looking at all twenty pieces, he said, "Five portions."
The girl was upset. She knew they were worth more. "Those pieces have all been repaired. In working condition, they are worth forty pieces."
"Ha! But who else will buy them from you?" Unkar asked.
Rey bit her lip. She needed those rations, but she was not going to just take what Unkar offered without at least trying for more.
The Crolute reached out with a sweaty fin and pulled her hood off her head. "So, the little girl didn't die." He made some quick movements toward his two guards out of Rey's sight.
Unkar turned and started counting out the sealed portion packets as his guards came around to the front of the booth and grabbed Rey from behind.
Right before they grabbed her, Rey took her staff in hand and swung it strongly against the first attacker. She kicked, bit, and swung left, right, up, and down. Ani joined in, taking out the other attacker.
Unkar yelled, "It's Vader! It's Vader!"
When both men were down, Rey turned back to Unkar. "I will now take my forty portions."
Unkar quickly grabbed another twenty portions, looking around nervously for Vader's ghost. Ani played with him, banging the booth near his head, making him jump. Rey heard Ani giggle a little and had a hard time keeping her face straight as she loaded the portions into her bag.
After trading ten of her portions for two large containers of water and hanging them with a rope over the top of the engine compartment, Rey headed back to the walker. Tomorrow, she would start scavenging for real.
As she bundled down on the floor of the walker for bed, she asked Ani, "Granddad, who's Vader?"
"Someone who doesn't exist anymore, Sweetie. I wish he had never existed."
Rey turned out her glow-lamp, pondering those words.