The Dangerous Games

  but he landed easily and kept on running. Obi-Wan summoned the Force for

  his jump and landed.

  The pilot raced to the edge of the roof that overlooked the street.

  Obi-Wan could hear the noise of a crowd and as he drew closer he saw that a

  stadium below was emptying. Air taxis were lined up awaiting passengers.

  The pilot paused and activated his anti-gray propulsion belt. It allowed

  him to drop off the roof and land safely on the walkway below.

  Obi-Wan leaped down and had to swerve at the last moment to avoid a

  child who suddenly darted out from between her mother and father. He landed

  hard. He was just in time to see the pilot get swallowed up by the surging

  crowd.

  Irritation flamed and died away. He would have liked to have caught

  the pilot. It did not happen. On to the next.

  He made his way back to the quarters. Anakin knelt by Aarno Dering,

  his hand on the man's shoulder. Obi-Wan knew immediately that he was dead.

  He walked to Anakin and put his hand on the boy's shoulder. They stood

  for a moment, a linked chain of commemoration. A Jedi always paused to

  reflect on a life lost, even if they did not know the spirit who had left.

  "There was nothing I could do." Anakin's face was pale. He had seen

  death before, but he was still affected by it. Obi-Wan was glad to see

  this. He hoped Anakin would never lose that particular vulnerability. There

  had been a time when he had wondered if Anakin failed to connect, a time

  when he had seen a curious blankness on the boy's face after he had killed

  in battle. Since that time, Obi-Wan had watched Anakin carefully. When he

  saw his Padawan feel the enormity of a life lost, he was reassured.

  A security speeder pulled up, its signal lights flashing. Close behind

  was the sleek black airspeeder of Liviani Sarno. When she jumped out, it

  was clear she was livid.

  "First an air-taxi driver is badly beaten, and now this," she snapped,

  standing over the body of Aarno Dering. "How will you explain this to the

  Council?"

  Anakin flushed with anger, and Obi-Wan's hand tightened on his

  shoulder. Liviani Sarno's words had offended Obi-Wan as well. She treated

  the death of a fellow being as a nasty inconvenience.

  "Obviously the Jedi cannot fulfill their promises," Liviani continued.

  "The Jedi promised nothing except our presence," Obi-Wan said.

  Her lips pressed together. "In that case, I am calling for extra

  security."

  "That is a good idea," Obi-Wan answered. He was nettled at her tone,

  but extra security was not a bad idea. He didn't want to reveal his

  suspicions to Liviani yet. Officials had a tendency to get in the way. Obi-

  Wan wanted to make sure of what he was dealing with first.

  Liviani turned to confer with a security officer. "I suggest you find

  an event to attend," she said over her shoulder to the Jedi. "Just stand

  around and do nothing. If you can manage that much."

  Obi-Wan strode away. Anakin let out a long breath.

  "I have more things to learn about patience," he said. "I don't know

  how you keep your temper sometimes, Master."

  "Indulging momentary irritation is nothing more than a distraction,"

  Obi-Wan answered. "Liviani is worried that if disruptions occur it will

  reflect badly on her. We have more important things to do. When Aarno

  Dering left his room, did you notice anything significant?"

  He watched as his Padawan frowned, thinking. Then Anakin's face

  brightened.

  "He was just sliding his datapad into his tunic with his left hand. He

  dropped it when he saw us. It fell in the doorway and the door did not

  shut."

  "Exactly," Obi-Wan said. "I think we might want to take a peek into

  the life of Aarno Dering."

  They passed through the security gate again and quickly made their way

  to Dering's room. It was only a matter of time before the security officers

  arrived. Obi-Wan wasn't sure how cooperative they would be with the Jedi.

  The datapad lay in the doorway. Obi-Wan handed it to Anakin and

  reached down for a small folder that had been dropped as well. In it was a

  text doc ID for someone named Ak Duranc.

  "It's a false text doc for Aarno Dering," he told Anakin. "Often new

  identities use the same initials as the being's real name. It helps them to

  remember their new identity."

  "But what does it mean?" Anakin asked. "Why would Dering want a new

  identity?"

  "There's only one reason," Obi-Wan said. "He was afraid he would get

  caught. The question is why." He tapped the text doc thoughtfully against

  his leg. "Beings don't go to this much trouble without cause. He was

  afraid. But of what?"

  Obi-Wan surveyed the room. It was small and neat. Everything was put

  away. A closed travel pack sat on a table. Two chronos sat by the sleep

  couch. Obi-Wan picked them up.

  "They are set to wake him up," he said. "He used two so that he would

  not oversleep." He placed them back where he'd found them. "Interesting. A

  chrono expert who does not trust chronos."

  "Master, look at this." Anakin bent over a holofile. "He didn't code

  any of his files."

  "He was worried enough to get a new identity, but he didn't have time

  to code his files," Obi-Wan mused. "That meant he was once confident that

  he wouldn't get caught."

  "He's noted the events that he's set up the timing system for. The

  bowcaster skill contest and holographic obstacle course are the only ones

  left. But Master..." Anakin looked up. "The Podrace is here, too."

  Obi-Wan came over and studied the file. "So. Whoever is behind fixing

  the games could be fixing the Podrace, too."

  Anakin tapped the datapad. "This means that Doby and Deland don't

  stand a chance. The winner has already been chosen."

  "Possibly. We don't know anything for sure yet."

  "What I don't understand is how a Podrace can be fixed," Anakin

  continued. "It's not like an obstacle swoop race, where individual segments

  are timed. Whoever crosses the finish line first wins. You can't guarantee

  that someone won't crack up or crash. I wouldn't take the bet, even if

  someone told me the race was fixed."

  Obi-Wan nodded. "I see what you mean. But it can't be a coincidence

  that the corrupt timing judge has agreed to time the race." He stared at

  the neat belongings of Aarno Dering while he considered their next step. He

  knew it was inevitable, but he didn't like it. He would have to send Anakin

  back to the Podracers.

  "This could be a larger-scale operation than I thought," he said

  aloud. "No doubt Fligh didn't tell us everything. And no doubt there are

  parts to this that even Fligh doesn't know. I will contact Siri and Ry-Gaul

  to see if they have discovered anything. Anakin, you must go back to the

  Podracers." Obi-Wan did not like the way Anakin's face brightened at this.

  "You have made friends with Doby and Deland. See if they know how the race

  could be fixed and if there is heavy betting going on."

  "And what will you do, Master?"

  "I'm going to work from the opposite end. If we want to find out who

  is fixing the events,
we have to find out who benefits. That means that

  someone, or a group of beings, are placing bets on the outcome."

  "But how can you discover who that is?"

  "I have to reacquaint myself with Uso Yso."

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Anakin piloted Doby and Deland's speeder back to the Podrace hangar,

  leaving Obi-Wan as he checked in with Siri and Ry-Gaul to see if other

  complications had sprung up. Anakin was glad that the investigation had

  allowed him to return. He already felt that Doby and Deland were friends.

  He'd made a promise to them, and he intended to keep it. The best part was

  that he could do this and still follow Obi-Wan's instructions. Working on

  their Podracer would be the perfect cover for him to keep his eyes and ears

  open.

  But if he were honest with himself, Anakin had to admit that it wasn't

  just his promise and the mission that drove him back to the Podracer. It

  was how good it felt to be here. Here he did not have to worry if he was

  good enough. He did not need to question himself.

  All he had to do was make something go very, very fast.

  He saw Doby and Deland working on the engine as he parked the speeder

  and hurried over. Deland raised a grease-stained face. "Am I glad to see

  you! We have a rotor problem we can't seem to fix."

  "Let me have a look." Anakin leaned over the engine. "This could be a

  connector problem. Let me take a look at the valves. Hand me that

  hydrospanner, will you?"

  Anakin took the hydrospanner from Doby and bent over the engine. "Have

  you run the track in a speeder yet?" he asked. "An advance look is always a

  good idea." The more information he got about the race, the easier it would

  be to figure out how it was fixed.

  "Can't," Doby said. "The Podracers won't know the track until they're

  racing."

  Anakin looked up. "What do you mean?"

  "The onboard nav computer will flash us the next area of the track

  every three minutes," Deland explained. "We have to race and navigate at

  the same time. It's a new innovation that Sebulba dreamed up."

  "He knows Hekula can do it, with his reflexes," Doby said. "Plus they

  have such a maneuverable Podracer. The rest of us have had to reconfigure a

  bit, but it sure does make the race more exciting."

  Anakin tinkered with the valves. Could this be the key to how the race

  was fixed? What if Sebulba's Pod-racer got the track information before

  anyone else? That would definitely give Hekula an edge.

  "Who sends the route to the onboard computers?" he asked.

  "The official timekeeper set up the program," Doby said. "Don't know

  his name."

  But I do. It's Aarno Dering. And Aarno Dering is dead. Someone else

  will have to run the program. But who?

  "Who's the favorite?" Anakin asked. "How are the odds running?"

  "Ten to one for Hekula," Deland said. "Rumor has it that Sebulba has

  bet a fortune on his son."

  Of course he has. He knows Hekula will win.

  Anakin glanced over the hood of the Podracer to where Sebulba was

  sitting, sipping tea while the pit droids worked on Hekula's Podracer.

  Sebulba looked over and met his eyes. Something happened behind the

  creature's bulging eyes. Memory clicked in.

  He rose, his front arms waving, and approached. "Now I recognize you,

  slave boy. All you needed was a little grease on your face." He laughed.

  "What an unfortunate surprise. I thought you were dead."

  "Not yet, Sebulba," Anakin shot back. "I'm here to make sure your son

  loses the way you did back on Tatooine. Badly."

  "Luck was on your side that day, slave boy," Sebulba hissed. "You are

  just a human, slow and clumsy as a bantha. I should have killed you then."

  "You tried," Anakin said coolly. "But you failed. Failure seems to be

  your destiny."

  "Insolent boy!" Sebulba hissed, raising his hand for a blow. Anakin

  had no doubt that his blow would still be powerful enough to send him

  flying.

  But he was a Jedi now. Sebulba's arm moved so fast it was a blur, but

  to Anakin it looked like slow-motion. He easily stepped aside in time. The

  wind fanned against his face. Sebulba staggered, his balance upset. He had

  expected to land the punch.

  "You can't touch me," Anakin said. He whispered the words, close

  enough now to smell Sebulba's rank scent. "You were never fast enough. You

  still aren't."

  "Slave boy!" Sebulba went toward him again. This time Anakin whirled

  and delivered a kick that sent Sebulba flying.

  Enraged, Sebulba started toward a waiting Anakin, but suddenly the

  Glymphid Aldar Beedo stepped between them.

  "You're disturbing my concentration," he said to Anakin, tapping a

  blaster on his belt.

  "He's a Jedi," Doby whispered. "I wouldn't do that if I were you."

  "All beings are the same once they're dead," Beedo said, his eyes

  cool.

  Anakin hesitated, not sure what to do. The situation now threatened to

  spiral out of control. Hekula was starting across to join in. If a fight

  began, others could be hurt, including Doby and Deland.

  "Master!" Suddenly Djulla appeared and tugged at Sebulba's robe. "I

  have made fresh tea."

  "So what?" Sebulba said furiously. "Get away from me, slave!"

  He struggled to kick Djulla aside with his hind legs while keeping his

  eyes on Anakin. Deland jumped forward to protect his sister. Sebulba's kick

  connected and Deland flew through the air, smashing against the cliff face.

  He landed awkwardly on his arm with a cry.

  "Deland!" Djulla ran toward her brother. She knelt beside him. "You're

  hurt!"

  "Get away from him!" Hekula suddenly roared, rushing forward. ''You

  take orders from us! Get back to your post!"

  Djulla hesitated. Aldar Beedo shrugged and turned away, tucking his

  blaster back into his belt. "This is a family matter," he said. "I have

  work to do."

  Deland's teeth gritted. "Go back," he told his sister. "I am all

  right."

  Hekula turned to Anakin. "If you keep insisting on making trouble,

  you'll be sorry."

  Anakin trembled with the effort of holding himself back. He thought of

  Obi-Wan's coolness. He could not feel it, but he could imitate it. It was

  better to let this particular moment pass. He was not a slave boy, he was a

  Jedi. He could not pick a fight because two bullies deserved to be

  humiliated.

  Djulla hurried away. Doby helped his brother to his feet. Deland held

  his arm carefully.

  "Better get the medic, boy!" Sebulba called before scuttling back to

  his Podracer. "It looks like you won't be able to pilot your Podracer."

  "He's right," Deland said through gritted teeth. "It's broken."

  "What are we going to do?" Doby whispered. "This was our last chance.

  What can we do for Djulla now?"

  Anakin saw the desperation on the two brothers' faces. Once again, he

  was faced with a choice. He had to make it for himself. He had to do the

  right thing and trust that Obi-Wan would understand.

  "I can pilot the Podracer," he said. "If I win, your sister will go

  free."

  "But that isn't fa
ir," Doby said. "Why would you do such a thing?"

  "Because it is the right thing to do," Anakin said. He knew that from

  the bottom of his heart. But he still had to tell his Master.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Obi-Wan stood across the street from Uso Yso's swoop shop. He had

  disguised himself as a space traveler, pulling on a dull gray cloak and a

  wrapped headdress. As he watched, a steady stream of visitors entered and

  left the shop. None of them left with a swoop. Apparently Yso was doing a

  thriving business in taking illegal bets.

  Obi-Wan saw a short, plump figure suddenly dart across the street and

  head for Yso's dark front door. He sprinted across the street to catch up.

  He yanked Didi back by the collar of his tunic. "What are you doing?"

  "Nothing. At least, nothing now, since you are holding my collar,"

  Didi said.

  "You said you were going to buy back Bog's speeder," Obi-Wan accused.

  "I tried! I did! But the cheating monkey-lizard I sold it to upped the

  price," Didi told him. "I couldn't afford to buy back my own speeder! I

  need to raise a little cash, so I thought I would sell Bog's datapad and