[Jedi Quest] - 03(18)

Didi spoke from the floor, his head in his hands. “Are we dead yet?”

“Good piloting, Padawan.” Obi-Wan sank into a seat behind Anakin. “That was close.”

Didi rose shakily to his feet. “What kind of a pilot tries to crash an air taxi and then jumps off? I’ve had some bad air-taxi drivers, but..” He looked at the Jedi. “No. No, no.”

“Yes,” Obi-Wan said. “It was deliberate. We were definitely targeted. Most likely by Fligh.”

Didi shook his head. “Not Fligh. He’s my friend.”

“Well, your friend told someone we were on our way to the stadium,” Anakin said. “That empty air taxi didn’t show up by accident.”

Warning lights suddenly flashed behind them and a voice boomed. “Pull over. Ruling Power security. Repeat. Pull over.”

“You’d better do it,” Obi-Wan told Anakin. “We’re going to have to explain this.”

“Security!” Didi exclaimed. “You don’t need me, do you, Obi-Wan? I can go to the stadium and report to you what goes on - “

“If I hear you placed a bet, you will regret it,” Obi-Wan warned him.

“No bets!” Didi stood by the door, waiting for Anakin to slow enough for him to jump off. “Promise!”

Anakin slowed the craft, and Didi leaped off and disappeared into the crowd as the security officers exited their Flash Speeder and approached the Jedi.

The security officer was dressed completely in black. He flipped up the visor of his shiny helmet.

“We received reports of a runaway air taxi endangering traffic.”

“We are Jedi,” Obi-Wan said. “The pilot exited and disappeared, and we got the taxi under control.”

The officer studied them for a moment, then entered the information into his palm-sized datapad. “Description?”

Obi-Wan gave his estimates of height and weight. “He was dressed in the regulation air-taxi pilot uniform,” he said. “He had a reflective visor on his helmet, so his features were obscured, but he appeared to be a humanoid. Left earlobe slightly larger than the right. A tear on the third knuckle of his right glove. He was right-handed.”

“One boot had a two-centimeter slash in the leather near the instep,” Anakin supplied. “Dark matter on the right glove.”

“Possibly blood, but there was no evidence of injury, so we could assume it was from another being,” Obi-Wan interjected. “Sour smell indicates he had recently exerted himself. Perhaps from the battle to commandeer the air taxi. You’ll probably find an injured air-taxi pilot.”

“We already have. He gave a description. He said the guy was tall.” The officer tucked the datapad into his belt. “Never believed that stuff about Jedi. Now I do. Larger left earlobe, huh?” He shook his head. “It’s good information, but the city is packed. We might not find him. You can proceed.”

Stadium Five was now only steps away. Obi-Wan and Anakin hurried through the tall arches and into the open-air arena. Their ears rang with the noise of a roaring crowd. The race had already begun.

Didi had entered the same way and was waiting for them by the refreshment stand while watching the race on a monitor. Obi-Wan saw that the large circular track was made up of many levels, from the floor of the arena to the top. Each level had a series of holographic obstacles for the swoops to avoid or evade, such as trees, creatures, and traffic officers. He hurried over. “Did they ask about Bog’s speeder?”

“No, they were only interested in the air taxi,” Obi-Wan said. “Has anything odd happened?”

“Nothing that I can see. All the swoops are performing well. The Alderaan pilot is in the lead.” Didi wrung his hands. “And to think I could have bet on him!”

Obi-Wan strode toward a viewing platform. The noise of the crowd reverberated off the walls of the stadium and caused the air to ring against his ears. He was high above the race below. The agile swoops, wearing different planetary colors, zoomed around holographic obstacles that suddenly appeared in their paths. The crowd roared approval or fury at the spectacle.

Obi-Wan watched carefully. The swoops seemed to be functioning perfectly. The pilots were battling with every ounce of concentration they possessed.

“It has to be the timers,” he murmured to Anakin. “Someone must have tampered with them. Only a hundredth of a second off, and the race will be won.”

“Are the timers controlled by one person?” Anakin asked.

“I don’t know,” Obi-Wan said. “But we can find out.”

The race ended with the Alderaan pilot zooming past the finish line to cheers and boos. Beside Obi-Wan, Didi groaned.