[Jedi Quest] - 03(35)

“Copy that!” Anakin shouted. He threw the comlink back down.

The lapse in concentration had cost him. As his Podracer burst out of the maze, Hekula passed him on the inside and took the lead.

His nav computer flashed. The course now would wind through a series of turns, then open out into a large tunnel. Then the five remaining Podracers would burst out of the tunnel onto the city streets. So Obi-Wan’s prediction was right.

Anakin quickly turned to the left before the cave wall curved. He was able to pass Hekula easily. Obviously, Hekula was not as adept a racer as his father. With advance knowledge of that turn, he should have hugged the wall to prevent Anakin’s maneuver. Hekula tried to bump him from behind, but Anakin pulled ahead.

He raced through the tunnel, wondering what to do when he reached the city streets. If he slowed, the others would pass him, and there would be more danger to the pedestrians. The best he could do was stay ahead to lead the pack away from pedestrians and hope he could master the Podracer when its steering blew.

As Anakin zoomed onto the streets, he saw astonished faces and beings quickly running to get out of the way. He slowed slightly, but not enough to let Hekula pass him.

Suddenly Hekula pulled up next to him. He tried to use an old trick of his father’s, flashing Anakin’s engine with side vents so that he’d overheat. Anakin pulled ahead slightly to avoid the steam.

The next segment flashed onscreen. Down a boulevard, then up a steep hill and down the other side. The boulevard would then narrow into an alley, then open up once again.

The turn onto the boulevard would be tricky, a near180-degree maneuver. Anakin eased to the right so he would be able to make the turn. Hekula kept going straight. When the turn appeared, Anakin took it easily, but Hekula had to struggle to keep his Podracer on course.

Engines screaming, they raced up the hill. Speeders accelerated to get out of their way, and pedestrians scattered. Anakin’s hands began to shake, and he realized that his controls were vibrating. His warning light suddenly flashed red.

The steering mechanism was failing.





CHAPTER TWENTY


Obi-Wan had run off the edge of the platform and made a midair leap into the box of surprised VIP spectators. Then he dashed out into the stadium hall and was met by Siri.

“Not much excitement at the bowcaster skill event, so I thought I’d see how you were doing,” she said. “I didn’t realize you’d be competing.”

Obi-Wan made the call to Anakin warning him about the steering mechanism.

“We have to get down there.”

“Where?” Siri pointed out. “We don’t know where the Podracers will emerge from the caves. Nobody knows the track.”

“Maxo Vista does.”

They raced down to the exiting area, where Maxo Vista was hurrying off in disgrace. When he saw the Jedi he tried to flee, but Siri took three strides forward and pinned him to a wall.

“Not so fast,” she said. “We have some questions for you.”

“I don’t have anything to say.” Maxo Vista’s eyes burned with hatred for Obi-Wan.

Siri reached into Vista’s tunic pocket. “We’ll let your datapad do the talking.”

She tossed the datapad to Obi-Wan and he quickly accessed Vista’s files. Obi-Wan felt the urgency as he called up holofile after holofile, but his hands were steady and his eyes never stopped moving.

“Here,” he said. “Here is the route. The steering mechanism will fail after the hill.”

“Does it say which Podracer will be affected?” Siri asked.

“No.” Even as he was speaking, he was contacting Anakin. “After the steep hill,” he said quickly into his comlink, “the steering mech - “

“I know!” Anakin shouted. “It’s mine! I can’t - ” Anakin’s words were drowned out by a loud crash and the comlink went dead.

Maxo Vista smiled. “It appears you were too late.”

The crash occurred between Gargano and Zanales, who had been closely tailing Anakin and Hekula. Anakin did not look back to make sure that no one was hurt. He was too busy trying to bypass the steering mechanism. He guessed that it had been wired to blow through the nay computer.

He was controlling the Podracer through the engines now, just managing to keep it on course. Hekula had zoomed ahead.

A crowd of spectators stood on a corner ahead, right after a sharp curve. Anakin saw clearly that he could not control the Podracer on that turn. There was only one thing to do.

He shut off the nay computer to send the energy to the engines. He would have to rely on the Force.

Immediately the steering hummed with power again. He pushed the engines and in a burst of speed made the turn and cut Hekula off. He was in the lead again.