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 pa.s.sed 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 ident.i.ties use the same initials as the being"s real name. It helps them to remember their new ident.i.ty."
"But what does it mean?" Anakin asked. "Why would Dering want a new ident.i.ty?"
"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 ident.i.ty, 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 pa.s.s. 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 fair," 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 s.p.a.ce 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 buy back his speeder instead."
Obi-Wan saw the datapad tucked under Didi"s arm. "Let me see that."