"Maxo Vista?" Jocasta Nu asked, overhearing Anakin. Her voice lost its businesslike quality. Obi-Wan had never heard her sound so warm. "Have you met him?"
"No," Obi-Wan said.
"You don't know who he is, do you?" Jocasta Nu demanded.
"Can you retrieve that information for me?" Obi-Wan asked irritably.
"Yes, Obi-Wan. I'll do what I can." Jocasta Nu's voice brimmed with humor, an unusual occurrence.
Maxo Vista caught sight of them and came forward with the tall Euceron. "I have hoped to meet the Jedi," he said. "This is Ruler Three, one of the esteemed Ruling Power."
Obi-Wan introduced himself and Anakin. Maxo Vista flashed a charismatic smile, his vivid green eyes shining. "We are grateful that the Jedi have graciously agreed to attend the Games. With so many worlds coming together for these Games, it holds out a promise for peace throughout the galaxy."
Ruler Three bowed. "Our government thanks you. Now I must attend the next event."
As soon as Ruler Three had left, Obi-Wan turned back to Maxo Vista.
"We would like to speak with the official timekeeper for this event."
"Of course." Maxo leaned forward to touch a glowing screen. "That would be Aarno Dering." He peered over at a glass skybox with an excellent view of the action. "He's already left, I'm afraid. But I can give you his room number at the official Games quarters."
"We'd appreciate it."
Maxo Vista hesitated. "Is anything wrong?"
"Just a routine check," Obi-Wan assured him.
He nodded and consulted the screen again, then gave them Aarno Dering's location. Obi-Wan and Anakin hurried out of Stadium Five. The air taxis were full of the departing crowd. Obi-Wan and Anakin threaded through the crowd, moving quickly and easily through the crush.
"I can't believe I actually met Maxo Vista," Anakin said. "I'll never forget his performance in the swoop races in the last Games. And did you see him in the holographic obstacle course? He set a new galactic record."
Obi-Wan's face was blank, and Anakin sighed. "I can't believe you don't know who he is. Everybody — "
" — knows Maxo Vista," Obi-Wan finished. "But right now I'm more interested in Aarno Dering."
At the quarters, they passed the security checkpoint and quickly accessed a map for directions to Block Seven, Room 4116.
"This way," Obi-Wan said.
They hurried down the outdoor walkways that connected the various temporary buildings built of hard duraplastoid materials in bright colors.
When they reached Block Seven, they took a moving walkway up to the fourth story.
"Room 4116 should be at the end of the walkway," Anakin said.
A tall humanoid male came out of a door at the end of the walkway. He paused while he carefully placed various personal items in different-sized pockets. His neutral gaze slid over the surrounding area and lit on the Jedi.
He jumped and a look of surprised panic lit his eyes. He turned abruptly and headed the other way.
"Aarno Dering?" Obi-Wan called, quickening his pace. "We'd like to talk to you."
Dering began to run. Obi-Wan and Anakin leaped forward in a surge of speed.
Dering had a good head start, but he was no athlete. He leaped onto the moving walkway and zigzagged past athletes and workers, pushing some aside roughly. Obi-Wan leaped off the second story and landed lightly on the ground. Anakin followed.
When Dering raced out an exit from the quarters and into the street, Obi-Wan was merely steps away. Suddenly, a fast-moving airspeeder headed straight for Dering. Obi-Wan reached out, ready to grab the waving hem of the man's tunic, but the speeder struck the slight man first, sending him flying through the air. Aarno Dering landed with a sickening thud.
Chapter Eleven
"Go to him," Obi-Wan ordered Anakin tersely.
Obi-Wan jumped after the speeder. Landing on the speeder's outrigger component, Obi-Wan drew his lightsaber and severed it with one stroke. The speeder veered and crashed into a bright yellow bench, and the pilot leaped out. Obi-Wan recognized him instantly as the pilot of the air taxi.
Something about the way he held his body alerted him. His movements were quick and powerful, but loose and graceful as well.
The pilot leaped over the speeder and raced down the street. Without breaking stride, he shot a cable launcher up to the roof of a high building. The cable launcher pulled him up and he disappeared onto the roof.
Obi-Wan activated his own launcher and followed, the wind rushing past his ears. He jumped onto the roof just as the pilot leaped to the next building. Obi-Wan followed.
The pilot never looked back. Obi-Wan noted his coolness. There were not many, being pursued, who did not pause to check on the location of their pursuer. Obi-Wan was gaining and the pilot seemed to know it, for his pace quickened as he leaped to the next roof. It was twenty meters below, 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.