Jedi Voyage #3 - The Deadly Tournament

Chapter Sixteen

  The Sleek Cruiser Inn was just as Didi had described it, a dilapidated building made of patchwork plasteel sheeting. Seeing a way to take in more credits, the owner had leased out space in the hallways and closets. Travelers from around the galaxy had stashed gear in every spare space and were cooking up meals on portable stoves in the hallways. Others had rolled themselves in bedrolls in various corners and were trying to catch a nap between events. The smell of bodies, food, and dust was overwhelming. Even this far from the Games, the hum of the crowds in the arenas could be heard. Obi-Wan, Siri, and Ry-Gaul picked through the mess and knocked on Fligh's door.
  "I said I would settle the bill on the way out!" Fligh yelled behind the door. "Such a hospitable establishment, I can't wait to return!" He flung the door open and saw the Jedi. He swallowed. "Ah, Jedi. Always a good sign."
  He stepped aside and let them enter. Belongings were stuffed into an open case. Still-wet laundry spilled out of a travel pack. A half-eaten meal was spread on the sleep couch. It was clear Fligh was in the midst of a hasty departure.
  "Leaving so soon?" Obi-Wan asked. "The Games have just begun."
  "I'm not a fan," Fligh said, shrugging. "There you go."
  "Yet you came here to see the Games," Obi-Wan pointed out. "Don't you want to see how your bets turn out?"
  Fligh laughed. "Why? You have made sure I don't win. I may as well return to Coruscant and make my living honestly, as a thief."
  Siri and Ry-Gaul closed the door and stood in front of it. Obi-Wan casually flung one leg over a stool and sat. "A funny thing happened after we left you this morning. We took an air taxi –"
  "Always a good idea," Fligh said nervously. "The streets are so crowded."
  "– and the pilot tried to crash it," Obi-Wan went on. "Odd that he knew just where we were and where we were headed."
  "Maybe you were just lucky."
  "Maybe you'd like to accompany us to the security office of the Ruling Power and talk about it," Obi-Wan said. It was a bluff. He did not want the Ruling Power to know that they were investigating.
  Fligh gave a squeak of disappointment and threw himself down on the unmade sleep couch. "I knew I'd never make it off this blasted planet. All right. When you came to ask me about the fixed events, you made me nervous. Why wouldn't I be? I saw my fortune disappearing in front of my eyes. So I might have alerted someone as to your presence. They weren't supposed to kill you. Just delay you. I swear! Didi is my friend. I would never allow harm to come to him. And if you think I'd tangle with Jedi, you underestimate my cowardice."
  "Yet you lie to us," Obi-Wan said.
  "And that is never a good idea," Siri said.
  Ry-Gaul did not have to say a word. His fierce looks spoke for him.
  "Yes, I see what you mean," Fligh said, backing away on the sleep couch.
  "Now, tell me again about your friend Quentor," Obi-Wan said, leaning forward.
  "Ha ha," Fligh said. "I see you know about my little joke. I thought it better to protect a friend than expose him."
  "Who?" Obi-Wan asked softly. "And tell me the truth this time."
  "Aarno Dering," Fligh said. "Weeks ago, I was contacted anonymously. Through messages on my datapad. I was asked to find someone who could rig a false timing device for a major race. Credits were transferred into my account with a promise of a sure bet to come. I happened to know just the person they needed. Aarno had been the timekeeper for races in the Outer Rim. He was known for a certain... uh, casualness when it came to scorekeeping. Then the anonymous person said they would hire Aarno for that Galactic Games. The Galactic Games! I had no idea it was for something so grand."
  "How could he pass scrutiny?" Siri wondered. "The timers and judges are screened very closely."
  "That was just my question," Fligh said, nodding. "They told me not to worry about it. To my great surprise, Aarno was hired for several events. To Aarno's surprise as well."
  "That's why you concluded that an insider had to be involved," Obi-Wan said.
  Fligh nodded. "Who else could get Aarno hired, with his record? So we came to Euceron and Aarno got his instructions. It seemed like a deal as sweet as a piece of blumfruit. Aarno would find a way to shave a few seconds here and there and we'd take off with a small fortune. I didn't expect anyone to get hurt. Didi was almost killed, and Aarno got run over by a speeder." Fligh shivered. "I'm going back to Coruscant, where I'll be safe. I just paved the way for some bets to be placed. I didn't want anyone to get killed."
  "You got the false text docs for Dering," Obi-Wan guessed. "Why did he suddenly want to get off-planet?"
  "I guess he lost his nerve," Fligh said with a nervous glance at Ry-Gaul.
  Siri had moved so that she was now sitting in front of Fligh on her haunches, her hands dangling. Her bright blue gaze was piercing. "There is something you're not telling us. Why was Aarno so afraid?"
  Fligh fingered one of his long ears. "I had an appointment to drop the text docs off to Aarno right after the swoop race. As soon as you left, I went to his quarters and waited for him. He was in a big hurry to leave Euceron, and I asked him why. He said if I knew what was good for me, I'd leave too. Of course, I had to pressure him. I withheld the text docs until he told me. He thought he had been hired just to fix the events. But then he found out something else. Something's going to happen during an event. Something will go wrong. They want people to get killed during an event so that the Senators will be blamed."
  "Which event?" Obi-Wan asked.
  "I don't know," Fligh admitted. "Aarno didn't tell me. He found out by mistake. He was afraid they would come after him because he knew."
  "Who are they?" Siri barked in frustration.
  "I didn't ask," Fligh said with a shudder. "I don't want to know. I'm in over my head. And if I know anything about anything – which I don't, but I know about this – sooner or later it's going to occur to them that I know too much. And it's going to be sooner, not later. All in all I'd rather be on Coruscant, so if you don't mind –"
  Obi-Wan, Siri, and Ry-Gaul turned toward the door at the same instant. The surge in the Force had warned them. At the same time, the sound of a heavy rolling could be heard in the corridor outside Fligh's room.
  "Hey, I'm over here, guys," Fligh said. "Are you going to answer my quest –"
  Before Fligh could finish the word, the door blasted apart and a squad of droidekas appeared in the smoldering opening.