The Day of Reckoning

15

The security police dragged Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon into the aisle. They surrounded them with blasters drawn. Two of them held Qui-Gon by the arms, two more held Obi-Wan.

“Hey!” Den shouted from the stage. “Enough of this. I won! Where’s my prize?”

The crowd took up the cry. This is what they waited for? to see the winner accept a fortune in credits and crystalline vertex. Even the security police wanted to see it. Although their blasters stayed leveled at the Jedi, their eyes darted to the stage.

Xanatos hurriedly strode forward, a transparent box in his hands. Crystals glittered inside and credits spilled from the top. Xanatos seemed visibly anxious to get the ceremony over with, Obi-Wan noted.

Xanatos handed the box to Den. Everyone turned toward him. It was customary for the winner to say a few words.

Den stood, looking at the box. He did not speak.

Obi-Wan glanced at Qui-Gon. This was the test. Things had changed. They were in custody. Den could see that. Andra could not stop him alone. If Den didn’t follow through on their plan, he could keep a fortune. The amount in the box would tempt almost any being, let alone a thief.

Instead of addressing the crowd, Den turned and spoke to the tall, silver-haired man in the first tier of seats. “Governor?”

The Governor of Telos stood.

“Will you read the durasheet I handed you before the final contest took place?”

The Governor reached into the pocket of his tunic. He leaned over and read into the amplification device. “The winner will be Kama Elias by twenty points. Deleta will experience a steering problem. Kama will push past to win.”

The crowd looked on, mystified. Kama had won by twenty points. But how did the winner know that Deleta would have a steering problem?

“Citizens of Telos, I wrote that before the games began,” Den announced. “I broke into the Katharsis computer. Every Katharsis contest is rigged! The equipment of the contestants is subtly altered as the games go on so that the prechosen winner will triumph. Even the winner of the lottery is chosen ahead of time. The winner must agree to split the fortune with UniFy. This whole thing is a setup designed to get your money!”

Den reached into the box and withdrew fistfuls of credits and crystalline vertex. He tossed them to the crowd. The credits and vertex rained down, and people scrambled to pick them up. Around them the screens flashed images of the devastated Sacred Pools.

“They’ve lied to us!” he shouted. “Look at the screens! This is what your money has bought! Look around you? look at each other. Are you in debt? Do you only think about money? Good? because that’s what they want! And while we scheme and dream, our world is being destroyed. Look at the logo on those crates of explosives, on that ship. UniFy is Offworld! Our planet has been sold to the biggest mining corporation in the galaxy while we bet on a game. And who runs Offworld? The mighty Xanatos!”

For a moment, the collective silence of the crowd seemed to suck all the air out of the dome. Then the silence broke into a great roar, as mighty as the sea.

The security police holding Obi-Wan were just as transfixed as the crowd. The crowd rose as one body, leaping to its feet and screaming for Xanatos. The screen still flashed image after image of the ravaged park.

“Arrest him!” they shouted. “Arrest Xanatos!”

Xanatos stepped forward once again. He waited out the shouts and jeers. Slowly, people in the crowd began to hush one another. Everyone expected Xanatos to calm them again. To tell them that what Den was saying was a lie.

Xanatos surveyed the crowd for a long moment, waiting out every murmur until the dome was silent once more.

Then, he smiled and shook his head like a teacher admonishing a class of students. “You pathetic fools.”

Moving astonishingly fast, his cloak streaming behind him, he leaped onto the winner’s swoop. He rose into the air, pushing the swoop to maximum speed. Weaving to avoid the floating boxes, he expertly maneuvered the craft out of the dome toward the exit.

“Not this time, Xanatos,” Qui-Gon said grimly.

It was easy to break the holds of the distracted guards. Obi-Wan struck out with his elbow and knee, freeing himself. Afraid to fire their blasters in the midst of the weaving, angered

Qui-Gon had hidden their swoops behind a stack of benches. They leaped on them and took off in the direction Xanatos had gone.