Star Wars_ Young Jedi Knights 12_ Return to Ord Mantell - Kevin J. Anderson [16]
The ships jockeyed for position, jostling each other and nearly causing a few collisions as they tried to find the best routes that didn't intersect each other. The vehicles scraped by far closer than their collision-avoidance systems should ever have allowed, but most of these crack pilots had probably shut off their warning systems anyway.
One viewscreen showed a graphical representation of the race. Blips with code numbers traveled through the obstacle course on the grid.
Jacen could watch the progress of the contestants by tracking the colored lights. Some blips moved forward; others fell behind. The holocam buoys, while an ingenious idea to cover the race, nevertheless provided only infrequent snapshots at discrete points-not enough images for anyone to follow the entire spectacle.
A Sullustan Vector-class spaceskimmer went slightly off course, and careened into the comet field. The buoy holocams caught the image as the skimmer struck an icy protrusion, then went into a spin. Enhanced deflector shields protected the pilot from instant death, but the ship was knocked completely awry, and the Sullustan pilot, disoriented, zoomed away in the wrong direction.
A pair of Corellian single-occupant fightercraft swept along opposite sides of a comet and nearly collided with each other at the other end.
They spun out. One ship crashed in the ice field, its pilot ejecting in a lifepod at the last moment and sending out a distress beacon. To their credit, race officials reacted instantly, dispatching medical droids and rescue craft that waited just outside the cometary cloud.
"I wish Lowie were here to see this," Jaina said, still fascinated by the dazzling images of the great race.
"And Tenel Ka," Jacen said, narrowing his eyes. "She must be thinking of us. I feel like I'm sensing them somehow-as if they're closer than we think."
On the gridmap of all the racing ships, Anakin pointed to one blip that was slowly passing every competing vessel. "This one will win," he said.
"I can tell by the piloting, by the speed. It has already overtaken most of the others that were launched first, and this ship entered the race near the end. It won't crash, either. I'm sure of it."
Outside in the streets of Ord Mantell, spectators watched the flat unmarked walls of square buildings that had been turned into transmission screens to carry images from the buoys scattered along the racecourse.
Elsewhere in the New Republic-particularly in gambling casinos such as those in Cloud City on Bespin, cantinas on Borgo Prime, and various other legal and illegal meeting places-people placed bets on the Derby's outcome.
If Jacen had ever decided to gamble, he would certainly have taken his younger brother's recommendation. Anakin had an uncanny ability to predict things such as this. He watched the blip creep past several other racers as the ship zoomed through the cometary debris.
"Who is that contestant?" Jacen asked. He looked down at the code number, but it meant nothing to him.
The bureaucrat came over, all smiles. "That one qualified at the last minute." He rubbed his hands together in a nervous gesture. "And it looks as if we were correct to let them enter so late. The pilot seems most skillful."
The mysterious ship passed two more competitors, swooped around a large comet, then zigzagged through the toughest part of the course.
The craft moved in time with the broken icy space debris, reminding Jacen of an intricate dance. The ship and the comets seemed to be cooperating, moving as one connected system. He had never before seen anyone fly with such sensitivity to the surrounding environment and obstacles.
The ship hurtled around the last comet and then looped back toward Ord Mantell and the finish line. The time displayed on one of the screens was better than any of the other competitors had clocked. No one would be able to beat