Part 24 (1/2)

'Thank G.o.d. Any sign of Mr Syracuse? Is he still coming?'

Sally said, 'Last time I spoke with him, he was hoping to get here on Sat.u.r.day. They had a race on at the School today - you know, the one Ariel had to go back for - and he had to stay for that.'

'Any idea who won - ' Jason said as he slid past a tight cl.u.s.ter of people and abruptly b.u.mped into someone he knew.

Xavier Xonora.

An awkward moment.

Jason, Sally and the Bug faced their rival, the Black Prince.

'h.e.l.lo, Xavier,' Jason said.

'Chaser.'

'Thought you drove well in the Shootout today,' Jason said. 'Tough compet.i.tion here. Where'd you end up? 9th?'

'That's correct. 9th. But then my goal was to finish in the top ten, so all in all, I'm pleased.'

At that moment, Xavier's father, King Francis of Monesi, came up behind Xavier. 'Excuse me, son. I have someone - ' at which point the King saw Jason and his team and he cut himself off. 'Oh.'

'Hey there, your Highness,' Jason said good-naturedly. 'Good to see you again.'

The King seemed taken aback, as if he didn't expect Jason to be capable of speech, let alone friendly speech.

'It's, er, nice to see you again, too, Master Chaser. Xavier? I have someone I'd like you to meet. When you're finished talking with Master Chaser.' The King nodded to Jason. 'Have a...pleasant evening.'

When his father had gone, Xavier turned to Jason, ice in his glare. 'So. Chaser. Are your parents here? I hear there are some very good caravan parks on the outskirts of Rome.'

'You know, Xavier, you're a great racer. It's a shame you're such an a.s.shole.'

And with that, Jason went to his table.

Besides his meeting with Xavier, Jason had two other interesting encounters at the gala dinner.

The first came midway through the main course, when he went to the restroom.

As he washed his hands at the basin, a short weedy-looking Indian man came alongside him, also was.h.i.+ng his hands. Without even looking at him, the Indian man said, 'Ooh-ooh, my oh my. Look who it is. It's Jason Chaser, hover car racer. How are you feeling, Jason?'

Jason turned. 'Do I know you?'

The Indian fellow extended his hand. 'Ooh. Pardon me, pardon me. How rude of me. Gupta is my name. Ravi Narendra Gupta.'

'Again: do I know you?'

'No, but I know you, Jason.'

Jason said, 'Are you involved in one of the racing teams?'

Ravi Gupta smiled in a way that Jason immediately disliked. 'Ooh, sort of yes. Sort of no. I'm just a very interested observer of racing.'

Jason became guarded. 'You're not a reporter, are you?'

'Ooh, no. No-no-no! Certainly not! I promise you, young Jason, I am no reporter. Just an interested observer. For instance, I'm keen to know how you're finding top level racing. You seemed to manage the Shootout very well today.'

'I was pleased to finish mid-field.'

'How do you like the F-3000? Not too much grunt for you?'

'It's a good car.' Jason didn't understand why Gupta was asking him this.

Just then, Umberto Lombardi entered the men's room - and before Jason knew what had happened, Gupta had vanished, gone in an instant.

Lombardi saw the perplexed look on Jason's face. 'Something wrong, my young star?'

Jason looked about himself. The Indian was indeed nowhere to be seen. 'No...no...nothing's wrong.'

Jason's second interesting encounter of the evening occurred immediately after the speeches had ended.

Just as the applause for the President of Italy was dying down and Jason was preparing to leave the dinner and go home, an absolutely beautiful young girl suddenly sat down next to him.

'Hi!' she said. 'You're Jason Chaser, aren't you?'

'Er...uh...yeah,' Jason stammered, awestruck. She was about his age, 15, with big blue eyes and dazzling blonde hair. She wore an expensive sky-blue c.o.c.ktail dress that just shone with style. In short, she was the prettiest girl Jason had ever seen in his life.

'I'm Dido,' she said in Italian/American-accented English. 'Dido Emanuele, and I'm a huge fan. I watched you on TV in that School tournament a few weeks ago and then I saw you in the Shootout today. You're amazing, and look at you, you're so young! Okay, that was dumb. Sorry, I don't mean to sound so pathetic, like some starstruck groupie. I just saw you sitting over here and decided I had to say hi. So...hi!'

Jason was speechless before her. 'Th...thanks.'

'Well,' Dido said. 'You look like you're getting ready to go. I won't bother you any more. Maybe - hopefully - I'll see you round.'

And with that, she stood and flashed her big blue eyes at him and Jason melted.