He ran. He didn’t know what else to do.
Four openings gaped in the front of the towering wall that spread across the track and disappeared into the blind of trees on either side. Running down a hill, Willis could briefly see the top of the maze structure beyond the wall. Huge metal spectator stands were built above the labyrinth, allowing crowds to watch the action from above. They appeared to Willis like upside-down staircases that extended from the left and right, meeting in the center and running the length of the obstacle. Each level had a row of people able to peer down on the passages below them. The air shook with the sound of screaming fans as the runners approached. Willis tried to examine each opening as he neared, catching glimpses of more walls and turns inside.
“Go farther! I’ll take the first one.” Jaden’s distant voice called from behind him. The idea was agreeable as one or more openings could lead to dead ends in the maze beyond. He started toward the second entrance.
“Right behind you, Willis Thomson,” Antonio called out as he ducked inside the maze behind Willis.
“Can’t live without me?” Willis shot back breathlessly, taking a sudden right turn in the passageway. He tried to focus on drawing the maze in his mind as he ran to keep his bearings using the viewing platforms above as his reference. Right. Left. Left again.
Nearing a four-way intersection, Willis resolved to try to lose Antonio. He cut the corner to his right as close as possible hoping to get out of sight long enough to turn again.
He never saw the other runner.
The flash of purple and gold uniform filled his vision right before the impact. It’d occurred to Willis that the other openings might be passages that eventually intersected with his own, but his desire to lose Antonio overrode his caution. His vision exploded with light as his forehead collided with the jaw of the other runner. Both of them went down, the track surface jamming his shoulder.
Willis held his hand against his head as he stumbled to his feet. The other runner was crawling on all fours still dazed. Even with his blurry vision, Willis could see the blue and white of DeLuca’s uniform streak by him. His mind screamed at his legs, but he continued to move sluggishly. The crowd above him roared so loudly from the turn of events that Willis’s ears felt as if pierced by a sharp object.
Pull it together, Willis.
His mental map was gone, and he couldn’t track where he was any longer. His one hope was to keep Antonio in sight, hoping his rival was as adept as he was at figuring out these puzzles. He forced his legs to move faster than even he believed he could, keeping the blue and white back of DeLuca in view several meters ahead.
His legs burned. His head ached. His shoulder throbbed. Here and there, he noticed other collisions. Occasionally, he would observe runners shouting at themselves in frustration as they’d gone in a circle or been forced to turn from a dead end. Once or twice, he guessed that Antonio had circled back on himself, but he unfortunately showed skills similar to Willis.
As Willis was ready to despair that they wouldn’t break out of this obstacle, he could hear the crowd above rise to their feet cheering. Peering past Antonio, he could see why. Before them lay an opening in the wall. Beyond the opening, open track appeared.
“Thank God,” Willis whispered between breaths.
The stuffy air of the maze was replaced by the slightly less stuffy air of the jungle. It brought some relief to his head. DeLuca was nearly twenty meters ahead of him. He glanced around him. On both sides, a couple other runners emerged from the maze.
Jaden, where are you? To his relief, Jaden emerged a moment later looking around at the runners ahead of him and shaking his head.
Ignoring the pain that pulsated in every corner of his body, Willis fixed his stare on Antonio’s legs. Silently counting Antonio’s steps, he chose a slightly faster pace. He wanted to make up the distance without exhausting himself before the next obstacle. Above him a camera circled trying to find the best angle.
Left, right, left, right. Willis willed his feet forward. The space between him and DeLuca was closing. A glance either way failed to reveal other racers, but he could hear their footfalls. He hoped that Jaden was one of the nearest.
The camera suddenly hovered lower in front of him capturing his face. In the distance, he could hear a faint voice over a loudspeaker. This was followed by the general clamor of the crowd.
Here it comes. The next obstacle was near.
The level track turned sharply upward. The ground was rising underneath his feet, and he doubled his efforts. Ahead, Antonio panted, desperate to keep his lead. Willis had almost caught him when the slope lessened. The crest of the hill approached, and Willis took in the sight beyond.
The summit overlooked a gorge below. The sides of the gorge had been cleared of jungle vegetation and converted to nearly vertical stands on either side. Thousands of crazed people in the stands launched to their feet at the sight of Willis and Antonio cresting the hill. Cheers, songs, and flags were everywhere. Beyond, huge screens displayed the progress of the elite runners, and he caught a glimpse of Jaden running up the hill.
The center of the gorge caught most of his attention. A massive, black tower protruded like a single, upward fang jutting out from the mouth of the gorge. The four sides of the tower were slightly tapered, giving it an obelisk shape. The sides were littered with hand holds, ropes, and other means of climbing to the top. He raced down the hill toward the bottom of the gorge as a low rumble shook the ground beneath his feet.
The rumble transformed into a mechanical roar as he neared, and Willis blinked to be sure he was seeing clearly. The obelisk, sectioned into ten parts, spun on its center. Each section turned independently and at varying speeds and directions. Access to the base of each new section was blocked by a surrounding floor that rotated with the section and had one opening to continue the ascent. The design was ingenious and maniacal all at once. Runners could quickly climb a portion of the obelisk to find themselves blocked as the opening rotated away from their position.
Looking up, Willis saw the tower contained one zipline at the top. The first to reach the top would be the one to fly down to the finish line below. No photo finishes would happen at this Chase. Antonio spat a curse as he took in the tower. Willis didn’t blame him.
So this was it. His entire life came to this moment. The desire to win surged inside of him, bleeding the pain in his body to somewhere distant. He would win this. He had to win this. He had to support the chairman.
The thought surprised him, causing his feet to momentarily stumble, giving another half-step to Antonio. Willis’s eyes opened wide in fear. The growing desire to win had chained itself to the suggestion to support the chairman.
What am I going to do? Willis scanned the ground for answers that weren’t there, but his legs continued to move as if on their own.
“Citizens of the Coalition, the first of our racers approach!” blared the voice over the speaker. Willis glanced at the screens before their view became blocked by the tower. One showed he and Antonio nearly astride. Another showed Jaden and a girl in green and black meters behind.
The shadow of the obelisk and the air at the bottom felt cool as his feet found the floor of the gorge. He scrambled to the first wall and climbed the handholds. Antonio scowled, a meter away. Willis watched the opening above and frowned. Their timing was all wrong, and they’d miss the first opening. Reaching the top, he and Antonio could only hang and wait as the opening rotated its way around the tower.
“Curse this tower,” Antonio said to the air.
“No kidding.” Willis glanced over at Antonio.
“Do not speak with me, Willis Thomson. This day does not belong to you.” Antonio’s words ended in a snarl.
“Can I join the party?” came a breathless welcome voice. Willis looked down to see Jaden and the girl reaching the bottom of the tower and beginning their climb. The Chase designers had done their job. There would be no distant second. This would be a close race.
The far side of the obelisk revealed a stairway. Glancing up, Willis saw the opening nearing, the feet of Antonio disappearing above to the next level.
No! DeLuca must have timed another side of the obelisk perfectly.
“Now, Willis,” Jaden shouted, catching up.
The two of them ran up the stairs. Willis cleared the gap on his feet, but noticed Jaden was forced to jump for the edge, hoisting himself up to the next floor as Willis continued. Floor after floor they climbed. Ladders. Stairs. Ropes.
It was around the sixth floor that Willis heard the scream. The green and black girl failed to clear the top of the staircase a floor below, her foot getting caught between the edge and the top stair, crushing it. The crowd gasped in curious horror as she shrieked in pain. Still, he could not stop to help. None of them could.
“I’m doing no good following you.” Jaden exhaled as they reached the seventh floor.
“Right. Go left and stay with DeLuca. I’ll see if I can find a better route.” Willis snorted between heaving breaths as he ran off to the right around the obelisk.
Reaching the corner, he gripped the wall as the floor lurched below him. The movement threw his body weight outward, his firm grasp keeping him from plummeting off the side. In that instant, his head flung backward giving him a view above. His well-trained mind fired automatically as he took in what he could see of the next couple of levels. The section above, moving opposite to his, would line up perfectly if he could ascend quickly enough.
This is it!
Letting go of the wall, he took the first handholds on that wall and began his climb. The adrenaline-fueled moment gave him the strength to climb faster than he realized he was capable. His feet barely found their grip before his hands were searching for their next target, like a spider ascending a vertical web. Throwing himself through the hole in the next floor, he scrambled and ran up the flight of stairs.
The world spun as his foot slipped, not having found the edge of the stair squarely. He pushed his arms forward to catch himself and winced as his knee drove into the corner of a stair. A grunt of agony and frustration escaped his lips. The opportunity was passing. His window to gain a lead was closing. He launched himself forward up the stairs, but the gap had already bypassed him.
His mind raced. Waiting for the gap to come around could hand the race to DeLuca. Here he was on the ninth floor of the obelisk, the wire descending to finish barely out of reach, and his chance was drifting away.
Win, Willis! Win for the Alliance!
Without thinking, he threw his body into the open air toward the increasingly distant gap above. Willis almost didn’t hear the gasp of the thousands below as the rush of wind filled his ears. For a moment, he flew freely. Then, his stomach dropped as gravity reminded him it was still there.
He strained his fingers forward. The sharp corner of the floor gap caught him below the second knuckle of the fingers on his right hand. His left hand never found its mark and flailed, grasping at air. A hush came over the crowd below as the most favored racer in the world dangled precariously near a fatal fall with one hand in mid-air. His muscles flexed, and he managed to secure his hand on the edge.
This is it, Willis. Pull yourself up and you’ll win. Everyone is expecting you to win. Don’t disappoint them. The voice in his head wasn’t his own. Calm and reassuring, the voice of the chairman was urging him on.
He hung there, conflicted, as the obelisk continued its rotation. An angry voice broke into his thoughts as the section below him turned.
“I will not lose to you, Western scum!” Antonio shouted.
Approaching him, Willis could see DeLuca and Jaden hanging from vertical ropes awaiting the arrival of the gap. Jaden grunted as he tried to keep his grip. DeLuca was kicking wildly with his feet at Jaden’s fingers. Suddenly, Jaden’s hand gave way, and Willis saw the fear in his teammate’s eyes as the imminent danger of falling flooded his mind. DeLuca worked on the remaining hand, not noticing Willis.
Time slowed down to a crawl as images engulfed Willis’s mind. His well-trained brain hunted for a solution, and the world around him blurred to a standstill. Then, the world was gone. Memories of training exercises shot through his consciousness like the pages of a book being flipped, until they stopped on one.
All at once, he was standing in the training center on the station. Before him stood a tower, and a group had gathered at its base. They were standing around a body on the floor.
Creed’s fall. The memory filled Willis’s mind.
He walked over to the body obscured by the small crowd. Looking around, the faces were not those of the trainees on the station. As they came into focus, they looked up at him, and each spoke words he remembered them saying.
“I need to know that you will do what is necessary to preserve the world we live in,” the chairman’s words echoed in the room.
“I did trust you,” Perryn’s tearful voice intruded.
“Emergency powers,” reminded the Administrative Liaison’s voice.
“We’ve got to take care of each other,” Kane breathed.
“Hope of the Alliance,” Chief Administrator Blacc’s voice boomed.
“Cannot change my hope,” Jaden’s mother whispered.
The group gravely stared at the body on the floor. Willis’s gaze followed theirs. He remembered Creed’s twisted frame lying on the floor after his death, but this body was different. It was too slender to be Creed. His eyes made their way upward taking in the details of the racer on the floor coming to rest on his face.
It was Jaden.
Willis stepped back in horror at the scene, confusion overwhelming his senses. The faces looked up at him silently. He wanted to run—to cry—to scream.
“What does this mean?” he shouted. “What am I supposed to do with this?”
Their silent gaze deafened him—judged him.
“My fault? No, this isn’t right. It was Creed that fell that day,” he pled with the group. “Creed fell because Stone-zee let him. He let him fall. He let—”
His breath caught in his panic. He turned to flee when a hand caught his shoulder. Turning, it was the face of his father. Willis crumpled to the floor in tears. His father knelt placing a hand on his knee. Willis looked down at his hand.
“You are my son—you will know what to do,” his father’s voice broke in.
The words washed away the tangled vision, and Willis shook his head to clear it. DeLuca coiling his leg for one last mighty kick at Jaden’s fingers. He could see Jaden’s despair over his loosening grip. Sweat dripped in large droplets from his forehead. He appeared ready to give in to his screaming muscles.
Jaden’s words earlier on the station filled his mind. “You’re the hope for the Alliance, the real Alliance.” The genetically imposed will to win for the Alliance blazed inside him, but the meaning of that Alliance had morphed.
Willis relaxed his grip on the ledge, focusing on the rope below. His body plunged and reached for DeLuca. Antonio’s eyes widened as Willis filled his vision, and he thrust out a defensive hand. Grabbing at Antonio’s rope below his remaining hand, Willis raised an arm to block the kick aimed at Jaden.
He missed.
His momentum still forward from the turning floor above, his feet flew freely out in front of him, flattening the angle of his body. A chill shot through his spine as his intended block met empty air, the already committed kick from DeLuca connecting with Willis’s jaw. The flash of pain and crunching of teeth sickened him, and his fingers involuntarily loosened their
grip on the rope. Antonio, not expecting his kick to connect so soon, shot backward as the force of his kick transferred up his body.
He was falling. They both were.
Chapter Thirty-Five
“Willis!” Jaden shouted as he regained the grip on his rope.
The wind was expelled from Willis’s lungs as his body slammed into the floor at the bottom of the ropes. His head exploded with pain as it struck the metal surface. The shock travelled through his body to his extremities with a burning numbness. For a second, he couldn’t move, see, or hear. With a rush like a wave, the roar of the crowd filled his hearing. The scene cleared, and he turned his head to look at DeLuca.
Antonio was stirring next to him, a deep, bleeding gash on his head. He was turning over in a daze. By some miracle, neither had fallen to their deaths.
“Must win. Must serve Chairman.” Antonio muttered to himself in a drowsy half-speech.
“Willis!” Jaden slid down the rope and landed at his side. “You okay?”
Willis tried to get up, his body sluggish. His limbs wouldn’t respond to his will. A new sound filled his ears, and he realized other runners had arrived and were making their way up the obelisk. Jaden must have noticed too because he peered over the edge to glance below. DeLuca was on all fours reaching for a rope, but he was going nowhere quickly.
“Come on, friend. You have a race to win,” Jaden said, pulling at Willis’s uniform to sit him up.
The war inside him surged to the forefront. His will to win. His will to support the chairman. His will to free the slaves. His will? He realized he had no idea which thoughts were his own. Did he ever have a free will in his life? Then, a new idea occurred to him.
Yes, I do. He smiled to himself.
“It isn’t my race to win,” he said staring Jaden in the face.
“What do you mean?” Jaden’s forehead furrowed. “Hope of the Alliance, remember? Your father said you’d know what to do when the time came.”
The Chase Page 24
