Lightship Chronicles Chapter 6 : The Junker

by Florin Nicoara

turn on Tombstone."

  The Black Cross is coming fast at tombstone, but breaks hard as it turns onto the side of the outcrop, taking it at 150kph. From their vantage point, they can see the ships about twenty meters below, coming right up at them and then turning away and back down.

  "Whoa!" Nayaa howls impressed and lurches back forced away by the power and wind as the ships first come at her, and then turn away from her. "Look at them go on the side of the cliff. That's amazing!" Nayaa spouts with awe watching each ship flash past her like lightning, one by one, each racer rounding tombstone turn in a death-defying snub to gravity and momentum before they head back down. The crowd on the outcrop roars with cheer.

  The Silver Sickle is in third place as they fall at full speed into the long curve. A clear gap is forming between the leaders and the rest, with Ship10 The Black Eye, Ship12 the Pearl Beauty, and Ship6 the Streamliner right behind ship1, forming the top six. Ship15 on the other hand is trailing behind the rest and falling even further in the high speed long curve.

  The Black Cross, now leading, is first to approach the Long Mesa. It slows down from 700kph to make the abrupt turn left, to head west on the side of Flat Rock. Like tombstone, the ships have to once again ride on the vertical side of a stone cliff, but this time in a much longer and gentler curve so the ships don't have to slow down as much. The Black Cross takes it at over 400kph, as does the Red Menace right behind him, but ship1 once again slows down more than most, and all three ships behind him, The Streamliner, the Pearl Beauty, and the Black Eye, pass the Silver Sickle in a flash on the side of the long mesa.

  "Whoa! He's scared." Gono blurts.

  "He's not scared." Mykee interjects.

  "That crash freaked him out. I don't blame him. He slowed way too much for that turn."

  "The other ships are slowing down too."

  "Yeah all the followers, the top five separated because they didn't slow much at all. Look at them. They've all created a full kilometer gap now." As the five leaders disappear behind the mesas heading into the Crags. The rest of the ships all slow down to turn onto Flat Rock, except one.

  "Wow, look at 15, he just passed the Green Orb. He's no longer in last place." Andee finally speaks up. "And now he's passing the Rusted Brick, and the Rusted Teardrop. Holly crap!" Andee glares into the distance as ship15. Not only does it not slow down, but accelerates into the turn at its full speed, about 600kph, one by one passing all the slow ships on the side of the mesa. On the exit down, and out of the turn, he gains on ship1 at the base of the slope, but ship1 is already in the flatland between the huge mesas and quickly accelerates away. A few seconds later all the ships vanish completely between the large mesas at the entrance to the Crags. From the outcrop the ships are no longer visible so the four turn their eyes back to the panel in Mykee's lap.

  "Turn the volume back up. Lets hear the announcers." Gono shouts excited.

  The announcers are watching the 3D holographic image between them which takes up most of Mykee's display. The ships are clearly visible in 3D, sometimes from up close, sometimes from a distance, with the two announcers hovering above, and just behind, as they give the play by play.

  "They've all made it into the crags, Mando."

  "Indeed they have Hondo, with ship5, the Black Cross maintaining his lead."

  "He won the last prelims, if he wins this one, he will qualify for the final race."

  "That's right, that is if he doesn't lose points."

  "So true, amazingly enough even Junker 15 could qualify although he finished last in the previous prelims."

  "That's because he never wavered more than 10 meters from the pylons, so he did not lose any points while all the other ships did."

  "If he manages to do the same in this race, he might qualify."

  "And he just might Hondo, because just a second ago he amazingly placed himself in 7th position."

  "Amazing but true Mando. This just shows you what a fantastic race this is. Even a hodgepodge of junk like ship15 stands a chance of winning given a brilliant pilot and the right strategy." Mando nods in agreement and squints as he focuses back on the race.

  "And here begins the true test of their piloting prowess. They've just entered the labyrinth at the center of the crags."

  "This is where the chaos begins." And both announcers look at each other and nod looking very serious.

  From the hard Flat Rock turn the ships enter the Crags but the land is still flat initially, with huge mesas all around and kilometers apart. After about 10km of flatland racing between the mesas they enter the labyrinth of the inner crags. This is where the true crags begin. Ships here have to slow down as there isn't a single stretch of straight course anywhere in sight. Only protruding rocks, crevices, sheer drops, hard turns, and dark twisty tunnels.

  The Black Cross is first to enter, slowing down dramatically which forces the other five ships to cluster close behind him. The Silver Sickle is trailing at the end of the leading cluster as they enter the inner Crags, while the Junker is gaining and a few seconds later is on the Silver Sickle's tail.

  "Oh my god!" Andee stares at the display amazed.

  "Who's the pilot? That dude's amazing." Gono shouts equally mystified.

  "He didn't show his face, they just showed his helmet." Mykee answers. "The guy is really secretive, didn't even use his real name."

  "How do you know?" Gono asks.

  "The Ghost? I doubt that's his name. Look, he's going to pass 1!" Mykee focuses back on his display.

  In fact it seems the Junker would have passed the Sickle already had there been space. They are in a shallow canyon with spans of stone covering it, here and there, making it into an occasional tunnel. It's clear 'The Ghost' has phenomenal piloting skills. He is able to calculate turn radii, approach angels, and just the right speed to cut up over, under, or around the protruding chunks of stone. He shoots in and out of the tunnels, around turns and over gullies, with such efficiency that even with his slow ship he is steadily gaining ground. Ricio's Sickle is in sixth position but after entering a tricky-triple-snaking set of turns, the Junker puts him in seventh as the Ghost skillfully cuts the corners short and passes ship1.

  "Whoa, he did it!" Andee muses in disbelief.

  "He did it!" Mykee adds equally amazed.

  At another turn the Junker gains on ship6, The Streamliner. At less than half the size of the Streamliner, the Junker takes advantage of a cut in the rock wall they are racing past, and sneaks through it, ahead of ship6. The Junker is now tailing ship12, the Pearl Beauty, and ship10, the Black Eye, who are nearly side by side. Ship5, Black Cross is still in the lead, with ship9, the Red Menace hot on his tail. The Junker is now directly on the tail of ship12, who is closely tailing ship10. They are heading towards a hard twist in the canyon. The ships ahead brake, but the Junker doesn't, yet rather than slam into the back of the Pearl Beauty, instead, he climbs over its tapered back end, which is essentially a ramp, and suddenly flies right over 12 and 10 gaining a boost of speed while slowing those two ships down from the force of his propelling light pillow. From his accelerated momentum the Junker also shoots right past the Red Menace, all in one shot, but has to slow down directly behind ship5, as they enter a hard turning canyon.

  Hondo leaps in his seat. "Holly light-fairies! Is that even legal?" Hondo shouts looking at Mando with big round eyes. "I can't believe what I'm seeing. I'm about to jump out of my chair."

  "Please don't because I won't catch you, ha-ha-ha." Both announcers laugh. "I'm as amazed as you are Hondo. Just look at 15! This is astounding! 15 is in second place. In a matter of seconds he went from 7th to 2nd!"

  "Amazing! In the previous prelim he never moved up out of last place, it is just astounding that now he is battling with the Black Cross for first place."

  "This is a show of true pilot skill, but unfortunately he will fall behind like he did last time in the long straight."

  "So true."

  The Black Cross is holding on to first bu
t the Junker is only meters on his tail. Both pilots are very skilled, both able to take the best turns, and make quick decisions of speed and angle of approach. They are almost flying in unison they are both so good. The Ghost, piloting his Junker, gets more aggressive as they enter a cave. He gets in less than a meter behind the Black Cross, but since it doesn't have a tapering end, the Ghost's attempt at riding over him like he did with the Pearl Beauty, does not take. He keeps trying to take him left, than right, then left again, but no deal. They both shoot out of the tunnel at 200kph straight towards a giant pillar of stone. They are in a half-pipe with sheer walls on both sides so no passing moves are possible. The Black Cross slows down hard for the turn around the pillar. He leaves a bit of a gap between himself and the sheer wall as he goes wide before the turn. It's all the Ghost needs. The Junker flies past the Black Cross speeding into the turn, and right up the base off the pillar for a few meters, launching sideways into the air.

  "He's going to crash! He's going to crash!" Hondo shouts, while the four stare at the screen tense with anticipation, but the Junker lands almost at forty-five degrees sideways. The ship wobbles a bit on its light pillow, but with quick wit and skill, The Ghost recovers his ship and maintains his position ahead of the Black Cross.

  "Oh My God!" Hondo finally does jump out of his seat. "He did it! He's in first place!"

  "Amazing!" Mando