by S. J. Bryant
Her ship blasted its way through the dome and past the force-field, and then she was out in open space. Red flags dotted the course, spaced every few hundred metres. Tiny drones were parked at certain checkpoints to ensure the racers didn't take any illegal shortcuts. There were many legal shortcuts, but nine times out of ten they would result in death.
Nova stuck to the defined course and found herself in tenth position. The first obstacle was a sharp right-angle turn surrounded by a wall of solid metal. There was no room for under-steering or misjudged distance.
Nova watched the first three racers cruise around the corner. The second one scraped the side of their ship against the metal but continued on unscathed. The fourth racer wasn't so lucky.
Whoever they were, they drove a dark purple ship, not entirely out-dated, but not the newest model either. As the ship came up to the corner, it started to turn but it wasn't enough. The craft had only turned forty-five degrees when it slammed into the metal wall.
The ship exploded upon contact, sending out balls of flame. Shards of metal shot out and pieces of the ship scattered across the course.
Whoever had been inside hadn't survived. A tattered and burnt space suit floated in the middle of the course, completely motionless.
By then the fifth racer had reached the corner. Nova winced as she watched him try to contend with not just the corner, but the extra debris now dispersed across the course. Unfortunately, the racer steered straight into the floating space-suit. The force of the blow ripped the material apart and sent the helmet spinning away.
The corpse inside was bloated and unrecognizable. Some blood spattered up onto number five's windshield and it must have blocked his vision, because a few seconds later his ship flew off-course and collided with a stadium of spectators.
Nova ripped her eyes away from the scene. She was fast approaching the turn herself. Six and seven had the right idea; now that the body was gone the centre of the course was clear. They slowed right down for the turn and followed the centre path.
Drones waited at the side of the course to clean up the debris, but they wouldn't go out until a clear break in the racers, and that wasn't going to happen before Nova got there.
Number eight misjudged the corner and bounced into a collection of rubble. Luckily for the driver the rubble got sucked up into the engine and made it splutter to a stop. They were out of the race and would be stuck floating around for a while, but at least they had survived.
There was just number nine and then it would be Nova's turn.
She stared hard at nine and jolted when she realised that it was Kero's ship. She wasn't surprised to see that he hadn't bother slowing down for the corner. He screamed right up to it, before lifting his ship high up above the course at the last moment. He sailed right over the debris and the smashed spectator stadium, before cruising off to catch up to the others.
Nova cursed. There were no rules against going above or below the set course - there was no up in space after all - but still, she had hoped Kero wouldn't think of it. The move gave him an advantage on the racers who had gone before but it would add to his time overall. He'd have to come back down to course level for the asteroid field.
Nova only had one option if she wanted to catch up with him. She pushed down her accelerator and gripped hold of her steering stick. She screamed up to the corner and the few spectators who were still alive gasped.
When she was level with the corner Nova ripped down on her joystick so that she braked and turned at the same time. Her racer jolted with the sudden change. The controls jerked under her hands, threatening to rip the ship apart.
She bit her lip and kept a firm grip. Every muscle in her body seized tight as she wrenched the ship sideways.
It whipped around the right angle and travelled down the centre of the corner, missing the debris. She shot out the other side of the corner and cruised after Kero.
She left the crowd behind cheering.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Nova pushed even harder on the accelerator and the engine behind her seat vibrated with greater ferocity. The gauges in front of her turned orange, but there was no way she was going to slow down now.
Kero was only twenty metres ahead of her and losing ground as he came back to the level of the course in preparation for the asteroid field.
Nova's hands were wet with sweat but she didn't lift them from the controls. She gripped tighter and let the ship shoot through the air.
The asteroid field loomed in front of them; the massive rocks spreading out across her field of view. They were grey and rotated through the air with careless abandon. In a normal asteroid field her small racer would be in no danger, but this had been deliberately made to be a hazard. Spaced between the rocks were lights which highlighted the numerous boulders and pebbles lying in her path.
Kero got to the field and his ship disappeared as it weaved between the rocks.
Nova analysed the asteroids. They loomed like a mine-field; one wrong turn and both she and her ship would be ripped to shreds.
She entered the field. The outer rocks were mostly big and easy to see. She weaved her ship left and right between the asteroids. They rolled towards and away from one another, as unpredictable as a solar flare.
Left.
Right.
Left again.
Nova rocked with the movement of her ship. She cruised through the asteroids, faster than was safe, but there were still six people in front of her and one of them was Kero.
Her ship veered around the asteroids but more loomed in front of her, ready to smash her to pieces. She careened around a particularly large rock and came face to face with the remnants of a racer. It was broken into so many tiny silver pieces that it was hard to tell who it had belonged to.
Nova ignored the wreckage. As she got deeper into the field the real problem became the smaller rocks. They were too small and numerous for her to dodge, but they were big enough that they could cause major damage to her ship.
Her racer's shields were holding, but the energy cell wouldn't last for the whole race and she had no idea what other hazards awaited her.
She gripped the controls tighter and her gaze flicked between the rocks and the shield gauge. With every rock that smashed into the shield the tiny needle dropped lower. At this rate she wouldn't even make it to the other side of the asteroid field with her shield still intact.
A heavy weight settled into the bottom of her stomach. Aside from the smashed racer, she'd seen absolutely no sign of the other racers. It was as if she'd suddenly flown into an abandoned system. Cold tendrils brushed up her neck as she imagined being stranded in the middle of empty space, completely alone.
She shook her head and clenched her teeth. The worst thing she could do was scare herself. She had to keep her head in the game. The other racers were around, even if she couldn't see them, and that meant she had to start making some distance or she would lose the race for sure.
There was only one thing for it. She flicked open a hidden cover and pushed in the small purple button beneath. The racer's motor slowed down for half a second and then roared back into life, accompanied by a hiss.
Nova smiled as she looked out of the front window and saw a blue circle extend out from her ship. It shot out in front of her, an unstoppable wave. It incinerated everything it touched including the small rocks. It didn't do much to the big rocks but they weren't the problem.
The incendiary force extended out in front of Nova's racer and cleared the path of pebbles and other debris. She steered through the bigger rocks with ease.
One of the best things about the bounty hunter space-races was that there were no rules. Unfortunately, that was also one of the worst things.
Nova reflected on that conundrum when a burst of light flew straight at her. Her instincts took over and she put all of her weight on the steering stick, pushing the ship down under the approaching meteor.
Her racer scraped under the rock, mere inches from having t
he roof torn off. The bolt of energy flew over her head and destroyed a nearby asteroid.
"Bastards!" Nova said, smashing her fist onto the controls.
She was now dozens of metres off course and all because one of the lead racers had left a weapon. It wasn't uncommon for mines or other weapons to be left behind; it was a good way to take out any competition coming up from behind. Still, it was foul play, and Nova didn't appreciate it.
She jerked on her steering wheel and pulled her ship back up to the level of the course. There was no way to tell how far in front the others were, so she put the throttle down and roared through the asteroid field.
She rushed past the rest of the rocks and burst out of the other side where more stands of spectators jumped to their feet and roared. Behind their seats was a position board with a list of numbers and times, along with the racers' faces.
Nova took the time to glance up at the billboard. She was fifth. Kero was still in front of her, sitting in third place. Aart was three places behind her and losing ground. If she had to bet she would say he was having engine trouble.
Some racers got the position information streamed straight to them, but Nova found that distracting. She had to focus completely on her own race and let the others be damned.
At the very bottom of the board was a collection of faces with red crosses over them. Their stats; speed, betting odds and such were blank. They weren't going to finish the race.
Nova turned her attention back to the track and pushed forward. A glint in the distance told her that fourth place wasn't very far in front.
She took advantage of the straight and smashed her fist down on the red button by her right knee to release a burst of solar-fuel to shoot forward. The force of the jump sent Nova slamming back in her seat. The stands and crowds zoomed past on either side and in just a few seconds she came up right behind fourth place.
It was a silver racer and Nova recognised it instantly. It was Speedy FX and it looked like she was having engine trouble.
Smoke poured out of the rear and sides of the craft and it crawled along compared to Nova's ship.
Nova came up level with the ship and glanced inside. Speedy FX was yelling and swearing and smashing her hands down onto her controls, but it wasn't doing any good.
Nova grinned and shot away from Speedy. Fourth place was hers.
She enjoyed this simple section of the course while it lasted. It was a breather before another challenge came, another chance for her to die. It arrived all too quickly when Nova saw that the course beacons disappeared into a small tunnel.
The tunnel snaked into the side of a huge orb; probably a moon which had been taken out of orbit from an outer galaxy planet. Either that or it was an artificial model. Nova could never tell.
Not that it mattered; the sides of the tunnel would be just as hard either way.
Nova aimed for the narrow entrance. It had been built just big enough to hold a space-racer and had no room for error.
Her heart leapt into her throat as her racer scraped the sides and she was plunged into darkness.
"Grishnak!" she swore, groping for the lights. She found the switch and flicked it up. Small headlights shone out in front of her. They gave off only the barest glimmer; she hadn't thought to add headlights to her racer. At least she'd know for next year.
Deep scrapes scarred both sides and the bottom of the tunnel, suggesting that the others may not have entered as smoothly. Small pieces of metal floated through the air, but they weren't big enough to cause damage.
Nova hoped that no ships had got stuck in the tunnel. If the shape suddenly loomed up in front of her, she'd never stop in time and then they'd both be dead. Along with everyone else who entered the tunnel behind them. She swallowed her fear and pushed her ship faster.
Nova's ship blasted out of the tunnel into a hollowed-out cavern that was the core of the moon.
"You've got to be kidding me," Nova said, as a tentacle burst up from the darkness of the cavern and swiped at her ship.
She jerked the steering stick to the left and the ship jumped out of harm's way. More tentacles rose out of the darkness and grabbed for her. Nova pushed her ship forward and around the tentacles, trying desperately just to survive.
She looked around for the next course beacon. How was she supposed to get out of here?
There were no more beacons, she was on her own.
She pulled back on the wheel and her ship shot up, away from the tentacles. It cruised towards the darkness of the ceiling. She took a deep breath, knowing that she couldn't spend the rest of the race circling the ceiling. There had to be a way out of the moon or the other three racers would be floating around next to her.
Her jaw clenched and she shoved the steering stick forward. Her ship rolled and dived towards the base of the cavern, and the creature, as fast as her engine would allow.
Her finger hovered over the purple button, contemplating releasing another wave of power to destroy the creature below.
Her ship plunged down amongst the tentacles. She dodged left and right, and it wasn't until she was nearly at the bottom of the cavern that she saw a tiny tunnel leading away, hidden by the creature.
She wasted no time and pushed her ship towards it. She weaved between the tentacles and as she was going past the entrance she saw the beacon. Someone had tossed a black shroud over it so that it couldn't be seen.
She ground her teeth. She couldn't let everyone who followed her be crushed by the tentacles just because of some foul play. Interfering with the course beacons was strictly against the race rules; in fact, it was almost the only rule.
Nova kept an eye on the tunnel ahead and the other on a small mirror which showed her the back of her ship. When she was ready she pressed a button at her right elbow and a bolt of fire shot out. It careened into the beacon and caught the black shroud alight.
Nova nodded to herself. At least now there was something showing the other racers where they needed to go.
She pushed on. The tunnel got thinner the further she went, with more scrapes decorating the walls. Her hands tightened on the steering stick. It felt as if she'd been in the tunnel for hours, although it couldn't have been more than a few minutes.
Just as Nova was sure she'd been trapped in some kind of circular loop a glimmer of light flickered at the end of the tunnel. Her heart fluttered in her chest and she pushed forward on the throttle, desperate to be out of the darkness. Metres away from the exit her ship entered a small air pocket. Her vessel jumped and the roof smashed into the top of the tunnel.
A resounding scrape made Nova wince as she yanked the ship back on course.
The shield alarm flashed. The sudden collision was the last straw for the shield and now it had started to fail.
Nova took a deep breath. Flying the last half of the space-race without a shield was practically suicide. She should just stop here and call it a day. But she couldn't do that; she couldn't let Kero beat her.
She burst out of the tunnel and into a huge circular arena surrounded by a cheering crowd.
"And here is our fourth contender," Cambran's voice boomed through the empty air and into Nova's receiver.
"Now spectators, to add a bit of spice to this year's space-race the organisers have added a thrilling arena element. There are four racers before you, only three can go on. You may begin."
Nova looked around in complete confusion. Kero was on the other side of the arena. To her left was Demolition Dean, and to her right was another racer. He looked like he had come from the Happy Hunters, but Nova couldn't be sure.
"Since when is there an arena element in the space-race?!" Nova yelled, smashing her hand on the controls.
The other racers seemed unconcerned. Weapons dropped from hidden compartments in their ships. Normal racers did not have that kind of weaponry, which meant that someone had leaked information, but hadn't told Nova or her companions.
Anger burned inside her chest as she glared at the other racers. There was
no way she could compete with their high fire-power. All she had was a failing energy field and a couple of flame throwers. Her grip tightened around the controls as she imagined throttling Kero. Her face flushed red as she imagined losing the space-race just because the others cheated.
A hatch in Kero's ship lifted and two massive guns folded out to either side. If they hadn't been aimed straight at her, Nova would have laughed at how the guns dwarfed the rest of the ship. As it was, she was too busy diving out of the way of the massive blue bolt shooting across the arena.
Her biggest competition was going to be Demolition Dean, as his guns were lethal. There was an entire array of them, each pointing in a different direction. For the moment, his attention was absorbed with the unknown racer. The two of them were locked in a fight to the death.
Kero seemed intent on killing Nova while he had the chance.
Nova weighed up her options, but it was clear there was only one thing she could do.
She shot straight across the arena towards Dean, with Kero's blasts following hot on her tail. One shot from his guns with her shields down and she would be blown into a thousand tiny pieces.
Dean's focus was on the other racer. He didn't notice Nova flying at him until it was too late. She lifted her ship just above his and slammed her thumb down on a black button.
The emergency release engaged and the sun-fuel from Nova's spare tank dropped out of her ship and landed on Dean's.
His shield was no match for the volatile fuel which ate the top of his ship.
Dean smashed his fist onto his emergency escape button at the last second. He shot out of his racer a moment before the pilot's seat was drenched in fuel.
He glared at Nova through the face-shield of his space-suit. His face went red as he yelled at her though she couldn't hear the words. He kicked forward and swung his arms, trying to swim through the air towards her.
"In a shocking turn of events, Nova from The Jagged Maw has eliminated Demolition Dean. That leaves Nova, Kero and Liam. The gates are now open for them to continue," Cambran announced.
