At once, the entire group of them abruptly turned to face me, all of them looking slightly alarmed at my sudden appearance and outburst. “I’m sorry,” I wheezed. “I’m sorry I’m late. I need to…enter the race.”
Two men that I didn’t recognize, both of them with absurdly grandiose mustaches, exchanged glances. Beatrice Montgomery stared at me appraisingly, seemingly not liking what she saw, but Merrick Buchannon took a step toward me, a tiny smile playing at his perfectly peach-colored lips.
“My, my…Miss Silver,” he drawled, looking thoroughly amused at my predicament. “I must confess, I was rather hoping I’d see you here.”
I nodded, ignoring the daggers that Beatrice was glaring at me. “Yes, sir. I…got a bit of a late start. But I want to be in this race!”
“I’m afraid you’re too late,” Beatrice said from behind him. “The registration has already been closed. We are ready to commence as we speak.” She was a woman in her mid-thirties, but as she whipped her head toward the two mustached men, who had to be in their sixties, they looked at her as if they were terrified of her.
“Um…yes, she is quite right,” one of them said. He held up a clipboard. “There has been ample time to enter your craft, miss. I’m afraid it is too late.”
I felt my heart sinking. I had pumped myself up so thoroughly on the trip over here, and now I was starting to deflate. “But…But you haven’t started. Please, I need to enter! I can’t wait another three years!” I looked up into the lined, passive face of Merrick Buchannon. “Please, sir. I have to enter.”
He continued to stare at me, no doubt taking some twisted pleasure in the fact that I was begging him for something. His tongue darted out past his lips as he narrowed his eyes in thought. What kind of factors was he considering? Finally, after drawing in a deep breath, he clapped his hands together loudly, giving me a start.
“Gentlemen!” he said boisterously, transforming back into his public persona. “I think we can accommodate one more. The wider the field of competition, the better the race will be. That’s always been true, no?”
The two men looked to another again, their mustaches twitching nervously. “But, sir…”
“Come now,” Merrick said, moving forward and wrapping an arm around each of their shoulders. “We’ve never turned away anyone wanting to compete, have we?”
“No, sir. But-”
“And we’re not about to start now,” Merrick finished. He was still wearing his smile, but his eyes were hard as iron as he looked back and forth between them.
The man on his left, the one with the clipboard, cleared his throat. “Well, we…we would need to do a weapons inspection of her craft.”
I felt a small spark of fear, remembering the revolver that I’d just inherited from Nichols, but I trusted that my secret compartment would do its job.
“We’ll also need her transponder ID,” said the other mustached man.
“451-FJ13,” I rattled off, looking desperately between the three of them. “It’s called the Cloud Kicker.”
Merrick gave a nod and the man with the clipboard scribbled down the name and number with a charcoal pencil. “All right. We will…get someone to do an inspection at once.”
“Terrific!” Merrick shouted, his eerily wide grin appearing out of nowhere. He released the grip on the pair of them and they hurried off in different directions, hopefully to make my entry official. Despite his friendly demeanor toward them, these two men were more afraid of him than of Beatrice. She, meanwhile, had her teeth clamped tightly together. She looked on the verge of shouting, but she kept silent. Instead, she slowly turned around, as if took all of her strength to do so. Her satin dress waved gently as she stepped out of sight, and I knew she was angry at me. Because of me, she had been overruled by an Archon even more revered than she was. I could accept it, though. As long as I was allowed in the race, I was okay with her not liking me.
“Thank you,” I said to Merrick. “Thank you for letting me join.”
He took my hand in his, holding it in a grip that was tight enough to almost be painful. “I couldn’t pass up such an interesting…revelation,” he said, his velvety voice almost purring on the last word. “The audience will love to see a generational like yourself. And I must admit, I have a bit of a…soft spot…for you, given our history.”
I wondered what history he meant. I delivered packages to him once or twice, and we exchanged brief small talk, but that was the extent of our relationship. I couldn’t help but feel slightly unnerved by his words, and also by the fact that he had yet to release my hand.
“Don’t make me regret it,” he said, speaking low so that only I could hear him.
It took an alarming amount of fortitude for me to look him in the eye, and even then I could only hold it for a second before looking away. “I won’t. Thank you, sir.”
With a satisfied grin, he gave my hand one final squeeze before letting it go. I instinctively drew it back to my side and flexed my fingers. His message was pretty clear. He had done me a huge favor, and I had better not make him look foolish for it. Fortunately, I had no plans to.
“You’d better get back to your ship, Miss Silver,” he said, smoothing the collar of his grey, double-breasted suit jacket. “We’re about to begin.”
I gave a nod and turned immediately, gathering enough of my wits to set off at a jog. As I once again passed by the broadcast table of Reed and Lex, I saw the mustached man with the clipboard waving me over to them.
Uh-oh.
I was no good at dealing with any kind of spotlight. The Reed and Lex channel reached the entire Dominion, and they were waving me over for an interview. What would I say? What would they even ask? Quickly, I tried to think of fast answers to basic questions, but at the moment, I was having trouble remembering my own name.
“Miss Silver!” Lex shouted, standing up and retrieving the microphone from his table. “Miss Silver, a quick word!”
I shuffled over to them, feeling my mouth instantly go dry.
“How are you doing this morning?” Lex asked, looking expectantly at me as he held the microphone in front of my face.
My eyes shifted back and forth. “…Okay.”
They both laughed, and Reed, who was actually much taller than I had ever expected, took over the mic. “Sounds like you’re a little nervous, which is understandable. Race Day is a big day for all of us.”
I nodded, grateful that they were making an effort to relax me. They had clearly been doing this for quite some time. “Yes, I’m…just glad to be here.” I squeaked out.
They nodded, and it was Lex’s turn again. “I’m not gonna lie to ya, sister. We’ve had plenty of people speculating on whether or not you’d be joining up this year.”
I was taken aback by this. Really? People were actually discussing it?
“Oh,” was all I could muster.
Reed didn’t miss a beat, though. “Now, we’ve got you in as a late entry,” he said. “Obviously, this was a tough decision for you, and I think everyone who knows your history with the race can understand why. I’m curious as to what the final straw was. What was the deciding factor that made you get up and come here to race?”
He held out the microphone, but I could only open and close my mouth feebly. Why exactly did I join? Because Zanna shoved me out of my own house and demanded that I go? Or was it something else? I honestly had no idea. The pair of them were looking at me intently, clearly waiting for an answer, but all I could comprehend was the fact that thousands and thousands of people were hearing my stupid voice. I needed a response, though, and the only thing that was even coming to mind were the words that Nichols said to me as I left his shop.
“I don’t know. I guess…I guess it’s in my blood,” I said. My tone was a little sarcastic, but it didn’t seem to bother them.
Reed and Lex looked at each other for a moment, and then burst out in excited chatter. From what I could decipher, it hadn’t been an answer they were expecting, but it was
definitely a good one. I let out a small sigh of relief and took a step back from the table.
“I should go,” I said bashfully.
They didn’t even acknowledge me. It didn’t matter, though. I was already sprinting back toward my ship, fighting the horde of spectators every step of the way. I even nearly ran over another contestant, one that ended up being John Deseo, an entrant in the race three years ago. He was easily identifiable due to his huge, metal prosthetic hand. As I passed him, I caught sight of Audra Carina, standing next to her sleek and powerful looking ship, which was so shiny that it looked to be made of glass. She was standing tall and proud, and was even still wearing her showy, gaudy cape made of a fancy red fabric. I really didn’t care to acknowledge her. I was in too big of a hurry. Though, I wished I could see her face when she found out I was now a contestant.
By the time I got to my ship, the second mustached fellow was stepping out of it, accompanied by a younger man who was wearing a stained pair of mechanic’s coveralls. “Everything seems in order,” said the mustache, giving me a nod. Good. That meant my pistol and ammunition had remained hidden and undiscovered. From under his arm, he handed me a large, rolled up piece of parchment and a crisp white envelope. “Here you are. This envelope contains your first clue. I bid you good luck, Miss Silver.”
“Thanks,” I breathed. I took the large parchment, which was clearly a star chart, and the envelope. As they walked away, I hopped into my ship and dogged the hatch. With my heart going a mile a minute, I sat down in my cockpit, jacked the radio cord into my helmet, and allowed my adrenaline to take over.
The race hadn’t even begun, and I couldn’t stop shaking. My lower jaw was quivering like I was in the snow, and both sets of my fingers were tapping ferociously on my steering yoke. Aside from that, my legs were possessed, doing some kind of dance along my pedals that I could not control. What was I doing here? Why had I entered this stupid race? And why on earth did I wait till the very last second to do it? Letting out a shaky breath, I tried to focus my mind on the voices in my ears. The starting signal would be coming over the radio, and I was going to be ready for it.
I recognized two male voices immediately. Reed and Lex, the two radio show hosts I had just spoken to. They must have been selected as the official commentators for the race. Doing my best to forget my nervousness, I closed my eyes and listened to their mindless blather.
“Well, we’ve got a lot of new faces this year, Reed,” Lex said dramatically. “Including a couple of them from Ravencog, if I’m not mistaken!”
“You are correct,” Reed replied. “I met them earlier. Nice people. Interesting vessels, too.”
“Speaking of new faces!” Lex exclaimed. “What do you think about our late entry? None other than Elana Silver and her fixed-wing that she calls the Cloud Kicker.”
My eyes fluttered open at the sound of my name. Was I really making the race report already?
Reed drew a breath through his teeth. “I don’t know about this one, Lex. We talked last week about the possibility of her entering. As she puts it, it’s ‘in her blood’, after all. She’s young, though. I think she might be too young to compete with some of our returning entrants like John Deseo, or the last race’s winner, Audra Carina.”
I pursed my lips. I wanted to switch on my microphone and tell them to shut their yappers, but I just sighed. To be fair, just about everyone probably had the same opinion as Reed did.
“I wouldn’t be so sure,” Lex drawled out. “I think little Miss Silver has something to prove. Audra knows how to fly, you’re right about that, but my eye is gonna be on the Cloud Kicker. She’s already causing a buzz, and the race hasn’t even started! It’s in her blood, Reed! Her blood! She’s a Blood Racer!”
Reed chuckled at his co-host. “All right, calm down,” Reed said. “You can take your Blood Racer, but my money is on Audra and her ship, the Mistress, which is a mighty fine piece of machinery, I must say.”
“On that, we can agree,” Lex spouted. “Oh, we’re getting the signal, now. The Archons have started the official countdown. Here we go, folks! Ten seconds!”
I blinked repeatedly and swallowed loudly, feeling my pulse begin to rise again. It was then that I noticed the roar of the crowd that had massed on the Rainier docks. I could hear them even through my sealed cabin. So many people had gathered to watch the start of the race. They were all watching, cheering, rooting for their favorite contestant. There was a mountain of pressure that was suddenly upon me, and I felt cold all over.
“Five seconds!” came Lex’s voice.
I checked my floorboards to make sure I had my star chart and first clue. They were still there. Was I really doing this?
“Three!” Lex shouted into the microphone. “Two! One! GO!”
The air of Rainier exploded.
The crowd reached a fever pitch as engines on every cradle were fired to life. I had never heard such a rumbling in all my days. It was a storm made from machines, sputtering and revving louder than any thunderclap. As I was flipping on my VTOL turbines, several people were already jetting into the sky, jumping out into an early lead. Seeing them take off like that made me feel as though I were already a thousand miles behind, which put me in an immediate panic.
Growling and thinking rashly, I switched off my rear turbine and powered up the two on my front, listening to them roaring loudly behind me. Tensing my muscles, I felt my body pull against my harness as the two front turbines flipped the front end of my ship up and backward, propelling me off of the cradle in a backflip maneuver that seemed to amaze Lex and Reed.
“Did you see that?” Lex was screaming. “Elana Silver! Incredible! Amazing”
As I was plummeting straight down, I hit the ignition to my main engine and killed the turbines, pulling hard against the yoke to right my ship and gain some altitude. At once, I regretted this decision.
The air was practically solid. A fleet of ships, hammered and welded into all shapes and sizes, was barreling out of the Rainier docks, blazing along like a manned supercell cloud. Ships were all around me, wings, pontoons, and propellers all nudging into one another. The swarm was practically skimming my wings and tail. I was in so deep that I could see the individual rivets of the clunker in front of me. This was too much. I needed to get out of the pack, but I couldn’t see in any direction. Was there anyone below me? As soon as this thought entered my mind, I heard the explosion come from high on my port side.
I whipped my head toward the sound, eyes wide with horror as I saw the flaming wreckage of two mangled ships heading straight for me. In my ear, Lex was screaming again.
“Nance and Kimble collide!” he bellowed. “They’re falling straight for several others!”
Screaming in panic, I shoved the stick forward and dove almost straight down, wincing at the brightness of the flames as the wrecked ships plowed into the vessel that had been right on my starboard wing.
“Now Graves is hit!” Reed observed. “Oh, no. Three ships down already. Oh, Graves launched his pontoons! He’s holding just above the Veil. We’ll get a rescue out there and get him.”
Somewhere in the back of my mind, I was glad that Graves, whoever he was, was going to survive. The race had already claimed two lives and it was only ninety seconds old. Focusing once more on my flying, I continued my descent, dodging wings and pontoons as I went lower. The air was much clearer down here. The Veil was just beneath me as I leveled off, but I was out of the chaos from above.
“That pack is dangerous, Lex,” Reed mused. “Several of them are adjusting altitude to avoid collisions. The Amber Sphinx is headed up. That’s Grace Buchannon, I believe.”
“You’re correct,” Lex chimed in. “She’s joined by Foxfire, which is piloted by Darby Quinn from Ravencog.”
“There’s plenty of them dropping low, too,” Reed pointed out. “Elana Silver and the Cloud Kicker, there’s Audra Carina and the Mistress…and who’s that just behind them?”
Lex cleared his throat. “
That’s the Alpha Red, piloted by a greenhorn named Rigel Campbell.”
My head whipped around so fast that my neck popped. Rigel was here? In the race? That was impossible! He didn’t have a ship, nor did he have the money saved away to buy one. At least not one fit for racing. I bounced my cheekbone off the port side of my windscreen as I continued swiveling my head around to look for him. Where was he? According to Lex and Reed, he was behind me. Deciding that I wasn’t going to get a glimpse of him in my current spot, I lowered my throttle, slowing my pace for a few seconds and allowing the ship behind me to catch up. Once it had drawn even, I punched up my speed again to keep pace with it.
I looked over at the Alpha Red. Sure enough, there in the bubble cockpit, looking over at me with wide eyes, was Rigel. He looked almost like he was afraid of me, like a youngster caught stealing berries from the ice box. It probably had something to do with the look of confused anger that was currently contorting my face. This was why I couldn’t find him at the docks in Adams. He had already been on the starting line. Was that what that envelope was that he had left for Toby? Some sort of apology, or explanation?
As I thought of it, I realized that I no longer had his letter. What had I done with it? It was somewhere around, but I had other things on my mind at that moment. I cast my eyes back over toward Rigel, still trying to absorb what I was seeing.
His ship itself was of fairly simple design. It was shaped like a wedge, with the nose being the point. On the sides were what looked like wings, metal framework overlaid with fabric, but they were folded tightly against the fuselage. They looked to be adjustable, and must have served to direct airflow over or around the ship. On the bottom of the hull, there were two skids, like large, metallic skis, fixed in place. Of course, fitting with its name, the entire thing was painted in varying shades of red, some of which looked like nothing more than rust.
As I looked over at him, Rigel adjusted his facial expression and gave me a wry smile, as if trying to ease my anger. I wanted to badly to click on my microphone and scream obscenities at him. Sadly, I couldn’t. I knew that radio contact between racers was against the rules, and I didn’t want to be disqualified. Aside from that, what would I say to him? That he shouldn’t have entered? That he was risking his life for a stupid reason? It wouldn’t mean anything coming from someone who had literally done the exact same thing. After all my talk about hating the race, here I was…racing. I was now the biggest hypocrite I knew. Deciding that I couldn’t focus on Rigel at the moment, I powered up my throttle as far as it would go and went back to observing the other ships around me.
The Blood Racer (The Blood Racer Trilogy Book 1) Page 9
