Shackleton's Folly (The Lost Wonder Book 1) (18 page)

“Careful,” came Dancer’s voice.

Alec said, “I got it.” Alec checked the mirrors. Narriseer headed for the edge of the marker. Alec steered the
Piece of Pie
to the opposite side.

“Smart — need to keep him guessing. I think he sees you now as his primary competitor,” said Dancer’s voice.

The networks had sent video bots to the docks where the supporting staff of each team was situated. The media bots caught Electra’s concerned looks as she watched images of Alec and Narriseer. Her looks and concern for Alec quickly made her a media-bot darling, and one was assigned to get her reactions to the race.

Narriseer reached the first marker and pulled a small weapon out. Khrelan Faelobae was the closest of the remaining rowers to Narriseer. Khrelan’s shell was no more than twenty meters away when Narriseer fired, hitting the steering controls of her shell. She fought for control of her shell as it banked hard over, putting her in an increasingly fast downward spiral. The artificial gravity of the cavern increased its grip on Khrelan’s shell. Rescue units dispatched; it would truly be a life-or-death race between the plummeting shell and the rescue units’ capturing of the runaway shell. A media bot had been assigned to capture the spiral down to the city below.

Alec continued his stroke pace through the first-kilometer marker. A media bot sped quickly to catch up with him. It focused on his stroke form and then on his face, which was unemotional and driven.

Alec checked his mirrors again. He looked up to see Narriseer.

*

The rooftop of O’s Shop of Curiosities would rank on the top of most beings’ list as one of the worst places to view races at Nowhere Downs. The noise of the four-story air conduits made listening to any conversation next to impossible. O was no ordinary being. O reclined in a hammock, drink in hand, watching the race on the giant video screen across the cavern from her place of business. She got up as the action focused on the battle for the lead between Alec and Narriseer.

O’s voice was lost in the horrendous air turbulence rising from the floor on both sides of her shop. “Come on — you can do it!”

She moved over to the grate on the roof. O straightened up, and her body became jelly-like as she fell through the grate. The glass she was holding clinked as it hit the grate, unable to follow O inside.

*

Alec kept up the sure-and-steady pace he had built up. He was in “the zone” and no longer thought of anything but the stroke and keeping up his pace. It could be tedious if one thought too hard about it, but that wasn’t what he was doing. Back and forth, he was the engine of this machine calling itself
Piece of Pie
. He stretched out his senses and imagined it was a living being — one that he had become a part of. No, that wasn’t it. He had become its heart, beating back and forth with every stroke. The second-kilometer marker flew by without incident. Not that Alec even noticed it anymore — it was outside his perception. He was delivering energy, the driving force of this cyborg. Stroke, stroke, stroke went Alec’s body, driving his legs to the fullest extension and then to recovery. His mind was free of external thought. He kept the pace going so smoothly that he decided to up it another stroke per minute. The third-kilometer marker was closing fast, and there was something there. It was waiting for him, to join with him. Alec was not going to let anything happen to the
Piece of Pie
. His stroke kept up the higher pace he had set for himself.

There was something coming on a collision course to his shell. The video screen filled with the crowd’s reactions, including the block showing Electra gripping Dancer’s forearm tightly. The crowd roared its approval. Alec passed through the marker only to have Narriseer come from above in a diving trajectory.

“Alec — above you!” yelled Dancer into his ear.

Alec looked above him to find Narriseer coming at him fast. Alec took evasive actions, rocking the bow elevators to full up and the ailerons hard over, giving the
Pie
an upward course, rolling away from the attacker. The third-kilometer marker behind, Alec and Narriseer wove in and out of each other’s paths for supremacy and first place.

Turlmin, the last remaining competitor with any chance of completing the race, passed them in the distance. Narriseer saw that he had spent too much time and effort on Alec and was in jeopardy of losing the race. He pulled his weapon from his holster and fired it, scoring four good hits on Alec’s shell. The elevator-control cables of the
Pie
broke, freezing them. Narriseer took off after Turlmin. Narriseer closed the distance between him and the leader, Turlmin.

Alec grabbed his toolkit from its placement. He opened it quickly and found what he was looking for — pliers and self-welding crimp-ties. He reached down to the control cabling running through the flooring. It had been left open for just such emergencies. One of the wires had been cut in two by Narriseer’s shots. Alec pulled both ends together to see if they could be repaired as is or would need a piece of cable spliced in. It became quickly evident it was not just a simple repair job. The cable had lost a few centimeters more than the crimp-ties would manage.

Alec grabbed a ten-centimeter strand of high-strength steel wire, jammed it into the crimp-tie, and threaded it over the end of the wire coming from the bow. He used the pliers to crimp the wires together and was rewarded with the heating action welding the three elements — both wires and the crimp-tie — into one metal mass with as strong a bond as the original wire. Alec fished the other end of the control cable from the floor; he clipped away the frayed end and then slipped the crimp-tie over it. He gently crimped only one side to lock in the control cable.

Alec slid the free end of the ten-centimeter piece from the bow side of the repair through the slot and out the excess slot, giving him something to grab onto. Alec used one hand to pick up a second set of pliers, pulling the cable through the slot, and the other hand to crimp-weld it. If it went well, he would be rewarded with a tight control cable. If it went wrong, he would have to cut away this weld and start over. He put the control cable down where it normally ran, yanked hard on the cable end to eliminate any excess cable, and squeezed hard on the other, welding the mass together. The repair completed, Alec tried out his repair. It worked well.

Alec pulled hard on the oars and corrected his course. A sharp burning pain came from his ribs. He looked down to see that it was not only the
Pie
that had got a little cooked. Alec grabbed a burn patch from the medical kit. Lifting his shirt up, he slapped the gooey square over the singed skin. The coolness of the patch drowned out the pain. He started with a 42-stroke pace to build up his speed. He could make out the fourth-kilometer marker ahead. Narriseer was nowhere to be found. Alec challenged himself, maintaining the high rate until he reached marker number four. Stroke, stroke, stroke went the heart of the
Pie
. It was “the zone” — perfect balance of mind and body. Alec picked his path carefully, running it down the side of the course nearest the video screen. Stroke, stroke, stroke went Alec. Then he angled the
Pie
to pass through the marker on the upper corner and rolled the
Pie
over to make the passage easier.

Alec backed off the high stroke rate and settled back to the rate he had set before. This race was still one of attrition. He was starting to get the feeling. No, he had to return to the mental state of the zone and finish the race.
Electra. The zone
. It was the only way.

The fourth marker passed by, just as he had planned. It was just a race to the finish line. Still no Narriseer. Alec checked his mirrors and checked above him as he rowed. The video screen below Alec had been showing the aerial battle royale fought between Narriseer and Turlmin. The end of the battle had Turlmin’s scull floating with Turlmin pulling hard on his oars to get away. The view shifted as the media bots followed Narriseer.

Dancer’s voice came up again. “The screen.”

Alec rolled the shell over a bit to get a better look at the screen below. It showed Narriseer on a collision course with Alec. He waited as long as he could as a great big target, knowing every moment he hung there made it all the harder for Narriseer to change course. Alec stepped up his stroke pace, pivoting the shell, and pulled every stroke with every fiber of his being.

Narriseer pulled his strokes with all his might. He wanted to end this race with a decisive kill. Then he would take a leisurely victory lap after crossing the finish line. He saw the
Pie
roll and flip, changing its direction. Narriseer took out his pistol and fired.

Alec changed course again, moving out of the weapon’s range. Alec checked his mirror and saw nothing but the video screen. Alec fully braked the
Pie
and put the craft into a dive. Alec waited until the last minute to pull out of the dive. He was cruising parallel to the surface of the screen.

*

Narriseer pulled hard for ramming speed and fired again and again. The media bots, with no other rowers to follow, had been reassigned to the death match between Alec and Narriseer. Narriseer found it a challenge to be rowing at a high rate of speed and shooting at the same time. One of his shots found its mark, hitting the
Pie
but doing no consequential damage; the rest hit the video screen. Eruptions of electrical brilliance come from below Alec like fountains of superheated silicon and metal. Narriseer pulled with all of his might, aiming his scull for the center of the
Pie
.

*

The energy Alec was able to tap into before wasn’t there now. He had been running on empty. His mind losing focus, he thought about those he would be letting down. He finally was on the trail of inscription pieces which would lead him to a place for humanity to live safe and free. No, this wasn’t going to motivate him. He knew people were counting on him, but he could not put a face to them. Alec had to find his way back to “the zone” and life. Alec sucked in a breath of air. It was Electra — her sweet perfume, like a soft summer breeze of wild flowers, came from the scarf she’d given him when she kissed him. Alec closed his eyes to put himself back in that moment. She had pulled him down to her — for what he had thought would be some words of encouragement — but the kiss had been so unexpected. He held the scarf to his face and took her into him with each breath. He focused on that moment and savored every second —
Electra
. He reset his rowing seat as if back at the starting line — he had waited long enough. He exploded off the line and shot off toward the finish line.

Narriseer rowed hard and fast, and built up the speed and momentum to finish off the human. His scull’s controls were not fully functional after his battle with Turlmin. He lost his rearview monitors. He would ram the human’s scull and shoot the vermin. Narriseer pulled harder and harder. He managed to look up to check his course, but the human was not there. Narriseer looked all about, still rowing hard, seeking the target he sought. It was not possible he could have missed him. Narriseer finally spotted the
Pie
moving rapidly toward the finish line.

He would not have that. No, he would not have that happen at all. Narriseer jammed his controls over to follow the
Pie
, but a control surface popping out of alignment took him into a slow corkscrew roll. He tried again and again kicking the control system. The elevators were nonfunctional, too. He worked to free the controls when it occurred to him he was not in open space. He had built up ramming speed to crush the human, but, with him gone, where was he going? He looked over his shoulder to find the surface of the video screen coming toward him at great speed. He felt the static charge from the screen build as his distance from it evaporated. His scull conducted the electricity well as it smashed into the monitor. The power coursed through his body, first burning and then charring his flesh as it erupted from the screen in a fountain of sparks, molten plastic, and metal.

Narriseer’s death spiral had been captured by three of the media bots and displayed in full gory glory for the fans. Crowd reactions were now part of the video screen, some cheering and others hissing at the outcome.

“Turlmin, you forgot about Turlmin,” came Dancer’s voice over the earpiece.

Alec rowed at a moderate pace, building to full power, and changed his course. The rower media bots followed both craft as they headed for the finish. The courses of each scull closed as the race funneled down to the finish line. Alec could see Turlmin out of the corner of his eye — his scull was shot up as well.

The media bots swarmed about as he pulled through each stroke. The two competitors were neck and neck. The finish line was near now. Each stroke had become a task in itself. Alec increased his stroke again. Fatigue was clearly visible on his face. The two competitors battled, trading the lead back and forth.

“Come on, Alec — you can do this,” Electra commanded. “First place is yours.” She lowered her voice, “Cross the finish line, and we are home free.”

Alec pulled even harder on the oars. Stroke, stroke, and stroke; he returned to “the zone,” pulling on the oars as if his grasping were fighting for life itself. He hung on tenaciously to life and the oars. It was hard to perceive, but he had built up a lead. The tip of
Piece of Pie
was a clear leader of three, and then six, and then ten centimeters. The noise of the crowd — which had been filtered out by his brain — suddenly washed over him as they crossed the finish line with the video bots.

Media bots supplied footage of the crowd going wild in the stands. A platform of judges had been floating near the finish line to manage any disputes. Alec and Turlmin slowed their pace rapidly as exhaustion struck both competitors.

Members of the race support staff flew out to both competitors. Alec stopped rowing to allow the support staff to grab onto the racing shell and move it close to the judges’ platform. The Race Official landed on the platform, spoke with the judges, and handed them the official footage of the race. The
Piece of Pie
settled on the outside lip of the judges’ platform. Alec managed to extricate himself from the shell to stand before the judges. He saw that Turlmin was having some trouble getting out of his shell. Alec forced himself to walk to Turlmin’s shell. Alec could see that the hard-fought race had really taken a toll on Turlmin. Alec, without hesitation, bent over and took hold of Turlmin. The two competitors took stock of each other in the blink of an eye. Turlmin accepted Alec’s help in freeing himself from his shell.