DRIVE

[Rakoua]

DRIVE By Rakoua

Two shuttles raced trough the asteroid patch, leaving the rest far behind. Asteroids, suspended in space, surrounded them from all sides. The last stage of the Centauri Transstellar race went trough a particularly dense part of the patch, and the finish line was in sight, only two hundred kilometers now... the blue shuttle, representing the Terran Union in the race, was ahead for now, Kenji Uesugi piloting it using a neural interface. Kenji was the top pilot in the Solar system, never having been shot down in the hundred years of war after humans pushed into space, even though he piloted the red and white shuttlecraft which had minimal maneuverability. He is, you could say, the Red Baron of the Earth Wars, and a valuable ace for the defense of the Solar System. Behind him was Rakoua Nehori, a half Terran renegade pilot from a different side in the wars. His mother was an escapee from the front line planets of the Anteri Empire when the war began, and his father was a human pilot. Ever since the war ended and the race was created to keep the peace, he entered it with his shuttle even though he never actually won it. Now was his big chance, and he moved in to pass, when suddenly, his computer alerted him of an incoming object. It wasn't an asteroid. Another shuttle smashed trough the force field protecting the track from the asteroid patch just ahead of the two...  Sven Sarrye, piloting the shuttle, passed the finish line first... and then...

“Breathe!� Sven heard a voice, but couldn't recognize it. It seemed to echo in his mind, and then he felt a sharp pain in all of his body, which ceased after a few moments. He then felt another sharp pain, this time in his neck, like he had been stabbed... and then, he felt something on his face and then darkness...

“Is it okay to see him?� A voice familiar to Sven said. He suddenly woke up and took a deep breath. Two females suddenly turned to him. One of them, with black hair with a few touches of pink on the edges and pale skin, quickly reached for an injection. It was adrenaline, enough to kick his heart back into life. Sven tried to get up, but he couldn’t move anything under his neck…
“What… is going… on…� Sven asked, shaking from the adrenaline burst.
“His body is going into shock!� the black haired female said, as the other female, with somewhat red skin and white hair, explained.
“You crashed… into one of the signal poles… your shuttle was destroyed in the crash… it was… horrible…� The female couldn’t stop the tears raining from her eyes, as the other one gave Sven another injection, saving him.
“What… happened, Dereni…� Sven asked again.
“You were almost killed… your brain has been… separated from… the nerve tissue… in your neck… or something… I told you… your racing would… kill you once…� Dereni answered, wiping the tears from her face.
“And who… are you… you don’t… look… like a nurse…â€�  Sven asked. Dereni was clearly surprised at the question.
“I am Serena Helsy. I used to be a medic in the war and now I drive a special medical shuttle in the race to help those who have to eject. You were a hard one, of course, as you never ejected… But you won.� The black haired female answered.

Having been filled in on what happened, Serena instructed Dereni to leave Sven alone for a while. He was still in shock and needs to rest.
“Why… me… no… no… this isn’t… right… what… really… no… no… NO!� Sven yelled, Serena sitting in the corner watching the racer apparently lose his mind.
“Shut up.� Serena waked to Sven and slapped him.
“You are the reason I cannot race for real. You… because you were lucky… If I didn’t eject that first race, I would have made the team… But… you smashed me into one of the poles… So I’d say it’s… poetic justice that your racing career would end that way?� Serena said, and laughed.
“I should have known… I take it you are also the one who placed a neural blocker in my neck?� Sven asked.
�Oh, look who’s smart!� Serena replied, her laugh continuing.
“I just wanted you to know why you must die. Smell that? That’s the fuel we use. It doesn’t cause gravimetric distortions, and it burns without vapor… Perfect fuel for the perfect crime, shall you say? Let’s see… your record… severe burns, yes… treated, no… and your wife? Well, let’s just say…� Serena took one of the glasses on the table next to Sven’s bed and threw it on the floor. Then she set one of the flowers on the table on fire.
“Once it burns up, you’ll explode! Isn’t it great?� Serena left the room laughing.

“Anyone?� Sven screamed as the flowers burned. He tried to overcome the blocker, but no success… It was too powerful. After a few tries, he stopped and started thinking about his wife… How he would never see her and his three kids again… what an end to his career… It was his first time that he entered the race… And now Serena will replace him… His thoughts then drifted back to his wife… What will Serena do to her… Nothing now, because the second part of the race will start soon… Suddenly, he moved… He moved again… Realizing that, he jumped out of his bed and went out of the room just before the flowers exploded, and the room was sucked out into space.

Apparently, he didn’t have any real injuries, other then the ones he got during the crash, but those weren’t even visible. It seemed Serena faked his near death. He could run. And he did. He ran as fast as he could down and exited the hospital into a vast corridor that connected it to the hangars. The hospital itself was part of a space station which was right next to the starting line of the second part of the race. Serena must have been at the starting line already, so he ran to the hangar but it was empty, other then the medical shuttle. One of the people in it asked him what he is looking for, and Sven told them that he is looking for the shuttle that was apparently destroyed in the crash that happened yesterday. The person showed him a container and told him that he was told that the shuttle was pretty much destroyed… but when they opened the container, it was intact.
“Weird.� The guy said, but Sven understood it all. He jumped into it and piloted it out of the hangar, and to the starting line… but it was empty…

“Computer, status of racers?� He asked the computer.
�Kenji is in the lead. Serena has just passed…� Sven turned on the main engine and started racing.
“They started without me!� Sven said, and asked the computer for a map.
They weren’t far ahead and he was catching up on the straightaway, but he saw the Ninarian Wormhole up ahead… He assumed that they were already inside, as they disappeared from the map. Entering the wormhole, he slowed down a bit to avoid the energy strings inside it. He then saw something that disturbed him…
A black shuttle which had smashed into one of the strings…
�Who is in the shuttle?� He asked the computer.
“Rakoua Nehori.� It replied.
“Rakoua… oh no…� He stopped and connected his shuttle with the damaged one and carried the injured pilot into his shuttle.
“Sven? What are you doing here?� Rakoua asked him.
“What are you doing crashed?� Sven replied with a question.
“I was hit by… Serena Helsy… she smashed me into a string.� Rakoua said.
“Serena faked my accident and tried to kill me a few minutes ago… I’ll pull your shuttle out and you can follow me, I’ll show you the way out if your navigation isn’t working.� Sven replied.
“No, go and win the race. I will take care of myself.� Rakoua replied and got up to his feet. He then walked to his shuttle and tried to activate it. It worked.
�See you on the finish line, I guess… And thanks for the offer…� Rakoua said. Sven nodded and disconnected the two shuttles, which both continued the race.

“Sven? Do you hear me?� Kenji asked to his radio, avoiding shots from Serena’s shuttle. It was illegal to use weapons, but Serena managed to install some into her recreation of Sven’s shuttle.
�Kenji? How do you know I’m in the race?� Sven asked, and Rakoua joined the chat: “I told him.�
“Predictable.� Sven said. Since the only ones on the track were Kenji, Sven, Rakoua and Serena, due to massive amounts of people not making it in the first part of the race, there was no competition for Sven and Rakoua until they managed to reach Kenji and Serena who were slowed down by their fight.

“Come on! Die!� Serena yelled, even though nobody could hear her because outside her shuttle was vacuum. Suddenly, her shuttle was rocked, and she turned her head away from the fight, her laser fire now going everywhere.
“What’s going on?� She asked, surprisingly quietly, but she got no answer. There were two shuttles chasing her, one of them blocking her exhaust using its shields. The other shuttle passed her as she began to lose control.
“How… How did you… Oh no…� Serena yelled, as she began to lose control. Pressing some buttons, the exhaust suddenly increased in density and omicron particles began to bombard the shields of the other shuttle. Eventually, Serena broke free and turned to the now immobilized black shuttle.
“Rakoua Nehori. How interesting.� Serena said, recognizing the shuttle and then firing a single laser at it, obliterating it… She then went back into the race.

Kenji and Sven raced peacefully along the last stage of the race. There was some spinning but it was… unexciting. Until a laser blast disturbed the peace. It was Serena.
“Doesn’t she ever quit?� Kenji asked over the comm. system.
“Nope.� Sven replied, actually more surprised that Rakoua wasn’t anywhere to be found then that Serena was here. The laser blasts hit Kenji’s shuttle once but with no effect. The finish line was in sight, only 250 kilometers away. It could still be anybody’s race.

“Why won’t they get hit?� Serena was obviously angry. With only 250 kilometers to the finish line, she had to destroy the two shuttles and jettison the laser before the finish, which was only a minute away. Suddenly, she was hit by a metal pipe in her head.
“Miss me?� Rakoua said, holding the pipe and getting ready for another swing.
“Not at all.� Serena replied, taking a laser and firing at Rakoua, knocking the pipe out of his hands. Rakoua ran at her, taking over the controls and turning off gravity before turning it back on, getting Serena off balance. He then took the pipe and slammed it onto her head, but she caught it and threw Rakoua onto the control board, getting ready to kill him with the laser…

Kenji and Sven noticed that the firing stopped. The finish was in sight, and Kenji was in the lead… when he suddenly slowed down, letting Sven pass him and win, and taking second place. Serena’s shuttle came in third, but it didn’t slow down after passing, it only continued accelerating…

Rakoua pressed something and the computer warned the two that the escape pod will fire in twenty seconds. Serena tried to jump onto her seat, which was going to be ejected in a force field, but Rakoua stopped her, and threw her away from the seat, and jumped into it, just as the force field activated and the escape pod was fired into space. The shuttle smashed into a hangar that held the thousands of shuttles and shuttle buses in it. The crowds watched in horror as a whole hangar blew up, shuttles smashing into each other and exploding.

The escape pod was picked up by the police, who were told about what happened, and the put handcuffs on the pair of hands that exited, but were surprised to see Rakoua and freed him. A hospital starship rushed to see if there were any survivors in the horrible crash that happened earlier, but luckily, nobody but Serena was killed. The three were later reunited on the award ceremony. Sven was happy to have won, of course, and asked Kenji why did he slow down and Kenji told him that he hit a stardust cloud. Sven and Rakoua didn’t buy it. Rakoua got the third place medal even though he didn’t really finish the race. You see, Sven and Kenji didn’t complain when they saw Rakoua’s name on the top three. They didn’t even bother to ask how did he get on Serena’s shuttle, but Rakoua told them that he connected the two ships while he blocked Serena’s exhaust anyway. And Serena? Well, her body was never found leading people to believe that she faked her own death just like she faked Sven’s.

Feel free to comment.

[Dudebot5000]

Very nice, Rakoua. Rather action-packed the whole way through, which kept me interested. It leaves me wondering if Sven simply broke through the neural blocker with willpower or something, but it's not really important.

As for the race itself, I found it enjoyable. Then again, what race with illegal stuff isn't fun? =P

Personally, the ending paragraph could use a bit of touch-up work. It sounds like one of those "rush endings" where you just want to finish it and get it over with. Perhaps add some sort of questionable ending, like directly asking if Serena was actually dead. That gives space for the reader to imagine, and thus more hooked into the story.

Aside from that, great job! =D

[Rakoua]

Thanks! The race was probably the hardest part to make...

And yes, you could call it a rush ending... I was trying to make an ending that would be easy to tie to a sequel I'm planning but knowing me will never be posted.

[Kritzelei]

Brilliant work Rakoua! I do rush endings all the time, it's what usually makes my stories at school go down a level. You're very good at writing, I can tell from reading this, some of your other stories and Pandora, because the plot to that RPG is amazing.
TBD

[Rakoua]

Thanks Servatu! Most people rush endings I believe.
Oh, and you mean the same Pandora that can get to a really epic part very soon if someone would post in it?

[Kritzelei]

I've just posted in it, if you mean me!