Hunter (22 page)

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 the 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.