Space Race (Space Race 1) by Nathan Hystad (book recommendations for young adults .TXT) 📕

begin until we entered the initial checkpoint, and I glanced to the team. They were all seated, concentration lining their brows.

“This is the real test, team. Do we have any idea how far the track goes?” We hadn’t been given any information on the path from the network, only that the Hub was located here, and how to sync Pilgrim to it.

“This sector of space is vast enough the trail could continue for days, but that depends on how many switchbacks Bryson’s team created.” Luther’s voice was deep, focused.

I flew the ship closer to the glowing orange Ring and stared toward it. Once I went through, the time would begin, and we all knew Bryson would be keeping tabs. None of us wanted to fail him, not after hearing what the people really thought about our chances. Now it was personal.

“Ready?” I asked, and received four nods from the team. “Time to fly.” I shot into the Ring, and the timer began.

____________

Two days later, we were finished. The time passed quickly for the first day, with all of us equally invested in passing the checkpoints, until a particular stretch where the distance spread far out between two Rings. It took an hour to get through them. We looped around the region in all possible angles and directions, until some of us grew weary. Others getting cranky at the endless silence, we sat in the bridge without duties on hand.

We started sleeping in shifts, with me taking the breaks during the longest periods between Rings. Holland understood the controls, and he managed to not kill us while I sneaked endless catnaps. Luther mapped us out, alerting me of any anomalies in the patterns, or possible particles we needed to dodge.

Jade had the most difficult transition. She grew irritable, and I tasked her with attempting to find methods to improve processes. She spent much of her energy in the engineering room, adjusting calculations. By the time our trial had ended, she had engine speed up by one percent. Holland was dumbfounded that she’d been able to improve SeaTech’s advanced systems.

Two days, and it felt like weeks when we finished.

“How long is the real Race again?” I asked Holland.

“Under a week, all said and done,” he said. “It’s a marathon, not a sprint.”

We were sitting in the kitchen, cramped around the table with coffees. With nothing to base it on, I had no concept if our performance on the track was horrible or remarkable.

“But there are stops?” Jade clinked her cup with a fingernail. She’d unzipped her SeaTech blue jumpsuit and wiped at a coffee stain on her white undershirt.

“We have two major events, and the last couple of Racers at each of those checkpoints will be eliminated.” Holland had explained it before, but the severity of the news hit me hard.

“You’re saying we could be cut in the first few days?” I sighed, shooting a deep breath from my lungs.

“We won’t be cut,” the young prodigy said with confidence.

“They announce the teams soon. So we should get some rest and return to Earth, if this was it,” I told them.

“Sounds like a plan to me.” Luther stretched and accidentally pushed the table, spilling my coffee over the cup’s brim.

“I’m calling it a night. Or morning. Whatever time it is,” I muttered. I hadn’t slept for more than a few straight hours in the last three days, and I was starting to feel it. I left them chatting and headed to the bunk room.

I grabbed my PersaTab, connecting to the network. I scanned for news, wondering what the channels were speculating about the Race, finding numerous hits. Since the news was funded by biased Corporations, most of it centered around their own teams’ chances. SeaTech showed no evidence of a statement, and when I explored further, I found Bryson didn’t even have a news channel. Why hadn’t I known this?

I searched through the headlines and saw something interesting. It was a trending video, but I didn’t recognize the sender. With a shrug, I tapped the icon.

A woman stood inside a room, clean and empty, with bright lighting. She was around sixty years old, with shoulder-length gray-speckled hair and a white uniform. I didn’t recognize the corporation.

“Hello, viewers. My name is Eclipse, with Liberty, and I have some information to share with you.” The tone of the video made me uneasy, and my pulse picked up speed as I awaited her message. “We are living in dangerous times. The Primary Corporations are colluding, the smaller ones are being dismantled as we speak, giving us no options as a people. The Board constructed the great Space Race as a diversion. While you’re watching the Race, they will be moving ahead with their plans. Before the end of the year, there will only be a single Corporation, and they will control everything. The Board will see to it. They are the ones who will benefit from such a change.

“We are humans. We have rights. Once the transition is complete, there will be no turning back. We must revolt.”

I almost dropped the Tab.

“I implore you to fight the Primaries, demand control of our own lives again, and realize that not everything is about transactions, material goods, and the bottom line. We are people, with love, honor, trust, and hope. Few of you may recall some of those emotions, but I assure you, they exist. Don’t keep the blindfolds on any longer. Join me. Seek Liberty, and you will find deliverance.”

The video ended, with record of over a billion views, and it had only been posted two hours ago. “What is this?” I muttered. Jade came in, yawning, and I shoved the Tab at her. “You have to watch this feed. A woman named Eclipse is telling the people to revolt!” Gone were any signs of exhaustion as I tried to play the footage for Jade. She stared at the screen, and she settled to her bunk.

“What feed? There’s nothing to see,” she said. “Don’t lose