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

“We don’t know. Let’s think about this,” I said, running my fingers through my hair. I’d really been hoping we’d learn something important from this communication. “Have you tried the Coin I gave you?”

“It’s identical,” R11 said, changing to another file. I read it, finding they said the exact same thing.

“We don’t have time for this.” Luther nudged me with a fist. “The Race is starting.”

“We can speak to them now, right? Send a communication in reply. Tell them…” I strode to the pilot’s seat, grabbing the head rest.

“What are we going to say?” Holland asked. “We should ask my dad. He’d know what to do.”

The comment riled me more than it should have, or maybe it was Jinx’s words of warning that set me off. “Perhaps if your father responded to any incoming communications, we’d be able to ask for his astute wisdom.”

“We’ll worry about it later, Arlo. We’re almost at the end of the Race, and we can figure it out after that.” Jade took her chair. “There’s still Proxima to win.”

“If there is an after,” I muttered.

“What was that?” I felt her stare through my chair.

“What if Jinx is right? Aliens assembling in the cold darkness of space? He says they’re moving for the finish line.” Lotus was in the lead, and Octavia went on live, wishing everyone luck. It was just background noise to me. Suddenly, we had a lot more to worry about than Proxima.

“We still have to conclude the Race,” Luther said. “I’m not missing out.”

“And what if they’re all wrong, and Dad is correct? We have to win, Arlo. Proxima. Nothing else matters. I swear, Dad would respond if he could. He’s probably working on something important for the colony. He has a blackout location he operates in.” Holland’s voice was hopeful, and I almost felt sorry for him.

“Fine. Maybe. But that doesn’t skirt the fact that Eclipse is coming with a giant fleet. This will be bloody no matter which way the weapons are pointed.” Lotus was off, their Racer speeding from the starting line. We had a few minutes until Sage departed, and then we were up.

“Join a racing team, he said. It’ll be good for your career. The team is great, he said. Big rewards. Fame. Retirement.” Luther stopped.

“Can we focus, Arlo? You’re the captain. We need your head in the game,” Holland said.

Despite the conflicting thoughts speeding through my mind, I centered myself.

My countdown hit zero, and I gunned it. Time to fly.

____________

Sage wasn’t giving up their position easily. With their proximity being so close, I wanted to test them early on. But after two hours of attempting to outmaneuver them, they were still in the lead, if only by a couple of heartbeats.

“Varn’s good,” Luther said.

“Good for nothing,” I replied.

Luna Corp was losing distance behind us, and for the time being, it was a three-ship race. But a lot could happen in the span of a day and a half. I pictured the final checkpoint near Neptune, with the welcoming committee of top executives around to witness the decisive sprint for the finish. This was shaping up to be a photo finish. If the Board wanted excitement, they’d get it.

“If only there was a way to disarm their ship like we did with that probing drone,” Holland said.

There were ten filming drones on the radar near us. “We have the better Racer, so we’ll prevail,” I said. “Jade, you sure there’s no more room for added boost to the thrusters?”

“Not unless you have a shot of—” She cut herself off.

“You think of something?” I asked.

“I can’t believe I hadn’t until now. Bryson said there’s a backup cooling unit for the Core under the floor panels.”

“I remember that.” Holland stood, and I saw him stretching out the corner of my eyes. The setup on the bridge wasn’t ideal. While I faced the viewer at the front, I couldn’t see my teammates behind my chair without turning.

“And that helps us?” I asked.

“Everything does. We could cut a lot of functions at the end. Drive the power to the Core, and it’ll flare up for a few minutes.” From the sounds of her fingers dancing on the keypad, she was running the numbers. “I think we can get an extra seven percent if we redirect all non-critical features to the Core.”

“What do you consider essential?” Luther asked. “I hope air is one of them.”

“Gravity coils can be killed if we strap in, can’t they?” I suggested as I rotated the chair around.

“I hadn’t thought of that. Takes us to nine percent. Perfect.” Jade was in her element, having an important purpose for the last section.

“We have those asteroid blasters. We can torch those.” Luther started scrolling through Pilgrim’s files. “What about the lights? Do we really need them?”

“Sure, why not turn the viewer off too, and I’ll steer through the Ring blindly,” I joked.

“Can you do that?” Holland asked, realizing I was kidding. He looked away, embarrassed.

“With all of these, we have thirteen percent. Which means we need to finish within a few minutes over the final ten thousand kilometers. I’d say four, but I’ll firm up the numbers.”

That was a tall order, but doable if Lotus continued losing their lead at this pace. I didn’t expect any sleep until we were done.

We went on, Sage visible in my viewer without using the zoom, and I started to grow drowsy after hours of this pace. “Hey, Holland, do you mind throwing the feeds on?”

“Sure, Arlo.”

He turned the volume up and I listened, patching in the video to my dash’s central display.

“Baru, we’re almost there! Space Race has been unorthodox at times, but the ending is shaping up to compensate for it.” Yon smiled as he spoke.

“You’re not kidding, Yon. We’ve been shocked for most of the Race, with Lotus starting in third and taking the lead. Sage is still in it, and they were everyone’s top pick at victory with Luna Corp second. But