But as they exit the Salt Sea, and head down the Long Strait, everything changes. The Silver Sickle maxes out at over 750kph and starts passing everyone again. The Rusted Brick falls last and remains far behind. As the pilot maxes out his ship to keep up, smoke starts rising out of one engine, than the other, and a minute later he is out of the race in a cloud of black smoke. Ships5, 9, 10, 6, and 12 are still holding on to the lead but 2 and 13 have joined them in a leader cluster at top speed. They're moving fast yet Ricio is gaining.
"This is where the power of good tech comes into play. Look at the Silver Sickle. He is gaining on the leaders and with 50 kilometers to go on the long straight, it's a sure bet he will pass them all."
"No doubt Mando. And if we look at our virtual odometers here, we can see he is moving at 766kph, while the leaders only, 740kph."
"He may be playing it cautious, but he does have a chance of breaking Hektor's record. Lets see if he goes for it."
"I would certainly love to see that, but as we have seen, Ricio has been very careful in this race. It doesn't look like he'll take any unnecessary chances."
"And that's smart. Look what happened to ship15. He fought for first too early and paid the price for it."
"As did young Ricio in the last race. No doubt he has learned his lesson."
"He has also done a good job sticking to the pylons. Hasn't lost a point yet. The Black Cross on the other hand is down 120 points, which will affect the final score when reaching the finish line."
"That's right. He may sweep across the finish line first, but lose the race on point penalties."
"And here comes the young Ricio in his beautiful Silver Sickle."
Ship1 is moving fast. On this straight flat there is little danger other than overheating the ships or making a miscalculation with the steering. The ships are quite spread out in a long line following the pylons, so there is little chance of collisions. Ricio now starts passing the leaders. One by one he gets past them until he is in second position. The Black Cross is holding the lead and about a ten meters to the right of Ricio, but as ship1 advances the Back Cross makes a sudden swing left, his trajectory now merging into Ricio's path at 700kph. Rico flashes his eyes to the right, sees a dark streak headed directly into his path. At these speeds he reacts instantly and slams his brakes, swings out, far too much, slowing down to 500kph, and way off course losing dozens of points. There simply was no time to think or plan and the other leaders, that he just passed, now shoot past him like arrows.
"Ha-ha-ha." Hondo laughs out loud. "I love this young rookie, but experience means everything."
"Gavor, the pilot of the Black Cross, certainly knows how to use intimidation to control this race. That was a brilliant, if somewhat dangerous move."
"Certainly was Mando."
Ricio frustrated guns his ship and gets back on course. He quickly catches up again and starts passing the ships but as he gets in position two he starts weaving gently. Ship5 does not react, and Ricio takes the lead. By the end of the long straight Ricio has gained at least a one kilometer lead, but now they have to make a hard turn left and north-east, into the dunes. Like over the salt sea, they have to deal with waves, but this time frozen unmovable mounds of sand. At their speeds the distances are deceptive, and there's something about the sand that makes it appear further than it really is. Once again Ricio has to slow down. By the end of the Dunes he is again trailing at the end with only the Horseshoe behind him. Even the Green Orb has passed him.
For the rest of the race Ricio can not recover. The Low Canyon proves just as challenging. Then in the east hills he starts catching up with the Green Orb, but around a hill, the biggest Baobab tree around suddenly comes into view. The Orb swings out to go around it but one if his four engines clips it, and the Orb spins out of control than crashes into the hillside. Ricio just barely makes it past him, while some debris slam into his ship at 400kph. He slows down even more. The Horseshoe is now on his tail as they exit the Eastern Hills. With a 15km straight shot to the finish line, Ricio guns it and immediately starts passing the tail end racers, but by the time he gets behind ship13, the leaders ship5, the Black Cross, ship9 the Red Menace, ship6 the Streamliner, ship12 the Pear Beauty, and ship10 the Blue-eye cross the finish line. Ricio and ship13, the Winged Cone, cross the line nearly side by side, with ship13 just an arm's length ahead leaving Ricio and his Silver Sickle in 7th place.
"Wow what a race!" Gono shouts.
"Yeah, it was really good, but that crash ruined it."
"You mean the first one, 15?" They keep talking as both climb out of the cove, with Gono giving Mykee a hand.
"Yup. I really liked that guy, The Ghost. Mysterious, with a junkyard of a ship, but man what a pilot. I'm certain he was Carpati. But now he's dead. Wouldn't it have been cool to have another Carpati win the race?" Mykee muses filling his chest with air.
"Yeah it would have, but I honestly don't think he would have stood a chance."
"Why?"
"The long straight. He would have fallen so far behind, even with all his skill he would not have caught up. Plus Gavor looks to be a damn good pilot himself. He did a good job piloting the Black Cross. He'll do well in the finals. Where did Andee and Nayaa go?" Gono changes subject as he looks around.
"They were by that boulder." Mykee points but they're not there any more.
"Behind you." Gono jumps back startled.
"Damn it. I hate it when you sneak up on me like that. You ok?"
"Yeah I'm fine." Andee responds.
"You goanna watch the final?"
"Yeah, sure. Did ship1 qualify?"
"Nope. But the top six did. Ship1 just barely missed it. Maybe Gavor, the guy piloting ship5 might win and become a new champion. We haven't had a good consistent pilot since the days of Hektor."
"I don't like that guy." Andee muses. "In fact, I'm going to watch these finals in the hope he crashes."
"He might, he's reckless. He crossed the line first but only got third position. The Red Menace won. Gavor lost too many points, mainly because of his battle with the Ghost. So you could say the Ghost put him in third place." Mykee lifts his brows with satisfaction.
"I like the sound of that." Andee ads.
"Ok, my credits are on a win." Gono counters. "I think he'll win the whole thing. Lets see what happens."
The final is about to start. It's still daylight, with only an hour before last horizon when the twilight sets in. The final is a ten lap race that's usually three hours long, but can last up to four hours. After the short intermission everyone gets back in place, with the four back in the cove.
After the prelim the final is somewhat less exciting. Not a single ship crashes and in the end the Black Cross finishes first, but loses once again to the Red Menace on points.
A nudge against her right foot startles Nayaa awake. She rises up from her comfortable corner and looks at everyone.
"What?"
"It's over." Andee informs her.
"Really? I just fell asleep."
"No, you've been sleeping for over three hours."
"Really? With all this noise? So we weren't at the prave? Cuz that's where I've been this whole time."
"Nope, that's were we're going." Gono adds excited. "You guys are coming right?"
They all begin to climb down from the cove.
"I don't know, Maybe." Andee answers unsure as they head out mingling into the crowd.
"Ah come on you know you want to go."
"I have to take Mykee home."
"No you don't." Turning to Mykee. "Don't you usually go home on your own?"
"Sometimes."
"Nah, I'll take him home."
"Fine, but you're coming to the prave afterwards right?"
"Don't know. I'll decided later."
"Are you serious? Come on man. Sometimes the pilots hang out there after the races. And well... there might be someone there waiting for you."
"Now that I think about it, I'll pass."
"Aw-yo
u've got to be kidding. Now you're afraid she'll be there? Maybe she won't, but even if she is, who cares."
"I'm going. Can I come with you?" Nayaa asks Gono, to which he reacts a bit surprised.
"Yeah of course, sure." Gono responds startled.
"I'll see you guys later. I'll walk Mykee home. Come on." Andee nods to Mykee and both start walking away just as Dirin and his buddies walk up.
"OK man, but you're coming. I'm going to be expecting you!" Gono shouts over the people at Andee and Mykee as they disappear in the crowd.
"Forget him dude. I don't know why you still want to hang out with that loser." Dirin speaks taping Gono on the shoulder. Nayaa is staring at him with knife-blade eyes. He is avoiding her gaze.
"Yeah, whatever dude. He's a good guy, I don't know why you always have to be a jerk to him." Gono counters but Dirin just shrugs.
"So you coming to the prave with us or what?" Dirin asks Gono.
"Yeah I am, and so is Nayaa. She's coming with us." Gono responds with a gentle smile to her. Dirin has been avoiding looking at her this whole time. He finally looks up and makes eye contact. She is already locked on him, slicing and dicing him with her glare. Dirin takes a deep breath.
"Nayaa, I owe you an apology, and he extends his hand." Nayaa is visibly taken aback, surprised by his sudden change of demeanor. "In our last meeting I was very disrespectful. You have definitely matured since I last saw you in school, and I apologize for being so rude and insensitive." Nayaa's eyes soften but now look more mystified. Dirin is standing there, hand outstretch awaiting the shake.
"OK, cool. But if