Throttle Twenty

Cynie’s ship ran almost entirely off of a fancy auto-pilot system. The ktacha sat behind the pilot’s seat while Diana and Ahvie strapped into a fold-out bench behind her. It took a minute or so, but they had the destination punched in and the ship lifted off and angled itself up. A shield sprang to life around it, making up for the vessel’s terrible aerodynamics, and then Cynie let go of the controls and turned her seat around.

“Okay, let’s start,” she said as she pulled out her little recording drone. “Can you start with your names? We’ll get past all the minutiae that I need to certify the interview first.”

“Sure,” Diana said. “But, ah, before that, I had a quick question.”

“Well, ask it quick. I only have so much time for this interview, and I want to use every nanosecond of it.”

Diana nodded. She could sympathise with the feeling. “That other ktacha racer, in the Purple Streak.”

“Zil Rossi,” Cynie said.

“That’s the one. Is she alright? I feel a bit bad that she got wiped. She was a good pilot though.”

Cynie’s ears drew together in a facial expression that Diana couldn’t quite parse. “Are you asking just because I’m a ktacha? You know that we’re entirely different subspecies, right?”

“I didn’t know that, no,” Diana said. “But I figured if anyone knew…”

Cynie’s eyes narrowed. “Well, in either case. She’s alive. A little roughed up, but I think she’ll be fine. The Rossi are a noted family of pilots. I don’t know why one of theirs participated in such a backwater race, but they’ll be able to take care of her in any case.”

“Good to know,” Diana said. She glanced back and into the cargo space in the middle of the ship. ChaOS was firmly planted in place, one hand holding onto a pipe above, the other pressed against a wall. “Remind me to send her a little card or something.”

“Noted,” the robot said.

“A card?” Ahvie muttered.

Diana gestured for Cynie to start. “Whenever you’re ready,” she said.

The reporter sniffed, then leaned back into her seat. “I started recording a while ago. No point in wasting time. Now, your names?”

“Diana Danger Slowbane,” Diana said.

“Ahvie of clan Rhack.”

“So, from what I put together, the ship you used was entirely built by you, Miss Ahvie?” Cynie asked.

Ahvie nodded. “Ahvie put it together, yes.”

“Do you have much experience with that kind of mechanical work? Building racing vehicles?”

“Ahvie has taken some courses in mechanical engineering, and practical mechanics. And Ahvie has worked a lot on her own ship, keeping it in good condition, but this was the first time Ahvie put together a vehicle from scratch.”

“Really?” Cynie asked. “It’s impressive that the ship even flew then, if it was your first. I dug up your records, and noted that you only started putting your ship together fairly recently.”

“Ahvie has only been in the sector for three Federation standard weeks,” Ahvie said.

Cynie nodded. “Even more impressive then. Can you tell us a bit about the building process? Just a few tidbits, maybe a few tips for other mechanics looking to follow your footsteps.”

“Ahvie would be glad to do so, but Ahvie really doesn’t have much advice to give.”

Cynie coaxed Ahvie some more, easily switching from flattery to asking a few technical questions that had Ahvie speaking faster and faster until the little mechanic revealed the secret of her passion and started chattering so fast that Diana had a hard time keeping up, let alone understanding the increasingly technical jargon.

Cynie nodded along, and only occasionally asked a question to bring the topic back towards the previous race. “Thank you, thank you, I’m sure I could edit together an entire segment about that. It might be interesting to people participating in other Overflow cups. Now, I’ve barely asked you any questions, Diana Danger Slowbane.”

“Just Diana, please,” Diana said.

“Certainly. How did you two meet?”

“Oh, we met the day before the race. I needed money, and Ahvie was offering a chunk of whatever she won for a pilot. I figured it would be an easy way to make a few credits.”

Cynie leaned forwards. “Really? You seemed to work very well together, despite the short time.”

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“It’s not my first race with an unknown partner,” Diana said. “And as far as those go, Ahvie is excellent. She knows her stuff, kept cool under pressure, and her ship held up. Really, she did most of the work, all I did was pilot.”

Cynie shifted in her seat. Her tail was flicking from side to side behind her. The seat had a hole just for the long fluffy tail. “Could you tell us about yourself? You pulled some impressive moves during that race. More impressive, seeing as how you weren’t familiar with the ship.”

“Ah, well, I’m just a normal girl from Earth who happens to like racing a lot.”

“Earth?”

“It’s in the Sol system,” Diana answered honestly.

“Yes, of course,” Cynie said. “What inspired you to get into racing?”

Diana grinned and hoped no one picked up on her slight blush. “When I was twelve, which is fairly young for my, ah, species, I lost a race. Just a footrace. The winner was this boy who was three years older and a quarter metre taller than me. But that didn’t matter. I had to win. So I spent weeks doing nothing but running until it felt like my legs would burn right off. Then I ran some more. The next time I raced him, I won. That kind of launched me into my chosen path. No matter the kind of race, I wanted to try it, and I wanted to win it. At some point I discovered that I really just like racing, not so much winning.”

“But you won today’s race,” Cynie pointed out.

“Well yeah, you’re not actually racing if you’re not trying to win, are you?”

Cynie stared at Diana for a long moment, then nodded. “I suppose that’s one way to look at it. Can fans at home expect to see the two of you in any upcoming races?”

“Ahvie… enjoyed herself. But Ahvie isn’t a racer, she’s a mechanic. Ahvie isn’t sure if she wants to be in the ship that’s racing in the future but… but Ahvie enjoyed racing with Diana, and maybe they can race again?”

“Yeah! I’m always down to race,” Diana said. “I don’t know which race is coming up next though. The Overflow was fun, but it was a bit hectic. I think it would be more fun to try a few different sorts of races before perfecting one, if that makes sense.”

“So, you don’t know which challenge you’ll be facing off against next?” Cynie asked. “Well, that’ll be interesting to see. Of course, Rogue Racer Intergalactic covers all the most explosive and interesting races.”

“Oh? Then when’s the next fun one?” Diana asked.

Cynie pondered the question. “How much of a challenge are you up for?”

“I’m up for anything,” Diana said.

“Then there’s the Long Loop. That’s three jumps away in the Isep system. A sling-shot endurance race with solar sails and nothing else. It’s not a very exciting race, but it’s a technically complex one. The Intergalactic Federation Speedrace is starting in a dozen cycles. It might be too late to join that one. You need a very specific sort of ship, within exacting specifications, and the rules make the race a little dull. We cover it, but only because it’s so popular.”

Diana nodded. She was familiar with the sort. “Anything more exciting?”

“Well… the Tyrant Cracker Hit and Run is going to start in about twenty cycles. That’s a very popular, if not legally… proper, race.”

“What’s that about?” Diana asked.

Cynie grinned, showing off sharp canines. “It’s a race to the surface of a planet where the pilots need to fulfil objectives for points. Destroying buildings and monuments, taking apart infrastructure, spreading anti-tyrant propaganda, and taking out military assets. The racers who make it back with the most points win.”

“Ahvie’s seen that race, once. It’s very, very dangerous.”

Diana felt a shiver sliding down her spine. “Consider me interested. Where would one go to sign up?”

Cynie looked over her shoulder and at the ship’s console. They were actually nearing the station. It was visible out ahead, and growing bigger by the minute. “That’s usually hidden, for safety, but I can give you the location of the rally point, and the normal information packet. I would love to see you participate. It’s a very unorthodox race, but I think you might enjoy it, and make a good show of it too.”

“Oh, you’ve got my blood boiling already,” Diana said.

“Your blood can boil?” Ahvie asked.

“Uh, no it’s… nevermind.”

***