The door flew open with a bang and Patience’s grumbling could be heard.
“Damn, that fucking door still stubbornly refuses to do it’s job!”
“What the hell is wrong with you?” Jim shouted from his office, “Stop kicking my door - also it's the weekend, shouldn’t you roughen up some dudes in the ring right now?”
“No official fighting for me before my new coach gives the go and that will take some time, if I understood his angry shouting correctly before.” she shrugged and passed Jim, who was sitting at his desk.
The huge bloke remained silent and only observed her, as she went over to a cupboard and fished out a bottle of the cheap booze they always kept there for emergencies. She hesitated for a moment and also took out two cups.
“Why are you here, Patience?” Jim finally asked with a softer voice, while she was preparing the drinks.
She also took a seat and sighed.
“I just came from saying my goodbyes to the old geezer, my former coach.” she said slowly, pushing a glass over to Jim, who kept quiet.
“That damn bastard was all happy for me and wished me luck with a smile on his face.” Patience closed her eyes and took a sip before she continued with a sad face.
“He tried to hide it, but I could see his heart break. He took me in when I was just a brat that liked to beat up the boys in the neighborhood. For eight years he trained me, I was like a daughter to him.”
“His job was to prepare you to get a chance out of RustHollow Quarters. You fought for that and you’ve won. You’re about to rise in society - give it a few more years and you will leave this workshop, too.” Jim smiled gently, “He is happy for you, believe me. Of course he is sad, as are you, but you are not only fulfilling your own wish, but his one’s, too.”
“I know, it still sucks…” she grumbled.
“Yeah, good you feel like that. You would be an asshole to just leave after all this time without any remorse.” he grinned, “He is not out of reach, keep visiting your old studio and share your victories with him. Maybe help training the newbies every now and then, you can inspire those people and show them what they are fighting for.”
Patience stayed silent for a long time.
“Thanks mate!” she finally said and added quietly “I hope it will be like that…”
Jim heard her, but didn’t say anything for now. They just sat in silence, drinking cheap booze and following their own thoughts.
Only ten minutes later did Jim put down his empty cup and started another topic.
“Why are you even here?” He asked the same question again and she needed a moment to understand what he meant.
“I wanted to go with him, but I think it’s better to work on my future here. The new training will help me to be better prepared next time.” she said.
“Tsk…” Jim scoffed, “Next time is it? What next time? Normally you never get in such situations at all. You are longing for strength and taking high risks just to be prepared for an eventuality that will not even occur, if you stop that kind of preparation.”
Patience kept quiet, just fidgeting with her empty cup.
“You feel it, don’t you? Robin is planning something big…” Jim continued.
“After your encounter with the smugglers, he changed. He set his priorities and is working directly towards his final goal: leaving Rucasur. I don’t know his exact plan, but Robin now takes every shortcut he finds, no matter the risks. He meets with shady criminals in the slums, takes illegal jobs and now pitting himself against some professional pilots in a race. He has a goal, a plan and the conviction to fight for it.” Letting that sink in for a moment, he asked her, “Tell me Patience, what is your goal?”
Jim grabbed the bottle and refilled their glasses as he waited for Patience to sort her thoughts.
“I don’t know…I have no idea, okay?” she finally exclaimed angrily and rested her head on the table.
“Traveling with Rob is fun. Yeah, right, it’s getting fucking dangerous lately and you have to be careful to keep your skin, but it’s fun!” she huffed and took her drink.
“I think I want to be prepared for what happens next if I follow him.”
Jim thought about that and pointed out something that she was glossing over.
“He gets more active every week. If he doesn’t mess up on the way, I don’t think he will be staying here for much longer. Will you follow him when the time comes? Leaving Rucasur behind, your old coach, your family…leaving the life you’ve built yourself? You know, that’s what you are working towards right now.”
The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
“I have no idea, Jim. It is fun with him, but he has changed a lot in the last months. He is more stern, more determined. Those are good changes but it feels like he isn’t quite done changing yet…”
“People always change. They’re never done, Patience. Never. The only question is, if they are changing for the better or worse. Only time will show where they ultimately end up.”
They stopped talking to enjoy the silence and the booze some more. When it was getting late, Patience prepared to go home.
“Thanks again pal, I needed to hear that.” She threw him a thankful smile, “I’ll be on my way to…” She suddenly stopped mid sentence and closed her eyes.
“That crazy bastard!” Patience grinned and shared the news article she just got with Jim, who took a look at it with an interested face.
[*** NEWS ***]
New Record At Apex HSC
The Apex Highspeed Cup is always an exciting event. We are live on site for you as the preliminaries are taking place right now. But this year is promising to become even more thrilling than the last ones. Just now only the first pilot finished his run and we already could witness a spectacle. The rookie pilot R. Tulward broke the long standing speed record of 402m/s on the long straight by a staggering 30m/s. He shot with his custom ship Melody II along the track and could only finish his lap after reaching 432m/s due to a risky ‘Flip and Burn’ maneuver.
See the linked video of that crazy move!
[*** NEWS ***]
“Hahaha!” Jim boisterously laughed, “That’s how it’s done, show them!”
***
“You are a crazy lunatic!” Happy cheered when she came over to the Melody, flailing her short arms around.
“You were so fast and then your ship turned like this…and then like that…” she motioned with her hands as if retelling an epic tale.
Robin grinned at her antics. Her name really said it all as her cheerfulness was infecting the people around her.
“Calm down, will ya? I did a good move okay, but tell me how is my time?” He asked. After finishing his last lap, he only saw the time: 02:41. One second better than what he had aimed for. But not faster than what he expected from his crazy stunt at the end. He didn’t know how his chances were for reaching top 25 with that.
“Your time? Ummm, I don’t know?” Niu stopped and scratched her head.
“Come on, you know your stuff. Do I have a chance to advance to the next round or not?” Robin pushed, he needed to know.
“Uh…what is your final time?” she awkwardly asked.
“...”
“I think you don’t understand how impressive that move of yours w…”
“02:41!” Robin cut her short, only interested in his chances.
Niu gave him a strange look and sighed.
“Nah, it’s not too bad, could be enough. No promises, ok? It’ll be a close call.”
He gave her a short happy hug and turned to check his ship.
“Thanks! I really hope I’ll do it.”
Happy watched as Robin ran some tests on his ship. Her run was only much later that day, so she had some time to spare.
“Your move was pretty awesome, but there are good reasons we never see ‘Flip and Burns’ in the tournaments. It’s super dangerous to do in the atmosphere with such a high gravity, while flying so low at the same time. Why did you take the risk, if it couldn’t even ensure you the desired ranking at the end?” She asked.
“I told you, I need to reach the finals to…grasp an opportunity that was offered.” He repeated what he already explained to her the day before.
“You have no chance to get into the top 10 in the next race…not even close.” She stated, her happy mood gone, replaced by a serious face. Robin stopped what he was doing and looked at her. She really believed it, he could see that.
“I have to, there is no way around.” He said after a moment, turning back to his ship.
“Maybe there is no way around it, but you could prop up your chances.” She replied, a smile slowly creeping back to her face.
“I could train you over the next few days. We have a bit over three weeks, assuming you advance at all.”
Robin climbed down his ship, coming to a halt in front of her.
“You would do that? Why?” he carefully asked.
“Of course I would. Probably not every day - I have obligations too - but we should get a few days for training. Why? Because it’s fun and I really would like to hear you call me master!” Happy snickered.
“No way! I’ll go with Coach, nothing more!” he exclaimed.
“Tss...let’s see if you get into the top 25 first, then we will talk about our master-student relationship.” she scoffed and left.
Robin grinned, if she helps him, then his chances would rise greatly. He didn’t see her flying yet, but he did some research. And one thing was for sure: Happy really knew her shit. She was a student at a UAS academy, training to become an official pilot for intergalactic cruisers. Her final test was just a few months away and since she was the best of her class by far, everyone knew it was just a formality for her.
He hurried to finish his checks on Melody II and was about to hurry to the Nova, where he could watch the race from the top deck, when he got a call from an unknown contact.
“Hello?” He cautiously asked.
“Mr. Tulward, good to hear you. Congratulations on your great race today!” A man with a friendly, bright voice said.
“Sorry, who am I talking to?” Robin asked.
“Ah, Mr. Tulward, didn’t you tell my employee you wanted a call from me? Don’t give me the cold shoulder now!” He heard the man chuckle and finally understood who he was talking to.
‘Damn, burn in plasma!’
They obviously knew he was here, so why would the Cetro choose this moment of all things?