The green tint and 1080 pixelated screen made her want to throw up. How could they do that him? Have his picture in such a quality and behind such a thick glass as if they were stopping him from breaking out at any moment. She crumpled her face while staring into his, supposed to be, dark brown eyes. Drones of voices carried around the room, and she only caught up when her name was called.

“…Out of all of the prospects, she is up to the task. Are you good to go?” The woman at the head of the table, in front of the screen stared into her eyes.

“Yes ma’am!” The day dreamer stood as quickly as she could. Her thighs bumping the edge of the desk, causing her salute to come with a step backwards pushing the chair into the wall with a loud thud. Her eyes scanned the room to see a few upset faces. The majority were disinterested, and some had visible relief beaming from them. Not a good look for soldiers in the briefing room, she thought.

“As if.” One of the angered looks stole the glances.

“You have something to say, private?” the woman in charge bellowed. She could see a visible fright overcome the angry soldier, but his expressions told his entire thought process. They could see him steel his nerves and take a stand. His chair gracefully tapping the wall unlike hers. Why did they sit so close to the walls anyway. “She isn’t even a soldier. How can we trust something so important to an outsider?”

“You are far out of line, boy.” The lack of a title shocked many in the room, but her expression pinned them to their chairs. The man’s steeled nerves visibly melted. “You show disrespect to a woman that is risking her life to save millions.”

“Approximately 1,406,749, Ma’am,” the girl said, still standing in salute.

“What?”

“The population ma’am. I have been briefed thoroughly by Miss Hinil about Bellatrix, and I am good at remembering numbers,” she replied, her tone loud and clear, unmatched from the rest of the room. The pause brought about a few chuckles, and a forcefully neutral face from the leader. She took her seat which prompted the girl to do the same. The commander turned her chair in attempt to remain serious.

“Private Milton, I understand your concerns are with Miss Florence’s training. Can you explain to me the mission?” the commander asked calmly.

“Excuse Ma’am,” Milton replied.

“Miss Florence, will you explain the mission brief you received from Miss Hinil.” The leader tried again.

Miss Florence looked to the side of the leader where the lady with thick glasses and messy hair sat. She was away from the table, illuminated by a blue screen in front of her. She pushed up her glasses and mouthed some words.

“The mission as I have been informed by y’all, is um, to enter the bubble with the unique core by driving my C1 craft through the railway. Once I am safely on the floor, I will locate Velocity Arancione or my Chaser Nero. I will explain the situation and give them our findings that Miss Hinil prepared. Then they will help me help them escape and save all of Bellatrix.”

“Now, Milton.” The commander didn’t face him, “can you explain to me how long you have spent training as a C1 racer?”

Milton gritted his teeth, and even Miss Florence looked to the back of the chair housing the commander.

“I think your reasoning is questionable at best commander,” A stern voice from the back of the room gathered eyes this time. His voice as experienced as his features, “but I too value the expertise of a racer in this plight, however, I ask that you do not forget that she is going to meet criminals. If this is our only entry into the bubble, then she should take soldiers with her, we cannot waste a resource.”

“Sir, if I can.” The girl waited for a nod that only came after a sigh. “I understand everyone’s issues with me and the mission, and I only trained for a bit, even though I fought my whole life, not the point, I am sure about being a racer. Even on the railway, it is still dangerous to take my C1 ship at those speeds. It would be risky to take anyone else with me.”

“That is ridiculous.” He didn’t hesitate. “There can be planning and designing. Are you telling me that we can’t do better. How hard is it to transport some more people on a bridge?”

“Extremely.” Miss Hinil had a soft voice, but she used all her effort to be heard. “The calculations are not accurate, and we don’t have much testing material. We can only take so much from the unique core before it becomes too risky. We don’t know how those underground scientist made it, and if we destroy it to find out and get something wrong, then we have to wait a very long time to get it right. This is a Bubble, Sir. There is thousands and thousands of unknowns, and Charlotte is risking her life to get it done. We don’t even know if she can cross the bubble.”

“Everyone is getting heated, and I don’t think it is the right time.” Charlotte had an awkward chuckle. “Sir, everyone is saying it, so I am sure we all know this. I am not a soldier, so I am not okay with sacrificing someone’s life. It isn’t what I came to do. I will handle Velocity and Chaser Nero. If I can’t then you all will just have to save me as well. Can I trust you, Sir?”

“That is enough.” The commander’s words seated everyone. “The mission will move forward as planned. I want everyone to file to their positions and be prepared for launch. The faster we breach The Bubble, then the faster we can break it. Miss Florence and Miss Hinil will stay back, and everyone else is dismissed!”

“Yes Ma’am!” The room finally tasted some unison. Charlotte stuck to her chair and her eyes followed the masses of those sent away. The commander and technological advisor remained seated, but an unfamiliar woman chose not to stand as well.

“I think you were being harsh on them Ma’am.” Charlotte waited until everyone was gone to find a closer seat to the commander. “I know I will do a great job, but we all know that they would be worried.”

“Not as much as me, Charlotte. I hate the idea that a civilian has to do all this. I hate that someone that isn’t involved has to risk her life in such a dangerous situation. It just has me on edge and even I can see it. Why won’t you say no?”

“You are exaggerating boss. I just have to driv—”

“Char,” Hinil’s tone choked the air for a second, “It is hell in there. It is very dangerous for a lot of reasons.”

Charlotte wasn’t sure how to react. Hinil rarely spoke and never with any aggression towards her. She always felt that she talked to her with a sense of pity, or genuine concern for a new friend, but never this way. These two were behaving way too strangely.

The silence pressed on long enough for the conversation to switch to the new woman standing there silently. The commander spoke first, “This is former Captain Juliette Barraeu. She used to serve in Sapiter region, um Tango Sector?” The commander waited for a nod. Even Charlotte was informed a bit about the dangers of the Sapiter Region, and it was only then she noticed the swinging sleeve in place of the woman’s left arm, “And she is here to give you a bit of insight in regards to your targets.”

“Nice to meet you!” The racer noticed that her volume didn’t need to reach the entire room anymore. “I am Charlotte Florance, racer extraordinaire but better, and now I save the world part time. What have you got for me Form Cap?”

Even Charlotte noticed that widening of the Captain’s eyes. The slight drop of her jaw, and deep stare as if the uninformed girl spoke a code word that was soldier privy. A couple of blinks and a clear of her throat brought her to the conversation. “I am sorry, you just, maybe it is a racer thing. I was brought on this mission to aid in your contact with the fugitives. They were…I am not sure how they are now, but we developed a briefing that should bring them to your side.”

Charlotte was presented two envelopes with the names Damien and Sean. “Oh cool, they have codenames. I get it, I have to be secretive when meeting them.” The racer’s enthusiasm was shown on her face.

“No Char, I think they are real names,” Hinil said.

“No way! I watched the interviews and there was a feature on Sphere Sports Spectacular where Velocity said that they were childhood friends and that their parents named them after the sport. That Chaser’s name was that because he was always going to chase down more trophies.”

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Charlotte saw the looks on their faces, but it didn’t make sense. Their eyes should have shown enthusiasm, or at least some unease in her nerdiness, but instead they all turned a bit more nervous.

“Um, if they don’t want to cooperate, please show them this.” Juliette pulled out a military badge with her information that they learned a couple of minutes ago. Charlotte pressed a button twice on her watch and a bit of eye tracking before she took the id and handed it back to the lady.

“Good to go. I have the digital copy.” Charlotte smiled.

“Keep the original. We aren’t sure of what it is like exactly in there, but surely it is hell. God bless you for this Miss Florence.” Juliette offered her hand. Her action was the final before they all exited the room. Swallowed words from the commander and Hinil before they walked their separate ways.

“Ready in 30 Soldi—Racer!” the commander turned and called down the hall.

“You got it Boss!” she called back.

“YoU GoT iT BoSs,” a male voice startled her at the corner.

“Yo! You scared the sh—what are you doing here lurking in hallways? Aren’t you supposed to be with the rest of the crew.”

“They told me that they would pick up my work, and that I should come and help you.” He tried to keep pace with her hurried stride. Obviously wishing she would slow down.

“Isn’t preparing my ship and doing checks the point of helping me?” Charlotte questioned.

“Not that!” This time he took her hand before she could open the door and pulled her back. His eyes refused a blink while catching hers. “Escaping. That bubble is hell. Mission success can’t even be called hopeful. No one would blame you for escaping.” The pause and lack of response made him uncomfortable enough advert his eyes. His grip eased. “They were all like ‘Luke, you know her best,’ and ‘you guys are the closest so help her’ and I—”

She escaped his grasp with a slight pull and entered the room. The door shut once she was far enough away, but it didn’t close before she heard the sigh escape his mouth. She moved to her locker and took out the racing suit they provided. Exactly like her normal ones but their badges imprinted instead of sponsors. She figured they are sponsors at the end of the day.

“I already decided to do this, and it takes something big to change my mind,” she answered.

“Your life isn’t big enough!” She could tell that he was pressed against the wall. “Saving your life should be big enough, Char.”

“Saving my life instead of getting to use it in a way that I want to doesn’t make sense to me. I like that I can use my life and stop saying it like I am going to die. It gives me the chills.” It didn’t take long for her to zip up her suit and hold on to her helmet. It was the boots that struggled to slide into place.

“Fine…well…when you get back. Ya know, before you go back to racing…maybe we can get something to eat in another sphere. I hear that Meissa has some great spots, and we can probably take a vacation or something.”

“Sure! That sounds great if the whole team comes and you guys can treat me and my Chaser. I would probably propose on the space station once we leave the bubble. Maybe get married in Meissa, and the honeymoon starts when you guys leave for base.”

“You are cruel Florence. A cruel woman indeed. He is a criminal.” The door opened and she saw that his forehead was pressed against the wall in distress.

“He sure did steal my heart.” She walked pass him and ordered a blue drink from the vending machine.

They walked together a couple of steps and Luke set his watch to the holder before the subtle LED lights framing the walk in turned green. It still took a minute and some seconds for the door to open. They could see the room they were walking into spinning like a dryer tunnel, slowly coming to a stop. They stepped in and the door frame flashed red again as the room they just left began speeding its spin, while their feet started floating off the ground.

Charlotte looked to the right at the massive Caelstin core filling a seperate white room. Its shifting colours of blues and oranges and purples always amazed her and this supersized one was by far the prettiest.

“Imagine if I had to take that one through the bubble,” she joked.

“I honestly don’t think that is even close to possible. Plus, if that isn’t spinning the living quarters then everyone will freak out. Last time they gave trouble and the gravity shut off, I heard the cooks really had it bad. Hot pans and weightlessness doesn’t go great together. Ha, I heard that Ponter was in the toilet. Yikes.”

This time Charlotte used her device to clear the door. This one opened much quicker to the massive warehouse of mechanical suits and ships. Storage containers were shoved in corners and a variety of mounted cranes littered the layout.

The room was filled with people scrambling to get stuff done, but a majority of them didn’t belong there. They were awkwardly floating around with their eyes glued to the star of the show. Dirty coveralls were shifting and berating the gawkers, but their eyes weren’t pried away for long. She didn’t mind, she liked the show. They gazes made her feel more at home. The worried look on Luke’s face beside her wasn’t the look she favoured but it did little to phase her.

Floating over the railing, she swirled her drink to the nozzle and finished the liquid energy. She left it drift into Luke’s hands. “Thanks for the help.” She chuckled.

“I hate you. You sure you didn’t want to eat a meal. You haven’t eaten anything for the day right?” he asked at a volume load enough to cover some equipment.

“Nah, I never eat before a race.”

“I would have made sure and had a good last meal,” a soldier said. Their heads turned to see another private incurring Milton’s death glare for his opinion. Charlotte laughed and pushed a button that guided her drift towards the ship.

The blue, with white and red badges, ship was stationed at a point three quarters of the room length, away from the massive steel door. The workers were still hurrying to fix the railway in front of the race ship that ran all the way to the closed wall.

Her friends gathered around the craft, and most of their stares were piercing Luke in an obvious refusal to understand his attempt of stopping her. The cockpit already opened as she smiled at them and answered all their half hearted send offs. It wasn’t until Hinil arrived that Charlotte felt her stomach twist slightly.

“Char, I am a bit embarrassed to ask you this but, have you crashed a lot?”

“Hundreds of times.”

“Oh great! So you are familiar with the Triple S?”

“Yea yea of course. It is always so cool how it kicks in.”

“Okay, well this one is engaged, so in case the ship crashes or you bail, then you will be protected. The problem is that since the Caelstin core is needed to enter the bubble as well, it flows through the front of the ship. If the ship can’t cross the bubble head on and you crash then that is okay, the Triple S will save you, but if the front of the ship makes it through and the main core can’t, then the Triple S will not engage. You can die.”

“But if the front goes in then won’t the back?” Luke asked.

“Since the front of the ship is pointer, then it might require less velocity to pierce the bubble,” she answered.

“But once I hit 880mph the rear should go through, right? That hasn’t changed, right?” Char asked.

“880 mph should be the answer.” Hinil’s eyes looked towards the darkened screens.

“Then we are good. Don’t worry.” Char smiled.

“How can I not worry, Char? Your life depends on the numbers from a calculator.” Hinil’s voice faltered at the end.

“I would have been worried if Luke punched in the digits, but it was you Hinil. I trust you. I will be fine.” A green light flashed above the green door and an accompanying siren turned heads. “Let’s get this show on the road.”

A simple button hold in front of her, tumbled the machine to life, coming to a smooth vibration and subtle hum. Lights erupted from blackened glass, and proudly displayed too much knowledge, besides for those that were looking for it.

Luke finally stepped away from the closing dome. His smile was soft, but she could tell that he was giving his best in case it was the last. She knew the risks, and it was deadlier than any of her races, but she was the one that could do it. Bellatrix needed her, and speed is what she does the best. She can do this. She can more than—

“Charlotte, it is Olivier.” The strangely soft voice spoke through the helmet, not carrying its usual strength. “Thank you so much for doing this.”

“No need for thanks Commander. I will take a high five when I get back.” She heard the chuckle be forcefully stifled. “All set?”

“All set. Good luck Racer.”

The steel doors opened from the centre. The bridge extending past her eyes could pick up, but she knew it made its way to the semi translucent, swirling blue wall. Their own, even more translucent screen surrounded everything to let in the pretty darkness of space, but keep the air from going out.

She pressed onto the feet pedals, but despite the increased humming, it didn’t move at all. The slight push on the control sticks didn’t do anything either. Without action, the ship began to lift and steady. She gripped the sticks tightly and swallowed her breath.

“Char, Hinil here,” her ear spoke to her. “All good?”

“Yup, everything seems to be working well. Gauges are good to go.” Char knew that it couldn’t be perfect. She never piloted this Caelstin Core, but her instincts were primed.

“Counting you down now then. 3…2…1…Go!”

The machine shot forward for itself. She could see the speed reading climbing rapidly while being pressed into her seat. She wasn’t looking ahead yet. Just focusing on keeping her feet as level as possible on the pedals and her hand pushing the sticks fully ahead, fighting its push back on her. Racing past the steel door, the machine was freed.

Off the rails caused her feet lost the tension that the guidance provided, but she was a pro. The ship remained level and over 700mph as she pushed on the sticks. Her hands as straight forward as can be, with any slight lean of her wrist being immediately corrected.

Running out of bridge fast, she looked to the blue screen. 850mph. She flipped a switch and pressed the trigger on the left stick. The back thrusters twisted horizontally and wings formed before the throttle kicked a bit more. 874mph. The blue wall was almost there. It was waiting for her to cross the limit. All of them was waiting for her to cross the limit. 879mph. The wall was here, and she went—

***

Hinil stared at the screen. The recording bots were able to keep the camera steady and all the angles clear for the information they wanted. Her eyes glued to the ship’s nose traveling through the bubble as if it wasn’t there. It was a split second for the rest of the machine the be past the wall. Gone.

Hinil looked down the bridge to see nothing but lights running into the swirling screen. The room erupted. Cheers and motion all mimicked electricity, but it was the solemn face of Private Luke and Commander Olivier that insulated her joy.

“Hinil, don’t you think that she opened the back a bit late?” the commander asked.

“She was worried about that before. That the opening without air resistance could throw off her balance and cause her to slow down. She told me that she would try and get it without it, but it looks like she knew what to do. Her decision is through. She made it.” Hinil looked towards the crack in the closing steel doors.

“Made it to hell,” Luke said.