"Raise your voices! The race has begun!"
The unseen studio audience made its crazed stew of cheers. The Volshoth Bren stopped the random bursts of light and began to glow. Within a few seconds, it was brighter than the star in the distance and the gleam of the giant gas primary we orbited. All of the spectator ships shone out with whatever light they could muster.
Flynt turned his head and hissed. I had to shade my eyes as well, having grown used to the dim interior of the Mirra and the perpetual blackness of space.
Just when I thought we were all going to need new retinas, the Volshoth Bren went dark. The leading line of shuttles was gone.
Our line eased forward and halted, all the little Mirras bobbing in place like Halloween apples. This time, when the monstrous Volshoth Bren began to glow, I looked forward through my fingers.
"Pilots ready!" A new voice burst from the unseen speakers; at least, I didn't think it was any of the commentators. "Prepare!"
Novi grunted as she lifted her injured elbow onto the edge of the panel. I imagined bones grinding and ground my own teeth in sympathy. She leaned forward, her feathers bristling into a shorn crest, and grasped one of the control levers. I heard her feet shuffle about on the floor.
"AWAY!"
I had a nanosecond to wonder just how rudimentary the Mirra's manual controls were, then I was slammed back into my chair so hard I thought my ribs would crack. Novi let out a long, fervent caw of zeal.
Our race had begun.
* * *
The pressure had barely eased when the Mirra took a sudden dive toward the atmosphere. The straps of the safety harness dug into my shoulders for a few seconds, then loosened. I managed to suppress a yelp and told my stomach to get back into my abdomen where it belonged.
When I felt brave enough, I looked out the window. Now on the port side, running neck and neck with Novi, was Shan Kolgar in her own Mirra. It was the shiny green of a beetle, at least where it hadn't been battered by unknown space violence. Ahead, I could see two other vessels. One was the scarlet shuttle with the Oploki pilot. The other was the shimmering, unblemished gold one: Ritarren Ullo.
My back met the seat again as Novi shot between the red and gold shuttles. I had a bare impression of Ullo's white feathers in the cockpit; I directed a mental middle finger at him. Shan kept pace, ducking under Ullo.
"What's first?" Flynt asked.
"The gauntlet."
"G-gauntlet?"
First I imagined a deity-sized glove slapping us, then a double row of deities, with giant Arradan yellowbark lances ready to give us a beatdown. Neither seemed especially appealing or likely.
It turned out to be closer to the latter.
Suddenly, we were shooting down a tunnel formed of little pod-like vessels like the ones at the starting line. They were too speed-blurred to make out details, but I thought they were barely large enough for one being.
The Mirra rocked from side to side and then back and forth like a seesaw. Novi muttered and grumbled, occasionally giving a squawk of pain, while her hands moved over the old-timey control panel. The ride smoothed out a bit, but the red vessel zipped under us and on ahead. I could see it weaving slightly.
"Are they shooting at us?" I hissed at Flynt.
"Yeah." He glanced back at me for an instant. "Nothing that'll hurt the ship, just knock us off course."
YOU ARE READING
Serendipity (Book 1 of the Dana Halliday series)
Science FictionDana Halliday is a veterinarian nearing a personal crossroads. Burned out at her job, recently divorced, and having lost her favorite dog, she longs for her life to change. Little does she know, she is about to receive an out-of-this-world job off...
