Gears and Steam

The Qualifiers

Edmund

I tried to ignore the sound of Jules's footsteps behind me. I wanted to be alone, but I couldn't ditch him. He probably had no idea how to find his way back to the track. My assistant had punched someone for me, I suppose that I should be grateful, but I was filled with worry. How much had he heard? How much had he seen? If he had seen or heard even a bit too much...he could know.

No, Jules didn't seem to know anything that he shouldn't. My secret was safe, for now, but how much longer would it stay safe for? Only one person knew but that person was Floyd Thompson, making it one person too many. He would get tired of my resistance eventually and tell Freddie and Theo. I could avoid that if I joined Raven Key, but...I would sooner reveal my secret than betray my family. I would never leave like Floyd; I wasn't like him. Well...I was in some ways. One way, specifically. Both of us were freaks. Abnormalities. Aberrations.

I glared up at the sun as I stepped out of the tunnels. I decided to just pretend that Jules wasn't there. Nothing happened, I'm perfectly fine, I told myself. That was a lie, of course, but if I believed it...then maybe everyone else would too.

I moved towards the track to watch the rest of the race. Jules got the hint that I wanted to be alone and joined Freddie, who seemed to be trying to shrug off some Firecharge boy's attempts to flirt with her. Freddie got that all the time. Most of the teams were made up of all boys and thought we were crazy for hiring a girl but didn't skip the opportunity to flirt with her. It got annoying for Theo and I, so I couldn't imagine how much it bugged Freddie.

Overhead, a small flying machine flew around. It made a low buzzing noise that I could just make out over the roar of the racing engines. Every time a lap was completed, a set of gears turned and changed the number on the side of the machine. It was too far away for me to see how it really worked (or to even read the numbers on it), but puzzling over the lap counter was better than thinking about Floyd.

The cars were on lap sixty of two hundred; I had to ask the person standing next to me what lap they were on. Each lap took around thirty seconds to complete. Had it really been thirty minutes since I left and got cornered by Floyd? Our brass and silver car was in third place, behind Raven Key and Firecharge. We could still gain a lead, but it was looking as though this would be another year that we didn't make the Grand Prix.

...

Insanity and Firecharge were driving on either side Raven Key by the one hundred fortieth lap, Theo was about a meter behind. If the other teams were that close, we shouldn't be far behind. Was something wrong with the car? No...that wasn't right. Theo wasn't going at full speed for some reason. In past races, Theo had always gone at full speed, even when the brakes blew out. What was going on now?

A second later, Theo pulled back even more. He was now a good five meters away from the other racers. What was he doing? Was he in some sort of danger? Knowing Theo, he either had a master plan or had absolutely no idea what he was doing. There was just no inbetween with Theodore Gracewellis. All or nothing. Logical or insane. Raven Key pulled back, too...just not far enough.

Insanity's car exploded. The engine in the back had burst into flames. Shrapnel shot in all directions, sending Firecharge crashing into a wall and Raven Key spinning off the track. Nobody seemed to be hurt, as far as I could see. The only car unaffected by the explosion was ours. Theo quickly overtook the other teams. Raven Key got back on the track quickly but we still had a good lead. Insanity was out of the match, no question there, but Firecharge got back on the track too, though one of their front wheels seemed to be busted.

Three laps left and we were still in the lead. We were two entire laps ahead of Firecharge but Raven Key was gaining ground. The two cars zoomed around the track twice more. It was the final lap. Raven Key was still gaining on us. The race would be close, very close. They were almost to the finish line and we were still ahead. Almost there, almost there, almost there...we made it!

The shrill sound of a steam whistle rang out through the crater, signaling the end of the race. "Gears and Steam has won the qualifier round! Raven Key will also be advancing!" The announcer's voice sounded like it was coming from everywhere at once. I would love to know how the announcement system worked, but I never had time to investigate.

I walked back over to Freddie and Jules, both of them with giant smiles on their faces. I was in a slightly better mood than before, but I still couldn't get what Floyd said out of my mind. A small smile played across my lips as well, but I couldn't get myself to grin as widely as my team.

"We won!" Freddie cheered, giving Jules a hug. She hugged me too, but I tensed and pushed her away.

Theo jumped out of the car and ran over to us. He hugged Freddie and playfully elbowed Jules. He didn't bother to touch me; I would have just pushed him away. All my teammates were in an amazing mood, but I couldn't really join them after what had happened.

"The weight taken off made it so much faster," Theo said, playfully nudging Jules again.

"How did you know that Insanity's car was going to explode?" I asked, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Believe it or not, I heard it," Theo explained. "Their car was making the same buzzing sound that ours made right before it blew up last fall."

"Huh, so, for once, our engine blowing up was a good thing," I muttered, shaking my head.

"How mad do you think Raven Key is right now?" Theo laughed, looking over at the group of Raven Key members. "Whoa, what happened to Floyd?"

Theo was obviously talking about the large purple bruise across my old assistant's face along with the blood stains on his clothes. I quickly turned my gaze to Jules, hoping that he wouldn't say anything.

Jules just shrugged. "Who knows? It doesn't really matter anyway."

I felt my mouth twisting into a small smile of gratitude. Jules smiled back at me. His smile...I couldn't describe it, but it always made me feel a bit warm inside. Wait, no, that couldn't be right. The last time I felt like that when someone smiled at me...yeah, best not to think about it. Jules just had a strange smile, that was all.

"You okay, Edmund?" Jules questioned, cocking his head to the side.

I quickly shook myself out of my trance-like state. I must have had a really strange look on my face. "I'm fine, sorry."

"I'll go collect our prize money. Why don't you two go show Jules the Grand Prix roster?" Freddie said, changing the subject.

"That sounds good. Come on, Jules," Theo hollered, grabbing Jules's arm and running off. I followed slowly behind them. The roster was carved into the stone walls of the crater. There were three columns on each side of the final race. Cards with each team's name would be placed into slots on the roster after each race. The top two teams from each race moved on to race the top two teams of another. After the qualifiers, sixteen teams were placed on each side of the roster, thirty-two teams in all. Two teams were eliminated at each race until there were only four left in the finals. Once in the Grand Prix, a team had to at least place second in three races and win the final.

Our team's card was now in the far left column, Raven Key was opposite to us on the far right. We had been the second qualifier race. Our nameplate was underneath the one that read Daylight. Raven Key was under Tick Tock. We would race Daylight and the other two teams that made it through next week. That was plenty of time to buy and install new parts with our prize money. The sponsors for the races paid well, especially during the Grand Prix. I would go into town tomorrow to get the parts we needed. Maybe I could invite Jules to come along with me. No, I didn't want to spend any more time with him than I had to.

"This is cool," Jules exclaimed, brushing his raven black hair away from his forehead.

"Do you just think everything's cool?" I chucked halfheartedly.

"Pretty much," Jules shrugged. "You're the coolest though."

I opened my mouth to respond, but nothing came out. I felt myself blush though I wasn't quite sure why. I wasn't used to compliments, and I didn't take well to them. Someone complimented my work every now and again, but it was rare for someone to compliment me directly.

Jules gently tapped my shoulder. "Are you sure you're okay?" he whispered, so Theo wouldn't hear him.

"I'm fine."

"You just keep zoning out. I'm worried."

My heart started beating faster for no apparent reason. "I'm fine," I squeaked. Perfectly fine.