FORESIGHT and SCOPE: BOOK TWO

C H A P T E R T W E N T Y

"I would prefer you exclude yourself from this ordeal." Tech said next to me. I turned to him and scoffed lightly.

"And let you have all the fun? No way. We are in this together." I slowly secured his helmet over his head and abducted his datapad from his possession. "With you driving, and me on surveillance and weapons, we got this." Saying it out loud...I actually convinced myself.

After he hoisted himself, he reached down and pulled me up inside the speeder, rocking the pod slightly. Even after removing excess parts from the back of the cabin, it was still a bit of a tight squeeze as I settled myself behind my friend. My legs propped up on either side of him and the datapad nestled itself between my stomach and Tech's back. I had plenty of an arm's reach to the weapons' controls on my right side. "Are you secured?" Tech asked over his shoulder. I laughed into my hand and quipped, "Can't get anymore secured than this."

On either side of us, the other racers lined up and were also conducting last minute preparations, including Jet Venim, sneering at us from two speeders over. The booming announcer's voice erupted over the PA system. The jam-packed audience bordering the left side of the track exploded with enthusiasm and anticipation as every competitor was introduced, beginning with our primary opponent. The roar of the crowd flucuated with every racer, vaunting their levels of support. Until...

"And finally...Tech!..."

The entire congregation fell silent in confusion.

"Tech? Anything else on this guy? He has a co-pilot? In a riot speeder?! What's his name? We don't know. Wait, is that his name? Tech? Just Tech?"

I slapped my forehead and rolled my eyes. "Ignore them. Focus."

"You do not have to remind me." Tech positioned his hands on the controls. I couldn't see his face, but his body language told me he was fully fixated on the task at hand. I smiled to myself as I reached up and pulled down the hatch. "We can do this."

"Okay, and here we go!" The announcer prepared.

Tech and the other competitors revved up their engines, mechanical buzzing and whirling filled the small space. I watched in anticipation as the incremental beeping counted to three, springing the green sign, thus commencing the race...

There was no way I could have predicted the power of a speeder takeoff. "WOAH!!!" I instinctively braced myself by wrapping my arms around Tech's chest. I was nearly inflicted with major whiplash from the wicked velocity we accelerated from. Tech nor I had time to check up on the other. The danger was already imminent straight out of the gate as we hurdled down a dark tunnel system illuminated by neon light panels behind the pack. Tech operated the speeder with excellent precision, swiftly dodging a short-circuited racer caused by Jet Venim himself.

Once the inertia has adjusted, I released Tech from my hold and caught my breath. Before I knew it, we entered the second stage of the course: Gambler's Gulch. There were cemented mounds scattered throughout the open space, in which the pods skiied over with ease — however, the G-force would certainly churned anyone's stomach. Here was where racers had some flexibility before entering the second set of tunnels — it gave me the brief moment I needed to bring up the blueprints and calculations of the track on the datapad. "We only have two laps, Tech. We can't linger in the back for too long." I had to raise my voice over the whirling engines.

"Understood." Tech replied at the same volume. At this point, we were approaching the end of the gulch, where we have the option of three tunnels to proceed, the middle and right one were rimmed with bright green lights. Following the rest of the racers, Tech sped through the center one. I caught a glimpse of the one on the left, which was lined with a red-bulbed border and holographic-ally sealed off.

"The left tunnel is blocked." I informed, tapping in on the datapad for more details and my eyes widened as I sucked air through my teeth. "And now I know why."

"Tell me."

"You let me focus on the schematics, Tech." I nudged him. From behind, a racer started firing at us. "Our shields are holding up, but they are beginning to overheat. Oh wait!" My hand shot out passed Tech and punched buttons on the panel, activating the weapons systems. Blaster shots skittered another aggressive opponent behind us, knocking him into the one who was attacking.

"Good shot."

"We're going to need more speed if we're going to catch up with the leaders!" I shouted.

"I could not agree more." Tech nodded just as we exited the tunnels and back into the main arena, the sun blazing through the viewport. Abruptly, he jerked the speeder to the right and steered it up the ramp that led into the pits. "Tick, what are you doing?!" I questioned with a very concern tone. He responded by detaching our weapons right at the garage where Omega and Wrecker were spectating.

"Tech! We need those!" I screamed in disbelief.

"They were slowing us down."

"Then you might as well dump me while you—WOAH!"

The moment the speeder touched back on the track, he kicked the engine in gear. I once again wrapped my arms around Tech to escape the nasty whiplash. With our boosted acceleration, we were catching up. Winding around the random barriers that popped up, we demonstrated our new level of manueverability as well. I peered over Tech's shoulder and my eyes widened with unexpected awe as the neon lights streaked by in a psychodelic display. If we weren't in a death race, this joyride would have been exhilerating...

The datapad in my lap beeped at me. I released the driver, scooped it up, and read the details. "The left tunnel, Tech. It looks like a part of the track inside is deteriorated. But," I smiled to myself. "it is also the shortest path." This was the advantage we needed. And with no weapons to hinder our agility and manuever-ability, we could make the jump if we power the speeder to its maximum rate.

"I am assuming by your tone we are thinking alike?" The intellectual clone briefly glanced over at me, his light-brown eyes sparked with determination. "As always." At this point, we'd entered Gambler's Gulch for the last time. I squeezed both his shoulders and returned the smirk. "Go for it."

Tech steered it right through without hesitation. It was pitch black inside, our only light source were our puny headlamps. But the clone racer knew what he was doing. "Hang on." he said.

"Don't have to tell me twice." I nervously laughed. I hooked my arms under his, clutching his shoulders with an iron grip. I pressed my temple into his back and compressed the inside of my legs against the outside of his. My stomach completely flipped as the speeder zipped perpendicular over the massive gash in the track. I squeezed my eyes shut as I tightened my embrace around Tech when we corkscrewed upside down before finally emerging from the tunnel unscathed...My heart was pounding tremendously against my rib cage. I swore I could feel Tech's through his armor as well.

"That, was insane." I breathed, slowly slipping my arms down from his chest to his torso, keeping my fingers laced together.

"We are not finished yet." Tech said. He drifted and kicked it into second place, just behind Jet Venim, as we entered the last tunnel. Our opponent fired at us, but since our shields contained full auxilery power, the blaster shots bounced off harmlessly.

"There is someone behind us!" I warned. "They're trying to box us in!"

"Do not worry." Tech replied with confidence, patted my clasped hands, and then executed his plan of action. That signaled me to hold him around his waist firmly, my chin dug into his left shoulder. Within five seconds, he managed to dodge the two racers' trap and jerk the speeder in reverse to avoid them colliding and crashing out of the tunnel and into the stone wall. The wreck caused a massive dust cloud. Our speeder skidded on its side momentarily before Tech lurched it upright and we emerged in one piece. For the big finale, we swerved the last curve before zipping across the finish line and drifting to a complete stop...

I had hardly breathed until I realized we had won...