Tevun-Krus #45 - SportPunk

Fiery Fame - A Short Story by @jinnis

Fiery Fame

The red dwarf rising above Giriki, only inhabited world of the system, dominates the view from the porthole. Sina momentarily forgets her fear of space travel and enjoys the breathtaking view of the small planet, venue of the galactic games.

She still can't believe she qualified to become Earth's sole representative in the magma surfing championship. Anticipation tightens her trachea, and her hands become clammy. The call to lie down for atmospheric approach doesn't help her sudden anxiety.

~

Tarqqi checks the schedule the third time, still unable to believe he is supposed to race a human, of all possible intelligent life forms. Well, it will be an easy adversary, for certain.

How a member of a soft-skinned, water-based species dares to compete in this fiery discipline evades his understanding. But he won't complain. In order to win the games, he'd voluntarily race the mysterious methane spirits of Kalanan. Tarqqi chuckles, trying to imagine one of those misty wraiths on a board. Not less improbable than a human surfer, come to think of it.

~

Temperatures in the cabin atop the rumbling volcano are moderate, a mercy Sina gratefully registers. She already wears protective padding and straps on heat-shields resembling mediaeval armour. Her trainer double checks every piece of equipment. It won't do to cook herself on the lava stream, and every burn will reduce her chances to reach the finals.

Sina is aware her sponsors' ultimate goals become realistic only with the media exposure success in the preliminary rounds brings. They hope to attract serious touristic and financial interests to her bankrupt home planet.

In truth, the admiration in her younger brother's eyes the day she won the ticket for the games keeps her going. She reminds herself she does this solely for him. Remorseful, she leaves the cosy cabin to join her fellow competitors in the starting area.

~

The bulky suit engulfs the slight form of the human, and its brown eyes stare at Tarqqi through thick layers of fireproof glass. Irritated, he scratches an itch beneath one head scale with a neatly trimmed claw. For a water-being, this one shows grit.

He adjusts his new rock board on the access ramp, right beside the similar but obviously used human device. Earth's poverty is legendary, but can it be bad enough for them to send an athlete to the games without state of the art equipment? Still staring at the scratches and burn marks on the human's board he nearly misses the start.

With a low-voiced curse, Tarqqi lances himself down the ramp a fraction of time after his opponent.

~

Sina is glad her trainer helps her pull off the gloves. Exhausted, she drops on a bench as soon as the armour is gone.

Her heavy board stands propped against a wall. The underside is badly molten, the protective body wearing thin. If she burns up her material at this rate, she won't make it through the round robins and into the finals.

So far, she beat five opponents and lost three flights. Two more ended in a tie. This ranks her fifth for the moment. But another day of preliminary rounds will destroy her board. Sina sighs and helps her trainer to apply an additional protective layer of ceramic composite onto the threadbare surfboard.

~

Results after the second day are not what Tarqqi expected. Although he won his first race against the human by a belly scale's breadth, it ranks fifth after ten rounds. At this rate, it will reach the finals.