Chapter 18: Throttle Eighteen

Throttle Eighteen

The osel guiding Diana and Ahvie brought them into the large hangar under the arena. The room still had markers where the ships had been parked earlier, but the tarp walls had been removed and the long strips of material were being folded together off in one corner. A few mechanics were lounging around, and some ships were being towed across the room, likely those that had failed close enough to the arena that the pilots had been able to fly them back in.

“The schedule’s not too complicated,” the osel said with a wave of his tablet. “First, there’s a debrief while your ship is inspected. All of the top-placed vehicles will be looked over during that time. Then we move over to the podium. That’s above-ground. You’ll be given your trophy there. Then there’s a post-race meetup with the press.”

“Can we skip any of that?” Diana asked.

The osel glanced back. “No?”

“Alright, fine,” Diana said. “How do we get paid, by the way?”

“That’s part of this debrief. Do you have an account with the Federation Bank?”

“Ahvie has an account,” Ahvie said.

“We’ll transfer your winnings over as soon as everything checks out.”

Diana nodded along. “There’s that thing where the winner gets to keep some parts from the scrap yard too, right? That’s what you were racing for, Ahvie?”

“Ahvie was, but that’s extended to anyone that places well. Ahvie thinks that she might be able to just buy the parts new now.”

“Really? How much does first place pay out?”

Ahvie bounced. “Three thousand Core Bones. Ahvie will give you your share, of course. Half?”

“Wasn’t my share supposed to be a third?” Diana asked. “And Core Bones?”

“A local currency, Mistress,” ChaOS said. “Currently worth significantly more than Federation Credits, though the market value isn’t fixed and seems to fluctuate as much as three percent per day.”

“Ahvie could fill the Slow and Steady’s hold with distilled water three times with that kind of money.”

“Uh-huh,” Diana said. “Well, it’ll probably be enough to pay for our docking fees, at least.”

Ahvie chittered a laugh. “Ahvie hopes so, yes.”

The osel didn’t comment as he guided them into an elevator, then flicked something on his tablet. The elevator bucked, then rose up while Diana leaned against one of the walls. “Do you have any questions before we begin the debrief?”

“Yeah, what’s the debrief about?” Diana asked.

The osel made a sound that Diana chose to interpret as a chuckle. “We need your credentials and full information. You need to sign a contract before you can obtain your winnings, and then a Federation Law Enforcement Officer will want to question you about any deaths you caused during the race.”

“Huh,” Diana said. “Did we cause any?”

The osel tilted his head. “Technically, no?”

“Nice! If you don’t mind, I’d really rather not have to deal with any sort of law enforcement.”

The osel looked at Diana for a long time, then bobbed his head up and down. “I’ll see what I can do,” he said. “Maybe I can tell them to visit you at your own vessel tomorrow?”

“That’s plenty of time to avoid them,” Diana said.

Ahvie rubbed her little hands together. “Should Ahvie ask why you don’t want to see any law enforcement?”

“Oh, it’s mostly that I have authority issues,” Diana said. “It’s no big deal; don’t worry about it.”

“Contrary to my mistress’s previous statement, I would advise some level of worry,” ChaOS said.

The elevator jarred to a halt and their guide walked into a long corridor. The floor was some sort of plastic-like material that was peeling apart, and the walls desperately needed cleaning and another layer of paint.

They stopped before a doorway that led into a room that actually had a view of the arena through a set of windows. The room had chairs and sofas, some with intricate controls that would allow them to be moved up or down for the sitter’s convenience.

“Wait here, please. The placing members of the race will soon join you, then we’ll be moving to the podium.”

Diana nodded, found one of the seats that looked somewhat like a normal couch, then flopped down onto it with a sigh while ChaOS took up position over her shoulder.

Ahvie hesitated before she climbed up next to Diana. “Thank you,” she said.

“Hmm?”

“For winning. Ahvie… Ahvie didn’t think it was possible. But you did it.”

“It was your ship,” Diana said.

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Ahvie laughed. “It barely held together, had no weapons, and wasn’t much faster than the other ships out there. No, you made the difference. Even if it meant doing things that Ahvie still doesn’t believe happened.”

“Ah, well, thanks,” Diana said.

“How did you do it?” Ahvie asked.

Diana paused, giving the simple question more weight than the little alien probably thought it deserved. “Do the mirian have a concept of purpose? Like, something someone is just… meant to do?”

“Not really,” Ahvie said. “But Ahvie thinks she understands. Some mirian are very talented at something. We can be passionate.”

Diana nodded. “Do you have anything like that? A passion, I mean?”

Ahvie thought about it for a moment. “Ahvie’s people aren’t very well treated. We’re poor, and small. We’re not the best at anything. We survive, we learn what we can, but we will never be important in the Federation. Ahvie would like to change that.”

“Oh?” Diana asked.

Ahvie nestled in on herself, becoming a little bit smaller. “Ahvie could have… should have, stayed home. Made a nest for herself to create a big family. That’s what mirian like Ahvie should do. Ahvie’s a passable mechanic, Ahvie could have made a small difference. But instead Ahvie travels and trades things. Maybe Ahvie will become rich enough to make a difference one day.”

“Well, it sounds like you’re rich now,” Diana said.

Ahvie shifted on her seat until she was a bit closer to Diana’s side. “Ahvie isn’t rich now. Ahvie is… much better off now. There’s a big difference.”

“Ah, okay,” Diana said.

“What about you? You didn’t answer my question.”

“It’s not complicated. I do have a passion. And today I got to do something to work on it. Not something big, but it’s a decent first step, I think.” Diana noticed Ahvie looking up to her with big, curious eyes. “Racing. That’s my passion. My goal in life is to be the fastest. You know, where I’m from, we tell stories and watch movies about the fastest people ever, even if the speeds they thought were amazing are nothing compared to modern standards. That’s what I want for myself, I think.”

“You want people to remember you for going fast?” Ahvie asked.

“For being the best racer there ever was,” Diana corrected.

Ahvie leaned way back so that she was pressing up against the rear of the sofa. “Ahvie thinks that you’re strange. But you’ve been good company.”

“You’ve been fun too,” Diana said. “Maybe once all of this is done we can find another race to win together.”

Ahvie shook her head. “Ahvie thinks she’s had enough racing. But if you’re looking for someone to transport you around, maybe Ahvie can help that way. Ahvie doesn’t know her next destination yet.”

“That does sound nice,” Diana agreed.

The door opened, and aliens started to move in. Diana only recognized one of them. Krison, who wore a scowl and who managed to have a bubble of free space around him thanks to his brooding alone.

The others were a mixed bag. A pair of osel, one large mushroom-headed alien, and one of those cat-looking ones, a polerin, though one that was smaller than those Diana had seen so far.

Krison glared at her from across the room.

Diana smiled back, making sure that there were a lot of teeth in the grin. She felt ChaOS shifting behind her.

“Mistress. Your gun is currently out of ammunition.”

“Huh, yeah, I guess so,” Diana said.

The robot reached under its cloak and removed a large handgun which he passed over to Diana. She removed the gun from her hip and tossed it up to him.

The exchange had the others in the room tensing up.

The door opened again, and the osel stepped in while looking at his tablet. “Right, everyone follow me from fifth place to first. We’ll be presenting you in a moment.”

The racers hesitated, then followed the osel out of the room in a rough line.

Diana bounced to her feet, straightened out her jumpsuit, then reached back to help Ahvie onto her feet. “You nervous?” she asked.

“Ahvie is, but just a little.”

“Ah, don’t worry. I can handle the press just fine. And if anyone tries anything, we can go out guns blazing.”

“Ahvie is now more worried than she was before,” Ahvie said.

Diana laughed as she followed the last racer out of the room. It was time for them to face the media.

***

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