A Day at the Digital Races
1
Daniel Donald Dolan blinked his eyes. He lay on a stone floor, torches casting light in the large, round room. Danny rubbed his face, aching behind his stressed eyes.
"Guide?," he said, an implant sending a signal back to his residence, the Green Dome. "Are you there?"
"I am here, Dan," said the disembodied voice of Guide. "You have been off line five minutes."
"Where am I?," Danny said, already guessing the place, but wanting to make sure.
"Loathly Tower," said Guide. "Section five, area one."
"Great," said Danny. "Where's the next junction?"
"Section five, area four," said Guide. "The Krayt Dragon lair."
"I need to get back to the Quantum Track right away," said Danny. "They were going to place a bomb in Collard Green's race jet."
"There is no other exit that I know of," said Guide.
Danny gestured, light forming a pistol in his hand. He headed for the set of stairs leading to the top of Loathly Tower.
2
Danny ran up the stairs as fast as his young legs could carry him. Loathly Tower was a dark area with numerous traps and enemies.
If he wasn't pressed for time, he wouldn't mind shooting the place up.
Not now.
He had his lock on, pistol charged. He jumped a set of platforms, shooting a flock of harpies as he passed. He leaped a gap, knelt to let a swinging blade go by, then jumped over it to the next step as it swung back at him.
The backdrop to section two was a waterfall cascading into a bottomless pit. Tower creatures flew out of holes in the wall to knock adventurers off the narrow walk way.
Danny fired for effect as he ran over the bridge, jumping when the bricks collapsed under him.
Two simple jumps carried him into section three.
A swarm of bats descended on him as he ran to the spiral staircase that ran up to the top of this section. He heard the floor creak as he stepped on the bottom step, firing yellow blasts at the bats to keep them away. The floor opened up behind him.
The step shook under his feet as he blasted at the attacking bats.
Danny ran, shooting at the bats. Some cut him as he tried to keep up with the falling steps. The cuts were minor as he shot the last one into a cloud.
The bats were supposed to delay adventurers so that the steps would fall away, sending them to their deaths. If the adventurer was weakened by their battle through Loathly Tower, the bats would be able to finish them off with little problem.
Danny leaped from the top step before it collapsed. He slid into section four, zapper at the ready.
Skeletons jumped to their feet with a bone rattling snarl.
Danny blasted a path through them so that he could grab a hanging drape and climb up toward the cave where the Krayt Dragon growled. He swung to the narrow lip in front of the cave entrance.
"None shall pass," said the Dragon.
"I have to get back to Turbo City, Mr. Dragon," Danny said. "I would appreciate it if you would let me by."
"None shall pass," said the Dragon. "Especially not you, Danny Dolan."
"You're not still mad about the other time, are you?," Danny asked. "I didn't know the rain soldiers would follow us to your cave."
"No excuses," said the Dragon, stepping into the torch light with a glittering of scales.
Danny gulped as the scintillating Dragon spread its wings to take flight. He knew it liked to attack from the air. He also knew that it would use one of its three fire attacks against him.
All he had was his zapper, and that wasn't nearly enough firepower to keep the Dragon off his back.
He had two options.
He could try to defeat the Dragon with his zapper, hoping for a power up.
He could jump off the cave's lip to his death.
Neither looked great.
He decided that he would rather fight than jump as a spread of seven or eight fireballs poured down on him. He leaped out of the way, bouncing over the blast like he had been taught. The lock on directed his hand as he fired some stinging white blasts at the cave beast. He landed, still firing the zapper.
The Dragon flew up, then power-dived at the cave. It pulled up before crashing. A fiery doppleganger followed its first path, exploding against the stone.
Danny put a hand in front of his face as the fire ate at the stone floor of the cave. He just had to outlast the lizard. His zapper was taking a toll according to his lock on.
The Dragon blew out another attack, a single spinning fireball. Danny's lock on locked on and he blew the fireball away with one shot. A small box clanked against the ground. Danny smiled as he rushed forward.
The Dragon climbed up to shoot its spray at Danny from a height, then it would swoop to power its dragon attack. Danny grabbed the box as the strafing spray started to rain down. He pressed the button on the side of the box as he struggled to dodge the fire balls.
The box sprayed open, revealing a gleaming disk. Danny screwed the disc on to the barrel of his zapper. He smiled as the light gun stretched into a small rifle.
The Dragon swept down for its second attack. Fire ran along its sinewy length. Danny took aim and fired with the help of the lock on. The zapper's beam struck in a cascade of ribbons. The Dragon pulled up, surprised by the stinging it had gotten.
It belched a single fireball automatically as it soared upwards. Danny let the fireball go past as he took aim with his powered up zapper.
Danny's lock on zeroed in on the Krayt Dragon. He pulled the trigger as the virtual crosshairs blinked. The zapper's shotgun-like blast sliced into the Dragon as it readied its spray attack. It swallowed the blast and soared out of reach.
The bar at the bottom of the lock on display visibly shrank.
Danny knew that meant the Dragon could only take three or four more blasts from the zapper before it collapsed.
Of course he had to survive the exploding doppleganger attack that always followed the spray.
Too bad he didn't have a platoon of rain soldiers like he did the last time. Their concentrated firepower had forced the Dragon from its roost before it could even get off one shot.
Danny took aim with his lock on and waited patiently for the right moment.
The Krayt Dragon fired the spray as it lifted up to do the second attack. Danny rolled under the attack, lock on swiveling his arm in place. He squeezed the imaginary trigger. The cascade stitched the belly of the beast.
The Dragon roared as it looped. Its fiery shape formed and rained down on Danny as he tried to leap clear. Fire chased him as he fell on the top step. He grabbed the edge of the landing as the single fireball spun down on him. He fired a blast as his lock on flashed on the projectile.
If it had hit him, he would have been dropped down to the bottom of the waterfall.
Danny scrambled to get to his feet as the Dragon circled around. He blasted as he ran for the back of the lair. Some of the white lines hitting made the Dragon veer off.
"Junction is opening, Danny," Guide said in his ear as the game master ran for the sparkling line on the floor.
Danny plunged through.
3
Danny let the zapper fade, the power up vanishing because of his jaunt across the matrix field to Turbo City. The junction was at Pit Road, the huge garage area for the Quantum Track races.
Danny looked around, engaged by the bee hive activity. He must be in time for a race. Then he remembered the threat to Collard Green with a start.
"Mr. Guide?," Danny said. "Where is Collard Green?"
"His speedster is headed to the starting line, Danny," said Guide. "He is sitting on the pole today."
"Tell him to check his car before the race starts," Danny said.
A moment of silence.
"The track officials are jamming me, Danny," said Guide. "They won't let me patch through."
Danny started running to the Pit Box where Collard's crew was checking their parts. They had to have a radio to call him and tell him the danger.
"All pedestrians clear the Pit Road," the announcer said. "The race is about to start."
Sections began to fall over the front of the Pit Boxes as the road converted to high speed racing conditions.
Too late, Danny thought, knowing that the Pit Boxes wouldn't open until the race was over.
That would be too late for Green.
"Mr. Guide," Danny said. "Drop the Guardian Roadster from its hangar."
"It's on the way," said Guide, cheerfully.
Danny ran along Pit Road. A white shimmer formed as small blocks of light knit themselves into a bullet shape ahead of him. A canopy opened in the front of the bullet as it floated forward. Danny ran alongside, grabbing the two grips and pulling himself inside the jet car.
"The track judge said you can join the rear of the racing crowd if you hurry," said Guide.
Danny slid the canopy shut before grabbing the control grips.
"I'm there," he said, heading down Pit Road to the main track.
The canopy screen dumped a picture of the track and the racers' positions as the Guardian Roadster launched itself onto the course. A number three floated in the corner to show how many turbo boosts he possessed. The main weapon, an auto laser, whined to life as crosshairs dumped on the center screen.
"Gentleman," said the announcer. "Go!"
Danny rolled pass the starting line as the pack began to spread out in front of him. Collard Green was out ahead of the pack, and he had only a slim chance to catch him.
Danny opened the throttle all the way as he roared ahead.
Danny slammed Red Rider out of his way as he tried to catch up to the pole position. The Guardian Roadster took the impact in stride, the top turret lining up on the other car. The twin barrels belched at the crimson car.
Rider broke, skidding behind the turret as the protective wall smoked from the burst. He ran his car into the fender of the Roadster, hoping to spin it out. Danny rode up on the banked wall, fighting for control.
"So that is how you want to do things, eh?," Danny gritted out.
Danny slipped behind the next car in line, watching Rider in his mirror. The jet car's nose lasers opened up as Danny twisted to the left. Dusty Amarillo's yellow number six spun along the track as the Guardian Roadster got around him, and roared after the pack.
Danny sighed as Red slammed into the number six. Both drivers jettisoned from their vehicles as he turned his attention to the next car in line.
They would be back on the track with backup cars as soon as their pit crews retrieved them.
He had to get to Collard, to have his car checked before something bad happened to the driver.
Danny passed several cars as he headed for the front of the pack. A lot of the racers gave him room as they also fought for position. He hit the turbo boost in the fourth turn, jumping out ahead of the other cars.
Collard Green's 43 was in sight after a grueling three laps. Danny pulled up beside the green machine after some effort.
"Hello, little buddy," Collard said over the intercom.
"You have to stop racing, Collard," Danny said back. "There's a..."
The Guardian Roadster shook from near misses as the track exploded. Danny looked in his mirror. Red Rider was back in his slipstream, firing his nose cannons.
"Say again, little buddy," said Green, laughing at the near misses rattling his green jet car.
"There's a bomb on your car," said Danny. "You have to have your car checked."
"I'll do that," said Collard, hitting his turbo button.
The green machine leaped out in front, burning a path through the fire from Rider's fire engine.
"So that's how it's going to be?," Danny said to himself, thumbing his own turbo.
The three cars passed the starting line at top speed. Rider had placed his car in Danny's slipstream, firing full auto at the white Roadster.
Danny thought desperately.
Danny swerved, switching lanes with abandon as he headed for the green machine. Red pulled up beside him, trying to bump his car off the track. Danny hit the brakes, letting Red get in the lane in front of him.
He held the trigger down on his cannon. The blasts ate the fire engine up in bright impact flashes. The jet car flipped over the Roadster as Danny crashed his way through the wreckage. Danny grimaced at what he had done, but was relieved that Red had been able to bail out again.
He jammed his last turbo, flying after Collard Green. He needed to get some more boosters or he was never going to catch up. He flew into a catapult seconds after the lead racer and soared to the next section of the track.
The Roadster shuddered when it touched the ground again. It dug in, surging ahead after the other racer. Danny got in the other's slipstream, waiting for his crosshairs to line up on the green machine.
Danny's targeting system turned red. He squeezed the trigger on his cannons. Bright flashes lit up the green machine's armor. It swerved into the wall, bounced back, the rear fender smashing against Danny's front fender before it straightened out.
Danny swept right, pouring firepower into the green machine. The racer collapsed in the roadway, pieces of the engine littering the track. Collard ejected out of the wrecked machine as the rest of the racers passed the scene. He cussed a blue streak as he drifted to the Pit to get his backup car.
Danny pulled into Pit Road as the green machine roared back on the track. He pulled into a temporary Pit Box, and got out of the Roadster.
The main threat was over. Hopefully only the usual things would happen now.
He wished he could remember more than what he did.
Someone had knocked him on the head, and dumped him at Loathly Tower. They would be unhappy at what he had done to Collard's car. They might try something else to keep him from finishing the race.
He didn't know what he could do to prevent that.
"Mr. Guide," Danny said. "Do you have any ideas on what we can do next?"
"Surely there will be another attempt on Collard Green," said Guide.
"From which direction?," asked Danny. "We can't watch everything at once."
"Possibly from the track," said Guide. "I would have someone on the track in my employ also."
"Of course," said Danny.
4
Danny powered up the Roadster and drove out on the track. He had a sneaking suspicion who the backup man was.
He swept by the other racers at high speed. He banged against Cerulean Blue's machine as he joined the pack at the head of the race.
He had to make sure Green won, while keeping an unknown attacker at bay in the middle of a no holds barred race.
That should be easy to do, he thought.
His first goal was to clear Red Rider off the track, which would give him some playing room.
Danny slid behind Rider, hugging the wall to slide around Dusty Amarillo's replacement number six. He opened fire with his cannons, sending the fire engine flipping through the air and then sliding along the ground.
Danny sprayed the wreck as he passed.
The pack stretched into a line, with Collard out front by a few seconds. Danny slid into Dusty's slipstream, firing along the car's axis. Dusty went into a spin and rolled down the inner side of the track.
Danny held the Roadster behind Collard Green's jet car, trying to copy his every move as much as possible. He had been lapped, but the only thing that mattered was that he was behind Collard and had his eye on anything that could happen as they sped around the track.
He saw the checkered flag as Red Rider caught up with him. He swerved side to side as Rider lit up the track.
It was too little, too late.
Green passed the waving flag and slowed down for his victory lap around the track. The other racers fought for place until they passed the flag. The winner's name was broadcast to the remaining cars as they crossed the finish line.
Rider kept firing as he chased the white Roadster around the track. Other cars rolled into their bays as they entered Pit Road. Collard had stopped in the winner's circle, sitting on the hood of his car as the track officials descended to give him the winner's cup.
Danny flew by again, Rider right behind him. Collard leaned into his car and pressed the trigger on his own cannons. Red's fire engine rolled as the green machine undercut the jetcar.
Danny slowed to a stop as the other car flipped head over tails.
epilogue
Danny leaned back in his chair, hands behind his head. The Guardian Roadster was in its bay, scrubbed down and checked. Danny had cleaned up, ate a large meal, and settled in front of the Dome's monitors.
Everything looked quiet from where he sat.
"It was all about a bet?," Guide asked from the walls of the Dome.
"There's a lot of money in seeing who will cross the finish line first," said Danny. "So if you can fix the race, you get the money from the honest bettors, and they can't get their money back unless cheating can be proved."
"What will happen to Red Rider?," Guide asked.
"Nothing," said Danny. "There's no way to prove he was involved. He'll get a fine for unsportsmanlike conduct."
"I see," said the Guide.