Sidewinder - Chapter Four

“So what do you think of Six’s announcement that he’ll be retiring after this mysterious last race?”

Jian stared at the microphone shoved in her face then back up at the reporter holding it, feeling the muscle beneath her eye twitch slightly. “Um, I don’t give a shit? I’ll be glad to see him gone? I’m trying to shop, fuck off?”

She pushed through the mob of reporters who had descended on her shortly after she’d arrived downtown, resisting the urge to clobber one particularly stubborn newswoman with her backpack. She ducked into the nearest store when they moved to follow her, still shouting questions, and headed straight for the back, where she pretended to browse racks of outrageously priced scraps of cloth masquerading as clothing until the reporters trailed away to yell at someone else.

“You’re Jian Sun, right?” The salesgirl gave her a shy smile. “I saw your last race, you were really cool. Um, we have a back entrance if you want to use it. There’s still a couple reporters lurking outside.”

“I’d really appreciate that.” Jian followed her out through the employee area to the back door and paused to give her a quick kiss on the cheek before going out the door. It opened into an alley and she glanced both ways before jogging across to the building on the opposite side and using its fire escape to climb up onto the roof. From there she could watch the street below and after a few moments she spotted the reporters waiting for her to come out. She stuck her tongue out at them and headed across the roof, jumping to the next building and then the one after it before climbing back down to the ground.

Her phone rang as she was going through some CDs in another store and she answered automatically, thinking it was Katia. Instead it was her manager, Paul, stumbling all over his words as he ordered her to meet him at his office as soon as she could get there. Curiosity piqued, she agreed to head right over and hung up, pausing just long enough to go up to the counter and pay for a CD she particularly wanted before she caught a cab over to the office.

The secretary ushered her right in and she took a seat in front of Paul’s big oak desk, leaning back in her chair and crossing her legs. Paul was rifling through a pile of papers and silently handed her a sheet of paper with the Racing Commission’s logo emblazoned across the top. She read it without speaking, her eyebrows steadily rising with each sentence.

Dear Ms. Sun, it read. Your performance in this season’s races has been outstanding and an example to all competitors. In view of this, we have decided to extend you an invitation to an elite race that will begin after the season’s end. If you are interested, please have your manager contact us for further details.

It had been signed by the Commission’s chairwoman and seemed legitimate as far as Jian could tell. She looked up at Paul and quirked an eyebrow. “Do you know what this is about?”

“Who cares, Jian? Think of the prestige. Tell me you’ll do it.”

“Do I have to agree to this without even knowing what the hell they want me to do?” Jian scanned the letter again. “I guess it does say to ask for further details. All right, stop drooling. Ask them for further details and then I’ll decide if I want to participate. And while I’m here.” She grinned when his smile faded. “Get these reporters off my junk. They’re even worse than usual thanks to Six, and the next one to ask me what I think about him is going to get their camera shoved up their ass.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” Paul sighed.

“Thanks. Call me when you find out what’s happening.” She blew him a kiss and got up, tipping the secretary a wink as she went out the door.

Outside on the street, she debated going back to shopping then hailed another cab and gave the driver Katia’s address. No one answered her knock at the door but when she tried the doorknob, it turned under her hand. Shrugging, she let herself in, calling for Katia and Zephyr as she went through the house. When she didn’t find anyone, she just grabbed a snack from the kitchen and flopped down on the couch in the living room to read magazines until they came back home.

Zephyr startled her out of her quiet reading almost two hours later, bursting into the house while chattering away to Katia, who came in behind him much more sedately. Jian got up to greet them and found herself swept up into a big bear hug by Zephyr, enough to lift her slightly off her feet. She squirmed free and watched him run into the kitchen, then looked at Katia and raised her eyebrows.

“Did he get a treat from the vet?” she asked.

Katia snorted. “We were actually talking to our managers. The Racing Commission sent us letters—”

“To some sort of elite special race? I got it too. I’m waiting on Paul to get me the details.”

“Same. It’s kind of exciting though, right? We were going to go out to dinner to celebrate. Want to come?”

“You know I do.”

“This must be what Six was talking about,” Zephyr said, coming back into the hall with a glass of water in one hand. He gestured with it as he added, “It must be a big deal if he’s retiring afterwards.”

“Zeph. I love you, I do.” Jian took him by the upper arms, smiling up at him. “But if you mention that name to me one more time today, I’m going to superglue your lips together.”

“All right, all right. Peace, Jian. You coming to dinner with us?” He grinned. “Stupid question. Pizza okay with you?”

“Pizza’s fine.” Jian let him go and linked an arm with Katia’s as they followed him out the door again.

They went to the usual pizza place, a little corner shop run by a husband and wife team, with occasional help from their teenage daughter. The conversation centred mostly on what an elite race could entail, and the ideas got increasingly silly the further they got through the pitcher of beer they’d ordered along with their pizza. By the time they left it was nearing midnight and Jian was feeling pleasantly buzzed, her cheeks warm with alcohol. She slung an arm around Katia’s waist as they walked, humming to herself.

She accepted Katia’s offer to spend the night and all three of them curled up in the living room to watch a movie, passing a bowl of popcorn back and forth. Katia fell asleep halfway through, her head on Jian’s shoulder, and roused only grudgingly once the movie was over. They said goodnight to Zephyr and went upstairs to change for bed and brush their teeth before crawling under the covers together.

“You still excited?” Jian asked once they’d made themselves comfortable. “I just want to find out what it’s all about.”

“Tomorrow,” Katia said through a yawn. “Right now I’m more interested in sleep. Night, Jian.”

“Night, Kat.” Jian closed her eyes but sleep was a long time in coming as her mind ran through all the ideas they’d come up with during dinner, and then added a few more. Eventually she drifted off, and dreamed of racing through dark stone tunnels as something huge and panting chased after her.

Her phone woke her the next morning, blaring from the pocket of her jeans, which she’d left crumpled up on Katia’s carpet the night before. She hung half out of the bed and groped around until she found it, opened it, and held it to her ear, muttering a hello. Paul sounded disgustingly cheerful as he told her he had a meeting for her to attend later that afternoon with the Racing Commission, where they would explain everything. She grunted acknowledgement and hung up on him, pulling herself back under the covers and curling up against Katia’s back. She dozed for a while longer, drifting in a state somewhere between consciousness and sleep, and woke again fully when Katia woke and sat up, stretching.

Zephyr had taken the phone calls from their managers and let Katia know over breakfast, nearly bouncing out of his seat with excitement. Jian flicked a bit of cereal at him and told him to settle down, but he was still bouncy as they left for that afternoon’s meeting, held at the Racing Commission’s downtown highrise. He only settled somewhat in the elevator up to the meeting room, going quiet as they were shown into a large suite tastefully decorated with antique furniture and minimal decoration. They weren’t the first ones there; Skye Smith was already seated on one of the couches, looking around with interest. He greeted them with a smile but shook his head when asked if he knew anything yet.

Other racers trickled in over the next hour, all of them S-class racers with high standings. Jian placed most of them as racers she’d competed with but didn’t really know, and wasn’t sure whether to be glad or not when Evita came in, still wearing sunglasses despite the pleasant dimness of the interior lights. Evita nodded to them in greeting but still found herself a seat in one of the single armchairs scattered around the room, crossing her long legs and glancing around coolly. Taz was the last to come in and Jian breathed a sigh of relief that she wasn’t going to have to deal with Six in person after far too much time spent hearing about him.

The group spent some time talking to each other in low voices about the race, comparing ideas and thinking aloud. Jian watched the door and sat up when it opened to admit the Racing Commission, a governing body made up of five members and the chairwoman. The level of chatter in the room gradually died away as the racers turned their attention to the Commission.

The chairwoman greeted them with a smile and introduced herself as Anais McCall, then named each of the other Commission members. Jian barely paid them any attention, silently urging them to get on with it. Beside her she could feel how tense Katia was, and Zephyr had his arms crossed over his chest so tightly he was almost hugging himself, his eyes wide as he listened to Anais speak.

“I’m sure you’re all wondering why you were called here,” Anais said finally. “You’ve been chosen as the best of the best to participate in a very special race, one which will reward the winner with any one thing of their choice, as well as bragging rights for life. This race will be like nothing you’ve ever done before, and it will not be held here, in the arena.”

“Where then?” someone asked cautiously, after a moment of silence.

With a smile, Anais turned on the big-screen TV mounted on the wall nearby. It stayed fuzzy for a moment, then the picture gradually cleared into a view of a dusty, abandoned street. The buildings to either side leaned crazily, and in some cases had collapsed completely into rubble. For long moments nothing moved, then something tall and skinny flashed in front of the camera, giving them a brief glimpse of leathery grey skin and impossibly long, triple-jointed legs. Jian heard someone gasp quietly but couldn’t take her eyes away from the screen.

“Yes,” Anais said in response to a murmured question. “If you participate, you will be racing topside."