Sidewinder - Chapter One

There was a reporter waiting for her when she turned the corner, slouched against the wall beside the door to the women’s locker room and tapping his tape recorder absently against his mouth. She thought about fleeing, or maybe sneaking in the back way, but he glanced towards her and immediately straightened up to approach, sticking one hand out. Katia forced a smile and shook his hand, nodding when he told her his name and then promptly forgetting it. He asked if she had time to answer a few questions and after glancing at the clock, she took pity on his eager puppy expression and told him she could spare five minutes.

“If you could just state your name, age, and ranking.” He held the tape recorder up towards her, smiling eagerly.

“Uh, Katia Morgana,” she said, not sure if she should lean in or not. “I’m twenty-eight, ranked S class.”

“Why do you race? What drives you? Is it the money?”

She gave him an amused look. “No, not the money. That’s just a bonus. I race because I love it. I love the feeling of freedom and movement. When I get going, I feel like I can outrace anything.” She glanced at the clock again. “I have to go. You can call my manager if you want to set up a proper interview.” She brushed past him and went into the locker room, breathing a sigh of relief as she shut—and locked; reporters had been known to follow the racers right into the locker rooms—the door behind her.

The locker room was empty and she took her time getting ready, carefully adjusting her custom-made skates and tightening the laces before she pushed herself back to her feet. As always her right leg wobbled slightly until she adjusted to the sensation and made a few slow circles of the locker room to get her balance.

Noise at the door caught her attention as she was tying her hair back and she paused with her hands behind her head and the elastic in her mouth, raising an eyebrow as the door clicked and swung open. A young man entered, shuffling his feet to avoid tripping over anything, his hands over his eyes.

“You decent, Kat?” he asked.

“You’re supposed to ask that question before you pick the lock to the women’s lockers,” she pointed out, finishing her ponytail and leaning down to pick up her helmet. “Don’t you have your last qualifier soon?”

“I have time,” he said dismissively, dropping his hands and coming over to give her a hug. “I came to wish you good luck.”

“Zeph, you’re still wearing street clothes.” She took in his jeans and loose T-shirt, pursing her lips in disapproval until she realized she probably looked just like her mother. “If you want to go pro, you need to start acting like it.”

“You’re the best nagging big sister.” He hugged her again and ducked her swat. “All right, I’m going. Good luck. Kick some ass.” He paused at the door and gave her a little wave before ducking out again, and she heard his footsteps as he ran up the hall. She snorted a laugh and adjusted her helmet before making her way out through the competitors’ hall to the ring.

The crowd was already buzzing, warmed up by the exhibition races that had begun a few hours earlier. Sunlight filtered down through the penny-sized holes in the arena’s roof, each one carefully covered by bulletproof glass. She thought briefly of how sweet the air had been in her childhood, filtered naturally by trees and vegetation instead of by powerful man-made machinery, then shook her head and continued on to the racers’ waiting area. The smell of hamburgers, hotdogs, and popcorn nearly overpowered the slight staleness to the air anyway.

She nodded to the other members of her team, and to a few of the other racers that she was friendly with, but sat alone at the end of the bench, absently adjusting her right skate again. The crowd roared their approval as one of the exhibitionist skaters completely a particularly high backflip off one of the ramps, landing shakily but safely on his feet. He pumped a fist into the air as he skated away from the ramp and after a moment’s thought Katia placed him as Skye Smith, an up-and-coming racer who had just passed his qualifier and been snapped up by a rival team.

That thought made her remember Zephyr’s qualifying race and she hurriedly got up to find a spot at the rail as the exhibitioners left the ring to loud applause and the techs removed the ramps. A buzz went through the arena as the qualifier was announced and the racers lined up. Katia craned her neck to try and see Zephyr, and finally spotted him sliding into place, late as usual. She rolled her eyes and glanced at the refs, glad that none of them seemed to care about Zephyr’s lateness. She could remember a few refs when she had started racing, almost ten years ago, who would have thrown him out, qualifier or not.

The starting gun went off with a sudden loud bang, startling her. The group of racers surged forward, quickly stretching out into a ragged diagonal line. Katia saw Zephyr make his way to his comfort spot in the middle of the line and stay there, skating in broad, powerful strokes that somehow still looked as though they were done with lazy ease.

“Your brother’s not taking any of this seriously, is he?” Out of the corner of her eye she saw Six move up beside her, leaning his tanned arms on the railing. “When’s he going to grow up?”

“He’s winning races,” she said, keeping her voice neutral. “I even heard your team’s planning to make an offer to him.”

Six snorted. “Not if I have anything to say about it.”

“What do you have against him? You’ve had some sort of weird grudge ever since you met him.”

“I just don’t like bratty little kids.” Green eyes narrowed and Six brought up a hand to block out the sunlight as the racers neared the end. “He’s finally making a play. Idiot, he’s left it too late.”

Katia bit her lip against a smile, recognizing the move Zephyr was about to make. It had been Six’s originally, during his own brief stint in the qualifiers, before his almost supernatural speed catapulted him to the top of the racing world. Zephyr wasn’t as fast as Six in the long run, but he was nearly unrivalled as a sprinter, his long legs powering him over short distances very fast. Even as they watched he began to shoot through the rest of the pack, weaving around the leaders without breaking stride. It was close—Zephyr always played it close for the thrill of winning at the last second—but he crossed the finish line first, raising both hands into the air in victory as he glided to a stop.

She turned to point it out to Six but he’d already left and she caught only a glimpse of his back as he ducked into the tunnel leading back to the locker rooms. Her own race was called before she could think much more about it and she hurried into place, tucking a stubborn strand of long blonde hair back under her helmet. It was warm out here under the sunlight and the arena’s powerful fluorescents, and she felt sweat slide down her back despite the air conditioners. Taking a deep breath, she settled into position, trying not to let her muscles go too tense as she waited for the starting gun to sound.

When it came she pushed forward in one smooth motion, the big muscles in her thighs flexing as she moved. The competition was stiff today and she knew at once she’d have to work hard to even place, but the thought just made her smile. She put her head down and brought her speed up, neatly avoiding a thrown elbow. The racer behind her wasn’t so lucky and went down almost on her heels, landing with a grunt and a solid, meaty thud. Katia didn’t bother to look back, focusing instead on the approaching finish line and pushing herself to skate faster, harder. She shot across in third place and used a toe stop, breathing hard with the exertion, then skated around to congratulate the other racers.

Zephyr met her in the waiting area and swept her up in a big bear hug that lifted her a few inches off the ground and made him wobble for a moment on his skates. She couldn’t help laughing and looped an arm around his waist as they joined the group going back through the tunnel. They only separated when they reached the locker rooms and Katia went into the women’s, her slight smile brightening into a grin when she saw her teammate and best friend sitting in the corner, pulling on a pair of bright purple kneepads.

“Hey, third place!” Jian returned her grin and nodded to the big TV bolted to the ceiling in the opposite corner. “I didn’t have time to get out there, but I watched. Nice work. And I saw Zeph placed. Any idea who wants him?”

“I know who doesn’t.” Katia sat down on the bench and leaned forward to begin unlacing her skates.

“Let me guess. Tall, dark, name rhymes with bag of dicks?”

“Uh-huh,” Katia said, laughing. “He’s had it in for Zeph practically since they met.”

“Jealous. Zeph’ll kick his ass one day.” Jian pulled her helmet on and buckled it under her chin. “I’d love to sit and bitch about him all afternoon but I have a race to win. I’m going to beat Evita at least once this season if I have to kill her to do it.”

“Still up for drinks tonight?” Katia called after her as she skated towards the tunnel. “I promised Zeph we’d take him out to celebrate.”

“Um, when am I ever not up for drinking?” She turned around and skated backwards as she spoke. “Your place at seven?”

“See you then.” Katia raised a hand then bent back to her skates, taking off the left one and wriggling her toes, then switching the right for the false foot in her bag, attaching it to the lifelike prosthetic that had replaced her lower leg after the accident twenty-three years before. She slid the protective covers over her skates and put them in her bag then got up and slung it over her shoulder before leaving the locker room.

She stopped in at the men’s locker room and was told that Zephyr had already been called up to the sponsorship office to meet the managers of teams interested in signing him. Trying not to get too excited on his behalf, Katia made her way up the stairs and sat down in the waiting room, flipping through a magazine without really seeing it. The clock on the wall seemed to tick too loudly in the silence and she briefly entertained an urge to throw the magazine at it just to shut it up.

When the office door opened she got hurriedly to her feet, her stomach dropping as she saw Six come out. He gave her an unreadable look and headed for the stairs without comment, followed a moment later by his manager. Katia looked after them, feeling anger begin to simmer in her chest, then glanced back and put on a smile as Zephyr came out into the waiting room. The smile he gave her in return seemed natural and his eyes sparkled as he told her he’d be skating for the Breakneck Bladers, an S-class team ranked just below Katia’s own.

“Next race I might even beat you,” he added, laughing and looping his arm through hers.

“I saw Six,” she started carefully.

“The Vipers were interested but he said he wouldn’t have me on the team.” Zephyr shrugged.

“I can get Jian to kill him for you.”

“Come on, Kat. Why would I want to be on a team with Six? I want to beat him.” He tugged her towards the stairs. “Now I think you owe me a drink or three.”

They walked together down the stairs while Zephyr chattered about all his plans now that he was officially an S-class racer, and just before they left the arena, Katia saw Six again. The reporter from earlier had cornered him and though Katia felt a little sorry for the man after seeing Six’s expression, she still couldn’t help a small snort of laughter as she and Zephyr went out into the brightly lit streets. Serves him right, she thought, and grinned all the way home.