Tenric's Gambit: II

part II

….Giving his friend’s ship a last glance Tenric looked ahead and focused on the race. He knew Dale needed the prize money to pay off Dalba, the local Hutt Boss, and keep his family from debt-enslavement. The other racers were so far ahead though that he doubted if even the Force could make enough of a difference. Nevertheless he had to try so he opened his throttle to its maximum, switched on the turbo compressors, and sank into the currents around him to see if he could find a way through.

Around him space took on a hazy, yellowish, caste while the myriad asteroids and other detritus wore hues of blue, red, and orange. Knowing his chances were slim Tenric decided that the direct approach would be the best. He set himself on as straight a path through the course as possible. The rules called for each racer to follow a pre-set course, but allowed ample room for course corrections and deviations due to the random nature of the asteroids. Through the Force, however, he could see the pattern behind the randomness. The currents showed him which ones would cross his intended vector and allowed him to make last minute dives or rolls to avoid them.

He ramped his shield generators up to one hundred and twenty percent and willed them not to burn out. He knew he’d be getting too close to some of the rocks and would need the protection. Slowly he made up the distance, shields bucking the ship like an angry rancor, closing the gap as the other pilots wove through a dense portion of the course. Then, after a few near misses, he found himself back in the middle of the pack. It was much harder to pick a course with all the other pilots around him. The individual ripples their thoughts and intentions caused in the currents confused things considerably. Still Tenric was able to gain steadily upon the leaders.

Skirting a tumbling rock the size of a Dreadnaught he cut it a bit too close and was bucked so hard by the shield recoil he almost lost control. The maneuver worked though as it allowed him to leapfrog into third position. He briefly considered staying put, his nerves were a bit frayed from the close call, but the winnings wouldn’t be enough. Taking a deep breath to calm himself, and sending a silent plea to the Unifying Force, he dialed his engines to one hundred and ten percent and hoped the thrust valves didn’t fuse from the over heating he knew would occur because of the turbos…..

….Dale managed to land his wounded Headhunter safely, despite a second engine giving out on the descent and his control panel flaring up once more. Gotta hand it to Incom, he thought, these Headhnters could take a hell of a lot of punishment and fly with half the systems out. Once on the ground, he tossed his helmet to the service droid and headed for the nearest holo-net screen. He found one in the main port hanger that was tuned to the race. A few dozen spectators milled around it as the announcer kept up a running commentary. Dale saw that one ship had been singled out by the producers and knew it had to be his friend’s.

“…Absolutely amazing!” the announcer went on, “that pilot is either insane, or is one of the most gifted idiots in the galaxy!”

Here a sub-screen popped up showing a close up of the ship, identifying it by its markings and number since the transponder signals tended to bounce so erratically off the asteroids they were useless.

“We have an ID on the pilot now. Just a minute.” The announcer was saying, “Yes. It makes sense now. None other than Tenric, out of the Darkwood settlement, is piloting that ship.” The announcer’s tone implied his opinion clearly. “So I was right on both counts then.”

The crowd laughed at the remark, some nodding in a knowing way. On the local racing circuit Tenric was known to be both brash and brilliant. He often took chances no one else even had nightmares about and had lived through each of them…so far. People loved to root for him; especially since most of them believed each race would be his last.

“The racers have cleared the outermost barrier now and are making the far turn to head back through the field in a dash for the finish. Tenric has taken third and is close behind Halphon and Guurk.”

The screen now split top and bottom giving viewers a real-time vid feed on the bottom and a heads up graphic depicting the course, time, and position of the leaders. Dale found himself wondering about the odd things that had happened in his ship. He watched Tenric draw a nearly straight line through the field and take the lead while the announcer was nearly apoplectic with the sheer insanity of what he was now calling ‘Tenric’s Gambit.’ It should have been impossible.

“Never in all my years of racing have I seen such a display of insane piloting! I cannot believe it, but he might actually pull it off!” The announcer was nearly frothing now. “To come from so far back and gain the lead is unimaginable!” Then he seemed to remember the other racers, “Halphon is closing in though, and Guurk is solidly in third. This is still a race any of them can win.”

As he stared at the screen Dale recalled the time he and Tenric had been playing in Darkwood. They had been racing then too and Tenric had suddenly shifted his stride and knocked him clear off his feet. He had gotten up intending to at least break a nose or an arm over the insult when he noticed Tenric in a crumpled heap. An assassin viper, a carnivorous amphibian half-toad half-snake, had bitten him. He had carried Tenric back to his homestead afraid he would be too late. Tenric’s uncle though was a skilled healer and was able to save him. The next day he had visited Tenric and chided him about the fact that he was bitten as repayment for his dirty trick. Tenric had humphed and said he guessed so, but there was an almost amused look in his eye when he did.

It was a few days later that Dale had revisited the spot. Tenric was still a bit weak and had stayed home. When he re-ran the incident in his mind he realized that the assassin viper had most likely been striking at him and not Tenric. By bumping him when he had Tenric ended up in the same spot Dale should have been…

...A blinding flash on the holo-screen brought Dale out of his reverie. A careening asteroid had come from out of nowhere and crossed paths with the lead ship. The other two leaders had pitched violently to avoid being hit and each had been thrown aside by the recoil from their shields. The announcer was silent, and the crowd deathly still. Tenric’s ship was no longer in frame and the heads-up graphic could not pinpoint his location….