TEAM EFFORT:
In Which Eekay Visits the Other End of the Pack.
by Electric Keet

I recovered better than I had the first few times, but it was already too late. The thick jungle had grown under the ribbon and warped it in places. Ira and Falda seemed to know the lay of it like their own beds, and Bell hadn’t suffered too badly for the bumps, but Lady and I struggled just to keep ahead of the other stragglers.

“Oi, cat! Watch your left!”

At the deer’s warning, I drifted further right. Ahead of me, Aceron Reime – one of Element’s heavies, a malamute I wasn’t accustomed to seeing the rear end of – yelped as he nearly bottomed out on the wrinkle. I slid away just in time to feel only the slightest jostle.

Aceron swore under his breath, then glanced over to Lady and I. “Well, well. Lovely as always, Lady… and Eekay, so nice of you to visit this end of the pack!”

I sneered back. “Spare me th’ charisma, mate.”

“Aww, don’t be like that,” he grinned with Lunar-blue eyes. “You’re too pretty to be so cruel.”

Lady let out a harsh laugh. “Y’really don’t know zim, then.” She took a rough bump and bounced her elbow-pad off of the ribbon. When she dropped back I thought for a moment she’d lost control completely, but her voice came from behind me a couple seconds later. “K’r’roc Venusian weeds!”

Yaz’s voice came over the comm. “Falda, careful; final turn coming up and a crash hazard from Theta on eight. Bell, I think you’re clear for a boost if you stay in four.”

Lady coughed, “Wrong! Bell, get to two first or you’ll be chewing ribbon.”

I growled, “I can manouevre that way and boost—”

“Don’t bother, not worth the risk.” Yaz sounded so blasted dispassionate about it, but he was right. If I tried for a boost and hit a snag in the track, I’d probably end up in the tank again. Suck this one up, I thought. Indignity… but there’ll be a chance to make up for it on Luna.

The others had already finished, but sonic scrubbers take longer to clean thick fur, so I was still in the middle of it when our fearless leader made his appearance in the locker room. “Listen up, team,” he said. “That was an ugly ribbon out there, but you did great, all of you. Nice work.”

I snorted. “Shinin’ beacon o’ top show, I was.”

“We’ll get to that in a bit. Relax. Ira, you were like magic out there. I don’t recall the last time I saw a two second lead like that.”

The raccoon paused between painting white bars on zir forehead. “Thank you. You might say I had the local advantage.”

Yaz nodded slowly. “I’ve been wondering about that, but I’ll ask later. As for Falda, I think that insane little practice you did paid off, yeah?”

The wolfess pulled a blue shirt from her locker and started to wriggle into it. “Maybe, but I will be honest about it. I feel more lucky than anything, and that luck started to run out at the end.”

Bell continued stretching. “I saw the whole thing, and that was definitely more than luck, eh? Whatever you did, you gotta teach the rest of us.” Falda only smiled in response.

“Agreed. You still managed to hold a good position.” The wolverine nodded. “And Bell, nice gain at the end. That really helped us out. That and your intimidation of a couple of those mooncats.”

The lynx rolled his eyes. “I hit a bump and veered over in front of them by accident. Can’t take credit, chief.”

“Gah, don’t call me that. Lady, good work remembering the track better than I did. Bonus points. Eekay, no points for memorisation but nice job on maintaining a solid grouping at the end. That teamwork meant the difference between playing catch-up and coming out on top.”

I switched off the scrubber and stalked toward my locker. “Right. Ol’ Eekay done ’em an orbit. Cookie me.”

Lady didn’t even look up from tying the fly of her pants. “Translation: Prince Eekay hasn’t been bottom half of a race since zie first saw a ribbon, and zie hasn’t had zir nap, bottle, or reality check yet today.”

I sneered at her. “Dip you in flour, luv, bake me a punk biscuit—”

She made a dismissive motion. “Beat yer head ’til sawdust comes out—”

“Ship y’ t’ Saturn limb-tied with a prezzie bow—”

“Jet an’ vape you mid-flight with the rest of the trash—”

Yaz shouted, “Girls, girls! You’re both pretty. Save the taunts for the Martians, okay?” Before we could turn on him, he changed the subject. “Next stop is Luna, and that means Theta Silver’s territory. We’re going in with a slim lead, but if we play it right we can expand on that….”

TIME LAPSE:
In Which Falda Flosadóttir Rushes to Slow Down.
by Electric Keet

“And I would like the limiter to be disabled.”

The ermine visibly twitched. “Let me get this straight.” When she spoke, she emphasised the pronouns in a way which made everything sound almost unreasonable. “You, who I’ve never before met, want me to rent you a skimmer right after daybreak – when the natives will be at their most active – without any sort of speed regulation.”

I nodded. “Yes, please.”

“Even for double rate, even knowing your current profession…. Why should I take that risk?”

I leaned toward one of those little round seafoam-green ears and poured some classic Falda charm into a whispered explanation.

She nodded… then stared with widened eyes… then looked Yaz up and down… then coughed politely as I stepped back. “I believe I can arrange your skimmer, though you’ll have to sign an additional waiver. Pardon while I go dig that up.”

As soon as she’d scurried into the back room, Yaz shook his head. “Just what did you tell her, there?”

I allowed my tail some room for expression. “I explained that IHP wanted me to scout the area while I was here in preparation for a proper sequel to The Finest Course and that I had a great degree of latitude in recommending local talent to fill in certain… vital roles.”

He narrowed his eyes slightly. “And me?”

“Male lead.”

Yaz’s jaw dropped. “That’s—”

“Letting a little too much slip so early in pre-production,” I ad-libbed smoothly as the ermine returned. I looked to her with a practised smile. “but I am certain we can all keep a secret, yes?”

“Of course, Ms. Flosadóttir. Please, authenticate both of these documents….”

I pulled hard right to dodge a particularly thick tree of some sort. “Are you getting a clear view?”

From some distance away and right inside my headset, my favourite wolverine responded with a note of worry. “Crystal clear, and I still don’t understand why you have to— Gah! Don’t get yourself killed, you crazy wolf!”

I howled with delight and weaved through the rainforest. “Now that I am in the air, I will explain! Do you remember the dream?”

“What, the one you had on the trip to Mercury?”

“Yes! I did something in that dream, something strange… and I have to try it now.” I aimed the arc-shaped skimmer upward and soared above the tops of the broad-leaved trees. “If you see me veer out of control at all, do what you can to snap me out of it.”

“Snap you out of what?” He waited a few seconds, then tried again. “Falda?”

I whispered, “Shush! I am trying to focus.”

I peaked the thrust and did my best to recall the dream. The colours were normal this time, and there was no ribbon beneath me… but there was definitely a sense of speed and nearly the same visual effect of the forest blending into a rich green streak. I flew closer to the tops of the trees to try for that same feeling of being slightly overwhelmed and having to alter my course to match irregularities in the path. In the dream, there was a sort of dilation of time where milliseconds became long enough to pick apart. I tried to will time to slow down for me. Just another altered state of consciousness, I reminded myself. Just like meditation. Create a pattern and follow the fractal deeper.

The jungle below remained a swift blur. I checked the timer in the display, then cursed myself for breaking the relative time. I did my best to blank it from my mind, veered to the right, and tried again for the trance state. Follow the fractal. I focused on the beating of my heart to slow it down in the way I had learned so long ago. Moments within moments. I swooped over dense foliage, turning slightly as I went to make a circuit. Frustration threatened to overtake me. Had I deceived myself, trying for such a drastic effect as only a dream – or a powerful chemical influence – could provide? Strike the thoughts, I scolded myself. The green was almost hypnotic….

“Falda!”

I didn’t need Yaz’s voice to snap me out of it. The scraping whoosh of leaves and branches against the underside of the skimmer jolted me into a speedy climb. “All right…. I am all right.” I dropped my speed and followed the return beacon on my display. “How long was that run?”

“Long enough that I think the locals have started worshipping your contrails as heavenly signs,” he quipped. “Did you get what you needed?”

Despite my attempt, I sounded just as disappointed as I was. “No. I need hyperfocus, not dissociation. I’ll have to try again. Would you…?”

“Yes, I’ll stay,” he sighed. “But I’m really concerned. A few more seconds and you’d have hit more than just thin branches there.”

“Do you…. Do you think I am crazy for trying this because of a dream?”

His answer was a few seconds in coming. “Yes. But it’s the right sort of crazy, so don’t stop.”

I made a lazy swerve around a tall tree, then skirted the clearing where he stood. “Thank you. Now, I will try again….”

PRELUDE TO VENUS:
A Small Conversation Before Six Below Leaves Mercury.
by Electric Keet

The spaceport was still some distance away. All I could do was roll my eyes while Eekay carried on.

“Three of ’em, seems they’re best mates, all snuggles out there on the beach.” Zie motioned to accompany what sounded like teenage bragging. “I’m mindin’ m’own, spot, but one of ’em recognises me an’ waves on over. Yours Truly doesn’t wanna interrupt an’ words bein’ around for pics all day, but th’ kitten says—”

“Go chase a shark?” Lady suggested. I snickered.

“Exactly! Naw, was somethin’ more like how she had better mem’ries in mind.” The snow-leopard grinned wide. “Fraz th’ Teleia Erota, four can be brill.”

I shook my head. “Right there on the beach?”

Zie sniffed, “S’wrong, Falda-girl? You’ve done it before.”

“That was for a sensie… and the one that finally got me off-world, in fact.” I shrugged. “Sand gets everywhere. I have no idea how you could enjoy it!”

Zie grinned predatorially. “Show you how sometime, luv.”

I sneered at the cat, but Lady interrupted any retort. “How about you an’ Yaz?”

“Actually, we ended up at the same beach later in the day.” The wolverine crossed his legs and smiled. “I know I had a pretty good time.”

Lady tilted her head a little. “I thought you weren’t going unless you had a swimsuit?”

“I decided the flower was enough.” Yaz grinned slightly and motioned to his left ear. “Also, the show we were planning on seeing got cancelled, so I figured I had to get my live entertainment somehow. So, Lady, what did you and Bell get up to on the dark side?”

“We, uh… well, we visited someone Bell knows….” She seemed a little uncertain, though wondered if maybe that was simply my reading too much into it.

Bell merely shrugged. “You know how my parents up and moved to Charon? I met someone via net who was in the same situation, so we got together in person to vent a bit about how that goes. Then her wife cooked up a meal and we chatted about Mercurian culture. It’s not exactly a romp on the beach, but you know, it was a decent time, eh?” He nodded toward Lady, who seemed to concur. “How ’bout you, Ira?”

The orange-tinted raccoon flicked his tail a bit. “I was at the beach with Eekay.” After a moment of pause, zie chuckled, “Ah, but most of my time was spent in the water with Eoe’ea.”

I smiled. “He’s with Element, right? The otter from Neptune?” I couldn’t help wagging a little. Eoe’ea might have been a little out there philosophically, but he was a great conversationalist and more than a little handsome… not unlike a certain wolverine. Really, it was a pity that he was—

Bell teased, “Colluding with the enemy!”

“Not the enemy,” Yaz scolded… then added with a grin, “but definitely our competition. Anyhow, it turns out that Ira here is quite the natural swimmer, which I wouldn’t have expected. If we do swap to the Allilouxia circuit after the Thirteen, zie just might be our candidate for the underwater sections.”

“That’s definitely something to work toward, I think. I had a great time, and he taught me a few… techniques….” Ira’s gaze went to the Mercurian horizon in the direction of the space port.

As I looked at it myself, I had a strange sense of having been there before, even though I was fairly certain I hadn’t. It was a false memory of excitement and nervousness, not unlike what I would feel before every race. Accomplishment. Camaraderie. Pride. Then, I felt as though it was destined to fall apart….

Eekay’s voice shattered the moment. “Oi, Ira! Don’t go into space without us, mate.”

The raccoon startled, then coughed and smiled. “Apologies. I was distracted by a thought. Where was I?”

“Aw, fraz. Look at that.” Lady motioned toward the front of the capsule. The shuttle loomed large. “It’s one of the older ones,” she griped.

“Nothing wrong with it,” Yaz insisted as the two-minute signal chimed. “And hey, we’ll have the best seats on it, so it should still be pleasant enough.”

“They don’t make them like this anymore for a reason. I got stranded in one like this between Uranus and Miranda. Boredom gets completely redefined when the engines short out and take most of the support systems with them, and then you have to wait for a tug in low light and stale air.”

“Then look at the bright side,” the wolverine offered, still in a peak mood from the previous day. “We’ll have the best seats on the drifting hulk.”