Serve and Protect

by Douglas Varnell

  Chapter 14

  It was the middle of October and the pilots in training at Area 51 were becoming very proficient with their flying skills. Katelyn and Tala no longer sat in the pilot’s seat attached to the teaching controls; the pilots could now do every flying operation required without any assistance. Often the two girls were staying ground-side while the pilots soloed or worked as teams to scramble during an emergency drill. They had managed to get dressed and off the ground in less than five minutes. There would always be two teams on standby, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. They soon realized that there would be a need in the future to add more pilots to the program. It was Tala and Katelyn’s responsibility to have them ready to train the next group of pilots themselves. They had just started preparing the pilots for live weapons fire and Tala and Katelyn were waiting outside the hanger for the arrival of the ammunition supply ship from Verron while the ships were off practicing high speed pursuits. They received the communication from the Area 51 control tower that Verron Freighter 2309 was on final. The big freighter was easily visible from miles away as it entered the Restricted Airspace. When it touched down on the ramp outside the hanger where they waited, both girls could see the smiling faces of Metsis and Ibrihim at the controls. Soon the two of them exited the huge freighter followed by Lydia, Daniel and Uduak, three cyborgs came from the rear of the ship as the tractor-trailer sized door lowered in the rear. The pilots who had been to Verron showed no surprise at the sight of a blue lady with red hair wearing a skin-tight white spider-silk flight suite with jade trim and three cyborgs that spoke perfect English and socialized as if they were human, the ground crew and other staff members didn’t quite know how to act.

  Uduak quickly spotted Lieutenant Cruz and walked swiftly to his side and gave him a big passionate kiss. Everyone who went to Verron knew about the chemistry between to two, mouths of everyone else popped open in shock at the sudden display of affection. Little Lydia rushed to Tala’s side and twirled to show that she had an emerald green flight suit exactly like Tala and Katelyn. At 4 foot 8 inches, she looked like a doll with her perfect olive skin and rich thick hair pulled back in a French braid. The girls couldn’t help but notice how much Ibrihim had grown. He was at least as tall as Daniel now. Daniel settled a dispute before he spoke to his cousins, saying, “On the way back Lydia gets to pilot and Uduak assist, Ibrihim, you, me and Metsis will critique their skills. Both girls looked at Uduak. She quickly informed them, “I must have caught King Verron at a weak moment. He agreed to teach me how to fly a Fighter. I can’t be letting you and all my people go off without me to fight any longer.” Cruz couldn’t believe this woman was going to soon be flying a Verron Fighter. He had no idea just how smart, strong and resilient Uduak and the androids of Beriya-Haven were designed to be.

  Soon the ground crew remembered what they were supposed to be doing and joined the cyborgs in unloading the freighter. While the humans were using forklifts and wheeled carts to unload the cases of laser ammunition, mini-missiles, plasma-mines, photon torpedoes and FTL whitematter missiles, the cyborgs easily carried crates and containers on their shoulders or in their arms. They were still unloading when the two Interceptors returned. It was obvious that the pilots were anxiously awaiting a chance to blow something up. The Air Force ground crews changed to a different crew when the second shift began. The cyborgs continued to work tirelessly without a break and were still going when the third shift arrived to finish the unloading of enough firepower to start and end a war.

  Early that evening Uduak borrowed Tala’s transport and she and Cruz disappeared in Vegas for the evening, arriving back at Area 51 just in time to depart for the trip back to Verron. Tala and Katelyn gave Uduak a questioning look and she replied, “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas” then strutted away as Cruz began to sing I love to watch you strut. She turned and blew him a kiss and yelled, “Next time, my place.” The ship soon disappeared and left a lovelorn Cruz standing staring at the horizon.

  The next day Tala received a currier message, special delivery, from the Aruba.it Racing - Ducati FIM Superbike Team. There was only one race left in the FIM Superbike season at the Losail International Circuit, Doha, Qatar. Chad Davies had run an excellent season for the team but had wrecked in his previous race in Sepang, Malaysia, breaking his right wrist. Ducati had called Neil Hodgson looking of a substitute rider and he encouraged them to use Tala, who had just won the Australian Supersport series. When Ducati realized who Tala was and that her Uncle was a major Ducati Dealer, they felt like the PR from using Tala would be worth giving this mere child a chance to ride with the big boys. They had nothing to lose and everything to gain. Brad was with her when she read the letter and could see the excitement on her face. She called the phone number in Italy given in the letter and asked if she could bring Neal Hodgson, her coach and manager, and Brad Williams. She got the particulars on where and when she was to arrive and made a gateway home to ask her Dad if she could do it. Of course she had already said yes, but it never hurt to get Daddy’s blessing. Soon she had half the family ready to go to Qatar. Tala didn’t want to spoil the excitement, but told them, “It’s only one race. I don’t see any reason for the whole family to come. Neil and Brad will both be there and it will be a little embarrassing to have my Mommy and Daddy in the middle of everything.” Marcus at first got offended. Danyel helped him see that she was just being a typical teenager for a change. Grandpa Kary agreed, but decided he would get Paul to sneak the two of them into the race just before it started and leave as soon as it was over. He wasn’t about to miss it.

  Early on the morning of October 16th Tala Verron arrived at the Losail Circuit in Qatar. Brad was still a bit reluctant to travel by gateway and still couldn’t comprehend just how the entire Dragon Guard could span space and time in an instant. The race team paddock area was wall to wall semi-trailers and custom motorhomes. Neil Hodgson was waiting for her in front of the Aruba.it paddock area with a smiling Petty Officer Mark Sloan by his side. Mark quickly told her, “There was no bloody way I was going to stay back home while Neil came to Qatar. Besides, you need a pit crew or support team or something.” Tala gave Neil and Mark a hug and asked, “You remember Brad?” Neil asked, “Did you bring her pink umbrella?” Brad held it up proudly. Neil walked over to the team manager for Aruba.it and the Ducati factory representative who were conversing nearby. In a moment the two men followed Neil to meet Tala. They began to speak a broken but decent English and Tala responded in fluent Italian. Brad and Neil looked surprised, but said nothing. The excited Ducati representative signaled for his head mechanic to come over and said in Italian, “This is Romono; he will be responsible for setting up your bike for you. It is good that you can speak our language, we do not have much time to prepare and have no time for poor communication.”

  Tala held up her big Ducati bag with all her gear in it and was pointed to a nearby motorhome. In a few minutes she exited the motorhome dressed in her trademark pink leathers. It went well with the Red Ducati colors on the team Aruba.it bikes. She was introduced to her teammate who was an Italian running 7th in points for the season. Tala was relieved that she could simply race her own race and not be concerned about supporting her team member. The first rounds of practice soon began and after a couple of laps Tala pulled into the pit for a few minor adjustments. The suspension was set-up for a man who weighed 150 pounds. Although Tala was considerably smaller, she weighed about fifteen pounds more. Romono looked puzzled when asked to have the suspension stiffened a half-turn on both the front and the rear. She then had the rear-sets adjusted to fit her shorter frame. After five more laps she shut off the traction control system. The 250 horsepower engine was suddenly unleashed to deliver its full unbridled power. Tala rode the big twin for the remaining portion of the practice session with it off, finding that she preferred it that way. She wanted to control the bike, having it do what she wanted, not sit on a bike and have a computer decide what could be done.

  The bike had re
ceived all the set-up there was time to give it before qualifying took place. So many eyes were on the point leaders during practice that few paid any attention to the replacement rider in pink that had been substituted for the injured Davies. There were other replacement riders who had been given a chance this late in the season due to injuries on other teams, so one more little girl in pink was a novel thing to see, but no one really took her seriously, that is until the lap times were posted and no one knew who rider 45w was; the posted time was 1 minute 57.5 seconds. Equal to the lap record set earlier in the season by the Aprilia RSV4. There was one more shot at qualifying in the afternoon. Everyone figured it to be a fluke, but when 45w posted 1:57:2 in the second qualifying session, word quickly spread around the track that some new rider had just earned the front row pole position. Three alarmed representatives from Ducati came into the pit area of team Aurba.it and entered into a heated discussion with the team owner, soon Neil Hodgson was drawn into the conversation. The new arrivals had no idea that the little redhead understood every word they were saying. She looked at her smiling mechanic who was putting on a new set of race tires and doing last minute checks on her bike, he nodded his head and said, “You should win.”

  Tala walked over to the circle of arguing men and interrupted them when she spoke Italian saying, “I came here to race. If your point leaders are afraid of a teenage girl beating them, maybe they are the ones who should drop out of the race.” Neil looked at the group of men and asked, “Well, does she race or not. The embarrassed Italians said nothing and walked away angry at the brash child who could affect the tight points race for the championship. Tala was even more determined to win now than she was before. She had come here to have fun. Now she just wanted to fight.

  The Superbike race was to be held at night under the lights, the owners of the track had spent a fortune installing the finest lighting system available. There was literally not a shadow on the track. It was almost like looking out of the windshield of a Verron Fighter with the night-vision switched on. Brad was disappointed that there was however no use for an umbrella boy. Tala changed tires just before the race to a medium front and firm rear, instead of the firm rubber she had used during the day to prevent overheating. The girl in pink leathers with Princess written across her back got some evil stares from the Aprilia, BMW and Ducati riders sharing the front row and could feel the cold stares of the Honda, Suzuki and Kawasaki rider’s right behind her. The attendants moved off the track, it was time to race. Tala waited patiently with her legs dangling for the light to signal the race. At the green, the launching of 40 riders on 370 pound motorcycles with 250 horsepower, thundered louder than a sonic boom. The smell of burning rubber filled the air as rear-tires smoked from hard acceleration. Tala was fourth into the tight 90o turn, banging elbows with riders on both sides. She was clinging to the rear-end of the Aprilia in front of her and pushing him as hard as she could as they approached the next right. Tala inched ahead on the exit because she had carried a little more momentum into the turn and got on the throttle a bit quicker. The Aprilia tried to push her wide on the turn but Tala closed the gap on him instead and forced him to lose his line. She shot ahead and he got passed by the Honda CBR1000RR right on their tail. Now in third place she pushed as hard as she could to close the gap that had grown while she battled the Aprilia. She was two bike lengths behind the second place BMW when they hit the long straight in front of pit row. That bike was wicked fast and Tala actually lost a little of what she had gained through the curvy midsection of the track. But she was determined to show the BMW that she was here to race, not play follow-the-leader.

  While the lead Ducati and the BMW were reducing their speed and approaching the turn at the end of the 200 mph straight under the control of their advanced traction control, Tala hung onto the throttle until the last possible moment and didn’t hit her brakes until she was dead even with the BMW. He only caught a glimpse of her as she passed him and slammed the powerful Ducati into a controlled slide, squaring off the corner in front of the traction-controlled BMW. With tires smoking all the way through the turn, Tala hit the throttle at the curves apex and shot forward as the spinning tire grabbed traction. Her Ducati was in a leaned-over wheelie through half of the next short straight before she got the front wheel on the ground and quickly threw the bike into the immediate left.

  The BMW had to adjust his line mid-corner and fell behind Tala almost three bike lengths by the time he exited the next corner. Tala was now six lengths behind the lead Factory Sponsored Ducati. She put her head down and gave each lap all she had for the next four laps and soon found herself smelling the fumes of the lead bike and according to her pit-board, over five seconds ahead of the third place CBR1000RR, followed closely by the Aprilia; the BMW had crashed-out trying to catch the girl in pink. His bid for the Championship was over. For the next three laps the two Ducati’s were engaged in the best racing seen all season. The Factory machine definitely had the performance advantage; Tala realized that all Ducati’s were not created equal. She couldn’t close the gaps on the straightaway and knew she had to outride him through the inside section of the track. They had exchanged the lead a few more times during the next two laps and were given the white flag for one lap to go as they both crossed the flagman side-by-side. This time Tala shot past the lead bike as he hit the brakes at the last second to set up for the approaching corner. Everyone knew Tala was going to overshoot the corner and jump the curb. Instead, she hit the brake so hard that the rear wheel left the ground and the front tire was smoking. She quickly threw the bike into a high speed power-slide the second the rear tire regained contact with the track. The spectators gasped as she appeared to be ready to high-side mid-corner. Without traction control restricting the power to her sliding rear wheel, she was able to drop one gear and give the bike full throttle while leaned over. It almost looked like she was doing a burn-out through the entire corner. When the smoking tire finally grabbed the pavement the bike once again began to wheelie for the exit corner and she almost lost her line for the following right. With knee and elbow to the pavement, she went through the corner without even slowing down. She was one bike length ahead as she exited the chicane and hit the long sweeping high speed turn before the final strait. At over a hundred and eighty mph she exited the sweeper and shifted to fifth then sixth gear accelerating to 198mph as she crossed the finish line and the checkered flag, half a bike length in front of the Ducati that was clocked at 201. That was when the very worn-out and thread-bare rear tire exploded. It immediately went into a wheel-locked tank slapper and high-sided instantly, throwing Tala like a slingshot, hundreds of feet down the track. While she tumble end-over-end, dozens of bikes quickly swerved and slid to keep from hitting the pink object in the middle of the track.

  Brad’s first instinct was to run to Tala, but knew it would endanger him and every rider on the track. Neil said a quick prayer and watched anxiously as the speeding bikes running at maximum speed tried to avoid the fallen rider. It seemed like a lifetime as Paul and Kary watched from the bleachers on the opposite side of the track. Kary knew that Tala was tougher than a normal person, but still worried about his Granddaughter, Paul was not concerned about the tumbling pink ball flipping and rolling down the pavement, he was concerned about a 200 mph motorcycle hitting her in a direct impact. The quick thinking corner flagmen began to slow the approaching bikes as they entered the long sweeping turn before the straight. The remaining 30 bikes managed to reduce their speed before they approached the finish line. It had been an exciting finish for the front ten riders but a bit anticlimactic when the last 30 practically idled across the finish line and headed for the pits. There would be no victory lap for Tala Verron; the Ducati was pretty much disintegrated from the nearly 200 mph crash. Bits and pieces littered the track for hundreds of feet. By the time the track cleared enough for the emergency workers to enter the track Tala rose to her feet and took a bow toward the grandstand then did a back-flip landing perfectly on he
r feet. She then removed her helmet and let the wind blow her wild red hair.

  The rider on the Aprilia that she had battled so hard in the earlier laps rolled up beside her and had her climb on. He rode her slowly around the track for her victory lap. The spectators went wild as Tala finished her victory lap and rolled into victory lane on the back of the 3rd Place Bike. The man she had just beaten on the Ducati had lost his chance for a World Championship bid. But the Aprilia’s 3rd had secured him the number 1 spot in the point standing. The Ducati that finished second didn’t have the points he needed to clinch first and ended up with the number 2 over-all point standing. Tala had definitely upset the FIM point standings. The Aprilia rider was an incredibly good sport; Tala had just helped him win a championship by beating the Ducati. The temperamental Spaniard on the Ducati glared at Tala with venom in his eyes as they stood on the podium. Ducati almost had another World Championship wrapped-up and it had just been blown by a wild-card rider on a non-factory team. Ducati may have finished 1st and 2nd in the race, but Aprilia would take the FIM World Superbike title.