Dawn of Modern Man

by Nick Plastino

  Chad Teager was the favorite, a New Yorker with an attitude. Teager was a jerk, a character, somebody the media loved. Parker thought he was mostly the favorite because of the market he represented, not necessarily because of his skill. The rider threw disc rings. He was particularly good at it and when done right it was capable of being lethal, especially at low altitude. But Teager always seemed to forget about a thing or two in the race.

  Parker crossed his fingers hoping this would be the race. If his rider didn’t win he would be six hours in debt to the UAN. After seeing the field, Parker felt things were lining up in his favor. Cad bet on Teager straight across to win, which had a payout of 3 to 1.

  Matilda, the racer Parker chose, had 3 to 1 odds of placing third or higher. Parker felt he could win his money back with a show bet, but he wanted to stick with his strategy so he didn’t beat himself up if she took first and he didn’t come out ahead. He made a straight across bet on Matilda Scott. The bet could win all his money back and a healthy amount more. He reminded himself that the strategy should work. Even though he knew the outcome relied on luck, Parker thought he knew one of the defensive players would make it. If not, it would be the first time in years it didn’t happen. Parker thought he had an ace up his sleeve. He was still antsy about it. He tried to tell himself if Matilda didn’t get first, he wasn’t down too much. Paying it off was usually a fun time in the Cloud anyways.

  “You guys, pick Teager. This is an easy choice,” Cad said.

  “I’m going with Matilda.”

  “I’m going with her too,” Dunc said.

  “Nope, you’ll be sorry, I’m betting big on Teager to win it straight across.”

  “What did you bet? The winnings so far?” Parker asked.

  “Parker, you need to know everything don’t you? I bet enough to take us all to dinner after I win,” Cad said.

  Parker smiled. “I like your style, Cad, except you know my dinner isn’t cheap.”

  “Well if I’m paying, I choose.” “Fair enough,” Parker nodded.

  Dunc spoke up, “What makes you so sure Teager is going to win?” “He rides for the biggest gambling market in the field. You guys

  know people pay money for things to happen in these races. I mean there is too much money floating around for there not to be an outside influence.”

  Parker shook his head and said, “No, no, that’s not true really. I mean, sure it’s questionable, but who is paying the money and how does this infrastructure work? They could maybe move one race around somehow by paying someone off. But…”

  “Exactly,” Cad said as he smiled, “You see, each race has a predetermined winner.”

  “No, that’s not what I said. One race might have one, somehow, but really I don’t think any of them do.”

  “I think all of them do. And if any of them did, it would be a race with Chad Teager in it,” Cad said.

  “Yeah, if any of them do it probably is the one with Teager in it. No way am I betting against Matilda Scott though. That’s my bitch,” Dunc said.

  Parker suddenly felt a little queasy about the bet he made. He assured himself though he didn’t make a mistake, “Matilda Scott might be a come-from-behind kind of choice, but she’s got the best chance in this field by my calculations.”

  “Oh, you think you have better calculations than the bookie?” Cad quickly replied.

  Parker rolled his eyes. “You know that’s not exactly what I meant. But yeah, I’ve got a strategy, just like you do, which is apparently bet on the best odds. It has worked so far. I’ll give you that.”

  “That’s not my strategy. Mine revolves around which rider has the most influence in the gambling world. See, I know what I’m doing. An Egyptian may not appear to have influence in the gambling markets, but they do. The racer in the region with the most money behind him is Amir Selctar, he took first and rides with a group that has major pull with the Middle East gambling market, which is probably the biggest in the world. People have too much money riding on the game not to protect it.”

  Parker liked the sounds of Cad’s strategy, but then quickly became contrarian. “That all sounds fine and dandy, but can you explain to me how this system works?” Parker paused and then interrupted the silence before anyone else tried to, “No, don’t. That’s not how it works. Thugs may be a part of it and twist an outcome or two, but upsets happen all the time. They are bound to happen. Sure, one hasn’t happened yet today. Which means the racer I chose should probably have the best odds.”

  Cad smirked. “Parker, you know the outcome of the other races doesn’t have an effect on the outcome of this race, right?”

  Parker knew what Cad was getting at, “Well you are right to a point. But you should know just as well as anybody that any racer can win. We’ve all seen it. There’s no way that every racer is in on some sort of gambling scheme. There are too many racers and too many people involved for that kind of influence. Maybe Teager is supposed to lose. Did you ever think of it like that?” Parker said.

  “Parker. Who’s been picking the winners today?” Cad asked.

  Parker shook his head, not wanting to answer.

  Dunc replied instead and said, “I picked one and you picked two.

  There’s three races.”

  “Nice of you to chime in, Dunc,” Cad said as he turned his head towards Parker, “He has more say than the guy down by the most, that’s for sure.”

  Parker shook his head. He turned his attention to the sonovision. The tension in the room between Cad and Parker was growing.

  Dunc broke the silence when he said, “Well, I’m doing fine. There’s only been two races. So if my racer wins this one and yours doesn’t, we’ll have picked the same amount of races. Won’t we have?”

  Parker relaxed his shoulders.

  “Yeah, except we all know you aren’t basing your bets on anything,” Cad sounded drunk. After he spoke he smiled and mouthed the word, ‘sorry.’ Then turned his head towards Parker, slanted forward as he gazed, as if to say, I’m right and you’re wrong.

  “You don’t need to be sorry about nothing.” Dunc talked loud. “In fact you’ll probably be sorry after the race. How much did you bet on it anyway?”

  “Enough to pay for dinner,” Cad said as his confidence seemed to fade.

  Dunc smiled and exhaled while looking away, “Anything can happen in these races, man.”

  “He’s right, anything can happen,” Parker added.

  “You guys will see. I got this figured out,” Cad’s confidence seemed to no longer be dwindling and leveled off at sure enough.

  The guys’ conversation ended just as the sonovision in the middle of the rig began to focus on the starting line. The shot came from behind and showed the six riders on the ground, side by side, hunched over the handlebars ready to go. Everything looked three dimensional, the sonovision had depth. The image was as thick as it was wide. The guys were all staring at the racers as the camera passed the starting line and began to pan across from the front. Each racer was shown up close. Their shiny helmets all had different markings, and their suits’ colors made it easy to distinguish one from the other. The blank face of the helmet didn’t give way to a human rider; it was the hands at the handlebars and planted feet that showed man and machine at their best. The starting line was a spectacle of human ingenuity, plus with the product of our thirst for violent competition, each racer seemed like a lethal warrior with no fear.

  The guys’ attention was squarely focused on the race. They were all eager for the start.

  The starting light began its countdown. The first yellow light lit up. Ping. The second, Ping, the third, Ping, the green light flashed. The jet-cycles thundered off the starting line. Teager, who rode in orange and black tiger stripes, jumped out in front. He made a move with one of his saucer rings a split second into the race, which was one of the most treacherous parts. Teager tossed his ring, skimming the back of Matilda and nailing the helmet of the next rider down, knocking him to the gro
und and eliminating the racer.

  The guys let out an ooh as the rider from Paraguay was knocked off. “What I’d tell ya, guys?” Cad began to rub it in early. He had every reason to be happy, his rider looked solid, through and through.

  Matilda kept pace through the start. She wore a suit that was mostly dark purple with gold highlights. She stayed in the mix of it riding defensively, avoiding other riders and keeping an altitude difference. She rode high, which was the best angle to use the sharp shooter weapon.

  Teager was off to a better start. His jet-cycle seemed faster, his jump at the line got him far ahead, and how did he pull it off while throwing a ring at the same time? Well the commentators answered that one quickly, “Teager showed up to the race, we all know preparation is key and this would be, could be champ is relentless. He’s in the film room studying ways to get ahead. It wasn’t an accident he hit the Peruvian, Hernando Muscatta, I’m sure he knew it was Muscatta’s most vulnerable moment in the race. And look, the time in the film room paid off. He’s off to an amazing start and the field is minus one.”

  The media loved Teager, he had the It factor and he was from a large New York market. Whenever possible, they seemed to jack him off, just play him up like some kind of All-American hero, when really he had a pretty dodgy history and a rap sheet to show for it. Two disputes of domestic violence, a public disturbance charge and a known adulterer. The behavior was deemed appropriate for a Body-Rocket racing champ.

  Parker knew Teager was a formidable opponent and that the field had their work cut out against a guy like him. After the beginning of the race, he felt better about his pick. There were three laps. Sure Teager was impressive with his eliminating ring toss, but to Parker it looked as though he was aiming for Matilda and missed. The shot was lucky. Parker knew Matilda was Teager’s biggest threat, and he knew that Teager was aware of it too. He went for the elimination. She avoided it and stayed close. She was quick around corners and had a jet-cycle that specialized in speed. Like a falcon, she flew fastest diving down. Parker felt he still had a lot to be optimistic about.

  Teager was Matilda’s biggest concern. He was quick and made incredible turns around giant trees. He flew low to the ground, it was his defense. He was quick enough through terrain to stay in first. He only came above the tree line if the check-point ring required him to. He dodged through misplaced boulders and skimmed the mountain top like a pro. The course went through the Sierra Nevada mountain range, in South Lake Tahoe. The alpine terrain was considered some of the most difficult. Not only did low flyers contend with the rugged landscape, high flyers fought whirling wind and deceptive depths.

  The race brought in swaths of people from around the world that wanted to see it in person, but it was widely recognized as a sport that was better to watch on a sonovision. It was considered dangerous for spectators since sometimes debris from a crash would wound or kill somebody in the stands placed around the course. The danger or inability to watch the race vividly from the comfort of home didn’t matter too much though, people paid steep prices to get a chance to be at the prelims. It was at least a month salary for low level grid crop. Things were even more expensive in a place like Tahoe. It was truly a hodgepodge crowd of moneymaking elite.

  The racers were pros though; the course didn’t seem to faze them too much, especially at the prelim level.

  The field had stayed steady throughout the first two laps. Teager had a nice lead, followed by a group of three riders trading place for second. Matilda was in the mix.

  Cad spoke up, “Anybody want to double down?” He was glowing with confidence.

  Dunc shrugged off the bet and said, “Nope.”

  The tension seemed to only be felt by Parker. He still wanted to win, and win big. He could afford the bet. He wanted Cad to put his money where his mouth was too. Matilda would do something, she had won the last two races in the final lap, Parker kept telling himself this throughout the race. He wondered if Cad could afford the bet and then spoke up, “Are you sure enough to go an hour on this one?”

  “Yeah, let’s do an hour, between you and me,” Cad was serious, “I think you just don’t know when to quit.”

  “It’s confirmed then. One-hour bet between Parker Sanders and Cadmus Updike.” Parker punched the bet into his mobile and sent the confirmation over to Cad. Cad accepted on his mobile device.

  “Oh it’s on now, Parker. I hope you have the time in your account to pay me tonight.”

  “Cad, relax,” Parker said a little too loud, he was antsy, bouncing his knee up and down and folding his hands into one another.

  “I think YOU need to relax, buddy,” Cad said speaking over the race as Dunc started turning up the volume.

  “Shhh,” Dunc was focused on the race and trying to listen to the commentators.

  The volume was loud and the illustrious professional voice of the commentator chimed in, “Teager has been riding a solid race, but as we come up to the third leg of the last lap we see him entering the most dangerous part of the race. He’s climbing Mott Canyon of Heavenly Mountain to reach the exposed check-point ring. And it looks… yes it looks like Matilda Scott the sharp shooter is getting in position to take a shot at the leader.” The commentary went on.

  Dunc swung his fist into the air in front of him. “That’s what I’m talking about.” He turned towards Cad and asked, “What do you have to say now?”

  “Shut up. Shut up,” Cad was beside himself, staring at the race. Parker sat in silence. He crossed his fingers behind his back.

  The race would be determined in a matter of moments.

  Matilda shot up after passing through the ring just before the open stretch that exposed all the riders. The screen the guys were watching showed her taking aim at Teager. Matilda was lasered in, completely focused. Both hands were off the handlebars and she was hanging to the side of her jet-cycle. She was elegantly contorted as she drew her bow back. She looked like a hunter taking aim.

  “Take it!” Parker yelled.

  Matilda released, the bow launching a beam aimed to destroy Teager’s jet-cycle. She immediately dropped the weapon and grabbed the handle bars. She dove the jet-cycle down like a bird of prey on a mission. Right as she started making her descent towards the check-point ring, Teager’s jet-cycle short circuited. The shot hit. The jet-cycle started falling out of the sky.

  “No! Fuck!” Cad screamed.

  Teager’s parachute opened, he landed seconds later as Matilda made the low check-point ring with inches to spare.

  Cad looked depleted.

  Parker and Dunc were still focused on the race.

  Matilda rode low and fast for the remaining rings. No one caught up. “Looks like I just won for the day,” Parker said with both arms

  above his head. He looked over and became mindful of how pissed Cad was.

  “Shit! Shit!” Cad yelled as he looked worried. He then took a deep breath. “I’m still up about 10 minutes I think. Yeah I lost most my shit to you, Parker,” Cad said as the tone in his voice went from mad to realizing he wasn’t in too bad a shape. “I still got more than I started with. Not too shabby. No dinner though, bitches.”

  “I don’t know why if you start winning a little bit you offered to take us out anyways,” Dunc said.

  “Guess I was in a pretty good mood,” Cad replied. All the guys laughed.

  Parker spoke, “And we still got a long night in front of us. I bet the city will be fun.”

  “Thought we were going to Whidbey?” Cad asked.

  “I got a message from my folks saying they’re in San Francisco. They’d prefer I didn’t stay at their place. You know, they think I’ll throw a party or something. I was thinking, stay in a hive or crash in the truck?” Parker asked.

  Dunc nodded.

  “Sounds good to me, man,” Cad said. The ramifications of the race were momentary. Cad looked happy and eager for the night.

  “I think the city will be fun anyways. All the lights. All the girls. All the
stuff. There are good places to eat everywhere,” Parker said. It wasn’t often he explored a big city in real life. “We should get some food and drinks.”

  Cad and Dunc nodded in agreement.

  C H A P T E R 1 4

  Jenny Albertson and her cameraman, Jean, were on the Golack assignment. Jenny was a reporter for the CRN Action News Team. This was one of her first national assignments and she was excited about traveling outside the studio in Connecticut. “Jenny Albertson reporting live for CRN Action News,” she said this roughly a hundred times on the plane ride, all while making minor adjustments to her makeup or the way her blouse fitted. It was clear she was a bit nervous. Jean on the other hand had been doing this kind of thing for a long time and had dealt with more than one reporter like Jenny.

  He’d been around the world filming everything from Elephant preservation to the Indonesian Mineral Wars. Conflict coverage was when he dealt with the pros in the media business. A seasoned news vet would sometimes not even talk about the story at all on the flight. They may even read something entirely different to take their mind off it. Jean understood that. Who wants to talk about how bad a war is just before they get there? He liked quietness on the plane rides. He understood the extra prep somebody like Jenny Albertson was taking. It didn’t bother him, he’d rather work with somebody prepared than have to do retakes or whatnot. Plus, he liked spending a day with a woman as beautiful as Jenny Albertson even if she was self-absorbed. It was understandable under the circumstances.

  They were parked in a dirt parking lot. It had been raining for several days prior and the mud at their feet gave way to a strong aroma. At the bottom of the trail that lead to the yurt community there were five other news teams preparing to make the hike. Jenny looked around and noticed how two of the other teams, BNC and NNA, had some of their top dogs on the coverage. She spoke quietly enough so just Jean could hear, “You see that, BNC brought Brice Porter. This is going to be a big story.”