Drone Racer

by Andy Briggs

  India clutched her heart as if she had been stabbed and wailed theatrically. “Ow! So cruel.” Then she gave him a playful scowl. “Only just third. In the world championships the first heat is for the world’s third-place losers, like me. The winning two go to the second heat – all the second-place losers. And the winning two from that…”

  “Get to race with us kings—” Carson felt Trix kick him under the table. “And queens,” he quickly added.

  “Exactly, hot shot. Watch your back.” She extended two fingers and pointed to her eyes – then swivelled them around to indicate she would be watching him.

  Carson grinned and duplicated the gesture as she disappeared back to her table. It took a moment for him to realize Kay was staring at him with one eyebrow raised.

  “What?” said Carson, his cheeks burning as he focused on his breakfast.

  Kay dropped the bombshell as they crossed the lobby to meet Hyo.

  “I’m coming with you to check all this drone stuff out.”

  Eddie was horrified. “You’re what now?” He noticed the smile she flashed towards the dashing American team pilot. “You can’t come.”

  “Sure I can. After all, I can’t let my little brother enjoy all of this attention without me. You’re a minor celebrity now! Emphasis on minor.”

  Eddie, Trix and Carson exchanged troubled looks, but couldn’t think of anything to put her off.

  Hyo was energetically bouncing from one foot to the other as she met them in the lobby. She kept touching her ear as she talked.

  “Good morning, Carsonators! Yes, we’re in position. I hope you had a good night’s sleep? We’re on our way and they wanted bottles of shampoo. Is there anything you need?”

  “Um … it was all good,” said Carson. “We’re ready.”

  Hyo smiled enthusiastically. “Their toilet is blocked!”

  Carson assumed that was directed to her headset.

  “Let’s go!”

  It took them a moment to realize she was talking to them. Hyo marshalled them through the revolving doors and outside, straight into a mob of reporters. Camera flashes went off and microphones with TV logos from around the world were thrust towards them. The questions came thick and fast.

  “Carsonators! As the youngest competitors, do you think you stand a chance against the other teams? How do you like Seoul? What made you want to race drones?”

  The trio reeled off a few short answers: “Of course! Brilliant! I was rubbish at football…” before Hyo led them to a private car and they bundled inside – except Kay, who took her time, making the most of the limelight, before Eddie finally yanked her into the vehicle and they headed to the stadium.

  As they approached, they could see enormous Contractor League banners hanging all over it, welcoming people in many languages. It certainly looked more impressive than any league event they had seen so far. Kay documented everything on her mobile phone’s camera.

  “It looks big,” said Trix with her face pressed against the window.

  Hyo clapped her hands. “It’s huge! We are expecting thirty thousand people to attend, and it will be shown on sports channels and online all around the globe! As Mr Marcus Nation says, this is the dawn of a new international sport!”

  “Sorry, how many?” Eddie asked, convinced he’d misheard her.

  “Thirty thousand!”

  Carson swapped alarmed looks with his friends.

  “So much for pretending we’re not here,” he muttered ominously.

  Chapter 27

  AND THEY BEGIN…

  On arrival, Hyo took them directly to the racing paddock under the stadium so they could set up. Kay had been less than impressed with the grungy, garage-like atmosphere, so Hyo arranged a VIP booth so she could watch the games in comfort.

  The Carsonators were given the opportunity to do a sight lap, as everybody else had practised the day before. The course was bigger and trickier than the UK final, and the air was more humid, so Carson soon found that his VR headset kept fogging up.

  Marcus Nation bounded over in his trademark Hawaiian shirt. As ever, he was brimming with enthusiasm.

  “Carsonators! I’m so happy you made it. We were all beginning to worry.” He laughed jovially. “In fact, we’d promised to bump Logan46 into the finals to represent the UK if you didn’t come, but here you are!”

  Another reason for Logan46 to hate us, thought Carson. Outwardly he nodded and smiled.

  “As if we’d miss this.”

  “Well, best of luck. And watch out for those Russians. They’re flying Sledgehammer and have been top of all the racing leagues. They destroyed their competition back in Russia – I mean literally ground their rivals to dust. And they’re boasting about how they’re going to take you down. They’re full of surprises.” He winked and walked away.

  “He’s always such a ray of sunshine,” snarked Trix.

  The noise from the growing crowds was a dull, rumbling roar as it reverberated in the hall beneath the stadium where all the teams had been assembled. Flags from the competing teams hung from poles mounted to the workbenches.

  As usual, the Carsonators had nothing to do before the race, so they placed Vanta on the bench and sat with their feet up, watching, as people frantically ran to and fro around them, seeking replacement parts and attempting last-minute changes to their drones.

  On the bench closest to them, they watched as the Japanese entry, Shuriken, was tuned up. Trix studied the drone’s unusual star-shaped body and spotted that the edges were razor sharp – and could spin at high speed, like a throwing star.

  “Not such a secret weapon,” she said, pointing it out to Carson.

  Eddie took the time to read the championship race rules. As India had explained to them, each heat would consist of ten laps.

  “There’s some new rules here. There are green hoops on the course. Failure to pass through them means we’re hit with a three-second time penalty. Got that?”

  Carson nodded, although he didn’t like the idea of piling more rules on top of navigating what was already a complicated course. Eddie continued reading.

  “They also encourage racers to arm their drones with ingenious and devastating weapons.” He looked up from the iPad and gave Vanta a thumbs up. “I think we might have that covered.”

  The little drone responded by extending the small rocket pod hidden in her belly. The same one that had helped Carson escape through the shopping-centre roof.

  “Put that away,” said Carson. “Let’s try and win this without blowing everybody up.”

  “Killjoy,” Trix mumbled as Hyo enthusiastically bounded over, carrying a parcel.

  “Ms Trix, this arrived for you!” Hyo handed it over. “Straight from Japan!” She pointed at the stamps on it.

  “You have fan mail?” Eddie asked, with a trace of jealousy.

  Trix tore open the packaging. “No. I ordered something online for us, but I wasn’t sure whether it would arrive in time.” She lifted a plain cardboard box out of the parcel and set about opening that. She then pulled out a pair of VR goggles that looked very different from the ones Carson usually wore. Instead of sliding a phone inside to act as the screen, there was a curved glass screen already built into the headset.

  “Ta-da!” Trix handed the goggles to Carson. “These are custom-built according to my specifications, the best I could buy with the prize money we had left.” She reached out and tapped the screen. “This is super high-definition, far better than our phones. It should cut down on motion sickness and not strain your eyes, keeping you more focused.”

  “You are the best!” Carson said, examining them.

  Trix pointed to the black mesh panels on the side. “These are for airflow. There’s no point in sweating yourself into a puddle, especially in this climate. The speakers are built into the side of the headset, and I’ve added a microphone so you can easily communicate with us all. It connects to your phone for better coverage.”

  Hyo gave a giggle of appreciatio
n, then her hand shot to her ever-present earpiece and she listened intently. Then she waved at the team. “See you later! Good luck!” and she walked briskly away, presumably having been called to address another situation.

  Carson lifted the goggles over his head and pulled them down to rest on his forehead. “Listen. I was thinking. Maybe we should split the laps…”

  Trix wagged her finger. “No way. I won the last race because you gave me a great idea. Without that, we would have been third. You and Vanta are the perfect team here. This is the world championship. This is your race, Carson.”

  “Our race.” He fist-bumped her.

  All the teams headed to the edge of the pitch for the start of the event. It was already twilight and the enormous arena was filled with neon, smoke and blazing lights. The thirty-thousand-strong crowd only filled half the stadium but made up for it in noise. There were no empty seats, though, as the race course filled not only the pitch, but extended to the end seating areas, cutting the arena in half to make full use of the space. Jumbo video screens were angled everywhere to capture the action from dozens of video cameras. They even had cameras mounted on drones to capture footage from the heart of the race.

  The team’s racing platform was a stage extended out into the arena. The view was blocked by obstacles dotted around the racecourse, which meant Trix could only be a useful co-pilot over half the course.

  The area was separated from the grandstand by security gates that only opened when they pressed their badges against a sensor. The door behind them led straight back to the racing paddock under the stadium.

  Carson watched the third-place teams assemble on the edge of the course, and India stood out, with her red hair. She didn’t look his way or at the massive crowds; she was focusing all attention on Sixtus. Even from this distance, Carson could see that she had made some modifications, including covers that protected the drone’s propellers.

  Marcus Nation gave a warm-up speech as the drones took to the air for the hot lap, keeping in perfect formation so the crowd could appreciate them. Carson had planned to pay attention so he could learn from these racers where the real perils lay, but he felt a jab in his arm. He turned around, straight into the angry Logan46 team.

  “You stole our place in the final heat!” growled Logan.

  “How can we steal something that was ours to begin with?” asked Carson, who, after events over the last few days, couldn’t care less about his rival’s bullying. “You were second-place losers, Logan. And you were lucky to get that!”

  Logan blinked in surprised, clearly not used to anybody talking back to him.

  Before he could say anything, Carson continued. “I will be cheering you on to win your heat, just so I can blow you off the track all over again!”

  Logan scowled but was lost for any comeback. Other teams nearby had caught the exchange and started to chuckle. Furious, Logan and his team stormed away.

  The feelings of anger quickly vanished when the other racers nodded at Carson and threw him thumbs up. Rippling with newfound confidence, Carson turned back to the track just as the first-heat drones sped over the line and the race began in earnest.

  With everybody outside, Vanta found herself alone. She hopped around, looking at her rivals, who sat motionless on the tables. The only noise came from the muffled sounds of the stadium above.

  “Hello?” she said. Nothing stirred. She regarded her rivals sadly. “So that’s what life would be like if I were deleted or if I ran out of power? Nothing more than bolts and circuits…”

  The sound of approaching footsteps made her lapse into silence. Somebody had entered the paddock and was slowly walking between the tables as if searching for something. Then familiar voices…

  “It’s over here!”

  Logan and his cronies hurried over the Vanta. One of them already had a screwdriver in his hand.

  “If the damage is subtle, there’s no way they’ll work out what’s wrong with it.”

  The screwdriver loomed closer to Vanta. Carson had been strict about her not giving away her secret in public, but right now she felt she didn’t have a choice as the cold metal of the screwdriver pressed against her engine cowl.

  “Hey! What’re you doing?”

  Team Logan froze, caught in the act of sabotage. Vanta was facing the wrong way, and her rear cameras were blocked by the workbench wall, but she heard several people run over as Logan hastily moved away with his hands raised.

  “Nothing! I just noticed this isn’t our drone. Silly me. I—”

  Whatever he wanted to say next came out in a gasp as a Taser hit him in the chest and he tumbled to the floor from the electric shock pumping through him. His two pals only made it a few steps backwards before they were similarly struck down, writhing on the floor.

  Vanta had assumed her saviours were stadium security guards, but her hopes were dashed when Agent Bevan stepped into view, staring at her with a gleam in his eye.

  “I know it’s you, AG-421 Vanta Hawk. We analysed the race footage carefully. Smaller, but still the same.”

  He hit a switch on the Taser and the wires retracted back into the weapon. With a low hum it recharged. He aimed the Taser at Vanta. With a sudden silent spin of her rotors, the drone hopped backwards on to another team’s adjacent bench, her cameras scanning left and right at the tools around her.

  Bevan strode forward. “You’re not going anywhere. It’s time I put you to sleep.”

  Vanta suddenly surged sideways at full speed – knocking a soldering iron forward from the bench with such precision that it arced to the floor and struck the man’s shin. There was a loud hissing noise as the hot tip burned through his trouser leg and scorched the skin beneath.

  He howled and as he hopped aside, his finger squeezed the trigger. The Taser darts shot out and embedded themselves harmlessly into the bench.

  Without thinking, Agent Bevan tried to adjust his aim as Vanta zipped off the table, but the Taser wires pulled taut, yanking the weapon from his hand. Bevan tried to scramble after it – in doing so he took his eyes off the drone – which was a terrible mistake.

  Vanta had already begun zooming towards him, and she rammed her propellers into his fat fingers. She could still hear him howling as she raced from the room.

  Chapter 28

  CLOSING IN

  Carson punched the air with delight as Sixtus shot across the finishing line in second place.

  “That means India is through to the second heat!”

  “Whoop-de-doo,” Trix replied flatly. “You should be more concerned about our race.” A frown crossed her face as she looked past Carson. He turned to see what was going on – just as Vanta gently landed in his arms.

  “What’s going on?” he said before realizing the other racers were giving him peculiar looks. Carson quickly faked a laugh and hurried away from the others. “Oh, very funny!” he shouted to nobody in particular. Everybody’s attention drifted back to the race, assuming Vanta’s flight was just a silly prank. Trix and Eddie hurried after him, heading down the tunnel that led to the paddock.

  “What’re you doing?” he hissed at Vanta.

  “They’re here!”

  Carson looked up at the flurry of footsteps as Agent Anders and Bevan appeared at the other end of the tunnel. Bevan was sucking his fingers. He pointed directly at Carson.

  “Stop right there!”

  Without hesitation, Carson turned and ran. “Come on!”

  Trix and Eddie didn’t need to be told twice. They pelted through the viewing area as the first-heat teams returned, crossing with the second-heat racers who were preparing to step on to the field. The extra confusion was just what they needed. The milling crowds slowed the agents down just enough for Carson, Trix and Eddie to reach the security gate that led into the main grandstand.

  “The controller is still on the bench,” Carson suddenly exclaimed as he pressed his security card against the gate’s sensor. The gate beeped and they tumbled out into the grandstand ju
st as the stadium began cheering and clapping: the second-heat contestants were taking their places on the launch pads.

  “You don’t need it! And you have them!” Trix gestured towards the goggles around his neck.

  “If we’re not controlling Vanta, we can’t race,” Carson stated, much to Eddie’s surprise. “You were right,” he added. “And my mum would agree with you too.”

  Trix considered arguing, but what was the point. She sighed. “Eddie and I’ll get the controller! Meet us under that support tower!” She pointed to a concrete post halfway around the stadium, poking from the top tier of the grandstand. It stretched higher to support the roof.

  Carson nodded, then sprinted up the steps while the other two ran down the steep incline.

  Behind them, Bevan emerged from the paddock. He quickly looked between his targets and chose Carson to pursue.

  The steep steps were already causing Carson to fight for breath. He stumbled as he misjudged the edge of one, falling to his hands and knees – dropping Vanta as he fell. The drone took straight to the air and hovered around his shoulder.

  “Hurry!” she urged Carson.

  The people around them saw what was going on and assumed it was part of the show.

  Agent Bevan reached into his jacket for his Taser but didn’t dare draw it out in front of so many cameras and witnesses. His indecision was enough for Vanta to arc down at speed and clip him under the chin with her main body in what would have been a perfect right hook. The man was lifted from his feet as he flipped backwards – landing on two other men in black bomber jackets who had been following close behind. The three of them tumbled down the steps.

  Carson pushed himself back up and sprang up five more steps, his leg muscles aching with each bound. Then he found himself midway up the grandstand, on a level walkway that circled the stadium. He ran for his life as Vanta caught up with him.

  Down below, in the stadium, Marcus Nation announced the second-heat hot lap was about to start.

  Trix and Eddie sprinted in a long circle at the edge of the pitch, turning back towards another entrance to the team paddock. A security door blocked their path. Pressing their pass cards against the scanner, it opened and they entered a concrete passage. They checked the agents weren’t following them before slamming it shut.