Space Race (Space Race 1) Nathan Hystad (ebooks children's books free .TXT) 📖

may I speak?” Bryson sat beside Jade, facing Luther and me, and Holland hesitantly joined him.

“Sure.” I crossed my arms and waited.

“Nothing of this magnitude has ever occurred in the history of Earth.” His voice was level as he spoke. “The Race will be momentous, and will create work for thousands, if not millions, of people. Not only Primary, by the way. A lot of the efforts are being outsourced to the rest of the corporations. Regardless of this fact, it’s not the Race that I’m interested in.”

“Really?” Holland asked. He seemed even younger as he sat beside his father, a clone less than half the CEO’s age. The guy was as smooth-cheeked and green as they came.

“No, son. It’s the prize.” Bryson used the table’s keypad, bringing another projection up at the end of the room. The lights dimmed simultaneously, and the image showed a familiar system: Alpha Centauri.

The three stars glowed brightly, and it centered on the outer one, Proxima Centauri. “The first rights to Proxima b are being allocated as the prize. This is what we want.”

“Why have they waited so long to expand beyond our solar system?” Luther asked.

“As many of you know, we stopped sending expeditions after the last one vanished. Since then, no one’s attempted the journey, despite numerous protests and petitions by the Primary Corps. All signs show that the planet is habitable, but despite that, the entire system will open up so many doors for us. Imagine the mining. The secrets it holds. It will take a battle of skill, determination, and heart to master the Race, but I feel we’ve amassed the proper combination with you four.”

“What do you expect to discover out there?” Hearing about my grandfather’s mission to Proxima brought it all back. The feeling I’d experienced when he’d first told me about the assignment. The expression on my father’s face when he’d told me Obelisk had been destroyed.

“Who’s to say? But it’ll be worth so much to our people to find out. Imagine it. Expansion to another planet, and not another low atmospheric bubble like on Mars or Saturn’s Triples. SeaTech will be able to sell pieces to the others if we so choose, and we’ll rise to the top. Which is all well and good, but this is about more than that.”

“What’s more than reaching number one?” Luther asked him.

“The expansion of our species,” Bryson told us.

I raised a hand, and he dismissed me with a wave. “But we have enough to digest today. Please, discuss it amongst yourselves, and tomorrow, we begin training.”

Luther held his glass. “Tomorrow? When does the Race begin?”

“Two months’ time. We’re far behind, with the rest of the Corps prepping their teams for the last six months or so.” Bryson walked away.

“We don’t even have a ship,” I muttered.

“I think you already saw her, Arlo.” And with that, he was off.

I’d passed the Racer? The image of the red streak overhead Capricious flashed into my mind. That couldn’t have been it.

“Is he serious about this?” Jade asked Holland.

He’d lost his smile somewhere along the way, but found it again. “Sure. Who doesn’t want to visit another solar system?”

“And how are we going to do that?” Luther asked him. “We’re not a team. I couldn’t even tell you what I bring to the table.”

I stared at the younger Kelley. “It’s been years since I flew a Pod Sprinter.”

“That’s my role. Arlo, you’re the team lead. We start near Earth, move to Mars next, which is my specialty. The race is over Arabia Terra. From there, we head to Saturn, have another cut-off checkpoint, and continue to Neptune for the finale.” Holland sat up straighter when he said this.

“Just like that?” Jade asked. “How long does this take?”

“Should be under a week.”

I realized how little of the great Space Race I understood. I’d been a Pod sprinter, one of the best there ever was, but when my idol had disappeared on that Proxima mission, I’d told myself I couldn’t do it any longer. Without Preston Lewis at my side, there wasn’t a point. Witnessing Holland’s excitement sparked something in me, a dormant need to compete.

“Tell us more.” I reached for my drink and sipped it, noticing Jade fidgeting with her sleeve. She stared at a loose thread, and we all listened as the young prodigy described with fervor the format of the event we’d somehow agreed to.

____________

“This is a lot to take in,” Luther said after Holland and Jade exited. We were the last in the room, and the bottle of Hawaiian nectar was empty.

“No kidding. And what was Bryson hinting at, the safety of humankind, or whatever he said? Sounds to me like he’s been underwater for a few too many years.” I chuckled with Luther.

“There’s no chance we can prepare in two months. I’ve been a guard and soldier for long enough to understand that training of this magnitude isn’t accomplished overnight.”

I nodded, appreciating his candor. “But we aren’t novices, and SeaTech does have some fairly advanced technology. Eighty percent of the ice mining done uses their proprietary melting and digging methods. That alone has to bring in a lot of cash every quarter.”

“He’s ambitious,” Luther said. “Do you think he acquired Eris to recruit you?”

“If he did, that’s a costly bet. I don’t even understand why he’d care about me. I’ve never done anything that special.”

“Are you serious? Hawk Lewis? We know who you are, even before your skirmish with Sage’s CEO. I used to watch those races on the weekends when I was younger. You were something special.” Luther stood, his back cracking as he stretched. We’d been in this room for at least three hours, and I was ready for a nap.

I wished he hadn’t said that. I preferred to be anonymous. “That was a long time ago. As for the incident with the pirates, all that did was get me canned.”

“No, your actions saved hundreds of lives. Punching their CEO is why you were fired.” Luther