THE PLANET THAT LOVED PEOPLE (standard:science fiction, 3772 words) [5/15] show all parts
Author: Danny Raven	Added: Mar 07 2016	Views/Reads: 1832/1432	Part vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
PART 2 - CH 5

Click here to read the first 75 lines of the story


***** 

With their machines just ticking over, Sark and Sinto took up their
positions a short distance apart. The first part of the Maze ran for 
five miles and was split, each rider taking a different route with both 
routes equally difficult. 

Sark looked over at Sinto and raised a gloved finger to him. Sinto
raised his visor and grinned and blew him a kiss. 

Up ahead at the Finish Line, Kol, Kane and the others attentively
watched the screen which would split when the race began so they could 
watch both riders. Miller was chain smoking nervously. Talis slipped 
her hand into Kane's who grinned at her in the dark. Muslik was puffing 
away on his short stemmed pipe, as unruffled as ever. 

“Come on Sinto!” yelled Blaze. “Kick the mother's ass!” He had no idea
what this meant but had heard Miller say it and thought it sounded 
good. 

In the crowd, the noise died down a little but there was still a bit of
a party going on in one section and the revellers were so wasted they 
thought they were watching a movie. Some final betting was taking place 
and most of the money was on Sark which was natural enough as he'd 
never been beaten. 

The two riders watched the lights above them. The yellow started
flashing and they moved up to the Start. Both machines were growling 
and their thick front tyres began edging over the white line. The 
flashing yellow light died and the green came on. 

‘Faster!' thought both riders and their machines surged forwards. 

Watching on the giant screen, the crowd yelled and cheered as they both
accelerated up a long straight before splitting into their respective 
sections of the Maze, the track still twelve feet wide in each. 

‘Faster!' thought Sinto and he could see the walls flashing past out the
corner of his eye. He glanced quickly at the display square set between 
his handlebars. ‘EVEN', it read, indicating he was level with Sark. 

He ran through his first trap when he rounded the curve at the end of
the straight. He was moving too fast to see the change in the colour of 
the walls and triggered a cloud of thick, harmless, yellow gas which 
billowed out across the track ahead forcing him to slow or run the risk 
of crashing into the walls and incurring a delay penalty. 

Sark raced ahead, having recognised the trap on his side and negated it.
The crowd cheered and Kol smiled. The display on Sinto's machine now 
read ‘SARK AHEAD'. 

As he came out of the yellow gas Sinto yelled, “Faster!”, forgetting in
his impatience that he had to think it. His machine rolled on slowly. 
‘Faster!', he thought and it surged ahead. 

About a hundred yards in front of him he could see the track ending in a
solid concrete wall with curved exits to the left and right of it. He 
had to choose which one to take and he slowed the MindBike and took the 
left. Round the curved exit he saw the straight track continuing – he 
had made the correct choice and he roared on. 

Sark, on his side of the Maze, was now thirty seconds in front and
growing more confident all the time. Which is why he missed a 
booby-trap and some razor sharp blades flicked out on either side of 
the wall. Expertly he slowed and veered left and right trying to dodge 
the blades but one of them just nicked his thick rear tyre and air 
started very slowly to trickle out. 

Sinto drew level and the crowd booed. At least most of them did but some
supported him and their cheering started more fighting. One of Sark's 
supporters drew a laser pistol and shot several of them and the rest 
scattered. 

On opposite sides of the track another concrete wall loomed ahead of the
two riders with the same curved exits on either side but this time 
metal grilles were gradually lowering into them. Sark slowed and went 
left and Sinto slowed and went right and slammed into a dead-end, 
rebounding off the wall before he could stop his machine. 

“Penalty against Sinto!” announced the Maze Computer and most of the
crowd cheered. 

Sinto now had a one second penalty against him and this meant his
machine responded one second slower to his thoughts. He turned on the 
track and thought his machine on. The metal grille was about half-way 
down and he ducked and accelerated under it and used his massive 
strength to pull the MindBike into a tight turn into the correct exit. 
He roared ahead on to a long straight. ‘SARK AHEAD', his small console 
displayed and he cursed. 

‘Faster! Faster!' he thought and his machine ripped along the straight
and he leaned it over into a curve. 

Again he was moving too fast and he missed the walls' colour change and
triggered another booby-trap. Thick black oil sprayed out from the 
walls, coating him and blocking his visor. He felt his machine sliding 
away from him. 

‘Slow! Slow!' he thought but the one second penalty was in effect and he
felt himself going into a skid. There was no way he could avoid 
touching the walls and incurring another time penalty so he laid the 
machine down and slid to a stop along the track. 

He jumped up and then hauled the MindBike up and then spent valuable
seconds clearing the oil from himself and his visor. He leapt back on 
and roared down the track still wiping the oil away as he went. Ahead, 
the track branched three ways. 

‘SARK AHEAD', still showed on his display. 

“Bastard!” he yelled and roared straight on, ignoring the exit branches
on either side of him. It was the correct route. 

In front of him on his side of the Maze, Sark had slowed as the track
branched and had chosen to go left. Wrong. He slammed into the dead-end 
of the Maze wall. 

“Penalty against Sark!” the Maze Computer announced and the crowd booed.
Some of them cheered and lasers flashed again. 

“If this goes on much longer,” Muslik said to Kane as they watched from
Kol's private box, “there won't be any audience left when the race 
finishes.” 

Kane grinned in the darkness. He was still holding Talis' hand. Corthan
sat impassively in his blue cloak with Blaze bouncing up and down 
beside him. 

Seeing what had just happened to Sark, Kol beckoned one of his Guards,
whispered something to him and the man grinned and slipped away. 

Back in the Maze both riders were racing evenly on their final straights
towards the half-way point. Both still had a one second penalty against 
them. 

About a hundred yards in front of Sinto a figure suddenly appeared on a
narrowed part of his track. He peered through his oil stained visor and 
almost fell off his MindBike when he recognised who it was. It was 
Miller! 

He screamed at his machine to slow but of course it didn't. Miller was
getting closer. 

‘Slow! Slow! Slow!' Sinto thought desperately. 

With his one second penalty there was no immediate response. Miller was
getting much closer. He could see him grinning and waving. 

Sinto wasn't slowing enough. ‘Slow! Slow! Fucking stop!', he thought,
beginning to twist at his handlebars and almost colliding with the 
walls. He still wasn't slowing enough and there was nothing he could 
do. He screwed his eyes shut, braced himself for the impact and ran 
straight into Miller. 

His machine slowed to a halt and he looked back. The track was empty
with no sign of Miller lying in a crumpled heap. It had been an optical 
illusion. He turned back and saw Sark a hundred yards ahead at the 
half-way mark with his visor up, pointing at him and laughing. 

“Bastard!” yelled Sinto, firing up his MindBike and accelerating after
him. 

Sark roared off and twenty seconds later Sinto reached the half-way
point himself. Here the Maze now joined for the last five miles and 
both riders used the same twelve feet wide black track, the leader 
having the advantage of triggering the booby-traps behind him and 
further slowing his opponent. The time delay penalties no longer 
applied. 

Half a mile into the final section and Sark released the first
booby-trap. As Sinto was roaring along a straight, half a dozen snakes 
were catapulted out as he was passing. They were all venomous and three 
landed on him. 

One bit him on the right thigh but its fangs didn't penetrate his thick
leather trousers. He smacked it off and it flew on to the track. The 
second bit him on the left hand but again its fangs didn't penetrate 
his thick leather gloves and he slammed it against his machine, 
pulverising it and it dropped off. 

The third however leapt at his face and its needle sharp fangs
penetrated his helmet visor. He could see the thick yellow poison 
running down the inside of the clear perspex. He reached up, grabbed it 
behind the head and violently twisted it. The snake's body came away 
but the head and fangs were still attached to his visor. 

Sinto didn't have time to remove it however because ahead of him, Sark
had released another booby-trap. More of the razor sharp blades flicked 
out along the bottom of the wall ahead. He considered slowing down but 
had already lost too much time. 

‘Faster!', he thought and started accelerating towards the blades. 

There was no way he could dodge them at this speed, not on two wheels
anyway. Just before he reached them he reared the MindBike up on to its 
thick back tyre and skilfully zipped in and out of the blades. He made 
it through unscathed and was grinning to himself when the walls ahead 
narrowed suddenly and the track lifted. 

It was pointless trying to slow down so he accelerated even more and
sailed into the air, shooting above the narrow gap. He covered the next 
twenty yards in the air and landed with a bone-jarring thud. Something 
flew off the back of his machine and pinged against the walls but he 
had to keep going, there was no time to stop and investigate. 

Ahead, Sark was now fully thirty seconds in front of him. Two miles of
twisting track lay ahead of him before he reached the infra-red beam at 
the end. Most of the crowd who were capable of standing were on their 
feet cheering for him as he maintained his lead on the screen. Sinto's 
supporters were either dead or keeping quiet. 

‘SARK AHEAD', displayed Sinto's console and he thought his machine on
even faster. He wasn't stopping for anything now. When exits loomed up 
ahead he would pick one in advance and shoot through. There was no time 
to slow and choose – he was lagging too far behind. 

With a thirty second lead, the supremely confident Sark was beginning to
coast. Only a mile to go and his opponent was far behind. He began to 
slow and wave to the cheering crowd and imperceptibly, Sinto cut the 
gap between them. 

With his concentration wavering, Sark failed to see the change in the
colour of the Maze walls as he travelled on. He triggered one of the 
booby-traps and with perfect timing, a large boxing glove shot out on a 
metal pole and caught him on the side of the head. He fell crashing to 
the track and lay groggily for a few seconds before making his way 
after his MindBike which lay snarling on its side. He didn't notice but 
his very slow puncture on his rear tyre was now worsening. 

Sinto, now only ten seconds behind, raced on. A choice of two exits
loomed up. He had been alternating left and right so far and had stayed 
lucky. This time he changed and so did his luck. The dead-end loomed 
fifty feet in front of him. 

‘Slow! Slow!', he screamed in his mind and his machine decelerated and
he bounced off the wall. A red wall. A booby-trap. 

As he turned his machine he heard a growling noise behind him and
glanced over his shoulder. The wall he'd just cannoned into was 
beginning to rise revealing four thick hairy legs with large paws which 
had razor sharp claws at the end of them. It was one of the gigantic, 
bear-like creatures Kol had in the cage in his mansion and it was just 
waiting for the wall to lift sufficiently so it could get out. 

“Faster!” yelled Sinto. 

His machine continued to trundle along. He glanced quickly over his
shoulder. The bear-like creature was almost out. 

“Faster!” he yelled again. 

No response. He was on the point of dismounting and making a run for it
when he remembered his instructions. 

‘Faster! Faster!', he thought and his machine ripped forwards as the
creature growled and slashed at part of the rear metal faring, ripping 
it off. 

He screeched round the bend into the other exit and accelerated up the
long straight, the roaring creature quickly loping after him. 

On the screen the crowd could see the action and they erupted with
cheers and laughter. One of Sinto's half-dead supporters managed to get 
hold of a laser pistol and he zapped the heads off several of them 
before somebody blew him apart. 

Then there was more cheering – Sark had remounted his machine and was
waving to them. The crowd roared and cheered him on. 

Still ten seconds behind, Sinto came out the straight with the giant
bear just a few yards away. Only a series of curves then the final 
straight and he was through the Maze. Remembering the strength of the 
creature behind him he accelerated even more, careening off the walls 
and ripping more faring from the MindBike. He didn't care and he 
thought his machine on even faster. 

Assured of yet another victory, Sark had grown bored and was nowhere
near Sinto's speed. He came sauntering out the last curve and started 
along the final one hundred yard straight to the finish. He glanced 
over his shoulder. The track was empty. He noticed his rear tyre which 
was now half-flat but it didn't matter now. He had won again. 

Sinto came on to the final straight five seconds behind him but in a
totally different frame of mind. No matter how fast he moved the 
creature behind was gaining on him. Ahead he could see the finish and 
Sark drawing closer to it. 

‘Faster! Faster! Faster you bastard!', he thought till his machine was
tearing along so rapidly he was almost thrown off. He crouched low and 
hung on. 

Sark glanced round and almost fell off his machine in surprise. Sinto
was not far behind and gaining fast. He turned and thought his machine 
on but it responded slowly because of the half-flat rear tyre. The 
infra-red beam across the finish line was ten yards away. 

Watching from his private box, Kol was becoming slightly concerned. At
the speed Sinto was doing he was going to cross the finish line before 
Sark. With Kane and the others on their feet cheering Sinto, he 
discreetly pressed a button on the side of his couch and the section on 
Sinto's side of the track gradually rose until it was eventually two 
feet higher than the track on Sark's side. In their excitement, nobody 
noticed and Kol smiled triumphantly to himself. 

With five yards to go Sark was still slightly in front until Sinto flew
up the raised section and took off. He flew through the air like one of 
Sark's silver arrows and both riders broke the beam at exactly the same 
time. 

“Draw!” announced the Maze Computer. 

“Draw!” yelled Miller and leapt up into the air. 

So did Kol and his women – Sinto was flying through the air straight
towards them in the private box and they scattered from their couch as 
he slammed into it. He bounced off the wall behind them and lay still. 
His helmet had flown off and the MindBike's engine died. 

Kane and the others rushed over to help him. Talis and Blaze stayed
back, hugging each other. Quickly, Kane and Corthan moved the heavy 
MindBike off Sinto and let Muslik through to examine him. 

Sinto lay on the floor unmoving but there was no blood pouring from any
wounds and no bones sticking out. His head however was lying at an 
unnatural angle. 

Muslik bent over and checked for a neck pulse. He shook his head and
tried for a wrist pulse. Again he shook his head and bent close to 
check if Sinto was breathing. Once more he shook his head then 
carefully probed Sinto's neck area. 

A bored looking Kol wandered over. “Dead is he?” he asked. 

Muslik stood up and nodded. “Broken neck.” 

Blaze wailed and Talis hugged him. 

“You're sure?” Kane asked. 

“I'm afraid so,” replied Muslik. “There's no pulse and no breathing. I
can feel a couple of broken bones in his neck. He must've died when he 
hit the wall.” 

Corthan took off his blue cloak. “Cover him with this,” he said. 

Muslik took the cloak and covered Sinto with it. 

“Suppose you'd better bury him then,” Kol remarked. To him it was just
another dead body. He'd seen hundreds. 

Kane nodded. 

Sark strolled in and tossed his helmet aside. A bruise was beginning to
form over his right eye where the boxing glove booby-trap had caught 
him. 

“The race was a draw but he's dead,” Kol told him. “Broken neck.” 

Sark grinned. “Well at least that's a good result,” he said, sniggering.


“Bastard!” Blaze yelled. He dematerialized from beside Talis, appeared
in front of Sark and whacked him a good one on the face. 

Sark staggered backwards and sprawled on the floor. He glared at Blaze.
“I want him in the next game!” he spat. 

Kol laughed. “Not doing too well tonight, are we, brother!” he said. 

Sark got to his feet. “Fuck you!” he yelled and stormed off. 

“Such a charming young man,” Kol remarked. “Right then,” he went on,
turning to the group. “I'll permit you to bury your friend somewhere 
and after that you can rest for the remainder of the night. Since the 
contest in the Maze was a draw we need a second game to decide whether 
you live or die.” He looked at Blaze. “This time it's Sark against 
Blaze.” 


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