THE PLANET THAT LOVED PEOPLE (standard:science fiction, 3772 words) [5/15] show all parts
Author: Danny Raven	Added: Mar 07 2016	Views/Reads: 1824/1424	Part vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
PART 2 - CH 5

FIVE 

The Maze, which covered an area of ten square miles, lay a short
air-mobile ride from Kol's mansion. While the crowds gathered, Sinto 
was getting used to the MindBike he was going to be riding. It was 
similar to a motorbike and had handlebars and thick front and rear 
tyres. There were no gears or brakes however as the machine was 
controlled entirely by thought. 

The rider wore a special helmet with sensors inside it which were taped
around his head at specific points. The sensors picked up the rider's 
thoughts. If he thought ‘Start', the MindBike started up, ‘Go' and it 
began moving slowly, ‘Fast' and it speeded up, ‘Faster' and it raced to 
its maximum speed, ‘Slow' and it began slowing, ‘Stop' and the engine 
cut out. 

There was a clear, curved perspex shield at the front of the MindBike
and solid black titanium fairings curved out from the thick front wheel 
to protect the rider in case he should scrape against the Maze's 
concrete walls. 

Sinto had ridden around the sprawling warm-up area for forty five
minutes quickly getting used to the MindBike and then the rules of the 
game were explained to him. 

The Maze was constructed of solid concrete painted white, its walls
twelve feet high with a twelve feet black track between them. If a 
rider touched the walls he incurred a one second penalty which meant 
his MindBike responded one second slower to his thoughts. Along the way 
were various types of booby-traps which could be recognised by a change 
in the colour of the walls. These could be negated if the rider spotted 
the colour change and thought, ‘Off'. 

In the second half of the Maze there were no time penalties but any
touching of the walls at certain sections triggered more booby-traps. 
As before, the position of the booby-traps could be spotted by a change 
in the colour of the walls but this time they could also be triggered 
by thought so the lead rider could unleash them on his opponent. 

In the last booby-trap, one of the gigantic, bear-like creatures that
had been in the cage in Kol's mansion could be released. 

At the end of the Maze an infra-red beam stretched across the track and
the winner was the first to break the beam. Breaking it also released a 
steel grille which dropped and blocked the track thus preventing any of 
the bear-like creatures from escaping. It also trapped the losing 
rider. 

A giant screen had been erected near a section of the Maze in the open
air so the audience could easily follow the riders' progress. A crowd 
was starting to grow, taking their seats in front of it and they were 
joined by the partiers from the mansion who sat around drinking and 
laughing and smoking Janad, all waiting for the race to start. 

As more people from the surrounding district began pouring in, betting
started taking place and sporadic fighting broke out between them and 
the partiers. Laser pistols flashed in the darkness and there were 
several deaths before the game even began. 

Kane and the others sat with Kol in a luxurious private box at the end
of the Maze where there was also a large screen. Kol had his usual 
retinue of women with him and they jumped around excitedly waiting for 
the race to start. 

In the warm-up area, Sinto roared around on his MindBike then thought it
to a halt and watched Sark who was zigzagging in and out of some 
pillars, easily curving round them. Over the wall he could hear the 
noise of the crowd as a dull cheering and yelling inside his helmet and 
he grinned. He was looking forward to this! 

A Guard waved to them and pointed to an exit tunnel. Sark roared over
and disappeared into the tunnel and Sinto followed him in. It opened 
out on to a track which ran round the audience and they circled the 
cheering mob twice before disappearing into another exit tunnel. When 
they came out of this tunnel they were at the start of the Maze. 


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