place to test the skills of the very best Jump Pilots and that was why this particular shuttle had touched down today.
The remainder of the journey was uneventful. Jake turned to his studying, as there were no further interruptions from his fellow contestants. Although Carla called him twice more, she had dealt with Steve smartly and he backed off.
This was his first visit to Titus 3. He fully understood why engaging this planet in a TG competition was such a challenge. The shuttle’s descent was alarmingly quick. Without the remotely controlled landing process, the shuttles power to weight ratio, would have been inadequate and she would have been dragged onto the planet surface.
* * * *
On landing and clearing security, the contestants were coached to their accommodation and within forty- five minutes, they sat in a hotel function room awaiting the TG supremo to address them.
“Welcome everyone. I hope you enjoyed your descent to Titus 3. Those of you who have never visited before, will be rather alarmed by the speed and the brutality of the landing process. This ladies and gentlemen, is why you are here. There is no better place to test your skills and for you to show us who is the best TG pilot.”
“We like to keep everyone guessing,” he continued. “This year we have selected Hunter R4’s as the competition vessel. This is going to be a very hard challenge indeed.”
A hush fell over the audience as they realized they would not be cosseted by the automated precision of the Rapier 7 or the smooth and wonderfully adept Sabre 4. They would be flying basic. The Hunter’s were used in the TG finals before, but not for a good few years. This was a cruel blow, to many and some would not cope.
“I will let you get over that shock for a moment, before I explain why...”
“We are all too aware of the events taking place in the Tri-star System and important though this competition is the new variant Rapier and Sabre will not be available to us at this time. We could then have opted for older variants, but we were reminded of just how good you people seem to think you are. The Hunter challenge became an attractive one. You will need all your skills and strengths just to avoid plunging the R4’s into the surface of the planet. I will close this welcome meeting, with a word of caution, be prepared for anything and make sure you are fully awake when you step foot inside your ship...Good luck, you are going to need it!”
The first race commenced early in the thirty-eight hour Titus 3 day. Twenty-two hours of darkness gave way to bright sunlight, almost unbearably, as the twin stars of the Dalbor System reached their maximum brightness.
Today’s race involved a free-for-all offensive across the surface of the planetoid, never once breaking atmosphere, confined to within five thousand meters from the surface. The circumference route of the planetoid was guided by thirty checkpoints. The Jump Ship pilots had to pass within ten kilometers of each. This would be no mean feat. The terrain was constantly varied and included two complex mountainous sections and the infamous Dolphin cavern—a two thousand mile cave that traversed one entire continent of the planetoid. The Jump Ships had to negotiate the cave in near darkness. This was by far the most dangerous section of the course, with some sections less than one hundred and fifty meters in height. Gravity and intermix calculations were plotted in advance as each TG contestant planned their route in finite detail. This was the first race, but it was also the hardest. Some would not make it to the end.
Jake sat almost horizontally as he studied his chart and route calculations. He knew this section was designed to reduce the field. Sixty competitors were too many for a meaningful competition. At such an early stage, this was about safe negotiation of the course, rather than pitching the fastest time.
The command came for the Hunter R4’s engines to ignite and Jake
The remainder of the journey was uneventful. Jake turned to his studying, as there were no further interruptions from his fellow contestants. Although Carla called him twice more, she had dealt with Steve smartly and he backed off.
This was his first visit to Titus 3. He fully understood why engaging this planet in a TG competition was such a challenge. The shuttle’s descent was alarmingly quick. Without the remotely controlled landing process, the shuttles power to weight ratio, would have been inadequate and she would have been dragged onto the planet surface.
* * * *
On landing and clearing security, the contestants were coached to their accommodation and within forty- five minutes, they sat in a hotel function room awaiting the TG supremo to address them.
“Welcome everyone. I hope you enjoyed your descent to Titus 3. Those of you who have never visited before, will be rather alarmed by the speed and the brutality of the landing process. This ladies and gentlemen, is why you are here. There is no better place to test your skills and for you to show us who is the best TG pilot.”
“We like to keep everyone guessing,” he continued. “This year we have selected Hunter R4’s as the competition vessel. This is going to be a very hard challenge indeed.”
A hush fell over the audience as they realized they would not be cosseted by the automated precision of the Rapier 7 or the smooth and wonderfully adept Sabre 4. They would be flying basic. The Hunter’s were used in the TG finals before, but not for a good few years. This was a cruel blow, to many and some would not cope.
“I will let you get over that shock for a moment, before I explain why...”
“We are all too aware of the events taking place in the Tri-star System and important though this competition is the new variant Rapier and Sabre will not be available to us at this time. We could then have opted for older variants, but we were reminded of just how good you people seem to think you are. The Hunter challenge became an attractive one. You will need all your skills and strengths just to avoid plunging the R4’s into the surface of the planet. I will close this welcome meeting, with a word of caution, be prepared for anything and make sure you are fully awake when you step foot inside your ship...Good luck, you are going to need it!”
The first race commenced early in the thirty-eight hour Titus 3 day. Twenty-two hours of darkness gave way to bright sunlight, almost unbearably, as the twin stars of the Dalbor System reached their maximum brightness.
Today’s race involved a free-for-all offensive across the surface of the planetoid, never once breaking atmosphere, confined to within five thousand meters from the surface. The circumference route of the planetoid was guided by thirty checkpoints. The Jump Ship pilots had to pass within ten kilometers of each. This would be no mean feat. The terrain was constantly varied and included two complex mountainous sections and the infamous Dolphin cavern—a two thousand mile cave that traversed one entire continent of the planetoid. The Jump Ships had to negotiate the cave in near darkness. This was by far the most dangerous section of the course, with some sections less than one hundred and fifty meters in height. Gravity and intermix calculations were plotted in advance as each TG contestant planned their route in finite detail. This was the first race, but it was also the hardest. Some would not make it to the end.
Jake sat almost horizontally as he studied his chart and route calculations. He knew this section was designed to reduce the field. Sixty competitors were too many for a meaningful competition. At such an early stage, this was about safe negotiation of the course, rather than pitching the fastest time.
The command came for the Hunter R4’s engines to ignite and Jake
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