by a vast array of anti aircraft artillery. Jake lay in fifth place in the time trial, as the contestants exited the plains and headed into the mouth of the cavern. Jake needed to ramp things up and he made adjustments to his intermix calculations. He needed to win this race in the best time possible, to stand any chance of winning the competition outright
.
The leaders were all bunched together, with the Duke tucked in behind the leader. Jake made his move and passed the fourth and third place Jump Ships as the cavern narrowed to one of its lowest points. He was behind the Duke.
The Duke was ready and as Jake pushed his Jump Ship to its absolute limit, he fired his afterburners and swerved left and then right to create a wall through which Jake could not pass. These were legitimate, but dangerous tactics. However, Jake was ready for him. He had already boiled up his Ion drive. He drew in close again and prepared to engage his off-world engines. The Duke pulled left and created a tempting passage for Jake to pass through. Jake took the bait.
The Hunter RS4, slammed into the side of the cave at high velocity, as the Duke brought his ship back into line, with his own burst of Ion drive power. The impact caused Jake to lose consciousness and his Jump Ship veered up, smashing against the roof of the cave, before bottoming and coming to rest on the cave surface several thousand meters from where the incident started.
* * * *
Jake came round in the medical facility. He realized he was badly hurt and placed in a stasis chamber to allow his broken bones to rejuvenate. He drifted in and out of sleep for the next few hours, until a meal was served
.
It seemed like weeks since he had last eaten.
* * * *
“Good to see you conscious, Enson.”
“Commander Golding. I did not know you had travelled to the TG final?”
“The Chancellor and I travelled separately. How are you feeling?”
“A little groggy, Sir, but I guess I must be on the mend.”
“You were lucky. The Hunter was totally wiped out. The surgeons removed a blood clot from your skull and cleared up significant internal bleeding. You were lucky. But your injuries were not life threatening and the surgeons and stasis chamber have done a good job. I am told you should be fit to return to Earth later today and if it’s okay with you I will accompany you on the medical ship.”
“Of course, Sir. I presume I lost my position in the final standings?”
Golding smiled. “Yes, you finished sixteenth, but frankly you could have finished first. Tom Duke managed to get away with this stunt. His maneuver was deemed legal, which I disagree with. He won the TG of course.”
“I am not sure I would have won outright. Even if I had got passed Duke, I still would have been in second and then there was the other time trial heat.”
“Your heat was the fastest and I am sure if you had got past Duke, you could have passed the man in first place. He was suffering intermix problems and eventually finished the time trial in eighth place. We are very proud of your achievement Mister Carter. You could and probably should have won and we are contesting the result. It will fail, of course, but we want to register our objection to the result. I will let you rest now. The medical technician will be here in due course, to get you set up for the journey home.”
So, he had done well after all. The field was very competitive but Tom Duke had come through in the end. Thank God, Steve missed the competition. A clash between Steve and Duke would have been bad.
He was pleased the Chancellor and the South Downs Academies TG Supremo had witnessed the competition. Without their acknowledgement, it would have been difficult to justify how he had managed to return to the Academy in a stasis chamber.
Chapter Thirteen
Chasing the Kronan
The mini-fleet, under the command of Jonathan Hoskins had left the Jandas System two weeks ago, in pursuit of the rogue Kryl vessel, now believed to be
.
The leaders were all bunched together, with the Duke tucked in behind the leader. Jake made his move and passed the fourth and third place Jump Ships as the cavern narrowed to one of its lowest points. He was behind the Duke.
The Duke was ready and as Jake pushed his Jump Ship to its absolute limit, he fired his afterburners and swerved left and then right to create a wall through which Jake could not pass. These were legitimate, but dangerous tactics. However, Jake was ready for him. He had already boiled up his Ion drive. He drew in close again and prepared to engage his off-world engines. The Duke pulled left and created a tempting passage for Jake to pass through. Jake took the bait.
The Hunter RS4, slammed into the side of the cave at high velocity, as the Duke brought his ship back into line, with his own burst of Ion drive power. The impact caused Jake to lose consciousness and his Jump Ship veered up, smashing against the roof of the cave, before bottoming and coming to rest on the cave surface several thousand meters from where the incident started.
* * * *
Jake came round in the medical facility. He realized he was badly hurt and placed in a stasis chamber to allow his broken bones to rejuvenate. He drifted in and out of sleep for the next few hours, until a meal was served
.
It seemed like weeks since he had last eaten.
* * * *
“Good to see you conscious, Enson.”
“Commander Golding. I did not know you had travelled to the TG final?”
“The Chancellor and I travelled separately. How are you feeling?”
“A little groggy, Sir, but I guess I must be on the mend.”
“You were lucky. The Hunter was totally wiped out. The surgeons removed a blood clot from your skull and cleared up significant internal bleeding. You were lucky. But your injuries were not life threatening and the surgeons and stasis chamber have done a good job. I am told you should be fit to return to Earth later today and if it’s okay with you I will accompany you on the medical ship.”
“Of course, Sir. I presume I lost my position in the final standings?”
Golding smiled. “Yes, you finished sixteenth, but frankly you could have finished first. Tom Duke managed to get away with this stunt. His maneuver was deemed legal, which I disagree with. He won the TG of course.”
“I am not sure I would have won outright. Even if I had got passed Duke, I still would have been in second and then there was the other time trial heat.”
“Your heat was the fastest and I am sure if you had got past Duke, you could have passed the man in first place. He was suffering intermix problems and eventually finished the time trial in eighth place. We are very proud of your achievement Mister Carter. You could and probably should have won and we are contesting the result. It will fail, of course, but we want to register our objection to the result. I will let you rest now. The medical technician will be here in due course, to get you set up for the journey home.”
So, he had done well after all. The field was very competitive but Tom Duke had come through in the end. Thank God, Steve missed the competition. A clash between Steve and Duke would have been bad.
He was pleased the Chancellor and the South Downs Academies TG Supremo had witnessed the competition. Without their acknowledgement, it would have been difficult to justify how he had managed to return to the Academy in a stasis chamber.
Chapter Thirteen
Chasing the Kronan
The mini-fleet, under the command of Jonathan Hoskins had left the Jandas System two weeks ago, in pursuit of the rogue Kryl vessel, now believed to be
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