It was a beautiful, warm day. Laughter filled the air as people drank, flowers hung from the surrounding stone pillars, and the sound of a harp could be heard in the distance.
The place where Alex now found himself seemed familiar, yet he swore that he had never been there before. Holding goblets filled with red wine, he and a few of his companions enjoyed one another’s company in this grand celebration.
Next to him a beautiful young woman wearing a long flowing tunic wrapped around her shoulder drank from a golden goblet. She smiled at him in a flirtatious fashion as she sipped her drink.
As he stared back at her admiring face, Alex felt as if a distant memory was attempting to surface. Did he know this woman? He’d never seen her but it felt as if there were something important that he had forgotten.
He gazed deeper into her big green eyes, and like an epiphany the memory surfaced. Though the woman was unfamiliar, her beauty certainly reminded him of another extraordinary woman—his fiancée. Suddenly, he could see Marissa’s loving face and could think of nothing but being with her once again.
In an instant, the gleeful party disappeared, replaced by a rapidly approaching forest coming closer to him by the second. At this rate of descent, Alex quickly realized that attempting to pull up would be futile. Instead, he knew the only way to survive this dive would be to rapidly shift the magnetic poles in the front of his aero-bike’s gravity dampeners. Hopefully, it would create an artificial magnetic cushion to decelerate without inflicting too much G-force on either himself or his bike.
Alex immediately began readjusting the polarity setting of the gravity dampeners. Time seemed to slow down as the force of gravity doubled and then tripled within a matter of seconds. It felt as if someone had placed a piano on his chest and then began jumping on it. His vision grew dim, as if he were looking through a very narrow tunnel.
Alex kept his eyes wide open as he barreled through the forest’s upper canopy, breaking branches and knocking over a small tree along the way. With his head behind the dashboard, the electromagnetic field around his bike took the brunt of the impact, leaving him and his vehicle essentially unharmed. Alex then leveled off his bike before coming to an abrupt stop on a pile of leaves and brush.
Relieved to be alive, Alex took a deep breath when his lungs once again were able to expand and bring in air. The weight on his chest had lifted, but the experience only proved to accentuate his pounding headache and dizziness.
That was too close!
Despite the near death experience, Alex resumed racing, dodging the trees and making sharp turns. His physical ailments were certainly not going to curtail this race. As he negotiated his bike expertly through the forest he took aim at Tom, who suddenly emerged from the trees just ahead of him. Drawing nearer to the unsuspecting veteran, Alex fired his photo-blaster and scored a direct hit.
Yes! Alex said to himself, neglecting the physical discomfort and rejoicing at the thrill of competition.
But the shot only proved to harden Tom’s resolve. Because Alex was turning out to be a formidable competitor, Tom accelerated even quicker through the forest. The rings were not far away, and the veteran was determined to reach them first.
Pushing all his skills to the limit, Alex accelerated even faster. As he made a sharp right turn, one of the photo-cams flew directly into a tree. Upon impact it burst into flames, crashing onto the ground.
Just ahead lay the red rings, and both Alex and Tom were putting forth their best effort to be the first to reach them. After a high-speed race to the checkpoint, both passed through almost simultaneously.
Alex glanced down at his dashboard and saw his score read 75.
Second place, he lamented. Though knew that he was not going to win the race, his competitive side still wanted to earn the first place prize of 50 points instead of taking second with 40.
Alex and Tom flew up and out of the forest in unison. The others had not yet passed the checkpoint but were not far behind.
Alex began to accelerate even faster now that the trees were no longer there to impede his flight. Being first to the next checkpoint, which was deep in a neighboring rocky canyon, would prove more a matter of endurance than anything else. Before making his move, Alex glanced over at Tom who simply mocked him by shrugging his shoulders.
Alex looked down at his bike’s polarity readings in order to ensure they had been fully stabilized before accelerating any further. But just as he took his eyes off his fellow racer, Tom took advantage and flew directly in front of him.
Alex’s bike came to a halt, and before he was able to get off a blast, Tom accelerated far out of view, sticking his rear end up in the air the whole way. Adding to the insult, racer 8 flew overhead at top speed, leaving Alex in third place.
Frustrated by his careless mistake, Alex took pursuit of the two racers ahead of him. Because they were flying just along the forest canopy, it made aiming his photo-blasters difficult as the tops of tree branches impeded a direct shot.
After another 10 minutes of intense racing, the green canopy gave way to a brown and uninviting rocky terrain. The three lead racers descended deep into the rocky canyon below, with Alex and Tom maintaining speeds of over 250 mph. Racer 8, on the other hand, quickly decelerated after making an early mistake and soon fell far behind. Even at 200 mph, his bike was consistently making automatic course alterations and speed adjustments due to his inadequate flying.
The terrain they traversed was rocky and hazardous. The sides of the ravine were jagged, with rocky outcroppings. The large river, which formed this ravine a million years ago, roared underneath with white foam billowing from its watery rapids.
Up ahead Alex saw a large rock formation extending from the right side of the canyon. To avoid collision, he tilted his bike to the left, exposing its underside to the rocky obstacle. Just as he was about to clear the hazard, Tom Cat darted out from in front of the rocks and blocked Alex’s path, causing his bike to decelerate.
In response, Alex fired his photo-blaster, but to no avail. Tom had quickly cut the tight corner before the shot could reach him.
Alex began to accelerate as the image of the gleeful party with the beautiful young woman again clouded his vision, making it nearly impossible to maneuver his bike in such close quarters and speed. As his vision faded and consciousness slipped, he willed himself to concentrate on the race.
Straining not to lose his grip on reality, Alex slid a black panel under his dashboard to the side, revealing a concealed red switch. With his body going numb and losing the ability to move, he flicked it to the left, losing consciousness at the same moment.
The right side of Alex’s bike skidded against a rocky outcropping, causing the vehicle to fly out of control. Multiple air cushions suddenly dispersed from its underbelly, completely surrounding Alex and his bike.
Engulfed in the cushions, Alex bounced harmlessly off the sides of the canyon before finally crashing into the flowing river below.
Upon impact, Alex was alerted by the sound of trumpets as his mind once again entered a different reality. Surrounded by a cheerful crowd of people, they all turned their attention to the town’s main gates. As the large stone doors swung open, a stately gentleman with a patch over his left eye appeared. Wearing a gold crown similar to the one that Albert Rosenberg had just sent to Alex and an ornate tunic, he seemed strangely familiar.
A cheer went up from the crowd. Followed by an entourage of young women, the man joined the celebration amidst great adoration. Rose petals were thrown at his feet while the sound of musicians singing his praises filled the air.
Who is this guy? Alex thought. Why can’t I remember? It just…
The jubilance of the moment ended abruptly when the man cried out in agony. Clutching a bloody silver dagger shoved into his side, he fell to the ground gasping for air.
A few people began to scream in horror while the perpetrator of the crime hastily fled the scene. “Murderer!” yelled Alex’s friends as they drew their swords and gave chase. Up the hill they followed the suspect, gaining distance on him with every step.
Alex gazed upon the injured man. His breathing was shallow and the body lay perfectly motionless. His white tunic was now saturated with blood.
Alex knew there was nothing he could do to save him. The wound was clearly mortal.
An overwhelming blend of remorse and guilt overtook him. As tears filled his eyes he looked up and saw that two men had caught up with the adolescent murderer at the top of a hill. The youth had stumbled to the ground while trying to make his escape upon a horse. Preparing to deliver instant justice, the men raised their swords, poised to strike.
Just as they were about to carry out the execution, the vision vanished and Alex’s body was overwhelmed with an immense sensation of pain.