Alpha One - Chris Burton [93]
The Race Marshall followed the events closely. He could not fault Jake, who stuck to his lead despite some clever but extremely dangerous flying from Enson Costello. He would have to watch Costello and Hilliard. This could turn into something bad.
Steve and Jake came within range of their next target. Steve was going to try the same thing again, but Jake would have none of it.
“Back off Steve. You made your point and Hilliard lost ground. That was extremely reckless and could have turned out bad for both of us.”
“Relax Jake. I won’t get you in as close this time. We need their slipstream if we are going to get ahead of this pair and get close to the lead pair before the end of the race. Hilliard has lost confidence now.. You should be clear to take second place into the final round as long as you don’t fuck up.”
Typical Steve arrogance, thought Jake. “Just keep it legal and don’t fuck up yourself, you bastard. Remember, I am more than capable of taking first place into the last round,” he added for good measure.
Steve and Jake were able to retake the lead before the Rapiers jumped out of hyperspace and crossed the finishing line in perfect formation. With few errors, they took maximum points from this race, and their overall lead in the competition grew. Steve used the slipstream to maximum effect in both overtaking maneuvers, but this time he allowed Jake room to pass the opposition ships. His flying was fantastic but arrogant, and he did little to diminish his growing reputation for being selfish and dangerous. He was not a team player.
The third and final event of the day was a close-quarter ground-hugging exercise on Mars. The Rapiers would hug the ground closely, flying at no less than one hundred fifty meters and no more than seven hundred fifty meters above the planet surface at high velocity, all the while avoiding anti-aircraft fire from below and above. This was a typical jump ship training exercise pilots must perfect before graduating and, as such, was open to exploitation by the pilots who frequently tried dangerous tactics to get the better of their opponents. However, Steve was on his best behavior, and on completion of his run became the man to beat. Jake was in the second batch of twelve vessels. He was slightly ahead of Hilliard, who was strangely quiet since the last race. Jake was on a good run and set himself up for the final run in, when he was wing tipped by Hilliard from behind. Jake had barely enough time to react to ensure his ship didn’t plunge into the hills ahead. He recovered and realized he was overtaken.
Hilliard has set out his stall, thought Jake, so here’s mine.
Jake accelerated forward and entered Hilliard’s slipstream. Hilliard tried to shake him loose, but Jake once again showed his close-quarter flying was a match for anyone. Amongst the flack and anti-aircraft fire from below he shot passed Hilliard legitimately.
Hilliard must react quickly, thinking the race would shortly be over. He could not use slipstream; he must nudge Carter’s ship off line to pass him. Jake would have none of it and held his line. Hilliard’s Rapier nudged the rear of Jake’s ship twice before making a bad error of judgment. He got caught in Jake’s afterburners and was thrown off course. He had little reaction time as the rocks below got closer. He tried to pull up, but gravity took over and the Rapier spun. The Rapier never recovered and smashed into the rocks below. It exploded on impact, instantly killing Hilliard.
“What the hell happened out their Enson Carter?”
“Hilliard went crazy. He wing tipped me first and then, after I got beyond his slipstream, he nudged me. On the third occasion, he got caught in my afterburners. He must have spun. He would have been only three hundred meters