Racers of the Night: Science Fiction Stories by Brad R. Torgersen Read Free Page B

then came out of it and hammered the accelerator with her thumb.
    “You ever wonder why we’ve never had a woman win the Armstrong?” Bill asked as Jane rocketed past an empty set of bleachers.
    “They weren’t good enough,” Jane said.
    “Like hell. They were all smart enough to decline an invitation.”
    “If this is your idea of a pep talk, you’re doing a horrible job. Why did you even agree to be my crew boss if you think this is such a lousy idea?”
    “Because when Mike told me what your goal was, to win the Armstrong Cup at all costs, I knew I had to try and keep another talented young woman from making the same mistake as Ellen.”
    “What’s it to you?” Jane said. “Fewer women on the top course in the circuit means less competition for the cash and prestige. And it’s not like men don’t die here as well.”
    “They do, but not at 100% failure rate. And Ellen wasn’t just another racer. Ellen was special.”
    “A girlfriend?” Jane said, her voice raising just enough to serve as a verbal poke at the curmudgeonly crew boss.
    “Worse,” Bill said. “She was my daughter.”
    • • •
    The raceway ready room was empty, save for the one racer and the one crew boss.
    Jane’s undersuit was darkly damp at the arm pits and around her neck. She stared into empty air as old Bill stood near her. Occasionally another racer wandered past, taking note of the fact that Jane was a woman, then averting his eyes when it became clear that the old man and the lady weren’t exactly up for company.
    “You should have told me,” Jane said sternly.
    “I just did,” Bill replied.
    “If you’re going to be my crew boss, I need you with your head in the game, not whispering in my ear all the time about how I need to quit. I’m sorry about what happened to Ellen. I really am. But if I’d known it was your own flesh and blood that died here—”
    “Almost nobody knows she was my child, because she chose to keep her mother’s name. Adara and I weren’t the most copacetic couple God ever saw fit to put together. Ellen was probably the best thing we ever did. She lived with her mother until she was 18, then when she left Earth, she came up here to spend time with me. One look at the racing scene, and she was hooked.”
    “And you didn’t warn her about the curse?”
    “She knew the truth. About all of it. But she was so good. A natural. It was impossible not to encourage her. Then, when she started sweeping the juniors, I got my hopes up. That maybe, just maybe, she’d be the one to do it. To pull it off.”
    The pain and sorrow in Bill’s heart brimmed at the edges of his eyelids. Jane looked up at him, not blinking, trying to decide if she should take his advice, or send him packing.
    “It wasn’t your fault,” Jane finally said.
    “Like hell it wasn’t,” Bill replied. “Mike can tell you, I tried pulling crew boss stints with different drivers, but my heart was never in it. Not after what happened to my girl. It would have been better if she’d stayed on Earth and gone into chemistry like her mother wanted. But no, she had to come play Mario Moon-Rock Andretti with her daddy. Adara never forgave me.”
    Bill turned away, wetness on his cheeks.
    Jane had to admit, if this was all Mike Lomba’s way of trying to convince her to avoid tackling the Armstrong Cup, it was a heck of a good try. Her resolve to come to Cazetti—to take the big purse, and hold the big trophy over her head—was slowly softening. A few more days with Bill talking and acting like this, and he might actually start to sway her.
    Then she remembered how hard she’d worked. To come from nothing, and get all this way.
    17 years old, kicked out of the house; nowhere to go but up.
    Other girls might have hung out the proverbial shingle. It would have been easy. Life in the colonies wasn’t like life on Earth—choked by so many laws and rules, a person couldn’t turn around without getting fined. No. Life in space was