The Full Circle Six Read Free

was the only person whom Drake let call him D.J., and he took full advantage.
    The Race Captain and Navigational Command Post Operator amusedly scoffed, while noting a spark of unease. He had stated that he would take a nap. No matter, he resolved internally, he would simply skip the nap and, in its place use the time to examine his winnings. Drake, upon entering the cleansing quarters, immediately began stripping his garments and placing them in their appropriate clothes cleansing cartridges. He removed his items, the timepiece, his reusable speech, his prize case, and finally, his holochart gazers. These he reverently placed, along with the prize case holding the valuable dimensional keys, where it would be fully visible during the entire cleansing process.
    A long, satisfying sigh erupted from Drake as he stepped into the chamber, relishing the moment when the heated suds blasted his pores. He began to think about the Full Circle Six, while still keeping an eye on his possessions. So many qualified racers never returned, including his great grandfather, the legendary J. W. Judge. He wasn’t so much worried about himself or his other four comrades sitting in the recreational room, but for the six new members that Future Fuels had bought out. Ten members for the better part of two years together, trusting each other with their very lives.
    Drake had become accustomed to running five-member team races, and he wasn’t convinced one of the newcomers wouldn’t be a sabotage artist. Knowing the importance of every position and operation of each team member, Drake wanted experienced crew, and not recruits fresh from training. He had hoped to be able to hire his own racecraft Security Officer, as he had requested this at the contract signing, on the page that dealt with long endurance events. If anyone of the new six does anything out of the ordinary, Drake would not hesitate to eliminate them one way or the other.
    After the suds process, the rinse phase began and finished in its always efficient manner. The heat jets were next and instantly warmed Drake to his most appropriate temperature. He never bothered to comb his hair; he just threw his denim cap back on his head, and proceeded to retrieve the same articles from the cartridges, to put them back on.
    Bringing along the keys, and slipping the gazers back over his penetrating eyes, Drake headed for his personal quarters. Located in an adjacent corridor to the navigation deck, these quarters were not only the largest, and most accessible, it was also the most comfortable, private, and secure quarters in the racecraft. Here, Drake would be able to inspect every key in detail and try to discern their respective purposes without distraction. Also, it would appear to his crew that he would be napping.
    Drake placed the long, slender case, with encryptions he didn’t recognize, upon his resting module and opened it. He observed ten keys in all, but one of them was disturbingly different. The very last key from left to right in the case was brilliantly red, while the others were the ordinary gold. All of the golden keys he observed had the same number three encrypted in the very center. The red key had a door carved into it at the top center and a tiny imprint of the number one hundred one at the bottom center. Drake had never seen a key like this before. Most keys he knew about served as some sort of instant planetary jump from surface to surface, as he was sure these gold keys did. Once you use the key, it vanishes and in its place is a doorway of light or dark you cannot see past. You can enter this doorway and instantly be somewhere within any dimension inscribed on the key, but Drake never learned how to tell specifically in the dimension where the door would send you, or how to get back. The dimension, after all, had not even been fully discovered as far as Drake was aware. He decided to try and use the red key just to see what it does; his curiosity burned him