Dear all,
Here is the first couple of pages of the new chapter, I am sorry there is not more but I am finally snowed under at work. There is a lot more coming but it needs reworking a bit, so I am just posting what I have ready.
Thanks all and enjoy
GG
_______________
Chapter 3 – The Race
The stamp of heavy footfalls echoed around the public hanger in the Argon Trading station in Antigone Memorial. Eli Graaf was in a foul temper. For about wozura now, he had been working for his father’s company and had flown several courier missions for him. This was the third trip where his two nemeses, Dempsy and Murdo had thought it entertaining to circle around him in space, hurling abuse and disrupting his flight plan. Their behaviour was beginning to wear on him, but with their connections it was difficult to strike back without damaging his father’s business.
He slammed the nearest wall in frustration. Passers by began to give the angry young man a wide berth. All but one. From behind Eli a hand came and took his arm. He span around fists clenched.
“Oh its you Hatchet.” Eli said to the elderly man.
“Aye lad, it’s me, now tell me what the problem is, it’s not good to be in that kind of mood.” Hatchet replied sounding concerned.
“Its those two punks, Dempsy and Murdo, why the hull won’t they leave me alone.”
“There are always people like that, they will grow tired of it eventually.” Hatchet nodded sagely.
“That’s not soon enough, what if they make me late for a delivery, this has got to be stopped.” Eli seemed anxious.
“Short of beating the hull out of them, there isn’t much you can do.”
Hang I have got it, what about the Antigone Race in a few tazuras?” Eli suggested, the remembered. “Ah that will not work, my engines are too slow.”
“Well that can be resolved, I have plenty of spare and cast-off parts from disco engines, I am sure we can retune them to make them faster.” Hatchet replied grinning. “In fact I have just the thing.”
Hatchet led Eli to his office just outside the hanger bay. As a starship mechanic, Hatchet had all sorts of ship parts cluttering the office and his storerooms. Eli looked about in silent wonder; he was amazed by all the strange instruments and devices, which surrounded him.
“Now I am sure I had it here. You just hold on here and I’ll look for it .”
Eli wondered what ‘it’ was. As he waited he peered at the many devices close to him. He was surprised to see what appeared to be a sensor module from a Titan class destroyer. It seemed Hatchet had been collecting these parts for years.
“Ah hear it is.” Hatchet declared eventually.
Eli looked at the strange object with scepticism. It was a peculiar piece of technology, which did not seem to fit any of the parts he was aware of for any of the races, which frequented the known galaxy. Or at least that he knew of.
“What is it?” Eli enquired.
“I admit it doesn’t look much, but this is an advanced power regulation system salvaged from a Xenon bomber.” Hatchet answered. “Once we get this fitted you will see what it can do.”
The fitting was a far more complicated task than either had imagined. Much of the engine had to be removed and new links had to be made to the ship’s onboard computer. Working on the computer, Eli was reminded of Maggie taking control of the ship during the police inspection on his first mission. He explained this to Hatchet.
“Ah well lad.” Hatchet replied. “That’s some special AI they developed a few years back. They have coding which lets them make decisions based upon factors, don’t trust them myself.”
“So it thinks?” Eli asked.
“Not very well but I guess you could say so. Really it just decides based on a list of options which to take. Oh and it can ‘learn’ too based on the effects of it’s actions”
“So it does think.” Eli said
“Aye well I can remove it if you like.” Hatchet offered.
“I’m not sure, can you remove the security laws programming, I don’t mind a thinking computer, what I care about is it taking over my ship with out my say so.”
“Well ok if you like. I’ll just have to take the core to my office and hook it up to my mainframe.”
Hatchet reached up past Eli to remove the computer core from its socket in the heart of the ship. As he did so his sleeve snagged on a wire and was pulled down. There was a faded tattoo on his forearm, identical to the one he had seen on Klaus Derich. Eli sucked in a long breath through clenched teeth. Hatchet was a bounty hunter.
Too shocked to say anything Eli sat in silence as Hatchet made his way to his offices. He was amazed that such a quiet, unassuming and helpful man could be a member of the violent guild. He had never noticed Hatchet to be aggressive or disappear for long periods, so Eli wondered when he was ever active.
When Hatchet returned, he resolved himself to asking about the tattoo.
“Well young master Graaf it seems I managed to do it, you won’t be bothered by the security software again.” Hatchet began as he popped his head into the cockpit. He handed Eli the computer core and once again as he stretched forward the tattoo was exposed.
“Hatchet, what’s that tattoo there?” Eli asked after the core was reinstalled.
“What, Oh this,” Hatchet indicated the tattoo. “Its from my bounty hunting days. Membership of the guild. I left a while back too old for it now, not much use with this.” He tapped his leg, which gave off a clang. Eli did not know Hatchet had a cyber-replacement leg.
“Wow, so you used to chase down criminals, it must have been interesting.”
“Aye well it was exciting, though things have quietened these days.” Hatchet’s eyes seemed to give off a sad dreamy gleam. Eli could not help feeling sorry for Hatchet, the old man was reaching the end of his life whilst he had barely started his own.
“Did you fight many pirates?” Eli asked enthusiastically. He loved to hear about battles and fighting villains. He might now be considered an adult but he still had a child’s curiosity for such things.
“Ah a few lad, and tough it was, they are mean and pitiless. Those two fellows who have been plaguing you would probably cack their pants if they met a real one.”
Eli laughed, that would be a sight worth seeing. Still they needed to carry on the work here, then he could maybe try in his own way to beat them.
“Well one day I would love to hear your stories.” Eli said
.
“Aye it’s a long time since I had a willing listener.” Replied Hatchet. “Now then shall we get some work done and stop dawdling?”
They worked sometime in silence and it was not long before they had managed to integrate the Xenon technology to the Argon ship. This gave Eli some concern until Hatchet remarked.
“Its not something to worry about. The Xenon tech seems to resemble Argon technology, though I am not sure why, no one has actually seen a Xenon before, perhaps they are on offshoot species.”
“I hope not, but hopefully it will give me an edge.” Eli replied.
++++
That evening at dinner Eli tried to broach the subject of the race with his parents. As he explained a look of horror began to creep over his mother’s face.
“Absolutely not” said Elzabeth Graaf hastily
A pained look crept across Eli’s face, he really wanted his parents’ support.
“Now ‘Beth,” Said Mitchell Graaf. “Eli is old enough now to make his own decisions.”
“It won’t be dangerous mother. Races in the Federation are always safe. Space is big, and if anyway causes a collision they are instantly disqualified so there is no incentive to crash.” Eli tried to sound reassuring but Elzabeth was not convinced.
“I am still not sure,” she replied, “regardless of the rules, you may still get hurt.”
“Oh, Beth, he will be fine, and it might even prove useful for the business for people to see how fast the ship can go.” Mitchell turned to Eli mirth in his eyes, “Which means of course you had better win.”
Eli beamed as he realised however grudgingly he had won his parents’ support.
Soon after dinner he approached his father and thanked him for helping him persuade his mother.
“Oh think nothing of it son, you are over 18 Jazuras now, so can do what you like anyway.” Mitchell explained. “Your mother can be a little over protective of you.”
“Still I appreciate having your support so freely.” Eli replied.
Mitchell shrugged off the praise, with a brief grunt, adding. “Of course, now that you are learning to be independent I think it is time we talked about you paying your keep.”
Eli could only groan.
The tazura of the race finally came and Eli was full of excitement. Despite his parents misgivings he was eager to try out his new engines against the other racers, particularly the arrogant Dempsy and Murdo. The bonus the Xenon device would bring might even tip the race in his favour.
Having eaten a scant breakfast, Eli hurried to the hanger deck to prepare his ship. As he reached the public hanger, he met Dempsy who was lounging against a wall.
“Hello, Graaf the loser, come to watch my exhaust streams?” Dempsy sneered.
“We will just have to see won’t we, you never know what might happen, especially as we have the same ship.”
“Hah, there is no way you can compare that pile of junk to my Disco.” Dempsy sounded offended by Eli’s suggestion.
“Well you had better get going if you want to be at the start line for the race.”
“Oh hull.” Dempsy replied and ran off.
Eli smirked to himself at the small victory and hurried to his own ship. When he got there he saw that Hatchet was waiting to greet him.
“Hello, lad, so it’s the big tazura. Are you all prepared?” Hatchet asked.
Eli looked down as he patted the new flight suit he had bought. “Yep I think so.”
“Well I want you to have this.” Hatchet offered a small chain with what looked like a ragged piece of shrapnel on it. “Its from my first ship, it’ll bring you luck.”
“Thanks.” Eli said, hanging it around his neck. He was not sure he believed in luck but anything that might help would be good.
“Well you’d better get going then.”
Eli jumped up into the cockpit and waved saying “See you on the other side,” as he closed the hatch.
He activated the ship’s engines and ran through pre-flight procedures before letting the ship auto-undock. All the systems seemed fine but the ship was old and he could only hope that it would hold together once it reached high speeds. As the engines purred into life Eli Graaf realised what a change the new enhancements made. He had barely pushed the throttle forwards when the ship lurched ahead, narrowly avoiding the hanger wall. He would have to be careful.
Space seemed particularly bright as he left the station. Perhaps there were solar flares Eli thought. He did not know whether it was a good or bad omen. Breathing deeply to calm himself, he headed for the starting line, made from a chain of nav buoys near the south gate. Most of the competing ships were already there and as he switched to the official race commentary frequency, he heard the announcer.
“And we can see heading from the Trading Station is last years winner and three times runner up, Ludlow Dempsy…”
Eli grimaced, it was no surprise that Dempsy was well known, but it griped that he had such acclaim to.
“… and heading to the starting line we can see a new competitor, number 17 piloted by the Argon pilot Eli Graaf.”
Eli was unsurprised by the lack of enthusiasm in anyone’s voices. It was a welcome diversion when one of the pilots transmitted to him over a private channel.
“Hello Mr Graaf, I am Mola Ti Rosa.” The pilot said, Eli realised instantly that he was a Boron.
“Pleased to meet you Mola, but please call me Eli.”
“Many apologies Mr Eli, I meant no offence. Please know me as Ti” Ti Rosa replied.
“No no that’s not what I meant… Oh forget it, that’s a nice ship you got, must be fast.” Eli complimented the Boron. The alien pilot was flying an elegant Boron Octopus craft.
“It has an acceptable speed, I hope that you will not find it offensive if I should be at the finish line before you.” Ti Rosa offered.
Eli tried to get the confusing statement round his brain. It finally came to him that the Boron was trying to engage him in friendly, yet competitive banter.
“Not a problem, Ti, that will only happen once I start going around again.”
A brief wheezing sound came through the speakers. It was the Boron approximation of a laugh. “I wish you joy in your endeavour,” The Boron replied, before cutting the connection.
Eli finally felt welcome, he was glad that there were people in the race who were not like Dempsy and Murdo. The pair had already pushed their way to the front, ensuring a smooth start for them towards the first gate.
The nav buoys began to flicker red, indicating the start of the race. The excitement boiled up inside Eli, it was really about to begin. Outside the windows he could see the thirty or so pilots jockeying into position. It would be an eventful race, he was sure.
“Maggie, display a waypoint list for the race checkpoints on the HUD please.” Eli asked his computer.
“Affirmative.” The female voice droned as a course was plotted and displayed to the top left of his vision.
“Thank you.”
As he scanned through the checkpoints, he realised that this race would not just be about speed. Some of the waypoints would require tight manoeuvring, negating the speed bonuses on the faster ships. The race would also be passing through several systems; he hoped there would not be too much civilian traffic along the way.
Outside the ship the race lights began to flash amber. Over the radio the announcer began to countdown. “10 – 9 – 8 –7 – 6 –5 …” Eli put his hand on the throttle, he would not be caught slacking. “3 – 2 – 1. And They’re off.” The nav lights went green and the competing ships burst forwards.
=============
The advanced Xenon tech fuel injector inside his engine squeezed power into his thrusters, spurring Eli’s Discoverer onwards. Several of the other racers were clustering all trying to take the lead as they accelerated. With the temporary bonus leant to him Eli swooped over their heads and spurted for the gate. He could see in front of him only Ti Rosa, Dempsy and Murdo. Under his breath he silently praised Hatchet for his help.
The gate began to flash as each of the leading pilots was transported by through hyperspace to the Hole system nicknamed “Amec Headquarters”. Eli was close behind and he smiled as the bright light of the activating gate enveloped him. Things seemed to be going well though as he was thrown violently out the other side of his own wormhole, he saw he had much ground still to gain.
The route through the system was a winding one. As space lanes were essentially unmarked, unlike highways on planets, special navigational programmes had been developed for races. The programme projected a virtual route onto the pilots HUD showing a glowing red line, which followed the race’s path. To guide the pilots, checkpoints were set up which also forced them to stay on course.
The virtual image of an arrow emblazoned his HUD indicating for him to make a sharp turn to head for the first checkpoint. It was several klicks out so Eli’s discoverer had plenty of time to build up speed. The three pilots ahead were forced to slow to make the tight turn between the winking buoys. Eli laughed, even in space it seemed people thought only two dimensionally. He was glad there were no Paranids in the race, the strange religious creatures excelled at three-dimensional thinking.
As Eli’s ship approached the checkpoint, he did not slow like the others. His ship hurtled past the nav buoys. Over the radio the announcer sounded baffled at Eli’s intentions. The confusion was short lived as the Xenon device in his engine brought him to a complete stop as he flipped the ship over in a tight roll. Before Eli had blinked the discoverer was accelerating again now facing towards the checkpoint.
“Amazing.” The announcer cried. “Graaf in number 17 has pulled an astounding stunt and gained valuable sezuras at the first checkpoint. Where has this kid come from?”
Eli chuckled to himself, he was having fun and now it seemed he was becoming popular too.
The time gained thanks to the Xenon power regulator saw Eli’s discover draw up only a scant few ship lengths behind Ti Rosa’s ship.
“I am coming for you Ti” Eli transmitted over the communicator.
The Boron somehow squeezed a few moments of extra thrust, which lengthened the distance between them. “Catch Boron if you can youngling.”
Eli laughed at the challenge, it was what he intended to do. At the next checkpoint, the last before the jump to Heron’s nebula, he used the same roll manoeuvre. Ti Rosa’s Octopus was left behind in wave of engine wash. Now Eli was in third place, he only had to catch Murdo and Dempsy.
The two Argon pilots were several klicks ahead of Eli and he wondered how easily it would be to catch them up. It would not be long before the two of them would jump to the next sector. After that, there would only be two more jumps and sprint to the finish line. He could only hope that the time saved at each checkpoint would be enough to overtake.
The gate to Power circle loomed in the distance of Eli’s ship he now had a choice of routes, he could take the long trip through the heart of the system via multiple checkpoints or brave the eddies of the Large Nebula and only have to pass one. Seeing that the two other pilots had taken the safe route, Eli realised that his opportunity to take the lead had come. Disregarding thoughts for his own safety, he plunged his ship into the foggy unknown of the nebula.
As Eli’s Discoverer headed flew through the swirling eddies, his visibility deteriorated. All about him was billowing blue-grey matter, his single navigational aid the blinking arrow and line on his HUD, which pointed the path through the nebula. Following the line he grimly wondered where the other pilots were, the dust was scrambling his sensors. He began to regret having chosen this route.
Eli’s regrets were short lived as he was brought out of his reverie by a warning blaring from the onboard sensors.
“What’s wrong Maggie?” He asked.
“Hull integrity is compromised.” The computer replied blandly.
“What? How is that possible are we under attack?” Eli went cold, perhaps there were Xenon vessels hidden within the nebula cloud.
“Negative, integrity at 95%” Maggie informed him. “94%… 93%”
“Hull, what is going on?” Eli demanded.
“Insufficient data,” Maggie replied unphased by Eli’s anger. “Integrity has stabilised at 93%.”
“Right well better get the frak out of here.” Eli cursed. “ I don’t care what the cause is I just want out.”
Squeezing every last ounce of thrust from his engines, Eli forced the ship onwards, barely aiming to stay on course. Finally the clouds began to disperse and the stars began to twinkle through the translucent fog. The discoverer burst out the far side of the nebula, a thin trail of cosmic gasses trailing behind as though they did not want to release the ship from their clutches.
There were a few klicks left to reach the gate, and despite the harrowing diversion, Eli could see that he would reach the gate just after Dempsey, but before Murdo. He had gained more time, but there was only one more system, Power Circle to take the lead. As the stargate launched him into the last leg, Eli saw that the route was even more winding than before, perfect for his advanced ship.
As he pursued Dempsey, Eli found that it was difficult to gain any ground. Despite the Xenon tech artefact, Eli was unable to overtake. After a few initial successes at the first few tight manoeuvres Dempsey was matching him move for move, only like a prescient, the arrogant youth was doing it a few moments before Eli.
The race announcer was nearly screaming into the microphone at the sight of the two pilots locked in a personal struggle. “They make another turn together, oh folks this is too close to tell, First Dempsey, then Graaf, only time will tell. Our third place runner, Murdo Serra is slipping further behind. We are getting a real treat today.”
“Your welcome,” Eli replied softly to the radio through gritted teeth, “now shut up and let me concentrate.”
At the next turn Eli finally took the lead and held it. Dempsey was only a few ship lengths behind, but Eli felt elated, he had done it. The thin red line of the race route was rapidly shrinking as it looped its way towards the final jump gate, back into Antigone Memorial. Full of excitement Eli let out a loud whoop. He had shown them all.
“And Eli Graaf is finally truly in the lead, it looks like the Antigone Cup will have a new owner today.” The announcer called. “oh wait what is going on, Murdo Serra in third place is deviating from the flight path, he is heading straight for the gate. This experienced pilot should know that he will be disqualified, perhaps he is having trouble with his ship.”
Eli paid little attention, if Murdo wanted to fool around; it would not stop him from winning. Only one more checkpoint to go. In a mood for celebration Eli did a full loop and roll before turning to pass through the last cluster of buoys. Engrossed in the manoeuvre. Eli did not catch the approaching ship in his periphery until over the radio the announcer called.
“I don’t believe it, Murdo Serra has turned his ship and is headed for Eli Graaf. I think yes, it looks like Serra intends to ram Graaf.”
Eli looked round in shock hurtling towards him was the speeding discoverer piloted by Murdo. Reacting quickly, Eli span his ship around away from the checkpoint he had just passed through. He had only a short distance to the gate but all his manoeuvring had bled off most of his velocity. Once more the Xenon artefact groaned into life as it drove the engines into activity. His speed crept up rapidly. He craned his neck to catch a glimpse of Murdo.
Too late Eli realised he would not escape, Murdo had built up too much speed. As he passed between the nacelles of the jump gate. Murdo’s ship careened into the rear of Eli’s discoverer, sending it spinning out of control over the gate and into the space beyond.
Eli could only hit his controls in frustration as he listened to Maggie’s report.
“Sheilds down to fifteen percent but climbing… hull integrity is critical… engines at twelve percent efficiency…”
To ELi the list sounded endless so he shut out Maggie’s passionless voice as he watched the rest of the race in silence. From his unfortunate vantage point he saw first Dempsey pass through the gate, then Mola Ti Rosa. As the Boron passed between the nacelles, the Boron gave a forlorn wave with one of its tentacles. Eli smiled weakly as the remaining participants passed through the gate.
His face grey with rage and despair Eli sat waiting for the race tug to come and haul him back home. He had lost.
A Time for Heroes - Chapter 3 - completed (7/06/05)
Moderators: TheElf, Moderators for English X Forum
A Time for Heroes - Chapter 3 - completed (7/06/05)
Last edited by Graf_Grau on Tue, 7. Jun 05, 15:55, edited 9 times in total.
Very good read! A Disco without the edge in speed really is a lost case, isn't it? Also good to see the security part of the computer has been removed. Would not want to sit in a Disco when the AI thinks it needs to kick M3 butt 
You really have found a great way leading into this new story! Well done!
Looking forward to the next installment!
You really have found a great way leading into this new story! Well done!
Looking forward to the next installment!
-
Urashima Keitaro
- Posts: 1247
- Joined: Thu, 21. Oct 04, 11:25
Excellent one! Also nice integration of Boron mentality Now we shall see how much the Xenon part can do for a Disco these days. The other Disco's are no doubt maxxed out, which would still leave it to the Octopus as it has a clear advantage in top speed.
Looking forward to the next installment.
btw, you have Eli address his parents with their names "he thanks Mitchell" as opposed to dad
Now we shall see how much the Xenon part can do for a Disco these days. The other Disco's are no doubt maxxed out, which would still leave it to the Octopus as it has a clear advantage in top speed.Looking forward to the next installment.
btw, you have Eli address his parents with their names "he thanks Mitchell" as opposed to dad
Re: A Time for Heroes - Chapter 3 - updated (25/05/05)
More good stuff. I like your use of the Mentor archetype with Hatchet.Graf_Grau wrote:Dear all,
Here is the first couple of pages of the new chapter, I am sorry there is not more but I am finally snowed under at work. There is a lot more coming but it needs reworking a bit, so I am just posting what I have ready.
Thanks all and enjoy
GG
_______________
Chapter 3 – The Race
(The sound of heavy footfalls resounded around - too neutral. Try something like 'The stamp of angry footsteps echoed' - that way is both more evocative and removes the need to tell us he was in a foul mood - it primes us how to read his mood)
(“Well that can be resolved, I have plenty of spare and cast-off parts from disco engines, I am sure we can retune them to make them faster.” Hatchet replied grinning. “In fact I have just the thing.”
Dialogue isn't my strongpoint but the trick is not to have real conversation but words that sound like it. no-one really speaks like they do in movies. what you want is snappy stuff that resembles speech and keeps things moving. "Not if you don't mind a helping hand from the Xenon," Hatchet winked. "Step into my office.")
Hatchet reached up past Eli to remove the computer core from its socket in the heart of the ship. As he did so his sleeve snagged on a wire and was pulled down. There was a faded tattoo on his forearm, identical to the one he had seen on Klaus Derich. Eli sucked in a long breath through clenched teeth. Hatchet was a bounty hunter. (real nice piece of showing not telling)
KiwiNZ wrote:Now we shall see how much the Xenon part can do for a Disco these days. The other Disco's are no doubt maxxed out, which would still leave it to the Octopus as it has a clear advantage in top speed.
Looking forward to the next installment.
btw, you have Eli address his parents with their names "he thanks Mitchell" as opposed to dad
Thanks mate I remember writing that and thinking "hmmm something not right here." but not sure what.
Regarding the speed thing, I have always felt - no offence to egosoft - that in computer games things like speed are a little too simplistic, you shove the throttle forward and 30 seconds later you have maxed the factory standard top speed. I kind of have a habit of sort of fiddling with the physics and the specifications of ships.
With this race, I am trying to work in that high speed will not be as useful as skill and manoevourability. Like you get in car racing where one car is better on the turn, another on the straight. I guess I am not being clear enough on this in my writing so I will look at what I have written and rethink it.
BTW, thanks steve am making your changes now!
Graham
Re: A Time for Heroes - Chapter 3 - completed (7/06/05)
"Either is or not is young Graaf, there is no seem." Seriously, this is something my tutor is always railing against. In this situation he isn't overtaking, there is no 'seem' about it. There's very few situations where the use of 'seem' does anything other than weaken the impact of the writing. It's an easy trap to fall into and one we all hit.Graf_Grau wrote:
As he pursued Dempsey, Eli found that it was difficult to gain any ground. Despite the Xenon tech artefact, Eli seemed unable to overtake.
Great twist at the end.
Re: A Time for Heroes - Chapter 3 - completed (7/06/05)
Changed that little bit, I see what you mean, too often I get my "observation angle" wrong and tend to take the view point of the writer, not the reader or the character.SteveMill wrote:"Either is or not is young Graaf, there is no seem." Seriously, this is something my tutor is always railing against. In this situation he isn't overtaking, there is no 'seem' about it. There's very few situations where the use of 'seem' does anything other than weaken the impact of the writing. It's an easy trap to fall into and one we all hit.Graf_Grau wrote:
As he pursued Dempsey, Eli found that it was difficult to gain any ground. Despite the Xenon tech artefact, Eli seemed unable to overtake.
Great twist at the end.
I am glad you like the twist
, that was planned from before I started the chapter, its just taken all this time to get from the start of the race to that point. 
It's best to avoid using the word given that it's one of the tell-tale signs editors look for when seeking an excuse not to read a manuscript. Like you say - you need to keep locked in the viewpoint so we feel his frustration at not being able to catch up despite the Xenon tech. The old 'show don't tell'.
Thanks steve,
I noticed a few more it, seems (oops) like seem is the current compound error I am making. However now things are more seemless.
Seriously though it does read much better without. With, there is indeed an element of passivity.
You can blame my degree for that one. "Never give definites." My tutors would say you can never prove something, only fail to disprove.
We are seeing the internal conflict within me between science and the arts.
I noticed a few more it, seems (oops) like seem is the current compound error I am making. However now things are more seemless.
Seriously though it does read much better without. With, there is indeed an element of passivity.
You can blame my degree for that one. "Never give definites." My tutors would say you can never prove something, only fail to disprove.
We are seeing the internal conflict within me between science and the arts.
Outside the ship the race lights began to flash amber. Over the radio the announcer began to countdown. “10 – 9 – 8 –7 – 6 –5 …” Eli put his hand on the throttle, he would not be caught slacking. “3 – 3 – 1. And They’re off.” The nav lights went green and the competing ships burst forwards.
i noticed this shouldnt it be 3-2-1?
oh well still good
i noticed this shouldnt it be 3-2-1?
oh well still good