ALICE Ch 11

The weather is clear.

The race is about to begin. The cars are in position on the track.

Most of the practice that an F1 driver gets is in a simulator or even with a PlayStation. Those things do a good job of capturing the speed and the challenge of making the car do what you want it to do. The biggest challenge for Alice is what she’s wearing. The fire-retardant protective suit isn’t so bad, but the neck brace and helmet are. And if there’s even the slightest smudge or anything on her visor, it makes it hard to concentrate. All these little things add up to make a stressful situation even more stressful.

Alice never expected to be on the front row or anything like that, but she also never expected to see the grid from P20. That is a lot of cars ahead of her. And just ahead and to her right is Faye in FUTA Racing’s other bright, pink car. Alice still doesn’t understand what that was about this morning. Jerking off before a race? That’s not weird in itself, even if it’s not Alice’s practice. But the toys and the meltdown… Alice still doesn’t fully understand.

She managed to get Faye dressed and to the pit, but Glynda saw them together and Alice didn’t like the look that Glynda gave her.

Alice shakes her head and focuses. Racing is about not getting distracted. She might be P20, but she still has a job to do. She’s done her part to help Faye out; the rest is up to Faye. Maybe she should’ve left Faye alone. After all, this isn’t a traditional team sport. Driving better than one’s teammate will always be part of the objective.

Well, Faye is a mess this morning.

The radio checks are done.

“Won’t be long now, Alice,” says Lora Martins, Alice’s handler. Lora is the voice in Alice’s ear when she drives, telling her when to box, when to push, and keeping her appraised of the state of the race. Lora is English, and she has a calm, soothing voice. Right now, she’s sitting next to Glynda on the pit wall, watching the monitors and keeping an eye on the state of the car. “Everything looks good,” she adds. “All right. Focus now, Alice.”

Alice watches the lights. Two. Four. Six. Eight. Ten. And they’re gone.

She hits it, rocketing forward. It’s a great start, but it does her no good at the rear of the pack. This is a circuit with both straights and tight turns. There will be opportunities to move up if Alice can keep her head and her car in one piece.

There’s an impact up ahead and she sees a car go airborne, bits of metal and plastic flying. Then wheels are bouncing and debris is everywhere.