Page 2 of Hyperspeed
“I asked if you’d met any of the rookies yet, space cadet.”
“Nah, not yet. Have you?”
He pressed the microfiber cloth he was holding to his chest and fluttered his lashes. It was creepy as fuck, like one of those weird baby dolls with the rolling eyes.
“Why wouldI, a humble engineer, have crossed paths with any of the other teams’ rookies?”
“Because you’re a nosy fucker,” I hit back. “Come on, what’s the goss?”
“Who said there is any?”
“Oh, comeon,” I whined. Placing my hands on the vehicle, I closed the distance between us. “Stop answering my questions with a question.”
Sam snapped his cloth against my fingers to keep my oily palms from ruining his work.
I yelped and jerked back. “Hey! These are my moneymakers.”
If I lost these hands, who would steer Nexus through another winning season?
“You’re not a porn star,” Jax scoffed.
“You don’t know what I get up to in the off-season,” I said, palming my crotch and waggling my eyebrows.
“Do you want the gossip or not?” Sam cut in, now standing up straight, arms crossed over his broad chest.
“Yes! I knew it. Just had to make you think I didn’t care, so you’d crack open like a shoddy safe.” I grinned. “I’m a genius in overalls.”
Sam rolled his eyes and strode over to a nearby computer station. Jax and I trailed behind like little ducklings. A large curved monitor dominated the setup, while a holographic projection of my vehicle hovered just inches above the surface, rotating to display a full 360 degree view.
He swiped his hand through the hologram, making it disappear, and tapped on the monitor until a list of this season’s racers appeared. It contained photos of each racer, a small bio, and vague details of their vehicle underneath.
The Cosmic Racing Federation required teams to submit this information every year. Every racer could see it, most using it to study their competitors before the season started. It wasn’t anything new, and when I told Sam as such, he looked less than impressed.
“When was the last time you looked at it?”
“I dunno. Last week?”
“And how many racers were there?” Was he testing me? I’d expected something juicy, and instead, he was quizzing me on what I already knew. “How many racers did Zenith Nova have?”
“One. Zylo. He’s racing alone, like always.”
Sam brought Zenith Nova’s roster up on the monitor. As expected, Zylo’s smiling face sat above a brief description of his X-9 Stratos. Underneath it was—
Wait . . .
“Who the . . .” Jax trailed off, just as stumped as I was.
Sam smirked, stepping back so Jax and I could crowd the monitor.
“Revvak Arathiel.” I read the name aloud.
“He’s a rookie.” Jax looked between Sam and me. “Zenith Nova hasn’t taken on a new racer in years. Not since Xander Korr died.”
“That’s not even the best part,” Sam said, bouncing on his heels.
“Smugness doesn’t suit you, Sam,” I mumbled, still reading the details of Zenith Nova’s latest addition. I scanned the species field and blinked in disbelief at what had to be a mistake.
“Iskari?!”
