Thanks everyone! In thanks, here's a short excerpt.
I quickly scanned the radar map. It seemed it was a tie for Sean and Annie in first place... which could either be good or bad. One thing was certain, though. I had a mountain to climb if I was ever going to reach the top spot. I noticed the stars blurring past me. It seemed like an astrologists' nightmare, while being a traveller's dream. I needed to get faster though. Otherwise I would lose, and losing was just not good.
The added speed thanks to the shields had taken me up a notch thankfully, so I was thankfully starting to narrow the gap between Merrik and myself, which was what I really wanted to get done, then I could focus on everyone else. The race was only about 10% in, and already I felt under extreme pressure. But still, I couldn't let it get to me. At least, not yet. Now was not the best time. It was either that or I would end up in some sort of mental institution for crashing my ship into a nearby post of some description. Not the best way to have ones day spent.
I diverted more power from the defences to the engines, which was more of a dodgy move than before. It was never recommended, but I did so anyway. Each time I did, the ship began to wobble ever-so-slightly more and more as I got closer to my potential fly-apart. Not the best thing, but I didn't really have a choice. Soon, I had finally made it back to the status quo that I had been waiting for. I was back to level pegging with Merrik. I looked into his cockpit, and the look on his face was priceless. It was of inexplicable confusion and frustration, with a little bit of malice. I simply smiled and waved, as I diverted 20% more shield power to the engines. It was then that I felt a violent bump. It felt like something had violently hit the side of the ship. It was then I realised, that several parts of the hull plating had come loose on my ship. This was most frustrating when one was to think about the inclinations of such a thing.
I WAS GOING TO DIE or at least have a very cheap funeral, as in non-existent. But I kept that thought out of my mind, despite witnessing minor parts of the ship quickly flying off and hitting the glass of the cockpit. As long as that held for another 82% of the race, we'd all be laughing. Laughing so hard we couldn't breathe. And now I'm just rambling because I really don't want to get to what happened next... because trust me, it was horrible. And I really do mean horrible.
The race was finishing off its first quarter, and we were now going past the asteroid field that had served as a protective shield for Earth over the past, ooh, 100 or so years? It had been formulated by the great scientists of the Capornicus Army. We were always indebted to them, before they all got obliterated in their ship by an asteroid in the said field. Hence why most of us were baffled when we all heard that the second quarter of the race was about to take place there, in the most unpleasant, and generally threatening of conditions. Yay. Again, allons-y! Ironically, it was so not good, but we decided to do go in it anyway, I mean what choice did we have? I'll tell you, none.
So, we flew straight into the asteroid field, with Sean and Annie both still battling for first place, with Mark not far behind. Me and Merrik were still battling it out in our own little section in 4th and 5th place. This truly was a test of who was the better pilot. Let's face it, it was more of a challenge who could lose the least to 3 behemoths of the teenage racing world. Man, oh, man. That was a harsh mistress. Still, I kept going, and we kept flying tooth and nail against each other, his ship ramming into my already damaged one. It wasn't having a good day at the office that's for sure.
The whole novel, the Endless Time Prequel, Eternal Odyssey: A Warped Fate shall be released with each chapter on a weekly basis, starting from December the 1st.