Racing Chaos by Emma Montgomery

Author:Emma Montgomery [Montgomery, Emma]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Blue Canary Publishing LLC
Published: 2022-07-30T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 14

Brainstorm

“We have to remember to check the winning numbers,” Una said excitedly as we departed from Gabriel Station. We had arrived early that morning, first stopping to indulge in a pancake breakfast at a 20th-century themed diner, then heading to the market. Unfortunately, no one wanted to buy the Erebus A’s twisted hull scraps or the quantum transmitter, which was worthless without the other half. I felt defeated. Una, however, was buzzing about the lottery. “It’s a long-shot, but someone has to win. The pot is over five million buks. And the drawing is today!”

At Una’s insistence, we bought multiple lottery tickets on the station, one of the few places in the 3Out that participated in galactic gambling. Her anxiety over entering the Diomedes 100 had seemingly doubled overnight. Judging from the dark circles under her eyes she hadn’t slept at all, although her only new idea was entering this lottery.

“I don’t want to win it,” said Joren from his spot on the lounge’s couch. “I’ve only heard bad things. Everyone who’s won it’s gone bankrupt. It’s cursed.”

I nodded, “I’ve heard that too.”

Una rolled her eyes as she carefully folded her ticket. “Honestly, you two. You know what it is? Most people who win the lottery aren’t financially literate, so of course they make a mess of it.” She waved her fingers sarcastically. “Or maybe it’s ghoooooosts! Honestly.” She got to her feet, “I’m going to watch the drawing in my quarters.” She exited the room with a flip of her long pale hair and an air of suffering.

I stuck my tongue out at her retreating figure. “If we win, we aren’t sharing with her,” I joked to Joren.

We didn’t win.

Una was absent for several hours, then reappeared with a blotchy but determined face.

“Okay,” she said. “Let’s have a crew meeting. There’s got to be an answer. There’s always an answer.” She sat down beside us. “I think we need to pool our information,” she continued in a businesslike tone. “What do we know? Let’s talk it out.”

We stared at each other for a moment. “I feel like you both know everything that I do,” I said, at a loss.

Joren shrugged. “I don’t know anything either, just that this Mal guy must be rich to afford 100,000 buks for Cassy.”

“WHOA! Hold up! My bounty is 100,000 buks? You never told me that!” I yelped.

“Yeah. If you’re alive. Only 50,000 buks for your head.”

I shot him a look.

Joren threw the look back. “I’m serious. And the reward for Pilot is 250,000 buks. That bounty has been around for a while, since before I joined.”

Una nodded. “I’m not surprised. Mal is making an example of you. You embarrassed him.” She looked up at the speaker. “But I wasn’t really talking to you two. Hey, Pilot? Don’t pretend you aren’t listening. What do you know?”

There was a pause, then Pilot replied, “What exactly is your question?”

Una’s eyes narrowed. “You know, you are awfully evasive. I’ve been researching AIs and you don’t seem to be a part of any standard line.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.