FaRtaL Chpt 30

==From a Ristar to a Lady - Chapter 30 -==
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===Fun of Romance===
Aubert Estate, Inman
Milligan PDZ, Woodbine Operational Area
8th July, 3061
1100 hours (1100 hrs on local 28 hr cycle)
“Just what are you plotting this time?” Finn eyed Raymond suspiciously as they walked across the green along the racetrack.
“What do you mean?” protested Raymond innocently. “Finn, you’ll hurt my feelings, saying stuff like that. You mustn’t take your anger over losing Lady Kalinska out on me. I’m just here to attend the race…”
Finn spun around. “Quit playing dumb. I know you met her in Innerman City before, but I was willing to let that slide.”
Raymond grinned, “So you knew about that, huh? But Finn, does that mean you were having Lady Kalinska followed? That’s a bit much, don’t you think?”
Finn replied grimly. “It wasn’t that long ago that Renard sent men to harm her. Did you expect me to leave her defenseless?”
“Of course not.” Raymond shrugged. “There’s no way you would just sit around and watch if she was in danger.” His eyes gleamed with eager anticipation. “If you did, you wouldn’t be the Viscount I know you to be.”
He walked up to Finn. “You know, Finn,, I quite like Lady Kalinska. But what she said back there about me? I was a little taken aback.”
“What?”
“It seemed like a compliment, but I knew she was actually insulting me. Should I punish her for that?”
Finn growled in warning, “Punished? Are you serious?”
Raymond smirked, “Just joking. You’re always so serious! Lighten up a bit.” He looked up at the sky. “To be honest, I am interested in Lady Kalinska. Before you misunderstand me, I don’t mean in any romantic way…”
“Raymond, I don’t care if your interest in her is romantic or not,” Finn’s voice was icy cold. “Stay away from Lady Kalinska.”
“Hey,” Raymond protested, “What’s this, a monopoly on Lady Kalinska? The unshakeable Finn Rason? I can’t believe it!” His smirk widened. “You’ve really fallen for her, haven’t you? Wow…”
Raymond half-expected Finn to deny it, but when Finn just glowered at him. Then, he is really…
That glower made him quickly add, “Finn, are you afraid I’m going to harm her in some way? I’m not like my brother.”
Finn finally replied, “That’s right. You’re not like Renard. You’re worse than him.” Finn went up to Raymond, staring him straight in the eyes. “If I’m your target, why not just focus on me? If you keep approaching Lady Kalinska like this… even though it’s not what you want, I might become your enemy.”
Raymond shrugged. “Well, this does seem to be a problem.” Then he chuckled. “I can’t believe my once rational friend is now threatening me so cruelly! Maybe I should arrest you instead of Lady Kalinska!”
“Raymond, shut up.” Finn groused as he started to walk off.
“Finn, are you telling me to shut up already?” Raymond whined.
“Enough with the word games and let’s go.” Finn widened his stride, forcing Raymond to catch up.
“Hey, wait for me! We’re supposed to stick together! Finn!”
Raymond enthused inwardly. Just as I expected, romance is the most fun!
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===The Need for Speed===
Anastasia rolled her eyes as she walked across the open field. The giggling voices of nobleborn ladies were starting to grate on her ears.
The pavilion with the tea refreshments was sited near the hoverbikes reserved for the ladies, while a short distance away, the hoverbike teams were making their last adjustments to the hoverbikes participating in the race.
It was apparent that the hoverbikes for the ladies were extremely limited versions, only capable of moving at thirty kilometers an hour by her estimation. Anastasia guessed the organisers had placed limiters on the engines, reducing their speed to far below what they are actually capable of. Since the purpose of the event was for the young ladies to catch the eye of the noblemen, having the bikes travel at slow speeds also helped them showcase their charms.
She thought she had expected it, but the reality was even worse than she could imagine. The organizers had set up a facsimile of a small town for the ladies to ride around, but just going at such slow speeds? Absolutely boring.
“Oh, here’s your bike, Lady Kalinska,” a helpful attendant guided her to the hoverbike assigned to her. “I am here to assist you.”
Anastasia stared at her hoverbike, admittedly painted a very pretty mix of colors, then at the ladies already riding around the town mockup. “No thanks. You can let somebody else ride it.”
“Oh, let me then!” Selina Seydoux had been in the queue with her, and was eager for her turn to ride. Without waiting for the attendant, she quickly mounted the bike and moved off tentatively, almost losing balance before she got it under control.
Anastasia winced, but decided she would rather not ride such slow hoverbikes. She looked over the hoverbike teams, and her vision narrowed to the displayed banner of a leaping cat, which was obviously a close copy of the Smoke Jaguar insignia.
Finn walked up next to her, and asked, “Why aren’t you on a bike? I thought you were looking towards it?”
Anastasia gestured with a hand at the ladies riding on the hoverbikes. “This is boring. Too slow. I thought they would go faster than this.”
“Oh…” He looked around, “Then what do you suggest?”
“The racing teams have spares, right?” She said brightly, then started walking towards the racing teams.
“Wait, are you serious?” Finn followed closely behind her. “Lady Kalinska, these are not toys!”
“I know, which is why I prefer them.” She walked over to the area assigned to the Furious Felines, observing the team members intently as she stopped outside the bounded area, just next to the gap allowing entry. They moved with the speed and efficiency of typical clanspeople, barking short, clipped commands to one another, interspersed with quiaffs and quinegs as they hustled to get ready.
These were her people. Annihilated clan or not, these were people of Clan Smoke Jaguar. In some way, the clan still lived. Tears threatened to well up in her eyes, but Anastasia was just able to control her emotions. It would not do to spill any tears in front of Finn.
Finn started to speak, “Lady Kalinska, I really don’t think…”
Without letting him complete his sentence, she mustered up her courage, and stepped into the enclosure.
“Who are you, and what are you doing here?” barked a brown-haired woman almost immediately as she stepped in front of Anastasia. She was clad in a technician’s coveralls, a pair of goggles on her face. Anastasia thought she looked kind of familiar, as though they had met before.
The woman’s eyes flicked over to Finn, and she nodded at him. “My lord, sorry for being rude, but you should not be here.”
“My apologies,” Anastasia curtseyed politely, drawing a scoff from the woman. Well, she had to keep up appearances. “I am Anastasia Kalinska. I was curious about your team, so I thought about coming here to take a closer look. Viscount Rason was kind enough to escort me.”
Finn backed her up, “Sorry for intruding, but I’m really here to escort her. I’m not here to coerce you into doing anything for her. If it’s too much trouble, we’ll leave you to prepare for the race.”
“Another high and mighty spheroid noble…” commented another woman with disproportionately large eyes, obviously of the pilot phenotype. She was clad in a racing suit, pads around her elbows and knees.
“Let us not be rude, Jamco,” said the technician. “And besides, she is Viscount Rason’s fiancee. We want to be accommodating, quiaff?” She turned back to the couple.
Anastasia smiled, “Yes, I would be most grateful.”
The tech sighed, “Well, how close of a look do you want?”
Anastasia tilted her head back at the fake town with the gaggle of giggling noblewomen. “Maybe not a closer look, but a faster one?”
The two clanners blinked. “You want to try one of our bikes, without a speed limiter?”
“Can I?”
Finn protested, “Lady Kalinska, these racing models can go very fast. I don’t think you can handle their speed.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll not go too fast. Just fast enough to feel a bit of speed.” Anastasia tried to reassure him. “I know how to ride a bike. I did so back on Altoona, remember?”
Jamco turned to the other woman. “Your call, Chief Tech.”
“Sure, why not? Anything within reason for Viscount Rason’s fiancee.” The tech sounded dubious though, and Anastasia could not blame her. “Follow me.”
She led them to several hoverbikes. “These are our spares. You know how to ride one?” She took a riding helmet off a rack and handed it to Anastasia.
“Of course.” Avryl Showers learned back in the sibko, and had ridden them plenty since then. She put on the helmet and easily climbed up on a bike, without waiting for Finn to help her on.
“Hold up, let me ride behind for a while,” said the tech. “Not that we distrust you, but…”
“I understand, you don’t want me to damage your machine.”
The tech sighed, “Aff, that is correct. More importantly, we do not want you to be hurt.” She glanced at Finn. “Viscount Rason would also be very upset with us if that happened.”
He nodded in agreement.
The tech put on a helmet herself, and climbed on behind Anastasia while the engine gauges on the hoverbike’s dashboard lit up when she pressed the start button. Fuel-cell engine, a corner of Anastasia’s mind whispered to her. As it was a chemically driven reaction and the redox reaction itself was soundless, a fuel cell engine did not produce any sound.
“Engaging the air cushion,” Anastasia warned as she activated the air thrusters, a humming sound finally produced by the hoverbike. The hoverbike floated into the air.
Finn asked, “Do you need me to accompany you?”
She smiled brightly at him and shook her head slightly, “You know I’ll be fine.” She gestured to the tech riding behind her. “Won’t be too long before I can ride on my own too.”
He nodded in reluctant acceptance. “I look forward to seeing you ride the hoverbike then.”
She laughed, “Try not to fall too hard for me at the sight!” She twisted gently on the accelerator, and the hoverbike started moving out of the enclosure, towards one of the wide areas marked out for the racing teams to test their hoverbikes.
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Finn watched Anastasia carefully as she drove off, trying to hide his concern for her under a mask of complete confidence in her abilities. He walked over to a tent overlooking the preparation area, where some of the men had gathered, especially the married or attached ones.
Raymond was already there, probably trying to engage the other noblemen in his usual inane conversation about this book or another. His eyes flicked over to Finn, “Ahh, here comes the happily attached Viscount Rason!”
Finn tried to suppress his annoyance. “What is it this time, Sir Haynes?”
“Oh, I was just telling the others about your close relationship with Lady Kalinska. That makes some of us rather jealous!” Raymond pointed at the area. “In fact, here she comes.”
They could see Anastasia riding her hoverbike at a steady seventy kilometers per hour through the area, effortlessly turning round the curves of the practice track. Even at a distance, her grace and elegance were displayed prominently. And since the race was still some time away, none of the racing team hoverbikes were using the track, leaving it all to Anastasia. The tech seated behind her seemed kind of bored though.
“Isn’t she beautiful, Viscount Rason?” said Raymond. “Like something out of one of my novels.”
Although her head was obscured by the riding helmet, Finn could feel Anastasia was really enjoying herself. I’m glad I came with her.
“Wahhh!” Raymond continued his hyperbole, further annoying Finn. “You haven’t been able to tear your gaze away from Lady Kalinska even for a second!” He continued to yammer on. “Isn’t this like something out of a romance novel? It would be even more romantic if the two of you could ride together. Perhaps I should ask my father to find me a fiancee too…”
A high pitched scream burst from the fake town.
Finn looked up to see the hoverbike originally assigned to Anastasia Kalinska accelerating to the bike’s maximum speed, while Lady Selina Seydoux clung to it desperately as it flew away from the fake town towards the artificial bay.
Finn had a sudden sinking feeling in his stomach, and he chanced a glance at the area where Anastasia was.
He should have expected it. Anastasia had opened up her own throttle, her hoverbike bursting out of the practice track area, chasing after Lady Seydoux.
He sprang to his feet, “Lady Kalinska!”
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“Stravag!” Hawise cursed, hanging on tightly as Anastasia Kalinska pushed the hoverbike to its maximum acceleration. “You are crazy, quiaff?”
“Neg! Nobody else can catch her!”
Hawise knew she was right. The racing hoverbikes were still being prepped, and even getting one of the spares up and running would take precious time, time that would mean they could not possibly catch up to the runaway hoverbike. Obviously, the ladies’ hoverbikes were all fitted with limiters, and it was not something they would normally dare to do anyway.
But apparently, this Lady Anastasia Kalinska was brave and crazy enough to do so.
“But what are you going to do once you catch her?” Hawise shouted in her ear over the wind as their bike approached its top speed, gradually catching up to the runaway. It was gratifying to know their bikes were significantly faster than the Spheroids’, due to the lower mass of the fuel-cell engines, enabling them to pack a slightly higher rating into the chassis.
The lady on the runaway bike screamed again. Hawise guessed the accelerator was stuck, the limiter had obviously failed, and the brakes were not working. Clearly foul play, but why?
Kalinska chanced a quick glance at her with a turn of her head, then looked to the front again. “I will match speeds, get side by side. Then one of us will jump across and take control.”
A simple but dangerous plan. Something any warrior could think up and get behind. Hawise asked, “Why not just let her ditch in the water? The water impact might hurt, but it would not be too bad.”
“Neg, the depth is shallow and the bottom is muddy. The mud will pull her under and she will drown. This is the only option, quiaff?”
In the back of her mind, Hawise wondered why Lady Kalinska was talking like a trueborn Clan officer, all proper quiaffs and negs with an edge of command. “Aff, I will do as you say.”
The runaway wobbled dangerously as it zoomed past the trees on tiny islets of the artificial bay, veering dangerously left and right, the rider clearly not capable of handling its speed. Nevertheless, she did not fall off the bike either. The screams continued.
“I hate to sound like an Ice Hellion, but can you get any more speed out of this?” asked Anastasia as they continued the chase, slowly closing the distance. “We need to catch up with her before she runs out of space.”
Hawise raised an eyebrow. “Hold on.” She reached down with her right hand, opening up a panel near the engine. On pure memory, she recalled the settings, and adjusted them with a few button clicks. The new settings would grant an even higher top speed, but at the expense of long term engine damage and higher fuel consumption.
But right now, they needed speed. The hoverbike surged forward, closing the gap even more quickly. To her credit, Anastasia Kalinska controlled the hoverbike very well, smoothly adjusting their direction of travel to narrow the gap.
“Chief tech,” the communicator in her ear squawked. “They’re asking you to stop and come back. Leave the runaway. It is too dangerous.”
Hawise grinned. And miss out on the most exciting thing to involve her in months? Not happening.
“Neg. I doubt my driver wants to give up either.” Lady Kalinska turned to look at her, seemed to understand what was going on, and gave her a firm nod before turning her head back to the front. That short glance was enough for Hawise to see the fiery determination in the other woman’s eyes.
They were the eyes of a warrior.
“So who will jump across?”
Hawise replied, “Too difficult for me to reach around and take control of this bike if you jump. It is easier for me to jump. I can do it.”
“Aff, got it. We are almost there.” Only twenty metres separated them, with the spray from the hoverbike almost going to soak them, before Lady Kalinska smoothly dodged it.
And then they were almost side by side with the runaway over the bay’s waters, but maintaining a separation gap of a few metres while matching speeds at the moment. The rider was in tears, just barely hanging onto the handlebars. “Help me!” cried the noblewoman. She was just barely in control, enough to keep the hoverbike from smashing into the thin bund that separated the bay from the sea. But they were charging down the length of the bay at tremendous speeds, and they were running out of space.
“Lady Seydoux!” Kalinska shouted. “My passenger will jump over to help you, but you’ve got to hold your bike straight for five seconds!”
Now that was interesting. Apparently Lady Kalinska trusted her own skills sufficiently to close in five seconds and get her to jump. Nevertheless, Hawise was already shifting her weight and getting ready for the move.
She knew how dangerous it was. If she missed the jump, she would go into the water herself, and while she was a strong swimmer, if the mud pulled her under then she would still drown.
“I’ll try!” Lady Seydoux cried out. Her arms trembled as she fought to keep the hoverbike straight.
In a flash, Anastasia moved their bike next to the runaway, almost touching each other, matching speeds. Hawise jumped over without prompting, her right hand quickly gripping the passenger’s handle on the side of the passenger seat, her left hand immediately coming up to help Lady Seydoux stabilise the bike from the impact of her jump and landing.
Anastasia veered away to a safer distance, while Hawise took control of the bike from behind Lady Seydoux, directing it back towards the shore.
Hawise knew Lady Kalinska shadowed them as they zoomed back to land, and she had already identified the emergency fuel dump button, located under a panel. The accelerator was obviously stuck, while the airbrakes were not working. Since she was not familiar with the settings of this particular bike, the safest option was to just dump the fuel.
Once they hit land, Hawise triggered the fuel dump, spilling iso-octane behind them. The runaway hoverbike finally glided to a stop as its fuel ran out. Lady Seydoux stumbled off the bike, desperate to get away from the frightening machine as quickly as possible.
Anastasia stopped right beside them, quickly hopping off to catch Lady Seydoux in an embrace as the other woman wailed loudly, releasing all her pent up fear and terror.
Hawise looked at Lady Kalinska approvingly, one hand absently tapping the cover of her tarot card holder. Her cards had suggested something significant would happen today, and indeed it had. Fates, what do you have in store for me next? Who is this noblewoman, all elegance and beauty, but with such hidden strength?
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==Chapter Notes==
*; Chapter Note from the Author : Obviously, Anastasia gave away too much during the chase to the worst (best?) possible person. The Nova Cats have a cultural tendency to make intuitive leaps (guesses?) that enable them to see hidden truths. Other examples: Santin West in Impetus of War, Zane in Path of Glory.
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Chapter 30