The cable was nicked part of the way through. “Precautions, indeed,” she muttered.
“Come on, Taylor. We need to go over the route one more time.”
Taylor looked up at her. “We must’ve gone over it a thousand times already. I don’t think I need to memorize every damn rock on the mountain!”
Surra looked around. “Taylor,” she said through clenched teeth, “we freaking need to go over the stinking maps! Now, come on!” She yanked the map unit from their pack and marched toward the bathroom, the only place in the station where they would have any privacy. Why did Taylor have to dig in his heels now, of all times?
As soon as they were inside she shoved him onto the seat and put her face as close to his as she could. “The bike’s been sabotaged,” she whispered. “Somebody cut the steering cable.”
Taylor started to rise but she pushed him back. “I think I know who, but I don’t want him to know. He might be on his own, but could have somebody else. Either way we don’t want them to know what we know—OK?”
Taylor nodded. There was a look of surprise on his face, as if he hadn’t expected such an act. What the hell did he think this was? To a Mars rat like Fleth the fat purse was worth killing for.
“How long would it take to replace the cable?” she asked. “Could we do it while we are getting ready in the morning and without anyone getting suspicious?”
“Not long,” Taylor answered to her first question and then screwed up his face in thought. “The fix might take about ten, maybe fifteen minutes. I designed it so it could be easily replaced. We’ve got spares,” he added.
“Great, now we have to stay in here for a while so people will think we’ve been studying the maps.” She shook the unit.
“Hey, I know how else we could spend the time.” Taylor put an arm around her waist.
“Forget it, kid. I’m not a freaking pedophile,” Surra said as she slipped from his grasp and tugged to straighten her clothing. “Come on, let’s really look at the maps. I want to make sure you know the mountain.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he groaned.
Well, he sounded contrite enough. Damn kid, she thought.
“Trying to change your luck, Surra?” somebody said, far too loudly, as they went back to their spot on the floor. Surra turned with fire in her eyes, ready to blast whoever had made that comment.
The fire went out as soon as she caught sight of Sid Gammons rising to his feet. She and Sid went back a long way, before she ever tied up with Gaspar, even.
After a few hugs Sid took her back to meet Punjasuma Ramswamy, a Jovian pilot who had struck it big and was trying to find something half as interesting as Jupiter to spend his sudden wealth on. “So I’m soaking him for the bike, my time, and a share of the purse,” Sid remarked as he introduced them. “Damn fool has more money than brains.”
Rams laughed with them. “Jist wented to ha’ de ride,” he remarked with a Jovian twang even more pronounced than Taylor’s. “Provide that Zid survives.”
Sid sighed. “Yes, there’s that. I tell you, Surra, I don’t know if my ticker will stand the excitement. Too damn old for all that adrenaline, you know. Say, how would you like to take my place? Good money for you. Give you my share of the purse.”
Surra smiled. “I don’t think a share of nothing is worth much, Sid. Besides, I got my own crazy Jupe who thinks he has a chance.”
“Not worried about the jinx, is he?” Sid asked with a smile. He’d never put much stock in that superstition.
“Not as much as some,” she replied with a tilt of her head at a group of old hands. “By the way,” she said with an extra nod toward Fleth, “have you checked your bike lately? Saw Fleth walking around out there earlier.”
Sid’s mouth tightened. “Yeah, I noticed. I hear he’s still mighty sore about losing that claim fight you had.”
“Grudge like that eats a man,” she said. “Probably has it in for you as well, being a friend of mine and all.”
Sid nodded. “I’ll watch him. Think he’s up to something?”
“Cut cable,” she whispered. “Don’t react. But check your bike real careful like, just the same.”
Sid nodded. “I’ll do just that.”
Taylor was sleeping when she returned to their spot on the floor. His head was propped on her pack and his arms were wrapped around his own, as if it were a surrogate teddy bear.
“Just a kid,” she said as she settled down beside him and rested her head on half of the pack. Taylor turned over and threw his arm across her. “What the hell,” she said to herself and put her arm around him. At least they’d be more comfortable this way. Sleep came easier than she thought that it would.
In the morning Taylor seemed to have lost his give-’em-hell attitude and settled to the business of getting the bike ready. They’d struggled awake four hours before the start, thrown a high protein, low-residue breakfast into their mouths, stood in line for half an hour to use the toilet one last time, and made it to the blister with three hours left before the start.
Taylor went straight to work replacing the cable while Surra checked the seven oxygen tanks, each containing an eight hour supply, the ballast water, and the charge on the batteries. She also walked around the bike to see if any other damage had been done during Fleth’s nighttime visit. Everything seemed all right.
The solar panels on the top of the blister had done their job and brought the batteries up to maximum charge, more than enough to get them down the mountain.
“Everything looks all right,” Taylor remarked after he finished his own walk-around. “But let’s just triple check everything to make sure we’re really and truly ready.”
Triple-check seemed to be Taylor’s watchword, but that was good. To survive on Mars you only had to check and double-check until it was second nature. Apparently his Jupiter was not as forgiving.
Surra turned to look at the fittings on the life support one last time. There was still fifty minutes before they had to remove the blister and move the bike to the starting line. Plenty of time.
Then it hit her: In less than an hour she would be strapped to a four-meter bike hurtling down the largest mountain in the Solar System. In less than an hour Taylor’s fate would be irrevocably linked to her own.
She debated telling him about her jinx so he’d know what they said about her. Why hadn’t she told him when he asked? As if he had read her mind, Taylor looked at her with a question on his face. Was he going to ask again? Surely this was the time to tell him.
“Do you think this coupling is too tight?” he asked.
“No,” she replied, losing her resolve. Maybe later she’d tell him. Much later.
“There should be some engines roaring,” Taylor said jokingly as they listened to the countdown that would start the race.
“Be quiet,” Surra shot back over the intercom. “I want to hear the count.”
“Three minutes,” the radio squawked.
“Remember, we go straight down for the first ten kilometers,” she reminded Taylor. “There will be a big fissure on our left when we have to make that sharp turn. I’ll tell you when to start the turn to the north.”
“We’ve been over this a hundred times,” Taylor complained. “I think I know the route as well as you.” The kid could be a real jerk at times. Didn’t he know nerves when he heard them?
“Just the same, don’t get creative or we’ll both be in trouble. I know the old bitch better than anyone. You wait for my directions, you hear me?”
“Yes, ma’am,” he said sarcastically. Apparently she wasn’t the only one with a bad case of nerves.