Beta Planet: Rise (37 page)

Geon nodded, trying to avoid eye contact with anyone in the stands.

“Just stay low. I got your back,” he said with a wink.

“MAMA V!” Sabien suddenly yelled out, waving his arms toward the stands. “MAMA V! GEON SAYS HE LOVES YOU, TOO!”

“Sabien!” Geon cried out, bulging his eyes out of his head. “What are you doin—”

“OH, SABIEN DEAR! TELL GEON MAMA V LOVE HIM! YOU GONNA DO GREAT! YOU GONNA VIN!”

“G,” Sabien said with a laugh. “Mama V says—”

“I HEARD HER!” Geon sputtered, his face turning red. “The whole school heard her.”

Suddenly a message from Vaya popped up on Geon’s goggles.
Good luck “baby boy”!

Great.

They continued to warmup and work on basic maneuvers until the start of the race was sounded. They took their places near the start line and the entire course lit up again.

“These guys… actually I should say they guys, and
girls
, are incredible,” Sabien said, leaning over and nudging Geon. Geon noticed that this opposing team had the highest amount of female competitors of any of the other teams so far.

“They’re fast and nimble, so we need to be on our game today.”

Geon nodded as the first racers made their way to the start line.

“Three… two… one!”

The riders were off. Geon clapped as the students in the stands cheered louder than any event before.

At least we have the home advantage today
.

As the riders zoomed around the track, taking jumps and grabbing BPS, Geon became more and more anxious and excited. There was something about the pressure that made him feel
alive.
The more the pressure, the more he felt a desire to perform well. It was as if he required that pressure to get the most out of himself.

The first riders crossed the line within inches of each other and the second riders took off. They battled nearly neck and neck the entire race, each picking up BPS for special tricks and jumps. They too crossed the line at almost the same time and the third riders flew down the waterways.

It’s close so far.

“You’re up next, Sabe,” Geon said. “You feel good? You
look
good!”

Sabien nodded and smiled and made his way to the starting line.

“Sabien,” Geon said through his speaker. “Good luck.”

As Liani and Quinde crossed the end-line, Sabien and Olien took off at a furious pace. Geon could see that Sabien was determined to get his team in front, and he and all the students in the stands cheered him on. He could even hear the voices of Mama V and Kumuki over all the other students, both yelling unintelligibly behind him.

As Sabien approached his first jump, Geon watched him crouch to get in position. Suddenly, Sabien looked down toward his feet, then up again, and then down again, as if something was wrong. At the last second, he swerved violently to avoid the ramp, barely keeping himself upright.

Something’s wrong
.

He watched as Sabien awkwardly continued through the next turn, still looking down multiple times.

“Sabien, it’s Geon. What wrong?”

“Geon, I don’t know. There something wrong with my board. I’m not getting enough power. It keeps going out. This has never happened before!”

Sabotage?

Geon looked suspiciously at the riders on the other team, one by one.

It could be any of them.

At that point, Sabien had slowed down considerably and Olien was already a quarter of the track ahead of him, and even further ahead when the extra BPS were factored in. Geon could see that Sabien’s board didn’t have enough power to take any ramps or jumps, so he wouldn’t be able to grab any extra points.

As Geon looked again at the line of opposing riders, something caught his eye.

Shiv is smiling.

Geon could see that he had a sinister grin on his face and was staring directly at Sabien.

He must have done this. That snake has one again infiltrated his poison into our lives.

By the time Sabien had finished the race, their team was far behind. It would take perfect runs and many mistakes from the opposing team to catch up. Shiv flew around the waterways in typical fashion, gathering BPS and making good time, but they were still far behind. Mercor put on a dazzling display as well, flying high in the air and landing softly each time. But it only moved them incrementally closer to the opposing team, who were putting on an incredible performance in their own right. As he made his way around the final turn, Serenai crossed the finish and Juke took off for the final lap for SPS.

The students cheering was deafening at this point. Geon felt his heartbeat racing and his entire body became warm.

Breathe, Geon, breathe.

He took slow deep breaths and watched as Mercor headed straight for him. His stomach churned with anticipation.

Three seconds. Two seconds. GO!

Geon crouched down and exploded off the start line. The world around him became blurry and the sounds of the students, Mama V, and his friends all faded into a static hum. The only thing that was clearly in focus was the path ahead of him.

Right turn. Hard left. Small jump. Then right again.

Geon’s entire body was tensed up so hard that he could feel himself on the verge of cramping. Still, he pushed harder and harder.

Left turn. Left again. Crouch down. Jump up.

He had no idea if his team even had a chance, and could see that Juke was nearly half a lap ahead of him. He continued to push as hard as he could, wanting to put forward his best performance.

Right turn. Quick left. Quick right. Small jump!

He was approaching the last turn in the race and could see out of the corner of his eye that Juke was about to cross the line.

“Sabien, it’s Geon. Do we have a chance?”

Geon took the last hard turn just as Juke crossed the finish line and the stands were filled with cries of grief with a few cheers mixed in.

“SABIEN! DO WE HAVE A CHANCE?”

Geon hurtled down the track on the final straight of the lap, gaining speed with each second. He felt his heartbeat slowing as he focused on the large ramp ahead.

“SABIEN ARE YOU THERE? DO WE HAVE A CHANCE?” Geon yelled into his microphone.

“Geon, I’m here. I was just calculating. Geon, I’m sorry. We’ve already lost. There’s nothing you can do to change it. I’m sorry. We’re just too far behind.”

Geon’s heart sank and his stomach turned.

I can’t believe it. I keep trying and trying, and still can’t seem to win this battle.

For a brief moment, as he approached the final jump, he felt himself giving up, but something strange happened. Images and memories began popping into his head, rapidly forming in front of his eyes as if they were really there. He saw his parents and Allea, he saw Mama V staring down at him with a smile the day he awoke from his coma, he saw Sabien and Kumuki, and everything that he had experienced in the last few weeks, from Enkia to Firewater. He felt Vaya’s hand in his own. He saw the creatures at Jungle Wars, the faces of the Dissenters, and the faces of the CARE members. He saw himself on his jetboard, flying off the same final jump, falling down into the deep dark water. Suddenly, the race didn’t matter anymore.

We’ve lost. But there’s still something to be accomplished. Face your fears, Geon. Face your fears.

Geon crouched down and clenched his body for the final jump.
Give it everything you have, Geon. EVERYTHING!

He hit the ramp with a jarring impact and went sliding up it at a frantic pace. Still crouched, he tightened his body, and as the front of his board left the last edge of the ramp, he thrust his body into the air, leading with his head and spinning and flipping with ferocious velocity. He could feel the wind stinging his face as the world around him spun around him in a hazy sphere. He could hear the roar of the crowd go silent, as gasps of horror and panic filled the dead air.

Believe, Geon. Believe in yourself.

The spinning slowed and he felt his body right itself and the board regain its position under him. The smooth silky water connected with him with a soft splash. As he hit the water, he thrust himself forward again, keeping his board upright and crossing the line in a fury of cheers. Not knowing exactly what he had done, he stood smiling in the water as the other riders and even students from the stands jumped into the water and surrounded him, grabbing him and back-fiving him.

I did it,
Geon thought.
I overcame my fears and I did it!

Sabien came splashing over to him and embraced him and yelled, “Do you know you just pulled off a perfect flip-twist!? Do you realize that, G? You were incredible!”

Geon smiled, overcome with giddiness. “But we lost, Sabe. We lost!”

“Look around you, G,” Sabien said with a smile. “No one cares. You just put on a performance that no one will ever forget. I can’t believe you tried it again after what happened before!”

Geon looked around and saw that Sabien was right. Everyone was celebrating his victory as if it were their own. Geon realized that this was about more than just him overcoming his fears.

This is the power of inspiration
.
One person… one act… can give so much life, spirit, and hope to others. It was all worth it.

Chapter 17

The sound of Sabien’s voice boomed from the main room as Geon walked in for breakfast.

“STANDING FIVE-FEET-FIVE INCHES TALL… WEIGHING ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FIVE POUNDS… HE FLIPS! HE TWISTS! IT’S GEON SHAY!”

“Yeaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!” Kumuki yelled as Mama V clapped enthusiastically.

“You guys,” Geon said bashfully. “Thanks but—”

“STANDING FIVE-FEET-THREE INCHES TALL…WEIGHING AN UNIDENTIFIED AMOUNT…SHE’S CLEVER! SHE INVENTS THINGS! SHE USES REALLY LONG WORDS THAT NO ONE UNDERSTANDS! SHE TAKES HOME HONORABLE MENTIONS AT TECHSCI CONCOURS EVENTS AND LOOKS GOOD DOING IT! IT’S ALLEA SHAY!”

“YEAAAAAAHHHHHHHH,” Kumuki loudly clapped his hands together as hard as he could as Allea walked into the room, looking shocked and shy. Geon and Mama V joined in, clapping and cheering.

“Thanks, guys,” she said quietly, pushing her hair out of her eyes. “That’s sweet. I still don’t understand what went wrong yesterday, though. I mean Shiv’s device was good, but even Maganto’s was better than his. Maybe they didn’t get what I was trying to do.”

“Doubtful,” Sabien mumbled, watching Kumuki test out the flavor-maker device that Stii had lent him.

“I don’t know which flavor I’m in the mood for!”

“CARE may be immoral and merciless, but they certainly aren’t ignorant,” Sabien said. “They knew exactly what they were doing. You deserved that trophy over Shiv, but they didn’t choose you for a specific reason. Same reason they didn’t choose Mag.”

Geon nodded in agreement and quietly added, “Don’t beat yourself up, Ally. What you made was incredible. As for Shiv, well, the only good thing about his device is that it
did
help us out, getting to
you-know-where…”

“VAT’S DAT, BABY BOY? VAT YOU CHILDREN TALKING ABOUT? SPEAK UP! YOU KNOW MAMA V HEARING NOT SO GOOD ANYMORE!”

“Yes,” Sabien added with a smirk. “Speak up…
baby boy
!”

Geon’s face became flushed as Kumuki and Allea giggled together.

“Baby boy needs his diaper changed!”

Everyone laughed at Kumuki’s comment and eventually, Geon joined in the laughter with them. They finished up their breakfast and hugged Mama V on the way out.

After walking for some time toward the Glidewing station, Allea received a message on her LifeCuff and abruptly stopped, her demeanor suddenly becoming serious.

“Guys! It’s Aurora!”

“Oooohhhh!”

“What’d she say?”

“Here, look,” she replied, displaying the message in front of them.

“Oh my God,” Geon exclaimed, thinking about the ramifications of what she had just told them. “It
really
exists.”

“Where is it?” Kumuki screeched, looking up into the sky.

“This is amazing,” Allea added. “Can you believe it? All this time, no one knew. It was here, above us… the whole time.”

“I still don’t see it!”

“Not no one,” Sabien said, addressing Allea’s comments. “
They
knew.
CARE
knew. They know
everything!
WE DON’T KNOW
ANYTHING!”