Catalyst

fiction by michael werneburg

"Excellent strategy. From the footage at the start of the race, you can see him make his way into a small side street only about three blocks into the race, at about the time the rest of us were watching that big pile-up that took out the Globe/Talk team. After that, he was pretty much on a straight course."

"A nice approach to the race and I have to say I admire the man's spirit. He's ridden a clean race on nothing but nerve."

"And it's paying off, Jim. His photos have uploaded and he's easily qualified with several conforming shots. He's our confirmed leader."

I allowed myself a small whoop of joy!

"Now, about the man's ride. He's on an ancient design that dates back to the 20th Century if you can believe it. A steel frame that weighs ten times what some of the others are riding. An all-steel drive-train and steel wheels to boot. You can see that all of the original paint is gone from the frame so we don't yet know for certain who he's riding, but I'm sure every component of that bike will be famous by morning."

"Let's hope some forgotten manufacturers can cash in on that publicity! Now, we're also receiving word from the local cycling courier community that he's been doing some part time courier work in the city as he's between contracts as a paramedic."

"That's the training that's keeping him pushing that heavy antique in this heat."

"Must be!"

I gave my head a shake. Were the announcers cheering for me?

"So, where do we stand. Well, Tilescu is still about three kilometers ahead of the nearest competing riders, but most of those are, like, Tilescu himself, riders that no one expected to place. These were the stragglers, the people closest to the marker along the official course when everyone abandoned it. Among the leading twenty names, there's only one rider who's actually raced before, and he's a defender for the Tos-elte team!"

"Tos-elte? What was he doing so far back from his team-mates?"

"We'll have to go to footage for that one, but I seem to recall a couple of pink-and-red jerseys in that confusion at the outset when the Political pulled his stunt."

"That would explain it, Dan. As for that Political, it seems he was a member in good standing of a group on the Lima registry that calls itself The Front For Marine Mammals. He's been identified as Shayne 'Lucky' Anjac, from Venice-in-the-sky."

"A terrorist from an orbital, messing about in a race down here, over marine mammals. Well, it takes all kinds. As Sir Frances Jamieson, the president of Symbicorp once said, 'Death comes quickly to those with a cause.'"

"Wise words, Dan. It certainly came quickly for 'Lucky' Anjac, today. Further to the story, Jules Conso is expected to make a full recovery. He's just gone to Swinghammer hospital for surgery, but says he'll be back for next year's competition. A spokesman for Conso Racing says that they are planning a joint suit with Lubimem security against race officials and the city of Dusylin for failing to screen out Anjac. Lubimem is now up five percent in moderate trading, Conso Racing down some seven percent, and Megalomedia is now trading at $23.50, up some five percent on the day."

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