Catalyst

fiction by michael werneburg

2001.12.09

"That was Charlene Tomayatsu at the first marker. Now we're taking you to the action at the lead! What you're looking at is a small pack that's formed about three kilometers behind the leader, Cyrus Tilescu. They're some two kilometers ahead of the now devastated first marker. In the last few minutes, two riders have dropped out of the race, quite literally. Have we got footage, Dan?"

"Yes, Jim, this clip shows what happens. You'll recall we were discussing rider #302, the mercenary Warren Goss. Well, Warren seems to have come to the race prepared to get his hands dirty. He's knocked out two riders in the last few minutes simply by knocking them off their bikes."

I knew there was no point in looking back, but I did so anyway. All I saw was excited onlookers and stopped traffic. I concentrated on the rough route I'd selected. It was a narrow street that descended into the Old Town along the side of the escarpment that ringed the bay. As I descended, I passed motor vehicles coming up the street; one driver leaned on his horn. Apparently, he hadn't heard there was a race on!

"You can see here, if we go to slow motion, that Goss is being overtaken by a more experienced competitor. He reacts in a heart-beat; just knocks the guy off his seat!"

"Wow, what a competitor. What's that he's using, do you think, Dan?"

"Well, it could be a stun weapon, but you can see the other rider is clearly quite mobile as he falls-"

"And in his reaction."

"Yes, that's Robert Sharp, in his third open cycle race. He'd made up some ten positions since the initial racecourse was abandoned, and was looking to make it eleven in passing Goss. He's a tough fellow, and was quick to climb back into the saddle," said the color man.

"So, perhaps a simple club?"

"I think that's it, Jim."

I didn't push myself as I descended the long slope. Still a little winded from the long climb, I was still so far ahead of the pack I simply made myself small and let all that steel pull me downhill. Also, I was rather confident in the road ahead. I was, after all, a local, and had been cycling these roads for the last few years, and I knew where I was going. I knew routes that would avoid the traffic, and routes that would avoid awkward intersections and rough surfaces. Few, if any, of my competitors would have that advantage on such an unmarked 'course'.

I leaned into the wind and let my breathing calm. Near the bottom of the hill, I turned left and crossed the old LRT tracks. Then into the lane way next to the tracks, and there would be no traffic for the next kilometer.

"Here's the footage of Goss's second move, not even a minute later. You can see, as he approaches another rider, that he's got something in mind. He's got that club out again, and is riding single-handed as he slowly overtakes the other rider. Now, that other rider is #19, Coxona Wen, from Hong Kong. She was an outside favorite, and had made excellent time since Tilescu reached the first marker. In fact, it seems that she was slowing only to catch up with one of the defenders on her team when Goss caught her up. Now watch here, as he takes out her ankle-"

"Ow!"

"And down she goes. She's since recovered from her spill, but hasn't re-entered the race."

"Not a good day for the defenders, is it?"

"No, Jim, nor the defense contractors. With her team badly spread out after the initial course was abandoned, team Antelope's defense platform followed the original leader, Harold Weaver. Weaver was well out in the leading pack, and was caught behind Larisa Kuan's destruction of the first marker. On hearing of the marker's destruction, he dropped out of the race."

"Along with some 190 others, it now seems."

"Yes, it's the most dramatic turn for a marker in an open race here in Dusylin since Edgar Haunce actually stole one of the markers in the third annual race."

"Right. Which prompted them to go with the larger plasti-ceramic markers they use today."

"You have to wonder what they'll be using next year!"

"If there'll be a next year, Dan. I should point out that we've registered reports of some 650 individual suits against the city, race organizers, and sponsors so far. Tilescu himself is facing suits from eight resident's associations and the families of four dead spectators, and the race isn't even over. We've got Grey Pharmaceuticals down twelve percent on the day, 3Tree Motorworks down seven percent, and the Sanford Brews Corporation down some four percent. Naturally, all of this excitement has been bringing in the viewers, though, and Megalomedia is up some twenty-one percent on the day!"

"That's incredible, Jim."

"It sure is, Dan, and I'd like to say hi to our record 4.6 billion viewers out there, across the world, on Luna, and in every orbital, spacer, and even on the Martian colonies. Of course, you folks will have to wait a few minutes, but this Megalomedia coverage is exclusive. Now," he continued, sounding almost as breathless as I felt, "we're joined by Doctor Tony Ashbito of the city's planning department. Welcome, Doctor,"

"Thank you, Jim, Dan. It's a pleasure to be here,"

"And such an occasion. Now, we've had that little inset window showing the progress of the race's leader, Cyrus Tilescu, for the last fifteen minutes. Can you tell me just where he is going in this wide-open race?"

"Well, I think I might, Jim. My guess is, he knows the city pretty well. In the last few minutes, he's diverged from a direct approach to the third marker in a way that suggests a solid knowledge of the Old Town."

"How so?"

"Well, he's selected a low-traffic route into an area that has had extensive renewal in the last few years; an area that's been redesigned for minimal traffic congestion and ease of navigation."

This analysis was news to me. I just thought I'd been avoiding the shopping district on a Saturday.