Part 26 (1/2)
810 km/h is not a speed at which you want to lose control.
The Argonaut II lost control. First it lurched left - then it pitched dramatically to the right - touching the demag ripple strips, causing the car's magnetic power levels to plummet - before Jason engaged his compressed-air thrusters to get them off the debilitating strips.
The Argonaut II shot clear off the track, out to the right, out over the ripple strips - missing the entry to the pits completely - setting off in a wide arc out over the ocean, its mag levels plummeting even further down into the red.
The Argonaut II banked away to the right, out over the sea, out towards the far western horizon and Jason realised to his horror that after the collision, he could only steer to the right.
Then things got worse.
The Argonaut II slowed. Dramatically.
Thanks to the ripple strip, its magneto drives were now almost dry. The Argonaut II - with a broken nosewing and almost zero power - was now limping out over the open sea, only capable of turning right.
'Jason!' Sally's voice called in his ear. 'You okay?'
'We're okay...' Jason said through clenched teeth. 'Just p.i.s.sed. And I can only turn right.'
'What the h.e.l.l was that? Is every French driver in this industry a b.a.s.t.a.r.d?'
'Just stand by, Sally. We're not out of this yet. We're gonna try and make it to the pits...'
'How?'
'If we can only turn right, then we'll do it by only turning right...'
The Argonaut II puttered around in a painfully slow, painfully wide circle, a circuit easily several kilometres in circ.u.mference. But a circle that would end at - the pit entry.
'But you're going to have to come back over the demag strip,' Sally said.
'Then I hope we have enough power to take the hit,' Jason said.
The Argonaut II limped around in its arc, at a pathetic 15 km/h - it was almost unnatural to see a hover car moving at such a slow pace.
'Bug,' Jason called, 'do some calculations. How long is this circle going to take us?'
The Bug did the math in his head in about three seconds. He told Jason the answer.
'Three minutes!' Jason exclaimed. 'Minutes! d.a.m.n...' As Jason well knew, hover car races were won by seconds, not minutes. Once you went down by more than a minute, your race was run.
But still he flew on.
As he did so, the Bug kept an eye on the pits, on the other cars in the field that were whizzing into them at full speed.
The Bug counted them off: 15th...20th...25th...26th.
He informed Jason.
The 26th car had entered the pits.
They were now officially coming last.
Three minutes later, they came full circle and Jason lined them up with the entrance to the Fiumicino Pits.
By this stage, every other car in the race had sped off into the distance at full speed, leaving Jason alone, foundering off the coast near the Fiumicino Pits.
But his situation had provided the crowd camped on the rocky coastline with a special spectacle - they were enjoying watching him struggle and as such, were cheering him on, shouting chants, clapping in unison, willing the Argonaut II into the pits.
Jason eyed the demag lights directly ahead of him, blocking his way to the pits. The last hurdle.
He checked his mag level display:
MAG 1 2.2% 2.3% MAG 2.
MAG 3 4.1% 2.4% MAG 4.
MAG 5 2.2% 2.3% MAG 6.
Five of his six mags were on 2% power, one a little over 4%.
As he'd learned back at Race School, back in Race 25, a standard run over a demag ripple strip robbed you of 3% of magnetic power.
'I only need one per cent to make it,' he said grimly.
But as he also knew, if the Argonaut II lingered for too long over the ripple strip, it would lose more magnetic power than that - all his power - and that meant dropping out of the sky and into the water...
'Hang on, Bug. Here we go.'
The Argonaut II banked round towards the pit entrance at 15 km/h, heading right for the line of red demag lights.
The crowd hushed.
Jason held his breath.
The Argonaut II crossed the demag strip.
Jason's instrument panel squealed in panic, and his mag levels instantly changed: MAG 1 0.0% 0.0% MAG 2.
MAG 3 1.1% 0.0% MAG 4.
MAG 5 0.0% 0.0% MAG 6.