Part 27 (1/2)

As if the Italian crowds needed anything more to cheer about, they positively exploded when they saw the Argonaut II abruptly veer left and shoot towards the yawning Tunnel of Taranto, the wide concrete entry to the short cut.

The Argonaut II - last and alone and absolutely delighting the ma.s.ses - blasted into the tunnel.

CHAPTER TWELVE.

A misty concrete-walled labyrinth, illuminated only by the Argonaut II's floodlights.

Jason slowed, surveying the tunnel system. The first junction he came to contained six forks.

Syracuse's voice said calmly: 'First junction, take the ten o'clock fork.'

Jason did it, banking left, heading down into the Earth.

The next junction also had six forks. And the next and the next.

But Syracuse's directions were precise. 'Take the two o'clock fork - Straight ahead - ninety degree right-hand turn - '

Down they went, deeper into the tunnel system, before suddenly the tunnel-junctions became even more complex: now they contained eight forks - with two extra tunnels now shooting vertically upwards and downwards from the centre of each new fork.

' Vertically down,' Syracuse said when they came to the first eight-p.r.o.nged junction.

'Down?' Jason queried. 'We're gonna hit the Earth's core soon.'

'Yes. Down,' Syracuse said firmly.

But then he directed them sideways once again and after a few more junctions their tunnels started to take an upwardly-sloping trajectory.

'Now take the ten o'clock fork at the next junction,' Syracuse said, 'And get ready...'

'Get ready?' Jason asked. 'For what - '

He took the next fork as directed and - bam - his eyes were a.s.saulted by blinding sunlight and the sight of the glittering Adriatic Sea, the blue cloudless sky, the seaside mansions of the city of Bari, and the rugged eastern coast of Italy stretching away from him to the north.

As the Argonaut II exploded out from the cliff-side exit tunnel to the short cut, pandemonium broke out amongst the spectators gathered on the headland all around it. Their collective roar of joy could be heard twenty kilometres away.

The Bug squealed with delight.

Jason swallowed in disbelief.

They'd made it!

They'd come out the other side of the short cut!

But before Jason could revel too much in his achievement - shoom!-shoom!-shoom! - he was overshot by three hover cars. The cars of: Alessandro Romba.

Fabian.

And Angus Carver of the USAF Racing Team.

The fourth car to bank around him was Xavier Xonora's Lockheed, and in a fleeting instant, Jason glimpsed the Black Prince's sideways-turned face and his look of pure shock. Xavier obviously hadn't expected to see Jason again in this race.

Even more satisfying was the car Jason saw in his side mirrors - the purple-and-gold Renault of Etienne Trouveau, the nasty French racer who had almost put Jason out of the race. The Argonaut II had come out of the short cut ahead of Trouveau!

It took Jason a second to absorb it all.

He and the Bug had just made up three whole minutes on the rest of the field, and in doing so had gone from last to 5th.

'Thanks Mr Syracuse!' he said into his radio. 'You just got us back in this race!'

As Sally's team trailer entered the outskirts of Pescara, every single giant-screen television in the town was showing replays of the Argonaut II blasting out from the short cut.

Every commentator on every TV and radio station was astonished at the Argonaut's recovery. Last to 5th in one fell swoop. Fifth! They couldn't believe it. And with the second series of pit stops due in Pescara in about ten minutes, the race was now officially on.

But with that news, as if on cue, the second black Ford that had been trailing Sally's trailer across the country suddenly accelerated, pulling ahead of the Lombardi trailer.

And as the two vehicles zoomed underneath a freeway overpa.s.s the black Ford suddenly jack-knifed sideways, inexplicably cutting across the front of the Team Lombardi trailer, smas.h.i.+ng into its front b.u.mper, forcing it off the road and directly into a concrete pylon supporting the overpa.s.s.

With a terrible crunching sound, the Lombardi trailer smashed into the pylon, and crumpled like a giant concertina - while the black Ford simply drove off, darting off into the distance, disappearing.

Everyone inside the trailer was thrown forward by the impact - the driver, Sally, Syracuse - but luckily they were all wearing seatbelts and the trailer was equipped with compressed-air safety blasters that acted like the airbags of old.

The exterior of the trailer, however, was completely ruined.

And as Sally unbuckled herself from her seat, she realised the situation: she was only two minutes' drive away from the pits. But on foot, that would take...

...about ten minutes.

Syracuse knew the score as well.

'Grab a handcart and load it up with mags,' he said. 'And start running.'

Ten minutes later, the leaders entered the Pescara pits. The hover cars roared into the pits in single file before branching off into their allotted pit bays.

Their pit crews were waiting.

Alessandro Romba led the way, followed by Fabian. Then the USAF pilot, Carver, Xavier Xonora and...Jason Chaser.

The Argonaut II swung into its pit bay...