Just for the fun of it, some Havenworlders, who've grown braver over the last few years, decide to build a small racing track in the station that was built for all species, including humans. Human children LOVE it as the humans call the sport "Gravity Racing". Havenworlders, surprisingly, find it fun, too.
Aka - Soap Box Racing, aka Box Kart Racing. -- DaniAndShali
Humans play games with gravity. The severity of these games depends entirely on the human. This is, after all, a species that hurls itself off of cliffs with little but a special suit and some nominal safety gear - just so they can 'fly'[1].
Only some of their gravity games involve vehicles, or are safe for Havenworlder participants. This one is known as the Lopside Station Gravity Derby.
The rules are allegedly simple. The vehicle must have no motor, possess some form of brake, four wheels, and a form of steering system. The singular pilot must wear a helmet. For Lopside Station, there is one more condition - Materials to make the vehicle must be scavenged or salvaged, not printed.
The rule about steering mechanisms got added after Thais "Fatty" MacGuire entered with an entire wire shopping trolley and crossed the finish line backwards. For the record, he also rebounded off several race track walls and at least two other entrants.
To prove a point, Thais entered the shopping trolley again with a rudimentary steering system added to the superstructure. It's something of a tradition to have the Grocery Flyer as part of the proceedings, now.
To gain speed on Lopside Station's gentle racecourse, it is necessary to have either a heavy vehicle or a heavy pilot. Thus, the Havenworlder entries are made of steel-encased lead, and many of the Alliance competitors look for a Gaux or a Mythan Centaur[2] to weigh down their cart. Gyiiks, as another kind of Heavy-worlder, are also popular.
They raise Time to help free citizens of Deregger polities from oppression.
This bi-annual entry from the Numidid sector is named The Lead Balloon and is piloted by T'chiip T'chirroup. One of the most gung-ho of her kind. Stationed next to "Bally" Tremys in the Grocery Flyer, it's looking to be an interesting race.
The restraints lower. Gravity takes the wheels. The crowd roars as the carts inch past the first few Distance Units.
The entire race takes fifteen minutes, most of which is gathering speed for the last straightaway. There's a stretch of sand past the finish line to help stop the carts, but what's important is The Lead Balloon's secret weapons.
T'chiip's wings.
On each straightaway, as the others jockey for position, T'chiip has one foot on her perch and the other on her steering wheel. Her arms are busy flapping like mad to gain vital inches against the opposition.
Gravity Racing is not about whether or not you cheated. It's about the ingenuity and creativity with your cheating method that counts.
Pilots are ballast, not motors. So long as the feet do not touch the ground, it is valid.
It's for charity, so everything is all in good fun.
[1] It is gliding, aka "falling with style", and the wingsuit is a terror to comprehend.
[2] Mythos is generally held as an example of gengineering without constraints. The descendants of a failed fun park concept include Elves, Fauns, and of course, Centaurs. They were one of the few populations shipped off to a colony world as a court settlement.
[Image by Oleksii S on Unsplash]
If you like my stories, please Check out my blog and Follow me. Or share them with your friends!
Send me a prompt [53 remaining prompts!]
