Chapter 1

A churning mess of neon lights danced before her, but Deryn only had eyes for the track: it was time to fly. The rumble of her engine intensified as she accelerated into bends. Red and white striped sidelines blurred together as she took the turns with dizzying speed. Smooth as silk, she shot out of them like a rocket. Exhilaration pulled at her features, making her grin like a mad woman. God did she love to race.

A voice crackled over the intercom in her helmet. "You've got two on your tail, approaching quickly. It's the Tigeresque Brothers."

Deryn glanced in her mirrors. Now that they were out of the turns, the brothers were giving it all they had to try and catch up. "I see them," she responded and stepped on the gas. The responding force threw her back into her seat and she grinned once again. Let them try to catch her. This would be fun.

In the crowd, the Inspector Detector sat with a pair of binoculars aimed at the leaders of the pack. The crowd surged and gasped around him as the racers violently ruthlessly competed to be first at the finish line. A loud explosion followed by a cloud of green and blue foam signaled the end of the race for two of the competitors. Women screamed, and there was a collective gasp from the audience as they craned in their seats to get a better look at the crash. But those racers had not been the leaders and the Inspector did not even glance in their direction. Neither did his stoic companion.

Without removing his eyes from the race the Inspector asked, "What do you think?"

An onlooker would have trouble knowing if his companion was awake. He sat still and unmoving, a break in the restlessly churning crowd. His expression was equally hard to read, not just for lack of one, but because of red-tinted sunglasses and a ball cap pulled low over the top half of his face. He responded, "I think that there is still a lot of race to run."

The pair watched as the leaders began the loop portion of the track.

Deryn floored the accelerator, silently cursing at how close the Tigeresque Brothers had gotten. They were riding her bumper into the loop, and she prayed that the momentum from the curve would keep them off her ass until she was on a more maneuverable stretch of track.

No such luck. Her car lurched as one of the brothers rear ended her, almost sending her into a tail spin. Veering back on course, she quickly shifted gears and floored it on the decent. They matched her pace.

Going into the next loop they were on either side of her, pinning her to the track. Deryn did not like the look of the situation; she decided to free herself even if it meant falling behind. As they neared the peak of the loop she jabbed the left button on her steering wheel. Her left thrusters catapulted her off the track and out of the brothers' hold. The momentum flipped her over in midair but slowed her down as her fall leveled out. The Tigeresque Brothers zoomed past and she landed with a bone jarring crash onto the track below a beat behind them. Roughly shifting gears, she floored it, barreling down the track after them. It was time to end this game of tag.

One, two, three turns and she had caught up in time for the dog bowl section of the race. Perfect, she was great at turns.

Her back wheels screeched on the track as she took the jump before the dog bowls. For just a moment she lifted out of her seat, a soaring sensation swooping through her stomach. It was as though she were really flying. These were the moments she lived for. This was why she raced.

Crashing onto the track, she took to the chase with renewed hope. Her engine growled as she sped down the course at top speed. Taking the turns with ferocity, she found herself cab to cab with one of the brothers. Their cars grated together, sparks flying as the hot metal clashed and scraped. They ground along each bend in a wild tandem.

On the bottom of the second bowl, Deryn jerked her steering wheel hard to the right sending the back of her car crashing into the brother's. His car flew off the track and into the hole at the center of the bowl. A loud BOOM and a flash of pink foam told Deryn that he was out of the race. Only one brother was left.

The other brother had taken the opposite side of the bowl, so they circled each other like stalking cats as they ground along the turns. Converging together in the final straight away, each of them waited for the other to make their final move. Seconds crept by as they continued to barrel down the track neck and neck for the lead. When the other brother failed to make his move, Deryn began to think that he was simply going to gun for it like. Consequentially, she nearly missed his car drifting into hers.

A loud shout of, "Dylan!" through her headset had her swerving just in time. The brother faltered on the track. That moment of hesitation was enough to put her car in front. Deryn whooped as she streaked across the finish line.

In the stadium the Inspector Detector and his companion continued to look on.

"So now what do you think?" the Inspector asked.

"She is not aggressive enough, and she treats her car like a hindrance. But she can drive, so I suppose there is some hope."

The Inspector smiled weakly, finally looking at his companion. "Coming from you, that's high praise."

His companion shrugged and got to his feet. "She will need training if she is to get you the results you want."

"I think I can arrange that. But will she accept it, I wonder…" the Inspector said, standing up as well. His companion chose not to respond to this and the pair exited the stadium in silence.

Down on the track, Deryn was being lead onto the podium by a group of showgirls. Cameras zoomed around them and flash bulbs went off every few seconds like blinding fireflies. Even at this small track, they crowded around a one-time winner. It was a testament to how popular the races were that her minor victory today would be of interest to so many people.

Her pit chief and sponsor were already on the podium, waving to the crowd and smiling happily. As soon as she was on the stage, her pit chief came over and clapped her on the shoulder.

"Nice run, mate," he said, "scared me a bit at the end though."

"Aye, scared myself a bit too," she responded sheepishly. "Thanks for the save."

"Don't mention it. Its what they pay me for," he replied grinning, and went to stand with their sponsor.

A ring of roses settled along her neck and Deryn looked over to see the showgirls encircling her, one of them holding a small gold trophy. She took the trophy and smiled as more flashbulbs went off. A few reporters surged towards to stage and started asking questions.

"Dylan! How was it winning your first race? And in your first season as a racer!"

Deryn smiled and replied, "It was awesome. It IS awesome! Sorry, I'm still trying to process the fact that I won, so I might sound a wee bit scrambled."

The reporters chuckled.

"What do you think your uncle would say if he could see you carrying on the family racing tradition?"

Deryn faltered for a moment. She knew that questions about her father would come, but she hadn't expected them so soon. Plastering a shit-eating grin on her face she said with as much gusto as she could muster, "I'm sure he would be really happy, sir. We spent a lot of time together on this track and I suspect he would be as ecstatic as I am at this win today."

"How would you respond hearing that Cannonball Taza called you the rooky to beat this season?"

Her eyes went wide in comic surprise. "Said that, did he? Well, I'm just excited to be racing on the same track as the greats. But if he wants to give it a go, I'm sure I could show him a puckle of tricks or two," she said, grinning cockily at the cameras.

"Dylan! Talia from Miss Teen Magazine. Could you tell our teen readers what your like to do to get ready for a race?"

Deryn swallowed nervously. "Generally, before a race even begins I…" she started to say but hesitated. She couldn't exactly say that her pre-race preparations included binding her chest flat while practicing deepening her voice and praying that no one found out that she was female. Perhaps the vague route would be best. "…I like to be alone and pray and um…" 'Guff, what else could she say?!' "…eat a bowl of potatoes?"

Mentally she groaned. Eat a bowl of potatoes? Yeah, that was brilliant. 'It's fine,' she thought, trying to reassure herself, 'Just so long as I sound like a boy…'

The reporters chuckled again, and a young, curvy attractive woman surged to the front of the crowd. A long plait of dark hair swung behind her as she lifted her microphone towards the stage. Deryn was struck by the intensity in her sharp, dark eyes.

"Excuse me, Mr. Sharp, but would you be so kind as to give your opinion on the subject of allowing female racers to compete on the same track as the men?"

Quite a few of the other reporters went silent at this, and some of the spectators who had crowded around the stage booed and shouted at the woman to go home.

Deryn, however, took a second before responding. She made sure that her voice was as masculine as possible before saying, "I believe that if women want to compete in pro racing, they have every right as men do to step out on this track. The sport of racing is about reflexes, skill, and the build of your vehicle. There is no proven fact that says that women lack any of these attributes and if they want to compete then I say why not!"

The rest of the reporters were silent for another moment before they surged forward, bombarding her with more questions. However, a hand on her shoulder told Deryn that her time was up. It guided her towards the back of the stage and down the steps. Behind her she could hear her sponsor telling the reporters that there would be no more questions this evening, while reassuring them that her statements did not reflect the company's viewpoint. She slumped a little, heading towards the locker rooms. She was going to get an ear full about this one tomorrow.