A RACE FOR LIFE AND DEATH

"DRIVERS, GET INTO POSITION FOR THE START OF THE RACE!" the P.A. system boomed as the air was filled with the roar of high-octane power being held in check as the drivers readied themselves for the race.

Over at the Ebony Tiger, Kim Jugger was mulling over what he had overheard and what he should do about it. A woman's life was in jeopardy and not just any woman, the wife of the defending champion, Speed Racer. But as he glanced at the Mach 5, Kim realized Speed had his game face on and was focused completely on the race. It sounded heartless but as a racer himself Kim knew that at race time all thoughts were on the course and the winner's circle. So he knew that that preoccupied Speed. But he also knew that he had to tell Speed about his wife's abduction as well so he turned and yelled over the sound of high-performance engines revving.

"Hey, Speed!"

Speed glanced to his right at Kim. "Yeah?"

Kim opened his mouth to speak but the P.A. system blared, drowning him out. "LADIES AND GENTLEMEN THE SANDSRORM DESERT RALLY IS ABOUT TO BEGIN AND OUR GRAND MARSHAL IS HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS, PRINCE OMAR WHO WILL WAVE THE GREEN FLAG TO BEGIN THE RACE." At that moment Omar stepped forward to take the green flag in his hand at the roar of the crowd.

Kim wondered sourly if he planned to take care of Trixie after he did his duties as Grand Marshal like any other sleazebag to make sure his appearance posed no questions, innocent like a lamb. He snorted in derision at that thought as he wracked his brain for a plan to rescue Speed's wife. He glanced at Speed again as he was gripping his wheel in complete and total concentration. Speed cast a look over and waved wishing his competitor good luck. Kim then tried to contact Speed via radio but found that the wind caused static on the channel Speed was receiving transmissions. He sighed and then realized that it would be impossible to communicate with Speed now but he would stay close to him during the race making sure that he would get close enough to tell Speed about his wife. Besides, he intended fully to win the race and he knew if Speed was anywhere, he would be at the front.

Omar raised the flag to begin the race. The lights then blinked down from red to yellow to green and he dropped the flag. The field of cars took off with a thunderous din as they began the parade lap and then headed out into the desert. However, the wind, which had been increasing in intensity, began blowing in a steady gale that had made the surrounding sand airborne.

The IRC official took the flag and thanked the prince. "Thank you, Your Highness. We appreciate everything you've done."

Omar flashed a diplomatic smile. "It was my pleasure. However I must take my leave so if you'll excuse me." He whirled from the man before he could respond.

Having finished his duties Omar stepped off the podium and headed to a waiting black land rover, which was waiting for him. He donned a pair of sunglasses to protect his eyes and then gunned the vehicle into the desert, heading for the oasis station.


On the course, Speed had taken an early lead. The course was to take him straight across the desert to the Golden Dunes, a line of naturally formed sand dunes that were the halfway point of the course for refueling, tire changes, and water. Then the course continues to a pyramid ruin where the racers will turn around and head back into the desert. The course then goes past some jagged rock formations and then comes into the capital city square for the finish line. But it was to be a treacherous trek across the desert with the wind blowing sand across as the cars sped along.

Speed gripped the wheel against the gusts as he pushed the Mach 5 down the course and he felt his perspiration dripping down his back. Now I'm glad I told Trixie she couldn't come. This is way too dangerous and I'd die before letting anything happen to her. I'll make it up to her when we get home, I'll do something special just for her to reassure her how much I love her. He was so intent in his thoughts that he had not noticed that Kim Jugger had caught up to him. Kim had come up to Speed's right quarter panel and was making a run on him but instead of passing him, Kim called over to Speed in the wind.

" Speed! Listen to me, I have to talk to you!"

Speed was curious as to why Kim Jugger, of all people wanted to talk to him during a race of all times. He glanced over at the driver of the Ebony Tiger. "Huh?"

Kim was getting irritated. "Speed, your wife is in grave danger!"

"What? What are you talking about? Trixie's fine, she's back at the capital, in the pits with the rest of the team." Speed scoffed, suspicious of his competition.

Kim tried again, "Speed, I'm telling you, she's in danger! You have to--" but he was cut off as an annoyed Speed opened the throttle of the Mach 5 and pulled away. Kim cursed silently as he too jammed the accelerator and gave chase.

In the Mach 5, Speed was fuming at what he interpreted as a dirty trick by an adversary to gain the lead. Huh, that Jugger's something else, trying to rattle my cage by tellin' me Trixie's in trouble. I never thought that he'd sink that low! What a scum, after the race I'd like to knock his block off!

His reverie was shattered by the radio crackling to life. "Go Team to Mach 5, come in," Sparky's voice came over the speaker.

Speed reached for the mike. "Mach 5 here. What's up, Sparky?"

"Hey, Speed could ya give the mike to Trixie? I have to ask her something."

Speed felt an uneasy chill as he stated, "She's not with me. Why can't you just ask her there, I'm sure she's somewhere in the pits."

"Whattya mean she's not with you? She's not around here anywhere so she must be with you," Sparky insisted.

Speed felt the chill of fear intensify to cold fingers of dread clutching his spine. In rising panic he snapped, "Are you telling me that my wife is missing?"

"Easy, Speed. Don't jump to conclusions," Sparky soothed but Speed was not listening.

"Damn it, Sparky! Don't jerk me around! Is Trixie around or not?" Speed demanded furiously.

"Uh, no she isn't. B-but don't get uptight, pal, she's probably around somewhere."

Speed felt a burning rage begin to consume him. "Sparky, don't feed me a load of bull. Kim Jugger has been tryin' to tell me that Trixie's in trouble but I've been too damned stubborn to listen, I thought he was tryin' to trick me!"

"So where's Jugger now?" Sparky wanted to know.

Speed glanced in his rearview mirror and saw that the Ebony Tiger was on his right quarter panel again to make a run. It was another opportunity to find out what happened to Trixie and he wasn't about to blow it, "He's right beside me." He glanced over as the Ebony Tiger and realized it and the Mach 5 were side by side. "Hey, Kim what were you tryin' to tell me about my wife?" he bellowed, his temper barely held in check.

Kim yelled back, "Let's pull over and I'll tell you."

Both racers pulled their vehicles over to a sand dune away from the main course. The cars screeched to a halt and the men extricated themselves from their cockpits.

Speed eyed the darkly clad racer suspiciously. "I'm listening. Start talking," he ordered.

Kim glared at Speed as he answered, "I was in the garage area and overheard Omar before the race. It appears that he's had your wife kidnapped."

Speed was incredulous. "You gotta be yankin' me! Why, that dirty son of a--. If he lays one finger on her I swear I'll kill him!"

"And that's not all. It appears that my darling Sibana has her dainty little hand in it as well." He snorted in derision as he mentally lambasted himself for being all kinds of a fool for thinking the blue-eyed beauty was an innocent when she was in reality a viper.

"Your darling Sibana? Since when?" Speed wanted to know.

Kim laughed derisively, "Oh for about a year now. We had a very passionate relationship that I thought would lead to marriage but I always felt that there was someone standing between us---you."

"Me?" Speed's eyes widened and he said sheepishly, "But I hadn't seen her since the time I won the Fire Race."

"Well, apparently she still carried quite the torch for you. She even kept a picture of you nearby," Kim countered with envy tinting his statement.

"What?" This was turning out to be like a bad dream to Speed. Now Sibana's behavior before the race was making more sense. "You're putting me on, Kim. Oh man I'm sorry."

Kim gave another harsh laugh. "Don't be. Sibana's like a cat, she always lands on her feet.

"But what about you?" Speed asked, concerned.

"Don't worry about me, I'll survive. We need to worry about your wife." Kim pointed out.

"Yeah," Speed agreed, still in shock over the news. "Any ideas on where the bastard could've taken her?"

"Not a clue," Kim admitted. "But we could head to the oasis."

"The oasis?"

"There's an oasis about fifty miles to the east of here with an abandoned military station. Chances are that he's using that as a hideout. So there won't be any questions asked."

Speed was curious. "How did you know about the oasis?"

Kim allowed a ghost of a smile. "Remember three years ago? When my father tried his coup? Well, the oasis station was a command base because of its strategic location. And when the coup failed and the royal family regained power, the station was boarded up and abandoned." He sighed resignedly. "I guess there goes the race."

Speed looked at him confused. "For me that's true but you can go on with the race, Kim. I'll rescue my wife," he said but Kim laid a hand on his shoulder.

"I assisted you before and I'll assist you again. We'll have another time to race against each other." He gave Speed a grin of genuine warmth.

Speed was touched by the gesture and nodded as he contemplated about what was said. Kim had always been adversarial and contentious toward him. But Speed realized that beneath that gruff exterior was a decent human being. He tried to come up with a plan. "So what should we do next?"

Kim opened his mouth to answer but Speed's radio crackled to life. "Pit to Mach 5, pit to Mach 5. Speed, are you there?" Sparky called.

He leaned over, reached in and pulled out the mike to speak, "Yeah, Spark I'm right here. What's up?"

"I was about to ask you the same thing. What's your position?"

"Ahh, I was in the lead," Speed said sheepishly.

"Whattya mean 'was'?" Sparky demanded. "Where are you now?"

"Sparky, Kim's told me that Trixie's been nabbed by Prince Omar and I'm goin' after her so I'm pullin' out of the race," Speed said definitely.

Sparky let out a long low whistle. "Man, are you kidding? Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. Kim heard him discussing it before the race and since we got here the guy's been all over her. Yeah, that reptile's got her," Speed said his rage building.

Sparky answered, "Okay, pal. I'll tell Pops the situation so he doesn't tear you a new hole when he sees you. Anything else I can do?"

Speed sighed, "Yeah, contact Inspector Detector. He needs to know so we can get this snake, prince or no prince he can't just take my wife and not pay for it." He took a deep breath and added ominously, "In more ways than one."

"Keep cool buddy, I'll get a hold of Detector. Don't end up in the slammer," Sparky warned.

"Don't worry, Sparky. I'll make sure he's a good boy," Kim leaned in and spoke into the mike.

"Who the hell's that?" Sparky wanted to know.

"Kim Jugger here," The tall dark racer replied. "I'm going to help Speed get his wife back."

"Oh sorry," the crew chief apologized. "Keep me informed about things, Speed. And take it easy, she'll be okay. Trixie's a tough girl, she's been in fixes before and come out okay."

"Yeah," Speed said with false cheer. "I'll be in touch. Over and out." He replaced the mike and pulled his torso out of the car so he could vault in and get behind the wheel. "What are we waiting for? Let's split." He turned the key and the Mach 5 came to life with a powerful roar.

Kim laid a restraining hand on Speed's arm, "Not so fast, my friend. I've dealt with the royal family in Soofki before and we need to tread carefully. If we don't we could end up signing your wife's death warrant."

Speed studied his companion carefully, "I take it you have a plan."

Kim nodded, "I do."

Speed was getting impatient. "Well don't keep me in the dark about it, let's hear it."

Kim grinned slyly as he began. . . .

TO BE CONTINUED…..AT THE OASIS OMAR DISCOVERS ABOUT TRIXIE'S PREGNANCY WHILE SPEED AND KIM LURK OUTSIDE WAITING TO RESCUE HER

NEXT-----IN THE NICK OF TIME