Chapter 6 — Disconnected

Electra hastened to keep up with the Dining Car. "Dinah! Come back here!"

Dinah finally stopped. "Cut that out, Electra," she snapped, her face pink from speed and emotion. "You heard me. I won't do it."

"But why?" Electra cried incredulously. "You can't just decide to leave without any reason!"

"Because I'm fed up with all this racing," Dinah replied hotly, her voice rising. "All this chasing one another around and competition. I'm sick of it. And to tell you the truth, Electra, I'm sick of you, too. Find yourself another racing partner. You're disconnected!"

Turning on her heels Dinah stormed off in the direction of the other carriages, leaving Electra feeling somewhat overwhelmed. He hadn't particularly enjoyed racing with Dinah, either, and in all honesty he was glad to be rid of her constant high-pitched complaining, but now, all of a sudden, he was without a racing partner. He absently skated around in circles for a few seconds, mind racing—who could he persuade to partner him at this short notice? The race was tomorrow morning, and he couldn't race alone!

"CB," he suddenly thought, and tore off in the direction of the freight yard.

He was halfway there when he suddenly remembered that CB wasn't racing anymore.

"Damn it," he muttered, resuming his circular wandering. Almost everyone else knew already that he was somehow involved in CB's affair yesterday, and he knew that half of them would refuse to race with him simply on that basis. His wheels sparked as he skidded around again, fuming. Two days ago almost the entire race team would have been dying to race with him. He could try one of his maintenance team, but none of them were racers. There had to be someone who would agree to partner him.

Well, if CB wasn't available, then surely his replacement would be just as good. Lost for a better idea, he started off towards the freight yard again.

"No," Chalcie said. "Absolutely not. No."

"Why not?" Electra steamed, half annoyed, half desperate.

"Sorry, Electra, but I don't race," Chalcie said, continuing to help Rocky clear up. Electra followed her across the yard.

"All I need is a partner," he said. "I'm bound to win, trust me. I just need a partner and we'll be champions."

"Sorry," Chalcie said in her summery voice. "No."

Electra had to fight to prevent himself hitting something in frustration. "Thanks for nothing, then," he muttered, turning on his heels.

"You're welcome," Chalcie replied with a sly smile. Electra ignored her, already some distance away.

At full speed he raced back to where he'd left Dinah, half wondering if he could persuade her to return. When he arrived, however, Dinah wasn't there—but Pearl was.

Electra glanced automatically around. Maybe if Greaseball wasn't around, he could persuade Pearl to switch partners. It was a risky plan, to steal the reigning champion's racing partner, but he was getting desperate, and the worst that could happen was that Pearl could refuse. Straightening his helmet, Electra coolly coasted over to her.

"Hi, Pearl," he called as he approached.

Pearl looked up, then instantly wished she hadn't. Electra pulled up beside her.

"What happened to you?" he asked, his voice somewhere between curiosity and surprise.

"I fell," Pearl mumbled. Electra didn't press for details. Instead he sat down beside her, running his wheels back and forth over the ground. Pearl could tell he had something to say, or else he wouldn't be there.

"Pearl, how would you like to race with me tomorrow?" Politeness wasn't a tactic Electra used much but he wasn't sure how else to persuade her. Pearl didn't say anything for a while.

"Dinah..." she began.

"Don't worry about her," Electra said quickly. "She's on her own. What do you say?"

"Electra...I'm supposed to be racing with Greaseball..." Pearl said slowly. Heavens knows, I don't want to, she thought, but she wasn't sure if it was right to just abandon him.

"Don't worry about him," Electra said. "After all, do you really want to help him after what he did to Rusty?"

Pearl suddenly remembered. "You were in on that, too!" she cried.

"That's not actually true," Electra said, trying hard to remain calm and unthreatening. "It was CB's idea, and Greaseball agreed. What could I do to stop them? I didn't want them to gang up on me, too."

"You could have stood up for Rusty," Pearl said, but she sounded uncertain. Maybe Electra hadn't been involved—she had no proof, after all. And at least if she raced with him, she wouldn't be racing with Greaseball...

"Well...okay then," she said eventually. "Okay, Electra. I'll race with you."