Fly to Survive, Season 84, Episode 7: Showdown at Deneva (Part 3)

Posted on Sun Oct 13th, 2024 @ 4:17am by Lieutenant JG Jane Sinclair

1,279 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Captains and Contraband
Timeline: 2384

We cut to a series of artificial gates which wind their way in a circuit around a blue-green planet and its two grey moons. The caption reads ‘DENEVA PRIME’. A few shuttles are flying the circuit, occasionally going wide but always passing through the gates. Longtime fans understand the gates in a Grand Prix circuit: they emit a signal which, if the shuttle doesn’t fly through them, interfaces with the shuttle’s computer and artificially disrupts the impulse engine for a moment, causing a loss of speed. Passing outside of a gate (if one manages it) is illegal and any positions gained that way must be given back. The gates are large enough that two shuttles can fit through side by side or top to bottom with plenty of space between them.

Sinclair, in voiceover: So how’d I do?

Engineer, in voiceover: Provisional P-five. That’s P-five.

Sinclair, in voiceover: Yeah alright. Not bad.

Cruz, in voiceover: Not bad at all.

Cut to Reynaldo Cruz, in the interview chair.

Cruz: On the first race with us after she signed Proxima, she still started fifth position! I knew she wouldn’t let us down. And Stefano had a decent start too!

Race day. Twenty shuttles are arranged in a row. The audience can see that the two red Sirius-Ferrari craft are in first and second positions. The orange and purple Dytallix-McLaren is in fifth, with another identical craft in ninth.

Announcer voices describe the action. There are multiple cuts as we advance further into the race.

Announcer, in voiceover: And the five lights are out and off they go! Excellent start for De Beers and zh’Kokret, who kept their positions, but Sinclair, number 81, has leapt past Lim and Runcis to take third position.

Cut forward, Lap 22 of 52

Announcer, in voiceover: Trouble at Turn 12! Ccora Magua clipped the gate and spun out, looks like Sarasvati got through but th’Zora and Iliescu have both struck wreckage. Caution flag is out for Turn 12.

Iliescu, over comms: *BLEEP! BLEEP!*

Dytallix-McLaren Engineer, over comms: You alright?

Iliescu, over comms: Yeah I’m alright, but what the *BLEEP*?

Dytallix-McLaren Engineer, over comms: Don’t worry, we’re looking into it. But fly it home. We’re retiring the vehicle.

Iliescu, over comms: Copy.

Cut to Reynaldo Cruz, in the interview chair.

Cruz: It’s all down to Jane now! I can see our hopes for Third place melting away but Jane can do it! I know she can.

Cut back to the race. It’s now Lap 30 of 55.

Announcer, in voiceover: Sinclair has sights on second, but can she do it? She’s at full throttle, slowing down for the turn, ooh not as much as zh’Kokret, oh you can tell she’s feeling those turns.

A picture in picture shows graphs of the racers’ inertial damping systems. Jane’s is much lower than the rest, which fans know will confer an advantage in sharper turns but is definitely felt inside the craft.

Announcer, in voiceover: It looks like she’s going to pass on the outside here, can she do it? She does it! Sinclair is in Second position. A long way to catch De Beers.

Gow, narrating: Sinclair is putting it all on the track. Everything she is, every skill she has, it’s all here at Deneva. Her future in this sport is secure but she’s racing like it’s life and death. And wouldn’t you know it?

Cut forward, Lap 49 of 55

Announcer, in voiceover: Sinclair approaching De Beers at the straightaway. Throttle is fully open. She’s on approach. De Beers is defending but Sinclair is getting closer. Is that gap big enough? Can she make it through? Oh my goodness she does! There is a leader change! Jane Sinclair, number 81, is now leading the Deneva Grand Prix!

Cut forward, Lap 55 of 55

Announcer, in voiceover: For the first time in her Interstellar-1 career, Jane Sinclair, daughter of Proxima Centauri II, takes the checkered flag! Jane Sinclair wins the Deneva Grand Prix!

Fireworks go off as Jane’s shuttle crosses the finish line.

Sinclair, over comms: WOOOOOOOO! That’s right! That’s what I’m talkin’ about!

Cruz, over comms: Great work out there, Jane. Now bring her in!

At the Dytallix-McLaren Shuttlebay, Jane emerges from her cockpit and cheers before leaping into the arms of her team of mechanics and engineers.

Cut to the podium where Jane shakes a bottle of champagne all over De Beers and zh’Kokret, who finished second and third, respectively. They’re all laughing together, proud of themselves and each other for their success today.

On the screen, new scores are shown. Jane’s previous score of 151 has become 177, having won first place and also gotten the fastest lap. She has moved up in the rankings by one, from sixth to fifth. The screen changes to the Constructors scores, and as Cruz hoped, Jane’s win brought them from 198 to 224, passing Yoyodyne-Toyota, which went from 210 to 222.

Cut to Reynaldo Cruz, in the interview chair. He is grinning.

Cruz: I knew she could do it! I knew it! And if she can do it once, she can keep it up. She can hold off Yoyodyne and Tellar for the last six races.

Cut to Jane being interviewed after her podium celebration. They are clearly in the Dytallix-McLaren compound and a door labeled ‘SInclair’ is visible in the background. She is ecstatic, grinning like never before. Her face and hair are drenched in sweat and champagne.

Sinclair: Oh my god I still can’t believe it! This is real, yeah? Pinch me? (the cameraman jokingly pinches her arm, and he can be heard laughing with her) Aah! It’s real! It feels so good!

Gow, narrating: Jane Sinclair’s first win, hopefully of many to come. She’s on the rise, and now that’s she’s signed onto Proxima-Renault for next season, she’ll just keep going higher.

Cut to T’Ren, in the interview chair.

T’Ren: Needless to say, any doubts any of the shareholders had before were silenced.

Cut back to Jane talking, but it’s muted

Gow, narrating: And what does a winner do after a win? She celebrates of course. The fans do love how she celebrates.

The interview is over and audio picks back up. The camera stays on Jane as her eyes fall on a gorgeous blonde woman perched provocatively on a standee of her shuttle. She is wearing a white spandex outfit that may well have been painted on, accentuating her ample breasts and toned abs. Thigh high stockings show off legs to die for. The “Race Queen” is staring at Jane and beckons her closer. The two exchange a few words, out of mic range, and then walk together, hand in hand, toward Jane’s quarters.



Cut back to Jane, in the interview chair.

Sinclair: (bites her lip while smiling, mirth in her eyes) …Wot?!

Cut to credits



Jane Sinclair
Interstellar-1 Race Pilot
Eventual Chief Flight Control Officer, USS Myogi

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