And Pop
--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?
Quote:-----________________________________
Jet reached out with her mind and joined the node. The Tachikoma were already busy calculating the optimum intercept point.
“Top speed?” they asked her.
“540kph,” she messaged back.
The communal map updated, a section of the tunnels leading back from the Car Park flashing bright green. This was the maximum distance the Tachikoma could reach travelling backwards, assuming they departed at the same time as the Griffon passed the Car Park.
They couldn’t enter until the tunnel until after it passed, the risk was too high.
It was passed to Lebia, who had to calculate the time for Tumbler to catch, assuming it departed as soon as the Griffon passed. It took barely an instant to calculate that the Tumbler’s earliest possible intercept was well before the green zone.
It was then a simple matter of selecting the furthest refuge the Tachikoma could reach.
“Here,” they suggested.
Jet checked with the current convention map through Anika’s downlink. “Occupied” she answered, before suggesting the next one down the line, marking it as clear.
“Agreed,” answered the Tachikoma.
Kohran logged onto the node, watching as the plan developed.
“Too close to the carpark,” she said. “If it fails, it’ll make it through easily.”
“That’s the earliest we can do it,” the Tachikoma answered.
”It’s not perfect,” the second added.
“How much fuel does the Highway Star have at those speeds?” Kohran asked.
“Full speed? Not even five minutes,” Jet answered.
Not enough to keep up for the whole circuit around.
“We should use the third,” Lebia suggested.
“Is the suspension set up for it?”
“It’ll take two seconds.”
“No!” Kohran put her verbal foot down. “Besides, the original was modified for that Bonneville race... while the waved Star is still based on the original template. If my calculations are correct, the original will be faster over the road.”
“You have to wait for it to come back around,”said Lebia.
“No problem. It’ll need to warm up anyway.”
Kohran just seemed glad to have an excuse to ride it
“I can chase by air easily,” Jet added. “I can double its top speed no problem”
Jet didn’t even bother adding her range to the map.
“
“KJ. Fuel in the Stiletto?” Asked Lebia.
The answer seemed to take an age, coming through via standard voice channels.
“Enough for one lap,”
Top speed was estimated as equaling the Highway Star’s, with it’s acceleration based on already known stats, before having an estimate of it’s displacement over time plotted against that of the Griffon.
“You need to leave within the next thirty seconds to not get overtaken.”
“I’m gone already,” Again, the answer was painfully slow. “I’ll need a bump start.”
A tachikoma trundled up “On it.”
“Are we good?” asked Jet.
“As good as we can be,” Lebia answered. “Synchronise time to my node.”
Jet’s onboard clock adjusted a few milliseconds as she switched it to take its time signal from the node aboard the Tumbler. There was something reassuring about the certain uncertainty of it all. Everyone knew their goal. Everyone knew their intent. Things came together like they were designed to fit all along. It felt like Great Justice.... it felt comfortable that way.
“Kohran. The bike’s tuned for 600 kilowatts. That should be enough to keep up. The water injection tank should be full. That’ll give you a thousand if you need it.”
“For how long?”
“Less than a minute.”
A smile crawled across Li’s face. She was going to use every second of that. Even if Lebia’s plan succeeded. And if she saved in the process Mackie’s life, all the better. It was a strange inversion of history.
The intercom chimed, grabbing the attention of everyone left in the carpark.
>>“This is your safety officer. We really suggest you evacuate the tunnels and car park. If you want to watch, then you’re responsible for your own safety from here on in. We can’t be responsible if you stay down there and get hurt. Internal and external network access will stay restricted to emergency staff only for the time being.”
--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?