Hover Car Racer Read Online Free Page A

sitting up the back with some other older boys. A few girls were scattered about the room, most of them wearing the black coveralls of Mech Chiefs, but the assembled crowd was largely male.
    One girl, however, caught Jason’s eye. She was very pretty, with a nymph-like face, bright green eyes and strawberry-blonde hair. She looked about seventeen, and sat all on her own, way over at the right-hand end of the front row.
    It took Jason a moment to realise that not a few of the reporters in the media gallery were gazing directly at her, pointing, trying to get photos of her. Jason didn’t know why.
    ‘Close your mouth and stop drooling,’ a husky female voice said from somewhere nearby.
    Jason turned to find the girl seated immediately behind him also staring at the pretty girl in the front row. ‘Ariel Piper is way outta your league, little man.’
    ‘I wasn’t looking at her like that ,’ Jason protested.
    ‘Sure you weren’t.’ The girl behind him was about sixteen, with a round face, bright flame-orange hair (with matching flame-orange horn-rimmed glasses) and a wide rosy-cheeked grin. ‘I’m Sally McDuff, Mech Chief and allround great gal from Glasgow, Scotland.’
    ‘Jason Chaser, and this here’s the Bug, he’s my little brother and my navigator.’
    Sally McDuff assessed the Bug for a long moment. ‘The Bug, huh? Well aren’t you just the cutest thing. How old are you, little one?’
    The Bug went pink with embarrassment.
    ‘He’s twelve,’ Jason said.
    ‘Twelve…’ Sally McDuff mused. ‘Must be some kind of mathematical wiz if someone invited him here. Nice to meet you, Jason Chaser and his navigator, the Bug. I imagine we’ll be running into each other again over the course of this year. Hope you get a good mentor.’
    ‘What do you mean?’
    Sally McDuff said, ‘Gosh, you are a newbie. Getting through Race School ain’t just about being a great racer. Having a top teacher makes a huge difference. Apparently the best is Zoroastro. The Maestro. His students have taken out the School Championship three out of the last four years. Word is, Charlie Riefenstal is light on homework and heavy on track-time, so a lot of drivers want to get him.’
    ‘What do you know about Scott Syracuse?’ Jason asked.
    ‘Syracuse. Yeah. Teaching full-time this year. I heard he did some fill-in teaching last year when the full-timers went on vacation.’
    ‘And…’
    ‘Apparently, his students were relieved when their regular mentors got back. They say Syracuse works you long and hard. Lotta theory. Lotta pit practice - over and over until you get it right. And a lot of homework.’
    ‘Oh,’ Jason said.
    ‘Why do you ask?’
    ‘No reason.’
    At that moment, the rear doors to the theatre rumbled open and everyone fell silent. Jean-Pierre LeClerq entered the Briefing Room, followed by about a dozen teachers and lecturers, all dressed in flight uniforms. Last in the long line of Race School staff, Jason saw Scott Syracuse, limping along with the aid of his cane.
    Principal LeClerq took his place behind the lectern on the stage.
    ‘Ladies and gentlemen, sponsors, assembled members of the media and most importantly… racers . Welcome to the International Race School. The year has barely begun and yet the world of hover car racing has already seen some great upheavals’ - Jason could have sworn LeClerq glanced over at Ariel Piper when he said that - ‘but we here at the Race School have adapted accordingly and while the debate has been vigorous, we welcome change.’
    The media photographers clicked away on their digital cameras. Their photos would be on news sites around the world in seconds.
    LeClerq continued: ‘To the new intake of candidates, I say this: welcome. Welcome to the hardest, most demanding year of your lives. Make no mistake, this school is a crucible, a cauldron, a daily trial-by-fire that will push your skills, your minds - your very characters - to their limits.
    ‘Race School is not