Hover Car Racer (39 page)

‘So the other night, before I went to bed, I checked his odds on me both here and back in Italy, in particular, Gupta’s odds on me coming in the Top 5 in Italy. They were huge. Gupta stood to lose a fortune if I’d come 5th there, so he’d ensured that I wouldn’t: first by blocking Sally at the Pescara Pits, and second by planting an explosive on my tailfin.’

‘But how could you prove it?’ Henry asked.

‘I couldn’t. I just had to wait - and see if something similar happened today. So I got Ariel to get some cops to watch Gupta for the whole race and…’

He turned to the cop beside Ariel.

The cop said: ‘We have digital surveillance footage of Mr Gupta pointing a remote control at the
Argonaut
and pressing a button on that remote a moment before the car’s tailfin explodes. Radio-signal surveillance also recorded seek-and-respond signals passing between Gupta’s remote and the
Argonaut
an instant before the explosion. Which is why Mr Gupta is coming with us now.’

With that, the cops took Gupta away.

‘Gambling…’ Sally growled. ‘It’s bad news.’

‘Oh, it’s not that bad,’ Martha Chaser said daintily.

‘And why do you say that, Mum?’ Jason asked, surprised.

‘Well,’ she seemed a little embarrassed to say it, ‘as I said I would, I put a dollar on you to win the Masters, way back before the first race of the series, when you were at 1500-to-1. So I just made $1500. I think I might get myself that new sewing machine now.’

Jason just shook his head and grinned.

And so he was left with his family and his friends and his fleece and the massing cheering waving crowd in the
middle of Fifth Avenue, New York, on the Sunday of the Masters…as the winner.

That same grin was still fixed on his face as he stood on Liberty Island, at the feet of the Statue of Liberty, behind the winner’s podium, watching Romba (26 points) and Fabian (22 points, having received no points in Race 4 for crashing) receive their wreaths for coming 2nd and 3rd in the Masters.

Then came the moment.

‘And, now, ladies and gentlemen,’ the announcer proclaimed, ‘in 1st place, with a series total of 28 points, two wins, and one 3rd placing, the Masters Champion for this year…Jason Chaser! Team:
Argonaut
/Lombardi. Navigator: Bug Chaser. Mech Chief: Sally McDuff.’

The three of them leapt up onto the podium.

Jason, the Bug and Sally.

And they accepted their wreaths, and the gigantic Masters Trophy.

Then Jason hefted the enormous trophy aloft, above his head, and the crowd just went ballistic.

And as he looked out over them, Jason thought about everything he’d been through the previous year. It had, without a doubt, been the most incredible year of his life - a year that had begun in the swamps of Carpentaria, proceeded through the many trials of Race School and featured an appearance at the Italian Run, before he had finished off the year winning - yes,
winning
- the most prestigious and demanding race series of all: the New York Masters.

And now, to cap it all off, in his pocket sat a contract from Umberto Lombardi offering him and his team the privilege of racing full-time for the Lombardi Racing Team on the pro circuit next year.

Jason held the trophy high and smiled.

He was Jason Chaser.

Hover car racer.