TIME : March 8, 2018 8:30 A.M.
PLACE : The Terni Training Facility
Peter eagerly awaited his turn to race. Some of the runners had already started because there were so many people competing in the medium run, the runners were divided into groups of eight. They were divided according to their fastest time in the practice run with the faster runners going first. Peter, who was in the slowest group, didn't start until one o'clock. He had been told not to eat too much before the race, so he had a light breakfast and decided to skip lunch altogether. Peter slowly sipped a glass of water and waited for the race results.
"Hello, Peter," greeted Shawn.
"What are you doing here?" stammered Peter quickly recovering from his initial shock of seeing Hank, Linda, Lisa, and Shawn in the Terni Training Facility.
"Detrina let us in," explained Hank. "We took the day off to watch you run."
"Have you had any trouble with the Ruler yet?" wondered Lisa.
"Two of his henchmen tried to poison Gammeid and myself," Peter began. "but they were captured the first day of the olympics. Nothing has happened since then."
"I hope nothing happens while you're running," stated Lisa.
"I had thought about that," declared Shawn. "That is why we are going to stay with Gammeid while Peter competes in the medium run."
"I thought you said we could have the day off," complained Linda.
"If you don't want to stay with the rest of us, you don't have to," replied Shawn. "However, the Ruler could attack at any moment. He doesn't care whether you have the day off or not. I'm not saying he's going to attack, all I'm saying is be prepared. Is that understood?"
"Yes," grumbled Linda. "I'll stay with you for the duration of the race, then I'm going my own way."
"Terni beat Triax in the medium run!" exclaimed Detrina. "If their time holds, they'll move up to second place overall!"
"Peter could run it in half the time!" boasted Hank.
"What was the time?" wondered Peter.
"It was 16 minutes 34.9 seconds," answered Detrina.
"I'm not sure I can run it in twice the time," considered Peter.
"You'll do fine," Detrina assured him. "You've gotten faster every day. I bet you can run it in under 27 minutes."
"At the rate I'm improving, I'll be a few seconds short," Peter told the others. I'll see what I can do."
"Has Detrina asked you anything important?" inquired Lisa.
"She said she wanted to tell me something after the olympics is over," said Peter. "but I have no idea what it is."
"You'll see," smiled Lisa. "I know you'll be very happy about it."
TIME : 1:00 P.M. (13:00)
PLACE : The Main Olympic Stadium
Peter was crouched in lane #4 waiting for the race to start. He looked at the people he was running against. One of the runners was from the child dominated planet, Yopela. He remembered the people he had met while he was on Yopela and felt he should be able to beat him. The others looked difficult, if not impossible to bent.
After looking at the other runners, Peter looked for Detrina . She was easy to spot sitting at the water station directly behind him smiling and waving at him. Peter waved back and gave her a meek smile. He was too nervous about the race for a proper one. He tried to find his friends from Earth, but the stands were just a blur of people.
At last the buzzer signaling the start of the race sounded. Peter jumped out to an early lead, but he quickly remembered he needed to save his energy for the rest of the race and slowed down to a more comfortable pace. Even though he was being passed was smiling. He could always say he had held the lead at one point during the race.
He was third after one lap, forth after two laps, and fifth after eight laps. On his ninth lap, the runner in first lapped him. He was well ahead of the rest of the pack. Peter tried not to let it bother him and concentrated on setting a personal best. At the pace he was going, he would easily accomplish it.
On the twelfth lap, he was passed once more and the other two runners were gaining on him. They were almost to him when he caught his second wind and started pulling ahead again. Half way through the fifteenth lap, Peter looked at the clock and saw he could break the 27 minute mark. It was too late to catch the other runners, but he could do what Detrina said he could do.
Peter put everything he had into the last one and a half laps. Thanks to the energy shakes, he was running faster than he normally could at the beginning of the race, but he still wasn't sure it was fast enough. With half a lap to go, he looked at the clock and did some quick mathematics. He wasn't going to make it at his current pace.
Going faster than he thought he could go, Peter sprinted toward the finish line. There were only three runners left and of those three Peter was well out in front. Peter thought he was going to collapse with exhaustion, but he kept himself going. Just when he thought he couldn't take anymore, he crossed the finish line.
Peter got his large cup of water, which had been checked for poison, and walked over to Detrina. A few seconds later, the runners times were flashed overhead.
"You did it, Peter!" exclaimed Detrina. "You came in 143rd out of 145 runners with a time of 26 minutes 59.7 seconds."
"I didn't think I could do it," admitted Peter. "I gave it everything I had and found out I had more than I thought I did. I'm going to take a shower before I rejoin the others."
"Take your time," advised Detrina. "You can relax now."
Peter had just left when a security guard came running up to Detrina. Unlike the olympic athletes, the security guard was out of breath after only a short run.
"Eglo and Bymen have given us some more information about the Ruler!" he panted. "Phybliana would like to discuss the situation with you immediately."
"I'll go get Peter," declared Detrina.
"Phybliana told me it was too urgent to wait," argued the security guard. "When Phybliana is through talking to you, you can pass the information on to Peter."
Detrina took one look back in Peter's direction before following the security guard.
TIME : 1:45 P.M. (13:45)
PLACE : Security headquarters
The security guard left the room leaving Detrina alone with Pihybliana, or so she thought. Suddenly, Eglo and Bymen came out of hiding.
"Shouldn't we have some security guards in here?" warned Detrina. two of them all by ourselves."
There was no reply. It slowly dawned on her that the three of them were working together. She ran to the door, but Eglo was blocking the way.
"HELP!" Detrina screamed at the top of her lungs.
"Scream all you want," mocked Phybliana. "This is a sound proof room. Weapons may not be allowed into the city, but Eglo and Bymen don't need weapons. They can kill you with their bare hands, so I'd advise you to cooperate."
"What are you going to do with me?" stammered Detrina.
"For the time being, nothing," Phybliania informed her. "We're going to use you as bait for Peter and Gammeid."
"They'll know it's a trap," Detrina predicted.
"It doesn't matter," insisted Phybliana. "As long as your life is in danger, they'll take foolish risks to get you back. They might even come to me for help, and when they do, Eglo and Bymen will be waiting for them."
"They'll never leave this room alive," added Eglo.
"Wait if Peter comes alone?" wondered Detrina.
"He wouldn't do that," declared Phybliania. "If he left Gammeid alone that would make him an easy target. The two of them will come together. Bymen, deliver our message to Peter. Eglo, take Detrinia some place where they'll never find her."
Detrina tried to run, but Eglo was too fast for her. She felt his hand come down on the hack of her neck. Her last thought before she passed out was that they weren't expecting Hank, Linda, Lisa, and Shawn. They'd probably find a way to rescue her.
"How long will she be out?" inquired Phybliana.
"Only about fifteen minutes," said Eglo. "I didn't hit her very hard. That should give me just enough time."
"Return here as soon as possible," ordered Phybliana. "We're much stronger as a team than we are as individuals."
When Eglo and Bymen had left, Phybliana reported to the Ruler that they had captured Detrina expecting him to be pleased. Instead, the Ruler warned her not to be overconfident and told her he would only be pleased when the job was complete. Phybliana was disappointed, but more determined than ever to kill Gammeid and anyone else who opposed her.
TIME : 2:00 P.M. (14:00)
PLACE : Peter's room
Peter took Detrina's advice to relax and took his time in the shower. The race was over and he had finished respectably. He took his time picking out what to wear when he rejoined Gammeid, Detrina, and his friends from Earth. He had just finished dressing when he heard a knock at the door. When he answered the door, Bymen entered his room and stood directly in front of him.
"How did you get past security?" demanded Peter.
"I have ways of getting past people," Bymen replied. "but if I were you I wouldn't worry about me. The person you need to be worried about is Detrina."
"Where is she?" snapped Peter. "What have you done with her?"
"She is alive and in a safe place," answered Bymen. "How long she stays that way depends on you."
Copyright MCMXCV, MCMXCIX
