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Their second day in the capital city was more race oriented. Alice and Carly were interviewed by media from the Amazon's world and beyond. Marko extended an offer to a few networks to bid for a place on the ship to broadcast the race. There was plenty of media present and after some work, they could all share video feeds from the cameras the Amazon media had all over the facility.

That was the first day of the weeks agenda. Making sure everyone had places for equipment and where they would be allowed to broadcast from. The crew that Marko had would be in the press box with them. The ship would transmit the signal to earth by way of a subspace communication array. Everyone on earth would see what was happening live with a delay of only a couple minutes.

It was also the last day competitors could show up. The following day was crew and driver meetings. Everything from the complicated rules to the mundane needed to be covered. Not everyone used the same colored flags to signal the same thing, and some did not even use flags. However it was determined single color flags offered the clearest cues for the drivers. Taking notes was greatly encouraged, but each driver would have an Amazon track monitor to help.

Pit stalls were determined by numbers drawn from a basket. Considering how fewer cars were running they had an empty stall between each pair of drivers. Alice and Carly got pits closer to the end of pit road. Which meant they had to maintain the slower speed longer to get to their pits, but they could nearly mash it to the floor to leave pit road.

Spreading them out gave everyone a little more room to keep the peace between race teams. Considering the vast cultural differences between them and the shorter tempers some of them had. Another reason for Amazon officials with each of the drivers. While some thought it a little excessive, the Amazons had armed infantry guarding the race equipment. Unless you had the pit pass for that team, you were not allowed near any of their equipment, period.

The fact that Nodrog and the other magic users on the teams had to wear tracking devices at all times, really drove the point home. The Amazons would not allow any form of cheating. Starting position would be determined by normal qualifying runs. The two Amazon drivers would qualify last, since they had home track advantage. They also had the shortest practice window, because they raced here often and year round.

The race officials did not decide that, the drivers themselves cut their own track time to give the other drivers more time to get familiar with the track. They wanted to win, but they wanted their competition to be on equal footing. Beating the unprepared was not a noble action in their minds. With five days of practice before the day of qualifying, it gave the fourteen pairs plenty of track time.

As another precaution, the drivers would all be hooked up to equipment to monitor their vitals during practice, qualifying and the race itself. None of them were in poor physical condition, but they were unsure how the drivers would handle the different conditions found on the Amazons' world. Which once practice got underway would lead to some interesting bits of information.

While the twins, little Joe and Ron tinkered with the Viper mainly for something to do. Alice sat with the other drivers in one of the meeting rooms. There they could all watch the other driver's lines, and vital stats. Alice was as interested in lap time as she was the other driver's heart rate, it told her how they reacted to a number of variables. Alice did notice an interesting trend among all of the other drivers, the question was if they would do that under race conditions...

The intensity Alice had in watching those on track was noted by the two Amazon drivers. The little mouse and her human friend were the biggest unknowns to the Amazons. They knew the least about them, but it was clear the modest little mouse was likely as vicious as the name of her car implied. The two human's cars had no corporate sponsors on them, they had no car number or badges of any kind. Both of them carried the name of dangerous snakes and looked as sinister as the snakes they took their names from.

Alice and Carly met the two Velopian drivers that would be on track with them during their practice runs. The Velopian cars were perhaps the strangest, simply because they were the only four legged species in the race. Their cars had twin turbine engines, one mounted on each side of the center mounted driver's position. They had no foot controls, so they drove with motorcycle style controls.

"They look a bit like Mclaren F1s..." Carly said as they headed to their cars.

"And sound like fighter jets. I want to take one of the Salak's lambo Countach look a likes for a spin. Aside from the larger shoulder intakes and better looking wheels, they could have stolen one from our world." Alice said.

"There certainly are some lovely looking cars here. But enough talking, lets get out there." Carly said and skipped happily over to her GT Cobra. The car was based on the GT 40 back in the nineteen sixties. This GT was given the Cobra designation after the mid mounted V8 was punched out to a massive 7.8 liters and was equipped with a super charger that took one hundred horsepower just to run. Its normal race paint was replaced with a dark silver base and dark purple racing stripes.

Alice pulled on her helmet and buckled in while DJ hooked her to the small computer that monitored her vitals and the radio gear. She lightly slugged Alice in the shoulder. "Good to go!"

Alice gave her a thumbs up and pressed the button to bring the Viper's downright vulgar V10 to life. Both cars were tuned to run on high octane alcohol race fuel. With the higher oxygen level in the air, each girl had a thousand horse power available at the command of their right foot. Alice's eyes lightened up as that seductive little smile spread across her lips as she revved the engine.

The track was wide and had some of the smoothest asphalt Alice had ever seen. They had be given a fly over in a chopper and from the air, the track looked like sex made out of concrete and asphalt. The kind of track that gave Alice wet dreams. They also practiced a few hot pits, in which they saw how quickly they could change tires and refuel the car. It helped them find the marks for their pits as well as where they had to be doing pit road speed and when they could accelerate to race speed.

Alice and Carly made a few stops to get a few adjustments made to the suspension or the front and rear air diffusers, and the rear wing. They settled on a tire compound rather quickly because the track had excellent traction, letting them run a harder rubber to get more laps between stops.

In the meeting room the two Amazons noted that Alice's heart rate dropped instead of raising as she took to the track. As it got later into her practice session it stayed the same no matter what anyone on track did. Because the Velopians did try and test her a little. The four actually mocked raced for a fair amount of time. Probably to see how the air flow around the other cars effected their own car. Or knowing the Velopians, just for the fun of it.

No matter how upset her car got, the mouse remained unfazed. Which included a lap of near constant tire smoking drifting. That was something children and hooligans did on back water worlds. However, at the end of the human's practice session both were nearing record lap times and this was only practice. Given how calm Alice was on track, they knew she was not a backwater hooligan and likely still had more held in reserve.

"So what do you think?" Anastasia asked as Alice and Carly made it back to the meeting room. She currently held the record for the fastest lap on the track. She had gotten the chance to meet Jenny during the ceremony when Freya was crowned queen. The kitten had spoke very highly of her mouse life mate, Anastasia thought the girl was boasting but now knew otherwise.

"This is a fantastic track, I am jealous that you have such a nice facility in your backyard." Alice said with a smile.

"I completely agree, challenging, but still very enjoyable and fun." Carly added.

"The humans are correct. You have a wonderful facility, we are honored to be here." Lorraina said as she and the other Velopian driver, Charmane walked over.

"You have been wonderful hosts as well. We were a little hesitant at first, but we are so very glad we were given an invitation." Sidney said. She was one of the brightly colored salamander Salaks. They had no hair, and were slender with very athletic frames. They had bright wide eyes and small breasts, they were very cute, very outgoing and very energetic. Like the Velopians, they thought of everyone as friends.

There was two species that were nether friendly or slightly attractive at all. In fact Alice was not entirely sure what about them made them female... Which was saying something considering how much biology she had in school. They also smelled horrible and she was glad to not interact with them. As the week progressed more and more people started showing up for the race.

The stands held many hardcore fans at this point who watched every practice session as intently as if it was the race. If it continued at this rate, there would be no available hotel rooms in the entire city. The palace was having difficulty getting ships docked at the space port as people came by the thousands. Some bars were already booked full by those who did not get tickets to the race.

The Amazons' had to call in extra police and security to keep things running smoothly, though most knew not to cross any women on this world. Because even the most un-intimidating Amazon could seriously hurt you in a fight. That did not necessarily keep them from fighting each other.

"Are you sure this was a good idea mother?" Dagger asked as they watched from the royal box.

"It certainly will boost our economy for the week. I cannot wait for the race." Freya said as they watched the final practice sessions.

"While there have been a few problems, most are on their best behavior. It certainly could be much worse. Imagine if we had tried this with ice hockey or soccer." Beatrice said. Both sports were known to nearly cause wars depending on the outcome.

Beatrice had meetings with several off worlders, Marko and Sharn were two gentlemen she had grown to respect a little. They were respectful without being patronizing. The small stature Salaks were a little hard to deal with since like the Velopians, they had tremendous amounts of exuberance and enthusiasm for meeting new people.

They had held a dinner with the women and men, who at their own expense brought in their race teams. It was not a cheap under taking to ship this much non military equipment this far. Beatrice had figured the business people would appreciate a dinner just for them so they could make connections. It also served another purpose, it gave the Amazons a look into who would make good allies and who was likely to be an enemy.

When the final day of practice finished, there were a few favorites to win. The gaming industry on nearly every world was looking to make record profits. As actual qualifying began, trillions of dollars were being exchanged and placed on drivers.

Jenny was sitting in the thankfully air conditioned box with everyone. She had been feeling really good and Roslyn had no problem with coming early. Stacy was just as eager to come to the track. Jenny certainly did not mind Stacy waiting on her hand and foot either. Plus the cute little lion drew some of the Amazon's attention away from her.

"Alice and Carly get two warm up laps then only two laps to qualify." Stacy said as she glanced over the notes they had.

"They have their work cut out. The Velopians posted some fast lap times." Lucy said as the Viper and Cobra pulled off pit road and onto the track.

"You ready Alice?" Carly asked as she grabbed fifth.

"You know it. Lets hit it." Alice said as she shifted to fifth and stood on it. The Viper belched flame from the raw fuel dumped into the exhaust on the gear change to sixth and howled as it tore down the track. Carly's giant V8 doing the same as they set out to prove how good they really were. Not to prove to the rest of inhabited space, but only to prove to themselves.

The track had sweeping turns and rolling hills for the first half, the second half was much tighter and technical. Calm, cool and unfazed by anything at any speed, the little mouse attacked the track. Seventh gear along one of the several lengthy straight-aways, 220...230...240...250...264 mph hard on the breaks and down to fifth for a sharp downhill right hand turn.

Carly stuck with Alice like glue. They both knew with the track's length they would get better times if they drafted. The order they qualified in didn't matter because they planned to stick together during the race no matter who was in the higher position. To win, they had to finish and that meant not racing each other, but only racing the other teams on the track.

They crossed the line after their first lap and put down a solid time. The second lap was faster and the third even faster. Alice took a slightly wider line letting Carly pass and ducked back behind her as they tried the last lap with the Cobra leading. The Amazons watched as on the pair's final lap, the two put a time down that was only tenths of a second off of the track record.

As it stood right now, with half the field qualified, Alice and Carly were on the front row. That pushed the Velopians back to the second row and the Salaks to the third.

"That mouse knows how to drive. We are going to have our work cut out for us." Anastasia said from her seat next to the royal family.

"She is indeed a worthy opponent. I find it a little amusing that the three least aggressive races competing, have fielded the quickest drivers." Beatrice said with a smile.

"The Salaks and Velopians are well known for their agility and speed... Still we have always loved a challenge." Freya said. Unlike her mother or sister, it was Freya that was the most excited to have the first such automobile race here. She had really pushed the idea after hearing Jenny talk about her wife, who not only worked in a scientific field but raced cars as well.

"You really are loving this, aren't you?" Dagger teased.

Freya smiled as she watched the other drivers try and beat the humans' time. "Absolutely."

"If you excuse us, we need to get ready for our own round." Anastasia said and stood.

Alice and Carly were sitting on one of the tool boxes eagerly watching the other drivers. Carly nudged Alice. "Here come the home town favorites."

"They are the two I have been most interested in seeing." Alice said as the two Amazon drivers rolled past. Their cars were both all wheel drive, with a mid mounted twin turbo, small displacement eight cylinder boxter engines. Little Joe had figured out in his head what the engine displacement of the other cars was in their measurements. A feet that impressed the Amazon monitor and track crew.

The Amazon's small four liter engines lacked the torque of Alice and Carly's mammoth power plants, but the small engines revved quicker and to a higher rpm. Allowing them to run lower gears to make up for the lack of torque. The smaller engines would use less fuel, but the Amazons' aggressive driving chewed up the tires they had quicker.

This race could easily be won or lost during pit stops and in the team's pit strategy. Alice and Carly were used to shorter length races, four hours at most. Tomorrow, they would have to go all out for nearly six hours. Slightly working in their favor was the higher oxygen levels in the air. That combined with the fact their fire suits could circulate a gel which kept them cool, would help keep them from becoming fatigued.

"You get the feeling the Velopians, Salaks and us are the only ones working as a team?" Carly asked.

"I do, the Amazons and those smelly whatever they are, appear to be competing against each other as well as the rest of us." Alice said.

"Do you think that might play into our favor?" Carly asked.

"It might, or they could take one of you out in their own race." Ron said as he joined them on top of the tool box. "From the little we have overheard in the garage that seems to be the case."

"You overheard or a certain metal team member overheard?" Alice asked with a smile.

"As loud as the argument was, I am surprised you didn't hear it out on the track." Ron chuckled.

"That bad, I figured everyone would be too busy trying to beat the other drivers then their team mate." Carly said.

"Depends on their culture and if they are friends or rivals with the other person representing their species. You and Alice while rivals of sorts, you are close friends. The Velopians and the Salaks are the same. You push each other to help one other become better. You don't use competition to prove who is better, you use it to become better. That is the biggest difference." Nodrog said.

"That is rather philosophical. Where did you learn that?" Ron asked.

Nodrog chuckled. "A wise old man taught me that during a game of chess, which I lost. You don't become the best by playing with those lower than you, you become the best when you only play with those better than you."

"I think you are on to something with that." Little Joe said as he leaned back and smiled. "They spent too much time fighting each other and are in the fourth row. I don't think the home track advantage is going to be too much of an influence."

"Alright, what are you thinking is going to be the advantage?" Ron asked.

Little Joe pointed to his head. "This will be won by the better driver. The cars are essentially equal in performance. Any area they have the advantage in, is negated in other areas."

"For example, the turbine power plants the Velopians are running give them incredible top speed, but they lack the bottom end grunt. The big block motors the Salaks and we are running pull the hardest at lower RPM and vehicle speed. The lower horse power cars will handle the corners better, but given the track length, they will never keep up with the big power cars in the more open sections."

"So you are thinking the lady with the coolest head will likely prevail?" Ron asked.

"I am certain of it." Little Joe said.

"With everyone qualified, we should have a team meeting. Make sure we all know the flags and starting pit strategy." Doug said. He was Carly's crew chief and learned from working with Alice's father.

"That is a good idea, let me go get the others." Ron said and headed over to the pit stall they had. They gathered in the main garage area they had. They had brought every tool they might need with them and the facility had plenty of space to accommodate it all.

Considering they had a three thousand gallon truck mounted tank of race fuel, and had yet to use a quarter of it, fuel was not an issue. Tires were the largest unknown since they had no way to gauge tire wear until they ran laps. Running the harder compound tires eased everyone's mind. They had a set of rain tires ready and a set of a special compound ready. There was not an actual pit wall, just a painted line separated the pit stall from the garages. Which made working on the cars easy if something happened.

The generator truck was not allowed in the pit area and they had moved it to run all the TV equipment they had brought. Little Joe built a power inverter from scratch so they could run their electronic devices and tools without worrying about battery life. Which astonished the Amazons and several other species who had wondered what the human was doing.

While starting on the front row had its benefits it did have some problems. Because they did not know how the other drivers dealt with traffic or that many cars that close together. They knew they could put some distance between them and the Velopians simply because they had low end pull. But the main straight away was nearly a mile long itself. Plenty of length for the Velopian turbines to gain tremendous speed.

They did intentionally put fuel in the cars every stop, even if they only did a lap or two. The fuel filling system was made in such a way, only Nodrog could see if it was actually flowing fuel. Oddly enough, they were the only ones with a fuel and jack system combined. Ron and Doug hoped by always making it look like they were fueling, the other teams would think the cars could not run many laps on a tank.

Because of the track's length and the time to complete a single lap, the actual number of laps they would run in a little under six hours was between thirty two and thirty five. The race was three hundred and forty minutes in length, mileage did not actually matter. The Viper only managed to pull five miles per gallon. With its twenty gallon fuel tank, it had enough fuel for five and a half laps.

They could go at least fifteen laps on a set of tires. Considering how quickly they could fuel the cars and how lengthy the course was, even pitting under race laps would not be that large of an issue. Both cars could also cut out cylinders during caution laps, more than doubling the distance both cars could go. There was rules against them tuning the car during the race, but the cylinder cut out was driver controlled.

Now all they had to do was wait.

Chapter.

Alice, Carly and their crew were up and at the track early. Last minute equipment checks, get things exactly where they wanted them and stage tools and tires in the pit stall. The gates to the facility opened mid morning and the grand stands filled quickly.

Jenny sat in the box with Lucy and Carrel while the others took in some of the live bands and other pre race activities. Except for a few cultural things and the scale, it was like any race back home. Well and the vast number of non human appearing people present. Several dragons, griffins and other flying creatures were in the air above the track.

Jumbotrons were rather prevalent all over the facility and showed a photo of each driver and car along with some driver stats. Along with shots of the crowd, and live entertainment. The occasional brief interview with a driver or even Queen Freya herself. There was a very noticeable energy and buzz from the crowd, everyone was excited. As the live broadcast to several worlds began, the excitement spread even further.

The cars were staged on the starting grid, and the drivers got ready. DJ and Katie were out by the car to help Alice get belted in and hooked to all the equipment.

"How do you do that?" Katie asked as Alice walked over. The mouse had her helmet in one hand, and her normal calm demeanor. She walked with quiet confidence.

"Do what?" Alice asked.

"Remain so freaking calm. I mean we aren't even on our planet!" DJ exclaimed.

Alice shrugged. "I don't know, a race is a race."

"Well lets get you belted in." Katie said. Alice's calm attitude calmed her own nerves down, and got her focused.

Alice pulled on her helmet and got it adjusted while DJ got in the passenger side of the car. Katie pulled the belts out of the way so Alice could get in without tangling the medical leads or gel coolant lines. Alice belted in while DJ hooked her up to everything and Katie helped get the belts tight.

"Okay Alice, you are good to go." Katie said and stepped back to close the door.

DJ tapped Alice's arm. "Give them hell Alice."

"See you both in a few laps." Alice said just before they closed the doors.

The track officials checked on the drivers and gave them the signal to start their engines. Alice reached over and pressed the starter button to bring the Viper to life. She checked her gauges as the motor settled into its normal idle. The twin turbos' low whistle mostly lost to the big displacement rumble from the race exhaust.

Alice squeezed the steering wheel stretching her gloves and gave the Viper her normal pre race throttle blips. Alice always strove to do her best, as long as she felt she did her best she was happy. Another throttle blip and the Alice that only came out behind the wheel took over. An Alice with razor sharp reflexes and an almost disturbing calm attitude. This time something was different as the Viper's exhaust note resonated with her soul, and told her what it wanted. The Viper wanted only victory, and now that is what Alice wanted.

The Amazon track used the same red, yellow, green as Alice and Carly were used to. The lights went from a steady red to blinking. The crew members on track quickly made their way off track and to the safety of pit road. Alice glanced to her right and Carly gave her a thumbs up. Alice pushed in the clutch and shifted to first gear as the yellow lights lit up.

Yellow... yellow... yellow... As the last yellow faded out, Alice and Carly were already starting to engage the clutch as the green lights lit. The snakes jumped off the line and the roar of several thousand horse power competed with the roar and screams of seventy thousand fans.

Several cars belched flame on gear changes and squealed tires. As thirty of the best female drivers from fifteen different worlds, howled down the track. The big motored cars pulling away from the smaller displacement cars. The Salaks had passed the Velopians and were right on the heels of Alice and Carly. Despite the gear change in the Viper's axles, the Velopians had caught up and slowly passed Alice as the turbine engine's advantage took hold. By the end of the mile long straight away they were all screaming along at well over two hundred miles per hour. Very few were actually sitting in their seats.

The first corner could be taken at full speed and they fell into single file up at the front. The Velopians sitting one and two with Carly and Alice, third and forth. Back in the pack they were two and three wide as they fought for position. The more they fought in the back, the further the leaders pulled away.

Alice, Carly and the two Salak drivers kept hounding the Velopians as their cars powered out of corners and up hills better. The Velopians managing to hold them off long enough, the track straightened out and they pulled ahead. Out in front the three pair stayed single file and had clean air around them, which helped them put more gap between them and the rest of the field. Carly caught a glimpse of the two Amazon cars behind the two Salak cars. They were pulling away from the rest of the field, but were not really gaining on them at the moment.

"Alice, I think the Amazons quit fighting for the moment." Carly said and up shifted to sixth. Neither of the Salaks seemed interested in trying to pass at the moment. It was only the first lap and Carly thought maybe they were hoping the six of them could just stay in a line and put distance between them and the rest of the field.

"I was hoping they would keep it up. Oh well." Alice said calmly as she followed Carly under Charmane and powered past. Half a lap down and they were in the section of the track that would favor the big displacement engines.

The second half of the track was tighter, but not necessarily slower. The twists and turns were closer together which did limit top speed. There was plenty of room for them to move and get set up for quick lines from one corner to the next. Even slowing down enough to need fourth gear, Alice was still staying above one hundred miles an hour. The track suited the Viper in all areas and was technical enough to be a challenge, but open enough Alice found it fun.

Neither Velopian tried to keep the four from passing, at least on this lap. However they did try and keep the Amazons behind them. Really the majority of the action was in the back half of the cars. As they seemed to change position rather often for being the first lap.

At the end of the first lap the Amazons did catch up to the three pair who had simply pulled away from the rest of the field. The Velopians were good enough they kept the aggressive Amazons behind them. Carly crossed the line first with Alice a close second, followed by the two Salaks.

Carly and Alice up shifted all the way to seventh, with Alice an inch off her friend's back bumper. The Salaks nearly as close to Alice as she was to Carly. The four cars howling down the front straight at a steadily increasing speed. With nearly an 1/8th mile running start they eventually hit the car's top speed before the end of the front straight. The Salak's did not have the upper end Alice and Carly had topping out at two hundred and fifty mph.

As they crossed in front of the box their friends and family were in, the Velopians pulled out to pass. They started pulling away from the Salaks, hitting redline RPM at two hundred and sixty three mph. The Velopians' turbine engines pulled them to a high pitched screaming, two hundred and ninety four mph.

"I think it's a good thing the starting line is at the other end of the straight. Those turbine cars are insanely fast." Stacy said.

"They sure are." Jenny said as the Velopian cars continued to pull away, just from the top speed difference alone.

"That is the advantage of a jet engine. The faster you go, the faster you go faster. I just cannot believe how aggressive the others are at the back of the field." Roslyn said and reached for her frozen fruity drink. This was certainly the way to enjoy an auto race, good seats, air conditioning, good view of the track, and all the drinks and food they wanted. Only thing that might make it better was if Nodrog, Sherman and Randy were topless and serving her the food and drinks.

Little changed as the next four laps went by in the same way as the first. During the fifth lap, in the thick of a three car battle for tenth. Two of the cars got together cutting a tire on one and sending them both off the track.

"Alice, two of the cars just took themselves out. Come in and get fuel, it's your scheduled lap." Ron said over the radio. The first five laps were just about done and only the one incident thus far. Which was surprising, given how rough some of them were.

DJ stood ready to signal Alice into her pit. Nodrog made sure the fuel system was ready to go.

All of the cars came in for adjustments or fuel. DJ stood her ground as Alice slid into her pit and only half a foot away from her. DJ held up her hand and as soon as Nodrog pulled the hose away from the car DJ dropped her hand and quickly got out of the way.

Alice and Carly pulled back onto the track and behind the safety car, or pace car depending on what you wanted to call it. Alice having gotten in and out of her pit a little quicker. The Velopians and the Salaks only took fuel as well and pulled up behind Alice and Carly in the order they had pulled off track in.

The Amazons and the rest of the field needed tires and if this was not a caution lap, would have lost a lot of ground to the much smoother drivers out front. Because of the track's length, the caution was only long enough to get the two cars pulled behind walls. There was no oil to cleaned up.

"We are back to green flag racing, Alice now leading the field as we have five and a half laps down, just past the one hour mark." The sports caster with Marko said.

While those at the back still fought hard for every position they could gain. The three pair up front only shuffled places depending on what part of the track they were on. All of them could have forced a pass here or there, but with it so early, none of them were going to abuse the cars at this point. Or as the pair that wrecked showed, take each other out before the half way mark.

Their second round of pit stops went smoothly and put them back in the pack until the other drivers cycled through their own pit stops. Which lead to the only incident the humans had thus far. Alice and one of the smelly whatever they were, traded a little paint as Alice muscled her way past the slower car.

Alice grumbled and up shifted to leave the other driver behind. Now that she was past, she could start gaining on the two Amazons that sat between her and first place. Carly had shoved past the other car on a little bit wider section of track.

Anastasia glanced in her mirror and saw that the mouse was gaining on them. This was her track and she was getting tired of the two humans monopolizing first and second. She downshifted and cut a clean line through the narrowing portion of the track.

Ron leaned forward to watch the monitors they had as Alice caught up to the Amazons. "Lets see how good the home town favorites really are." He muttered to himself as Alice closed the gap even more.

Anastasia knew the track like the back of her hand, she knew all the right lines. She should have the upper hand, but Alice stayed within inches of her no matter how tight the track became or how quickly she pushed herself. She was having to work to stay ahead even in the section that should favor her smaller, lighter car.

Back in the Viper, Alice remained cool as she chased after the nimble little car. While some might think she was bored, that was not the case and Alice was enjoying the race. Despite what those looking at her vitals might say, since it looked like she was at rest and not guiding a large, powerful race car along a twisty section of road. The course had excellent visibility, smooth transitions in elevation and banking. Alice was quiet pleased as she kept pace with the Amazon driver.

The next car back was Carly, who had just passed the other Amazon driver placing her in third. Carly was also having a good time, and was a little like Alice in her relaxed frame of mind. Alice was right, this was just another race. Once she got that in her head she settled down and stuck with Alice throughout the race thus far. The Salaks and Velopians were very good drivers and she was thrilled to be able to compete with them. It was the first time, she wished the monster 7.8 liter Ford engine had more power.

The twins, Wes and Tim put on their helmets for the upcoming pit stop. They placed the fresh tires out in the pit so they would be within arm's reach. DJ bounced a little in her spot at the driver side front wheel. The high speed impact gun in her hand ready to go. Her sister stood across from her equally excited and ready to go.

Wes watched as Alice came down pit road. He was already moving before Alice had came to a complete stop, he got his impact gun on the single large lug of the wheel just as Nodrog sent air to the air jacks raising the car.

Impacts revved and the carefully orchestrated pit stop was under way. The car was fueled in under four seconds. The twins were already putting the fresh tires on, Wes and Tim doing the same. DJ squeezed the trigger on her gun and tightened the single large lug in a second flat. She grabbed the air hose, whipping it up in the air ahead of her and was moving back to the other side of the car.

Alice put the car in first and started giving it throttle as DJ ran across. Nodrog released the air trigger and pulled the air fuel system away from the car. Alice was down on the ground and under way in seven seconds dead. Pulling back on the track at the lowest position she had been in all race, twelfth. Carly right behind her, since Alice came to her pit first, and Joe's crew was just that good.

Sixteen laps down and at the half way mark, everyone got a little more serious. The bickering at the back of the field finally settled down and they started giving those up front pressure. It also had been mostly clean up to this point and Alice gave Anastasia a little bump to let her know Alice wanted her to either get moving, or get out of the way.

Alice down shifted and stuck the Viper's nose underneath Anastasia in a lengthy right hander and powered past the Amazon as they headed up hill to the highest point of elevation on the track. In a lap and a half Alice had made her way back into the top five. She was fourth and Carly had followed her past Anastasia into fifth.

Anastasia up shifted and tried to stick with the leaders. The two snakes spit fire every gear change and seemed to have endless amounts of traction. She doubted if the drivers would have the stamina for the extra hour plus of racing they would have to get through. None of them seemed to be fazed by anything she tried to do, either to get their car loose or get them to bobble and give her an opening. Which actually made her happy, they were indeed worthy opponents.

Anastasia's crew all looked at each other as their driver, laughed. It had been a long time since any of them had heard her laugh, it caught them off guard. "Is everything alright Anastasia?" Her crew chief asked with a little concern in her voice.

"Yes, everything is good. It has been a while since I have had to work this hard. It is enjoyable." Anastasia said with a smile as she kept on Carly's bumper. Those big cars carved a large path through the air, leaving a big low pressure area behind them. It helped her stay with them since her car did not have to work as hard to push itself through the air.

That did have a down side, with less air going over the car, she had less down force to keep her planted. It created a little looser handling car then she preferred. But as she stuck with them over the next few laps, her crew informed her she was actually quicker now, than she had been in practice. Also the temperature of her tires and brakes were cooler, which meant they would last longer.

It forced Anastasia to drive differently then she usually did and it seemed that it worked better. They didn't pull away from her as they had been earlier in the day. She realized that was why Alice seemed so calm in the car. To Alice, her car was not a tool to be used, it was an extension of her body which explained how the mouse was able to take any line, anywhere on the course and still be fast.

However realizing why Alice was fast, did not instantly help Anastasia gain on the mouse. It did keep her in reach of Alice, which was better than she had been doing. Now it was going to be a race, Anastasia thought to herself as she up shifted and gave her own car full throttle.

"Seems the Amazon has woken up and is going to race." Wes said as they watched over Ron and Little Joe's shoulders.

"What makes you say that?" TJ asked.

"She is not driving as aggressively as she was earlier. She was over driving the car, which was why they needed tires so quickly. By relaxing, Anastasia is actually going faster." Wes said.

"So are you saying Alice might not win?" Nodrog asked.

Wes laughed. "No, just relaxing and being quicker will not be enough to beat Alice. Alice is nearly supernatural in a vehicle, she can see things a normal person just can't. Like air currents, and she can read terrain like it words in a book."

"Given the lap times they just posted. The other ladies are not going to hold back." Little Joe said and glanced up from the computer screens as the cars roared past.

"Stage the last set of tires, and get ready for our last pit stop of the day." Ron said. It had been a long day so far and after this last stop, it would be a three lap sprint to the finish line. The sun was starting to set on the eastern horizon and the track lights had been turned on.

"Dad." Alice said as she down shifted to enter a corner.

"Go ahead." Ron said.

"Give me the special compound tires." Alice said and up shifted as she past Lorain for the lead again. Anastasia and Carly close on her tail.

The others looked up at Ron. "If that is what you want."

Alice smiled. "I want the special compound tires, you have five minutes."

"You will get them." Ron said and looked at the others. "You heard her."

Nodrog and Tim wheeled the hard compounds back to the garage and picked up the special compounds. No one was going to question Alice on the last pit stop. Like the others before, the last stop went quickly and cleanly.

Half way through the next lap the last three cars tangled and brought out only the second caution of the day. Alice reached over and hit the switch to cut out cylinders, she was running on only four of the ten. Carly would also only be running on four until they got the green. Every minute they ran like this, made sure they would have plenty of fuel for the last laps of the race.

The safety car shut off it's lights and the two ladies engaged the cut out cylinders. They would have one green flag lap and then the blue flag lap. The blue flag signaled the final lap on the Amazon world. As the lights signaled green Alice, Carly and those left on the track put it to the floor.

Alice and Carly came out in seventh and eighth. They had fresh rubber and unlike the hard compounds they had been running these were softer. The Salaks who had been content to follow stepped up and passed the Amazon and Velopian drivers. The cute salamanders had lulled some on the track and crowd into thinking they were not as good as they really were.

The Amazons fell back on old habits, which lead to Alice and Carly over taking them quite quickly. Anastasia caught her mistake and forced herself to calm down. The question was if it she fixed it in time... They crossed the start finish line with the blue flag waving and blue lights lit.

Alice grabbed seventh gear and pulled in behind Charmain as the Velopians made their high speed run down the front straight. Caught in the draft from the two turbine cars, they pulled her and Carly along to a little over two seventy mph. Two mile an hour might not sound like much but it kept the Velopians from getting a larger lead they would have otherwise.

The sun had just disappeared behind the horizon as Alice dropped down to fifth and poured on the power. The vicious V10's whining howl announced her approach long before she got there. Still the Salaks held on and squeezed past after Alice got hung up behind Charmain who slowed them both down trying to keep Alice from passing.

They screamed past the three quarter lap mark and Alice sat in third. Carly was fourth. Sidney and Lorain one and two respectively. Anastasia entered the last corner a little hot and bumped Carly into Alice which knocked them loose.

Alice and Carly steered into the slide and kept their foot on the floor. The screaming crowd on their feet as the faint wisps of tire smoke came from the snakes. As they had done all practice, qualifying and during the race. At the first sign of a car possibly losing control, the other drivers lifted. Alice and Carly just kept the throttle mashed to the floor, no letting up now.

"Alice and Carly are loose on the last corner. Hang on girls!" The announcer yelled into his microphone. Nodrog and the others standing next to the wall that separated pit road from the race track. They could see tire smoke now as the two kept on the power.

Jenny got up and leaned against the large glass window. "Alice..."

Alice smiled wickedly, that's exactly what she wanted. That moment of hesitation Lorain and Sidney had before they got back on the power might cost them the race. The slide had heated the tires substantially and burnt off the last of the moderate compound rubber. They were now on super soft compound tires, and had ridiculous amounts of traction.

The snakes were pointing straight at the finish line as the traction control systems in each car locked the differentials sending all the power to all four wheels. Each belching flame as Alice and Carly up shifted, each monster engine screaming in rage as they shot out of the last corner and down the straight like slugs from a gun. The Viper and Cobra had bared their alcohol dripping fangs to strike.

"After nearly six hours of racing it all comes down to a drag race! From my position they look dead even!" The announcer yelled as the four cars sat side by side.

Fireworks shot into the air as the four cars screamed down the track to the finish line. Alice changing gears with nearly inhuman speed. The four cars crossed the line and more fireworks shot into the air. The rest of the field close behind.

"Do we know who won?" Jenny asked as she turned from the glass, as the four cars continued to accelerate.

"No we don't. This is unbelievable folks but we will have the rest of the field placed before we know who actually crossed the line first." The announcer said.

Everyone looked at the leader board and the first four places were blank. No one knew who crossed the line first.

"While they review the high speed footage, let me pass along an interesting fact. Anastasia, who came in fifth, would have beaten her previous track record by nearly half a second. That is how badly these ladies wanted to win, and shows how competitive they are. I can't imagine how that must feel, to beat your own record and come in fifth place." The announcer said.

Jenny had to sit back down she was so nervous. Finally the panel figured out who crossed the line first.

"Are we sure this is right?" The announcer asked. The women who had brought the sheet to him nodded yes. "I have watched and broadcasted from lots of races before, but this is a first for me. We have a two way tie for second place. Carly and Sidney crossed the line at exactly the same time."

"By a margin of victory, less than a tenth of a second... First place goes to our very own Alice Mclaren!" The Announcer yelled and everyone in the box yelled and screamed with joy. The Jumbotrons all showed Alice standing next to the Viper with the white flag waving behind her. Here the white flag signaled the end of the race.

Alice had simply out driven the others. Lorain, Sidney and Carly did everything perfectly. Alice was simply better than perfect. If Lorain and Sidney did not lift, Alice would have gotten third. Unless Alice was out of the race, you do not ever count her out until you have crossed the line.

The safety car had lead them around the short course and as the other cars pulled down pit road Alice headed down the main straight. Stopping on the start finish line Alice gave the Viper several throttle blips before side stepping the clutch in third gear. She left four wide black marks for nearly a hundred feet before whipping the car around to do a donut. It was a little out of character for her, but there was plenty of burn out marks in the same area. Which let her know the Amazons at least did a little tire smoking celebration.

Alice shut the Viper down in the middle of the front straight and climbed out as those on her team came running over. Nodrog and Katie hosting her up on their shoulders as those in the stands cheered.

It took Jenny a little bit to get down to the track so she could see Alice. Thankfully Marko and Roslyn could part a crowd like no one else. Finally she got down to where Alice was. "Alice I am so..."

Those close by whistled or cheered even louder as Alice grabbed Jenny mid sentence and kissed her rather passionately. Alice smiled as Jenny blushed and had to regain her composure.

There was a half hour of after race interviews of the four ladies who had crossed the line so close together. With the second place tie, Anastasia finished fourth instead of fifth. As the crews packed up the following day, ten of the drivers had lunch with the royal family before heading home. Not everyone accepted the lunch invitation and those poor sports left early.

They had just finished dessert and were about to leave for home. Alice stood up "Actually your majesty I do have a question for everyone here."

Freya smiled. "Oh? Well please do ask."

Alice smiled and raised her glass. "So ladies, same time next year?"