Free Ash by Shani Petroff Page A

on him. Then he shook his head and gave a hearty laugh. “Boys will be boys,” he said.
    “Yeah,” Sol said, his eyes glued to his plexi. He was tracking all eight racers with eight grids on the screen. “That’s why he said anyone caught gambling would pay severe fines. A minimum of one thousand ostows.”
    I looked at him in shock.That was a crazy amount of money. Almost the amount of my Blank tax for a full month. “What will you do if you get caught?”
    “I won’t.”
    “Yeah, because you’re so inconspicuous sitting there keeping track of all your bets.”
    He looked up. “Like anyone is paying attention to me. And even if they did, what are they going to do? Send me to prison? Remove me? My destiny will take care of that soon enough. It’s not like the ministry would let anything get in the way.”
    Sol didn’t talk about his destiny that much. I was surprised he was bringing it up again. And sorry there weren’t words to give him that would make it any easier. Instead I kept my sympathy to myself. I knew from experience it was easier to deal with an empty future when people weren’t dousing you with pity.
    Laira grabbed my arm and squeezed, distracting me from my thoughts. “Dax, this is so exciting. That’s your brother out there! Look how fast he is!”
    I watched as Aldan easily pulled ahead of the pack. No surprise there. He’d broken every time on record for loop racing.
    “The track looks weird,” Laira shouted over the cheering. “Are there more loops than usual?”
    “Customized for the race,” I shouted back. “Usually there’s an odd number of loops and twists, but they added an extra to this one.” I pointed up to the biggest loop, the third on the track. “See, the loops are designed for racers to be able to pass one another. More loops create extra chances for stealing a position.”
    Theron interrupted my loop lesson. “Ladies and gentlemen, here’s Aldan about to take the first loop. And if I’m not mistaken… Yes! He did it. He broke the record. He’s out of there and onto the first twist in under a minute. Cha ching! Kidding, ministers.”
    The crowd cheered, but I could still make out Sol’s mumbles. “He’s so not kidding,” he said in irritation, and quickly punched new numbers into his game screen.
    I wasn’t exactly surprised. It was just like Theron to bet that my brother could beat the odds. He believed in my brother just as much as I did. And Aldan wasn’t letting anyone down. He was racing at top speed. He didn’t bother to stop for any fancy tricks—not yet anyway. The winner would be the first to cross the finish line. Still, it wouldn’t be like Aldan if he didn’t win the secondary score for technique, too.
    I didn’t want to take my eyes off of my brother as he approached the second loop, but the action behind him was pretty ultra.
    Reiner had caught up to Tred and Lemad as they were about to take the first loop. There was only room for them to go through one at a time, but none of them was about to give an inch. They headed for the loop together. Reiner on the left, Tred in the middle, and Lemad on the right. With everyone refusing to move, the body-slamming started. Tred shoved out his elbows to knock into the two men at his side, while Reiner thrust his body toward his opponents. The move threw Tred off-balance sending him into Lemad, who tried to stand firm. But Reiner wouldn’t let up.
    “Someone’s going to have to give in or go over. Who will it be?” Theron asked. “No, he’s not! But he is!” The excitement in Theron’s voice was rising. “Lemad Loring is trying the flamingo. It’s only been done successfully once in competition, and I bet you can all guess by who. Good luck, man you’re going to need it!” Lemad crouched down and demagnetized his left shoe. It was no longer attached to the board. It would give him more flexibility to maneuver but a lot less stability. With the inclines and pushing, it was a brash move for