“Let go of me!” yelled Cass as Arch-Tech’s security guards dragged him away from the track. Cass looked around and noticed that while the rest of the team were being led away, he was the only one who had guards actually touching him. “Where are we going?” The guards moved Cass away from the others toward a separate exit of the track. When they got there, they pushed him out and stood in the entrance, preventing him from getting back in.

  “Hey, let me through,” it was Kade who had run after them and pushed through the guards to talk to Cass.

  “What is this?” said Cass, demanding an answer.

  “Sorry,” said Kade. “You’ll be getting all the details on your phone, but you’re gone.”

  “What?”

  “According to the contract you signed and what happened here today, you are no longer team principal.”

  “You can’t just take us away from everything the rest of the team and I have worked for.”

  “Oh,” said Kade with a pause, and Cass realized the situation. “They’re still on the team. If they want to be, it’s just you that’s gone.” Cass blinked, and his phone buzzed. “You should read that. And stay away from the team. At least for a while.”

  “Just me?” yelled Cass. “I built this team.”

  Kade had partially turned, but then turned back to Cass. He looked at Cass with sympathy. “They know,” he said. “They also know you don’t work well with big corporations. They think you’ll be more trouble than help.” Kade turned and tried to push back through the guards. He had to flash his own badge a few times before they let him past.

  Cass knew he would get nothing more here and turned to walk away. He glanced through his phone and the legal document Arch-Tech had just sent him. It was just as Kade had said. He was no longer part of the team in any way and could have interactions with them.

  He walked away from the track. That morning, he had ridden in on an Arch-Tech chopper. Now he was walking alone. His implant throbbed. Not that it mattered. It was not keeping him from anything important. Walking was actually nice at this point as he made his way vaguely toward home.

  A few blocks from the track, he noticed a drone. Not that a drone was out of place in Nova Cascadia, but this one seemed to be following him. He stopped and looked at it, and it stopped in its path, hovering at a safe but easily observed distance. Lots of thoughts went through Cass’s mind about whose drone it was. He waved at it but got no response.

  Then Cass noticed a small helix on the drone’s belly. It was Arch-Tech. Not content enough to simply let him walk away, they had to watch him to be sure. There was little Cass could or wanted to do, so he kept walking.

  If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  As evening was falling, he ended up at the bar, Circuit’s End. He walked in and nodded to Zara behind the bar. If there was a day he needed a drink, today was it. Zara did not stay behind the bar, though, and walked out to meet Cass.

  “I thought you would come here,” she said. “But I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”

  Cass looked at her for a moment. “You know?” Zara looked back at him as if it should be obvious. “How?”

  Zara pointed at the screens around the bar. “We had your livestream going.”

  “Oh,” said Cass, looking around the bar at the other patrons, and realized most were looking at him. A few looked sympathetic, others about to laugh.

  “Come with me,” said Zara, grabbing Cass’s arm with her left synthetic one. “I said it was a bad idea, but the others are here.” She led Cass to a back room where Vex, Nia, Elara, and Elias were waiting for him.

  “I told you he would show,” said Nia to Zara.

  “Just keep a low profile,” said Zara. “Have you seen how many drones are flying around here. They know you’re all here.”

  “Don’t worry,” said Nia. “I’m sure a casual chat is fine.” She accentuated ‘casual.’

  “What are you doing here?” said Cass. “I’m not the principal anymore.” He looked around at them. “I assume you’re all still on the team?”

  Elara held out her phone, displaying a contract with Arch-Tech’s logo. “They are paying well,” she said. “Sorry.”

  “It’s fine,” said Cass. “You deserve it. Probably more than I could even give you.”

  “Oh, don’t say that,” said Elara.

  “What?” said Cass, looking around at them. “Did I really think I could lead an Ultracar team? This whole project was probably doomed from the beginning.”

  “Dude,” said Vex. “It was a bit of bad luck. No one gave us any hope in the beginning when we started off in the lower leagues. We fought for all of this and deserve every bit.”

  “But now I have nothing,” said Cass.

  “You can’t say that,” said Vex. “You still got me.”

  “Did you get a contract too?” said Cass.

  Vex looked down. “Um, yeah,” he said.

  “Then I got nothing,” said Cass. “At least you guys still get to be in the game.”

  “You can’t just give up like that,” said Vex.

  “What else is there?” said Cass. “They don’t want me anywhere near the team, or Ultracar. This is it for me.”

  “I don’t know how much any of us will stick around without you,” said Elias. “I did this more as a personal favour.”

  Cass nodded. “But you’re sticking around?”

  “For now,” said Elias. “The pay is good. There are a few other things I can’t talk about, too.” Vex looked at Elias. They must have talked about Elias’s past, but Cas was sure most of it was classified and may still somehow be an active concern.

  “Well, when you do return to the desert, take me,” said Cass. “Or better yet, just give me the keys so I can go house sit for you.”

  “Cass,” said Nia, putting a hand on his arm. “We’re not just leaving you out like this.”

  “You have to,” said Cass. “Spending too much time with me jeopardizes your positions.”

  They all looked at him. “You brought us together,” said Elara.

  “We’re getting the team back together,” said Vex.

  “How?” said Cass. He knew they had no plan. Just hopes. Just like racing, hopes never won anything.

  “Not sure yet,” said Nia in a tone that made everyone believe not having a plan didn’t matter. “What we need now is for you to stay close. Something will happen.”

  “I can’t,” said Cass.

  “You want to just go away and lick your wounds?” said Nia. “You’re stronger than that.”

  “How would it even work?” said Cass.

  Elias stepped up and put something in Cass’s hand. “Don’t look,” said Elias. “It’s a phone. A small one. One they can’t trace. We’ll keep you in the loop.”

  “Like a shadow team principle?” said Cass. “They’re going to find someone to replace me. You won’t be able to get around them.”

  “That’s to be seen,” said Vex. “Will you do it?”

  Cass thought for a second and looked at them. “Ok.”