There's no substitute for Speed

Speed walked toward the garage focusing all of his thoughts on the upcoming race. He wanted to see the Mach 5 one last time before picking up Trixie for their weekend rendezvous. The Crucible was the event of the year for anyone even remotely interested in racing, second only to the Grand Prix. His brother died in that race. He felt that he couldn’t lay Rex’s spirit to rest until he conquered the Crucible. It was for this reason that he didn’t notice the commotion until he stepped right into it.

“Hey, Speed!” Sparky, his friend and mechanic for the Mach 5, brought him out of his reverie. Except for Pops, of course. “You won’t believe what happened last night. We’ve been burgled!”

“What?! Is the Mach 5 all right?” The last thing he needed right now was a distraction like this.

“Relax, Speed. It’s fine. The only thing missing was the hard drive on one of our computers.” But Pops sounded worried, nonetheless.

“What’s the matter, Pops? What did they take?”

“Secret plans for new engine and component upgrades along with an untested semi-sentient computer module we just finished installing into the Mach 5. I was hoping these modifications would give you an extra edge for the race. I wanted it to be a surprise for when you got back from your vacation. If Royalton gets his grubby little mitts on those plans then our advantage will be neutralized.”

“I have an idea.” Sparky chimed in. “But it may not pan out and will definitely use up some of your vacation time.”

“If there’s any chance that we can get that hard drive back, then I have to make the effort. What do you have for me?”

“Well, we can use the computer module from the Mach 5 to help you track the hard drive. If our culprit hooks that hard drive up to any computer connected to the Internet then it should be able to home in on the IP address of the computer.”

“It’s worth a try. Now I just have to explain to Trixie why I’m taking the Mach 5 with us.”

“Oh, I think I can help you with that.” Sparky led him to the Mark 5 and pointed to a new console installed on the dash. “Those are the controls for your new onboard computer.”

“How does it work?”

“We’ve added a standard autopilot function as one of the programs.”

“Interesting but I still don’t see how that will help me with Trixie.”

“Ah, yes, that. Go ahead and press the other button.”

Speed ducked into the passenger side window and pressed it. Immediately the car started shimmering, changing its shape and appearance. It now resembled a white 2008 Dodge Challenger with a black stripe down the middle of the hood.

“I thought you might need the Mach 5 to look a little less conspicuous so I included the latest in holographic technology with the computer upgrade.”

“As always, Sparky, you’re the best. I have to leave now or I’ll be late in picking up Trixie.”

He jumped into the pseudo-Dodge and tried to start the car.

He started up the car. It even sounded like a standard HEMI V-8 engine that came with most Challengers. He could detect no traces of the custom built engine of his Mach 5. He backed it out of the garage and proceeded to Trixie’s place.

“Computer, are you attempting to track the whereabouts of that hard drive?

“Affirmative. I have been monitoring the Internet but trace emissions have yet to be detected.’

“Notify me the instant you find something.”

As he pulled out of the garage and left the racing complex, a man wearing black goggles and sitting in a black Chevy Malibu put his car into gear and tailed Speed never coming closer than a hundred yards. Racer X, as he was known to the outside world, did not wish to reveal either facet of his identity to Speed, for now.

Trixie hopped into the car before he even came to a stop. “About time you got here. You’re late.”

He looked at his watch. “Not by much. Look, someone broke into the shop last night and I just wanted to stop by to make sure everything was ok.”

“Well…I’ll forgive you this time but you owe me your complete attention for the next three days, got it?”

“Sure thing, Trixie. Absolutely no shop talk.” He leaned over to give her a quick kiss while one hand was behind his back with his fingers crossed.

“Where did you get the new car?”

“Sparky loaned it to me. He wanted me to take it out on a test run for him and let me know what I think of it.” Technically, he wasn’t lying.

“Good. It’s not often that we get to spend time alone together.” As she leaned over to kiss him again, he reached over and pressed the autopilot button and embraced Trixie, returning her affection.