Chapter 12

Zedd sat in the living room sipping coffee, hoping to hear the bay door open. The television was on, but he wasn’t listening. The possibilities ran through his head. And as a synth, he considered quite a few in his internal search engine. Do I call the police?

Zedd stayed up staring at the screen of his television until morning. He continued to debate calling his agent. They’re going to cut me, I’m sure of it, he thought. He waited until 9am. Zark did not return and he knew something was seriously wrong. He called Zark again. No answer. Lena. Nothing. He sat with his head in his hands, his career in delicate balance.

“Call Magnacycle Racing League Office,” he stated aloud. After a moment, a bubbly voice in his head spoke.

“Magnacycle Racing League Office. This is Sherry speaking. How may I assist your call?”

“Hi Sherry. Uh, my name is Zedd and I’m a new racer--sorry, uh, manager,” he corrected himself.

“Oh, hi Zedd! How are you!? Have you and....I’m sorry, your son?”

“Zark.”

“Yes! Have you and Zark settled in?”

After a night of drinking coffee, the woman’s cheerfulness was exasperating. Zedd squeezed the space between his eyes with his fingers.

“Uh, yeah we’re fine. Thanks. Listen, Sherry, could you direct me to my agent?”

“Oh of course! Let’s see...you registered in June...Duskriderrrr...here you are! Hold, please.”

An upbeat song played the soundtrack of Zedd’s anguish.

“Camm speaking,” came a low, male voice.

“Hey, it’s Zedd.” He tried to sound as pleasant as possible.

“Well hey there Zedd, good to hear from you. How’s the new cell?”

Zedd forced a nervous laugh. “Oh, haha, I love it! You know, I never got to thank you for your help.”

“Still getting used to it?” Camm asked inquisitively.

“Oh, uh, no I think I’ve gotten the hang of it. Listen, Camm, I’m sure you heard about what happened at the Arrival Race.”

Camm chuckled. It stung. “Oh yes, I heard about your little fuck-up.”

Zedd laughed again nervously. “Yeah once we get some races under our belt, I’ll start sending you some payments.”

Camm continued to laugh. “Now Zedd, how are you gonna race when your driver is missing?”

Zedd was stunned. Finally, he managed to sputter some words. “How--how did you know…?”

“We keep close tabs on our teams, Zedd. She’s been gone a couple of days now, I see.”

“Camm--what--do you know where she is?”

“Zedd, listen.” Camm regained his composure. “ I’m sorry if I scared you. Your LSP is programmed to keep tabs on our team members. There’s nothing you can do right now besides wait. As soon as I get any data from him, I’ll give you a call back.”

“Camm, Zark also left sometime last night. I don’t know where he is. I’m all alone over here. To be honest, I’m kinda starting to lose it.”

“Oh, well now that is something to worry about...” Camm added.

Zedd sighed heavily.

“Zedd, I’m here to help you. That’s my job. Let me see what I can dig up. I’ll call you back this afternoon.”

“Yeah, ok,” replied Zedd in disappointment, “Thanks, Camm.”

“Oh and Zedd, don’t worry about the money. Let’s just get this mess sorted out.”