

BIKESTERS

AN ADVENTURE

IN RACING AND TECHNOLOGY

FRED VOSK

BIKESTERS

An adventure in racing and technology

copyright 1995

created by: Fred Vosk

written by: Fred Vosk

storyboard illustrations by Lewis Pratt

racebike illustration by Art Rasmussen

web assistance by Dan Jones

publishing/editing assistance by Jack Troy

bikes envisioned and realized by Fred Vosk Design

original manuscripts transcribed by Sally Adolfson Vosk

Copyright Notice:

Copyright 1995 by Fred E. Vosk

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this manuscript may be reproduced, transmitted, transcribed, stored in a retrieval system, or translated into any human or computer language, in any form or by any means whatsoever, for any commercial purpose, without the express written permission of Fred E. Vosk

PO BOX 393

Carnation, WA 98014

Smashwords Edition License Notes

This free ebook may be copied, distributed, reposted, reprinted and shared, provided it appears in its entirety without alteration, and the reader is not charged to access it.

### TABLE OF CONTENTS

Nitroduction

Superbike and the Chase at China Lake

Black Magic and the Super Geezer

Fireballs and Flamethrowers

Down on the Farm

Match Race of the Century

Professor TK

Rocket Bike

The Computer Wizard

Flat Top

Sea of Fire

Run What Ya Brung

Jetasaurus Rex

Rocket Bursts and Burner Pops

Riding the Wind

The Chi-Town Kid

The Laboratory of Doctor Lucas

High Steel

It's All Just Showbiz

Big Al
Characters include:

  **TERRY**

Veteran racer, thrill seeker, acknowledged leader of the tightly-knit band. It's Terry's lighting-fast reflexes that keep the BIKESTERS on top of the match racing game and provide an ongoing challenge to go further, faster, higher.

  **NITRO**

Philosopher, Mechanic, Imagineer. The brains behind the bravery, Nitro's ideas and designs range from new propulsion systems to race vehicles "of interest" to the military.

  **TK**

Child prodigy, Mischief Maker, Hacker Extraordinaire. The BIKESTERS wouldn't be the same without TK's unrelenting curiosity, enthusiasm and determination. It's the reason his wheelchair presents little more than occasional distraction and the reason why Celeste is his real sister, even though they don't have the same Mom and Dad.

  **CELESTE**

An attractive, street-smart twenty, Celeste's a willful and capable young woman who understands her responsibility to herself and others. As TK's foster sister, she single-handedly worked to provide for his upbringing and education after going out on her own. Now, at last, the best is clearly ahead.

##### THE GRUNGERS

A defiant, independent breed of bikers who stage impromptu match races throughout the Southwest. Bound by the unwritten Grunger code, this is one set of (almost) renegades that can't be judged by their covers...or the grease under their fingernails.

### NITRODUCTION

No, it's not a typo. My name's Nitro and this is my introduction for you to "Bikesters", a word which describes not only the motorcycle-dragsters which I designed and built with the help of my friends, but also the racing team members who first tested, mastered and maintained them. People like Terry, TK, Celeste, me of course, and, from time to time, even a young guy who went only by the name of "Nail", plus a couple old guys named "Jim", and "Ben".

This is their story, and mine, a wild adventure of racing and discovery through the fifty states, which began way back in the very beginning of the beginning, back when racing was still just a dare that you made to yourself and whoever else happened to be standing around at the time, and somehow, that always seemed to include Terr...

Terry and I hooked up together years ago, back when drag racing was just coming of age. For those of you who aren't real acquainted with the sport, its two cars side by side from a standing start, and the point is to see who can get to the finish line first a quarter of a mile away. There's timers at the start and finish lines, called clocks, in each lane, to tell you how quickly each car covered that 1320 feet, that's called your "Elapsed Time", or "ET".

There are two more sets of timers, sometimes called lights or eyes, one set on either side of the finish line in each lane. They tell you how fast each car is going as it crosses the finish line, or your Top Speed. One other thing, a car can actually go faster, or even quicker then the car in the other lane, but still lose!

That's because after the cars pull up to the starting line, they wait for a light to turn green, like a stop light on a street, before the race starts so if one driver is quicker off the line, has a better reaction time at the start he can win, even if he runs a slower race.

I'd already tried out several drivers in my dragster, but nobody was quite right. The partnership between mechanic, driver, and machine, is delicate at best. It has to be just right to get the maximum performance possible.

I put that first car together from just a pile of pipe and a bunch of odds n' ends of engine pieces and stuff, and managed to turn it into a finely balanced, well tuned, racing machine. Terry picked up on that feeling right off: he and the car were one.

We won a bunch, racing around our home turf in Washington State at places like Arlington, Shelton and Bayview drag strips. Then it was off to Southern California to run top fuel at tracks like Lions, San Gabriel and Pomona, still winning a lot. We were plenty fast.

But then things started to change. It was costing more and more to race. We had all been getting a bit of help from the manufacturers you know, engine parts, tires that kind of thing. This helped us cover the expenses while they got their stuff tested and advertised at the same time, but soon, even that wasn't enough to cover our operating costs.

The racers who wanted to stay at the top level of competition had to go to the big companies, the corporations, for sponsorships. We got a deal from a soft drink company that kept us running at the top for a while, but some of the other fast teams were starting to get really big bucks. That meant that they could show up at a race with a spare engine or three ready to go, and a ton of spare parts. They could pretty much run us right into the ground!

Unfortunately, most of the big sponsorships were coming from beer and tobacco companies, and we didn't want to go that route. Terry and I both liked the idea that auto racing was a sport the whole family could enjoy.

We didn't like the thought that kids would be coming around at the races or car shows and there would be the name of some beer or cigarette plastered all over our racecar and truck and trailer. It would even be on our shirts. We would probably have to wear those dumb little hats with beer logos on them.

Neither one of us goes out and lobbies for prohibition, but we didn't think that would be a good thing to throw in the kids' faces. So we eased off and decided to try something new. We started a business up north and discovered that our years in drag racing helped us a bunch.

Running a racecar and running it well, teaches you to be meticulous and watch over the details, which pays off big time in the business world. We did quite well, but we got bored. So it was back to racing, boats this time. It was plenty of fun, and again we were winning a bunch. We worked our way up through the classes to the top, the Unlimiteds.

But we found out once again that it was really expensive to race with the big guys, and once again the top dogs were starting to go to that same place for the bucks to be competitive, beer and cigarette companies. We just didn't want to go down that road. So we got out of boat racing.

Terry decided to try daredevil stunts and after doing just about everything but blowing himself up with dynamite, he decided it might be getting just a mite dangerous. I kinda thought that from the start about the whole daredevil idea.

We made up our minds that we better get back to something we know. So it was back to our first love, Drag Racing. The new cars, top fuel dragsters and funny cars were really fast, but were also kind of smooth and predictable just not exciting enough for Terry's taste.

He was kind of stuck on the old days: you know lots of tire smoke, noise and fire. You were never quite sure where the car was going. Terry liked to say: keeps you on your toes.

Personally, I found running the new generation top fuelers and funny cars a bit too corporate for my tastes. It's a lot more fun for me when we can wing it a bit. I mean these new age racecars are all right... they're just sorta... well, all the same.

So we gave up on those and tried fuel drag bikes for a while. They were real exciting, but not quite fast enough for Terry's taste.

Then one day I was out in the shop, staring at one of our leftover top fuel engines that was sitting by a race bike and the thought occurred to me, why not combine the two? So we built a special bike frame, put the turbo-charged Chrysler hemi V-8 in it, and created SuperBike! It's fast and exciting enough even for Terry.

Once we got it running, it took a little while to sort out. For a while there, it was just a bit too exciting. But in the end it all came together. We found the right combination! It's been nothing but fun ever since.

The following story should get you started, should give you a pretty good idea of what really happened, who we are and how we first began. Everything from the formation of the team, to the discovery and development of H²O-S mechanics, and a few other tricks we came up with along the way.

Enjoy the ride!

Nitro

SUPERBIKE AND THE CHASE AT CHINA LAKE

Baker, California

Leather-clad motorcyclists swarm through a small high desert town like wasps over a picnic spread. They're Grungers, a defiant, independent breed of biker/racers who stage impromptu match races throughout the Southwest, and Baker California is crawling with them. They circle lazily around the sun- baked gas stations and parking lots. They cruise the main street in formation and lounge around the streets and storefronts, cleaning and polishing their bikes and swapping stories, from the city square all the way out to the old landing strip on the outskirts of town.

For the residents of Baker this is great news, an extremely welcome flood of friends and money that creates a circus-style holiday for all ages and walks of life. Whenever the Grungers are within striking distance, the local merchants hire extra help to handle the huge increase in customers. This is the biggest boon to the local economy since the last bike race. In fact, racers are the economy here, they spend a lot of money.

But the Grungers and spectators are here today for one thing: the word has gone out that the Bikesters and their awesome V-8 powered SuperBike will compete against any and all takers in a "Run what Ya Brung" midnight match race.

In town, everyone, young, old, Townie and Grunger, stops what they're doing and stares as the Bikesters' truck and trailer pulls onto the main drag and cruises through town toward Baker's "Famous Truck Stop Cafe". They know SuperBike has arrived.

The Famous Truck Stop Cafe

This truck stop hasn't seen a truck since Johnson was president. Still, its the dive of choice for the Grungers. They spin in and out of the gravel front lot as if they own the place. Inside, Celeste, an attractive and street-smart twenty, pirouettes among the reveling Grungers in an impressive demonstration of balance and finesse. The Grungers may act like they own the place, but Celeste runs the show.

She takes orders, serves food, cleans tables, and keeps everybody in line with efficiency and grace. Despite their rough edges, the Grungers are a decent bunch, and they know better than to challenge Celeste's clear authority.

At the video games Nail, a punkish twenty year old hammers and pounds the controls as he struggles to displace Celeste's high scores. Something tells you he'd rather break the machine than lose, especially to a girl.

In the back, TK, a small black kid in a wheelchair, passes his tattered blue sticker book among the racers, collecting new stickers and autographs. TK may be small in size, he prefers to call himself "compact and efficient", but he's big on brains. He knows what he wants. He even picked out his own name: just the letters T and K. No first name, no last name, just "TK" no periods or initials, just letters. Like he says, it's easy to spell and easy to remember.

And he has lots of interests; not only is he a computer prodigy, a fledgling hacker who attends college by computer modem, but also a fanatic drag racing fan.

Elated with his new autographs and souvenirs, he introduces Celeste to Big Daddy Corliss, once the undefeated champion, until the Bikesters and SuperBike appeared on the scene. Big Daddy, or "Big D," is still the informal King of the Grungers; he's just not the fastest on the drag strip anymore.

Celeste and TK have a special relationship. Raised in foster homes, they've long considered themselves brother and sister. On her eighteenth birthday, Celeste moved out on her own and began to work as a waitress so that she could obtain legal guardianship of the young genius.

It was difficult, but through a lot of discipline and persistence, both she and TK were able to make it work. Since then, she's worked an endless succession of minimum wage jobs to pay their rent, putting her own dreams on hold so that TK's schooling and internet access bills are always paid. It's hard sometimes, but it's worth it.

At last, Nail gets exasperated with the video game and gives up. He just can't seem to do better then number ten on the list! He challenges Celeste to prove herself on the video game: if someone as good as Nail can only work his way up to the tenth highest score, there's no way a girl can hold numbers one through nine.

He bets two passes to the evening's midnight match race that the 'CEL', which fills the rest of the top ten, is somebody else. She's busy, but she always has a minute to teach someone a lesson. Celeste easily replaces the number two score, bumping Nail from the list. As he hands her the passes, the whole place erupts in catcalls and hollering.

Among Friends

In a back booth, Terry and Nitro hold court; talking and joking with the racers and fans that come by to visit or just say hi. Since the end of their daredevil and boat racing days, Terry and Nitro have gotten back into Drag Racing. First, it was with dragsters and funny cars, which were fast, but weren't exciting enough for Terry, then with bikes, which were exciting, but weren't fast enough. Now they have Nitro's latest creation, 'SuperBike', a motorcycle powered by an AA/Fuel Dragster engine.

This seems to be both exciting and fast enough for Terry. In fact, it's just plain "scary"! It's so scary that it isn't allowed to race at sanctioned events that count toward the national championship, however there's lots of very lucrative match racing, against everything from AA/Fuel Dragsters, funny cars and the occasional jet car on down. But it's always the most fun at an all-bike race, like the races the Grungers put on. Terry and Nitro crisscross the country, going wherever there's a race for them.

Bo!

Terry looks up and growls at the face of Bo Barns, the famous "Just ask Bo" international dragster driver, as it appears on the TV screen behind the counter. Barns likes to brag he's the best in the world. The only problem is that he is. For the third year in a row he is likely to amass enough points to win the season championship.

For Terry, beating Bo Barns is what SuperBike is for; the rest is just practice. They may not let SuperBike run at their races, but Terry knows he can beat their champion, especially that loudmouth!

Instant Race Track

Hours later, Celeste and TK push through the crowd at what's normally an abandoned landing strip. Yesterday this place was tumble weeds; tonight it's a bustling racetrack: a makeshift village of trucks, trailers and tents clustered in the area of the starting line and extending most of the way down the old strip.

There are grandstands and timing lights. Huge portable floodlights illuminate the entire scene. Vendors hawk pop and hot dogs, and fans buy tee-shirts and trade bike stories with the racers in the pits while proud parents take pictures of their kids sitting on Grunger bikes. It just goes to show you: the Grungers aren't really so bad once you get to know them.

SuperBike

To great fanfare, Terry appears at the starting line with the unreal SuperBike. This thing isn't a bike! It's a two wheeled dragster, powered by a turbo-charged, fuel burning hemi head Chrysler V-8 that puts out over 3,000 horsepower. It takes a rear tire nearly 20 inches wide to get the power to the ground.

The crowd goes wild and begins to chant "Bikester! Bikester!" Nitro, always unflappable, stares at Terry with an amused expression on his face. As long as he's known him, Terry has always put on a show for the crowd. Terry does a very smoky burnout, heating up the huge racing slick with an earth-shaking display of brute horsepower. The crowd goes wild!

Then after carefully staging at the starting line, he leaves under full power, doing a two foot high wheel stand as the light turns green. He holds the wheelie for the full quarter mile, and easily sets a new track record. He pops his parachute with its large Bikester logo as he crosses the finish line, definitely letting everyone know who's "King of the Hill"!

Quick

The races begin. Racers compete with each other to see who will have the opportunity to race against SuperBike in the big final. After several hours of eliminations and another smoky exhibition run by Terry, a very large crowd watches as the two bikes that have won all their elimination rounds run against each other. The winner will face Terry and SuperBike in the grand finale. Tonight it's Nail on his supercharged Harley drag bike against Big Daddy Corliss on his big twin-engine Kawasaki.

Nail's unbelievably quick reflexes give him a full bike length lead at the start, and even though Corliss's bike has more power and speed he can't make up the difference. It will be Nail against Terry in the final. Celeste smiles Nail's video game loss has been vindicated.

King of the Hill

Thirty minutes later, Nail is back at the starting line, ready to race Terry. As the engines are fired up on the two bikes, Celeste and TK push their way to the front of the huge crowd around the starting line.

TK says, "A good thing about this wheelchair is that it always gets you a front row seat."

The noise is deafening as the two bikes do their burnouts, then they slowly pull up to the starting line. The yellow lights come on in both lanes, they both bring their revs up, then the lights turn green and they're gone.

Nail, once again getting a quick start, leads by almost a bike length, but by the 1/8-mile marker Terry has passed him and is pulling away. Terry wins easily, breaking his own track record in the process.

Winner's Circle

Celeste decides to wait around the starting line to congratulate Nail on a good race as soon as he gets back for the trophy presentation. Meanwhile TK wheels off to investigate the equipment and machines that seem to be overflowing from the various rigs in the pits and to see if he can score just a few more autographs. Once he gets out in the pits, he spots the Bikester's trailer and heads straight for it.

Back at the starting line, the presentation of trophies for the various classes of competition and the ultimate honors as "King of the Hill" is over. Terry congratulates Nail on his great start and fast reflexes. Standing nearby, Celeste gives Nail the thumbs- up sign, and Nail beckons her over to meet Terry.

Cool Stuff

TK can't believe his eyes. This rig is totally high-tech! It's fully loaded with state-of- the-art equipment a complete rolling race shop. Looking in the open side door, TK spots a crate under a workbench with the words "SUN TOOL, Inc. H²O-S". What a find! He forgets about everything else. He has to check this out. He rolls up the side ramp into the trailer and over to the open Sun Tool crate. TK looks inside and immediately recognizes the contents. He is happily digging through it when he gets the feeling he's being watched, and looks up to find Nitro blocking the door, and he looks rather formidable!

All's well that ends well though, just a half an hour later Terry, Nail, and Celeste arrive to find TK and Nitro removing various strange looking parts from the crate and discussing them in technical terms which the three of them can't understand at all. What sounds to them like a foreign language of initials, numbers and mechanical terms, makes a lot of sense though.

TK is explaining to the astonished Nitro that the parts are prototypes from an experimental project in using water for fuel. TK is amazed because these parts were thought to have disappeared almost 50 years ago when the U.S. Government abandoned its top secret attempt to develop a readily available, high horsepower-producing fuel for, among other things, the P-51 Mustang Fighter Plane. When Nitro bought a P-51 engine for a future project at the Sun Tool surplus yard in El Segundo, the crate of strange parts came with it.

Nitro, a true junkyard rat, can't go past a surplus yard without going in to dig around and he likes Sun Tool the best because they have been in business since the 1930's doing mostly government projects, so they have a lot of what Nitro calls neat stuff. The place is even worth a trip to El Segundo occasionally.

Sun Tool and the H²O-S System

Nitro wonders where TK learned so much about all these parts and their history and TK's more than happy to fill him in. While cruising the information superhighway on his computer, TK had come across several scientists and engineers trading information about a project known as the Sun Tool H²O-S. Its purpose was to separate the hydrogen out of water and process it into a usable fuel the 'S' stands for separator. Scientifically inquisitive, TK was interested in this concept and had several conversations with them at a science site on the Internet.

They were quite impressed by TK and soon asked him to join their group. Something good about doing things by computer is that it doesn't show how old you are just how smart you are, and TK is plenty smart. After eight months of sending information and ideas back and forth by computer, TK and the three other members of the group their computer address was 'nopoll' for no pollution, had almost worked out the system. Except that they didn't have the prototype parts that had been built in the Sun Tool laboratories, absolutely necessary for them to complete the project.

The cost of the research and development to design and build those parts again would be out of the question, and according to all the information they could find, the original parts and the engineering drawings for them had been destroyed many years ago. Still, they were close; real close, but that's the closest they ever got. It was shortly after that, the other members of 'nopoll' signed off the internet without a word and all 'nopoll' information was suddenly deleted. TK tried every way he knew, but couldn't make contact with them.

Then one day, TK came home to find that he had a message in his email asking him to contact a law firm that represented the Sun Tool Company. They said they had a "very lucrative offer for him". TK did some checking a computer can turn up just about any information, and discovered that the Sun Tool company had been bought by Atlas Petroleum Unlimited.

Atlas was known to be a very powerful and somewhat ruthless company. TK got scared and signed off the internet before they could trace him. Some of the members of the 'nopoll' group had thought someone might be monitoring them, and it looked like maybe they were right.

Now here he is, looking at the very pieces that are the key to a secret that could allow every vehicle in the world to run on water, helping put an end to air pollution. Or as TK put's it "The Ultimate Anti-Smog Device."

Brains in Gear

After listening to TK's story, Nitro's brain is working overtime. While putting an end to world air pollution is certainly a most worthy goal and of the highest priority. Nitro is a racer, and can't help but think of the power you could get out of an engine running on the oxygenated hydrogen fuel that this system would produce. At last, all the horsepower you could imagine, a racers dream! TK is thinking too: _What a way to test this system on SuperBike!_

Omelets and Ideas

Celeste invites Terry, Nail, Nitro, and of course TK to a late night after-the-races breakfast at the closed truck stop. TK and Nitro take a booth and are mulling over the technical information that TK has gathered. A few of the mechanical parts from the crate are partially disassembled and scattered across the top of the papers. It looks like total confusion.

TK and Nitro have slipped off into their own world and are speaking in that strange language again, engineering, and Terry doesn't want to have anything to do with it. Terry and Nail grab another booth and sit talking racing while Celeste makes Denver omelets for everyone except TK he has a hamburger.

Celeste sits down with Terry and Nail to eat, after reminding TK and Nitro that their food is getting cold, as they are too engrossed in their project to notice. She explains that she and TK have been stuck in this town for seven months now. Their station wagon broke down when they got here so they just stayed.

They live on the tips from her job, and meals and a mobile home come free with the deal, but things are still tough. There isn't any business to speak of except when there's a race. There won't be any more races here this year so she and TK are hoping to move to a bigger town where there might be better job opportunities.

Luckily, TK can continue his education anywhere, assisted by the modem on his computer. In fact, Celeste has been taking a few classes too. Terry and Nail listen sympathetically as she explains their situation.

Oblivious to all this, TK and Nitro are matching parts to plans and drawing diagrams and think they have come up with a plan that will make this system work. When Nitro half-jokingly asks to, "Rent the kid or at least his brain for a few days," Terry offers to give them a hand moving to the next town.

TK is in seventh heaven; there's no way Celeste can say no. "Besides," says TK, "once we get the H²O-S system working, nobody, not even Bo Barns, will be able to run with SuperBike." Terry grins; he likes that kind of talk.

Hittin' the Road

Celeste cleans the last of their stuff out of the dilapidated mobile home that's been their home for over half a year, while Nitro hefts the final piece of TK's computer equipment into the side door of the Bikester trailer.

All that's left is Celeste's dirt bike, which Nail helps her roll into the trailer and tie down. Nail is heading for a bike race in Texas, so they all say their good-byes and make plans to cross paths again. Nail heads east, while the rest of them head west across the high desert.

Nitro and TK feel that if they had a few days to work on it, they could have the H²O-S system ready to test, and Terry knows just the place where they can put it together and test it without being bothered. They're heading for a place near China Lake, an abandoned military landing strip in the middle of nowhere.

China Lake International

Terry and Nitro like to call it China Lake International Airport because nothing's there, just a very long landing strip and a lot of sagebrush. The nearest town in one direction is over 35 miles away, and it's only a gas station and store. In the other direction is the Military Testing Center, hundreds of square miles of restricted area where nobody goes.

Nitro pulls the truck up to the spot where they always camp along the edge of the runway. It's a nice day. It's always a nice day here. They crank out the big awning on the side of the trailer for shade.

Celeste has already set up housekeeping in the hospitality suite in the front of the trailer while the guys are bunking in the large living area behind the cab of the truck. They've hardly even set up camp and Nitro and TK are already back in the trailer, building and fitting pieces of the H²O-S system to SuperBike.

For the next few days, the four of them work on putting together the new setup on the race bike, taking time to explore the area around them, have a few barbecues, and watch the sun set over the high desert. TK has his computer set up, and with the modem hooked into the small satellite dish on the roof of the truck he is once again totally in contact with the world and all that information.

"You can't get enough information," says TK.

Nitro just snorts, "Computer kids."

Let's Try it Out

Less then a week has gone by since they arrived before SuperBike with the H²O-S system installed is ready for a test. Nitro is nervously checking fittings and lines to make sure that nothing's loose, can't be too careful ya know

TK is fiddling with the small onboard computer that monitors the bike's mechanical functions and watches over the H²O-S system. All they have to do when the engine is running, or after a race, is plug the bike's data accumulator into TK's computer and they will have a complete read-out. This tells them how everything is working and detects any flaws or adjustments that are needed.

Near the cab of the truck, Celeste leans against her dirt bike and absent-mindedly sips from a water bottle. There's not much for her to do at the moment and she's feeling a little left out. For the better part of a year she's known that TK would benefit from male companionship and role models. Now that she sees him totally caught up in this project with Nitro and Terry she wonders what her role in his life should be right now. However, she knows she couldn't find better guys for him to hang out with.

Man from Mars

Just then, Terry comes out of the side door of the trailer. He looks over, sees Celeste looking a little blue, and smiles and waves to her. Celeste has to laugh; Terry has his silver driving suit on and is holding his helmet. Standing on the edge of the runway with nothing but the endless desert behind him, he looks like an astronaut on Mars!

As Terry prepares to get on SuperBike, and Nitro and TK continue with their last minute checking over of everything, Celeste sees a lone dirt biker race out of a gully and onto the flat about a half mile away towards the far end of the landing strip.

Her binoculars are still sitting on the seat of her dirt bike, where she put them after watching birds soaring on the thermals over the desert. She picks them up and takes a look just in time to see the dirt biker staring back at her through his own binoculars. The biker stares at her for a moment, then pans across the rest of the scene around her, the truck and trailer with its colorful Bikester logo, the guys around the race bike, even the barbecue and lawn chairs.

He ignites a green smoke flare and tosses it out onto the landing strip. Suddenly, a low flying Lear Jet appears from nowhere and makes a pass over the truck and trailer causing everyone to look up before it disappears over the surrounding hills.

The guys look at each other, shrug and go back to the last second preparations to start up SuperBike. However, it certainly has caught Celeste's interest. She looks back at the dirt biker and thinks, _There's something strange going on here_.

Fire it Up!

Terry climbs on SuperBike and Nitro pushes the button engaging the portable starter that is plugged into the side of the engine. The starter spins and the engine roars to life. It's unbelievably loud!

_This fuel system must be doing something_ , thinks Nitro, _because I've never heard an engine this loud!_ TK is off to the side sitting in front of his computer that is plugged into the bike. The loudness of the exhaust surprises him, but he gets on with his job of monitoring all the mechanical functions to watch for any problems.

Terry hops off the bike, which is now idling, and stands with Nitro staring in amazement at the exhaust, which is steam, no fuel or oil smoke or smell, just pure steam. TK looks over from the computer screen and sees them standing in a cloud of steam, shaking their heads, and gives them two thumbs up, letting them know that everything is fine. Steam is what you get for exhaust when you are running on water. TK looks over towards Celeste, to let her know everything is working like it should, but she's looking out at the landing strip and thinking, _something very fishy is going on out there._

Surprise Visitor

The Lear Jet has returned and is landing, coming in past the trailer towards the far end of the strip. It rolls to a stop as it turns to point back down the runway towards them. Celeste watches through her binoculars as the side door opens and two men jump out, one of them holding a backpack. The dirt biker skids up alongside and the men get the backpack buckled on him and jumps back into the jet, which is already rolling.

The biker takes off full tilt across the desert, heading for the nearby hills just as a formation of black and white and undercover police cars storm out of a distant ravine. They race onto the flat at the far end of the runway behind the plane. Celeste finally figures it out: it's a drug bust!

The Chase

Without hesitation, Celeste jumps on her dirt bike, buckling her helmet strap as she races off in pursuit of the biker! The Lear Jet is starting to build up speed as it accelerates down the strip in the direction of the truck and trailer. Arriving at the base of the hills, Celeste spies the biker heading upward into a canyon and accelerates straight up the rocky slope to cut him off. As the biker reaches a narrow path at the top of the canyon he looks up to see Celeste blocking his way.

Desperately, he turns and tries to cut straight back down the steep side hill. He dumps, sliding down the slope and to a stop at the foot of two D.E.A. agents. As they handcuff him, Celeste takes off her helmet and raises a clenched fist in a power salute. The D.E.A. agents applaud and Celeste gives a little bow.

Meanwhile, at the trailer Terry looks down the runway and sees the Lear Jet accelerating towards him with a pack of police cars in hot pursuit. He instinctively springs into action. Yelling at Nitro to remove the starter and unplug the computer, Terry vaults on the still idling SuperBike. By now the jet is even with the trailer, picking up speed very fast, leaving the police cars in the dust.

Terry engages the clutch and is in the chase, accelerating away with a roar of exhaust and cloud of tire smoke. SuperBike takes off like nothing Terry's ever felt before, and in less than five seconds he's going well over 200 miles an hour and catching the jet, which is reaching take-off speed.

Terry thunders past the Lear as its front wheel begins to lift off the ground. Pulling in front of the jet, he pushes the button releasing the parachute. In a split second, all the pilot sees out of his windshield is parachute and the Bikester logo that's on it. He suddenly has zero visibility. Not knowing what is happening, he skids to a halt, blinded by the chute and a growing cloud of desert dust.

In front, Terry is already stopped and off the bike wondering what to do if a bunch of very uptight bad guys jump out of the plane. When the police finally catch up, the men in the plane are so shaken up they just hold up their hands and surrender

Mission Control

The D.E.A. Command van has pulled alongside the Bikester encampment. Terry and Celeste watch the finish of the D.E.A's telephoto videotape of the drug bust. As the chute opens in front of the fleeing Lear Jet, TK, watching through the open side door of the van, cheers and the tape comes to an end.

Not only did Terry prevent the jet's certain escape, says the Agent in charge, but also, Celeste's fearless pursuit of the dirt biker resulted in the quick capture of a major drug dealer. The Agent asks if it would be ok if they release the video of the bust to the press. The D.E.A. can always use some help in their ongoing fight against drug dealers and smugglers, and good press never hurts. So Terry and Celeste tell him "Sure, anything to help you guys out."

River Campground... and Beyond

Stopping for a couple days of rest and relaxation, gives TK a chance to touch base with a few of his computer pen pals or as he calls them, "Mouse Pals". He finds out that someone has been beating the email bushes looking for him. Worse, it appears that two well dressed men in an expensive car showed up in Baker looking for him just a few days after they left.

Nobody told them anything, and the only information they had was his email address, 't-kid'. Just to be on the safe side, TK decides to immediately change it to 'rollertk' and make sure that only a few very good friends know how to get hold of him.

It sounds like the men trying to find him were the lawyers from Atlas. TK is more than a little worried. Just then, Terry comes back from doing a little fishing.

"Well, I've done that. Fishing gets old. Let's get going." And once again, Terry has a destination in mind.

## BLACK MAGIC AND THE SUPER GEEZER

On the Road

"It's fun to visit the high bucks racers now and then," says Terry. Following their successful tests and crime prevention at China Lake, they've wasted no time heading for Sonoma, where a major sanctioned race will take place this weekend. Everyone's excited, especially TK and Celeste, but for some reason Terry feels the need to have a reason for the trip.

"We need to pick up some new slicks, this new fuel system seems to burn em' off real quick."

"And it's a chance to say to say hi to the guys we used to race against," adds Nitro, remembering the days of running fuel dragsters and funny cars. "Most of these guys are all right."

"Yeah," agrees Terry, "except for Bo."

Sonoma Drag Strip

When they arrive at the drag strip the people at the gate recognize Terry and Nitro in the Bikester rig and wave them through into the pits, where they park, not too far from where Bo Barns and his crew are working on his dragster along side his trailer. Nitro seems more than a little amused.

"You parked here on purpose," says Nitro.

"Nah," says Terry, "it was the only place to park."

But Nitro knows better. Terry and Bo always like to needle each other whenever they have a chance and, sure enough, as soon as Bo Barns sees the Bikester truck roll to a stop, he's on the way over.

"Come to see some real racing?" asks Bo.

"Anytime," retorts Terry. "I can be at the starting line in 20 minutes to race you."

"That thing you call 'SuperBike' is so dangerous they won't even let you race it here," replies Bo.

Terry makes chicken noises and flaps his arms like wings in Bo's direction. Everybody laughs, including Bo's crew, and Bo storms off. After taking a lot of good natured ribbing about being a crime fighter and a superhero, Terry decides to go over to the tire trailer to see about a new supply of slicks.

It seems that everybody has seen the video of the drug bust, which has been running over and over on television. Nitro wanders off to visit with the other racers, and TK tags along to meet some of his heroes.

Promoter

Seeing the interaction between Terry and Bo gives Celeste an idea and she heads for the timing tower. Once there, Celeste bluffs her way upstairs to where the track officials are and starts talking. She finds they listen to her quite closely after seeing her on the news as a "drug busting superhero".

Terry returns to the trailer an hour later to find Celeste is already there. She can't wait to tell Terry that the track has agreed to put on an end of the season match race between Terry and Bo Barns.

One race, winner take all, so the purse depends on how many people come to the race, and Celeste has some ideas as to how to pack the place. It will be the biggest race of the year. Terry is cranked. He thinks, _This is great, finally a chance to put Bo in his place._

Nitro and TK return and hear the news about the match race against Bo, and they're all for it. It will be the highlight of the year. As a coming attraction, Terry decides to give the crowd a free exhibition run and Nitro unloads SuperBike to get it ready.

Most of the other racers haven't seen SuperBike before and all agree: It's scary! When they see Nitro pouring fuel into the tank out of a Perrier bottle, they just shake their heads.

"We just like to spoil old 'Supe' now and then," says Nitro laughing. It never occurs to them that it is actually Perrier water that Nitro is pouring into the fuel tank. TK just giggles.

When they bring SuperBike up to the starting line to run, pretty much all of the other racers, including Bo Barns, are there to watch. Terry is in his element he loves an audience. Nitro plugs in the starter and looks at Terry. Terry nods his head and Nitro hits the starter button. The engine roars to life, and everybody around the starting line jumps back. It's louder than any engine they've ever heard.

The tire people have given them a new type slick to try out so Terry does a monster burn out, totally burying the starting line and everyone standing around it in billows of tire smoke. Then Terry carefully stages at the starting line and waits for the green light. Some of the crowd notices the exhaust, which strangely enough looks almost like steam, but the bike is so loud and the burnout was so spectacular, that they don't really think about it.

Then the light turns green and Terry launches hard, doing a two foot wheel stand, which is as high as the wheelie bars will allow. The front end stays off the ground all the way down the track, while leaving just enough tire smoke.

Whoa! Thinks Terry, this dude's pulling like crazy, this new system of Nitro and TK's really does the job, and he eases off a bit before the finish. He doesn't want to scare Bo away. Terry wants that match race and the chance to finally shut Bo up.

Next Stop: L. A.

Terry is driving as they head south toward LA. Nitro and TK are huddled over the computer figuring out something or other, while Celeste sits in front in the passenger seat going through a pile of papers, and discussing them with Terry. It turns out that Celeste has been very busy while they were at Sonoma.

She's lined up at least two other match races besides the big race with Bo Barns. She also has a couple of potential sponsor deals cooking. Terry is amazed; he hasn't been able to get much sponsor interest since they stopped racing at the major sanctioned races and started match racing. It looks like he doesn't just have a match race promoter. She's a manager and an agent, too. Celeste glows when she hears Terry say that. She's worked so hard waiting tables the last two years, she had almost forgotten she could do anything else.

"It's not that hard," says Celeste, "With your face all over the national news, the sponsors are kicking the door down." But Terry knows better, he knows how hard it is to get potential sponsors to even talk to you. He's impressed.

"No tobacco or beer sponsors," says Terry.

"No way," answers Celeste, "We don't need those guys." In fact, she has already talked to the "D.A.R.E. To Keep Kids Off Drugs" people about doing an anti-drug television spot.

Terry's hot for that. "Let's shoot it as soon as possible," he says.

Behind them, TK and Nitro are engrossed in the computer and the calculations on a pad in front of Nitro. He still doesn't quite trust computers he suspects they can take your soul away.

However, he's got to admit, TK can do some really trick stuff with one. Between TK's scientific and computer wizardry and Nitro's mechanical knowledge, plus the information they are accumulating from the onboard computer on SuperBike.

They should soon be able to put together an H²O-S system that they can test on a regular vehicle on the street. They need to pile some miles on it to see if this system is really going to work well, and be dependable over the long haul. TK thinks he's getting Nitro interested in the 'Save Mankind From Air Pollution' thing, although Nitro gruffly says, "It's a tree-hugger kind of thing, and it's totally Greenie".

Rest Stop

Celeste is sitting at the table in the hospitality suite area of the trailer with Terry and Nitro. Terry is struggling with the books, and Celeste offers to see if she can help. After taking a quick look at the Bikester books, Celeste just shakes her head, and says, "What a mess."

"I guess we just aren't into paper work," says Terry defensively.

"No excuse," replies Celeste rather harshly. "You're losing a lot of money by not keeping track of this business and running it correctly."

Terry and Nitro look at each other and don't know quite what to say, they had never really thought of it as a business. They just thought they were going racing.

Celeste continues: "Among other things, it looks like you paid almost twice as much in taxes as you had to last year."

"How did you figure that out?" asks Terry.

"Two years of bookkeeping and tax preparation courses," she answers. Celeste once again surprises Terry.

"Some kind of Wonder Woman," he mumbles. Nitro just chuckles.

Black Magic

When they're in LA, Terry and Nitro usually stop for a couple of days at the Black Magic Engine and Machine shop where they can build new race engines, pick up parts, and generally just catch up with the latest racing news and gossip.

Quite a few of the touring racers stop here, and for some it's as close to home as anything gets, since they're on the road all year. Many have their mail delivered here and pick it up when they're in town or have it forwarded to wherever they are racing.

As soon as the truck and trailer are parked and plugged in to a camper hook up, Terry ambles off to visit with everybody while Nitro and TK head directly for the shop. Nitro wants to go through SuperBike's engine while they're here and TK is going to help. TK is definitely cranked up about this! There's a huge mall three blocks up the street and Celeste is heading straight for it. After all the months she's been living in the sticks, she needs some "Mall Time".

By early afternoon the race engine has been completely torn down, inspected, and any parts that were worn have either been found in the parts department or ordered. Nitro is quite impressed with TK, who proves to be a natural mechanic. The parts that are ordered won't come in until tomorrow, and they can't put the engine back together without them, so they have some free time. Nitro suggests they run out to El Segundo to the Sun Tool Company surplus yard and dig around a little.

TK's eyes light up, "All right, a hunt for more H²O-S parts." They borrow a Black Magic shop van and head out the freeway.

Sun Tool Surplus Yard

Arriving at the Sun Tool building and yard, they find the place very quiet. Nitro immediately notices that the boxes and materials that were stacked up outside the building are gone, and there's a property for sale sign with sold! across it on the fence. But the gate is wide open so they drive in.

Inside the yard Nitro parks and unloads TK's wheelchair. Once inside the building they find that it's not totally empty. There's still some stuff left, but the area where the P-51 engine and the H²O-S parts were is totally cleaned out.

Old Jim

In the dusty engineering office, amongst stacks of boxes and files, they find a somewhat eccentric clerk. He proudly tells them that he's worked for Sun Tool for over 50 years. His shirt says 'Jim' on it, so they assume that is his name. Nitro thinks, _Oh great, a gummer_.

But he soon discovers that Jim Truesdale is quite sharp. He was an engineer at Sun Tool since the 40's, and seems to remember everything he ever did there. After they closed the shop they kept him on to sort out what was left because he just didn't want to retire, and he knew his way around the place. But when TK asks him about the H²O-S project, he suddenly becomes old and confused.

Then he notices TK's Bikester T-shirt and starts asking racing questions. It turns out that Jim's hobby when he was a young engineer was drag racing, back when organized drag racing was just starting. He used to race at places like Santa Ana and Riverside. This old guy is something else! Nitro can't believe it, somebody who's been around racing even longer than he has. Soon Nitro and Jim are talking a mile a minute about racing in "the good old days".

TK is soaking it all up because it was way before his time. By now Nitro and Jim have discovered they have mutual friends, and when the conversation turns back towards the H²O-S system Jim has decided that Nitro and TK are O.K. Jim doesn't trust the Atlas Company any more then TK, even though he works for them until Sun Tool is totally closed. After that, he's retired, whether he likes it or not.

Jim's Secret

He has found some information on the project that he put aside. It seems that Jim has many of the same feelings about what this system could do in the fight against air pollution as TK does, and secretly, Nitro has too. In fact, it turns out that as a junior engineer Jim worked on the project.

He grabs three sodas from an antique looking pop machine and digs out a small file folder of papers that he had hidden under his desk. Jim calls the project the oxygen extractor because part of the process was to extract the oxygen from the water leaving hydrogen. Now TK understands why some of the parts were marked H²O-E instead of H²O-S; the 'E' stood for extractor.

When they tell Jim that they actually have the system working, he is astounded. The project had been a priority for almost two years but they could never get it to work more than a few very brief seconds.

When the project was stopped for lack of government funding, he was on the engineering team that was working on turning it into a long running dependable system. Nitro and TK look at each other. They tell Jim that's the same point they are at right now.

"Well," say's Jim, opening the folder and displaying a pitifully small pile of papers, "this is all the information I could find here," pointing to the piles of boxes marked Sun Tool Engineering Records, "but I've still got a lot up here," he says pointing at his head.

Two hours later, they are still talking when Nitro looks at his watch. Terry has made reservations for them at his favorite restaurant in LA. He has something he wants to talk to Celeste and TK about.

Nitro knows what it is and he isn't going to say anything and spoil the surprise, but he knows Terry will be uptight if they aren't back in time. Jim agrees to come down to LA to see them on Saturday. In fact, he can't wait to see the race bike and the H²O-S system they've put together.

A Find

On the way out to the truck, Nitro spies something in a corner, partially under a tarp, and has to go over and look at it.

Jim uncovers it, and both Nitro's and TK's eyes get big when they see it. "I've been saving this for somebody like you guys," he says, "It's yours."

After getting their unbelievable find loaded in the van, they are on the freeway heading back to LA to meet up with Terry and Celeste for dinner.

"Terry always gets grumpy when I drag things back like this," Nitro says, gesturing over his shoulder at their cargo.

"He gets cranky because the stuff fills up the trailer, but this time we'll be home in a couple of weeks and we can unload it."

"Home?" questions TK, "I didn't know you and Terry had any home besides the truck and trailer."

"Oh sure," replies Nitro, "It's not the Hilton, but it's a good place to keep our stuff."

"Oh," says TK.

He sees all this coming to an end, back to living in a mobile home somewhere, while Celeste works waiting on tables. Bummer! oh well, if there's one thing TK has learned, it's how to deal with life.

Nitro looks over and sees the look on TK's face and adds, "It's up north, by the ocean. You'll like it." Nitro has let the cat out of the bag, but he didn't want to see TK unhappy. He asks TK not to spoil the surprise. TK says he won't tell Celeste, but it's going to be hard to keep quiet. They get back to the trailer just in time to get cleaned up and go to dinner.

Dinner and a Deal

"Want meat!" says Nitro, after Celeste has ordered the veggie plate and TK has ordered his traditional Swiss cheeseburger with Miracle Whip.

"Yuck!" says Celeste, "How can he stand those? That's all he eats."

TK replies, "No it isn't. I eat Tater Tots, too."

Terry settles for the seafood platter. He points over at Nitro and says to the waitress, "You better bring him a steak, a big one!"

After a great dinner everyone is sitting around talking. TK mixing his comments with mouthfuls of homemade peach pie and ice cream. It seems that TK not only eats Swiss cheeseburgers with Miracle Whip and Tater Tots, he also likes dessert.

Terry presents his and Nitro's offer to Celeste: she and TK will become full time members of the race team. Celeste can take care of booking races, book-keeping and taxes, and be the agent and manager of the operation. She can handle endorsements and deal with the sponsors, things that Terry and Nitro don't seem to be able to pull off at all.

"The pay will be good," says Terry, "and there will be a trust fund included to make sure that TK gets the best education possible."

"Besides," Nitro interjects, "I need the kid. I don't know how to run the computer."

"You will be full partners in the team," adds Terry.

"All right!" exclaims TK, "BIKESTERS!"

Celeste just reaches across the table and shakes hands with Terry and Nitro. "Deal," she says.

After Dinner Rocket

In the excitement of going to dinner and the business deal they worked out, Nitro and TK haven't quite got around to telling Terry about the big score at the surplus yard. Now it's time to face the music.

Nitro starts out, "You know, Terry, how TK and I went to Sun Tool today?"

"OK, what did you drag back this time?" asks Terry.

"It's really neat!" TK adds excitedly.

Nitro opens up the back of the van while Terry and Celeste stand there, waiting. The van is packed full. Terry looks in and recognizes an ominous shape. "A rocket!" he exclaims.

"Six thousand pounds of thrust," says Nitro, "And it was free!"

"What's the rest of this?" questions Terry.

"A bunch of other neat stuff Jim gave us," answers TK. "Turbines and things. He'll tell us all about them when he's here on Saturday."

"Jim?" asks Terry.

"He's a smart old geezer down at Sun Tool," answers Nitro.

"He's ultra smart'" adds TK, "And he's not a geezer!"

_A rocket_ , thinks Terry, _Hmm_.

Kids

TK and Nitro spend all day Friday fitting new parts and putting the race engine back together. They also make some changes in the spare engine to make it more compatible with the H²O-S system.

Celeste is busy putting together a new Bikester bookkeeping system on the computer. Terry's day is mostly taken up talking, especially with kids, who seem to be coming around constantly.

Celeste marvels at the fact that Terry never gets tired of the kids, whose ages run all the way from four or five years old to kids driving cars. Terry jokes around with them and gives out posters, autographs, and a lot of free Bikester tee shirts. Nitro visits with them too, when he has the time.

Celeste knows that this is a poor part of town, and many of these kids have nothing. Just to talk to somebody like Terry is really a big deal. Terry always tries to give their self-esteem a boost when he talks to them. He knows it doesn't require much to help a kid get going in the right direction.

Super Geezer

The next morning, the gang is having orange juice and scones when they hear a car with a very snarly sounding engine drive up. Looking outside they find it's Jim Truesdale in a mean looking candy blue Cobra roadster, with mag wheels and very wide tires.

"An old geezer, you say," comments Terry to Nitro.

"A very fast old geezer," replies Nitro.

"Neat car," says TK as Jim walks up. "What's it got in it?"

They go over to the Cobra. "A supercharged 427 Ford," says Jim, opening the hood.

"Trick suspension," notes Nitro, looking underneath the car.

"Built it myself," says Jim. "The body's fiberglass and I did everything else."

"It's beautiful," adds Celeste.

"My wife told me I should find something to do when I retire," says Jim, "so I built this thing, but I still haven't retired."

Terry thinks, _this guy's OK_. Just then, one of the older machinists from Black Magic walks over to look at the Cobra and recognizes Jim, who immediately remembers him. It turns out that drag racing wasn't just Jim's hobby years ago. He's a bit of a legend, and was one of the first guys to drive a fuel dragster, a wild dude in his day.

Wizard

"Well, let's see what you've got," says Jim after making plans to get together with his old buddy. SuperBike is out alongside the trailer. Nitro pulls off the cover, and Jim marvels at a true engineering masterpiece, a huge hemi V-8 in a motorcycle. "Amazing," says Jim who, as an engineer, definitely appreciates Nitro's work. Within a few minutes Jim, Nitro, and TK are huddled over the H²O-S system, with Terry involved whenever the crowd of kids that seems to always be around him eases off for awhile.

Jim astounds them by knowing the technical names for all of the parts in the separator and injector. Nitro and TK had been making up names for the parts as they went along, since they had no manual to tell them what any of the parts are called.

Jim's memory is something else. He quickly disassembles the unit and explains things about the system that they didn't understand, and how to make adjustments to make it work even better.

Nitro and TK just look at each other and say, "Wizard!" in unison.

"No," says Jim, "I'm not a wizard. It's just that in over 50 years of engineering this was the project that meant the most to me. It was also the one we didn't get to finish, so I've always thought about it. Here, I'll show you something."

Jim takes apart the housing in the center of the separator and takes out a disc made out of a strange ceramic material. TK and Nitro have never been able to figure out what that stuff was. Jim holds the disc up so they can look at it very closely, and along the edge there are the initials 'JT', and the year 1945. Both TK and Nitro immediately know those are Jim's initials.

"Definitely the Wizard!" says TK. Nitro nods in agreement. Jim just laughs and goes on to explain to them about the disc. Jim's field in engineering besides mechanical is ceramics. In fact, he was one of the first ceramic engineers.

"The major problem in the development of the Hydrogen Oxygen Separator," Jim continues, "was finding the proper medium to force the water through at the extremely high pressure necessary to achieve the molecular separation required to produce the oxygenated hydrogen fuel that is the end product."

Developing ceramics that would do the job without being blown to pieces or immediately worn away by the pressure became the assignment of the team of scientists and engineers that Jim was on. He then points out to them how rapidly the disc that he had taken out of the unit on SuperBike was wearing after just a couple of runs.

As he talks, Jim walks over to his car and brings back a box about the size of a case of soda and a blue address book. Opening the box, he takes out another hydrogen separator disc. The box is packed full of them. "I've had these since 1945," he says, "They're out of the last batch we made and they are the best we came up with, probably a hundred times better then the early one in the bike."

TK picks one up and looks at it, "Cool." There is a P-51 Mustang Fighter plane embossed on it.

"The system was being developed mainly for the P-51" explains Jim, "so I kind of dressed up the last batch. There were 50 boxes of them, but I only have the one, I haven't been able to trace the others, but I think they were sold as surplus in the late 40's.

"We were very close to developing a ceramic that would last much longer, making the system usable in P-51's and eventually practical for everyday transportation. Then the project was ended and they took all the records and formulas. I've lost touch with the others who were on the team over the years.

"The last addresses I have for them are in this book," he says, holding up the blue address book, "Perhaps some of them can be traced down using your computer and the internet. If the team could be reassembled I'm sure we could finish the development of the ceramic separation medium."

TK copies down the names and addresses. The subject then turns to the rocket engine, and soon the three of them are involved in a very technical discussion that ends up with TK and Jim running computations and theory on the computer while Nitro presents them with ideas and drawings.

Suddenly they all look at each other and say, "I think this will work."

"I have books and access to the computer programs that you need," Jim tells TK, "Why don't all of you come out to my place for dinner in the next few days and I'll get the stuff together." They make a date for the following Tuesday.

PR

Celeste has decided that along with her other duties she's also going to be the Bikester public relations department. She arranges a visit to a local school on Monday for the Bikesters.

They visit with the kids, show them SuperBike, and give them autographed posters. Even the normally rather anti-social Nitro loosens up a little around the kids, and TK is in heaven, he gets to be "Super Kid!"

Afterwards they go to a children's hospital. A sobering experience, but it makes the kids' day. By the time they leave, it's quite late, and every kid in the place has a Bikester tee shirt autographed by all four of them and both the kids and the Bikesters have had a good time. TK has done time in these places, and he knows what it means to have visitors.

Tuesday

In the morning they get the truck and trailer all packed up and ready to go. Celeste has arranged a Match Race against the National Funny Car Champion Dangerous Dan Jones on the coming Saturday night in Phoenix.

The day after that, Sunday, they have a Grunger Race to run in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It's going to be a busy weekend and they have to leave for Phoenix first thing Wednesday morning. After they are finished organizing and loading all the racing gear, they borrow the Black Magic van and head out the Santa Ana freeway to Jim's place.

At Jim's House

After a great barbecue with Jim and his family, including three grandchildren that Terry ends up entertaining, Celeste visits with Jim's wife, daughter, and son-in-law while TK and Nitro go with Jim into his study. There he gathers up a stack of books and a box of computer discs with the information and programs he has promised.

Jim and TK become involved in a very complex discussion on aerodynamics which soon goes to far into mathematical theory to keep Nitro's interest and he goes back out by the pool to visit with everyone else.

Too soon, it's getting late, and they have to leave early the next morning for Arizona. They say their good-byes and TK makes arrangements with Jim to keep in touch by computer.

"Jim is a super brain," says TK when they are back on the freeway, "He designed some of the systems on the Space Shuttle."

Terry perks up he's always been crazy about flying. "What parts did he work on?" he asks.

"Flight surfaces and systems," TK answers.

Terry looks over at the pile of books that Jim gave TK noticing that the one on top is on aerodynamics. _Very interesting_ , thinks Terry.

### FIREBALLS AND FLAMETHROWERS

Phoenix, Arizona

After spending all Wednesday on the road, Nitro pulls the truck and trailer into the parking lot of Channel 7 TV in Phoenix. They have a TV gig first thing the next morning and are going to have to get everything ready early to get SuperBike in the TV studio.

They've made arrangements to park at the station overnight so they wouldn't have to fight Phoenix rush hour traffic in the morning. There will be local show featuring Terry and SuperBike, and also a taping of several public service spots for national television for the "D.A.R.E. To Keep Kids Off Drugs" program.

These will feature the D.E.A. videotape of the China Lake drug bust and interviews with Terry and Celeste. Now that Celeste is running the public relations department, she's decided the Bikesters can be famous and use the fame to do a lot of good. The rest of the gang is certainly agreeable to that concept.

Smile, You're on TV

The TV appearance and taping go quite smoothly. They also have to do a lot of hand shaking as it seems like every politician in town just happens to stop by and, strangely enough, most of them just happen to have their kids with them. After being celebrities most of the day, it's nice to get the bike loaded up and be in the truck heading to the Indian Hills Motorcycle Shop just outside of town.

The local bike racers hang out there, and there's enough room to park the truck and trailer behind the shop, down by the river. However, they won't have much time to enjoy the river, because Celeste has arranged appearances at two hospitals in Phoenix on the next day.

"Man," says Terry, "this having a PR person sure doesn't leave you with much free time."

"True," Nitro adds, "but after this weekend we'll be heading for home."

"Yeah," says Terry, "Home."

Celeste and TK look at each other. Home is still a mystery to them.

Indian Hills Motorcycle Shop

Pulling into the camping area by the river, they see that several of the traveling bike racers are also here, stopping over on the way to the race at Albuquerque. Nitro spots Nail's truck and trailer and parks nearby. As they are setting up camp, Nail and a few of the other racers come by to give them a hard time about all the heroics at China Lake, and how cool it was to see Terry on SuperBike smoking that Lear Jet on the news.

The bike drag racers appreciate the good image the Bikesters put forward for their sport. It's kind of hard to get much good press when you're a rag-tag looking group who call themselves 'Grungers'.

Nitro and Terry, for their part, have noticed that since they started trying to race at any Grunger race they could fit into their schedule, the Grungers have become much more professional and are working at upgrading all the time.

Like Nitro says, "You don't have to be Republicans, but you can clean up your act."

The Grungers show their appreciation the best way they can. They go out and find the best steaks they can buy, and throw a big barbecue in honor of the Bikesters. They've all been on the road several weeks since the last time they crossed paths, so there is a lot to catch up on. They're all up until late in the evening.

Visiting the Kids

The next morning, as the Bikesters get things ready to leave for the hospitals they are going to visit, Nail shows up pushing his bike. Celeste has talked him into coming along, and right behind him is Bob 'Big Daddy' Corliss who Nail has talked into bringing his drag bike and coming along too. They are going to put on quite a show for the kids today.

Both Nail and Bob Corliss are very nervous about the whole hospital thing. But after the bikes are set up in the lobby of the first hospital and the kids start coming to see them, both of them loosen right up. Soon Nail and Bob are visiting with the kids and going to the rooms of the patients who can't get around. Within an hour Nail and Corliss are old pros at this, signing autographs and giving out free posters and tee-shirts with the best of them.

Terry, Celeste, Nitro and TK are still the favorites, but the kids do like the visiting Grungers. It's starting to get dark by the time the Bikesters truck pulls back into the river campground, after putting on a show at the second hospital!

Celeste offers to help the Grungers put together a program of visits to hospitals and schools in towns where they put on races. Nail and Bob Corliss graciously accept.

"We're going to make socially acceptable people out of you animals yet!" laughs Nitro.

Breaking up Camp

Everybody is packing up and hitting the road. The Grungers are heading for their race in Albuquerque. The Bikesters are on the way to Phoenix Raceway for their night race against Dangerous Dan Jones in his Funny car. After the match race they will drive the 300 miles to Albuquerque for the bike drags. Another busy weekend!

Nail drives by and yells out the window, "See y'all in Albuquerque!" with a wave.

Phoenix Raceway

The Bikesters arrive early, like they always do, so they have a little extra time to get organized and visit with the fans. Lately, there always seems to be fans no matter where they go.

Besides the match race this is also a major regional points race and the crowd is already big and growing even larger by the minute. Nitro and TK work on getting SuperBike ready to run while Terry and Celeste deal with the crowd.

The first D.A.R.E. spots have appeared on TV, and both Terry and Celeste are kept busy signing autographs. Tee shirts and posters are selling like hotcakes. Soon it's dark and time for the first round of the match race, which will be a best two out of three deal.

Nitro fills the bike's fuel tank. He now has the distilled water in a fuel can so no one will ask any questions. The H²O-S system is a secret shared only by the four Bikesters and Jim Truesdale.

SuperBike vs. Dangerous Dan's Funny Car

The crowd around the starting line grows huge, filling the grandstands on both sides of the racetrack as the two vehicles are brought to the head of the staging area. The Dangerous Dan funny car fires up first, the cackle of its fuel burning supercharged hemi Chrysler engine causing the crowd to jump back.

Then SuperBike is started and the unbelievable roar of power produced by the H²O-S turbo-charged engine drowns out the Funny car. The crowd doesn't know what to think, most of them have never heard anything this loud before.

Nitro is a bit worried, thinking, It sounds like it's making even more power then it was at Sonoma. With only one rear tire, even if it's a racing traction slick 20 inches wide, they can only put so much power on the ground and then it starts to get squirrelly.

The engine is producing around 4,000 horsepower with the H²O-S system installed, and you don't want the bike to be out of control with that kind of power. Terry's got enough work riding this "bronco" as it is.

Smoke City

Nitro's fears are verified when during the burnout, the bike is spinning its huge racing slick so hard it starts skating around on the track. The tire smoke is beyond belief. It totally obliterates the tire smoke made by the funny car during its burn out.

Dangerous Dan is already staged as SuperBike pulls up to the starting line. Nitro gives Terry the hand signal to go light on the throttle. Terry knows he is going to have to feather it if he wants to get any kind of a run at all with this much power.

As the light turns green, Dangerous Dan gets a jump on Terry, as Terry is being very careful with the throttle. By the time they reach the half way mark, Terry is still a car length behind as he controls the power as best he can.

Then the bike starts to get a bit more traction and finally catches the Funny car. As he crosses the finish line first, Terry always the showman, can't resist leaning on the throttle in the lights, lighting up the slick in a huge cloud of tire smoke just to let everybody know who's got the power.

Back on the starting line Nitro watches as Terry smokes it in the lights and mutters, "Gotta figure a way to fit another tire or two on that thing."

Once they have SuperBike back in the pits, Nitro and TK quickly take the H²O-S injector apart and make the adjustments necessary to cut down the amount of power the engine is putting out. They also put on a fresh rear slick, as the tire that was on it is now cooked. As they head back to the starting line for the second round of the match race, Nitro hopes they've taken enough out of the engine. They're running out of spare slicks.

BOOM!

This time as the two vehicles fire up SuperBike sounds a little more civilized, and Terry thinks maybe they'll have a bit more of a controlled trip down the race track. After both the Funny car and SuperBike do very smoky, but normal, burnouts, they slowly and carefully pull up to the starting line.

The yellow lights come on in both lanes showing they are ready and the lights start their sequence. As the lights turn green both Bike and Funny car accelerate with a deafening roar in a cloud of clutch dust and very little tire smoke.

At the half way point SuperBike is just barely starting to pull ahead and as they hit the finish line. Terry is almost a wheel length ahead when suddenly there is a huge bang from the Funny car and a flash of fire! Its supercharger has exploded! The entire front end of the funny car is in flames. It's a funny car driver's worst fear. Terry knows he used to drive one.

Dan releases the parachutes, which immediately catch fire and burn off! Terry has already popped his chute and is slowing down, so he is behind the ball of fire that is coasting to a stop. The funny car is rapidly becoming an inferno as Terry rolls up behind it and jumps off the bike. The flames are spreading to the cockpit and the tires are beginning to burn. Terry is in his fire-proof driving suit with his helmet and gloves still on. He knows that Dan is wearing the same safety equipment but can survive in the inferno for only a few precious seconds. The escape hatch in the roof must be jammed, because he should be out by now!

Terry runs to the flaming race car and begins ripping burning fiberglass away to get to the dazed driver who is still struggling with his shoulder harness. Terry is feeling the heat of the fire as he pulls his friend free.

He is dragging the driver away from the fire that is now billowing clouds of black smoke as the emergency equipment arrives. The safety crew takes care of Dangerous Dan, who is O.K. except for a few very minor burns. Terry walks back to the bike as Nitro rides up on the Suzuki four-wheeler they use to tow SuperBike back to the pits.

Looking at the burning funny car and the emergency vehicles with red lights flashing Nitro asks, "Anything unusual happen?"

Terry answers, "Nah, same old stuff, but I think I remember why we quit racing funny cars, I hate Fire!"

Through the Desert

After all the excitement in Phoenix, it takes a couple of hours to get everything packed up. It's already 2 a.m. and the Bikesters have to be in Albuquerque first thing in the morning. They drive east through the dark desert landscape and are in New Mexico by dawn, arriving at Albuquerque Dragway at the moment it opens.

Albuquerque Dragway

This is the biggest race the Grungers have ever put on. There are hundreds of race bikes in attendance, every major bike racer is here. As the Bikesters get set up in the pits, they are immediately deluged with fans. This fame thing might be starting to get out of hand, thinks Nitro, It's getting harder and harder to get anything done on the bike.

Terry is already out there, smiling, signing autographs and having a great old time; he loves it. This race is going to be a little different as far as the Bikesters are concerned. Aside from the final race for King of the Hill against the dragbike top eliminator.

Terry and SuperBike will also run a two out of three match race against the dreaded Flamethrower Jet Dragster. As Terry says: "It's good to run against a jet now and then. It teaches you to be quick off the starting line. Let one of those blow torches get out in front of you, and you're barbecued!"

By noon the racetrack is jammed with spectators. Terry and Nitro are glad to see this because they know the Grungers run on a real tight budget. A good crowd like this pays for their smaller races.

SuperBike vs. the Flamethrower

Up by the starting line before the race Terry visits with Doug Flowers, the driver of the jet dragster. Terry looks at the jet; he loves these things. They produce mega- power and are always spectacular, especially when they run at night, with all the flames, smoke, and noise. Doug, in return, is quite intrigued by SuperBike, which he has never seen before.

"I thought I was crazy sitting in front of a jet," he remarks.

With a handshake Doug climbs in the jet car and his crewman helps him buckle up his safety harness as Terry walks over to SuperBike. Terry puts on his helmet as Nitro gets ready to start the bike. The jet starts with a roar, but SuperBike is louder.

Terry does a long smoky burn out. The jet comes up to the starting line belching smoke and fire as the driver injects short bursts of raw fuel into the tail pipe and 'blips' the afterburner to make it pop, Very impressive.

As the starting lights turn green Terry immediately jumps out a length in front. Like he says: You have to get out in front of these blasters or get cooked. He stays about one length in front all the way to the finish line. The crowd loves it. Terry could have won by a lot more, but the idea here was to put on a good show. If Terry really wanted to put on an ultra good show, he would lose the second round of the match race so they could have a tiebreaker, but he won't go that far. He likes to win too much! So Terry easily wins the second round and lights up the tire in the finish lights to blow the crowds mind, and also to give Doug Flowers in the jet something to think about.

Terry and SuperBike make one last run to defend the King of the Hill crown. For the second race in a row, it's Nail who has won Bike Top Eliminator, and the chance to challenge Terry. Terry wins again doing a wheel stand and smoking the tire all the way down the quarter mile, just to give the crowd something to remember on the way home. However, Nail once again gets a good jump at the start. _I must be getting old_ , thinks Terry.

Bench Racing

After the races, everybody stops at a local all-night diner for an early breakfast, where they relive the race and talk until dawn. Most of them won't see each other until the next Grungers race, which is over two months away.

Terry invites Nail to stop by and visit them at home if he's ever in the neighborhood. Nitro looks over in surprise. Terry never invites anybody to visit them at home. He must think Nail is all right.

Celeste gives Nail and Bob Corliss computer discs with not only information for putting together a strong PR program for the Grungers, but also a complete business plan for organizing their races and whole operation. The sun is just coming up over Albuquerque as the Bikester truck and trailer pulls out heading north, for home.

### DOWN ON THE FARM

Going Home

Nitro and Terry have decided to drive straight through, taking turns, one driving while the other sleeps. Celeste sits up front whenever she can, doing paper work and visiting with whoever is driving.

She's also watching the driver so she can learn, because while they are up north she's going to truck driving school to get her combination license and start taking her turn driving the Bikester truck.

TK is using his time on the trip to catch up on some of his schoolwork. After meeting Jim Truesdale and talking engineering and aerodynamics, he realizes he has to hit the books even harder especially the advanced math.

They drive north on Interstate 25, stopping in Denver for fuel and dinner, then continue north through Wyoming to Billings, Montana, where they turn west on I-90 towards Seattle. Turning north on I-5 in Seattle, they drive through the middle of town just as the sun rises. The city and the water with the Olympic Mountains in the background are a spectacular sight. Neither Celeste nor TK have ever been here before and are very impressed. They drive north another two hours and turn west a few miles before the Canadian border.

Home

Driving through rolling farmland towards the water they slow on a black top road. Celeste sees what appears to be a very nice farm, up above the shore facing out across the island-studded Strait of Georgia.

There's a large house and two large buildings. One appears to be a barn and the other some kind of shop with lots of windows facing out towards the water. They turn down the long driveway towards the house. There are horses in the pastures on both sides of the driveway. Celeste loves horses, but hasn't been around them since she and TK lived at the Browns' foster home in Oregon.

"Home?" asks TK.

"Home!" answers Nitro.

They stop in front of the house and a woman with long dark hair and two dark-haired twin girls come out. Terry hops out of the truck to greet them.

"Terry's family," says Nitro.

"Oh," reply TK and Celeste together. Celeste and TK knew that Terry made phone calls every night on the road, but the subject never really came up as to who he called.

"Come on, and meet the gang," says Nitro. They get out of the truck and both girls immediately jump on Nitro screaming. "Meet the twins," says Nitro through it all. "This is Katie and this is Jill, but it's pretty hard to tell who is who in the melee."

Terry introduces Nerissa. It seems like she is immediately talking to Celeste like they've been friends forever. Nitro gets TK's chair out, the twins don't even seem to notice it they've already decided TK is just too cool!

Nitro gets back in the truck along with Katie and Jill, who want to go for a ride, and moves the truck and trailer over to its covered parking area alongside the shop building. Celeste and TK go over to the shop to check it out.

Hangin' Out at the Farm

Nitro and the girls give them the complete tour. The ground level is a race shop with facilities for engine building, chassis building or any other process necessary to create a racing vehicle.

"There's even an elevator so TK can go upstairs in his wheelchair. I always knew we put that in for some reason," notes Nitro. At one end of the top floor is where Nitro lives. There are also two big rooms for TK and Celeste, both with windows looking towards the water.

"This looks like home to me!" says TK.

"It looks like heaven to me," adds Celeste.

They go back downstairs, while Nitro is showing TK some of the shop equipment. Katie and Jill who have by now attached themselves to Celeste, drag her to a large room that takes up one end of the shop building. Inside is what appears to be a silk-screening shop in fact it's a complete art studio. Celeste notices stacks of Bikester T-shirts, which is good, because they've run out of them. There are also shirts with Northwest Indian designs, mostly whales, fish, birds and things. They are all very eye-catching.

Nitro yells in the door that it's time for lunch, and they all head for the house. After they eat, Nitro, Terry, TK and the twins go back to the shop to unload the trailer and Celeste stays to visit with Nerissa. She especially wants to know about the tee- shirt factory. Celeste learns that Nerissa is an artist, and for the last several years has taught art to kids, free, here in her studio. Most of her students are from the nearby reservation, which explains the striking Northwest Indian designs. Nerissa herself is Native American.

The Bikester T-shirts and posters are a no profit deal, and the shirts that are sold at the races pay for the shirts and to print them. The kids who work on the T-shirt project learn silk screening and are paid for the work they do, and the shirts sold help balance out all the Bikester shirts that Terry and Nitro give away to kids.

Always the entrepreneur, Celeste has an idea about a marketing program for the Northwest Indian design shirts. Nerissa is all ears and brews up some tea. They sit down at the kitchen table to talk. Out at the shop the twins have discovered TK's computer. TK is amazed at how computer literate the girls are.

Terry never has figured out why the girls are so into computers. He understands why they're horse crazy, Nerissa is too, and they've been around horses all their lives. But the computer thing is a bit out of the blue.

Projects

Thanks to a side door in the shop, which lines up with the side door on the trailer when it's parked along side the building, it doesn't take long to unload. Over the next week Nitro and TK become totally involved in two projects.

The first is to get SuperBike ready for the big race with Bo Barns. Nitro wants to go through the bike completely and they have to develop a more efficient throttle for the H²O-S system. The adjustments they made in Phoenix were just a temporary fix. To beat Bo Barns everything is going to have to work perfectly.

TK is in contact with Jim Truesdale on the computer as they design the new throttle set-up. They can not only send information back and forth, but can also send sketches and CAD (computer-aided drawings), so the design process is moving along quite rapidly.

The second project is the rocket engine, and they are beginning to exchange ideas with Jim about it and the vehicle they want to put it in. Celeste is just finishing truck driving school in nearby Bellingham and then will be able to take the test for her license. Then she will be fully qualified to handle the truck and trailer. She has also been spending lots of time with Nerissa, who is rapidly becoming her first really close friend, besides TK, since she was a little girl.

They go for horseback rides, which she loves, and generally just have a good time. For Celeste it's like having a sister. She has also been helping Nerissa with her art students, teaching the kids some marketing and business to go with their considerable art and manufacturing skills.

Hi-Tech

The throttle system is an incredibly complex project. It looks like it will be done in time for the race, but Nitro is afraid there may not be much time to test it first. They're waiting on several titanium parts, or unobtainium as Nitro calls it, which are being manufactured for them in Seattle.

It's really handy to have a city with a large aerospace industry nearby when you need something ultra trick made. While waiting they can devote some serious time to the rocket. Before even considering what kind of vehicle they're going to build to put the rocket engine in, they have to design the systems to make it run. They want to use the H²O-S system on it for several reasons, beside the obvious ecological benefits and the extra power it produces.

Because of the efficiency of the system they don't need the large fuel tanks normally necessary with a rocket. A little water goes a long way with the H²O-S set up. The smaller and lighter they can keep the engine and systems package the smaller and lighter vehicle they can build to put it in. TK and Nitro already have a good idea of what they want to create, and it couldn't be any wilder. They haven't even told Terry yet. He'll freak when he sees this!

Time with the Twins

Terry, in the meantime, has been catching up on projects around the house and spending almost every minute with the girls. He misses them a lot when he's on the road. He knows that dealing with two nine year olds by herself can be trying for Nerissa when he's gone, so when he's home he tries to take the pressure off of her as much as possible.

Actually, he can't get enough of the twins and enjoys the time he spends with them immensely. In fact, as much as Terry loves racing, he dislikes being away from the girls for weeks at a time more and more as they grow up. And he misses Nerissa a lot when he's on the road. She tried going to the races with him years ago, but it makes her nervous watching Terry race.

Lately, as SuperBike has become better known, there have been more races and more time on the road, the opposite of what Terry wants. He's been thinking seriously about flying to some of the races and back home afterwards. Now that Celeste and TK are part of the team, he might be able to do that. He was worried before that Nitro would have to drive the truck from race to race by himself.

Last Minute Stuff

Two weeks have flown by. It's almost time to leave for Sonoma and the match race with Bo. Celeste and Nerissa have gone antique shopping across the border in Surrey, British Columbia to celebrate Celeste getting her truck driver's license. Terry has taken the girls fishing. He never gets bored fishing when the twins are along.

Nitro and TK with Jim in contact by computer, phone, and fax have completed the basic systems for the rocket engine and it looks like there will be enough time to try firing it up before they leave for Sonoma.

Nitro is just putting the last welds on the stand they designed to mount the rocket on to test fire it. It has to be very solid to hold up against the tremendous thrust of the rocket engine. They've put together an H²O-S system for it, which should work, but could still use some refinement. They'll go over it with Jim, who is meeting them at the Race in Sonoma.

Toys

Celeste and Nerissa arrive back from their Canadian shopping trip with a very interesting find. While digging around in an antique shop in Cloverdale they turned up two of the H²O-S separator disks. And they are the good ones from the last batch Jim made, with the P-51 embossed on them.

They found out they were sold as toys in the late 1940s and nowadays will occasionally pop up as collectors items. Celeste thinks that with a bit of research she can find a lot more of them. While they are looking at the discs, Terry and the girls return, the twins proudly showing off the fish they caught.

Rocket Show

Nitro announces that the test stand for the rocket is done and if they want to try to fire the thing before they leave for California, they better get on with it. The sun is just beginning to set as they prepare to fire the rocket. The stand is securely chained down. This should be interesting, thinks Nitro. He has put long wires on the controls so they can be behind the pickup truck, 100 feet away from the rocket engine when he hits the ignition button. TK does the count down to zero and Nitro pushes the button. There is a huge roar and flame shoots 25 feet out the tail pipe. The rocket on its stand is straining against its chains. What a beast! thinks Nitro.

Terry's eyes are big. He can't wait to ride this baby! Watching the rocket shooting flame with the sunset in the background, Celeste, always the promoter, thinks, _What a show this thing is going to put on_! TK, off to the side, is watching the computer screen, monitoring the H²O-S system and the heat of the tail pipe, Super interesting stuff. Nerissa just watches with a strange look on her face.

By the time Nitro gets it shut off, it's already broken two chains. "This dude's got some power," he says, "Scary!"

The next morning, after the truck pulls out heading south, Nerissa walks out to the shop and the girls go with her. They know that she always does this when Terry leaves for a race. They go in the shop and sit for awhile. Nobody says anything

MATCH RACE OF THE CENTURY

Heading South on I-5

On the way through Seattle, they stop at the machine shop owned by Nitro's old friends, Dave and Pop, to pick up the titanium parts for the H²O-S throttle, which are just being finished as they pull in. Titanium billet is hard to work with, especially when it has to be machined to the tolerances and finish required for the H²O-S system.

The trip south is uneventful, and lots of the time everyone is lost in their own thoughts. Nitro worries about not having enough time to test SuperBike with the new throttle system. He likes to test everything very thoroughly.

Nitro knows that's how you consistently win races, and they win a lot of races. Terry thinks, I lost seven pounds while we were at home, I'll be leaner and meaner on the bike against Bo. Terry always loses weight at home. Nerissa's cooking is a lot healthier then the food on the road, and he gets a chance to work out and run on the beach. He runs every morning, but somehow running in a motel parking lot or at a rest area along the freeway just isn't the same as running along the beach at home with the twins.

Rocket Science

TK is thinking about the H²O-S system and all the variables of setup and adjustment there are. The other kids always called TK some kind of a rocket scientist, and now with the H²O-S system, and even an actual rocket to play with, it looks like maybe they were right.

Celeste is mulling over different promotional ideas for the race with Bo Barns. It has become the drag racing event of the year, and will be telecast live nationally. They are going to Sonoma several days early for the pre-race publicity. Celeste will be very busy for a few days as this match race is her baby, and she will be coordinating the race track promotions department, sponsor publicists, the TV people, etc.

The idea of a one round, winner-take-all race between the world's two quickest accelerating motor vehicles, and the dragster vs. bike aspect of it, has caught the public's fancy and is being talked about everywhere. They don't realize just how big it has become, until, as they are pulling into the City of Sonoma a TV news helicopter hovers 100 feet away from them with a cameraman hanging out the door filming them. Celeste, who is driving, waves to him.

Nitro mumbles, "Film at eleven."

Sonoma, California

The next five days are very busy. There are constant interviews and TV appearances, etc. Terry and Bo are very good at giving each other a hard time. Bo has taken to calling himself Bo 'The King' Barns, which mixes it up even more.

Interviews with the two of them together are a media person's dream, and they are very busy doing the "Terry and Bo Show". They might even be starting to like each other a little bit, although neither of them would ever admit it. Celeste even arranges an appearance on a major network late night talk show, where they wow a national TV audience and get more laughs then the comic host of the show.

Jim Truesdale arrives, driving his Cobra and wearing a Bikester shirt. "Ay, it's the fifth Bikester," says Nitro, in his best Beatles Liverpool accent.

"That's me," replies Jim, with a John Lennon lilt to his voice.

TK looks puzzled. "Who are you guys trying to sound like?"

"Kids," says Nitro, "They ain't been around." Jim and Nitro laugh as TK just shakes his head, thinking, _Old guys; they're weird_.

Jim, Nitro, and TK manage to hide out in the trailer most of the rest of the week working on the new throttle and final setup of the bike. Even getting some time to discuss the design of the rocket vehicle, considering all that's going on, they're getting an amazing amount done.

Nail has appeared out of nowhere, as usual. To hang with the famous guys, as he put it and is immediately recruited by Celeste to help out with all the running around and organizing. Among other things, Celeste has put together a party for several hundred kids from Bay Area Inner City Boys and Girls Clubs. She has hustled free hamburgers, hot dogs, and pop for the kids and, of course, they all get tee-shirts and posters and have a lot of fun.

She even talks Bo into coming by letting him think the press would be there. She knows you can always play to Bo's ego. What Bo doesn't know is that they never tell the press about the events they have for kids or the visits to hospitals. This stuff is for the kids, not for publicity.

Counting Down the Days

Celeste's PR work has been very successful. The interest in the match race is unreal. The guys are continuing to thrash away on SuperBike, but still haven't been able to make a test run with the new throttle system. Nitro is worried.

While they work on the bike, Jim has some interesting things to tell them. Sun Tool has totally closed, but before they gave Jim his final check, several lawyers and engineers from Atlas questioned him about the H²O-S system. In going through old records they discovered that Jim had worked on that project. They grilled him quite thoroughly, and are obviously putting a lot of effort into gathering all the information they can in an effort to recreate the system.

But Jim just says, "A nice thing about being old is that you can become very confused and lose your memory when necessary".

They ended up just shaking their heads and saying: "We're giving this guy a check for 53 years of profit sharing?"

"With interest," added one of the lawyers. Jim just smiled.

They did mention to Jim that they had talked to one of his co-engineers on the project, but he was very old and could hardly even remember his own name, let alone anything about something he had worked on over 50 years ago.

The man they found, Benjamin Carter, was a lead engineer on the project and lives near Lancaster, California, where he retired after many years at Edwards Air Force Base working on various experimental programs.

Before he left to come here for the race, Jim called him, and strangely enough as soon as he knew it was Jim Truesdale talking to him. Ben Carter was quite coherent, remembering all about the days when they worked together. In fact, he was reminding Jim of things Jim had forgotten. Apparently Jim isn't the only one with a convenient memory. They made arrangements for Jim to run out to Lancaster and get together with Ben after the race.

Race Day

The pits are overflowing. The track is putting on a big funny car race as part of the program they've built around what's now billed as the "Match Race of the Century." The Bikesters and Bo Barns are pitted by each other right in the middle of everything, crews working side by side.

Talk about pitted against each other! Terry and Bo are taking digs at each other every time they get a chance. The crowd loves it! While several kids that Celeste has recruited from the local Boys and Girls Club handle selling T-shirts and posters, both Terry and Celeste sign autographs and visit with the crowd.

Besides all the publicity built up around this race, the anti-drug spots with the drug bust at China Lake are running on TV everywhere, and they both have become celebrities. Behind them, Nitro, TK and Jim are working on SuperBike. They've fired it up several times, but it still hasn't been run down the track to give the new throttle system a real test. However, it sounded really good and Nitro is starting to feel a little more at ease.

They're going to have time for one test pass. He knows that everything has to be working perfectly in order to beat Bo. The team huddles while Nitro explains to Terry the things they have to find out on this test run. They're old hands at this and understand each other very well. What has drawn Terry and Nitro together for all these years is a very strong compatibility with things mechanical. Nitro would not have created SuperBike if Terry wasn't willing to ride it. They both know what SuperBike is capable of. Nitro feels that only Terry can control it. Terry knows that he is the only one that can.

Winning Combination

Because of SuperBike's extremely high horsepower and very short wheelbase, it is very close to uncontrollable. The method Nitro and Terry have developed to get the maximum power to the ground, while not having the Bike suddenly swap ends, or go into the ultimate wheel-stand, is to have the back tire always losing a little traction, spinning and smoking.

Because of the huge size of the rear slick, 36 inches high and nearly 20 inches wide, this creates a gyroscopic effect, which in turn keeps the Bike pointed straight ahead and upright, which are both much better then the alternatives.

Accomplishing this is quite a trick when you are dealing with a bike with a 76 inch wheelbase and producing over 4,000 horsepower when the H²O-S system is cranked up to full boost. You don't want the rear tire to spin too hard, or the bike can quickly be out of control. Then all the rider can do is hold on and hope for the best! Nerissa calls it a wild horse.

They can fake it a little in their regular match races and King of the Hill races, letting the slick spin a bit harder and make more tire smoke, which the crowd loves, giving up some traction and efficiency, but still winning.

However they know that to beat Bo Barns, everything has to be right on. There's no room for messing around at all. If they give even a little bit they'll lose, because Bo's the quickest and fastest guy out there. But they know they can run with him. They just can't run the top speeds he turns over 300 miles per hour, because SuperBike just doesn't have the streamlining or down force that the bodywork and wings on Bo's dragster provide.

However, they can get to the finish line just as quick, because of SuperBike's light weight and small size it gets off the starting line much quicker. They have to put as much power on the ground as possible and still keep SuperBike going straight to pull it off, and it's still going to be really close.

Test Run

As they roll SuperBike up to the starting line, Nitro and Terry decide exactly what the profile of this test run will be. They both know this is the only run there's time for before they race Bo, so they have to make it count. The plan is to leave the starting line very hard so they can see how the H²O-S with the new throttle system acts during a really hard launch. Then Terry will ease off the throttle and get back on it a couple of times to see how it reacts.

When TK gets the readout from the onboard computer there will be enough information to analyze how the system is working during a run down the racetrack, and they can make any necessary adjustments. The Funny Car Eliminations are going on and the grandstands are packed as Terry pulls up to the line. As usual, SuperBike is very loud and there's that strange exhaust that looks like steam.

The people in the stands are all standing as Terry does a strong burnout with the front wheel about two feet in the air. Once back at the starting line Nitro walks over, and makes a small adjustment on the throttle and gives Terry the thumbs up.

Terry carefully stages at the starting lights. Looking over to the left he sees Bo watching and decides to make this an ultra hard launch just to give Bo something to worry about before the race. Terry leaves the starting line unbelievably hard with the front wheel in the air. He leaves so hard that it's all he can do to stay on the bike. He immediately eases off on the throttle, as was the plan. He's launched so hard that he's already half way down the quarter mile. He gets on and off the throttle a couple of times and the run is over.

Back at the starting line the huge crowd is almost silent. They've never seen anything accelerate anywhere near that hard. Bo is just standing there not saying anything, which is quite unusual for Bo. He knows this race ain't gonna be easy.

Data

As soon as the bike is back in the pits, TK goes to work extracting information from it. In a few minutes he has input the data from the bike into his computer, and is getting a readout that they can begin to analyze. Lots of data, TK loves it. While TK, Nitro, and Jim are slaving away over data and adjustments, Terry and Celeste are dealing with the crowd, which by now is immense.

Two hours later, everything is buttoned up, and they're pushing SuperBike up to the starting line to face Bo. The final of the Funny Car competition has just been run, and Dangerous Dan Jones, the same Dan Jones that Terry pulled from a burning racecar in Phoenix has won with his new car.

At the starting line Celeste has Terry and Bo giving a pre-race interview for TV. Meanwhile, huddled by SuperBike, the tired trio of Nitro, TK and Jim discuss the situation. They agree that everything looks really good. There are a few small things that don't read quite right, but they're awfully close. In the end it's all going to come down to Terry hanging it out right to the edge!

The Race: SuperBike vs. Bo Barns

The interview ends and Terry and Bo shake hands. Terry walks over to the bike while Bo prepares to get in his dragster. Bo's crew starts his engine first. All the huge crowd can hear is the staccato cackling of a top fuel engine running on 98% nitro-methane fuel with blower pressure so high it's almost blowing the heads right off the engine block.

The supercharger alone is larger then the engine in most small cars, and is necessary to produce the massive horsepower and torque necessary to propel one of these drag strip warriors from a standing start to over 330 miles per hour in around four and a half seconds. Then Nitro hits the button on the portable starter plugged into SuperBike and the engine starts with its customary roar and vapor-like exhaust. Above all the noise the crowd is very aware of the animal like high pitched whine of the bike's monstrous twin turbo chargers.

Wild Horse

Terry can feel a very slight inconsistency in the engine as soon as it fires up. It's more like a slight wildness. Terry can live with that, he has always felt the smallest change in SuperBike.

As Nitro says, "Terry rides SuperBike like a race horse and can feel its slightest mood change."

Nerissa has always called SuperBike an animal, and she's never told anybody, but she always offers an ancient chant that protects horsemen going into battle when Terry leaves to go racing. Terry has seen Nerissa out in the shop just sitting by SuperBike without saying anything, but he never asks why. Some things about her are very mysterious, and Terry knows he will never understand them. Nitro created SuperBike and he understands it. Nerissa knows he will look out for Terry and protect him against the bike's extremes.

Burn-outs

Bo does his burnout first. It's very smooth, heating up the slicks and laying down just the right amount of rubber on the track. As he is backing to the starting line, watching the hand signals of the crewmen in front of him so he can stay right in the tire tracks he laid down, Bo has the same thoughts he always has at this point in a race, he visualizes the start and the race.

Bo, for all his flamboyance and arrogance, is a very methodical, careful racer. His car is meticulously prepared and he always drives the same race, smooth as silk. If anybody is going to beat Bo, they are going to have to drive their best race, because Bo doesn't make mistakes and beat himself. All the preparation and intensity has paid off with three straight world championships for Bo.

Terry's burnout is much longer; almost to the finish line. But then, where Bo has to back up to return to the starting line because with a 300 inch wheel base his dragster is too long to turn around on the race track, Terry can turn the short wheel base bike around right on the drag strip and drive back.

As Terry does his burnout he feels out the bike. 'S-bike', Terry's name for SuperBike's dark side, is always lurking, waiting for the chance to appear. He plays with the throttle. He wants to know at exactly what point the tire starts breaking loose and smoking a little too hard, and precisely where in the power range SuperBike wants to totally hook up.

Maximum traction on a 76 inch wheel base bike with this kind of horsepower is out of the question. Terry has experienced it a couple of times and it's only because the bike felt benevolent on those occasions that nothing bad happened. There's nothing you can do but hang on, you have no control at all. The S-bike just goes anywhere it wants.

The Outside Edge

Terry loves racing on SuperBike. He loves the feeling of running on the edge. He got bored driving funny cars and Top Fuelers but he never gets bored with the challenge of riding this bike. It has to be total teamwork between rider and machine. It reminds him of his daredevil days. He gets that same adrenaline rush of excitement from riding SuperBike.

As Terry comes back past the starting line to turn around, Bo is just starting to pull forward towards the line. Terry gives him a little wave, just to keep the pressure on. He knows it's going to take everything both he and SuperBike can do to win this and if he can shake Bo even a just little, it might get him a little more advantage at the start.

Pulling towards the starting line, Terry gives a signal and Nitro makes a small adjustment on the H²O-S injector. He has great faith in Terry's ability to feel the smallest malfunction. They have worked out a set of hand signals so Terry can tell Nitro if he feels there's a need for any last second adjustments before a run.

The crowd is on their feet as the dragster and the bike slowly and carefully stage, lighting the yellow lights in both lanes. It seems like it takes forever as the lights go through their sequence. Then suddenly they are green!

Launch!

Terry is gone, making his quickest start ever. Even Nail, standing over to the side of the starting line by Celeste, is impressed. The bike launches even harder than it did on the test run, but this time Terry's ready for it, and it doesn't surprise him.

Bo makes a good start. He knows that he can turn times in the mid four second range all day long at speeds of around 320 miles per hour. If he runs with his usual consistency, Terry is going to have to push the outside of the envelope to beat him with the Bike.

After the very hard launch, Terry knows that he's got a good jump. He also knows that Bo will run a top speed at the finish of at least 50 miles per hour faster than him, so he's got to be very quick for all 1320 feet.

Pulling Hard

SuperBike is tuned to perfection and Terry is running it right on the very edge, something they've never done or had to do before. Terry can feel the Bike pushing down on the wheelie bars as it carries the front wheel. He can feel as it tries to pull, first to one side, then to the other in reaction to the tremendous torque and horsepower it's putting on the ground.

But what he can feel more then anything else, even more then the awesome acceleration, is the strong gyroscope effect from the rear tire always losing just the right amount of traction and smoking just a little bit. He can feel it throughout his body as S-bike fights against the gyroscopic force that keeps the bike going the shortest distance to the finish line, which is straight. The feeling of all that force is the most exhilarating thing Terry has ever felt more exciting than jumps, stunts, or driving race boats!

A Visit from S-Bike

As they pass the halfway mark, Bo is beginning to make his move. This is where Bo gets really strong and Terry has to hope that the initial quickness of the bike will carry through. As he approaches the finish line, Terry can feel Bo coming up fast. This is going to be very close! There's a little throttle left, and Terry knows he has to go for it. He has to 'hang ten' over the edge if he wants to win this, and he plans to win.

He twists the throttle open to the stop. Terry feels a surge in both acceleration and the gyroscopic force that dominates a fast ride on SuperBike. He is within feet of the finish line when he feels the force change. He knows that he's over the edge and has totally lost traction. Suddenly he's looking at Bo's front wheel!

S-Bike is sliding sideways at over 250 miles per hour with the slick completely up in smoke! Terry thinks, _Whoa, this thing has come totally unplugged_! Through all of this Terry is aware of where the finish line is, sticks his leg out and is pretty sure he won by a 'foot' while going sideways across the finish line! Bo comes thundering by like a freight train. Terry notices that Bo is looking over at him as he's sliding through the lights, and that Bo's eyes are as big as saucers.

Hang On!

The S-bike is to the point where it's doing anything it wants to do! Terry is pretty much, just along for the ride. The bike continues to spin a full 360 degrees. Just as it comes all the way around and is pointing in the right direction again, Terry pops the chute, which pulls it straight and slows it down fast. SuperBike comes to a stop by Bo, who is still sitting in his racecar.

Terry walks over to the dragster as he takes off his helmet. Bo doesn't seem to see him as he walks up, and Terry sees that Bo still has a shocked look in his eyes. Gee, I didn't think that losing would be this hard on him, thinks Terry, as he waves his hand in front of Bo's face getting no reaction.

He reaches down and helps Bo get his helmet off. Bo just looks at him strangely. Bo finally stammers, "I've been doing this for over 20 years, and I've never seen anything like that!"

"Yeah," says Terry, "my motorbike did kinda come unstuck out there."

"Yeah, kinda," replies Bo.

Back to the Show

Terry notices that the press and TV people are arriving. This race was broadcast live on national television and there are still a lot of interviews to do.

Terry claps his hands in front of Bo. "Come on man, we got to get it together, the TV guys are almost here, it's show time!"

Bo shakes his head, his eyes coming into focus. "Oh yeah; did I win?"

"No," answers Terry.

"What!" barks Bo.

"You lost by a foot," says Terry, "10-1/2 EE."

By the time the cameras get there the Bo and Terry show is back in business. Bo is in fine form, complaining that you: "Can't win if you're not pointed in the right direction, it doesn't count if you stick your foot across the finish line first."

But it's all to no avail. The decision stands, or as Nitro says to Bo in front of the TV cameras, "We win, Nah Nah!"

Back home on the farm, Nerissa, sits on the bluff with the twins as she gazes thoughtfully across the water. Somehow, she suddenly knows that everything is alright.

Later, after an astounding amount of post-race festivities, interviews, etc., the Bikesters go to dinner with several sports writers, and still haven't even had time to congratulate each other on pulling it off. After dinner they head for the motel and plan to meet for breakfast and get organized.

The Day After

"Swiss cheeseburger with Miracle Whip, and please don't melt the cheese on it," TK requests of the waitress.

"At least he's not having Tater Tots for breakfast this time," says Celeste.

The gang has gathered in the motel restaurant, Nail is just walking in the door. He has been invited to join them for breakfast and to discuss a business proposition. During and after breakfast Terry signs auto-graphs for just about everybody in the restaurant. Any form of privacy seems to have gone away for Terry.

Nitro finally gets to talk to Nail, and asks him if he would be interested in working for them for a few weeks. Nail is a welder and chassis builder and that is just what they need on the rocket project.

Nail says, "Sure", and they make arrangements for Nail to be up at the farm in a week. It means Nail will learn a very carefully guarded secret, the H²O-S system. After careful consideration, the Bikesters feel he's OK.

Borrowin' the Kid

Jim asks if he can 'borrow' TK for a few days. He wants to have TK along when he goes to Lancaster to see Ben Carter, his former engineering co-worker and mentor on the H²O-S project. TK is cranked. He not only gets to meet an engineering legend, but he also gets to go for a road trip in Jim's Cobra, Cowabunga!

Celeste has mixed feelings about this. She and TK haven't been apart for any length of time for almost six years. They've always been there to look out for each other, but she knows TK is growing up and is going to have more and more of his own life. So she has to say, "Have fun."

"You know it!" replies TK

Besides, Nerissa and the girls are flying down and Celeste has made several appointments in San Francisco to see about developing a market for the Northwest Native design tee-shirts. She and Nerissa will be very busy for a few days. Terry plans to show the girls San Francisco while Nerissa and Celeste are taking care of business. Sometimes everything just works out for the best.

### PROFESSOR TK

Candy Blue Cobra

_This is as good as it gets_ , thinks TK, _Cruising down Highway 101 in a Candy Blue Cobra_. Plus, the guy TK is cruising with is an engineering wizard who is giving him all sorts of new information, and TK can't get enough information! _Life is good_ , thinks TK.

He's going to be staying at Jim's place and they will go to Lancaster in the morning. For the rest of the week, Jim has several things planned, including going to the Engineering Institute where TK can meet some of the engineers, scientists, and professors that he's talked to by computer over the last few years but has never been able to meet in person.

Then after the weekend, they will head north to the farm in Jim's new motorhome one of the treats he bought with his profit-sharing. Jim and his wife are going to stay a few weeks so Jim can put his full energy into the Rocket project.

Ben

It's a crisp and clear morning as they leave early for Lancaster. TK is really getting into this cruising around in a sports car thing, and thinks, _Hmmm, maybe hand controls_. In a year he will be old enough to get his learner's permit.

They arrive at Ben Carter's place at about noon. It's a beautiful house with a large deck looking out across the High Desert. Just as they drive up, a very exotic looking jet fighter flies over, low, and then shoots straight up. At that moment, Ben Carter, or Dr. Carter, as he is known in engineering circles, comes out to greet them. He's tanned and seems very healthy for a guy who is supposed to be so old that he can't remember his own name. TK is still looking up at the wild looking plane. When Dr. Carter walks up, he asks TK to just call him Ben.

Ben says, "The guys do that when they fly by just to say 'Hi'."

"Wow!" says TK.

Jim and Ben haven't seen each other for years, and have a lot to catch up on. While they visit, TK sips on orange juice and watches some very strange and fast aircraft flying, much of the time very low, over the desert. Ben built his house here because this is where they test, and he had a large part of designing many of these planes. When the conversation turns to the H²O-S system TK joins in.

They talk until late in the day. TK is amazed by how much Ben and Jim can remember about a project they worked on 50 years ago. They in turn are astounded by TK. Of course, Jim has been astounded by TK for a while now. They stay for dinner, which is super. It's Spanish, hot and spicy, served with lemonade. Ben's wife is definitely a very good cook. It's not often that TK ventures away from those very safe Swiss cheeseburgers.

"Don't tell Celeste, or she'll be trying to get me to eat all sorts of stuff," he tells Jim, who just laughs.

Mrs. Carter, who asks TK to just call her Lupé, also has made a special dessert which is lemon-flavored and is both hot and spicy and cold and icy at the same time, _Weird_! thinks TK.

She spotted him right off as a kid with a sweet tooth! TK is in heaven, and for the moment has forgotten all about Swiss cheeseburgers with Miracle Whip.

After dinner, TK asks, "Do you need a grandkid?"

"Consider it official," says Lupé. They all laugh.

Lupé is a renowned artist and paints desert scenes, many of which are hanging in the house. A few even have low flying abstractly drawn birds that, strangely enough, look a lot like experimental aircraft. Later they say their good-byes. Jim folds up the collapsible wheelchair, and puts it in the trunk of the Cobra. They head back across the dark desert.

The Engineering Institute

The next morning they have an early breakfast and are on their way driving down the freeway on their way to the California Engineering Institute. TK doesn't know quite what to expect. Even though he's been conversing with teachers and students and taking classes from several universities, including this one, he has never been to one.

Until now, it's all been by computer. The one time he tried to enroll in a community college they just laughed at him, so he went back to his computer. They didn't have any real interesting looking classes at the C.C. anyway. He was eleven at the time.

Ben Carter is going to be giving a lecture here today, and also is going to introduce TK around, so TK should get a good look at this college thing. They enter the main lecture hall and TK is amazed by how many people are here. There must be at least five hundred. Ben must be popular.

A few months ago TK would have been quite intimidated by a crowd this size, but being with the Bikesters and dealing with the crowds at races and personal appearances has made him quite comfortable around large groups of people.

TK discovers from listening to the talk around him that this is the hardest lecture to get in to all year, and there was a long waiting list. Ben, or Dr. Carter as everyone calls him here, is very well known. There is a spot for TK right down in front. _Good old wheelchair_ , thinks TK, _always gets a front row seat_. Jim sits by him.

Dr. Carter's lecture will be on engine torque and its relationship to force and lateral movement in aircraft and land vehicles. In the second part of the lecture he's also going to discuss engine torque's effect on traction, which just happens to be something that TK has had a lot of experience with lately, with SuperBike, perhaps the ultimate experiment in the real use and control of torque.

Just Talkin'

TK finds himself completely engrossed in the lecture. Dr. Carter's knowledge and thoughts on the effects of jet engine torque, and the lateral force it puts on aircraft are totally involving as far as TK is concerned. The lecture turns to the effects of engine torque on land vehicles.

Dr. Carter takes a short break and asks TK if he would like to talk to the group. TK is flabbergasted! This is a group of professors, graduate students, and top engineers. This is very scary, thinks TK. But he finds himself saying yes because it's a subject he knows about and has worked with. Ben asks him his last name so he can introduce him.

"Just TK is fine," he replies, and so TK it is. He is quite nervous at first, but as soon as he starts talking he's totally at ease. TK finds that everybody is very interested in what he has to say, and that makes this fun.

He tells them about SuperBike and the tremendous rotational torque of its huge rear tire about the rotating parts of the engine and drive train, which are all placed sideways, or 'Sidewinder' fashion in the bike chassis, and are all spinning in the same direction. He expertly describes the massive torque and the torque reaction that this produces, continuing to explain the delicacy of balance the bike requires, especially when, as in the race with Bo, they have to push their limits and put all the power on the ground they possibly can, without achieving total traction.

If it ever got to the point of totally hooking up, the bike would most likely either immediately break the wheelie bars and do a super wheel stand flipping over backwards, or become totally uncontrollable because of its very short wheelbase and the amount of horsepower over 3,000, it's trying to put on the ground.

As the professors, grad students and engineers sit spellbound, TK explains how the rear tire, a racing traction slick almost 20 inches wide, must always be breaking loose a certain amount, and the tremendous gyroscopic effect this extra spinning produces.

He goes on, explaining how Terry feels the gyro effect all through his body and can feel the bike struggling against this force, trying to break free and go any way but straight. It's clear from the expressions of his audience that they're as entertained and interested in the racing details as in the hard science that makes it possible.

When TK explains that the gyroscope is so strong that Terry can take his hands off the handle bars at over 250 miles per hour, and the bike just continues to pull itself straight, an excited buzz can be heard throughout the hall. TK has them in the palm of his hand. And he's spent enough time around Terry and Nitro to wrap up with a big finish, a finale that excites with possibilities but leaves the audience wanting more.

With relish, he explains many of the other things Nitro has learned while putting this whole system together, and some of the things they've learned from the computer readouts of the bike's runs. Of course, there's no talk about the H²O-S system, or anything to do with it. As far as anybody is concerned, SuperBike uses an AA/fuel dragster type engine running on nitro-methane fuel. The H²O-S system must remain a very closely guarded secret.

School Boy Monster

After the lecture, there's a question and answer period, and most of the questions are directed at TK. Soon he's involved in deep discussion with several of the professors and a group of senior engineers. Ben Carter and Jim Truesdale just look at each other and wink. Telling TK they will be in Dr. Carter's office, they head for the door.

Once in the hall Jim says, "Do you think we've created a monster?"

Ben laughs, "No, I think we are just helping a very bright young person start to realize his potential, and where he can go in life. His future is unlimited."

TK catches up with them almost two hours later, bubbling with talk about the people he met and talked to and all the things he's learned. They all have modems on their computers so he can talk to them no matter where he is. Still, this face to face thing is better then just being able to talk to people on the computer any day.

Late in the afternoon, as they head back to Jim's TK is still talking nonstop. Jim just smiles and thinks, A monster maybe, but a good monster. The rest of the week, TK spends most of his time at the Institute. In fact Jim just drops him off in the morning and picks him up in the afternoon. Jim is busy getting his motor home ready for the trip north.

The night before they leave, Ben and Lupé come for dinner. Later, as Jim, Ben, and TK sit and talk, Ben tells TK the Engineering Society would like him to present a paper at their annual meeting on some of the things they are finding out with SuperBike, excluding anything about the H²O-S system, of course.

TK can't believe this! But he says, "I will have to ask Nitro what he thinks, because it's up to him".

Ben continues, "The paper and presentation will of course count towards your engineering degree."

"Degree?" questions TK.

"Certainly," answers Ben, "You don't think we are going to let you hang around the Institute without graduating?"

"I haven't even gone to high school yet," protests TK.

"You can take a few tests that will take care of that," adds Jim. "You might be more of a college type kid."

"I know one thing," says TK, "I've sure met a lot of cool people at the Institute!"

"That's the first time I've ever heard engineers being called cool," says Ben, laughing.

TK Philosophy

By the way," Jim asks, "What is your last name?"

"I don't have one," answers TK.

"In the first foster home I was in when I was a baby, the people were named Smith, so they named me Billy Smith."

"Then, I went to another foster home where they always wanted a Jamie, and their last name was Tower, so I was Jamie Tower."

"Then I went to another home where they decided I was still Billy Smith. By then I was talking quite well, and I decided I was TK. In fact, I guess TK was one of the first things I said."

Jim asks, "Why TK? What does it mean?"

"I guess it must have meant kid who wants to pick his own name," answers TK.

"I mean, what does it stand for?" Jim asks.

"It doesn't stand for anything; that's why I don't put periods after my name. What you see is what you get, I guess. Anyway, when Celeste and I got out on our own, and she became my guardian, we had my name legally changed to TK."

_End of philosophical discussion_ , Jim thinks laughing to himself.

The evening ends with another long discussion about the H²O-S system, and the Rocket vehicle, which Ben has a lot of very interesting thoughts and ideas about. TK promises to talk to Nitro about doing the technical paper on SuperBike. TK is very nervous about presenting a paper to the Engineering Society it includes the top design engineers in the country. Ben doesn't tell him he already met most of the senior members of the Society at the lecture.

Land Yacht

Jim, his wife Betty, and TK are traveling north in the motor home, which is actually a converted Greyhound bus. Jim really likes this rig and plans to put a lot of miles on it now that he's officially retired. In fact, he's going to get a trailer, to pull behind it so he can bring the Cobra along.

A lot of the talk between Jim and TK revolves around TK's future. Both Jim and Ben Carter feel that TK has a lot to say, and they know that in order for his work and thoughts to be accepted and respected by the scientific and engineering community, he has to have the proper academic background.

Ben and Jim are putting together a schedule that will get TK his graduate and post graduate degrees based mostly on papers. These he can submit to scientific and engineering publications, with a series of lectures he can give which should be able to be tied in with the Bikesters travel schedule.

They feel that TK will get an extraordinary education. Among other things, he will have the chance to exchange ideas with experts and teachers all over the country, while he's actually testing many of his ideas for real at the races.

Farm Sweet Farm

After a very enjoyable, leisurely trip up the coast, they pull into the farm. There's a power and water hook up for the bus down near the beach, and TK notices Nail's trailer parked not far away. After getting the bus parked and plugged in, Jim and TK go up to the shop, while Celeste takes Betty over to the house to meet Nerissa.

ROCKETBIKE

Design Team

In the shop, Jim and TK find that Nail is already fabricating chassis parts, and Nitro has been working on a cooling system for the rocket engine. These things are only designed to run for a quick short burst.

The tail pipe gets extremely hot, very quickly, and will melt if it's not allowed to cool down, but the ultimate plan for the vehicle they are building requires this rocket to run for longer periods of time.

Jim looks at the cooling system, and is amazed. It's ingenious, and it should work. Nobody has ever come up with anything like this before. Nitro is quick to tell him that TK had a large part in designing it, and came up with a way to tie the cooling system in with the H²O-S system on the rocket.

TK says, "I just put Nitro's ideas in the computer to see what would come out." Jim realizes that Nitro and TK are one very strong design team.

Nerissa, Betty and Celeste decide to run into the small town that's nearby. There's a couple of antique shops and Betty loves to rummage around in those places. Nerissa needs to go to town anyway.

They have a warehouse there, and among other things they keep t-shirts in it, and she needs to pick up another load of unprinted shirts for the silk screening shop. They came back from San Francisco with several large orders for shirts, and the silk screening shop is going to have to run overtime to fill them.

Stuff

At the warehouse, Celeste is amazed by what she sees. Besides t-shirts, there are bits and pieces of Terry's and Nitro's projects over the years. There are race cars, motorcycles, race boats, pieces of airplanes, all kinds of engines, and who knows what else. What an unbelievable pile of stuff!

Celeste is drawn to one thing in particular, perhaps because it's the largest thing there and is hard to miss. In the back of the building is a huge unlimited hydroplane. It's so big that it's on a trailer that tilts it up on its side, so it can be legally moved on the roads.

As she works her way back to it, Celeste sees that it has what appears to be some sort of jet engine in it. It's definitely one very wild looking boat. Nerissa notices Celeste's interest in the jet hydroplane and walks up.

"Terry's always wanted to set a world speed record on water," she explains, "and this is one of the designs they've been experimenting with. There's several others here, but this is the latest one."

Celeste's mind is already working overtime. There's a promotion that she's been thinking about that this would fit into just perfectly. Tilted up on it's trailer, the Jet Boat is over eleven feet high and thirty feet long. It's like a giant mobile billboard. Just then, Betty walks in with a lamp she bought next door at the antique shop. She looks around at all the stuff in the warehouse and just shakes her head.

"Jim would go crazy here. There's enough stuff to keep him tinkering forever." They all laugh, get the cases of T-shirts loaded in the pickup, and head back.

Arriving back at the farm, they go to the shop to unload the T-shirts, and find the guys going full speed. Nail and Terry are building chassis pieces while Jim, Nitro, and TK work on the operating and cooling systems for the Rocket Engine. It's all moving along quite nicely and they feel they should be ready for the first test of the rocket engine with the cooling system on it in the next few days.

Seattle

They've decided to take a day off and go to Seattle. Everyone gets a bonus out of the proceeds of the race with Bo, and there's shopping to do. Also planned is a visit to the Boeing Museum of Flight. Early in the morning they all pile in the van and take I-5 south towards Seattle.

First thing on the agenda is the museum at Boeing Field in south Seattle. There's something for everyone here. Jim and Nitro are attracted to the aircraft from the 1940's and 50's, especially the high powered fighters.

They both give the beautifully restored Corsair an A-plus. TK and Nail think the SR71 Blackbird is the ultimate, while Terry is drawn to the seaplanes and flying boats. He has always liked the idea of boats that fly! The twins love it all and can't get enough.

Nerissa and Betty seem to be most drawn to the very early planes. To Nerissa the spidery designs of the first flying machines seem very close to nature, and Betty feels that with their beautiful woodwork and finish they are much like other fine antiques. Celeste likes the space vehicles and displays. She's always been very interested in outer space.

Star-fighter

But out of all the aircraft on display the one that draws them all to it is the F-104 Star-fighter. They stand in awe of it. Nitro is the first one to say, "That's the look."

"Just like a rocket ship," adds TK.

"Ballistic," Nail sums it up for everyone.

The first stop after the museum is an auto dealer, where they pick up a new Tracker, a car small enough that it can fit in the Bikester trailer without taking up much space. They can take it along to the races with them. The twins immediately fall in love with the little car.

TK looks at it and questions, "Hand controls?" Nitro just smiles, which TK decides means yes. _Outstanding_ , thinks TK.

Nerissa, Betty and the twins will take the Tracker and do some shopping, while everyone else takes the van to pick up various materials they need, plus stop at the machine shop to drop off the blue-prints for parts to be built. Then it's to the computer store for a major shopping spree. TK has spent hours putting together his wish list.

After all the shopping and errands are done, they all meet for dinner at a well known restaurant on the Seattle waterfront.

Everyone orders seafood, which is the specialty here, except of course for TK, who orders you guessed it a Swiss cheeseburger with Miracle Whip, and the twins, who have the same. _Oh no_ , thinks Celeste, _It's a cult_!

Luckily they don't have Tater Tots here, so TK and his followers settle for French fries, and, trying to get in the spirit of a seafood restaurant, they have them with tarter sauce.

"Not bad," says TK, "but next time I must remember to ask them if they can make the tarter sauce with Miracle Whip." After dinner, they take the van and the new Tracker, and head back up the freeway for home.

Just Like Christmas

TK is down in the shop before the sun comes up, putting his new computer system together. This is the ultimate machine! An ultra fast CPU with super-fast processor, mega-memory, and the latest, trickiest software! This is a dream come true for TK. Everybody gathers together for a big breakfast.

This kind of family get together thing at meals is all very new to Nail, who has been on his own almost as long as he can remember, but he's starting to enjoy the talk and togetherness.

Parking Lot Show

After breakfast, Celeste outlines her ideas for a major promotion using the jet hydroplane, a mobile show, consisting of the boat and one or two race bikes. The boat tilted up on it's trailer would be visible from a long distance and draw people to the display which would be set up on the parking lots of super-markets and shopping centers. This would be a charity promotion, mostly involved in collecting for the local food banks, trading Bikester items posters, etc. for donations.

Celeste knows that there shouldn't be a need for Food Banks, but there is, there are way too many people who are hungry. This promotion will not only collect food and money for the food banks but will also stimulate people to think more about giving in the future. Everybody is enthused about this project, especially Nerissa and Betty, who are going to be Celeste's partners in putting this one together. It's definitely a 'Go'!

Rocket Fishin'

For the next three weeks everyone is very busy. Celeste, Nerissa, and Betty are quite involved with putting together the food bank show, getting T-shirt production up to the point where it can fill the new orders, and taking Betty up to Canada a couple of times to cruise the antique shops.

The guys are totally buried in the rocket project and are working on it day and night. The tests of the rocket engine with the cooling system go flawlessly, and now they are concentrating on the vehicle itself.

Jim and TK take some time off to run down to Seattle to the University of Washington, where TK speaks to the engineering department professors, something Ben has set up, and they pick up several extremely advanced programs from the Engineering School's computer department. TK is invited back to give a full series of lectures.

Jim also gets in some fishing, after all this is a vacation, "Got to do the retired thing you know."

Nail and Celeste even get a chance to go down to Seattle and check out the music scene. Seattle is where it's happening for Punk and Grunge music, and Nail is a Grunger, so Grunge music is where it's at.

Bad Dude

The day comes when Nitro and Nail fit the last body panel in place and they all stand back to look at their creation.

"Wow! that's mega cool," says TK.

"It's more than cool," says Nitro, "It's positively glacial."

They all look at each other and laugh. Sometimes it seems like Nitro is playing on a totally different field then everybody else. However, they all agree on one thing. This dude is mean looking. It has the snarly look of the F-104 Star-fighter they saw at the museum, but Terry will ride it like a bike.

"This is going to be one wild ride!" says Terry.

The bottom and lower edges of RocketBike are very aerodynamically shaped. It's the result of many hours of calculations and design by TK and Jim, as well as lots of consultation with Ben. The new computer system has definitely proven its worth it's been running constantly on this project.

"I think maybe we're ready to test this baby," says Nitro. Everyone agrees.

China Lake International Airport

The strange little group of happy campers in the middle of nowhere has grown since last time. Besides the Bikester truck and trailer, Nail's rig is parked by the side of the abandoned runway.

A dust cloud on the road announces the arrival of Jim's bus. Jim has swung by Ben Carter's place in Lancaster, where he dropped off Betty to visit with Lupé and picked up Ben. Now everyone is here, including the complete engineering department.

RocketBike is already unloaded, sitting along side the trailer being readied for it's first test. Nitro, Nail and Terry are checking out the systems and fittings to make sure everything works and nothing is loose, while TK adjusts the small transmitter on the bike that will send data back to his computer and give them voice contact with Terry during a run. Celeste is putting together the video equipment they brought along to record the test.

Jim parks the bus and Jim and Ben are almost immediately huddled over RocketBike with everybody else getting it ready, checking systems over and over to make sure there will be no problems.

The Test

The time comes to try it out. Terry makes a couple of slow passes up and down the runway. Then they check everything again to make sure all systems are A-OK and ready for a fast pass. Nail and Celeste take off on their dirt bikes for their monitoring positions. Each has a video camera and a walkie-talkie that is in contact with both TK at the trailer and Terry.

Nitro gives Terry last minute instructions on the profile of this test run and Terry just nods his head. Nitro knows that once Terry is out there feeling all that power, he will do what ever he can get away with. But Nitro also knows that Terry won't do anything stupid, and whatever he tries will be something he's already thought out, and knows will work.

Nitro shakes Terry's hand, and walks over by the trailer. TK is in front of the monitor with Jim and Ben watching as the data starts to flow, cascading across the screen while Terry starts turning on systems on the bike.

Nail and Celeste call to report that they are in position. TK looks over at Nitro and gives him the signal to let him know that all the readings say Go and Nitro gives Terry the thumbs up sign.

Light the Candle

Terry hits the ignition button and disappears in an explosive cloud of dust and steamy exhaust with a loud roar! Nitro and TK turn anxiously to the monitor as Terry is accelerating so fast down the runway that he's already nearly out of sight.

Terry struggles against the tremendous G-force and pushes forward to control the bike as it accelerates even harder then SuperBike at its best. TK, Nitro, Jim and Ben watch the data flashing across the screen recording the astounding acceleration. With growing confidence, Terry leans forward on the bike and gives it more power.

At the first check point, Celeste watches through her viewfinder as RocketBike appears and disappears almost instantly. At the monitor Nitro and TK look at each other. Both are quite worried by the speed Terry is reaching. This is much faster then was planned for the run.

Terry grins and relaxes, ready to go for it, no matter what Nitro says, he wants to find out now. Terry looks down and presses the blue button on the handlebars. With a noticeable jolt, short delta wings extend instantly from side compartments on the bike, giving it another two feet of width and a massive increase in lifting surface. The turbulence from all the extra lift immediately rocks the bike and Terry has to hang on to the controls as it stutters and skims across the flat.

Wild Blue

TK, Nitro, Jim and Ben are all watching intently as the position mark diverges from the baseline on the screen and new data starts to appear indicating altitude.

Nitro looks over at Terry's parachute sitting just inside the door of the trailer, shakes his head, and says "Terry's going for it."

The other three huddled around the monitor look at him, all very concerned.

"Terry knows what he's doing," says Nitro, trying to calm their fears, and then adds under his breath, "Usually knows what he's doing."

Nail, at the final checkpoint, scans back down the runway with his video camera. Terry's nowhere in sight, suddenly the sound of RocketBike hits him like a ton of bricks, almost knocking him over! He looks up to see RocketBike disappear overhead with a roar.

Terry watches the ground sink below him as he eases the throttle forward, flying at last! Terry is realizing a life long dream. As he grows more comfortable with the controls, he flies the bike in gentle arcs above the flat desert. Flying on a bike, what more could there be!

Air Traffic "Control"

On the ground, several miles away, the Chief Controller at the nearby airbase is alerted as Terry penetrates restricted military airspace. He immediately scrambles a fighter to intercept and make visual contact.

Unaware, Terry is really getting into this flying deal, swooping down low over the trailer and then pulling up fast to blow everybody's mind down there. He has no idea that each swoop and dive is mystifying a room full of very serious air traffic controllers.

Before long, he hears Nitro on the radio telling him he's been up there long enough, and it's time to land, but he shouts back "No way." He has to stay up a little longer. This is not just as good as it gets, this is much better then it gets!

Just as Terry is getting to the point in confidence that he feels he can do anything with RocketBike and fly it anywhere, there is a sudden burst of turbulence. Terry looks to his left as a jet fighter drops from the sky and pulls slowly parallel with him traveling at the same speed.

An unbelieving Pilot stares across the narrow gap between jet and bike as he radios his confirmation. "It looks like a guy on a - err, like a guy on some kind of jet motorcycle!"

Terry and the pilot lock eyes. Terry sees that same look in the pilot's eyes that he saw in Bo's eyes when Bo saw him sliding sideways across the finish line at Sonoma. The pilot's radio crackles, "You'd better come back now."

"Yes, I think maybe you're right," replies the pilot. He shakes his head and rolls off to the side, heading back for his base. Terry throttles down and sinks gently toward the runway below.

Meanwhile, at the Farm

Nerissa and the girls sit saying nothing as the silver eagle they had been watching soar above the bluffs settles gracefully on the beach. They know that Terry is safe.

Innocent Until Proven Airborne

Back at China Lake, they see the jet interceptor come in low, and they know that Terry probably strayed into military airspace. But when the interceptor leaves, rather than forcing Terry down or escorting him back to its base, Nitro figures: "Maybe we can fake our way out of this."

As Terry touches down on the runway and coasts towards the trailer, Nitro notices a dust cloud off in the distance heading toward them. He radios Terry, "Park the bike on the other side of the trailer! We've got visitors!"

As RocketBike disappears behind the trailer the approaching vehicle is close enough that Nitro can see it's a military jeep. The gang goes into their 'look innocent' mode. TK throws a jacket over the computer gear, while Nitro pours lots of charcoal starter on the barbecue and tosses a match on it.

By the time the jeep containing four military types pulls up, Nitro is wearing a "Kiss the Cook" apron and turning burgers on the grill. It looks a little strange that the barbecue has flames two feet high, but Nitro thinks, _Maybe they won't notice_.

Off to the side, TK bats shuttlecocks at Jim over the badminton net that Celeste and Nail put up earlier. Ben has become an 'old guy', and is reclining in a lounge chair with a book, seemingly half asleep.

Caught?

A grim faced Captain and three MP's walk up and survey the scene.

"Burger?" offers Nitro.

"Uh, no thank you," replies the Captain, caught somewhat off-guard as he looks at the leaping flames.

"You guys haven't seen anything unusual out here, have you?" he asks, as Nitro smiles innocently over the unruly grill. The officer looks to the side and notices a small black kid in a wheelchair playing badminton with an older guy. As the shuttlecock whiffles outside TK's reach, the Captain just shakes his head.

"Nah, just brought the kid out for a little camping," says Nitro, motioning over his shoulder at TK.

At that moment Terry comes walking around from the other side of the trailer still wearing his silver fire suit. The Captain looks at Terry and rolls his eyes, thinking, _This is getting weirder by the minute_.

He asks Terry, "What kind of outfit is that?"

"UV protection, ozone layer is going away you know," Terry answers, pointing up at the sky. "Can't be too careful."

The Captain just stares at Terry, thinking, _New Agers_!

Just then one of the MP's says "I know who these guys are, they're the 'Bikesters'. I've seen them race on television."

Another MP adds, "Yeah, and they were out here involved in that drug bust a couple of months ago."

"I know that!" snaps the Captain, obviously not liking the idea that enlisted men might know anything he wasn't aware of. "In fact, you guys always seem to be out here when anything strange is going on."

Nitro just shrugs his shoulders. "Hey, we've been coming out here for years to camp; usually nobody else is ever around."

The Captain looks around and suddenly realizes that his MP's aren't standing behind him anymore, they are all over getting autographs from Terry. "Hey, you guys are on duty!" he barks, "Let's check this area out."

Just as the Captain starts to walk over to look on the other side of the trailer, Ben puts down his book and stands up.

The Captain recognizes him immediately, and snaps to attention. "Dr. Carter! I didn't realize you were here sir," stammers the Captain.

"Yes, and these are my friends," says Ben, waving a hand towards the odd little group, which has now been joined by Celeste and Nail.

"Then I assume there are no problems here," the Captain concludes.

"Correct," replies Ben, looking over at the flaming barbecue, thinking, _except for some very well done burgers_.

After the Captain and his MP's have left, the coals in the barbecue are allowed to burn down, and Nitro sets about cooking some real burgers. Standing around the barbecue, Terry recounts how exceptional it is to fly on a bike, especially a very fast one. Over by the computer TK, Jim and Ben are already pouring over the data generated by the test. RocketBike is a not only a reality, it's a smashing success!

### THE COMPUTER WIZARD

Keyboard Kid

"This is very interesting," says TK, "Look at these acceleration figures!" Jim and Ben take a look.

"This data says the bike was accelerating harder than a jet being catapult launched off an aircraft carrier," says Ben.

Nitro overhears and comes over. This fits in with a wild idea he has. "Tell me more," he says.

"Well," says Ben, "According to this information, which I have no reason to doubt after watching the test today, with this kind of acceleration and the amount of lift the bike has with its wings deployed, it could take off in less then 40 feet. Actually, quite a bit less, if it was taking off into a head wind."

"Hmm, what about landing speed?" asks Nitro. TK runs through mega lines of data on the screen.

_Amazing_ , thinks Nitro, watching TK manipulate the mouse and keyboard. Nitro notices that Ben and Jim are also watching in awe.

TK stops at the information on stall speeds, "Here it is." TK starts pulling out bits of data and running calculations on the screen. By now Terry, Nail and Celeste have also come over and are standing there dumbfounded, with Jim, Ben and Nitro, watching TK run the computer. "This new computer is really cool," says TK, "It never crashes. We'll have the answer in no time."

Orville, Wilbur and TK

"Here it is," he says. Even he's surprised by the result.

"Wow!" he exclaims, "The stall speed is a little under 44 miles per hour; 43.6842 m.p.h., to be fairly exact." And TK likes to be fairly exact. "In fact," he continues, while running more data and calculations across the screen at lighting speed, "it looks like with a few small changes in the design of the wings and underside of the lifting body, we could drop the stall speed even lower."

"Where were you when they were inventing airplanes?" asks Ben, just shaking his head.

Terry says, "I think the hamburgers are ready." After watching TK's unreal demonstration on the computer, he thinks it would be good to do something that he can understand, something a little easier to deal with, like eating a hamburger.

Everybody else seems to agree with Terry and wander over to the barbecue. Nitro, once they have their burgers, corrals Ben off to the side to pick his mind a little, and find out what he knows about taking off and landing on aircraft carriers. Soon everyone is involved in the conversation. They still don't know what Nitro has on his mind, but the subject is interesting.

Terry looks at the sky. It's getting late, and it probably wouldn't be wise to stay until tomorrow to try another flight, as they had originally planned. The military air controller will be keeping an eye over here now, no sense in being too noticeable.

"Why don't you all come down to my place in Lancaster?" offers Ben, "There's plenty of room to park your rigs. Lupé would love to see you all, and I have a pile of books and information for TK." Everyone accepts, especially TK.

Ben's House

Lupé creates a super dinner, with Betty and Celeste helping and taking a Spanish cooking lesson at the same time. One small slip up by TK, he unwittingly allows Celeste to see him not only flipping out over Lupé's Spanish cooking, but even having seconds.

Celeste thinks, _Maybe it's time for TK to start eating a few things besides those awful Swiss cheeseburgers_! After dinner, the conversation about carrier flying resumes. Ben knows a bit about it, as at one time he worked on a project to develop more efficient methods of launching and retrieval.

Nitro's Wild Idea

Nitro explains his wild idea. "Why not launch RocketBike off the top of the Bikester trailer? The trailer already has an elevator in it for lifting a vehicle up so you can store another underneath it. It could be modified to go all the way up to the roof, and the top of the trailer could be strengthened. It would be just like a carrier flight deck."

"Interesting," says Jim.

"Fantastic," adds TK.

"With all the lift and the low stall speed that RocketBike has, there's no reason this won't work," says Ben. "The problem, as I see it," he continues, "is landing on top of the trailer. With the amount of thrust RocketBike has, it could probably take off straight up, like a rocket ship. But landing is going to be tricky, that's a very small carrier deck."

TK can't contain himself. "If the truck and trailer were going forward at 44 miles an hour or so (43.6842 to be exact), the headwind would allow RocketBike to sit down on the top of the trailer at stall speed, wouldn't it?"

"Yes, but it's still a very small landing field." answers Ben.

"It would be like landing on a postage stamp," interjects Terry, "A three cent stamp!"

Nitro comes up with another idea. "How about having something that catches the Bike when it lands, like the cable they catch with a tail-hook on a fighter?"

"Yes, that would help," answers Ben, "It could stretch a little to help slow the bike down if it came in a little too fast."

"It would still be kinda scary," exclaims Terry. But things being kinda scary is what keeps attracting Terry to the races and projects like this, instead of being at the farm with Nerissa, watching the twins grow up. Somewhere he'd really like to be right now.

It's getting late, and they make plans for the next day. Ben has offered a tour of Edwards Air Force Base in the morning. TK can hardly wait, a chance to see some of the ultra experimental aircraft he's been watching fly over the flats in front of Ben and Lupe's house close up. After going to Edwards, they are all heading for home, except of course Nail, who is heading for the East Coast for several races. Nail is always on the road.

Secret Stuff

They are at Edwards early, and Ben can go anywhere on the base, so they get the full tour. They even get to see some of the very latest wing designs, which Ben figured TK would be very interested in.

They look at a Space Shuttle and are even invited to go aboard and look around. Celeste is thrilled, her secret dream is to fly on the Space Shuttle. After several hours of seeing just about everything imaginable in the way of state-of-the-art aircraft, they go back to Lancaster for lunch.

Lunch at Lupé's

Lupé has outdone herself and lunch lasts late into the afternoon. It ends with everyone getting ready to head in their various directions, and making plans for where their paths can cross next. Celeste has been in contact with a major racetrack in Florida.

It looks like together they will be putting on a giant "Run What Ya Brung" spectacular in about seven weeks. It's still in the formative stages, and when they get back to the farm, Celeste will have time to sit down and put it together. Jim, Betty, Ben and Lupé are already planning to travel out to Florida for the race in Jim's and Betty's bus.

Nail says, "You know I'll be there, I never miss a race, especially a big one."

Nail heads east, while Jim and Betty leave in the bus, aimed back towards L.A. As the Bikesters get ready to leave, Lupé gives them a big picnic basket she has fixed for the trip.

"Some Gramma I got, huh?" says TK, beaming. Lupé gives him a big hug.

Thinkin'

Celeste and Terry share most of the driving as Nitro and TK spend a lot of the trip bouncing ideas and theory off of each other while figuring out the systems necessary to launch and land RocketBike off the top of the trailer.

Ben was right. Taking off should be relatively easy. It's landing and stopping the bike that is going to be a trick. By the time they pull into the farm, TK and Nitro have put together a design for a rather basic set-up. It's going to be kind of low tech, but it should work, and it's a starting point.

Home Again

After getting settled back in at the farm, everyone falls into the routine of their own projects. Celeste and Nerissa are going full tilt getting the "Parking Lot Show" ready to go, and also upgrading the whole tee-shirt operation. The first orders have been sent to the new customers in California and they are already calling to order more.

Celeste is also spending lots of time on the phone, mostly to Florida, putting the "Run What Ya Brung Spectacular" together, and it's coming along very nicely. It looks like they will use the race for the public debut of RocketBike. TK and Nitro are very busy, Nitro modifying the trailer so they can launch RocketBike off it, and TK working on the system to land back on the trailer and get the bike stopped.

TK, with the help of Nitro, is also working on the paper to be presented to the Engineering Society. Terry is off with the twins working on "The Boat", a 43-foot cabin cruiser that Terry and the girls have been restoring for two years, and it's almost ready to go.

Gettin' Stuff Done

This break from the racing schedule has worked to everyone's advantage. Celeste has the "Parking Lot Show" ready to go. The jet hydroplane is all painted and the sign painter has just finished lettering it. Celeste has decided to call the whole promotion "Can-Am Harvest" because they will be collecting for the food banks both here in the U.S., and just across the border in the Vancouver, Canada area. Nitro has strengthened the top of the trailer, modified the elevator and built a sliding door so RocketBike can be elevated to the roof for launching.

"It's cool, just like a little aircraft carrier," says TK as they put the finishing touches on the catch system for landing the real trick part.

The best accomplishment of all is that "The Boat" is finished, and everybody is taking the rest of the day off for the inaugural cruise.

On the Boat

It's an excellent day to be out on the water, clear, cool and crisp. They've packed a big lunch and lots of hot chocolate. There are whales and seals to watch. The twins take turns steering while everyone else just lays back and enjoys the day.

Can-Am Harvest

After a day of cruising everyone is recharged and ready to go full tilt, which is a good thing, because today is the first time out for the Can-Am Harvest Show. Celeste is very proud of what they've created. The hydro looks great. The truck they've put together to tow the racing boat opens up into a small stage to display SuperBike or whatever else they've brought along. Behind the display platform is a large video screen.

The video Celeste put together has footage of SuperBike racing, and the China Lake drug bust, with a spot for "D.A.R.E. To Keep Kids Off Drugs", not to mention some really flashy graphics and some information about the food banks. It should go over great. In fact Celeste has made up her mind, this whole promotion is going to be a major hit.

This first show is going to be at a local shopping center. Celeste hasn't put out any advance publicity. She wants to find out how people react to the promotion without knowing anything about it or what to expect.

Shopping Center

Before they even get the display set up, the hydroplane, with its bright colors and lettering, is drawing a large crowd. In talking to the people, Celeste is amazed by the percentage that are not aware of how many people are without food, or the urgency of helping them.

Celeste feels we are all brothers and sisters, and it is our duty to look out for each other, especially when someone is in need. She makes a note to put even more information on the video about the hungry and the homeless. The video is only about two minutes long and plays over and over so everyone coming up to the display gets a chance to see it.

The show is a tremendous hit! Before the day is over they've sold all the Can- Am Harvest and Bikester tee-shirts they brought with them, collecting quite a large amount of money for the local food bank, plus they have enough food donated to fill over five barrels. Best of all, they have educated a lot of people about the need to give, in the process.

Celeste and Nerissa are ecstatic. This was a super success, but wait until they get some PR and advertising going. Then people will know about the show and where it's going to be in advance. It will be easy to do twice as well. Celeste knows it's going to be a monster success, and will help keep the food banks in this area well stocked for a long time to come.

Back to Work

Celeste doesn't have much time to revel in the glory of the Can-Am Harvest success. Besides scheduling the next several months of appearances for Can-Am Harvest, she has to train several of Nerissa's students to handle the Can-Am appearances. There's also the Bikesters business and scheduling to stay on top of, and the big race in Florida to deal with, which is coming together very fast.

Some of the pre-race publicity is already starting, and it's rapidly shaping up as the Big Race of All Time. There will be a full field of the very fastest and quickest fuel dragsters and funny cars, plus over twenty Jet Cars. The Grungers and all the other ultra quick drag bikes will be there, even a few from Europe and a large supporting show. The race will be televised worldwide live by satellite.

The highlights will include SuperBike against the winner of the Fuel Funny Car Eliminations and then the Fuel Dragster winner in one round match races. The Grand Finale will be Terry on RocketBike against the top eliminator of the jet cars. This will be the first time the public will see RocketBike, and there will be a lot of people watching.

This race will be a showcase for drag racing worldwide, and Celeste thinks it will help make their sport as popular as Formula One and Indy Car racing everywhere. Racers like Terry, Bo and Nail, despite their differences, are drawn together by a common love of drag racing, and every racer is going all out to make this race a major success. This is what they've all been waiting for, a chance to show the world their sport at its best.

### FLAT TOP

One Week Later

They have to be in Florida almost two weeks before the race, because of Celeste's duties as co-promoter of the event, and various pre-race publicity commitments the Bikesters have. Terry's going to fly to Florida. Nitro, Celeste and TK will drive out with the truck and trailer. This way, Terry gets a couple of extra weeks at home.

Nitro and TK have taken SuperBike totally apart and carefully checked everything, replacing any part with even a slight amount of wear. The bike is now back together and ready to race. They also went all through RocketBike making any changes or modifications that Terry, and the computer readouts from the test at China Lake told them were necessary.

Communicating by computer, Ben, Jim and TK have totally redesigned the flight surfaces of the bike, getting rid of the short Delta wings that fold into the body when not in use.

Instead they've come up with a complete lifting body design, using ducted air to increase lift and lower the stall speeds, very much like the advanced designs TK saw at Edwards. They have also finished the modifications to the trailer, and are ready to give the 'Flight Deck' a test.

The twins have been driving Nerissa crazy. They want to see Terry fly on RocketBike. She reluctantly gives in and agrees to test it here on the farm, even though Terry's exploits are very unsettling to her.

Flying off the Flat top

It's another cool and clear morning as they get everything set to give the trailer launch a try. RocketBike is sitting on top of the trailer in its ready position. Terry is in his silver flight suit, with his parachute on this time.

He and Nitro are up on top of the trailer by the bike, talking, as Terry puts on his helmet. They are going over things one last time, as Nitro says: You can't be too careful. Terry and Nitro shake hands and Nitro goes back down to the ground and over to the computer with TK.

Over to the side, Celeste is standing with Nerissa and the twins. Celeste knows that the racing, and before that the daredevil stunts, that are so much a part of Terry's life, are hard for Nerissa to deal with. She also knows that Nerissa would never ask Terry to give up something that he loves so much.

Terry is on RocketBike and everything reads Go on the computer screen in front of TK. Nerissa looks up at Terry sitting on the bike, and Terry gives her a thumbs up, no sweat sign. TK begins the count down.

Just before he's ready to say, "Blast off," Nerissa looks up, and high in the clear sky, flying in big circles directly above them is the 'Silver Eagle'. Nerissa is at peace. She knows everything will be all right. She puts her arms around the twins so they can watch Terry fly together.

Jill and Katie look up and say, "Look, the eagle is back." Celeste looks up, and sees nothing, but she somehow knows everything is OK.

Blast Off

Terry hits the ignition button and launches with a roar! In the blink of an eye, he's above the bluff and heading out over the water, leaving a trail of white flame and a steam-like vapor trail.

The twins are jumping up and down with excitement. Even Nerissa is thrilled by the spectacular launch, now that she knows Terry will be safe from any harm. Terry rolls out into a gentle arc over the water, and curves back over the farm. He sees the twins waving and waves back, then he pulls back on the controls and goes almost straight up. Wild!

TK is watching the computer as it absorbs the unbelievable amounts of input being radioed to it from RocketBike. _Terry's really putting the Bike through it's paces; there'll be so much data it'll take weeks to analyze_ , thinks TK, _Cool_.

Nitro is already on the radio trying to talk Terry into coming down, but he knows Terry will land when he's ready to. It's true Terry is having a lot of fun, and is in no big hurry to come back down, but the other thing is when he comes back down he's got to land. That's 'iffy', even by Terry's standards.

He radios to Nitro. "If you thought the top of the Bikester trailer looked small when you're down there standing on it, you ought to see it from up here. It's TINEY!"

"This is going to be scary," says Terry, even though he's attracted to things kinda scary. This might be carrying it a little far.

Floating on Air

The plan for landing is to first make a low, slow pass a few feet over the trailer to see what it's like. Nitro says, "If you don't like it, you can always land on the driveway," which they had picked for their alternate landing strip.

"No way," says Terry, "I came up here to land on the top of the trailer and that's what I'm going to do."

He loops in and makes a very low pass over the trailer, slowing down so he's holding it just over stall speed. "It's amazing," Terry continues, "how sensitive this bike is to fly, I can feel its every twitch, I can feel it floating right on the edge of stalling... I love it!"

Down on the ground TK at the computer relays information to Nitro. "The aerodynamic modifications we made are making a big difference. He's down to under thirty-five miles an hour and the bike's flying very smoothly. We've dropped the stall speed by almost ten miles per hour without losing any stability."

As Terry pulls up to come around again and land, he thinks, _It felt really solid at that low of a speed, I felt like I could almost step off the bike onto the trailer as I went over it. I think maybe this will work_.

Nitro radios, "We're putting up the catch line now." TK starts the sequence on the computer that raises the line. They are using a very strong bungee cord, so it will have a little give to slow the bike down to a stop as it lands.

Terry hits the button on the handlebars, which drops the 'tail-hook' that will catch the line. He's coming in, low and slow. Everyone on the ground holds their breath as Terry drifts in towards the edge of the trailer. At just barely above stall speed it seems like it's taking forever. Nerissa is once again aware of the eagle, which is very low, flying in tight circles above them.

Touchdown

RocketBike comes across the edge of the trailer and the tail-hook catches the line just as the bike's wheels touch the deck. It's still going almost thirty-five miles and hour and Terry braces himself for the sudden de-acceleration as the bike pulls against the bungee cord to stop before it goes off the other end of the trailer. The bungee cord works just as TK's figures said it would work, absorbing the energy that is hurling Terry and RocketBike towards the other end of the trailer roof.

In fact, TK has worked it out so closely that the bike, pulling against the cord, springs so far forward that its front wheel is actually hanging over the far edge of the trailer before it springs back on to the solid trailer top.

In the brief second that he's hanging out over the far edge of the trailer, Terry looks down at the ground and thinks, _Whoa, I don't know how many times we can do this and get away with it_!

At the computer screen TK thinks, _Hmm, calculated the elasticity in that bungee perfectly, another engineering triumph_. At least that's what he thinks until Terry tells him exactly what he thinks of that calculation!

#### SEA OF FIRE

On the Beach

After the excitement of the test, the day ends down on the beach, while they watch the lights of the passing ships and enjoying a feast that the twins prepared Indian Style steaming shellfish over hot coals in the sand. They even gathered the fresh oysters and clams that are the highlight of the meal.

It's all five star, and TK gets to try out his latest invention, Miracle Whip tartar sauce, which he and the girls developed with scientific zeal, if not precision, simultaneously creating a laboratory-sized mess in Nerissa's kitchen. But it tastes great! At least as far as TK and the twins are concerned. Everyone else passes in favor of the old unimproved tartar sauce, or even just a little lemon and pepper. The shellfish are truly delicious! Soon everyone is relaxing, watching the stars, the fire, or listening to the bark of the seals and the lapping of the waves.

Without warning, the idyllic evening is brought to abrupt end by TK's excited shout, "Look, there's a fire out there!"

Everybody else see the flames immediately. They look like they're out toward the middle of the strait, in the shipping lane the supertankers use as they go back and forth to the nearby refineries.

Terry and Nitro head up the hill to see what kind of information they can pick up on the CB scanner, TK wheeling closely behind. Sure enough, it's a tanker fire and the emergency band is already alive as rescue boats are hurriedly dispatched. By the time Celeste arrives at the truck, the Coast Guard is already announcing that they have found the crew in lifeboats and are picking them up, but one man is still unaccounted for.

Helicopters are on the way to aid them in their search for the missing man, but it will take them at least another thirty minutes to arrive at the scene, which is a long time in a situation like this. With flames swirling and spreading about the deck of the tanker every second counts.

Team in Action

Terry turns to say something to Nitro, but he isn't there, he's already in the back of the trailer putting a fresh separator disc in RocketBike and getting it ready to fly, as usual Terry and Nitro are on the same wave length.

"With RocketBike's new slow flight capabilities, I should be able to fly over the area slow enough to help them with their search," says Terry as he puts on his silver flight suit and helmet.

RocketBike is quickly ready to go and the four of them touch hands in a quick affirmation of team unity. Terry gets on the bike as Nitro hits the elevator switch to lift Terry and RocketBike to the roof.

Below, TK turns on the computer so they can receive data from the bike and communicate with Terry. Celeste puts on a set of headphones hooked to the CB scanner so she can monitor search reports from the Coast Guard.

The elevator reaches roof level. As Terry prepares to launch, he looks to the west, where a good portion of the sky is now bright orange from the fire. Won't be hard to find, he thinks as Nitro's voice fills his headphones with a steady stream of launch information.

Blast Off

TK gives the countdown and at zero, Terry hits the green button. Man, he thinks, these launches are unreal. They almost make me forget about riding SuperBike.

By the time Terry gets over the rush of the launch and gets his bearings, he's out over the water and nearly halfway to the burning tanker. He looks down as he passes over a Coast Guard cutter. _Hope they're too busy searching to notice me_ , he thinks. _We want to keep this flying bike thing kinda under wraps for now_.

He's in luck. Everyone on the cutter is staring out at the searchlight spots on the water, hoping to spot the missing crewman. Nobody looks up and notices the strange vehicle rapidly passing overhead. _This flying at night is alright_ , thinks Terry. It's almost a full moon so the visibility is good, and he's now close enough to the fire that it's orange glow lights the water and tanker deck.

Sea of Fire

The fire has spread out around the ship as its spilling fuel ignites. Flames stream skyward from the surface of the waves, fanning across the water in gusts of dark and oily smoke. Terry takes it in from the air as he approaches. It's worse than it appears from the shore and he radios a status report to the team.

"It looks pretty hopeless if that guy ended up in the water. Everything's on fire down there." Terry completes his transmission as he leans into a banking turn over the huge vessel. Mid-turn, he notices something very interesting.

Although there is fire all around it on the water, and even though one end of it is totally engulfed in flames, there seems to be an area right down in the middle of the giant ship, perhaps some sort of raised deck, where there is absolutely no fire at all. Making a tight turn, he comes in lower, feeling the heat as he looks down into the flames.

Help

Then he spots something else. Something that looks like a man, it is! He's about half way down the raised platform. As Terry passes over him, he can see that the man appears to be on his knees. _Maybe he's praying_ , thinks Terry, _and I don't blame him. This situation doesn't look too good_.

"Man, I hate fire!" he says to himself as he pulls up steeply over the flames which are pouring from the ship's bridge windows.

These supertankers are longer than three football fields, and the middle platform surrounded by fire looks like a nice, long and well-lit runway. Terry comes around fast and heads straight for it.

Goin' In

"Got no choice, it's his only chance," Terry radios to Nitro as he crosses over the bow of the monster ship. In a single rapid descent he clears the searing heat of the fire and sets down lightly on the front end of the platform, rapidly propelled towards the man, who has not yet looked up. _Hope he sees me before I hit him_ , Terry thinks.

As if on cue, the man suddenly raises his head and stares directly at Terry. Terry is close enough to see the expression on his face, and it's a very strange one indeed. The man is beyond terrified: his features display a strange, desperate calm, the look of someone who has accepted his fate. As Terry rolls to a stop beside him, the man reaches out and touches him. He's obviously given up hope.

His hand probes the silver of Terry's suit as if to comprehend it's meaning, or whether Terry is real or a figment of his desperate imagination. Terry nods, and as the reality of his rescue registers, the man is suddenly, instantly babbling in a language that Terry can't understand at all.

Putting his feet to the deck, Terry can feel the heat of the fire through the bottoms of his boots. _This is going to be like a giant frying pan, real soon_ , he thinks. _Best get a move on_. Patting the seat behind him and shouting at the man to get on quick, Terry redistributes his weight over the frame of the bike and prepares for their getaway. Terry hopes that the man will figure out what he's trying to say, won't freeze with panic, but before he has a chance to give it a second thought, the man is already on the seat behind him. Even if he doesn't exactly understand Terry's words, he obviously understands the meaning of hurry, not to mention fire, and hold on tight. He doesn't waste a second grabbing on so tight that he practically squeezes the breath out of Terry.

We're Out of Here!

Terry hits the ignition button and they begin to accelerate towards the back end of the tanker and its bridge tower, which is now a wall of fire. They lift off and Terry puts RocketBike into a steep climb, banking to the left as the flames lick at their feet.

Through all of this, Terry's passenger is repeating the same words over and over. Terry, who can't understand a word he is saying thinks that maybe this guy has never flown before. He radios Nitro that he's going to set it down on the beach, putting it into a slow turn as they approach the shore. By the time he closes the gap, Nitro and Celeste are already at the waterline with flashlights to mark off a good level landing spot.

Safe and Sound

RocketBike sets down smoothly on the hard sand and rolls to a stop as Nitro and Celeste come running. When Terry's passenger sees Celeste, he finally says a word that Terry can understand, Angel. Overwhelmed, he falls to his knees, putting his hands on the sand.

"I think you better get this guy to a hospital," Terry says to Nitro. "He seems real... confused."

Nitro whisks the crewman off to the hospital in the pick-up. The entire way he continues to babble away. Nitro can't even tell what country he's from let alone make heads or tails out of what he's saying. Although he probably shouldn't, he occasionally nods in agreement to put the man at ease.

At the hospital there are a lot of questions. Nitro just tells them that the guy was found down on the beach. Of course, he doesn't tell them how it is that he got there. There isn't anybody at the hospital who can understand what the guy is saying either. _Hmmm_ , Nitro thinks, _we just might get away with this. We should be on our way to Florida by the time anybody can figure out what he's talking about_. As he heads toward the double doors of the Emergency Room, his thoughts continue. _It would be most preferable if people didn't know that RocketBike can fly yet. There are still a few bugs to work out before we want to go public with it. Also, people knowing that the bike can fly might bring up questions about the H²O-S system--something we don't want to have others aware of, particularly the people from Atlas_.

Gettin' Away Clean

Early the next morning, before the Coast Guard or press can come around asking questions about how the guy from the tanker ended up on the beach. The Bikesters truck and trailer is loaded and pulling out the driveway for Florida.

On the Road Again

The trip is a fairly fast one. They drive almost straight through, with Nitro and Celeste switching off driving, and only a couple of three or four hour stopovers. TK is using the travel time to put the final touches on the paper to be presented to the Engineering Society. On the way back from Florida, they will be stopping in Chicago, where the Engineers are having their annual meeting. TK will be presenting his paper there, and it has to be just right.

TK is also analyzing data from the last RocketBike test. After getting an earful from Terry, and running the first set of numbers, it's quite obvious that they have to find a more efficient method of stopping the bike when it lands on the trailer.

TK has some ideas, which he will discuss with Jim and Ben when they all meet up in Florida. He's been running them by Nitro and Celeste, but they all agree, this one is going to take some major engineering talent.

### RUN WHAT YA BRUNG

Florida

"Alright! Sun, surf, and palm trees!" says TK, looking out at the tropical landscape through the side window of the truck.

They've already made arrangements to park the truck and trailer at a private oceanside RV park, where they'll stay until the week before the race. Then they take the whole operation over to the racetrack. Nitro pulls in alongside Jim's bus. Jim, Betty, Ben and Lupé have been here almost a week and are quite settled in.

Nitro unloads the Tracker for Celeste. She has an endless number of things to do, and multitudes of people she has to see. She's going to be very busy for the next couple weeks. Looking down the beach, TK spots Jim and Ben, and rolls down the boardwalk to say hi, and see what's going on. TK also wants to discuss his ideas for stopping RocketBike when they do trailer top landings.

Magnetic Thoughts

Nitro joins them as TK presents his idea. TK's idea has them intrigued. The concept is to use "controlled magnetism" to pull the bike down to a stop. The bungee cord idea was good, but just too scary, and there's no way of using any kind of normal type brakes. They would just lock up the tires and the bike would skid off the roof. The distance available to stop is just too short.

Nitro has already come up with some of his very logical and practical ideas and theories to add to the mix, and now Ben and Jim will add their thoughts and technical input. The idea will certainly work in fact, as far as Ben and Jim are concerned it's brilliant.

"It looks like the challenge is going to be developing an electro-magnet and a power source for it that's strong enough to do the job, yet is still compact and lightweight," says Ben.

Jim adds, "The magnetic side of the system could be built into the roof of the trailer, but it would be better if the system was compact enough to be onboard the bike. That would give the capability of using this system to land on other surfaces that are magnetically attractive."

"And, the 'Magnebrakes' could be used to hold the bike in one spot so it could build up to full thrust before takeoff," finishes TK.

"Magnebrakes?" asks Ben.

"Yeah, I thought that was a good thing to call them," says TK.

"Cool," says Nitro, "You know what Dick Tracy said 'The nation that controls magnetism will control the world'."

"That's right," both Jim and Ben say, laughing.

TK just looks over and shakes his head. "Who's Dick Tracy? Wasn't he that guy in the Madonna movie?" TK will never quite understand old guy humor.

"You know," says Ben, "Walter Lucas, who is one of the world's foremost authorities on electro-magnetic engineering, will be at the meeting in Chicago. Why don't we run this problem by him? I bet he will have a few ideas." It's late, and the party breaks up for the evening, but there'll be lots more discussion about the Magnebrakes in the next few days.

Tannin' and Talkin'

A week on the beach has been most excellent. TK's digging it. There has been plenty of time to sit out on the sand with Ben and Jim talking engineering and the Magnebrake idea, along with a few others, which are shaping up.

Nitro has had time to add a new system on RocketBike that will add to the show for the grand finale of the race. RocketBike will be a stay-on-the-ground race bike for now. The plan is to keep the flying a secret for the time being.

Celeste has been on the run constantly, getting the race together. Nail has once again appeared, and is helping out with the running around and organizing. The racers are starting to arrive in town from all over, as the race is only a little over a week away. Celeste has organized PR appearances for everybody who's around early.

The Grungers have made it a point to be here almost two weeks early, just to make appearances at hospitals, pre-race events, etc. This is their chance to become part of mainstream racing, and they aren't going to blow it! Nail and Bob Corliss won't let them.

Terry arrives at the airport in a couple of hours, and then the PR goes into high gear. Terry will be busy with appearances and interviews until they leave town after the race.

Here's Terry!

As much as Terry enjoyed the extra time at home, it's good to be back in the middle of the action again. He treats everyone to a big dinner in town, and then they sit and go over the plans for the next eight days until the race.

In the morning they will move the Bikester truck and trailer to the racetrack. It will be their base of operations for interviews and such. Jim's bus will stay at the RV park so that Jim and Ben and their wives can continue to enjoy the beach.

However, Jim and Ben will be commuting to the racetrack to help out and continue working with TK on the design of the Magnebrakes among other projects.

Friday

They get everything moved and set up and, using a smaller truck to haul SuperBike and RocketBike around town. They begin a whirlwind of television appearances and newspaper interviews that Celeste has scheduled. Bo will arrive Saturday morning and then it's the "Terry and Bo Show" for the next week leading up to the race. It's going to be very hectic!

It's Bo Time

Bo has arrived, and after the initial "Terry and Bo going at each other" routine, giving each other a hard time, they settle down into the fairly professional Terry and Bo deal. However, there is still no script, and you never know quite what they're going to say. The press can't get enough of it, which is just the way Celeste wants it to work.

Bo is quite confident about beating Terry this time. He's made some secret modifications to his dragster and he knows he can't lose. And you know Bo, if he's sure he's going to win, he's got to tell everybody about it, in fact he'll tell everybody about it no matter what!

It's all Coming Together

The days leading up to the race are very busy for Celeste. Between the Bikester appearances and interviews she's orchestrating and all the other organizing and pre-race activities, she doesn't have a moment to spare. Once again, Nail and the Grungers are a lifesaver, helping take care of a lot of the details.

Other than the Bikester appearances, TK has a lot of time to spend with Ben and Jim. They visit a local Engineering School and even take one day, along with Betty and Lupé, to go to Disney World. A day with all his grandparents, most excellent!

Nitro concentrates on the upcoming race, going over and over! both of the bikes to be sure everything's perfect. By the end of the week, the "Run What Ya Brung Spectacular" is ready to go. All the racecars and bikes are in town, and the race couldn't be hyped any higher, with all the television coverage, etc. Celeste just hopes that everything keeps going as smooth as it has so far, and there's no reason to think that it won't.

The Saturday Show

It seems like there's never a cloudy day in Florida, and this one is no exception. People are already lined up at the gates at six in the morning, and by the time they open up at eight the line is out of sight. Celeste looks at the flood of spectators and gets the feeling of accomplishment that a promoter gets when something comes together just right. She thinks, _This baby's working! Far out_!

Luckily, Nerissa shipped out an extra load of tee shirts, because by ten o'clock the three local kids Celeste recruited to sell tee shirts are already going full tilt. Terry and Celeste sign autographs and visit with the crowd. Behind them, by the trailer, Nitro, TK, Jim and Nail work on SuperBike. Even Ben is involved, but mostly they are working on Nail's bike in the trailer.

There are some new parts on it that TK and Nitro designed and brought out from Seattle with them. Nail has been giving them a try in the time trials, and the new stuff is working super. The bike is faster and quicker then ever by a substantial margin. They decide to leave the new system in for the fuel bike eliminations, which are about to start. This will be the test. Nail dusts his competition, and in the final round will race against the baddest Fuel Bike around, ridden by "Jersey" Jack Russell. This guy is fast!

More Data

Terry and Celeste take a break from their other duties, and go up to the starting line to watch Nail race for Fuel Bike Top Eliminator. The two bikes fire up and Terry wonders what everybody else around the starting line thinks of the fact that Nail's bike is way louder then Jersey Jack's. What's more, Nail's exhaust is white and looks just like steam. But, in looking around, Terry realizes that they are all so intent on the race that nobody seems to notice.

Watching from over to the side TK smiles, "That's three bikes with H²O-S systems now," he remarks to Jim, "SuperBike, RocketBike, and now Nail's bike."

They're testing a new idea on Nail's bike, using a smaller H²O-S system to produce and mix the oxygenated hydrogen in with racing fuel, in this case methyl alcohol, which is made from wood, and is not a petroleum product, and it's working super!

After doing their burnouts, the two bikes line up at the starting line. The light turns green, and they're gone, blistering side by side down the track!

"This guy's as quick on the lights as Nail, thinks Terry. That's hard to believe! But Nail quickly starts to pull away and wins comfortably, setting a new Fuel Bike Elapsed Time record in the process, for bikes other than SuperBike of course. After the race, Nail brings his bike back to the Bikester trailer. TK plugs his computer into the module he has installed on the bike to add the information from this last run to his database.

"More data," says TK "Can't get enough data."

By now it's late afternoon and the Fuel Funny Car Eliminations have finished, with the winner being Dangerous Dan Jones. He's been on quite a winning streak since that day in Phoenix when Terry pulled him out of a burning racecar. It's going to be Dangerous Dan taking on Terry and SuperBike in the match race that will end today's racing. Dan Jones and his Funny Car are already at the head of the staging area when SuperBike arrives, towed by the Tracker.

Before Terry and Dan race, two of the Jet Cars run a match race to give the spectators and the television audience a preview of what's on tap for tomorrow. They put on a great show, lots of fire, smoke, noise and speed.

SuperBike vs. Dangerous Dan

The smell of jet fuel is still in the air as Dangerous Dan fires up. His Crew Chief gives him a pat on the helmet and puts the body down, checking that it's securely latched. As Dan rolls toward the starting line and begins his burnout, Nitro hits the button starting SuperBike, which is its usual exceptionally loud self, drowning out the high exhaust note of Dangerous Dan's supercharged hemi.

Dan does a nice smooth burnout to a little over half the track. And Terry is right behind him. Terry goes through his usual burnout routine, kind of a mini test session to see just what sort of mood old S-Bike is in today. To the crowd it looks like nothing more than a good, hard, very smoky burnout, but it's much more. Terry tries the wheel spin at several different throttle levels.

He finds out where it picks up the front wheel and how stable it is doing a wheelie today, and what the racetrack is like traction-wise. These, and the other things he tests playing with the steering, etcetera will hopefully allow him to match whatever SuperBike's mood is at the moment to whatever the track conditions are. However, S-Bike can get temperamental and surprise you: You've got to be on your toes.

By now the burnout has lasted to the finish line and Terry turns around and heads back for the starting line, thinking, _This thing is smoother and more controllable then it's ever been. Nitro's latest tricks are really dialing it in, dynamite_!

Terry catches up with the Funny Car as it begins to pull up to the starting line. He turns SuperBike behind the line and the racecar and the bike pull up to the line together. As the lights turn yellow, signifying get ready, Terry thinks, _This is going to be nice and smooth, just like it's supposed to be_. He looks over at Dangerous Dan and says, "No fireworks this time! We want this to look good for TV!" The lights turn green!

As usual Terry gets a good jump, there's no way a car can even come close to launching as hard as the bike. Terry stays out in front all the way. SuperBike is working just right. As they cross the finish line the Funny Car is starting to show some speed, going 40 miles and hour faster then the bike, but there's no way he's going to catch up. SuperBike is just too quick for him.

Back at the starting line, Bo, who was watching very closely, takes note of how smooth Terry on SuperBike was. _They seem to be working a lot of the wildness out of the bike_ , thinks Bo, _This is going to make it a bit tougher tomorrow_. Bo wants to beat Terry more than anything!

After the first day of racing, the racetrack throws a big dinner for the racers at a nearby restaurant. The party breaks up early. The track opens for spectators at eight in the morning, and they have to be there a lot earlier than that. Tomorrow is the big day!

### JETASAURUS REX

BIG

The Bikesters get to the track very early, and something totally unreal is just pulling through the gate as they arrive! In fact, it's almost as outrageous as SuperBike and RocketBike. It's the awesome, ground-shaking Jetasaurus Rex. This thing is powered by two huge J-57 jet engines with afterburners and they say you can hear it run from miles away!

Jetasaurus is here to race the winner of the Jet Car Eliminations for the right to race Terry on RocketBike in the big finale, and is an absolute Goliath among race cars, it's moved from race to race on a huge tilt trailer, like they use for the Unlimited hydroplane in the Can-Am Harvest Show.

They all marvel at the sheer size of Jetasaurus Rex. "I've heard that it has so much power, you can feel the ground move when they fire it up," says Nitro.

Jet Car Bill

Jetasaurus pits near them, and soon Terry has struck up a conversation with the driver, or pilot, as he calls himself. Nitro looks over and says to TK and Jim, "This should be good. They're feeling each other out to see who's the craziest. The pilot of Jetasaurus Rex calls himself Jet Car Bill and he wears an Air Force flight suit and reflecting sunglasses all the time."

_Whoa_ , thinks Terry, _this is some serious stuff_. But he and Terry quickly become friends. Terry learns that actually his name is Bill Hollings, and that he's a dairy farmer in Wisconsin. By being Jet Car Bill when he's racing he can live a nice quiet life with his family when he's at home. _Hmm_ , thinks Terry. Who can hardly even go to the supermarket in his hometown anymore without being mobbed. _Pretty smart_.

It seems like as soon as they open the gates and start letting spectators in the pits are jammed! Most of the racers pit fairly close together, but the Bikesters, Jetasaurus Rex, and Bo Barns each have plenty of room around them for the crowds. It's a good thing to because the crowds are humongous. Betty and Lupé wanted to come to the races today, so Jim brought his bus. Having the bus parked back to back with the Bikester trailer makes for a bit more comfort.

Super fast

At noon the Fuel Dragster and Jet Car Eliminations begin. What a show! All the fastest and quickest cars have never been together at one race before. Because this is a "Run What Ya Brung" race, the usual rules limiting engine size, etc. are not in effect. It's wide open and everyone is going for all time records. Bo has already been over 330 miles and hour, and the way he's running he might hit 335!

Terry's been watching when Bo runs and just like Nitro figured, he has a big engine in the dragster, probably around 600 cubic inches, well above the engine size he's limited to in the races he runs all year. He's probably changed the rear end gears, too. The sanctioned races try to control performance to some degree in order to make the races more competitive, and because many of the racetracks don't have enough shut off area to be safe for super high speeds.

This track has tons of room to stop in. Nitro suspected that would be Bo's secret weapon, to go for big horsepower and really hang it out. Bo is running really hard he wants to beat Terry real bad.

Process of Elimination

Things have been hectic in the pits all day. The crowds are beyond huge, and there are press and television people to deal with almost constantly. On the racetrack the fuel dragster eliminations have come down to Bo, and a car from Virginia. The winner is to face SuperBike in the match race. There's no question at all, in Bo's mind, who will be going against Terry in that race.

Terry goes up to the starting line to watch the race and do a little commentary on TV, which is kinda fun. Sure enough, Bo wins. Terry rides with the TV crew down to the finish line, where they will do an interview with Terry and Bo to get the television audience ready for their upcoming match race.

Bo gets out of his dragster, he hears that has just turned over 335 and beating his chest yells, "I'm the King!"

Terry looks over at him and says, "Not yet." The interview goes on from there. While they're talking in front of the camera, there's an ominous rumbling from the starting line. Both Terry and Bo look, it's Jetasaurus Rex!

A sporadic, roaring and booming noise reaches their ears as Jet Car Bill pops the afterburners to produce short bursts of fire, smoke and noise down on the starting line.

Jetasaurus Sampler

Even from this far away, Terry knows Jetasaurus is putting on a major show. Terry wonders if he is going to be able to top Jet Car Bill show-wise. Terry has never had anybody put on a better show than he does, especially at the starting line. They can see that Jetasaurus and its competition the winner of the jet car eliminations, Doug Flowers in the Flamethrower are already staged and waiting for the green.

Terry can feel the power of Jetasaurus before he hears it, shock waves rippling and waving through the air. The light turns green, and Jetasaurus leaves the starting line with both afterburners lit! Nitro was right it does make the ground move. The two jets roar down the track towards them leaving a trial of jet smoke, and just like that, the race is over. Jetasaurus rumbling past them as it is slowed to a stop by its four parachutes.

Terry and Bo look at each other and say, "Awesome!" at the same time.

After watching three tons of vehicle hurtling towards him, accelerating from a standstill to nearly 360 m.p.h. in less then four and a half seconds, Terry thinks, _That's a pretty fast ride for a dairy farmer! He can wear a flight suit and sunglasses anytime he wants, as far as I'm concerned_.

The highlights of the remainder of the race will be the match race between Bo Barns and Terry on SuperBike, which will take place in about an hour. Half an hour after that, the last race of the day, the big finale with Terry on RocketBike facing Jetasaurus Rex! This will be the all time ultimate power race.

Rematch: SuperBike vs. Bo Barns

Both SuperBike and Bo's dragster are sitting at the front of the staging lanes as Bo and Terry give one last pre-race interview in front of the television cameras. They engage in the usual bating and bantering, thoroughly entertaining a large viewing audience. Now it's down to business! With a handshake between the two sometimes friendly antagonists, Bo prepares to be buckled into his dragster while Terry confers with Nitro before getting on SuperBike.

Bo fires up first, and you can hear the extra cubic inches in the engine they've built just for this race in the deeper then usual exhaust note. He rolls across the starting line and lights up the tires in a monster burnout. As Bo is starting his burnout, they fire up SuperBike and Nitro removes the portable starter.

Just as Bo finishes his burn out, and is concentrating on his race plan and on the hand signals his crewman is giving him as he backs up, Terry starts his burnout. He knows that coming past Bo from behind with the tire smoking hard when he is totally involved in thoughts about the race will confuse Bo for a second and maybe break his concentration.

If only just for a second or two, it could throw his timing off just a little, and drag racing is a sport where wins are measured in one thousandths of a second. Terry has a plan. He knows Bo's car can beat him this time.

He really had to hang it all out to beat Bo at Sonoma, and now with the big engine in Bo's car and the other changes they've made, Bo's running faster and quicker then he ever has before, and he was the fastest and quickest before!

Terry's Tricks

However, Terry also knows that with all that extra power, it's really easy to smoke the tires and lose the race. Terry thinks he can rattle Bo just enough so that he'll put his foot in it just a little too hard and light'em up!

Sure enough, when Terry smokes by it takes Bo out of the normal mindset he's in at this point in a race for just a split-second, Bo is distracted, losing his focus at the time when he most needs to concentrate.

Bo knows Terry has done it on purpose, and he tries not to let it bother him. And Terry knows that he knows, which is one of the reasons it works, Bo and Terry know each other quite well. They've raced each other many times over the years.

By the time that they are both back behind the starting line, pulling forward into the staging lights, Bo is dialed back in, not even looking over at Terry. But Terry still has a few more tricks up his sleeve. He waits for a few long seconds after Bo has staged and lit the yellow light in his lane. Terry knows Bo will get a little nervous wondering when Terry is going to pull up to the line.

Once he is finally staged and has lit the yellow Ready light in his lane, Terry has to launch harder then he has ever had before. SuperBike launches so hard that no car can stay even close at the start anyway. If Terry can come off the starting line even a little harder, he might get so far ahead at the start that Bo would then step on it too hard to catch up, going up in smoke rather than waiting for the dragster's superior top end charge to make up the difference at the finish. The green light flashes and Terry launches harder then ever!

But Bo keeps cool and makes a good smooth start. He feels he has this big inch high horsepower set-up dialed in, and he's not going to let Terry rattle him. Before they're even three quarters of the way down the track, Terry can feel Bo coming up on him. Sure enough, Terry looks over and sees that Bo is already almost even with him. _Man_ , thinks Terry, _he's got a bunch of power_!

S-Bike under Control

But Terry still has one more trick left. He's left the wheelie bars loose, so he can do any height wheelie he wants. Terry has such a good feel for SuperBike that he can control it to the point of knowing how many inches the front wheel is off the ground and hold it right there.

The way the bike is set up, the torque reaction throws forward and tends to push the front wheel down. It won't do a wheelie unless you want it to, and right now Terry wants to do a wheelie!

Just as Bo starts to pull past him, Terry eases up on the throttle just a little; he feels an increase in traction and the front wheel come up. Suddenly he's doing a four foot high wheelie at over 250 miles and hour! When Bo sees that, he's totally unnerved, and immediately loses his concentration. His foot wavers on the throttle and he lights up the tires, as Terry holds the wheelie through the finish line lights, winning by inches!

Bo is fit to be tied. He's screaming at Terry as he gets out of his dragster. Terry just laughs, and holds his finger up to his lips, and says: "Shh! The press, you know. We don't want to look bad on TV!" And they give a great finish line interview, except Bo, who's kind of quiet.

For the second time, Bo gets to be in some spectacular racing footage that will be shown everywhere, losing to Terry! _There won't be a third time! Next time Bo wins_ , thinks Bo. He's going to build the Mother of all dragsters. He already has an idea of what it's going to be, and he's going to start on it as soon as he gets back home!

The Bikesters don't have a lot of time to think about this win. They have to get right back to the pits and get RocketBike ready to face Jetasaurus.

### ROCKET BURSTS AND BURNER POPS

RocketBike vs. Jetasaurus Rex

It's late and the sun's going down, but nobody has left early to beat the traffic. Everyone in the huge crowd is on their feet as RocketBike and Jetasaurus Rex are towed to the front of the staging area.

During a lengthy starting line interview, both Terry and Jet Car Bill cover a lot of the technical aspects of their vehicles and some of their thoughts on racing, particularly at very high speeds.

This is interesting because Terry and Bill are about to race each other in what will most likely be the fastest side-by-side race in the history of land vehicles.

Terry is very impressed by Bill, who presents himself very professionally. _This 'Jet Car Bill' guy is alright_ , thinks Terry, _I'm even starting to get used to the weird clothes_.

The interview is over, and they shake hands. Terry goes over to RocketBike, where Nitro, TK, Jim and Ben are going over things one more time, while Jet Car Bill's crew helps him into the cockpit of Jetasaurus Rex.

Before getting on the bike, Terry looks down the racetrack. There are TV cameras and press photographers everywhere, all the way past the finish line. This is probably going to be the most documented drag race of all time. Terry loves it, and wonders aloud, "What can I do to blow their minds?

As Terry buckles on his helmet, he looks over at the three ton, eleven foot wide, forty foot long, Jetasaurus, with it's two huge turbo jet engines and afterburners, each producing over fifteen thousand pounds of thrust. He thinks, _This dude is going to be hard to top_.

Nitro is talking to Terry as he helps him with the special quick release bindings they've designed to help him stay on the bike. As they are talking, Jetasaurus fires up, and nobody can hear anything anymore! As its compressors spin up, all you can hear is a very loud whining sound. Then, as the turbo jets ignite, there is an unearthly roar. Now Nitro and Terry not only can't talk, it's hard to even think. The monster jet begins to move forward, very slowly, like some prehistoric creature, ambling toward the starting line in search of prey.

Groundshaker

Then Jet Car Bill hits the button that injects raw fuel into the tail pipes. He ignites the afterburners for just a fraction of a second, producing an explosive pop that sounds like thunder! Both Terry and Nitro feel the ground shake under their feet. Terry thought this thing was awesome when he was all the way at the far end of the racetrack watching it. Up close, it's terrifying! What a show!

Terry holds a hand up in the air and makes a circular motion to let Nitro know that he's going to fire this thing up. He pushes the yellow button on the handlebars, which starts the rocket. He knows the crowd can't even hear it, with all the noise Jetasaurus is making... _Bummer_ , thinks Terry.

Rocket Burst

Terry starts to roll forward slowly along side Jetasaurus, just as Jet Car Bill does another burner pop. This time Terry is ready for him and answers by pushing the new button that Nitro has added, the white button. This activates the new system that injects oxygenated hydrogen fuel directly into the tail pipe of the rocket engine, producing a huge roar and a spectacular bright white flame behind RocketBike that is fifty feet long! The crowd goes absolutely berserk. _Ha_ , thinks Terry, _No way are you going to top me_!

After several more burner pops from Jetasaurus, and answering rocket bursts from RocketBike, they are on the starting line and waiting for the lights to start their sequence. As Jet Car Bill brings the twin jets up to full RPM, he looks over at Terry and they give each other a nod, as if to say, "Are we putting a show on for these folks, or what?"

Smoke and Fire! Lightning and Thunder! The two nod again as if to say, "But now, let's race!" Jetasaurus has never been beat, and RocketBike has never been in a race. This should be interesting. The yellow lights flash, and it's green!

Power

Terry hits both the full-ignition button and the rocket burst button as the green light comes on and feels the unreal power as the Rocket is instantly at full thrust. At the exact same moment, Jet Car Bill hits both full power and the afterburners. The noise from the two space age vehicles under full power is deafening!

Terry looks over and is astounded to see that Jetasaurus is right beside him. That thing's power must be beyond awesome to get a car that size moving that quickly. What a show the huge jet and RocketBike are putting on! They're side by side, with both of Jetasaurus' afterburners shooting fire and smoke against RocketBike's fifty-foot tail of bright white flame, both of them roaring at an unearthly level! If they had interplanetary drag races, this is what they would be like!

As they approach the first speed trap light, Terry thinks he's pulling away from the giant jet! Now they are at the finish line, and there's no doubt about it. He's actually going faster then Jetasaurus, not pulling away really fast, but pulling away. _Man_ , thinks Terry, _this is something else! To win is the ultimate, but to win while pulling away from a car with all that power, at over 350 miles an hour, that's beyond ultimate! They don't even have a word for this feeling_!

Going Ballistic

Terry is totally over the top! He's so cranked up that, after giving it some careful thought, he pushes the blue button! After a race like that, what is there left to do but fly! The air deflectors in the new ducting system change angle, creating instant and massive lift as Terry crosses the final speed trap light. At the speed he's traveling he's instantly airborne!

He immediately pulls back the controls to gain a little altitude and banks to the left in a graceful rolling turn. Jet Car Bill is stunned, he's never lost a race before! As he crosses the finish line he pops his parachutes, and looks over at Terry on RocketBike, only to see that Terry is already two feet off the ground, and going up. His first thought is that Terry has totally lost it and is out of control. When he realizes that Terry is actually flying, he thinks, _Lucky Guy! He not only beats me, but he gets to fly, too! I guess maybe he's the Pilot._

The crowd, which has been going absolutely nuts all during the race, is suddenly silent. Even after they realize that Terry's not crashing, but that he is flying they are still silent: dumbfounded. They've never seen anything like this before! Even the television commentators don't know what to say as the cameras track RocketBike. Nitro looks up and thinks, _Up there without a parachute again. I'll fix that! Next time I'll sew one onto the back of his flight suit_!

Terry continues his rolling turn off the end of the strip, and comes back in low, heading back down the racetrack towards the starting line. In the twilight RocketBike with its long white tail of flame, looks like a low flying comet. As Terry crosses the starting line flying over the grandstands he does a victory roll, and the crowd finally goes crazy! TK thinks, _Hmmm, I didn't know he could fly it upside-down, have to make a note of that_.

Meanwhile, Back at the Farm

Nerissa and the girls are riding their horses on the beach. Nerissa doesn't like to watch Terry race, even on TV. The twins knew she was nervous and suggested the ride on the beach. Suddenly, the silver eagle makes a low fast pass from behind them, executing a perfect roll, and disappears down the beach. _He's showing off_ , thinks Nerissa with a smile, and the three of them gallop off down the shoreline.

Roll out the RocketBike

Terry continues his exhibition in style, completing the flawless roll in a single, seamless movement. That should let them know who's up here, thinks Terry, after completing his 360-degree roll above the crowd. Looking down, he knows that Bo is down by the starting line looking back up. Terry pulls back on the controls and goes straight up like a skyrocket in front of the crowd, television cameras and Bo.

When he gets to around five hundred feet, he loops it over heading back towards the far end of the strip, all the while descending. After passing the finish line, he puts RocketBike into a wide graceful turn, coming back across the finish line at very low altitude, touching down smoothly about halfway down the strip, popping his drag chute and coming to a stop in front of the starting line grandstands.

The crowd is going ballistic as Terry gets off the bike. They give him a standing ovation, something you don't see very often at the races. After the show he's just put on, the press mobs Terry. It doesn't look like there will be any end to the microphones and cameras being stuck in his face.

Celeste gathers up Jet Car Bill Hollings, Bo Barns and Dan Jones and gets them involved in the post-race interviews. After all, one of the main reasons for this race was to publicize the sport of drag racing and both Celeste and Terry want to be sure that this is carried out to the fullest degree possible. They even drag the usually very shy Nail into the interview loop. After post race festivities that last into the wee hours of the morning everyone is more than happy to hit the motel and get some sleep.

Monday Morning

Over breakfast at the motel restaurant, the gang plots their escape. There are a couple of more PR and press duties, which Celeste and Terry will take care of, while Nitro and TK with Jim and Ben's help will get the trailer all packed up and ready to go.

They should be on the road by late afternoon, and will drop Terry off in Atlanta, where he will catch a jet for home. The rest of them will proceed on up to Chicago for the Engineering Society meeting.

### RIDING THE WIND

Florida Afternoon

It's a rare cloudy day in Florida. In fact, the sky is starting to look downright menacing as the Bikesters say their good-byes to the other racers. Everybody is scattering, as usual, Nail to Louisiana for a race, Jet Car Bill Hollings back to his farm in Wisconsin. Bo isn't saying much, but he's heading home to Texas to start building his Ultimate Dragster so he can beat Terry, once and for all.

Storm Brewing

The party breaks up early. The radio is warning that a strong offshore storm has suddenly turned this way. They are saying it could move inland, and nobody wants to be caught in it, especially with a truck and trailer out on the open road! As the Bikester truck and trailer pulls out of the race track, with Jim's bus right behind it, the sky is getting very black and the wind is starting to blow.

"It's starting to look pretty bad," says TK. He's monitoring the weather channels on the citizens band ham radio set up that he's integrated with his computer. It not only gives him complete weather and road information, but also allows him to be tied into the internet while on the road. "They're putting up heavy storm warnings, possibly hurricane warnings, along the coast," TK continues, "but I think we'll be far enough north to be out of danger by the time it hits."

Running from the Storm

The freeway is jammed with traffic, all heading north and fast, to get out of the path of the storm. The lanes going south are empty! The wind is picking up fast, and it's starting to rain. As they drive, they talk on the CB to several of the other racers who are also out in this with their rigs.

They've all decided to head inland a few miles to a large truck stop where, according to the weather channels, it should be safe place to sit out the storm. Jim has already passed them with the bus. They are heading straight through to Chicago for the pre-meeting seminars and get-togethers the Engineering Society puts on.

Inland Truck Stop

As they pull in, they immediately spot Dan Jones and several of the other racer's rigs in the parking lot. Terry and Nitro head right for the restaurant to sit and talk racing with the guys. The one thing that racers like almost as much as racing is talking about racing.

TK decides to stay out in the truck and keep monitoring the weather and emergency channels. This is interesting stuff. Celeste stays, too. She has a pile of paper work to wade through, the result of the race. Even with the truck and trailer parked right up against the back of the restaurant they can feel the increasing fury of the storm.

"I'm sure glad we're inside," says Celeste. TK agrees with her. Being from the West Coast, neither one of them has ever seen a storm like this before.

A Call for Help

"Wow, listen to this!" exclaims TK, holding out the headphones to Celeste. "A guy who was surf fishing is caught on the beach in the storm, and he's calling the Coast Guard for help on a cell phone." Celeste listens as he gives his position over and over. She gives the information to TK who has a map out.

"He's less than thirty miles from here," says TK, measuring distances on the map. Celeste listens as the Coast Guard tells him to hang on.

In a few minutes he will be in the relatively calm eye of the storm and will have a chance to get further inland away from the beach, where there's more shelter, before the back side of the storm hits. The man on the beach replies that he thinks his ankle is broken. He doesn't think he can cover much ground.

"It sounds like the Coast Guard doesn't have any way to get to him through the storm," says Celeste, "Even when the storm moves inland far enough that he's in the eye, there will still be storm all around him, and it's real bad! They're now calling it a hurricane!"

TK listens as he works with his maps and calculator. "According to my figuring, we will be right on the outer edge of the storm's path when he's in the center. We've only got about twelve minutes before that happens. Quick, get Nitro and Terry!"

Celeste, thinking the same thing that TK is thinking, runs into the restaurant and is back with Nitro and Terry within a minute. TK and Celeste rapidly fill them in on the situation and the four of them quickly put together a plan.

Nitro fires up the truck and moves it so it's facing directly into the wind. He then quickly goes back to RocketBike and checks it out, replacing the separator disc with a fresh one as Terry puts on his racing suit. Nitro makes sure Terry has his parachute on this time.

Celeste and TK stay on the radio and the maps. Celeste notifies the Coast Guard that they are going to take a shot at it. The Lieutenant she's talking to thinks she's crazy.

"Nothing could get through this storm except a large plane," he says. "And even then it wouldn't have enough room to land on the beach."

However, the radio operator has seen RocketBike's performance at the race and he tells the Lieutenant, "They can do it!"

The officer reluctantly agrees. He doesn't like the idea of civilians taking a risk like this, but it looks like they are the marooned man's only hope. "This is going to be a very dangerous rescue," says the Lieutenant. "This is a small, very strong, hurricane. In fact, I would call it more of a cyclone. One with a very small center, there's only going to be a window of around three minutes, at the most, in the eye of the storm."

"The only time you could possibly attempt a rescue. And from the sound of it, he won't be able to hang on through the backside of the storm, which is certain to consist of even stronger winds than the front side of the vortex. This is a rare type of storm that tends to get much stronger as it hits the coast and starts to move inland!"

_Thanks for all the words of encouragement_ , thinks TK, listening to the conversation between Celeste and the Lieutenant. TK then says, "I need to talk to your radar operator." In a few seconds the radar woman comes on and TK quickly outlines their plan for her.

A Plan

"Terry's going to be flying with very poor visibility in the storm. It's getting real dark out there, and there's no kind of guidance equipment at all on the bike," says TK to the radar operator. "However, if you can track him on radar and relay the information on a closed radio frequency, I can pick it up on the ham radio.

"It's integrated with my computer and I can put your radar readout on my screen in real time. Then we can use the tracking information and plot Terry's course."

The radar operator responds, "That just might work, we have a definite fix on the man on the beach from his cellular."

TK looks past Celeste into the cab of the truck at the small compass that's stuck on top of the dashboard. It's something Nitro picked up and installed, thinking it might be fun to know which way the truck is pointing on the road. Something to help break up the monotony of long hours of driving, TK asks Celeste to grab the compass and have Nitro attach it to the bike where it's easy for Terry to see.

First Nitro pop's in a new separator disk, then he tapes the compass just below the windscreen with silver duct tape Nitro calls it, 200 mile an hour tape, while Celeste tapes down a small flashlight that points at the compass, her idea. Between the storm and the fact that it's almost eight p.m., it's pitch black out there, and Terry has to be able to see the compass!

TK's voice comes over the intercom, "Gotta' launch in two minutes to hit this window right," Now the timing gets very critical. TK has calculated the bike's speed, the wind speed, et cetera as thoroughly as possible considering the amount of time they've had to put this whole thing together. RocketBike is sitting on the elevator, and Terry climbs aboard as TK starts counting off the seconds.

Meeting the Cyclone

Nitro and Terry have decided to fire up the bike as it's going up on the elevator, so Terry can blast off as soon as it's on the roof. If he doesn't light it up as soon as he's up there, he and the bike could be blown off the top of the trailer by the wind, which is already blowing at almost eighty miles an hour, even here on the outside edge of the storm.

"Get ready to raise the elevator," says TK. He's focused intently on the computer screen as mass amounts of data flash across it, indicating the position of the storm, its wind speed, and ground speed, information coming in from the Coast Guard computer, radar, and the weather service.

This ham radio set up TK has added to his system is really saving the day when it comes to gathering this kind of info, especially in an emergency, like this storm, when the cellular and normal lines of communication are overloaded and can't be counted on. Plus, TK brings up his own data up on the screen as he figures out the timing to launch Terry and set his course.

All has to be calculated to the second, so that Terry can be in the eye of the cyclone as it passes across the beach, quickly land to pick up the trapped fisherman. Then take off before the backside of the storm hits. RocketBike should have enough power to fight its way through the storm in the air, but on the ground, they're sitting ducks!

"Ten seconds," says TK.

The Team

Terry reaches out a gloved hand and Nitro and Celeste grasp it for a second in an affirmation of team power and unity. TK, at the computer, holds up his fist to join in.

As TK's count down reaches zero, he drops his hand and says, "Now!"

Nitro pushes the button and the elevator starts to rise. At the same moment Terry pushes the button that starts the idle circuit on the rocket. The noise of the rocket engine, even on idle, is deafening inside the trailer. Luckily everyone has on earphones, and Terry has his helmet on, which blots out most of the sound.

The separate computer monitor that TK has set up to display incoming data from RocketBike comes alive. TK immediately begins relaying information to Terry on the radio, letting him know that, everything is reading go, and that he can hit the full ignition button as soon as he's on the roof.

As the elevator reaches half way up the door to the roof automatically slides open, allowing some of the fury of the storm into the trailer. The noise from the wind is extreme and even obliterates the sound of the idling RocketBike! Nitro worries for a moment that maybe something is wrong, and the rocket engine has shut off, he has his finger on the button to lower the elevator back down. But then he sees the characteristic white steamy exhaust is still there, and knows it's OK.

Terry is so intent on his mission and the necessity of perfectly timing his launch off the roof that he hardly hears the noise or feels the wind blowing in through the open roof hatch. As RocketBike and Terry disappear through the hatch onto the roof, Nitro walks over to where TK is in front of the monitor, takes off his earphones, and puts on a headset. During this mission, TK and Nitro will be Terry's eyes. The visibility in the storm is now almost zero.

Ignition

Terry feels the force of the wind as he reaches roof level. RocketBike is starting to slide! They are being blown off the top of the trailer! He has to get a handle on this situation quickly! _This is a time when TK's Magnebrakes would help a bunch_ , thinks Terry. Hitting the green Full Ignition button and white Rocket Burst button at the same time, he instantly blasts off the roof into the storm.

Terry can't see five feet in front of him. We're talking poor visibility! Immediately, Terry's earphones are full of Nitro's very calm voice giving him a compass heading.

Terry looks down at the compass, which is quite visible with Celeste's rigged flashlight illuminating it, and comes around to the proper heading. Terry thinks, _This instrument flying could be scary, especially when you only have one instrument and it's something Nitro found at a cut-rate auto parts store for $9.95_!

In the trailer, the team is in full operation. TK is in front of one monitor that is now tied directly into the Coast Guard radar system, while he talks to the radar operator on the radio. Celeste is in contact with the weather service on another radio channel and watching the computer screen in front of her, which is constantly updating information on the storm. She passes the information that is pertinent to TK, who is plotting Terry's course using the data from Celeste and the radar readout from the Coast Guard, who have an exact fix on Terry's position.

Nitro in the meantime is relaying the guidance information to Terry and also watches over RocketBike's mechanical functions on the third monitor. _Multi-tasking_ , thinks TK, _I love it!_

Nitro has worked with Terry for a long time and can relay information to Terry very quickly with a minimum amount of talk, which is very important, because with the weather variables, the situation changes almost by the second!

Terry can't believe the fury of the storm. As he comes around to the first heading Nitro gives him, he is suddenly flying into a wind of over one hundred miles an hour! He feels the power of the rocket keeping the bike stable and moving forward against the wind, and finds himself feeling much more in control of what's going on.

He hears Nitro's very familiar and reassuring voice in his earphones giving him constant information and updates on his heading and speed, etc. and even slipping in a little joke now and then to try to ease the tension and pressure of this mission.

Flyin' Blind

Flying with no instrumentation other then a compass in conditions like this means Terry has to rely totally on the radar and weather information that TK and Celeste are getting and putting together into navigation instructions that Nitro relays to him. Flying blind is way scary, but Terry has full confidence in his team. He's already far enough into the circular storm that he is fighting a wind of over a hundred and fifty miles an hour!

Terry has to stay on a heading that is into the wind. If the wind were at his back he would be blown out of control. As it is, he has the rocket at full thrust, which would normally propel him at a little over three hundred and fifty miles an hour, but with this head wind, he's not even going half that.

Scary Stuff

To top it all off, there's all kinds of junk that the storm's picked up flying around up here. Terry radios Nitro, "I think I just saw an ugly old lady on a bicycle with a little dog in a basket fly by."

Nitro answers, "Pick up the guy on the beach first, then you can save Toto!"

Terry is now flying into the fiercest part of the storm, with winds of nearly two hundred miles an hour. It's taking every bit of power RocketBike has to get through it. Terry pats his pocket to make sure the parts, tools, and small flashlight that Nitro gave him are still there. He won't be able to get back through the storm from the center without them. A large piece of boat or something flies out of the darkness just missing him by inches! _It could get dangerous up here_ , thinks Terry.

There is a constant stream of data from Nitro in his earphones as his course and speed are changed every few seconds to compensate for the always changing direction and wind velocity of the storm.

The way things look right now he's going to have a little less time on the ground in the center because the storm has veered a few more miles to the south. This worries everyone, because not only does he have to pick up the man trapped by the storm, Terry also has to remove the separator disc and install a fresh one in the brief time he will have on the ground.

Nitro, watching the mechanical readouts from RocketBike on his monitor, is already seeing changes in the pressure readings for the H²O-S system that tells him the disc is almost used up. TK has calculated the separator disc life as completely as he can, considering the small amount of data they have been able to accumulate on how long the discs last. One thing's for sure, this one's going fast! But as long as the storm doesn't make a real radical move and totally change it's path, it will get Terry to the center. It has to, because he's way past the Point of No Return.

The Eyes Have It

Terry feels the Bike starting to move easier through the storm and realizes that he's reaching the eye of the cyclone.

"He's just about through into the center," says TK, rapidly deciphering the radar information and data that Celeste is giving him. Now comes something even trickier. They have to set him down on the exact right spot on the beach as quickly as possible.

Nitro says, "It better be even quicker than possible, because this separator disc has only has a few seconds left, then Terry will have no power!"

"Tell Terry to start dropping in fast right now, it should be quite a bit lighter in center; he should be able to see the beach if he comes in real low," TK tells Nitro.

Nitro makes it quite clear to Terry that this is a one shot deal. The bike is becoming much easier to control and there's a small amount of visibility. Terry is entering the eye of the storm.

"Ten feet," says TK, and Nitro relays the altitude to Terry. Terry looks down, and sure enough, there's the beach, right where it's supposed to be.

The man Terry is rescuing has a flashlight, and the Coast Guard has told him on his cellular to get out on the beach and turn it on. As Terry touches down he sees the beam of a flashlight up ahead of him. Amazingly, TK has set him down in precisely the right spot at exactly the right time!

Halfway Saved

Terry rolls RocketBike to a stop right beside the marooned man, who doesn't even ask what kind of a weird vehicle Terry flew in on. He's glad to see anybody! He knows it's his only chance.

Terry jumps off RocketBike. He has less then two minutes to replace the separator disc, get this guy on the bike, and get out of here before they are caught back in the storm. Holding the small flashlight Nitro gave him in his mouth so he can see what he's doing, he unbolts the clamp and opens the separator housing, removing the disc, which is totally used up, and installs the new disc he brought with him.

As he helps the man onto the bike, Terry can feel the wind picking up as the storm continues its relentless drive inland. Terry looks at his watch. He's already been on the ground one minute and forty seconds. He has to launch immediately!

While all this is happening on the beach, TK, Celeste and Nitro are very busy in the trailer, calculating and plotting out Terry's trip back through the storm. The wind has intensified, and Terry is going to be carrying a passenger. This is going to be cutting it very close indeed!

Back the Other Way

As Terry climbs back on the bike, he says to his passenger, "I hope you're not afraid of flying."

"Heck no," replies the man, "I've been flying my own plane for thirty five years."

"Good," says Terry. "Then hang on tight, because this thing moves real hard when it takes off!" Terry knows that nobody can be ready for the kind of acceleration that RocketBike has when launching hard, and he's about to launch hard!

Terry's passenger is clutching him so hard he can hardly breathe as he hits both the green and white button at the same time and they blast off into the violent storm! As soon as they get off the ground Terry realizes that it's gotten much worse!

In the trailer they are working out a plan. Because the storm has worsened, and RocketBike now has the extra weight of a passenger, there's no way Terry can make it back through the storm on one separator disc, and there's no way to stop and put in a fresh one.

The answer to this problem that the team has come up with is for Terry to skyrocket straight up through the storm trying to stay in the 'eye of the storm' as much as possible, and gain some major altitude.

The burst of power he will have to use to do this will use most, or perhaps the entire separator disc, but it will put him high up in the top of the cyclone where the winds are more stable and predictable. From that height, TK feels that RocketBike's lifting body design and exceptional aerodynamics will allow Terry to ride out of the storm on the air currents and glide to a safe landing.

"No sweat," says TK, "It'll be another triumph of superior aerodynamic design." Celeste and Nitro aren't quite that sure, but it's the only plan they've got.

Skyrocket

Once again, it's pitch black as RocketBike shoots almost straight up through the storm. Terry immediately notices it's really hard to stay in the 'eye', which has gotten much smaller, and there's even more junk flying around, mostly pieces of trees. He even thinks he sees a turtle fly by.

Going straight up at full thrust through all this stuff is really scary! It's also really exciting! Terry feels his passenger definitely holding on very tight, but he doesn't seem to be panicking or anything. Terry thinks he catches a glimpse of a large white, or silver colored bird, perhaps an eagle, also fighting the storm. But he loses sight of it as he struggles to find a safe path through this mess.

As they get higher up into the storm, the amount of debris is lessening, which is a good thing. Because there was so much, it was hard to avoid. In fact, a few smaller pieces hit RocketBike. Because of the very high wind speed any object that might hit you could be quite dangerous.

In the trailer Nitro continues to relay course and weather information to Terry while intensely watching the systems readout for RocketBike, closely monitoring the amount of time left on the separator disc. If it's used up before Terry can get to the top of the storm, Terry, his passenger, and RocketBike will be at the mercy of the elements! The disc is going fast, and the elements are definitely quite extreme at the moment.

TK calls out, "Eight thousand feet," and a few seconds later "Eight thousand, five hundred."

'It looks like he's going to have to go above twelve thousand feet to get on top of this," says Celeste, as she deciphers weather information.

"Well, he's getting there fast," says TK staring at the data on his monitor.

"I hope so," adds Nitro. The readout in front of him indicates that the power required to accelerate straight up through the storm is using up the separator disc at an alarming rate, and there are only a few seconds left at full thrust.

Surfing the Wind

"Ten thousand feet," says TK.

Terry can tell he must be getting to the top of the cyclone, the bike is starting to move and handle easier by the second. He hears Nitro saying, "You just passed eleven thousand feet."

_Whoa_! thinks Terry, _This is way higher than this thing has ever been. Far out_! Just as Nitro tells him he passed twelve thousand feet Terry feels the rocket shut off.

The separator disc is used up! At the same moment he suddenly realizes it's silent. He's not in the storm anymore he's above it. Instead of all that noise and mayhem around him, there's stars and a crescent moon. It's so quiet and peaceful that Terry momentarily forgets what he just flew through, and the danger of the present situation!

He feels his passenger give him a pat on the shoulder, just to say thanks, but also reminding him that he's not alone up here and has to get on with the job at hand, which is to get away from the storm and find a safe place to land.

This is great, there's enough wind under him that he's surfing on top of the cyclone! What a trip! The spell is broken by Nitro's voice in the earphones giving him a compass heading. "We're going to bring you into the landing strip at the Coast Guard station, it's a thirty five mile glide, but TK says you can make it easy."

_I'm glad he thinks so_ , thinks Terry. He takes one more spin around on top of the cyclone and using the speed he's built up riding the swirling winds, he picks up the heading Nitro has given him and slings off into the night.

Once they leave the weather behind, the night is crystal clear. Looking back, they can see the swirling, snarling storm glowing with phosphorescence. Everything is so picture perfect that Terry and his passenger hardly notice that it's quite cold up there well over ten thousand feet!

The trip is over all too soon. After one soaring turn around the Coast Guard station, they glide in for a perfect three-point landing. In the trailer, Celeste, Nitro and TK congratulate each other. They pulled it off! Terry's out of the storm and back on the ground! Raising a fist in the air, TK says it for all of them: "BIKESTERS RULE!"

### THE CHI-TOWN KID

On the Road

After the excitement of the cyclone and rescue, the Bikesters continue north, dropping Terry off in Atlanta to catch his flight home. They stop for a couple of days in Washington D.C. to sightsee and spend some time at the Smithsonian Museum, a real treat, especially for TK. Then it's on to the Engineering Society meeting in Chicago.

Windy City

Nitro parks the truck and trailer in the parking lot of the suburban motel they have chosen for their stay. They're just in time to have breakfast with Jim, Ben, Lupé and Betty, who have already been here for two days.

Afterwards everyone is off to do their own thing. Lupé and Betty go to dig around in antique shops and art galleries. They found a couple of the H²O-S separator discs already and think they're on the trail of several more. Celeste has a few sales calls for the Tee shirt business to make and then will meet with them for lunch and go hunting for discs.

TK will go with Ben and Jim to the convention. Nitro might show up there later, but first he's going to visit with some old racing buddies. Besides, he doesn't know if he can deal with a whole building full of engineers.

Engineers 'R' Us

Today TK will be meeting a lot of new people. Tomorrow he will present his paper, which he has titled 'Gyro Rotational Torque and Its Effect on Traction.' TK is dazzled by the people he is meeting and by the fact that they all seem to want to talk and exchange ideas and information with him.

He has read books and papers written by many of the Engineering Society members, and has corresponded with quite a few of them by computer over the last couple of years. They are all quite blown away by his age, and astonished when they listen to him and realize how bright he is. TK is feeling more and more at ease, he's lost his initial nervousness and is looking forward to presenting his paper. In the midst of all this coolness there is one weird thing. TK has noticed a man who always seems to be on the edge of whatever group he's around. The man has a name tag, but is never close enough for TK to read it.

TK always spots him because he's very thin and hawkish looking and very hard to forget. He asks Jim if he could check the guy out. After that TK kind of forgets about it. Ben has arranged lunch with Walter Lucas, the electromagnetism expert. TK has been looking forward to this meeting. In fact, he can hardly wait for a chance to discuss the Magnebrakes idea with the foremost expert in the field.

Lunch with Walter

The meeting goes very well. Professor Lucas and TK hit it right off, and before lunch is half over, the four of them TK, Jim, Ben and Professor Lucas are so caught up in this engineering problem that their food has gotten quite cold.

After TK explains the extremely high level of magnetism that will be required preferably generated by a very small unit that can be placed on the bike, Professor Lucas shakes his head and takes a calculator out of his briefcase.

Figuring in the weight of RocketBike, the fact that it has a very low stall speed and therefore less momentum to bring to a stop, and balancing that data against the amount of steel they can safely put on the elevator platform for the magnet to pull to, he calculates it would take a unit roughly the size of a refrigerator to generate the magnetic force necessary to do the job.

_Too big_ , thinks TK, then he throws out the second part of his idea for discussion. "How 'bout if we had a small, high-speed turbine which could produce the torque and RPM's necessary to spin the magnetic generator?" he says, thinking of the turbines that came with the rocket engine from the Sun Tool surplus yard.

"That would work," says Dr. Lucas. "We have developed a very small ultra-high speed magnetic generator, but the fuel needed to produce the required turbine speeds would still take up the same amount of space."

"There isn't any free lunch in the high energy business, unless of course, you plan to use atomic power," says the professor with a laugh.

"Hmm," says TK, "No, not atomic. I'll have to do some re-figuring." They make arrangements to meet that evening after dinner and work this idea over on TK's computer.

After Professor Lucas has left, Ben tells TK, "While Walter Lucas is brilliant, he is also rather eccentric. Among other things, he's developed a theory he calls "Magnehelics" in which he feels that magnetism can be intensified to an extreme degree and controlled very precisely."

"Sounds interesting," says TK, "I hope he tells me about it."

"Don't worry," says Ben, rolling his eyes. "You probably won't be able to stop him!"

Another Doctor in the House

Later in the afternoon, Jim takes TK aside to tell him what he's found out about the man who seems like he's always there watching him. "He is watching you, and his name is Doctor Nero C. Hammish and he works for Atlas!

I knew he looked familiar," Jim continues, "He's one of the men who questioned me when I retired. His father, Adam Hammish, was head of the original H²O-S project at Sun Tool!"

"They're on to us already," says TK, "I didn't think they'd find me that fast!"

"I don't know if it's necessarily true that they know what's going on," replies Jim, "but I think they're quite suspicious, and are trying to put two and two together."

"I didn't tell the other members of the 'nopoll' group my name and they didn't know what I look like, they just knew me as 't-kid'," says TK.

"What did the 't' stand for?" Jim asks.

"The," answers TK.

"The Kid?" queries Jim.

"Yeah," replies TK, "Just like my favorite ball player. Cool, huh?"

Jim just shakes his head and laughs; sometimes he forgets that TK is just a kid!

Givin' It Some Thought

By the time Professor Lucas arrives, TK has already run the fuel calculations, he knows that the small turbine, powered with oxygenated hydrogen fuel from the H²O-S system on RocketBike, will produce the necessary RPM's and torque to meet Professor Lucas's requirements. The question remaining is whether his small high- speed generator will produce the electromagnetic energy they need.

Professor Lucas is amazed by TK's figures on the turbine speeds and torque. Nobody says anything about the H²O-S system, they just tell him they are taking power off the rocket and he accepts that.

He then tells them he's developed a magnetic field generator that's smaller then a football, and two of them, each one driven by one of their turbines, will produce enough magnetic force to do almost anything with a vehicle the size and weight of RocketBike. He invites them to his lab, which is on the outskirts of Chicago, and they make arrangements to be there in two days, when the meeting is over.

Talkin to the Bigs

Today's the big day and TK's not even nervous. "Well, maybe a little bit nervous," he admits when he walks into the auditorium and sees the size of the crowd!

But as soon as he starts talking and they start listening, he calms right down. He notices Nero Hammish is sitting near the front and has someone with him, intelligent- looking and young, perhaps a college student. As TK gets further into his presentation, he forgets about Nero Hammish, and is enjoying the moment, concentrating on making contact with the audience.

Nero C. Hammish

As he listens, Nero Hammish is becoming more convinced than ever that TK is the mysterious Mr. T-Kid; he is certainly bright enough to have the secrets of the H²O-S separator.

Hammish knows that his very high position at Atlas not only the head of research, he is also on the board of directors of the corporation is secure largely because he had his father's notes and information from the original project.

In fact, Atlas bought Sun Tool, a virtually worthless company, just to acquire whatever remained of the project, only to find that everything was gone. The secret of the H2O- S separator and injector is probably the most valuable commodity in the energy field. Atlas would give anything to get it, and Nero Hammish is counting on that!

Hammish had created the 'nopoll' group in hopes of flushing out someone with information, perhaps even original blueprints or prototype parts. However, what he may have found, he thinks looking at TK, is a young genius that has figured out the system. Now, after seeing him with Jim Truesdale who strangely enough doesn't seem to be the same rather confused old man he was when they talked to him at Sun Tool, he's even more certain he is on the right trail!

_So here I am, Dr. Nero C. Hammish, respected scientist, now turned industrial spy_ , he thinks to himself, and nursemaid, he thinks, looking at his companion. Actually, Austin Lewis, the young man beside him, seems to be a nice enough chap, although rather shy. He is not only a lawyer at Atlas, but is also the only child of the owner of the company.

He has a great deal of scientific and engineering knowledge and curiosity, nothing like his mother, who, as far as Hammish can tell, has no other interest except money and power, both of which she has lots of, but always seems to want more.

Austin Lewis

Sitting beside Hammish, Austin is finding himself quite absorbed by TK's presentation. Even though his schooling is in Business and the Law, as his mother wished, his interest has always been engineering, much like his father, who developed many of the formulas and designs that Atlas was founded on.

His mother considered his father to be weak because his interests were in creating things that would help people and make their lives easier. He had no interest in gaining power or great amounts of money. Many of the things he invented he donated to just causes.

Austin inherited those attitudes from his father and in fact, has put together several fairly large charitable contributions by Atlas by convincing his mother and the board of directors that they were to the corporation's advantage tax-wise and enhanced their public image. However, Austin feels they aren't giving even a small percentage of what they should, considering the huge profits they enjoy every year.

This convention is like a vacation for Austin: he can't get enough of the subjects being discussed here. However, the only reason his mother sent him here was to handle the legalities of what she hoped would be closing a deal for the information that Hammish is seeking.

And Hammish seems to think he's found the person with the information. But Austin is just interested in TK's lecture on "Gyro Rotational Torque" and can hardly wait for a chance to talk to him. He has some theories on the subject and would love to actually discuss them with TK.

After the presentation, Hammish leaves, planning to talk to TK later in the evening. However, Austin hangs around, waiting for the crowd around TK to thin out so he can have a chance to meet him. It takes a while, but eventually TK is free and Austin gets his chance.

TK recognizes him immediately as the man who was with Nero Hammish and is quite wary, but he soon finds himself liking Austin Lewis. Austin, in turn, is quite at ease talking engineering with TK. It's a subject he loves, but has had very little real contact with even though he sat in on all the engineering classes he could in school and read engineering books whenever he could get away from his law studies. They trade email addresses and will keep in touch. Austin doesn't tell Hammish anything about his conversation with TK.

Later, Nero Hammish calls TK at the motel room, but TK claims he doesn't know anything about a group called 'no-poll' or some oddball project that the Sun Tool Company was working on fifty years ago. And he's definitely never heard of a "Mr. T. Kid!" Hammish leaves it at that for now, but he plans on keeping very close tabs on TK, and the Bikesters!

### THE LABORATORY OF DOCTOR LUCAS

Kinda Different

Ben is right Professor Lucas is a bit eccentric. His lab looks like Dr. Frankenstein works here. There is all sorts of weird equipment, with lots of dials and switches, and a constant electric hum. This guy is definitely a magnetism freak!

TK loves it. This is his first real exposure to pure physics and he's eating it up. Nitro is just shaking his head, the place is like a movie set! In fact, in one corner there's a blackboard and desk. It is a set where they tape shows with Professor Lucas for educational television. Walter Lucas is dressed in plaid pants, a white shirt, striped tie and a strange green mackinaw coat that has the sleeves cut off with what appears to be a two or three day old banana sticking out of one of its many pockets. _I hope he's color blind_ , thinks Nitro, _otherwise I better get my eyes checked_!

Soon TK and Walter, (the Professor asks TK to just call him Walter), are talking magnetism. Walter is writing out calculations and drawing diagrams with various colored felt tip markers on an endless supply of two foot square pieces of white paper that seem to be everywhere in the lab. Sometimes he has to look to find one with nothing on it, or even use the back of a used one. But he always comes up with another piece of paper. It looks like he never throws one away.

Electra

In the middle of all this, Professor Lucas's daughter shows up with a large platter of sandwiches for everyone and replaces the banana in his pocket with a fresh one. Even though Electra Lucas is still in high school, she's helped her father in his lab since she was old enough to walk, and before that she was out here in a crib. It's always been just the two of them.

"Electra?" queries TK.

"It's not as weird as just having two letters for a name!" she snaps back. "Besides, my dad's kind of wrapped up in his work. His other choice for a name for me was 'Magnetta'. I'm lucky it's Electra." She immediately goes to work, setting up one of the small 'high speed' magnetic field generators that Professor Lucas has developed on a testing bench.

Walter continues, between bites of sandwich, to explain to TK the fundamentals of electromagnetism and some of the amazing things he's discovered while working with it over the years.

By now piles of the square white sheets of paper surround them, each of which is covered with all sorts of formulas and drawings of electrons and protons, et cetera. Both are completely immersed in a discussion about subjects like 'power as a function of time,' 'the kinetic density and energy of protons' and 'Faraday's Law.'

Magnehelics

What it all boils down to as far as TK can tell, is that the Professor has come up with a way to speed up the centrifugal force of protons and electrons with a very small ultra high speed generator, a process he calls 'Magnehelics.'

However, as yet he hasn't had a way to spin his generator fast enough to totally prove his theory. At this point, Electra has the test unit all set up and they spin it up to full speed. Now it's really looking like Dr. Frankenstein's lab!

"This is as fast as we can spin a magnetic field generator with the equipment available at the present," says the Professor, having to shout over the noise. "Look at the size of the unit it takes to get enough torque and RPM's to complete the experiments we've done so far."

TK looks at a huge electric motor driving a complex set of gears and flywheels that take up enough space to park a small pickup truck.

"However," the Professor goes on yelling above the din, "this generator that we've developed," he points at a small cylinder about six inches in diameter and six inches long will easily turn twice this fast. "There's just nothing available to spin it at the speed we need for maximum performance."

Levitation

The Professor and Electra proceed with a few experiments that just boggle the mind. Even without what Walter calls 'maximum performance', the force field is so strong and controllable with this system, that among other things, he can actually suspend an engine block in mid air!

"If we could spin the generator twice as fast, it would multiply the power of the magnetic force by eight," Walter continues as he shuts off the testing apparatus, "We could suspend an entire car in the air!"

_It'd make a great magic act_ , thinks TK, and then says, "Our small turbine will easily double the torque and RPM's that you have now. In fact, it could probably spin your generator four times faster then you can now."

Walter just shakes his head and says, "That would be amazing! We could elevate the centrifugal force of the protons and electrons to a level that would radically alter the point of angular momentum!" The Professor is so excited his head is still shaking.

Standing by TK, Nitro is a little left behind by the electro-physics and theory, but he understands what this set-up could do on RocketBike, and is already thinking of ways to integrate it with the systems already on the bike.

The rest of the day is spent with TK and Electra running calculations on TK's computers in the Bikester trailer while Professor Lucas supplies them with data and Nitro tries to think of a way to fit the Magnehelic system on to the bike.

They've decided, as Professor Lucas suggested, to use two of the small magnetic field generators, each one powered by a small turbine running on oxygenated hydrogen fuel from the rocket's H²O-S separator. It's beginning to look like the whole set up will fit onboard. _This will make RocketBike a formidable piece indeed_ , thinks Nitro.

The next morning they head west for home, after packing up two of the magnetic field generators and making arrangements to stay in close contact with the Professor as the project progresses. He will fly out when it's ready to test.

Home Again

After an uneventful trip across the country, everyone is ready to get to work on the Magnebrakes. TK is doing the final design of the system in 3-D CAD or Three-Dimensional Computer-Aided Drafting, while Nitro, Terry, and Celeste fabricate and fit pieces together. Because of the extremely high RPM's that each turbine and magnetic generator turn, the tolerances and degree of balance of many of the components is highly critical.

Celeste spends a lot of time running back and forth to the machine shop to oversee production of the parts they are having built to be sure they are being built to their exacting specifications. They have to move along and keep this project on schedule because Celeste has booked them into the Spring Fair in Texas, where they will do a flying show with RocketBike.

The spring Fair is a huge event that draws almost two million people during its run of over two weeks. The Bikesters will be the feature show of the fair, and the performance Terry has planned requires taking off from and landing on the trailer.

After many hours of Nitro drawing sketches and then sitting in front of the computer watching while TK works things out precisely, they've come up with a design that will allow them to fit the complete system on RocketBike.

They're building a new rear axle, which contains almost all the components of the Magnehelic and Magnebrake systems including the turbines.

"And it looks cool, too," says TK.

Rather then build a test bench; they have decided to do the testing right on the bike. The Professor will bring the instruments with him to calibrate the system.

Guess Who Came Along

Celeste and TK are on their way to pick up Professor Lucas at the airport, while Nitro and Terry put the finishing touches on RocketBike, which is ready to test with the new system.

As Celeste pulls the van up in front of Professor Lucas and a formidable pile of boxes and cases of testing equipment, she's surprised to see Electra has flown out with him. TK lights right up when he sees her and Celeste thinks, _Hmm, TK's never shown much interest in girls before_.

On the way back to the farm, TK and Electra are talking non-stop, after the Professor tries once or twice to get a word in edgewise, he finally just exclaims, "Teenagers!" with a shrug of his shoulders.

TK takes Electra on a tour of the farm while Professor Lucas and Nitro are already going full tilt, deciding where the various sensors etc. will be placed on RocketBike so the bike can be used as a test bed for the new systems.

Nitro has placed a large piece of heavy steel plate on the shop floor and RocketBike will be suspended on a hoist above it. The hoist will have a sensor on it, and that along with other sensors and instruments on various parts of the bike will allow them to measure and calibrate exactly the magnetic pull of the new system towards the steel plate.

The data they gather from these tests will also allow TK to calculate how much the torque of the high-speed turbines and generators will affect RocketBike's handling and stability. The shop is already starting to fill up with those big white squares of paper as Professor Lucas disappears into his world of protons, electrons, and calculations.

MagneTwins

Professor Walter soon mesmerizes the twins, who have come out to the shop to help. During his whirlwind of calculation, diagramming with squeaky felt tip markers on his squares of paper and fitting test equipment on RocketBike. He has also decided to teach the girls Beginning Physics, which they are soaking up at an amazing rate. Or as Professor Lucas says, "They're doing better than a lot of my freshmen!"

TK and Electra arrive back from their tour and start setting up the computer system that will record and interpret the information from the monitoring devices during the test.

At first the twins were quite jealous of TK's attentions toward Electra, but when they discover that she can talk physics to them and continue their instant education, they decide she's O.K.

Soon the girls are drawing on those sheets of paper themselves and diagramming the basics of 'Faraday's law' and 'magnetic flux.' Terry, helping Nitro fit test equipment on RocketBike looks at what the twins are doing and thinks, _Scary, these are going to look pretty weird next to their drawings of horses and flying motorcycles on the refrigerator door_.

First Test

RocketBike is hanging six feet above the steel plate as everyone prepares for the first test. Terry is on the bike in his silver fire suit and helmet. The rocket engine itself won't have to be running but the separator and several other systems besides the Magnebrakes will be operating. So it's best that someone be on the bike to watch over them. Also, Terry will operate the magnetic set-up from on the bike to get the feel of it.

TK, Celeste, Electra and Nitro are in front of individual computer screens, each monitoring a separate group of sensors and functions during the test while Professor Lucas and his able assistants, Katie and Jill, oversee the entire operation.

Testing, One-Two-Three

Professor Lucas indicates everything ready and Nitro gives Terry the go signal. Terry starts turning on systems. First, the Hydrogen-Oxygen Separator starts up with a muted whirring sound, next there is a quiet ticking as the injectors on the turbines are actuated.

At the same time, a low whining begins and gets louder and louder as the turbines and generators come up to speed. On the bike, Terry watches as the kilo-amp meter begins to indicate power being generated.

Down below him the monitor screens are becoming a fast moving blur of activity as they begin to register the flow of data from the sensors and systems. In less then ten seconds the Professor says, "It's producing the necessary amperes. Tell him to begin to actuate the Magnehelic system."

Terry pushes one of the buttons on the new console they've installed and watches the needle on the large Magnehelics gauge begin to move. Almost immediately he feels the bike begin to pull downward.

Nitro, on the radio, tells him, "Give it a little more." He pushes down the Magnehelics button again and this time holds it down for a second. There's a very noticeable increase in the downward pull. _This is cool_ , thinks Terry. For the next several minutes, they experiment with different levels of magnetic force and find that it's quite controllable. In fact, Terry can increase and decrease the amount of pull to a very precise degree. Immediately after the test TK, Electra and Professor Lucas begin analyzing the data.

The first question they answer is how much steel they will have to put on the floor of the elevator for the Magnebrakes to pull toward, as the elevator will now become the launch platform when it's all the way up to the roof. They quickly calculate that a relatively thin sheet will work fine. That's good, the less weight they have to put up there the better! As soon as they have the exact figures, Nitro leaves to pick up the steel.

Ready

The data analysis is complete, and after a couple of days and several more tests in the shop, they have made the necessary changes and adjustments to the system. Nitro is just finishing up painting the sheet of steel he has added to the elevator platform with special non-slip epoxy paint.

He's also added extra lights around the top of the trailer for night landings. Tomorrow morning they will be able to do a complete test of the Magnebrakes with a take off and landing!

Set

It's a cloudy but dry morning as they get everything set up. Professor Lucas is running around doing last minute checks of everything. This is the highlight of his career an actual field test of his Magnehelics system.

He's never been able to test it anywhere but doing experiments in the lab. Plus, they've never been able to spin the magnetic generators at even remotely as many RPM's as they can with this turbine system.

Blast Off!

TK and Electra are in front of monitors as Terry gets ready to launch. Celeste is off to the side with a video camera recording everything. Nitro comes down off the top of the trailer after checking things one last time and his customary preflight handshake with Terry, as he walks over to the computer console and puts on his headset TK tells him everything is Go.

He relays the message to Terry who begins the process of starting up the H²O-S separator and injectors, then the turbines and generators, and, when everything is spun up, he pushes the Magnehelics button, holding it down for several seconds.

He feels RocketBike pull down hard to the top of the trailer. Then he fires up the rocket, he brings it up to full thrust, feeling it pull against the Magnebrakes which are holding, locking tight to the platform. _I hope I got that steel bolted down and braced as well as I think I did or he could pull the whole thing apart_ , thinks Nitro. However, his worries are unfounded, as it holds quite nicely.

Terry hits the rocket burst button, releasing the Magnebrakes at the same instant, and is suddenly airborne with a roar! By the time everyone recovers from the launch, he's already out over the water leaving a steamy vapor trail behind him.

Even Professor Lucas lets his analytical mind rest for a moment; he has never seen anything even remotely that spectacular! Then he gets it back together and squints over Electra and TK's shoulders at the monitors to check the incoming data.

UFO

Terry has never felt acceleration like that, by the time he gets his act back together he's already looking down at the water, Unreal! After making a wide turn around the closest island, he waves at some rather startled folks in a sailboat and heads back towards the farm. _I probably just became a UFO sighting_ , thinks Terry. _I wonder if they had enough time to take one of those blurry UFO pictures of me_!

Slow Landing

He makes a circle around the farm and then sets up to make a slow test pass. As he floats in low at stall speed over the edge of the trailer, he experiments with the Magnebrake button, pressing it a little bit at a time to see what he's got.

It's amazing: he feels the magnetic force immediately. This system is incredible! It's even more powerful then they thought. Everything is working just right. Terry decides to go ahead and do a landing instead of waiting until the next time around as was planned.

Using the magnetic force, which is pulling RocketBike more and more down towards the trailer, and the power and aerodynamics of the bike which are trying to hold it up, he is almost hovering while he slowly sets it down.

As RocketBike settles on the flight deck, much like a Harrier Jet landing, Terry thinks he sees, out of the corner of his eye, a large eagle hovering a few yards off to his left side. But when he turns his head to look there's nothing there.

"The ultra acceleration of the take off must have shook up my vision a little," he says to himself, and then forgets about it.

On the ground, Nerissa and the twins saw it too, but don't say anything, even to each other.

The rest of the day is spent doing several more complete takeoffs and landings and a series of touch-and-goes, until they have it down pat.

Terry says, "I could take off and land up there in my sleep." Plus, they've amassed tons of data, which makes both TK and Professor Lucas quite happy.

Doctor Lucas' Departure

Professor Lucas has just about finished getting all his equipment packed up, and then Nitro will run him down to the airport to catch his plane.Electra is going to stay and ride down to Texas with them, spend some time at the fair, and then fly home from there.

After sharing her room with Electra for the last week, Celeste has decided she's alright. Kind of a science club computer nerd type, like TK, but definitely okay. They've become good buddies.

HIGH STEEL

Heading South

Nitro has returned from taking Dr. Lucas to the airport and they finish getting the trailer loaded up and ready to go. Nitro, Celeste, TK and Electra will leave first thing in the morning. Terry will fly down in a week, when the fair starts.

By 8 a.m., they are already well past Seattle, traveling south on I-5. To the east, Mount Rainier dominates the view in the crystal clear morning. _Nothing like the Northwest_ , thinks Nitro. He's been all over the country, but he always comes back here.

Two hours later, they are crossing the Columbia River into Portland, Oregon, a beautiful city that stretches along two rivers. Celeste marvels at all the new construction that's going on; it seems like the steel skeletons of new buildings dominate the skyline. As they are traveling south on the elevated freeway that cuts across the city, they are suddenly caught in a huge traffic jam. One so bad, in fact, that people are all getting out of their cars, and seem to be looking in the direction of one of the skyscrapers under construction near the freeway. Looking out of the cab of the truck, over the tops of the cars, they soon see what everyone is looking at.

Top Floor Terror

One of the giant construction cranes, perched on top of the steel framework of a future office tower, has evidently collapsed and is hanging at a crazy angle, swaying back and forth over the side of the building, hundreds of feet above the ground!

"I hope nobody's down below. It doesn't look like it's going to stay up there for long," says Nitro.

TK turns on the radio to the emergency band to see if there's any information. At the same time moment, Celeste says, "I think I can see someone up there." She gets the binoculars to take a better look. "Yes, there he is. The operator is still in the cab, hanging out over the edge!"

They all look at the crane, dangling out over the edge of the building. It looks like it will fall at any second. Just then TK starts picking up information on the radio. The nearest helicopter that's set up for this type of rescue has been dispatched from Astoria and it's just getting ready to take off! They say it will take at least 20 minutes to get it here!

"Poor guy," says Nitro, "It looks like he's a goner."

"Maybe not," says Celeste, looking back through the passageway into the trailer at RocketBike. "I can fly that thing," she says with confidence. "Besides, it's his only chance!"

"You can land right by him on the crane with the Magnebrakes," adds Electra.

Before Nitro can say yes or no, Celeste is on her way to the back of the trailer where RocketBike is sitting on the elevator, ready to be raised to the roof. Nitro is right behind her.

Going for It

Celeste is buckling Terry's helmet on as she climbs on the bike and Nitro gives her a quick run down on the controls and operation of the Magnebrakes: There's no time to waste! Luckily, Celeste has always watched closely whenever they ran RocketBike, and already has a good idea of how everything works.

She starts up the H²O-S and Magnebrake systems, locking RocketBike magnetically down on the elevator platform. She shakes Nitro's hand for good luck and he pushes the button to raise the bike to the roof.

As the elevator comes up to roof level, Celeste looks over the tops of cars and commuters-turned-spectators and sees that the collapsing crane has slipped even further. It's now hanging very precariously, almost entirely over the edge, and it's over thirty floors to the ground.

Celeste vs. Gravity

Celeste starts up the rocket, bringing it immediately up to full thrust and releasing the Magnebrakes as she hits the Rocket burst button. The acceleration is phenomenal! She now understands why Terry gets such a rush out of riding this bike. _Especially the launches_ , she thinks, _if you could call anything 'unreal', this is definitely it_!

On the ground, the crowd of people looking toward the skeletal skyscraper and its crippled crane hear a huge roar behind them and turn to see Celeste on RocketBike, blasting off the top of the trailer with a long tail of white flame!

On with the Job at Hand

After the initial excitement of the launch, it takes Celeste a few seconds to get organized. She then puts the bike into a hard right turn while gaining altitude. After getting her bearings she heads straight for the crumpled crane; there's not a second to lose!

TK's very excited voice is filling her earphones, but he isn't making much sense. Then Nitro's calm voice takes over and she sees why Terry counts on Nitro when he's in the air. Nitro goes back over the functions of the controls and how to adjust the pull of the Magnebrakes. "They're kind of quirky," he reminds her. By the time Nitro's done talking, she's all calmed down and totally back down to business.

"Thanks, Nitro," she says to herself.

She has to land and pick this guy up on the first time around. The crane is hanging over the edge by just what remains of one leg and some cable, and is just about ready to drop. There's no time for practicing with the Magnebrakes or anything else. This will be the first time they've tried using the Magnebrake system to land on anything besides the trailer.

As she throttles down to stall speed, Celeste looks at the mass of twisted metal that used to be one of the largest pieces of construction equipment in the world. It's going to be hard to find a spot intact enough to land on, let alone one close enough to the operator's cab to pick him up.

Air Idiots

To top it all off, there are two news helicopters swirling about the toppling crane like blindfolded flies. Even though neither one of them has the capability to rescue the crane operator, they're hovering dangerously close, trying to ace each other out for the best videotape footage. At stall speed, the bike can be very sensitive to the wind and air currents, and their rotor wash is blowing RocketBike all over the place. They just about blow RocketBike and Celeste into the tangled jumble of steel!

_I'm going to have something to say to them back on the ground_ , thinks Celeste with a growl. She maneuvers into a spot about ten feet from the cab, and as she manipulates the Magnebrakes to pull down on the steel, she sees the crane operator looking out of the door, eyes bulging with fear.

He doesn't even question the fact that what appears to be a motorcycle is trying to land up here he's out the door immediately, crawling towards her across the mangled metal as she touches down and locks the Magnebrakes onto the remains of the crane's main spar.

Narrow Escape

Celeste feels what's left of the huge crane start to drop out from under them, even as the operator half-climbs and half-drags himself onto the bike behind her. She barely has time to yell at him to hang on tight as she releases the Magnebrakes, simultaneously hitting the Full Thrust and Rocket burst buttons.

Suddenly they're launching almost straight up from the twisted metal as the crane plummets to the ground beneath them, falling earthward in a grinding, tortured scream of aluminum and steel. As the thrust lifts them higher, the crane and most of the top two floors crash into the ground. Celeste skyrockets clear of the wreckage in a single powerful arc, looping back down by the trailer to the cheers of the crowd of motorists standing on the freeway.

Over the din of honking horns and cheering motorists, Nitro is already giving her directions to the nearest airport, as they've decided not to land back on the trailer. As Nitro puts it, "No sense pushing our luck too far."

Ground Sweet Ground

By the time Celeste lands, the news helicopters are already there, their cameramen filming her landing. As she gets off the bike, the reporters are right there to interview her, but she ignores them and goes right after the two helicopter pilots. In no uncertain terms, Celeste lets them know just what she thinks about them coming in that close during a rescue as tricky and dangerous as that! They very nearly caused her to crash into that mess.

She and the crane operator both could have crashed down to the street, along with the crumpled mass of metal that had been the crane and the top of the building. Celeste makes very sure they know it! Over the roar of the slowing rotors, the entire press learns that Celeste is not only brave, but also that she has a bit of a temper, especially when someone does something as stupid as those pilots did.

After her outburst, Celeste soon calms down and gives a very professional, Bikester-type interview. Nitro arrives with the truck and trailer and they manage to get RocketBike loaded up and get out of there to continue their trip south before too many more of the news and media people arrive. After they're safely on the road again, Celeste exclaims, "Terry's right! Flying on a bike is as good as it gets! Especially a really fast one!"

### IT'S ALL JUST SHOWBIZ

Texas State Fairgrounds

As they pull into the fairgrounds, preparations for opening day swirl around them. Nitro parks the truck and trailer by the grandstands. The fair starts in four days and lasts over two weeks; it's going to be a busy time for the Bikesters.

Besides putting on flying shows every day, there will be a large booth set up near the Bikester trailer for the "D.A.R.E. To Keep Kids off Drugs" program, which they will run along with help from several local groups. The fair runs twelve hours a day, so there's not going to be much time for anything else. As soon as they get the Tracker unloaded, Celeste and Electra are gone. There are a ton of details to take care of and they'll be on the run until the fair starts.

A Pretty "Fair" Week

TK and Nitro are quite occupied getting everything set up and tearing RocketBike down to make sure everything is O.K. after the unscheduled flight in Portland. Celeste and Electra, who's giving her a lot of help and whom Celeste is finding to be indispensable, are going non-stop putting together radio and television spots etc. for both the D.A.R.E. booth and the flying show.

Terry arrives on Friday to figure out the exact pattern he wants to fly and then practice in front of the grandstands. Friday is a special free day for senior citizens and inner-city kids, and Terry's practice will be a fantastic free show for all of them. After Friday, Terry is scheduled to fly twice a day on weekends and once a day during the week for the duration of the fair.

The practice flights go flawlessly and the seniors and kids get a great show on Friday. Everything is ready for Saturday, the first official day of the fair. Elaborate opening day ceremonies are planned, including an antique aircraft fly-by, parachute jumpers, and of course RocketBike.

Showtime Saturday

It's a typical Texas spring day; the sky is bright blue and cloudless, perfect for an air show. The antique aircraft have just finished their part of the show and it's time for the big finale, which consists of the Texas Precision Parachute Team free-falling in formation and holding a giant state flag while Terry swoops around them on RocketBike, skywriting an outline of a Texas Star. Then, as they break formation and open their chutes, Terry will do some passes down by the grandstands. At least, that's the way it all worked out when they practiced on Friday.

The performance is timed to the second. Terry is on RocketBike on top of the trailer, wearing his silver flight suit. After waving to the crowd, he launches, full tilt, with the bright white flame of the rocket burst activated! Almost two miles above him, the skydivers have already jumped out of their plane and are forming up in free-fall with the flag.

Terry skyrockets straight up to rendezvous with the jump team, just as they get the Texas flag all spread out, and proceeds to make a large star around them with the skywriting smoke system that Nitro has installed on the bike especially for the fair. Then, for good measure, he puts a big Texas-sized smoke circle around that.

Finished, Terry heads back down towards the grandstands as the parachutists break their formation and prepare to pull their ripcords to open their chutes. They will float down and land on the target in front of the grandstands.

Terry spirals down and does a low pass in front of the grandstands, performing a victory roll for the cheering fans. At the same moment, high above him, the skydivers' chutes are blossoming open. _Everything smooth as silk_ , thinks Terry, _just like rehearsal yesterday_!

Something Unplanned

However, far above him things aren't quite smooth as silk. Eleven chutes have opened or are opening, but jumper number twelve is having problems: his chute didn't open! He goes for his reserve chute and it also fails in a tangled mess! He spreads his arms and legs as far as possible to slow down and gain more control of his free fall. He has one chance: to link up with the jumper closest to him, whose chute is just opening, so they can both come down on the other jumper's chute. But they miss by inches!

Now he's on his own. The rest of the team's chutes have opened and he's already leaving them far behind as he plummets towards the ground at nearly two hundred feet per second, his tangled reserve chute streaming behind him.

Down below, Terry completes his low rolling pass for the spectators and continues his aerobatics, pulling up into the beginning of a loop. Celeste, who is on top of the trailer, sees some of the crowd pointing straight up and immediately trains her binoculars in the direction they are pointing and sees the hapless skydiver. _Man, this could ruin opening day, especially for that jumper_ , she thinks.

She quickly points out what's happening to Nitro, standing beside her with a headset on. Through the headset, he's in constant contact with Terry, and also with TK, who's in the doorway of the trailer with Electra, in front of the computer which monitors RocketBike's systems.

Teamwork

Nitro instantly alerts Terry who breaks off his loop and heads straight up as the helpless skydiver plummets earthward. As soon as he hears the transmission from Nitro to Terry on his headset, TK is calculating altitude, speed and angles of interception on the computer, once again, the Bikesters are all on the same wavelength!

Luckily, the entire performance was carefully choreographed with a very precise timeline, so TK knows when the jumpers opened their chutes to the precise second. He can quickly calculate the position and rate of descent of the unlucky parachutist, still in free-fall.

With this information and the exact altitude and speed of RocketBike, which is always displayed on the monitor in real time TK is able to calculate the point where Terry must end his climb and angle back down to rendezvous with the skydiver. At an exact spot and matching rate of descent, there's not much time to do all this; the ground is coming up fast.

In the air, Terry is thinking with lightning speed. TK can give him the information on the altitude, speed and angle needed to pull this off. But, because they have no radar, among other things, Terry has to do his best to keep the falling parachutist in sight. He has to know his own exact position at all times to be able to intersect with him at exactly the right moment to pluck him out of the sky.

Finding a Spot in the Sky

Terry has discovered that when flying something with as much power as RocketBike, it's sometimes very hard to keep a point in sight, especially if it's moving like this skydiver. In fact, at times, when doing aerobatics, it's hard to tell up from down or know where the ground is. He's sure that jet fighter pilots run into the same problems. With all this power, you never feel the normal pull of gravity towards the ground, just various G-forces pulling in different directions, cool but confusing.

Terry has found the best way to deal with this problem is to consider the bottom to be wherever his feet are, then, whether he's right side up or upside-down he always has something to relate to. Kinda cuts the confusion down. Someday he'd like to talk to a jet pilot and see what they do; maybe it's the same thing.

Hitchhiker

As he comes over the top of his arc and begins to angle back down, he has to lose sight of the skydiver for a few seconds. But 'Good old TK' has once again put him in the exact right spot at the exact right time. The jumper comes quickly into his sight, almost beside him!

Terry sees the strangest look in the man's eyes, like he'd pretty much given up and now, out of nowhere, he has a chance. Terry very carefully matches his speed to the skydiver's free fall, edges over right beside him and reaches out his hand, they grasp hands and Terry pulls him over to the bike.

_Man, this is weird_ , thinks Terry, _It's like being in outer space, there's no sensation of speed or falling, just two people floating in the middle of nowhere. I'm going to have to try skydiving_. Then he looks at the tattered reserve chute streaming behind the jumper. _But I'll make sure my parachute works_!

The skydiver pulls himself onto RocketBike behind Terry and grabs on tight as Terry pulls back hard on the controls! By now they're only a few hundred feet off the ground! As they pull up, they're just thirty or forty feet off the ground, right in front of the main grandstand! As he gains a little altitude and roars around to land, Terry thinks, _how's that for a show! The crowd is going wild! They actually think it is all part of the show_!

"I don't think I want to try to pull this off twice a day," Terry says to himself as the bike settles down on the trailer top. He feels the skydiver sitting behind him holding on so tightly he can hardly breathe. As his fingers gradually loosen their petrified grip, Terry can feel them retract from the wrinkles of his suit. "And I know he doesn't."

Safe and Sound

Terry settles RocketBike on top of the trailer in front of a standing, cheering crowd who still seem to think the rescue was part of the act. However, there's one person in the crowd who knows it wasn't.

Austin Lewis understands that, beyond the sheer bravery of it, it required an unbelievable amount of teamwork, mathematical calculations, intensity and instant decision-making to put Terry in the right spot at exactly the right time to save the skydiver, not by just one person but by the entire Bikester team.

Austin is now even more impressed with the Bikesters, if that's possible after meeting TK in Chicago and then seeing their rescue of the crane operator in Portland on the news. Nobody at Atlas, including his mother, knows that he's here. All they know is that he's taken a few days of vacation. So he has a chance to do what he wants to do, which is to 'Meet the Bikesters'.

After the excitement of the grandstand show has calmed down, Austin heads down to the booth that's set up by the Bikester trailer. He catches TK's eye, their friendship instantly renewed with a few quick looks of recognition and appreciation.

TK wastes no time in introducing him to Celeste and they soon find themselves having lunch together at one of the many restaurants on the fairgrounds. Austin and Celeste soon find they have some things in common, especially their feelings of social responsibility and an interest in helping those in need. She tells him about the Can-Am Harvest show and how well it's doing.

The concept of high- visibility promotions and displays for charity interests him, and he sees how this would work especially well for causes like the Food Bank or D.A.R.E. that thrive on public awareness. He finds the idea very attractive, especially the fact that it's self -supporting after the initial funding and, with good management, will continue accomplishing its goals for an infinite amount of time. Which gets him thinking.

Atlas has a foundation that was established many years ago by his father, funded by the continual royalties from several of his inventions to aid charitable causes. When his mother took over running the company, she also took over control of the foundation. Since then, she has done her best to see to it that the foundation only gives funds to what she approves, which means causes that provide her with more social importance.

Austin has managed to extract some funding for projects aiding the hungry and the homeless, but he's had a hard fight for it. Austin has always felt that if there are people who don't have food or a place to live, they should have a higher priority then a new opera house, statue, or reflecting pool.

Now he's finding that Celeste and the Bikesters feel the same way about our responsibilities to each other as human beings. In fact, the Bikesters as a business, is based on supporting programs like the food banks.

The Fair Must Go On

The daily flying shows are smooth and relatively uneventful after the excitement of opening day. The booth is extremely successful, selling thousands of Bikester 'D.A.R.E. to Keep Kids Off Drugs' tee shirts, and at the same time, generating massive visibility for the whole D.A.R.E. program.

Austin Lewis stays for most of the first week of the fair, and has a good time; he helps out at the booth every day and learns a great deal about the Bikester charity promotions. By the time he has to leave to go back to work he's starting to put a plan together on how to help them with their program. Celeste and TK take Austin to the airport and see him off, with the feeling that they've made a good friend. And they're right; they've made a very good friend!

Electra ends up staying for almost the entire fair. She's busy full-time in the D.A.R.E. booth and is also writing computer programs with TK. He doesn't know a lot about programming, but he's learning fast. They're creating a "Flying Bikester" game, complete with rescues, and at the same time putting together a "bikesters.com" website As TK says, it's going to be "Much cool!" Electra leaves for home a few days before the fair ends, she has to get back to school, but TK will see her in a few weeks.

They are going to drop TK off in California on their way home. He's going to the engineering institute for a few weeks of concentrated classes and lectures. Then he is off to Chicago for several weeks of full-tilt physics with Professor Lucas, who is also taking an interest in TK's education.

### BIG AL

Guess Who?

As the fair winds down, the Bikester booth has a surprise visitor. It's Bo, just stopping by to give them a hard time! Terry isn't around, so he decides to concentrate on Nitro. Bo knows it won't do him any good to hassle Nitro. Nitro's just too quick for him. As Nitro says, "When I play word games with Bo, I feel like I'm in a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent."

But Bo knows how to get to Nitro. He takes a Polaroid out of his pocket and hands it to Nitro. Without saying another word, just a laugh, wanders off to check out the fair. After Bo's left Nitro checks out the Polaroid and it stops him in his tracks, just like Bo knew it would.

Bo has written "DragMonster" under the picture. And it is! From the front, it looks very much like a normal AA/Fuel dragster, but behind the driver everything changes. Two supercharged fuel hemis sit in it side by side, and knowing the kind of engines Bo builds, each one most likely produces at least five thousand horsepower. Behind the engines across the back of the car are four drag slicks, each over twenty inches wide. Bo is right. This is truly the 'Mother of all dragsters!'

Nitro instantly realizes that racing against this monster with SuperBike is out of the question. The only way they beat Bo the last couple of races was by running SuperBike right on the ragged edge, and even then Terry had to come up with a trick or two beyond that to pull it off!

They could easily beat this new car with RocketBike, but that wouldn't count, it has to be an internal combustion-powered, wheel-driven vehicle, not a rocket or jet that is propelled by thrust. And of course, Nitro wants to beat Bo with a bike, which is going to be a pretty tall order, but after all, they are the 'Bikesters', and as TK likes to say: Bikesters rule!

Super Challenge

Nitro has to think about this for a minute or two, then his brain goes to work full-tilt, dredging up an idea he had back when they had major traction problems during the first round of the Phoenix match race with the 'Dangerous Dan Jones Funny Car'. Terry returns and, after seeing the photograph that Bo left, reacts by saying, "Ugh! It's ugly, but it looks BAD!"

Nitro runs his idea by Terry and draws a quick sketch. It's SuperBike with two slicks, which kind of turn it into 'SuperTrike', but will put a lot of rubber and, ultimately, a lot of power on the ground. Terry looks at it and rolls his eyes, and says, "I don't know, I kinda like SuperBike the way it is."

Terry instinctively knows that this will turn SuperBike into just something to put power on the ground, a bludgeon, rather then the beautifully balanced, engineered-to-perfection single purpose vehicle it is right now. Riding SuperBike is truly an art form and Terry loves being the artist that gets to do it. He loves being able to run right on the edge of traction and stability. Being able to feel the bike's every twitch and having to be right at the very top of his game, ready to react and compensate to make the perfect run. Nerissa would say, "It's like riding a fast stallion over jumps!"

Nitro takes notice of the way Terry looks at his drawing of a new, improved SuperBike. Actually he's not too crazy about making changes on the bike himself. When you can create something mechanical and get it to work as close to its maximum potential, as SuperBike does, you really don't want to take a chance on losing the combination and messing it up. So he's back to trying to think of a way to beat the 'DragMonster'. And thinking...and thinking...

Going Home

After an extra day in Texas to get everything packed up, they're back on the road: first to California to drop off TK, and also Celeste, who has some tee shirt business to take care of in LA, then home.

Terry's riding back with them this time because they're only three days from home. He's still really charged up from the excitement of flying every day, and coming along to share the driving will give him a chance to wind down. Flying RocketBike is the best thing ever, and he finds himself looking forward to it even more then he looks forward to racing.

Seeing the picture of Bo's new car hasn't yet inspired him to have something to beat it with. Not the way it's fired up Nitro, who isn't saying much. Terry knows that what Nitro must be thinking about is what he can build to smoke Bo's new dragster with. As he drives Terry's just thinking about flying again.

And Terry's right. Nitro is thinking about what it's going to take to beat Bo. That's all he's thinking about. He's running different ideas and plans through his head. By the time they get home, something will be coming together. Nitro always rises to a challenge, especially one from Bo! They stop at Jim Truesdale's to drop of TK and Celeste. They also unload the Tracker. Celeste will use it in LA, and then drive it home. Then they turn north. Sure enough, by the time they pull in the driveway at the farm, Nitro has a pretty good idea of what it will take to do battle with Bo's 'DragMonster'.

What Now?

As they pull to a stop the twins come running up. Terry's promised to take the girls and Nerissa cruising in the San Juan Islands for the next two weeks and they're ready to go, right now! But they'll have to wait until the morning.

Nitro disappears into the shop and, except for taking the pickup and running to the warehouse to pick up some stuff, is out there all night. In the morning, after getting the van loaded with all the gear they're taking with them, Terry goes out to the shop to see what Nitro's up to and to let him know that they're leaving for the boat.

MegaBike

Now Terry sees what Nitro went to the warehouse to pick up last night. And he's astounded by what he's creating. Sitting in the middle of the shop is the huge Allison V-12 that he dragged home from Sun Tool a couple of years ago. Over 1700 cubic inches of overhead cam, aluminum mega-engine, it's sitting sideways like the hemi V-8 in SuperBike.

Nitro has placed one wheel five or six feet out in front of the engine and he has two of the big drag slicks they use on SuperBike side by side behind it.

Down low in front of the engine are two gigantic turbochargers, each one big enough to fill a five-gallon bucket. _This is scary! It makes SuperBike look like a kid's toy_ , thinks Terry. On the four-foot long dull black valve covers, Nitro has stenciled a name, 'Big Al!'

Terry doesn't even want to think about this. He goes back out to the van and, along with Nerissa and the girls, heads for the boat. Right now he would much rather spend a couple of weeks in the islands with his family than deal with the latest creation of the 'Mad Doctor Nitro!'

A couple of hours later, Nitro looks out the shop window and sees Nail's truck and trailer coming down the driveway. He made good time, considering that Nitro just called him when they left Texas, four days ago.

Nitro knows that Nail is the ideal person to help with this project. He has just the right attitude for what this bike is going to be: no chrome, nothing fancy. A ground-pounder something capable of putting over seven thousand horsepower on the ground. A very efficient 'blunt instrument' that will get the job done.

And with that, the mad inventor, creator of SuperBike and RocketBike, Father of the Bikesters, casually picks up his favorite, bluntest, wrench and goes back to work on the newest, biggest and baddest beast of them all.

At that same moment, passing by the beach below the bluffs is "The Boat", carrying Terry and his little family as they head for the Islands. They are looking towards the shore as what appears to be a huge white bear emerges from the surf and heads for the path that goes up the bluff towards the shop.

The girls say in unison, "Spirit Bear!!" Terry looks and doesn't see anything, however he does see the 'Silver Eagle' soaring above them. Nerissa just nods seeing it all....

Visit us a Bikesters.com for more fun and adventures also be on the lookout for Bikesters #2.

The following is a text heavy Illustrated Version of the Chase at China lake section of the first chapter. I hope you enjoy it.

#  BIKESTERS

### CHASE AT CHINA LAKE

Written by Fred Vosk

Storyboard Illustrations by Lewis Pratt

Copyright © 1995 Fred E. Vosk

All rights reserved.

## CHINA LAKE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

Terry and Nitro like to call it China Lake International Airport because nothing's there, just a very long landing strip. The nearest town in one direction is over 35 miles away, and it's only a gas station and store. In the other direction is the Military Testing Center, thousands of square miles of restricted area where nobody goes. Nitro pulls the truck up at the spot where they always camp along the edge of the runway.

It's a nice day. It's always a nice day here. They crank out the big awning on the side of the trailer for shade. Celeste has already set up housekeeping in the hospitality suite in the front of the trailer while the guys are bunking in the large living quarters area behind the cab of the trunk. They have hardly even set up camp and Nitro and TK are already back in the trailer, building and fitting pieces of the H²O-S system to SuperBike.

For the next few days, the four of them work on putting together the new setup on the race bike, taking time to explore the area around them, have a few barbecues, and watch the sun set over the high desert. TK has his computer set up, and with the modem hooked into the small satellite dish on the roof of the truck he is once again totally in contact with the world and all that information. "You can't get enough information," says TK.

Nitro just snorts, "Computer kids."

Less then a week has gone by since they arrived at China Lake and SuperBike with the H²O-S system installed is ready for a test. Nitro is nervously checking fittings and lines to make sure that nothing's loose: Can't be too careful. TK is fiddling with the small onboard computer that monitors the bike's mechanical functions and watches over the H²O-S system. All they have to do when the engine is running or after a race is plug the bike's data accumulator into TK's computer and they will have a complete read out. This tells them how everything is working and detects any flaws, or adjustments that are needed.

Near the cab of the truck, Celeste leans against her dirt bike and absent mindedly sips from a water bottle.

There's not much for her to do at the moment and she's feeling a little left out. For the better part of a year she's known that TK would benefit from male companionship and role models, but now that she sees him totally caught up in this project with Nitro and Terry she wonders what her role in his life should be right now. However, she knows she couldn't find better guys for him to hang out with.

## "MAN FROM MARS"

Just then, Terry comes out of the side door of the trailer. He looks over, sees Celeste looking a little blue, and smiles and waves to her. Celeste has to laugh. Terry has his silver driving suit on and is holding his helmet, standing on the edge of the runway with nothing but the endless desert behind him. He looks like an astronaut-on Mars!

As Terry prepares to get on SuperBike and Nitro and TK continue with their last minute checking over of everything, Celeste sees a lone dirt biker race out of a gully and onto the flat about a half-mile away towards the far end of the landing strip.

She was watching birds soaring on the thermals over the desert and has binoculars sitting on the bike seat.

She picks them up and takes a look just in time to see the dirt biker staring back at her through his own binoculars.

The biker stares at her for a moment, then pans across the rest of the scene: the truck and trailer with its colorful Bikester logo, the guys around the race bike, even the barbecue and lawn chairs.

He ignites a green smoke flare and tosses it out onto the landing strip.

Suddenly, a low flying Lear Jet appears from nowhere and makes a pass over the truck and trailer causing everyone to look up before it disappears over the surrounding hills.

The guys look at each other, shrug and go back to the last second preparations to start up SuperBike. However, it has caught Celeste's interest, and she looks back at the dirt biker and thinks, _There's something strange going on here._

### "FIRE IT UP"

Terry climbs on SuperBike and Nitro pushes the button engaging the portable starter that is plugged into the side of the engine. The starter spins and the engine roars to life. It's unbelievably loud! _This fuel system must be doing something,_ thinks Nitro, _because I've never heard an engine this loud!_ TK is off to the side sitting in front of his computer, which is plugged into the bike. The loudness of the exhaust surprises him, but he gets on with his job of monitoring all the mechanical functions to watch for any problems.

Terry hops off the bike, which is now idling, and stands with Nitro staring in amazement at the exhaust, which is steam, no fuel or oil smoke or smell, just pure steam. TK looks over from the computer screen and sees them standing in a cloud of steam, shaking their heads, and gives them two thumbs up, letting them know that everything is fine.

Steam is what you get for exhaust when you are running on water. TK looks over towards Celeste, to let her know everything is working like it should, but she's looking out at the landing strip and thinking, _Something very fishy is definitely going on out there._

The Lear Jet has returned and is landing, coming in past the trailer towards the far end of the strip.

It rolls to a stop as it turns to point back down the runway towards them. She watches through her binoculars as the side door opens and two men jump out, one of them holding a backpack. The dirt biker skids up alongside and the men get the backpack buckled on him and jump back into the jet, which is already rolling.

The biker takes off full tilt across the desert, heading for the nearby hills,

just as a formation of undercover and black and white police cars storm out of a distant ravine and onto the flat at the end of the runway behind the plane: A DRUG BUST!

### "THE CHASE"

Without hesitation, Celeste jumps on her dirt bike, buckling her helmet strap as she races off in pursuit of the biker!

The Lear Jet is starting to build up speed as it accelerates down the strip in the direction of the truck and trailer.

Arriving at the base of the hills, Celeste spies the biker heading upward into a canyon and accelerates straight up the rocky slope to cut him off.

As the biker reaches a narrow path at the top of the canyon he looks up to see Celeste blocking his way.

Desperately, he turns and tries to cut straight back down the steep side hill.

He dumps, sliding down the slope and to a stop at the foot of two DEA agents.

As they handcuff him, Celeste takes off her helmet and raises a clenched fist in a power salute. The DEA agents applaud and Celeste gives a little bow. At the trailer Terry looks down the runway and sees the Lear Jet accelerating towards him with a pack of Police cars in hot pursuit.

He instinctively springs into action. Yelling at Nitro to remove the starter and unplug the computer, Terry vaults on the still idling SuperBike.

By now the jet is even with the trailer, picking up speed very fast, leaving the Police cars in the dust.

Terry engages the clutch and is in the chase, accelerating away with a roar of exhaust and cloud of tire smoke. In less than five seconds Terry is going well over 200 miles an hour and is catching the jet, which is reaching take off speed.

Terry thunders past the Lear as its front wheel begins to lift off the ground. Pulling in front of the jet, he pushes the button releasing the parachute.

In a split second all the pilot sees out of his windshield is parachute and the Bikester logo that's on it.

Not knowing what is happening, he skids to a halt. Stopped in front of him, Terry is already off the bike wondering what to do if a bunch of very uptight guys jump out of the plane. When the police finally catch up, the men in the plane are so shook up they just hold up their hands.

### CHINA LAKE LANDING STRIP - one hour later

The DEA Command van has pulled alongside the Bikester encampment. Terry and Celeste watch the finish of the DEA's telephoto videotape of the drug bust. As the chute opens in front of the fleeing Lear Jet, TK, watching through the open side door of the van, cheers and the tape comes to an end.

Not only did Terry prevent the jet's certain escape, Celeste's fearless pursuit of the dirt biker resulted in the quick capture of a major drug dealer. The agent asks if it would be OK if they release the video of the bust to the press. The DEA can always use some good press, so Terry and Celeste say, "Sure, anything to help you guys out."

### RIVER CAMPGROUND - two days later

Stopping for a couple days of R and R gives TK a chance to touch bases with a few of his computer 'pen pals', or as he calls them, "Mouse Pals". He finds out that someone has been beating the e-mail bushes looking for him, also that two well dressed men in an expensive car had appeared in Baker looking for him a few days after they left. Nobody told them anything, and the only information they had was his e-mail address, 't-kid'. He immediately changes it to 'rollertk' and makes sure that only a few very good friends know how to get hold of him. It sounds like the men trying to find him were the lawyers from Atlas-Mega. TK is worried. Just then, Terry comes back from doing a little fishing. "Well, I've done that, fishing gets old, let's get going." Terry has a destination in mind.

###### THE BIKESTER VEHICLES

The BIKESTER adventures and traveling show are based on three very real vehicles:

### SuperBike

Nearly 1/2 ton of metal and rubber overkill, SuperBike is a high-performance colossus powered by a AA/Fuel dragster engine: a twin-turbocharged Chrysler Hemi V8 nightmare equipped with a 20 inch wide rear drag slick and over 3,000 hp of ambition

### RocketBike

Motorcycles don't fly... unless you build them out of authentic military surplus rockets. Tipping the scales at less than 800 pounds and measuring nearly 15' in length, RocketBike's advanced aerodynamic design, sophisticated operating systems and nearly 6,000 pounds of thrust make the sky the limit

### MegaBike

Named for the huge Allison V-12 engine which powers its monstrous frame, MegaBike's aluminum mega-engine, gigantic turbo-chargers and 20 inch wide Goodyear drag slicks are a tad more powerful than polite. It just goes to show you: you can take the engine out of a P-51 Mustang Fighter Plane, but you can't take the fighter plane out of the engine. Turbocharged 1700 cubic inch overhead cam V12, anyone?
