Niobe was almost raring to go as she prepped her hover-bike for the race against the man that introduced the most exciting thing she had ever experienced in her life. How he had come up with the insane idea to strap a seat between two hoverpads was beyond her; but, she also adored him for it.

Neo pulled up beside her and hopped off his normal ride, which surprised her. Shouldn't he also have a racing version like she did? The normal one had the rider sit back on the seat and casually hold the handlebars, while the bullet bike version had the rider leaning forward on the seat and had to grip the handlebars tightly.

Instead of asking about that, Niobe gave him a pointed look, as if he was disrespecting her by not taking the race seriously. Neo laughed and checked the fittings on his hover-bike, made sure the control and power runs were secured, and took off his backpack. He opened it and pulled out a sleek helmet, flipped it around, and held it out to her.

“I don't need protection.” Niobe said. She had taken her ride out a few times over the last few days and had a great feel for how it was going to perform. If she crashed it at the high speeds it could go, there was little a helmet was going to do for her.

“It has the route mapped out on the display and it has a camera.” Neo said and pointed up into the stands of the arena. Above the middle of them were two screens, one with her name on it and one with Neo's. He turned it around and waved into the camera's pickup, and the crowd cheered.

Niobe huffed and held her hand out for it. “If it cuts down on my vision...”

Neo handed it to her. “Nope, it has 360 degree view.”

“What? How?” Niobe asked and looked inside of it, only to see black padding.

“External sensors and overlay wiremaps on the visor.” Neo said and took out his own helmet that looked like a stylized skull.

“Ghost Rider!” “Ghost Rider!” “Ghost Rider!” The crowd chanted.

Niobe gave him an incredulous look.

“It was my daughter's idea, honestly.” Neo said and put the helmet on. He waited for a moment and hit the holographics, and bright orange and yellow flames covered his whole head.

“YEEEAAAHHHH!” The crowd cheered.

Niobe stared at him as he climbed onto the hoverbike. As soon as Neo's hands touched the handlebars, the two hoverpads changed from blue electric sparks to the same orange and yellow flames. The bike rose a couple of feet and the hum echoed loudly.

“RIDE!” “RIDE!” “RIDE!” They chanted.

Niobe was someone that loved excitement, and even enjoyed a healthy enthusiasm for dangerous things. However, Neo had only put on a helmet and the crowd was losing their minds. They hadn't even started their race yet and the people were going wild!

“You'll understand soon enough.” Neo said and his voice had changed to a deep baritone and made him sound deadly and like someone you didn't want to cross.

Niobe shivered with a mix of fear and desire, then suppressed it. She put on the helmet and climbed onto her hover-bike, and activated it. The helmet lit up to match the hoverpads as it rose a couple of feet, and she was shocked when the helmet essentially disappeared from her sight. She could see all around herself with a wireframe covering everything.

“Let's ride.” Neo stated and the crowd cheered.

Niobe leaned down and braced herself as the racing lights changed from red, to orange, to yellow, then green. She poured all of the energy she could into the pads and took off like a shot. The thrill filled her as she opened the thing up to full power, her heart racing, her arms trembling, and her mind flooded with excitement.

She was way ahead when she entered the first tunnel and she thought it was going to be an easy win, then the first turn they approached disavowed her of that notion. The flaming hover-bike roared behind her, flew up the side of the tunnel beside her, somehow crossed the ceiling without dropping, and slid down the other wall as the tunnel straightened out and was now in front of her.

“How the hell did you do that?!?” Niobe asked, shocked.

“I'm the Ghost Rider.” Neo's baritone voice responded in her ear.

They exited the tunnel and the crowd's cheers reached them again. Niobe noticed there were stands of people there and all of them were having a great time. She also just realized Neo had heard her and she had heard him.

“How are we talking right now?” Niobe asked and swerved around one of the many large blocking columns that made a slalom on the next length of track.

“Shouldn't you be more concerned about the massive jump coming up?” Neo asked with a chuckle.

“What jump?” Niobe asked and her visor's display showed a large gap coming up. “We can't cross that!”

Despite the hoverpads being able to lift the bike, as well as give it enormous speed, the things were damn heavy and weren't actually capable of flying freely like their ships.

“That's what the ramps are for.” Neo said and swerved in front of her and then poured on the speed.

Niobe watched as he hit an angled piece of stonework, with a kind of metal mesh attached, then his hover-bike flew through the air with a loud whine before it landed on the other side and the hoverpads blew a gout of flames. The crowd cheered and she thought about breaking off, then decided if he could do it, so could she.

She dumped the largest capacitor charge into her hoverpads and her racing bike shot forward at almost twice the speed. It scared her a little, making her instantly wet at the feeling of power between her legs, then Niobe took the same jump and used the metal mesh like he did as a ramp. She glanced down as she crossed the normally impossible gap and saw an open lava flow below.

A feeling of terror filled her briefly, then she looked ahead just as she landed on the other side, well clear of the obstacle, and her hoverpads discharged the excess energy to catch her before the hover-bike slammed into the ground.

Niobe... absolutely... loved it.

A grin split her face as she raced to catch up to her opponent, the man that was showing her an even more exciting way to have fun. They approached another tunnel, again swinging them around another large turn. Niobe laughed almost maniacally as she used his own passing trick against him. Neo saluted her when she was above him on the ceiling and she kept laughing as she darted ahead.

Niobe only had to more boost charges left before her bike was drained, so she threw caution to the wind and hit it again. Her hover-bike darted forward and she felt more alive than she ever had before. She cleared a large hill of junk, almost taking flight, then she hit the third boost and soared through the air much farther than the jump usually let people go, clearing the large water hazard.

She landed with a splash of energy as the hoverpads discharged to catch her once more, and a shadow almost landed on top of her. She poured the last of the bike's power supply into thrust and crossed the finish line with a whoop and a cheer, because her front hoverpad was half a length in front of Neo's.

The crowd's uproar was music to her ears as her drained hover-bike dropped to the ground and slid for nearly twenty feet. Niobe jumped off of it as it came to a stop and leapt into the arms of her man. She pulled off the helmet and kissed Lock soundly, to an even bigger uproar. She broke the kiss and her breathing was ragged, her heart was racing, and her blood was pumping hard.

Lock stepped back and lifted her arm up in the air, the clear victor, and the crowd cheered.

Neo turned off the holographics as he pulled up beside the downed hover-bike and parked. He stepped off of it and shook Niobe's hand as he congratulated her on a great race. He nodded to Lock and climbed back onto his bike, then drove away. His work there was done, because after a race like that, Niobe was hooked for life.

*

After lunch, Mouse, Akira, Saga, and myself jacked in to the login stations, with the two girls in the side room and Mouse and I at the main ones with the computer core. I had set my brain spike to already be in the hole and ready for me to just lay down on it, with Mouse in control of the loading program.

Because it was set up like the training station, we didn't get logged into the Construct immediately. Mouse could choose from the various programs he had constructed with four players in mind. His first one had been a fun one, go-carts, which was what gave me the idea for the hover-bikes.

The funny thing about that was I was both penalized and rewarded for it, which was just like how Cas reacted to it, actually. She hated her husband and kids had gone all in with it, especially because he was a pilot and could handle both the vehicle and the occasional races. She also loved it brought their family closer together and gave them something to keep busy and they could do it together.

Of course, I made them all helmets that copied Dozer's view, which let her and the kids keep an eye on him and also enjoy his view as close to their own faces as possible. Them being able to talk to each other was a huge bonus and Cas had given me a great view of her cleavage after Dozer's first race as she helped perform maintenance on his hover-bike.

Cas didn't wear a bra and her perky breasts had firm and quite pokey dark nipples that just begged to be sucked. The look on her face when she caught me, let me know Cas knew exactly what I was thinking. She also looked quite pleased, since she knew there were a lot of women vying for my attention.

My drifting thoughts came back to the current situation as Mouse excitedly chose the go-cart option again. He tried to not gush about the changes he managed to add, thanks to some of my suggestions, and both girls giggled and laughed as he couldn't help himself and gushed anyways as he told them about them and how much fun we were going to have.

He hit the load button and we entered the Construct. Saga laughed and pointed at Mouse, because he was dressed as Luigi from Super Mario. The big green hat and fake overlarge moustache hid most of his face. Then she saw me and laughed and laughed as she rolled around on the floor. I was dressed like Bowser, with a large spiked backpack that looked like his shell and I had horns on my head.

“You're Princess Peach.” Akira said, smugly. “The one Mario has to rescue all the time.”

Saga stopped laughing and hopped up to her feet and pointed at her. “Oh, yeah? You're the princess with brown hair that no one remembers the name of and has to look it up!”

Akira looked surprised for a moment, then let out a laugh. “Okay, that was a great comeback.”

“Thanks!” Saga said and started hopping up and down. “What track are we doing this time?”

“Neo helped me make a brand new one called Rainbow Road.” Mouse said.

“Is it high? Is it dangerous? Is it FUN?!?” Saga asked loudly.

“Yes.” I said and she squealed happily and started vibrating with excitement.

“That it totally your fault.” Akira said to me and I nodded.

“Okay, here we go!” Mouse sand and chose the options and hit load. Making an interface accessible inside the Construct had been as easy as adding an auto-eject option. You still needed someone to release the brain spike in your head, though. That was why mine was set to stay where it was, since I was always out first to help them jack out.

The colorful environment loaded in around us and four race cars appeared beside us as four others appeared behind us. None of had to be told what to do, since we were old hands at the procedure. We hopped into our rides and started up the customized cars, with Saga giggling the whole time. She loved her game car almost as much as she loved the rest of us.

The cloud with a koopa floated over and he had the race lights hanging from his fishing pole. The beeping had Saga shaking and she revved her car in anticipation. The lights changed to green and her tires squealed like she did as she hit the timing perfectly and jumped ahead of the pack.

“How does she keep doing that?” Mouse asked and passed by me.

“She's just that good.” I said and we skidded around the first corner. I managed to edge out ahead on the inside, scraping his front tire and spun him around.

Mouse shook a fist at me, which made me laugh, and we raced on. Family time was the best time and we all enjoyed it.

*

Malachi, the first mate on the ship Caduceus under Captain Ballard, thought he might be in trouble when he was summoned from the ship to report to Commander Lock. He had no clue what he could have done to gain the commander's direct attention, though.

As if sensing the man's tension, Lock stood. “At ease, Lieutenant.”

Malachi relaxed, because he knew he would have to stand at attention if he was in trouble.

“I've recently received word of a smaller scale hovership becoming available.” Lock said and his eyebrows rose. “However, I will warn you it is a family unit ship and was designed as such.”

“A what, sir?” Malachi asked, confused.

Lock knew why he was confused, since no such designation existed before. “The man who designed it, and helped the crew that built it, wanted a ship that he could bring his adopted brother and children aboard without compromising a ship's crew or their integrity, even if they will also contribute to the maintenance and operation of the ship.”

“Children, sir? Really?” Malachi asked.

“You'd be surprised what they can pull off when working together, Captain.” Lock said.

Malachi doubted that for several seconds, then his brain registered what the commander just said. He caught his breath and needed a moment to recover from the shock. “Sir, are you serious?”

Lock nodded and handed him several papers. “These are the specs and the general orders. You're going to ferry Neo and his family around to perform important missions for Zion and our people, both inside and outside the Matrix.”

Malachi quickly read over the ship's information and his heard sped up at seeing them. “Despite being bigger, these numbers are comparable to the Logos, sir.”

“I know.” Lock said with a slight smile. “Can you guess who will be escorting you on your maiden flight next week to ensure the ship is operating at peak efficiency?”

Malachi barked a laugh and handed the papers back. “Captain Niobe is even more eager than I am about my new command, isn't she?”

“No comment.” Lock said. “Anything that happens outside of my command area is not to be spoken about, captain.”

Malachi understood what he meant and saluted. “Sir, you can depend on me to ensure the ship is up to snuff.”

Lock saluted back. “Good luck, captain.”

“Thank you, sir.” Malachi said. “With Neo as the pilot, I think some luck is kind of guaranteed.”

Lock nodded and motioned for him to leave. Malachi saluted again and left his office with his spirit raised and his future bright. Getting his own command so soon was going to annoy his previous crewmates and probably make his old captain feel relieved. He'd know soon enough, since he had to go and pack his things to transfer to the new ship.

It wasn't until he had gathered his things and had walked across the docking bay that he wondered why Neo hadn't tried to apply for the captain slot for himself. He might not be fully qualified or had any time in grade as a first officer on a ship; but, he designed it and helped build the thing. Why didn't he want to captain it?

Malachi reached the ship and he appreciated how deadly it looked. As a gunner himself, he knew exactly why the gun mounts were placed where they were and he fully approved. The ramp was down and he walked up it with his bags.

“Welcome aboard the Reclamation, Captain Malachi.” Neo said and held a hand out.

Malachi dropped one of his bags to shake the offered hand. “Why didn't you claim command?”

Neo laughed at that being his first question and picked up the dropped bag. “I'm going to be too busy to worry about running the ship, so I asked Commander Lock for someone eager for their own command.”

Malachi nodded and followed Neo into the ship and into what looked like a fairly large cabin. “You didn't have to give me the biggest room on the ship.”

“I didn't.” Neo said and put his bag down. “Get settled in and start familiarizing yourself with the ship's systems. Once you're done, head to the mess hall and we'll share a meal as I introduce you to the other crew, both official and unofficial.”

“Yes, sir.” Malachi said.

Neo waved his words away. “No, you're the captain. I'll be calling you sir or captain, as is your right.”

“But, it's your ship.” Malachi stated.

“Unofficially, it's just salvage and hastily thrown together.” Neo said, to Malachi's surprise. “After we do a few missions, it'll be added to the city's defense forces officially.”

“We're a test model for a new class of hovership?” Malachi asked.

Neo smiled and clapped him on the shoulder. “I knew Lock would chose the best person for this.”

Malachi smiled widely and felt proud. “He won't regret it, Neo... and neither will you.”

“I know.” Neo said and saluted, then stepped out of his room. “See you in a couple hours for lunch.”

Malachi saluted back and the hatch was shut, leaving him in his spacious cabin. As he started to unpack his things, he couldn't help but think this was going to be the start of a great career as a ship's captain. When he brought his personal care items into the small bathroom, he laughed at seeing one of the hard-to-get personal self-contained showers inside. His wouldn't be delivered to his home until next week.

“I am definitely going to like it here.” Malachi said and put his bottles of oil and the bar of scented soap into the cabinet above the sink.