On Cloud 9: Racing History - Episode 12

What if you could remake yourself over from scratch? Who would you be? Where would you go? Who would you choose as friends, and who would become your enemies? What would you want most out of life, and what would you do to get it?Diego Lee grew up on Virtuality and role-playing games. Becoming someone else is second nature to him. So when its necessary to do so, the man he invents is Race Allen, a quixotic adventurer with little regard for the law. He is a romantic science fiction cliché, the very bread and butter of space opera. His way of life is also completely unrealistic and, in the Stellar Union, utterly impossible to sustain. Thats not to say Diego cant make a go of it: evading shuttlecops and bounty hunters alike, dodging between criminal organizations, and shooting without asking any questions at all.For a couple years, he pulls it off with a little luck and the help of a chimeric copilot whos at least a little more in touch with reality than he is. But they ride a slippery slope that can only end with both of them in custody. The question is: What kind of custody? While the Stellar Union Peacekeepers are closing in, two powerful men in two separate criminal organizations are growing impatient with these fractious starhoppers. Before long, they become more trouble than theyre worth. You might call it diabolis ex machina, then, when the worst thing they can imagine (being apprehended by the law, that is) becomes the lesser of evils. And the end of this wild ride could mean the beginning of the end of history itself. RH2: Episode 12: On Cloud NineA seemingly innocent little jaunt to the Moons infamous tourist-trap, Tranquility Base, goes sour when a bounty hunter corners Diego and Razzle using Razzles father as bait. Finally, the boys have no choice. They desperately need a place to hide out and an old friend leads them to Cloud Nine. This space station belongs to Zam, a chimeric gangster whos willing to give them a chance and a job. Despite a blunder or two, they manage to remain sufficiently in his good graces to have steady work as he completes construction of his station. Hidden away in a relatively quiet corner of the Asteroid Belt, Cloud Nine is the ideal place for the Spiritus to disappear temporarily from the radar screens of the authorities.