16 year old Seki has always dreamed of travelling the stars. He has always wanted to experience first hand the adventure his ancestors went through when they left Earth. And for that, he needs to win the annual Trappist Interplanetary Race which will determine if he will be able to take part in Trappist Empire's Second Deep Space Expedition. Unfortunately, things don't always go as planned. Cross Race Destiny Part 1 Being a spy is always glamourous, but never clean. By Shiina Ai

"Oh shit, why is big sister Kin here? Isn't she supposed to be off-duty today? You idiot Hek, your information is utterly useless!"

This shouldn't happen. It really shouldn't happen. Today someone by the name of Telde Asfran should be sitting at the desk of the chief commissioner. Why is it that big sister Kin is sitting there now? Our plan is ruined. Ruined!

"You behind the wall, come here!" Big sister Kin calls with her piercingly sharp voice.

I really want to run away, but that'll be stupid. Big sister Kin lives right in front of my family house. She'll catch me quickly. Let's not make a scene. The worse that can happen is she will shoot me with a stun gun at the most excruciatingly painful setting.

So I swallow my spit and enter the hall through the open door.

"Why are you wearing a border watch uniform, Seki?" Big sister Kin asks with her eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"Umm, I just want to see big sister Kin's pretty face."

"I will spank you right here in front of everyone, brat!"

"So cruel, big sister Kin! I'm not a child anymore!"

"You're still a child, brat. Now spit it out!"

"Uhh..." I hesitate before giving her Mel's, Hek's and my own citizen ID. "Please, we need a border watch ID."

"So you're the one..."

"What do you mean I'm the one?"

"Do you even know what kind of trouble you are in?"

"Umm..."

"Are you not even aware that faking military identity is against the law?"

"But Hek said-"

"Hek? Hek Safrid?" She picked up Hek's citizen ID before throwing it back onto the desk. "This is his idea? I told you he's a bad kid!"

"No, it's not... it's... please, big sister Kin, we just wanted to win the race."

"What race?"

"The interplanetary race, of course! We just need the C54H8 Plasma Regulator and the Raylon Shield Mk. 6."

"Those are military-grade hardware."

"Exactly! And everyone have them except us! We won't even have any chance of winning without them."

"People have died in that race, brat. Did your mother even know about this?"

"Well..."

"Try to lie to me, brat, and I will make sure that there will not be even a single day in your life that you don't regret it."

I swallow the lump of spit in my throat which has been stuck there since I sat down on this very chair. "I told her I'm going to study in the capital for a year."

"You lied to your mother? And what are you going to do about money?"

"We got a little bit of grant money. 600,000 sol credits."

"That is barely enough for an empty ship that can fit three people."

"Hek will be the only one in the ship. Mel and me are the engineers."

"You're 16, brat. Do you really think you can compete with people who have been designing and building spaceships for 30 years?"

"We have a secret weapon, big sister Kin. We will win, if we can get the two things that we need."

"Forget it. The Border Watch is full."

"Pleeeeeeasee....."

"Do you know how much trouble you're in, boy?"

"Trouble?"

"What you're doing is against the law. If you had arrived two hours earlier, you would have been arrested alongside Telde Asfran for bribery and corruption."

Thank goodness I woke up late today!

"Umm, what's going to happen to her?"

"Most likely she'll go to trial tomorrow and after that she will stand in front of a firing squad."

"What? Just because we made a deal with her?"

"Not you. She's been taking bribes and making fake documents for almost a year. Even if you haven't made a deal with her, she'd still be arrested today."

"So... what's going to happen to us?" I ask as my eyes start to become moist.

"Nothing will happen to you. You haven't actually bribed her and she hasn't actually made your fake documents yet. But if you were caught together with her, that's a completely different matter. Not even I can save you."

"Is there nothing you can do, big sister Kin? We really need those parts."

"Just give them back the money and wait until next year's recruitment week."

"That's no longer possible."

"Why?"

"We already spent it."

"..."

"So please, big sister Kin."

"... Even if I want to help, I can't. I'm being transferred. This is my last week in the Border Watch."

"But you've been here for the past 8 years!"

"And it's bloody long past time that I should've been promoted from being a provincial commissioner in this backwater region. Lesson from me, kid, NEVER back a losing politician!"

"So what can we do now?"

"Don't cry. You're a man, aren't you?" Big sister Kin scolds with her scary sharp voice.

I'm not crying. This is just the rain. The Border Watch's commissioner office has leaky roof. This is certainly not me bawling my eyes out.

Big sister Kin closes her eyes and crosses her arms under her well-shaped boobs. She leans back against her chair as the middle of her lips turn upward into a triangle. She makes a low hum, barely heard unless you pay attention or you've known her for a long time. It is a pose she usually takes when she's in deep thought. When she's like this, it's best to leave her alone.

Just as I wonder if I should stay or leave, she suddenly opens her bright blue eyes, startling me in the process. She bends slightly to the left, opens one of the drawers and produces a thick book the size of a brick that can probably be used as a weapon. It falls on the desk with a loud boom. The title is 'Treatise of Law'.

She pushes it to my side, telling me, "Take it, read it, memorize it. Recite it to me word by word when I visit your home this Saturday."

I look at the thickness of book. "There must be a thousand pages in this book, big sister Kin. How can you expect me to memorize it in five days?"

Big sister Kin wordlessly pulls the brick-like book back to her side. She flips through the pages, stops at certain pages, places a bookmark, then continues flipping. After she places six bookmarks, she closes the book and pushes it back to me.

"Read the first chapter before you start reading to know the terminologies. Then memorize the topics I have bookmarked. Those are the most important ones you need to know for your new job. The rest you can learn as you go along."

"Oh, you're going to give me a job at the border watch, big sister Kin? I knew you-"

"I already told you I'm being transferred. I can't put you in the border watch."

"Then..." My face is covered in sweat as I start to worry about this new job big sister Kin has in mind. "What is this new job you're talking about?"

"I'm being put in charge of a new organisation in the capital. You are joining that one. You will have to transfer to a capital school but don't worry, I'll pick a good one for you. As for accommodations, what was your arrangement if you managed to get the components?"

"Mel said he's willing to put me up in his family's mansion in the capital."

"Oh? That's very kind of him. What's the catch?"

Obviously, big sister Kin doesn't have any faith in my friends.

"I have to work as a servant when I'm not working on the ship or going to school."

"Brat, do you not realize that you're being used?" Big sister Kin gives me an angry glare.

Of course I know I'm being used, but what choice do I have? I can't ask mom for pocket money and the capital is expensive. As for dad, he left the empire together with the First Deep Space Expedition. I certainly can't ask dad for pocket money from light years away. Who knows where he is, even. The last we heard from him was two years ago when his fleet was approaching the nine light years distance limit for two-way communication. We don't even know if he's still alive.

"But this is my only chance, big sister Kin. If we win the race or even get second place, everyone will know my name. I can get my pick of any job from mechanical engineering on Trappist Prime to deep space exploration missions!"

Big sister Kin growls, signifying her extreme annoyance and distaste at the situation. It is clear she does not approve of our arrangement. I never had a big sister, but if I did have one, she'd probably be something like big sister Kin. Over the years, my family has been very close with big sister Kin.

I grew up watching her as my parents were always working. Sometimes she took care of me as a babysitter. When I was bullied at school, she always received my complains quietly. She taught me how to fight and within a month, I was in a position to rout my bullies. She was always there, listening quietly before teaching me how to face my problems. She was always strict, but passionate at the same time. I can understand why big sister Kin looks pissed, she must've thought I'm being bullied.

"Tell Mel you have your own accommodation, but tell him nothing else."

"Will I be staying with you, big sis Kin?"

"Out of the question! You will need your own apartment. We must not be seen together outside of work hours. It's as much for your safety as it is for my reputation. I don't want you to be attacked because my rivals think you're someone special to me."

"Attacked? What job is this, big sis Kin?"

"Intelligence, that's all I can tell you."

"Espionage?"

"No, but you do get a gun."

"Oooooh!" Sounds exciting.

"Knew you'd like it." Big sister Kin allows a brief smile on her face. "Memorize what I told you to. I'll be over at your house in the evening, in case you don't understand some thing. Also, next time you want to do something equally as stupid as this, talk to me first."

Saluting her, I say, "Yes, I will be sure to consult big sis Kin in the future before I do something stupid!"

******

"Wake up, Seki." A voice says in my left ear as I feel something touching my cheeks.

Opening my eyes, I'm greeted by a bright light. Instinctively I cover my eyes with my right hand as I hear the voice of a man apologizing before the bright light disappears. Removing my hand, I can see three people in the white hospital room. The first is big sister Kin, covered from head to toe in blue surgeon gown. Other than her are two men, one of them has a short beard and looks like he's around 40 years old. The other man is younger, but unlike the others, he who's still wearing his surgeon's mask faces the other way as he sanitizes some metallic things.

"How are you feeling, Sera?" big sister Kin asks.

Who the heck is Sera?

"She's not talking. Did something go wrong, doctor?" she asks the bearded man.

"Nonsense, it was the most perfect operation I've ever done. She just needs some time to get used to her new body. The transformation process changes a lot of things," the bearded man explains.

"Very well, can you leave us alone, doctor?"

"Of course, colonel. Come, doctor. Our job here is done," the bearded man says as he walks out, followed by the other man.

Big sister Kin whips out a device that makes a beeping noise and proceeds to walk around the room. Once she finishes one round, she suddenly starts talking aloud nonsense about the positioning of the stars, some nonsensical mathematical expressions and some kind of poem. From time to time, she stops and rummages around some of the equipment before pulling something out. After the fourth round and not finding anything anymore, she stops, puts all the stuff she grabbed earlier into a metallic bowl and sets fire to it with her particle gun.

She picks up her phone, swipes a number and says, "Doctor Evri Larus is a spy. Find out who he works for. The use of Black Marble is authorized."

Big sister Kin puts her phone back into her pocket before she turns my way. "Seki, are you able to speak now?"

I try to say a few words, but my throat feels so dry. "Water," I croak.

She fills a stainless steel glass with tap water and help me sit up before offering me water. As I drink slowly, she takes out a folder from a briefcase and hands it to me.

"This is your new identity. For as long as you work for the organization, this person is you. Memorize it and act the role."

I look at the folder. My new name is Sera Aldof from a place called Lancer on Trappist Prime. My father was a royal guard in Empress Ayana Foxtail's guard detail while my mother was a policewoman in Lancer. They both died in the monster rampage of 6518.30 or year 2216 of Old Earth. At the time of the rampage, I was on a school trip to Trappist 8. I suppose I was there to pick up some atmospheric sample or something. Still, I don't know how I should feel having to pretend that my father and mother are both dead.

If I'm not mistaken, Lancer is a small city in the Katiana Continent on Trappist Prime which is the official name for Trappist 6, which we are on now. Katiana Continent is one of those wild regions not yet tamed since the 120 years of our arrival in this system. While migrations from Old Earth has been instrumental in populating the system, some areas of habitable planets, even Trappist Prime are nothing more than monster nests.

Hold on a minute. What the heck is this?!!!

"Big sis Kin, it says here I'm a girl."

"Yes, you are. Also, stop calling me big sis Kin. Call me Colonel Kin Aram from now on."

"Why am I a girl?"

"Because it's an all-girls organization."

"Does such a thing even exist anymore?"

"Yes, it still does."

"But why me? Why not get a real girl?"

"You need military ID, do you not?"

"Yes, but... I'm sure there are other methods..."

"Fine, consider this. Border watch recruits get 1200 sol credits a month and 60 days of unpaid leave. This job gives 5000 sol credits a month minimum, 80 days of paid leave, - paid leave - , free apartment, fully paid vacation to Trappist 5, full medical benefits and all kinds of cool guns and gadgets. You, a 16 year old brat, gets all these. Is there a job out there that pays better?"

I am unable to say a single word. Everything sounds so amazing. I must've dropped my jaw on the floor. It is that amazing. In comparison, an average pay for a 16 year old working at a convenience store in our town of Apresmidi is less than 800 sol credits.

"So still want to work for border watch?" Big sister Kin say with a grin, looking and sounding very smug.

"No no, of course not, but what exactly do I do here? Nobody would give that much money to a 16 year old girl. Also... I just realized that I have boobs and I don't have Seki Junior anymore."

This is making me depressed.

"It's a dangerous job. That's why you get paid more, Sera. Yes, I'm going to call you Sera from now on. No, don't look at me like that. Seki Junior is not with you anymore, but that's not a big problem. We have the technology to grow what you need and reduce what you don't. Once you quit the job, you can go back to your old life."

"So this is not permanent?"

"It IS permanent. It's just that we can reverse anything and everything."

"I have never heard of this technology."

"Can you imagine a world where everyone can change their face, body and gender at will? Law enforcement will be impossible. That's why it's only available to intelligence agents. Not even the military gets this."

"Is this the technology that allowed the empress to change her body into a fox girl?"

"No, that's a different one. I'm not sure of it myself but it also uses nanotechnology. Her nanotechnology is most likely more advanced than what we have here."

"Wait, will I get pregnant if I do 'that' with a man?" I ask, as the sudden realization that I may get pregnant makes my spine crawl.

"Are you gay? Do you want to do that with a man?" Comes big sister Kin's straightforward question.

"What? No! I like girls! I want to do a lot of things with girls. Girls are great! Yay girls!"

Big sister Kin looks at me with a look of disappointment. Please don't look at me like I'm scum, big sis Kin. You're making me regret my words.

"Well, you can't get pregnant. The nanotechnology we have access to can turn your sperm cells to look like ovum cells, but they're not ovum cells. Anyway, isn't it good that you were born during Empress Ayana's reign? If you were born during Emperor Karl's reign or in the Centauri Federation, you'd likely end up standing in front of the firing squad for being gay."

"But I'm not gay! I love girls!"

"And that's why you're gay. You're a girl now, remember?"

"Aww shiiiiittt!!!!" How can you do this to me, big sis Kin? Putting me into an organization full of girls and not being able to seduce even one? My world! It's getting darker!

Big sis Kin suddenly puts a hand on my shoulder. As I look up at her beautiful face, she raises a thumbs up with her other hand and says, "Don't worry. Plenty of girls in the organization are gay like you."

The world suddenly feels bright again.

******

"How was boot camp, Sera?" big sister Kin asks as I stand at ease in front of her desk.

I put my hands under my new C-cup boobs. "These puppies were distracting, big sis-"

"I told you not to call me big sis. It's Colonel Kin Aram. Colonel Kin Aram!"

"It's a bit hard to suddenly change my habits after so long. Haha."

"Well, try. At least call me colonel. Nobody should know that we're related."

"But we're not related."

"It doesn't matter!" Big sister Kin gets up from her chair as she hits both her fists on the wooden desk. "When you keep calling me big sister, people will think we're related! Plenty of people here have new identities. So they will think that you only got new identity because you're my real sister."

"Please calm down, big sister Kin. You're screwing up your pretty face."

She snorted a laugh. "At least you learned something at the boot camp."

How mean. I learned a lot of things at the boot camp. I even learned how to smuggle a nuclear bomb into Centauri Federation's capital palace.

Big sister Kin grabs a folder from the top of the desk. She walks around the desk, looking sensual and sexy at the same time as her short skirt gives a little flutter. That suddenly reminds me that my own skirt is probably too short. It feels really breezy. When big sis Kin stands a foot in front of me, she hits me on the chest with the folder, waking me from my distractingly short skirt. Taking the folder from her hand, I open it and starts reading.

She leans her glorious butt against the edge of the desk while I read the document. "1st Lieutenant Sera Aldof, your codename will be Swallowtail. You have been tasked with infiltrating the 8th Trappist Interplanetary Race. Your mission is discover the plot to sabotage the efforts of the Second Imperial Deep Space Exploration fleet by identifying the threats within the TIR that seeks to undermine the Empress's authority and corrupt the race itself. You will be inserted into the Gravity Wing team as space engineer, replacing their previous space engineer Seki Merui who will be deep in the Wild Forest of Ukuan as part of the Border Watch."

My eyes scan the details that she mentioned. As she keeps talking, I also flip through the pages, looking for more details between her every pause. I was told in boot camp that I will be expected to put everything written in the mission folder into my head because I will not be allowed to bring the mission folder out of her office.

Thanks to my superior memory, the instructors managed to cram more practical skills into my body instead of training me to memorize stuff. It seems like for this organization at least, you can't proceed to other training regimens unless you pass the memorization training. The number of training regimens you complete determines your initial rank. I managed to complete 9 out of 11 training regimens. There was only one person back there who managed to complete 10 of 11 and she was totally hot. She never told me her name and I never told her mine, because in boot camp, we were addressed by our numbers.

"You will be expected to go deep undercover and report in every three days through secure channels. Your mission details may change and you will be informed when you make your reports. Your backup is Agent Sunflower. She will be tasked with assisting you in information gathering and may assist you in some actions. Other than that, you are doing this alone."

"Agent Sunflower?" I mumble aloud while flipping the pages to another page.

It's her!!! I can't believe it! It's the hottie who completed 10 training regiments out of 11! She's my backup? Wait, why is she called Sunflower? Which part of her face is 'sunny'?

"Where is she?" I ask.

"She arrived earlier. She should be in the armory sorting out her equipment now. You will meet her there." She pauses as she allows me to read the folder again from front to end.

"So, any issue with your orders?" she asks with her arms crossed.

"Yeah, well, the mission scope seems very broad. What exactly am I supposed to do here?"

"Basically catch anyone who causes problem to the race."

"Anyone?"

"They must be at least someone important. Do NOT bring in a hot dog seller who pocket spare change."

"So I'm not going to tail anyone or something?"

"It's your first mission. I want to see how you handle it."

"Yes, I will not let you down, big sister Kin!"

"Call me colonel!"

*Hi all, it's Ai-chan again. How are you all doing? This was originally planned to be a one-shot but as I wrote it, I ended up putting in more details and it became pretty long. So I'm releasing it in chapters. Shouldn't be too long.
**As always, your praises help me write faster while your constructive criticisms help me right better, so please share with me your feedbacks. I'm trying to ease myself into writing regularly again.
***Below is the bigger picture of that planet comparison thing.

16 year old Seki has always dreamed of travelling the stars. He has always wanted to experience first hand the adventure his ancestors went through when they left Earth. And for that, he needs to win the annual Trappist Interplanetary Race which will determine if he will be able to take part in Trappist Empire's Second Deep Space Expedition. Unfortunately, things don't always go as planned. Cross Race Destiny Part 2 To win the race, I'll do anything! By Shiina Ai

"Whoa! This is awesome!" I express my appreciation at the holographic image of weapons and gadgets I have access to as 1st Lieutenant.

My fingers swipe up and down, left and right as I browse through the various categories and varieties of equipment that I can acquire. Where someone with the rank of recruit only have access to sidearms, as 1st Lieutenant, I have access to automatic weapons, advanced gadgets and even a car. Each stuff requires points expended before it can be taken out. So although I have the rank to take it out, it's pointless because I don't have the points to commission its creation.

As 1st Lieutenant, I start with 400 points. These points can only be used for the commissioning of equipment. Although there are equipment such as emergency ration included, big sis Kin told me it's much cheaper to buy something similar in a normal shop. So it's better to use the points to commission special equipment that I can use during the mission.

Hm, let's see. First I need a weapon, right? Although it's usually a good idea to get the most powerful weapon, this mission is classified as training mission, so that's probably not necessary. I probably won't even get to use it. Plus, the most powerful weapon uses 300 points. If I get that, I won't be able to afford other stuff. So I simply choose the most basic weapon at the cost of 0 point, a semi-automatic ballistic pistol from the era of Old Earth. Instead of normal hollow points, I choose plasma-charged bullets and cartridge at 2 points, which should allow me to handle anything I may encounter. Let's also get a stun rod at 10 points as well, just in case.

Next, let's look at gadgets. It's further separated into escape gadgets, ambush gadgets, communication gadgets, survival gadgets and miscellaneous gadgets. I'll need communication gadgets to communicate with Sunflower and HQ, escape gadgets in case I'm compromised and survival gadgets in case I'm injured or stuck. Ambush gadgets doesn't look at all special. After all, I only have access to a variety of flashbangs, smoke grenades and stun grenades. Anyone with elementary knowledge of chemistry can build any of these. Plus, I'm supposed to be covert. There's nothing covert about these. As for miscellaneous gadgets, most of them look like useless junks while the interesting ones such as network hack are too expensive. Maybe I'll get new inventory once I rank up or something.

I want to get personal armour too, but they're all too expensive. Kevlar is free, but kevlar is only useful against balistic weapons and shrapnel. It does nothing against plasma or particle weapons. Both weapons commonly employed by crooks these days. So unless I can afford one of the energy shields, I'd rather rely on my natural charm. Thank you very much.

Alright, after getting the weapons and gadgets, it's time to get the transport. Wait, why is it all greyed out? Huh? I only have 40 points left? Did I go overboard with the gadgets? But they all look useful. They can't expect me to walk everywhere, right?

Oh, there is something at the bottom that I can afford-

[6 months train pass]

What kind of spy takes the train? Ah, nevermind. It's the only thing I can afford.

I resolve myself to accept my decision and press 'confirm'. One after another, the replicators built into the wall goes to work, 'printing' matter at high speed before robotic hands come out from the back panel to assemble them into usable items. Watching these replicators at work is always a delight to me. Because of them, the empire managed to expand to encompass the entire Trappist system and even the neighbouring systems through limiting waste. Where in the past, Old Earth needed huge land area and pollution to handle waste, nowadays we simply put them into a trash recycler and any trash, even the smelly organic ones can be reduced to its basic atoms. Some university in the west has even claimed that they can produce materials out of energy alone instead of using energy to manipulate matter.

The replication of my equipment only takes only about 10 minutes in total. I grab the carry bag and dump everything into it. There is no fear that these gadgets will break from this level of rough handling. It's a military replicator, they get the best of everything.

Opening the door, I come face to face with the hottie. I mean my backup. She looks equally startled.

"Hello," I say with a wave.

"Hi," she say as she try to make a smile.

"Sunflower?"

"Yes, that's me. I didn't expect to work with you on my first mission, Swallowtail."

"Yeah, me too. Did you just come out of the fabrication room next door?"

"No, I was in the one two doors away. You settled your business quickly."

"I only needed to replicate some small stuff. It didn't take long. What did you get?"

"This!" she says with a bright smile, showing what looks suspiciously like a luxury broomstick.

The length of the shaft seems made of solid tritanium with matte finish, suggesting that it's the type of tritanium used in high-stress insulators. The fifty or so long bristles at one end appears to be made of some kind of crystalline material. Unfortunately I don't know much about crystals, so I can't say for sure, but if I were to hazard a guess, I'd say it's probably some type of quartz or clear diamond. On one part of the shaft at the lower end close to the bristles, there is a flat padding thing that I can only see as a bicycle seat.

"You replicated a broomstick?" I ask with some confusion.

"It's not a broomstick!" She denies it, looking very offended with a cute pout. "This is the S700 Single-seat Levitator. It's like a hoverbike, but better, because you won't get shameless classmates asking you for a ride. Don't you have people using this at your old school?"

"Nope, never seen it before."

"You must have seen it on TV or holoboards before. They're the new rage! I've been wanting one since I first saw it on the holoboard last year, but it was so expensive!"

"So, is it something like a functional toy?"

"This is not a toy. It's military grade."

"There are military-grade broomsticks?"

"IT IS NOT A BROOMSTICK!"

******

"Hey, hey, she's descending!" Mel says pointing at the screen, "I always love this part."

'This part' that Mel just mentioned is none other than the closed up shot of our dear beloved monarch, Empress Ayana Foxtail's grand descent from her floating palace, the Dawn Beyond The Horizon. It must've been a spectacular vision forty years ago, when she floated down from the Battlecruiser Emergence like a goddess from the heavens. Fox goddess in her case, but it was a very impressive sight. Nowadays, everyone simply expects it every time she's supposed to make an appearance.

"My grandma said she wish the empress would share her fountain of youth with the rest of us. She's been looking as young as my little sister since my grandma was the same age as my little sister," Mel adds without being asked.

Indeed, the empress may look like a 13-15 years old girl, but she is absolutely not that young. She is most definitely older than 60. Some would even speculate that she was born around 80 years ago during the 'Grey Calamity' that ripped apart Trappist Prime and forced the creation of floating island of lighter-than-air rocks. This theory suggests that she was just a normal child of the previous empress before being transformed by the rampaging wild nanites back then into something not quite human.

"People say she's not human." Mel says again as if conversing with my line of thought.

Of course there is another theory that says she was never human in the first place. Webizens recently found old obscure texts from a hidden historical archive called Wikipedia that mentioned briefly about long-lived magical fox women prevalent in countries like China, Japan and Korea of Old Earth. The theory suggests that when we left Earth, some of the kitsune came onboard alongside normal humans. As they can take human form, they would've masqueraded as human and only recently assumed their true form.

A kitsune. Empress Ayana Foxtail appears to have only one tail. In reality she actually has more, but that's for future stories in this universe.

Apart from our fox empress, we also have catfolks, dryads and angels. The catfolks are characterized by their pointy ears and long tails. The dryads are all green or reddish colored females depending on the season and can blend in with their surroundings, like chameleons. It is unknown if they're different species, but some dryads have normal human ears while some others have long, pointy ears. Angels are basically just humans with oversized dove wings.

A catgirl, I'm pretty sure everyone already know how they look like.

Can't find a proper dryad picture. Just take this elf and imagine her either having reddish or greenish skin.

Devilic and Angel race.

Yeah, I don't know how our evolution ended up on such a strange path. It's not even 200 years since we've been on Trappist Prime. We shouldn't have evolved new races that quickly.

"Citizens of Trappist Empire. Since I took the throne years ago..."

More like decades ago.

"... we have bravely pushed past all obstacles, overcame all adversities and came together as one people. Humans, cat ears, dryads, angels and devilic..."

"Devilic?" Yes, that there is one word I have never heard of before. Is it another new race?

"They're the people who colonized Trappist 2 and 3."

"Trappist 2 is a ball of fire and Trappist 3 is almost as hot. The only things you can find there are the Luciferia smelting hub and Luciferia Shipyards."

"Which human do you think would work at those hellholes?"

"You mean they're manned by these devilic people?"

"That's what the webizens said."

"Webizens? So it's conspiracy theory?"

Mel shrugs.

"With the lighting of this flame," Empress Ayana Foxtail points her left hand at a giant torch 500 metres in front of her, "Let the great race begin!"

The screen switches to a close up of the giant torch as small sparks appear. The giant torch catches fire and immediately burns ferociously. A long siren follows, before it is switched into the rousing tunes of the Flight To The Stars. It was the same song our ancestors sang when they left Old Earth about 180 years ago. It detailed the oppression by the rich, persecution by the strong and prejudice by the majority. It was a song about finding hope in a place so far away that the greedy, corrupt and destructive hands of Old Earth would never be able to reach us.

To many of the older generation, it is the tune that brings them deep feelings of comfort, happiness, fulfillment and accomplishment. To us of the younger generations, it is just a song. After all, we never saw what they saw, never experienced what they suffered. But they probably still remember, since there are still so many of the cryo ships generation still alive.

While not common, there are hundreds of those who were born on Earth still alive. Many of them are still healthy at over 200 years old, courtesy of our nanotechnology-assisted healthcare. Technology is great.

I press the transmit button before speaking into the mouthpiece of my headset. "Hek, you're clear to take off. You will use route 6-6-2 from Trappist Capital. Please be at your position 3B on the starting line within 3 minutes."

"Roger that, sweetcheeks. Taking off. Say, how about we go have dinner after this is over? Just you, me and... well, just me. Hahaha."

"Get in line, Hek. I asked her first!"

"Only because I wasn't there when she replaced Seki. Oh my good friend Seki, may his soul rest in peace."

"Amen," Mel said as he put his palms together.

I'm not dead yet, you damned bastards! In the first place, patrolling the wild forest of Ukuan is not a death sentence. There are at least a hundred border watch personnel undertaking the same mission and they're all doing it on hoverbikes, not on foot. The only threats they'd face would be from razorspines, beakhunters and acidraptors. There were only two deaths last year, and it was only because they crashed against the head of the huge cloud dragon. Why they would ride their hoverbikes that high, I have no idea.

Rubbing my forehead, I tell them, "Can you boys stop talking? You're giving me a headache."

"Mel, Sera has a headache! What have you been doing, you useless rich fatass?!!!" Hek's loud voice blared through the earphone.

"Screw you, dumb jock!" Mel moves his chair closer to me with his feet and grabs my hands, "Sera, do you need to lie down? I can have my butler take you to my home. I'll tell him to have the maids take care of you. Don't worry, I'll handle Hek for you."

"You asshole! I'm turning back, damnit!"

"The race has started, Hek!"

"Fuck the race!"

"Fuck you! The grant was under my name, you jerk!"

"God damnit, race security! Get off my back! A girl's chastity is under threat here!"

"Wahaha, suck on that, Hek. Bleeehhh!"

"Please... just stop talking..." I say as I feel like tearing up.

Big sis Kin, can I quit this job now?

<-.-> <-.->

*Hi all, how are you all doing? This is the second part of Cross Race Destiny. The third part is half written and I can probably release it next week, if I don't have sudden workload increase.
**As always, your feedbacks are very appreciated. Praises help me write faster, constructive criticisms help me to write better.

16 year old Seki has always dreamed of travelling the stars. He has always wanted to experience first hand the adventure his ancestors went through when they left Earth. And for that, he needs to win the annual Trappist Interplanetary Race which will determine if he will be able to take part in Trappist Empire's Second Deep Space Expedition. Unfortunately, things don't always go as planned. Cross Race Destiny Part 3 These hands! I can't control them! By Shiina Ai

"That concludes my report, big sis Kin."

"... I've told you... call me colonel..."

"Ahaha, sorry. Slip of the tongue."

"You're doing this on purpose, aren't you?"

"I don't know what you're talking about, big sis Kin."

"... I've received report from another team that one of the racing teams is suffering some suspicious setbacks. It's not really your concern, but just be careful out there."

"Another team? Me and Sunflower isn't the only one?"

"Of course not. It's a big event. Failure of this event would reflect badly on the empress. Not just our organization, other intelligence agencies are on the watch too. Unfortunately some of their agendas may not align with ours. We don't even know how many of them are corrupt. So be careful and don't trust anyone, okay?"

"Of course, big sis Kin! I'll certainly watch my back."

"Sigh... well, just stay safe. I'm out."

Big Sis Kin's face disappears from the screen to be replaced with a blank black screen. While I expected that some other organizations would be involved as well even without Big Sis Kin's warning, it doesn't help my anxiety. After all, this is my first mission and if we're talking about other intelligence agencies, I'd be pretty well outmatched.

We're talking about Imperial Intelligence, Office 7 and Cloud Advent here. They don't mess around. If you're caught by one of them, you can expect that you will never come home for various reasons. That's not even counting the other more obscure organizations created for various purposes such as Council of Flames and Imperial Lance. At least with Imperial Intelligence, they'll tell your family whether you're executed, banished, deported, died during interrogation or given a new identity. With Council of Flames, just a snap of someone's fingers and you'll disappear without a trace.

It's that bad.

As for the other teams of our organization, Office 12, Big Sis Kin never said anything about them offering help. It's a big possibility that they're either around to evaluate our performance or eliminate us if we fail. Well, I don't think Big Sis Kin would give the order to eliminate a couple of newbies if we fail, so maybe they're instead tasked with finishing the job if we do fail. I don't intend on failing. If I get this done right, I'll live rich and can retire within five years.

But for now I just need to avoid screwing up and complete the job with my life intact. Should be easy, as long as the other agencies don't get in the way. I really hope they don't get in the way. That would suck in so many ways.

"Hek, your shield is depleting, what's happening?" Mel says as I enter the control room overlooking our garage.

"Solar radiation... hitting the shield... hard. Nobody... anything... sun flares!" Hek said through the static.

"There isn't one! We're not detecting any sun flares," Mel says as he frantically pulls up several system diagnostics and news articles, "And there's nothing about sun flares in the news either."

"Damn right... flares!" Hek says with even more static.

"I don't think he can hear me. The interference is too strong."

"Mel, get me the shields and reactor diagnostics," I say as I put the headset back on my head, getting right to work bringing up the Raylon Mk6's schematics. I can see that the shields are seriously getting a battering from all sides. This isn't a solar flare.

"Mel, I'm going to rewrite the shield protocols. Can you send Hek the reactor adjustments to output more power?"

"Sure, but boosting the reactor output is not going to solve the problem and looking at the starchart, its still a long way before he clear the photon overflow."

"It's just to buy me time," I explain while my fingers work furiously on the keyboard, "We didn't expect the photon overflow to happen now, so we set the shields to maximize efficiency in blocking solid objects. If I do this right, Hek's ship won't be affected by the photon overflow anymore."

"But what if you do this wrong?"

"The shield fails and Hek dies from radiation poisoning."

Mel chuckles as he sends Hek the reactor adjustments through short-range data burst. It's a good thing we prepared for this. Normal data transmission won't work with so much radiation. For it to reach the other side safely, the data must be compacted and packaged in a way that the decoder on the other side can recover undamaged data and unpack it for viewing. Otherwise any data sent would be nothing more than gibberish.

"Hek, I'm sending you a new shield protocol. This should work. If it doesn't, well, nice knowing you, Hek."

I press the transmit button and sits back against my chair. While resting my head on the headrest, I close my eyes thinking of so many different ways Hek can die if the shields fail under such intense solar radiation. Although I wanted to kill him so many times after spending the past few weeks as Sera, I never really wanted him dead.

"Woohoo! It works!" Hek's voice comes loud and clear through the headset, "I knew you love me, Sera."

No no, this has nothing to do with love. Why does your thinking lead you to that? It has nothing to do with love at all!

"You're troubling her, Hek. Just so you know, she's making a very disgusted face as if she's seeing an ugly, disgusting piece of pus-filled corci rat."

Wait, don't exaggerate, Mel!

"Uhum! How are you doing now, Hek?" I ask as I continue to monitor his systems, now no longer affected by the photon overflow.

"Ah, I managed to get 4th place, but the first team has a huge lead on us now. I can boost the drives, but the next obstacle is asteroid surfing. Just checking, this shield can handle micro asteroids right?"

"It's currently on reduced effectiveness against solids and you'll drain shield strength quickly if you go in with the current protocol. Don't worry, you only need to revert to the previous shield protocol right after you exit the radiation field."

"This will work?" Hek asks, his voice tinged with worry.

"Yes, as long as you still have the previous protocol in the database. You didn't delete it, right?"

"Nope, I wouldn't throw away anything you give me, Sera."

Please don't say it like that.

Mel decides to make an unnecessary comment over the communicator. "Hek, she's making that disgusted face again."

I don't need you commenting about my face, Mel!

******

"Sunflower, can you hear me?" I say into the two way secure communicator.
Unlike the one I use with big sis Kin, this is the more basic communicator that all agents receive for free. Thus, it only transmits audio. The one I use with big sis Kin requires the other side having a similar device. As Sunflower spent all her points buying the glorified floating broomstick, she couldn't afford the communicator.

"Loud and clear. What do you need?"

"What do you think about the fact that the photon overflow wasn't reported until all the ships were in the area?"

"It's certainly suspicious, but the chairman is claiming that it was human error and has already suspended one employee for negligence. So unless we can find evidence that proves otherwise, there's nothing we can do about it. I'll sniff around and see what I can find, but personally, I think this scandal is too weak for us to use."

"You're right. It's not the first time the organizers been using their positions for personal gain. As for my end, nothing's out of the ordinary."

"Alright, keep me posted. I'll inform you if I found anything worthwhile. Over and out."

"Understood, over and out." I take out the tranceiver from my left ear as I look out the glass window.

I am currently in the Dorleone Garage Complex, south of the capital city. Well, south of the capital city sounds like we're outside of the capital city, which is not true. In reality, the capital city of Trappist Prime, the glittering jewel of the empire, is so vast it will take four months for a person with the average steps to cross from one side to the other even if he walks day and night.

Despite having a lot of tall structures, the view can still be considered harmonious. It is unlike the village where I came from, where even the few tall structures were nothing but eyesores. Perhaps it is because of the shape of the buildings? In Apresmidi, all the tall buildings were wide and blocky, while the buildings in the imperial capital are mostly triangular or curved, making an interesting view. Perhaps it also looks better because sunlight is the inherited desire of every human being, and thus, a city with lots of sunlight is easier on the eyes than a village without sunlight.

Oh well, even if we knew this back in Apresmidi, it's not like we can do anything. After all, Apresmidi is a fortress village. It is the village that provides supplies, relaxation and labour force to the accompanying border watch fortress ten kilometres away. What matters to the folks back home isn't pretty buildings, but functionality. Cubes and cuboids are efficient shapes.

"How's it going?" I ask Mel while patting his shoulder once I'm back in the control room, informing him that it is his turn to go take a rest.

He makes an exasperated noise, his face looking tired. "He's on autopilot. Damned idiot forgot to switch to auto when he fell asleep. I had to do it for him."

"Wow, what an idiot!"

Truly, if he didn't set the ship on autopilot, it would’ve been very likely for him to either hit the other racers or an asteroid. While the chance of hitting a stray asteroid is minimal as he has already passed through the inner asteroid belt, the risk is still there. The autopilot we use may not be the best money can buy, but it is designed to take in sensor contacts and make course corrections which is better than flying without any guidance. It's more than enough to handle simple flight pathing.

“Anyway, I’m going for a nap,” Mel yawned stretching his arms above his head, “Goodnight, Sera.”

“Goodnight, have a good rest.”

“How about coming-”

“Hek will die, Mel.”

“He’ll live. He has the lifeforce of a cockroach.”

“You do realize that if he die, you’ll be in deep debt?”

“My father will cover it.”

“Go to sleep, Mel.”

“Right away!” Mel salutes as he turns around and leaves quickly from the control room.

Breathing out the sigh of someone who’s so done with these assholes, I sit down in front of my console. The screen comes alive with astro charts detailing the information about the race, the racers and the situation concerning the state of the Trappist system. It is from here that we find information with which to assist Hek, plan ahead to overcome obstacles or change our strategies to handle the changes and dangers posed by the cosmos.

Suddenly the door behind me opens and closes with a sound so tiny, so inaudible that the average person can hardly hear. I already know it’s not Mel. Mel is never quiet, just the heavy thumps of his fat ass steps can wake a slumbering root serpent. So with knowing that this is not Mel, I ready my hand on the small titanium knife that I keep under my belt, preparing myself for an assassination attempt.

“Relax, it’s me, Sunflower,” the voice says before I can turn around to confront the source.

“Did you not learn how to knock?”

“Sorry, force of habit. I don’t usually work with a partner.”

“So why are you here? Aren’t you supposed to keep your distance?”

“It’s best if we use a different method for communication now. I found out that after the problem with the photon overflow, they’ve been monitoring all signals, wired and wireless. Our communicator is not longer safe.”

“I thought our communicator was specifically designed to counter that?”

“Well, they have the counter to our counter. They have Office 10 decrypting communication signals.”

“Office 10, Ears of the Goddess?”

“That’s the one. No chance of our cheap newbie communicator standing up against that. They’re checking the security cameras too.”

“I see, but I can’t keep going outside every time I need to speak with you. That would be too suspicious considering that there are only two of us in the team and school is on break.”

“And I can’t keep sneaking in every time I need to speak with you.”

“So should we speak in codes?”

“Let’s not. It’s a pain in the ass.”

What do you expect me to do then?

I look at her with a feeling of helplessness. It’s amazing how blue her eyes are, so bright, as if it’s glowing. How straight, smooth and shiny her hair is. Her neck so thin and translucent, I can even see the veins along it, pulsing with life. And her breasts, not too big, not too small, a big handful.

“What’s with your hands?” The pair of breasts ask.

“Huh?” Only now I realize that my hands have reached out, both only inches from her beautiful and well-formed pair of breasts.

“I... I need your identity chip.”

“What for?”

“I wonder why... eh wait... let me think. No, I know what I want to do, just let me structure my words.”

She crosses her arms at her waist, waiting for my answer. Dissatisfaction, disbelief and impatience clear on her face. It is clear that she’s getting pissed. I need to think of something quick or the hottie will think I’m a pervert.

“I-I can’t keep going out of the complex or it will be too suspicious. So you need to be able to go in and out without attracting attention.”

Yes, I have finally thought of a solution.

“How does having my ID chip help with that?”

“It’s too late for you to join the team, but as a full-time member, I can register you as part-time assistant. You can’t enter the garages and control centers other than ours, but nobody will notice if you come and go. There are plenty of those around, so you won’t be singled out.”

“Do I get paid?”

“Err, no. Not even I get paid, you know. Nobody’s getting paid in this team.”

“Fuck that!”

*As always, your feedbacks are very appreciated. Praises help me write faster, constructive criticisms help me to write better.
**This is the other one that I've almost finished last christmas, but work as well as working on Calamity & Slaughter, a visual novel with lesbian romance in a doomed world took too much of my time. Hope you enjoy this story.