The sand rose fast on the left side of the trough, and she was already through it before it could fully become a problem. Which, when you think about it, is the entire philosophy of speed. If something turns into the past before it finishes becoming the present, does it even count as an obstacle?
She was ahead.
Ahead the way a shadow gets ahead of the body at sunset, stretching forward before anything else arrives. Ahead.
Boost at the start had done exactly what it promised. No tricks, no fine print.
The dunes were hers now.
She had decided that somewhere between the starting line and the walls of sand, and the decision had been firm since. Or maybe it simply refused to change. There's a difference, but she wasn't interested in finding it.
She had the window down.
A drone appeared nearby together with a truck.
It was small and fast. It crossed the distance between two dunes at a diagonal and clipped her rear panel with the accuracy that made one thing clear.
