Tinker's Arc

Chapter 1 of 4

Tinker wanted to break the planet's dirt-track speed record in a buggy built with his own hands. Right now that buggy was nothing but junk. Engine parts, wheels, and coils lay scattered across his narrow dorm room floor. He couldn't bolt a single piece in place. The room was too small to even turn a frame around. He sat on his bed and stared at the mess. A tiny cottony creature bounced across the parts, springy legs squeaking with each hop. The little thing landed on his cylinder head and chirped. Tinker almost smiled. "No workspace, no buggy," he said. "No buggy, no record." A knock hit the door. It swung open before he answered. A young man stood there in a rough animal-hide wrap, bare feet in worn sandals. Dirt streaked his arms. Tinker knew him from the work crew behind the school. Bam Bam Rubble. The transfer student who lifted stones most machines couldn't move. "You frown too much," Bam Bam said. He grinned wide. "What's broken?" "Everything," Tinker said. He waved at the floor. "I need room to build. A real buggy. Big enough to tune, test, assemble. This room can't hold half of it." Bam Bam stepped inside and nudged a wheel with his toe. The cottony creature bounced onto his shoulder. He laughed and let it. "The old shed," Bam Bam said. "Behind the dorm. Nobody uses it. Full of broken desks." Tinker shook his head. "I saw it. The door's jammed. The desks are stacked to the roof. It would take a crew a week to clear." Bam Bam cracked his knuckles. "I like hard work." They walked out together. The shed leaned against the dorm's back wall, wide and low, twice the size of Tinker's room. Bam Bam gripped the stuck door and pulled. Rusted hinges screamed. The door tore free in his hands. Inside, broken desks rose in a crooked pile. Bam Bam waded in and started hauling. He lifted whole stacks at once and carried them out. Tinker worked beside him, dragging planks and sweeping dust. The cottony creature bounced between them, chirping, knocking loose screws into a tin. By dusk the floor was bare. Empty, flat, and wide. Tinker stood in the middle and turned a slow circle. He could fit the frame here. The engine. A full test run across the length of it. "This works," Tinker said. His voice cracked. "This really works." "Told you." Bam Bam wiped his hands on his wrap. They carried the parts over, load by load. Tinker laid them out in order for the first time. Chassis here. Wheels there. Engine at the center. He could finally see the whole buggy in his mind. Then he knelt by the engine and froze. He lifted the cracked block and turned it in the fading light. A long split ran down one side. The one part he couldn't build himself. The one part he couldn't afford to replace.