Signs & Limits Sneak Peek
Jamie
The crowd was getting restless, their murmurs and shouts were drifting behind the curtains. The room felt overly hot and someone had left a cup of coffee on the table—it had a stale scent to it that made James “Jamie” McLeod nauseous. A third generation actor, he was the first to venture into television. His grandfather was still horrified he’d left the “legitimate” theater for the, as he put it, “idiot box”. As one of the stars of the cult favorite Rebellion: 2120, he also had a successful career as a convention guest. Which is where he was now--RebelliCon 10. Jamie was pacing. He had been for the last thirty minutes. The photo ops and backstage meet and greet were finally over, but now it was all starting to really hit home. Panic was starting to set in. This was his first convention in Tacoma, Washington, without René Carver, his Rebellion co-star.
When Jamie had been brought on to play Sergeant Travis Quantis, it had started as a guest role on The Pluto Gambit, the parent show for Rebellion: 2120. After his first appearance, there had been a veritable flood of fan mail to keep his character. He was signed for four more episodes. The fourth one brought René Carver, a popular Independent film star, on board as Valmir, an alien Quantis takes prisoner, and ends up befriending. The episode became a ratings bonanza for The Pluto Gambit. Jamie and René were asked if they would sign on for a six episode, limited run spin-off, Rebellion: 2120. Jamie readily agreed, René was more hesitant since his character required several hours of complicated makeup every day. It had taken Jamie almost three weeks to convince René, and over that time they became friends. After seven and a half years of filming together, they had become like family.
The limited run was extended to a full half season. One of the producers was from Tacoma and brokered a deal to use the city and surrounding areas for Rebellion. Filming was officially moved to Tacoma after the producers discovered a former locomotive repair shop that included a massive warehouse. The industrial feel worked perfectly as the primary site for Rebellion. With the move, Rebellion started the first of seven very successful seasons. The Pluto Gambit was cancelled halfway through Rebellion’s second season. Jamie and René were signed to another five years. The producers decided to conclude Rebellion: 2120 at the end of the seventh season. They were on top of the ratings. The producers had several other franchises and they wanted to end at a place that would create a cult following and revenue for years in books, magazines and convention appearances. Rebellion had gone off the air three and a half years before and the show continued to gain more fans and the convention schedule was packed. It meant that Jamie and René had full calendars, often doing conventions alone, but this was the first RebelliCon that either one of them had done by themselves.
Jamie sighed. Of course it was more than that. This was also the first time he was going to miss the beginning of the latest Extreme Prix race.
It was odd how things turned out.
When Rebellion: 2120 had ended, they had both been offered a starring role in a big budget movie. Those movies set in motion their lives as they were now. Jamie hadn’t enjoyed filming the movie, and quickly realized that he really didn’t want that life. He liked the comfort of a series, even with the long days. While he’d been filming the movie, he’d been approached by Howard Bolt, one of the producers of Rebellion He wanted Jamie to star in his new a series—a cop show with a darker bent. Jamie really liked the script. The role of his partner was originally offered to René, but he refused. Jamie had been disappointed. However, when they started putting together the cast, he’d been thrilled with the group. Most were unknown—with the exception of Richard Terry, who would play Jamie’s partner. He liked the group immediately and he finished the movie and stepped right back into series TV. He’d been happy with the choice, unfortunately his wife was not. She wanted to be married to a movie star and Jamie didn’t want to be one, and that was that. It didn’t seem so bad at the time. The show would be filming in Tacoma, like Rebellion, and she split her time between New York and Los Angeles. After thinking about it for a few days, Jamie decided to make the move once and for all and planned on buying a house outside Tacoma.
That surprised a lot of the fans.
René surprised them even more.
When René had first received the script for a movie based on Rory Crossman’s life he had set it aside. Jamie and René had talked about it a little and René had done some research on the man. Crossman was the founder of a newly legal sport, Extreme Prix. Once the secret pastime of the wealthy, Crossman brought it out of the shadows and into the light of day. After the first town had allowed them to race legally, the sport had exploded onto the world. It was set up like Grand Prix, only the cars had to be factory productions cars, ones that technically anyone could buy. No modification except what a factory would do for the average (albeit rich) customer. Thanks to the sport, high-end car manufacturers were doing a booming business—especially since the races chewed up cars. The whole point of Extreme Prix was to race on local highways. The potholes weren’t filled, the corners weren’t redesigned to allow a car going more than a hundred miles an hour to safely make it around.
After the research, René had taken the role. The producers sent him off to learn how to drive an Extreme Prix car, so it would look realistic in the film. He’d worked hard, and while he wasn’t allowed to drive in the really dangerous scenes, he’d nonetheless driven far more than the producers and director had expected. He finished up the movie in late June of the first summer after Rebellion: 2120 had ended its run and everyone thought René would settle in as a writer and actor. He’d won an Emmy for an episode of Rebellion: 2120 he’d written. It seemed the natural career choice for him.
Then came the phone call. Jamie could remember it like it was yesterday. It was the beginning of a nightmare that never seemed to end. ...
That was just over four years before. Despite many dire predictions, René had risen to the top of the pack in the first year, even thought he’d started late. Extreme Prix, like Grand Prix, was about more than just winning, there was a complicated point system that Jamie still didn’t understand, but had led to René ending up at the top of the sport his first year out. His second year he started at the head of the pack and now he was the undisputed leader in the Prix. He was not only winning, but amassing points, just about guaranteeing another winning season.
Jamie lived in a state of continual terror during the races. He’d convinced himself that as long as he was there at the beginning and end of the race—even if he was just watching it on TV—René would make it through okay. So far, that was true, even though there had been several deaths already this year. René just ignored them and drove on. The words “death wish” were whispered when his name came up in acting circles. No one could understand why he would leave what most people saw as easy life to pursue this career with the zeal he had applied to it. The news media had started calling him “Curves” Carver because he tended to take the turns at speeds that killed most people. There was a fearlessness in him that the other racers admired ...
And now he was here alone and René was set to start the Columbia River Extreme Prix in ten minutes. There was no way Jamie could watch. He had demanded the convention move his stage time back, but after a series of SNAFUs, it ended up this way. He wouldn’t have the chance to see the race start. Jamie was at the point of panic about that. As long as he was “there” everything would be fine. It had to be—and now he wouldn’t be there. He would be stuck on stage, listening to the same questions and trying to figure out how to call up the race on his phone.
“And now, what you’ve been waiting for, Jamie…” The rest of Jamie’s name was lost in the screams from the audience as he walked on stage. He was blinded by the flashes on hundreds of cameras and cell phones. The lights were hot against his face and he smiled and waved before sitting down on the chair placed center stage. He told a couple lame jokes, the audience laughed, then the questions started. As usual, he couldn’t really see the person at the microphone thanks to the lighting, but he smiled at them and pretended. He was trying to sound sincere and answer questions without letting his mind dwell on the fact the race was starting.
“Excuse me, is it true you and René once went out in full make-up on Halloween and pretended to be yourselves to get into parties?” a nasal voice whined.
“What?” Jamie was taken aback. That was a new one.
“I said, did you go out in character and pretend to be you?”
Jamie opened his mouth, and suddenly realized the audience was silent. In fact it was so quiet that he could hear the excited breathing of the front row. “Um…” He squinted towards the mic, at the tall shadow standing there. Jamie’s heart started pounding. There was no way it could be… He looked again. “Thank god,” he muttered. Jamie had no idea how that shadow was there, but there he was, grinning at him, his white teeth visible even with the glare. “Well, you should know, René, it was your idea.”
“Damn straight!” René said, bounding on stage as the room exploded in screams and cheering. Jamie tried to stay cool, but almost lost it when he was pulled into one of René’s incredibly tight hugs. “Surprise,” he said softly right before he pulled away. “Hey? Can I get a chair up here?”
Jamie made it back to his own chair without collapsing. René was here, he wasn’t starting a race without him. It was okay, he took a deep calming breath. It was okay.
Later in the story ... At the Columbia River Exteme Prix
“The racers are getting into position!” the announcer boomed. Dan turned on the big screen and the huge screen by the bleachers stopped showing music videos and showed the line of cars waiting for the race. “Here they go!” the announcer called and all eyes turned to the screens.
Jamie watched the tiny pink pace car travel down the long cloverleaf to the highway. René’s black Bugatti was in the first position, Brad Mayers and his bright yellow Lamborghini was second. The pace car pulled onto the highway, then swung to the side of the road. Jamie’s heart gave a funny lurch as he watched René shoot past the pace car and pull away from the pack. In less than five minutes, René was well ahead of everyone except Mayers. René maintained the lead as he pulled into the pit stop at Stonehenge. The other cars sped past, but Jamie knew that every mile further, they would be losing time. They would have to make pit stops further down the road, and they were risking tire damage—or in some cases even running out of gas. Once René was done at Stonehenge he only had a brief stop at the gas station. Jamie was watching the last car go past and then René was back on the highway, tearing down the road. The chase helicopter was keeping a camera on him, and another on the rest of the pack. René caught up to the cars and was working his way through the group as the other cars began pulling off for their pit stop.
René was at his fuel stop before some of the others had a chance to make their first pit stop and he was out on the road an instant later. The helicopter was focused on the Bugatti and several cars as they went through the first series of turns and then into the first—and longest—tunnel.
Jamie knew something had gone wrong even before the announcer said something, before the phones in the tents started ringing. Smoke was billowing out of the tunnel.
“There’s been an accident,” Dan said grimly.
“Who?” Flynn demanded.
“There were five cars going in.”
Their conversation was slamming into Jamie’s head as his heart was pounding frantically in his chest. Flame was pouring out of the tunnel now, and right behind it a black car tumbled out, slammed into the cliff wall and careened over the side of the steep road, plunging down towards the river.
“Who was that?” Dan demanded.
The helicopter dropped down to the river, trying to find the car—all that was left was a burning hulk.
“Folks, we have a racer down, we are trying to get an ID to you as quickly as possible.”
“Who the hell was that?” Dan was up against the screen as if that would help.
Jamie couldn’t answer. The dark car had looked like René’s in the few seconds the camera had before it went over the edge.
“Who?” Dan’s anguished voice was reflected in Jamie’s heart.
The crowd was getting restless, their murmurs and shouts were drifting behind the curtains. The room felt overly hot and someone had left a cup of coffee on the table—it had a stale scent to it that made James “Jamie” McLeod nauseous. A third generation actor, he was the first to venture into television. His grandfather was still horrified he’d left the “legitimate” theater for the, as he put it, “idiot box”. As one of the stars of the cult favorite Rebellion: 2120, he also had a successful career as a convention guest. Which is where he was now--RebelliCon 10. Jamie was pacing. He had been for the last thirty minutes. The photo ops and backstage meet and greet were finally over, but now it was all starting to really hit home. Panic was starting to set in. This was his first convention in Tacoma, Washington, without René Carver, his Rebellion co-star.
When Jamie had been brought on to play Sergeant Travis Quantis, it had started as a guest role on The Pluto Gambit, the parent show for Rebellion: 2120. After his first appearance, there had been a veritable flood of fan mail to keep his character. He was signed for four more episodes. The fourth one brought René Carver, a popular Independent film star, on board as Valmir, an alien Quantis takes prisoner, and ends up befriending. The episode became a ratings bonanza for The Pluto Gambit. Jamie and René were asked if they would sign on for a six episode, limited run spin-off, Rebellion: 2120. Jamie readily agreed, René was more hesitant since his character required several hours of complicated makeup every day. It had taken Jamie almost three weeks to convince René, and over that time they became friends. After seven and a half years of filming together, they had become like family.
The limited run was extended to a full half season. One of the producers was from Tacoma and brokered a deal to use the city and surrounding areas for Rebellion. Filming was officially moved to Tacoma after the producers discovered a former locomotive repair shop that included a massive warehouse. The industrial feel worked perfectly as the primary site for Rebellion. With the move, Rebellion started the first of seven very successful seasons. The Pluto Gambit was cancelled halfway through Rebellion’s second season. Jamie and René were signed to another five years. The producers decided to conclude Rebellion: 2120 at the end of the seventh season. They were on top of the ratings. The producers had several other franchises and they wanted to end at a place that would create a cult following and revenue for years in books, magazines and convention appearances. Rebellion had gone off the air three and a half years before and the show continued to gain more fans and the convention schedule was packed. It meant that Jamie and René had full calendars, often doing conventions alone, but this was the first RebelliCon that either one of them had done by themselves.
Jamie sighed. Of course it was more than that. This was also the first time he was going to miss the beginning of the latest Extreme Prix race.
It was odd how things turned out.
When Rebellion: 2120 had ended, they had both been offered a starring role in a big budget movie. Those movies set in motion their lives as they were now. Jamie hadn’t enjoyed filming the movie, and quickly realized that he really didn’t want that life. He liked the comfort of a series, even with the long days. While he’d been filming the movie, he’d been approached by Howard Bolt, one of the producers of Rebellion He wanted Jamie to star in his new a series—a cop show with a darker bent. Jamie really liked the script. The role of his partner was originally offered to René, but he refused. Jamie had been disappointed. However, when they started putting together the cast, he’d been thrilled with the group. Most were unknown—with the exception of Richard Terry, who would play Jamie’s partner. He liked the group immediately and he finished the movie and stepped right back into series TV. He’d been happy with the choice, unfortunately his wife was not. She wanted to be married to a movie star and Jamie didn’t want to be one, and that was that. It didn’t seem so bad at the time. The show would be filming in Tacoma, like Rebellion, and she split her time between New York and Los Angeles. After thinking about it for a few days, Jamie decided to make the move once and for all and planned on buying a house outside Tacoma.
That surprised a lot of the fans.
René surprised them even more.
When René had first received the script for a movie based on Rory Crossman’s life he had set it aside. Jamie and René had talked about it a little and René had done some research on the man. Crossman was the founder of a newly legal sport, Extreme Prix. Once the secret pastime of the wealthy, Crossman brought it out of the shadows and into the light of day. After the first town had allowed them to race legally, the sport had exploded onto the world. It was set up like Grand Prix, only the cars had to be factory productions cars, ones that technically anyone could buy. No modification except what a factory would do for the average (albeit rich) customer. Thanks to the sport, high-end car manufacturers were doing a booming business—especially since the races chewed up cars. The whole point of Extreme Prix was to race on local highways. The potholes weren’t filled, the corners weren’t redesigned to allow a car going more than a hundred miles an hour to safely make it around.
After the research, René had taken the role. The producers sent him off to learn how to drive an Extreme Prix car, so it would look realistic in the film. He’d worked hard, and while he wasn’t allowed to drive in the really dangerous scenes, he’d nonetheless driven far more than the producers and director had expected. He finished up the movie in late June of the first summer after Rebellion: 2120 had ended its run and everyone thought René would settle in as a writer and actor. He’d won an Emmy for an episode of Rebellion: 2120 he’d written. It seemed the natural career choice for him.
Then came the phone call. Jamie could remember it like it was yesterday. It was the beginning of a nightmare that never seemed to end. ...
That was just over four years before. Despite many dire predictions, René had risen to the top of the pack in the first year, even thought he’d started late. Extreme Prix, like Grand Prix, was about more than just winning, there was a complicated point system that Jamie still didn’t understand, but had led to René ending up at the top of the sport his first year out. His second year he started at the head of the pack and now he was the undisputed leader in the Prix. He was not only winning, but amassing points, just about guaranteeing another winning season.
Jamie lived in a state of continual terror during the races. He’d convinced himself that as long as he was there at the beginning and end of the race—even if he was just watching it on TV—René would make it through okay. So far, that was true, even though there had been several deaths already this year. René just ignored them and drove on. The words “death wish” were whispered when his name came up in acting circles. No one could understand why he would leave what most people saw as easy life to pursue this career with the zeal he had applied to it. The news media had started calling him “Curves” Carver because he tended to take the turns at speeds that killed most people. There was a fearlessness in him that the other racers admired ...
And now he was here alone and René was set to start the Columbia River Extreme Prix in ten minutes. There was no way Jamie could watch. He had demanded the convention move his stage time back, but after a series of SNAFUs, it ended up this way. He wouldn’t have the chance to see the race start. Jamie was at the point of panic about that. As long as he was “there” everything would be fine. It had to be—and now he wouldn’t be there. He would be stuck on stage, listening to the same questions and trying to figure out how to call up the race on his phone.
“And now, what you’ve been waiting for, Jamie…” The rest of Jamie’s name was lost in the screams from the audience as he walked on stage. He was blinded by the flashes on hundreds of cameras and cell phones. The lights were hot against his face and he smiled and waved before sitting down on the chair placed center stage. He told a couple lame jokes, the audience laughed, then the questions started. As usual, he couldn’t really see the person at the microphone thanks to the lighting, but he smiled at them and pretended. He was trying to sound sincere and answer questions without letting his mind dwell on the fact the race was starting.
“Excuse me, is it true you and René once went out in full make-up on Halloween and pretended to be yourselves to get into parties?” a nasal voice whined.
“What?” Jamie was taken aback. That was a new one.
“I said, did you go out in character and pretend to be you?”
Jamie opened his mouth, and suddenly realized the audience was silent. In fact it was so quiet that he could hear the excited breathing of the front row. “Um…” He squinted towards the mic, at the tall shadow standing there. Jamie’s heart started pounding. There was no way it could be… He looked again. “Thank god,” he muttered. Jamie had no idea how that shadow was there, but there he was, grinning at him, his white teeth visible even with the glare. “Well, you should know, René, it was your idea.”
“Damn straight!” René said, bounding on stage as the room exploded in screams and cheering. Jamie tried to stay cool, but almost lost it when he was pulled into one of René’s incredibly tight hugs. “Surprise,” he said softly right before he pulled away. “Hey? Can I get a chair up here?”
Jamie made it back to his own chair without collapsing. René was here, he wasn’t starting a race without him. It was okay, he took a deep calming breath. It was okay.
Later in the story ... At the Columbia River Exteme Prix
“The racers are getting into position!” the announcer boomed. Dan turned on the big screen and the huge screen by the bleachers stopped showing music videos and showed the line of cars waiting for the race. “Here they go!” the announcer called and all eyes turned to the screens.
Jamie watched the tiny pink pace car travel down the long cloverleaf to the highway. René’s black Bugatti was in the first position, Brad Mayers and his bright yellow Lamborghini was second. The pace car pulled onto the highway, then swung to the side of the road. Jamie’s heart gave a funny lurch as he watched René shoot past the pace car and pull away from the pack. In less than five minutes, René was well ahead of everyone except Mayers. René maintained the lead as he pulled into the pit stop at Stonehenge. The other cars sped past, but Jamie knew that every mile further, they would be losing time. They would have to make pit stops further down the road, and they were risking tire damage—or in some cases even running out of gas. Once René was done at Stonehenge he only had a brief stop at the gas station. Jamie was watching the last car go past and then René was back on the highway, tearing down the road. The chase helicopter was keeping a camera on him, and another on the rest of the pack. René caught up to the cars and was working his way through the group as the other cars began pulling off for their pit stop.
René was at his fuel stop before some of the others had a chance to make their first pit stop and he was out on the road an instant later. The helicopter was focused on the Bugatti and several cars as they went through the first series of turns and then into the first—and longest—tunnel.
Jamie knew something had gone wrong even before the announcer said something, before the phones in the tents started ringing. Smoke was billowing out of the tunnel.
“There’s been an accident,” Dan said grimly.
“Who?” Flynn demanded.
“There were five cars going in.”
Their conversation was slamming into Jamie’s head as his heart was pounding frantically in his chest. Flame was pouring out of the tunnel now, and right behind it a black car tumbled out, slammed into the cliff wall and careened over the side of the steep road, plunging down towards the river.
“Who was that?” Dan demanded.
The helicopter dropped down to the river, trying to find the car—all that was left was a burning hulk.
“Folks, we have a racer down, we are trying to get an ID to you as quickly as possible.”
“Who the hell was that?” Dan was up against the screen as if that would help.
Jamie couldn’t answer. The dark car had looked like René’s in the few seconds the camera had before it went over the edge.
“Who?” Dan’s anguished voice was reflected in Jamie’s heart.