"Then if you are onboard, there is only one thing left to do. Signing the contract" Vander took out his pcom and called someone "We are ready here, come, now is your turn" with hat he ended the call.
"I am sorry for the secrecy about everything, one can never be too careful on the pro circuit, specially with rosters. My colleague will inform you about the contract, take a good look at it, if you had any doubts, let us know" Vander gave her an apologetic face.
"Mr. Meir, you have said "we" when referring to the team, are you perhaps coming out of retirement, will you be part of team?" Mercury was intrigued, on Vander's last season, he ended on 3rd, he was looking solid, but he announced his retirement and that was it. She would love to have him as a team companion.
"No Mercury, sadly my days as a pilot have passed" He had a tranquil expression, but she understood how much must it cost him say that "I will be part of the team, you see, I have taken the coach position, so in a way, we both will be rookies in the pro circuit this season" His face have mended quickly and he smiled "I am getting ahead of myself, you should take a look at the contract first, before I divulge any more information"
Mercury was radiant, she had been struggling this whole year on how to improve, and Vander had realized what she was stumbling with, in hours, and if she accepted, he would be her coach. She did not care if they offered a lower salary than the league, hell, she would work for free this season, and she believed she would still be indebted to the team.
"I am certain Mr, Meir, I want to join your team, more so now, that I know you would be the coach" She told him honestly.
"I appreciate the thought Mercury, but never sell yourself short. I know what it feels like, being in the league, the desperation of ending on the mid places, and not knowing what is going to happen, if an opportunity to join the circuit would come. But you have to know your worth, you should have already figured it out, on how we were really interest in you. We covered every expense in order to evaluated you alone, and I already told you we are satisfied with the result. We value you highly, if you become part of our team, I would like for you to know your value as well" Vander explained to her with his serious face, which was in part why he gained his nickname 'Cold Silver'.
"Understood" She nodded marveled, she truly would sign anything, but Vander would reprimand her again. She needed to learn fast if she wanted to be a pro and earn a place on the team.
"Don't worry too much about it, my colleague will explain it to you properly, he is already here" Vander stood up "Mercury, let me introduce you to who will be your teammate, and currently our team CEO, Ayr" Vander left it like that, he was certain Mercury was going to freak out, and they had a tight schedule before the season started, she needed to adjust fast.
"Hi, miss Mercury, nice to finally get to meet you" Ayr was standing beside her, he was extending his hand towards her. Mercury almost sat right back, his teammate would be The Gentlemen? her head was still processing the idea of having Cold Silver as a coach, now this?.
"Hi, Mr. Ayr, nice to be your acquaintance" She finally managed to respond, and shook his hand.
"Please miss Mercury, sit down. Allow me to explain to you, and if you like, call me Ayr, I am not as old as Vander" He smiled at her, and everyone sat down. Vander and Ayr were in front of her, Mercury was blinking fast.
"First of all, thank you for coming to the test, and for being interest in becoming part of our team. Vander had identified your skills from the league, and it is our opinion, that together, we can create and incredible team" He paused a moment "I am sorry to start with this, but the first thing we require if for you to sign, a non-disclosure agreement regarding the information we have already told you, and that we will soon share with you. It is very similar to the one you were asked to sign when you joined the league, I am sorry if it bothers you, but we need to be very careful when protecting the team" He placed a data pad in front of Mercury.
"I understand, don't worry about it" She took the data pad and read it thoroughly, she was sure Vander would admonish her if she did not.
"You will find that is really simple and straightforward but if you have any doubts, please feel free to ask me anything" Ayr told her, and they both waited for her to finish reading it, and finally sign the pad.
The agreement basically established that she could not share any of the information about the team. She had signed a similar agreement when she had joined team Blazing Rockets on the league.
"It is really clear, thank you" She said as she returned the signed pad to Ayr.
"With that done let me explain to you, our team will be joining the MPC as the 16th team this next season" Mercury nodded, that made a lot of sense now, Ayr had ended its relationship with team Gauss Relay, it was one of the more discussed topics on the scene, in the end was going to a new team. A team with Cold Silver, as a coach, a team where she would be a pilot as well.
"As the 16th team, we cannot make any announcement or reach to any agreement with other teams or personnel within the circuit, until the committee makes the official announcement of us joining the MPC" Mercury frowned, with that restriction they were on a very bad place if they had wanted to get a pilot, they would practically have to conform with what was left. They have had to look at the league for pilots, she knew there were better placed pilots that they could have reach out, but they wanted her, however next season they could look for a good trade, she would probably be offered a 1-year contract. She did not mind though; this was a once in a lifetime opportunity.
"This limits our options regarding the possible pilots for our team, as you probably have guessed. However, we want to be very clear, we intended to try a league pilot from the start, though I have to admit, it was Vander who noticed your skill, miss Mercury. In my defense, I had little time, between the regular season, and supervising the team" Ayr looked intensively at her "I want to be very clear, that we did not settled with you, miss Mercury, we wanted you" were they reading her mind?, was she thinking out loud?.
"I want to also tell you, we will be sponsoring a pilot within the league, with the idea of possible becoming part of our team in the near future" Mercury was surprised they were being so open about their intentions. She felt a bit jealous of this pilot who as in essence a protégé of the team.
"If you decided to join our team, our last companion would be picked from the circuit, though it might not be an optimal choice" Ayr continued his explanation.
"You would have to pick from what is left of the trades" Mercury was worried, they would choose from the unwanted "Wouldn't someone from the league be better?"
"Let me explain it to her" Vander cut in "While is true that there are still some good pilots on the league who could arguably, perform better than what may be left available for us in the circuit. We do not feel a particular interest from any other pilot in the league, other than you that is. We believe the experience from a pilot in the circuit, even if they are not the best would be better to round up the team, and help you Mercury, to grow" Mercury felt a bit ashamed she had been jealous a few moments ago. They were indeed considering her an important part of the team when they could be building around Ayr.
"We are explaining all this to you, miss Mercury, because we want you understand and truly feel part of the team. That is why we would like to offer you a 3-season contract, with the explicit request of renewing it for 3 more years" as Ayr said that both Mercury and Vander were surprised.
"But that is a star kind of contract" Mercury was baffled, few pilots ever got and offer like that, almost 6 seasons guaranteed, even Vander was scratching his head.
"Miss Mercury, I truly believe we could make a champion team. Would you like to race with us, and fight for it" Ayr was very calmed, but had a really intense look on Mercury, she had never seen this much intensity from him in the vids.
"Yeah, I would love to race with you" She answered and blushed, as she noticed how both Ayr and Vander smiled.
"I will send you the specifics of the contract, as I am sure Vander has already told you, review them properly, we know you have no agent, so take your time with them. Take your time with it at home, if you have any questions, please call me. Once you are satisfied with it, sign it and send it over. The specifics for that will also be in the mail we will send you. We want to start the team training, in a week, if it is fine with you?" Ayr asked.
"I would like to star right away" She cried out, making Ayr laugh.
"No, you should go and read that contract carefully, Ayr is always like this as well, but I've told you already, you are going to be a pro pilot now. Get everything you need and talk with your family. The training is going to be hard, use this week to rest as well" Vander reprimanded her.
"Please be patience with him, is his first time as a coach. I would have like to tell you he was different as a pilot, but that would be a lie" Ayr laughed at Vander seriousness, and Mercury could not help but smile as well.
"Make sure you don't pick his bad habits, he tends to joke around, but he does put a lot of effort" Vander told Mercury trying to dismiss Ayr's mockery.
"Your flight back is not until tomorrow, so there is a lot of time still before you have to go. Would you like to see the team headquarters before you go?" Ayr asked her smiling, as a kid that wanted to share a new toy.
"I would love to" Mercury replied radiant.
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"We will at the space port in about an hour miss Mercury" Mr. Donovan assured her.
"Thank you, Mr. Donovan" Mercury replied absentmindedly, her mind had still not finishing processing everything that had just happened.
"Are you ok miss Mercury?, I had the information that the test had resulted in a success, and that we would be seeing you back with us shortly" Mr. Donovan looked at her worried, Mercury had been distracted the whole time. Yesterday she had been nervous, but it was natural, he could not understand why she would be so down right now.
"I am Mr. Donovan, thank you. It is just that this last two days, had been too much" Mr. Donovan question had brought her attention back "I still can't believe, that I will be joining the pro circuit next season, and not only that but I will be teammate with Ayr Lite, and have Mr. Meir as a coach. I can't recall a day where so much had happened" Mercury had a smile from ear to ear, easing Mr. Donovan. Tzzr, Tzzr, Mercury's pcom was making sounds.
"Excuse me Mr. Donovan, I was supposed to call back home by now" She took 2 earpieces and answered the call on her pcom "Hi Dad, how are you?"
"How am I?, good thank you for asking. You know, there was a lot of traffic when I returned from work a lot more than usual "Her father voice came from the ear pieces "What nonsense is this?, how can you both talk like that, tell us how did it go Mer" Her mother voice cut her father's, she knew they would be calling her on speaker. Mercury and her dad would always talk about anything else, when they had important news to announce, and that would make her mother mad on both.
"First, you should know that what I am about to say, you will have to keep it to yourselves as I had to sign a non-disclosure agreement.
"I knew it, that is why you have not called yet" Her father immediately understood, and if she had made to sign that, it probably meant she had gotten inside the circuit. She could hear her father's voice was about to fail "Wait what is it, what happened?" Her mother was confused.
"I have been accepted as a pilot for a team in the pro circuit" Mercury's voice was failing as well as she told them that. Her father began screaming from the other side of the line, she could also hear a mix of sounds, he was probably jumping and clapping.
"Congratulation's honey, you have really worked hard for it, please excuse your father for a moment, he went to our yard to scream apparently" Her mother's voice was as hers, breaking quickly. Mercury felt how some tears were rolling down her cheeks, but her smile was radiant.
"What will happen now, are you staying there or are you coming back home as planned?" Her mother managed after she had calmed down a little.
"No, I am coming home, I'm already on my way to the space port. I explain everything to you there" She wanted to tell them everything on person, her father and brothers would flip out.
"Ok honey, we are really proud of you" Her mother told her "Wait, wait, before you go, which team is it?" Her father had finally come back.
"It is a new team" She did not want to reveal anything more on the pcom.
"How is it called?"- Both her mother and father, asked in unison.
Mercury spaced out, they had talked about their plans, showed her the headquarters, but she had never asked for the team's name, neither had Ayr or Vander told her.
"I didn't ask" Mercury admitted.
"Oh honey, well get back here soon and tell us everything about it" Her mother replied, she could hear her father laughing and saying 'God, she is as dense as her brothers', which made her more grateful she had, answered the call, with her earpieces on.
"Ok, I'll be back tomorrow as planned. See you there, I love you, don't tell my brothers, I want to see their faces" She replied.
"Don't worry they think you went to a training camp, see you here soon dear" Her father said "We love you honey" Her mother finished the call.
She waited a minute before finally taking the earpieces off. Should she asked Mr. Donovan about the team name?. No, she was part of the team now. Ayr and Vander had both given their contacts and told her to call them if she had any doubts, or questions. After a moment, she decided to call Ayr, if she called Vander, he would probably reprimand her again, she smiled with that thought. She entered Ayr's number in the pcom, after a few dials, it connected.
"Hi, miss Mercury, I did not think you would have questions so quickly, Is everything all right?" He asked kindly.
"Yeah, everything is ok, it is just that I forgot to ask, and you did not mention it, mmm what is the team's name?" She asked embarrassed.
"Well... to be honest, we have not picked one yet" Ayr answered not giving the subject that much importance "Why don't you think on some options and we decide once you return, I hope you can bring better ideas than what Vander and I had been thinking this las few days" He laughed, and she felt a lot more relaxed.
"Ok... I'll try to come up with some ideas then" She was worried and glad, to think they had not giving it much relevance, her image on both pilots was changing quickly, and she was happy they wanted her opinion as well "See you in a week then"
"Have a safe trip miss Mercury. Wait, I almost forgot, we would like if you could invite your family to come for a couple of days if they can, that way they can get to know the team as well. Just let miss Lily know on who are coming, and she will arrange everything"
"Thank you, I let them know" Mercury replied.
"Excellent, take care miss Mercury, and if you have any questions, please, don't hesitate to call me or Vander" with that said Mercury ended the call with Ayr.