Rocket ships racing through space, treacherous saboteurs.
Sounds like another adventure for...

ACE RACER, the ace of Space

Ace Racer tried to control his rocketship as it hurtled toward a spectator satellite full of people. His eyes grew larger and larger with terror. The satellite loomed larger and larger ahead. It was a round white satellite with a small circular hole in the middle. Ace Racer was staring death in the face!
Ace had taken off in his green rocket with red wings, the Arrow, from the Woomera Rocket Range in South Australia. He was racing four rocketeers in the first round of the All-Star Space Races. It was a sudden death event and only four would go on to the next round. They flew up out of the Earth’s atmosphere and headed for a distant beacon in space. They rounded the first beacon then headed for the second. But as they rounded the second beacon, another ship nearly ran into him. It wasOtto Nightingale of the Zenith Club, flying his orange and black ship, the Valkerie. Ace’s ship was forced into an uncontrolled trajectory when he swerved to avoid a collision. And now as the other four rockets sped on for the final marker, Ace’s eyes grew wide with fear as his ship careened toward a spectator satellite. “I’m not going to be able to turn away in time! There’s no way to turn away in time!”
There was only one thing he could do. His eyes focused on the satellite. I’ve got to try to fly through the hole in the satellite. The only chance I’ve got is to get through that hole. I don’t know if I can fit through. I don’t think it’s wide enough for my ship.
He held his breath and steered through the satellite. Somehow he made it. As he flew out the other side of the satellite the spectators cheered.
“Ace Racer made it through the satellite! He flew through without crashing!” said one spectator.
“Ace is the greatest rocketeer who ever lived! No-one has ever been in his league!”
Ace turned to get back on course for the race and sighed with relief as he passed the satellite. I wonder whether Otto Nightingale of the Zenith Club knew I was there when he suddenly dived down on me like that. He must have known I was there. When he turned down like that I must have been in plain view. There was no way he couldn’t have known I was there.
But for Nightingale, Ace would be winning the race. Now Ace had to catch up and beat one of the others to make the next round. And they were competing for more than just the gold trophy. Ace's club, The Space Cadets, and Zenith were too close together according to the SpaceAeronautics Foundation. Whichever of the two clubs lost today would be closed down. Now Ace turned his attention to gaining on the others. He was outstanding but he wasn’t going fast enough. He checked the map. Wait a minute!
Back on earth, at the launchpads at Woomera Rocket Range in South Australia, the coaches of Zenith and Ace’s club, the Space Cadets, were watching on the monitors. “Looks like your pilot is finished,” said the coach from Zenith. “It’s all over for Ace Racer. He’s too far behind to catch up. He'll never catch them from there.”
“Not likely,” said Ace’s coach, Dr Henrietta Hendrix. “Your pilot, Nightingale’s going the wrong way toward some space junk reflecting in the sun thinking it’s the finish marker. Now all the others are following Nightingale to the space junk. Ace can see the glow of the final beacon. The others have realised their mistake now, but it’s too late. Ace is tearing past the others. He’s going to win. He’s won! Ace has won the first round!”
Then Ace returned to earth, at the Woomera Rocket Base in South Australia. He walked across the salt lake under cool blue skies. Then he walked between the makeshift hangars for some well-earned breakfast with Henrietta and fellow pilot, Richard Crumley. Richard was in the same club as Ace and had made it into the next round. They talked and when they finished their breakfast they had a few more races. Soon both Ace and his pal Richard were in the semi finals.
Meanwhile the enemy club plotted. “We can’t have them win the semi-final,” the coach said. “If they make the semi-final they’ll beat us. We can’t afford that. I want you to blow up their rockets. You have to do it, Nightingale. You have to destroy those rockets.”
“We'll be arrested for murder,” said the pilot, Otto Nightingale. “They’ll be killed and it'll be obvious we did it. We’ll be up for murder if we kill them.”
“Their rockets will fall apart before they even take off,” said the coach. “You know you must do it. We have money in the club, you and I. You have to blow up the rockets. You know you have to. We have to destroy those rockets if we are to have any chance of winning. We can’t win against them. They’re just too good. We’ve got a lot riding on this. I need you to blow up those rockets. You have to do it. It’s as simple as that.”
Later Ace was in his hangar, working on his rocket, when he noticed someone coming in. Ace tightened one of the bolts. That’s probably just another spectator coming in for a look around. People come walking through the hangar all the time. I can’t concern myself with something like that. It’s not important. I have to get my rocket ready for the race. The simple maintenance rituals are crucial if this rocket is going to be ready to fly.
Then Ace noticed someone was tampering with the rocket. He was rigging up an automatic bomb activation unit.
“Hey!” Ace said."What's going on?"
The saboteur, Otto Nightingale, was surprised to see Ace. You couldn’t see Ace under the rocket from where the saboteurs was standing. “Huhhn?” Nightingale muttered. “Who’s there? Is someone there? Ace Racer! Ace Racer is under the rocket!”
Nightingale put the bomb down and attacked Ace with a spanner.
Ace rolled out of the way and stood up ready to defend himself. Ugnn! I don’t like fighting. Fighting is for morons and I don’t want to fight. But Nightingale’s trying to kill me with that spanner. There’s murder in Nightingale’s eyes and he means to do it with that spanner.
He fought Nightingale, threw punches at him, received the occasional blow from the spanner. Ace was a good fighter. Soon he relieved Nightingale of the spanner and wielded it over him.
Then the loud speaker spoke up. “If you check your monitors and look at the sky, Richard Crumley from the Zenith Club will be giving us a demonstration of stunt flying any second now. He will be flying his rocket around space performing a series of manoeuvres. These stunts will be performed for you at any moment.”
“Did you sabotage Richard’s ship, too? Did you place an automatic bomb activation unit on Richard Crumley’s ship?” Ace said to the saboteur, Otto Nightingale.
“I had to. They made me. I didn’t want to do it, but I had to. I had no choice.”
“I’ll deal with you later. I can’t deal with you now because I have to save my friend, Richard Crumley.”
Ace ran outside to the Space Cadets' tent on the salt lake. He grabbed the radio. He radioed his fellow pilot and told him his ship was sabotaged, and to eject. The pilot shot out and the parachute opened. Seconds later the rocket exploded. Then it was time for the finals.
Ace hadn’t had time to report Otto Nightingale and his coach so he was up against Nightingale in the final. Ace led the race all the way and won easily. The club was saved and Ace was now the space champion. His friends at the rocket range cheered. “Ace has won! Ace is the champion.”
“Our club is saved! Now we don’t have to close it!”
Ace turned his ship around and started his return into the earth’s atmosphere. He activated reverse thrusters and was commencing his descent. “Now I just have to land safely and we can celebrate,” said Ace Racer into the radio. “We’ve won and now we can party.”
Suddenly his coach Dr Henrietta Hendrix shouted a warning into the radio. “Look out, Ace! Ace, watch out! Otto Nightingale's heading straight for you! He's going to crash into you!”
“Huhhn? What?” Ace said. He looked up in time to see the evil pilot, Otto Nightingale, diving his rocket at Ace’s. Ace yelled. I’ve got to get out or I’ll be wiped out. I’ll have to eject.
Ace ejected just before Otto Nightingale crashed into his rocket the Arrow, obliterating it. “Ohh!” they said at the rocket range. “Aagh!”
As Ace parachuted to earth he watched the evil pilot fly off in the Valkerie toward a colorful sunset. On board Otto Nightingale laughed maniacally. “Ha ha ha-ha! Blowing up Ace’s rocket has made my day. I loved smashing up Ace’s rocket like that. It makes me feel good inside. One day I will get you, Ace Racer! I vow that I will have my revenge! Haa-ha-haa!”