Mission 2: Supersonic

by Jonny Zucker

  In the viewing screen he saw the silver-and-purple Guzzlet ship. An orange flame exploded from its underside. Another missile powered its way towards the Thargon craft. The Guzzlets were hoping to destroy him.

  Max lunged for the controls. But he was too late. The missile smashed into the front of the Thargon ship. Max was knocked off his feet again.

  I need to hit back!

  Max stumbled back to the desk. He searched frantically for a MISSILE LAUNCH sign. He couldn’t find one. Another flame burst from the Guzzlet ship. Another missile was on its way.

  He looked around desperately. He noticed a red lever on the far right-hand side of the control desk.

  Give it a go! I’ve got nothing to lose!

  The Guzzlet missile screeched closer. Max yanked the lever down to the left. Miraculously, the Thargon ship crashed to the left. The Guzzlet missile whistled past. It exploded in a fireball somewhere behind the Thargon ship.

  You missed that time, suckers!

  But two more Guzzlet missiles had already launched. Max grabbed the lever. He steered the Thargon ship between the incoming rockets. His directional skill was perfect. He just managed to miss both missiles.

  I’m getting the hang of this! It’s like playing a computer game.

  Another Guzzlet rocket launched. Max tilted his ship to the right, narrowly avoiding a hit. But Max noticed a turquoise light flashing on the control desk. It signaled that fuel was running low.

  Now is NOT a good time to run out of fuel!

  Max stared at the viewing screen. He could see a row of bombs at the rear of the Guzzlet ship.

  I’ll be a sitting target!

  He scanned the space outside his viewing screen. He noticed a series of dense dust clouds. There were at least twenty of them.

  Max pulled the lever to the right. The Thargon ship lurched towards the dust clouds. A few more seconds and it had dipped behind the first one. He moved swiftly behind the second and third clouds. He came to rest behind the fourth. It was a risky strategy. But he didn’t have another one.

  He studied the viewing screen. The Guzzlet ship was out of sight.

  But it won’t be long before they come hunting for me.

  He nudged the lever. He took the Thargon ship behind the fifth, sixth, seventh, then eighth cloud. He waited for a minute. Nothing happened.

  He nosed the front of the Thargon ship a tiny bit forward. He quickly pulled back as he saw the Guzzlet craft loom into view.

  Another minute went by. He snatched another look out of the viewing screen. The Guzzlets were starting to move off. They were going pretty slowly and cautiously. But it was definitely in the opposite direction.

  Max breathed a deep sigh of relief.

  Safe … at least for the moment.

  He cruised out from behind the eighth dust cloud. He looked out at the orange taillights of the Guzzlet spaceship. He flicked the CABIN LIGHTS OFF button. Immediately the Thargon ship descended into darkness. The flight deck was illuminated only by the thousands of tiny lights on the control desk. Max touched the lever. The ship floated forward. He needed to keep the Guzzlets in his sights while making sure that they didn’t see him.

  He knew what he had to do. He had to follow the Guzzlets until they led him to planet Guzzle. Then he needed to find the DFEA Unit. But time was rapidly slipping away. He was more aware than ever that the Zockrans’ survival completely depended on him.

  He was absolutely certain that “failure” was not a word in Zavonne’s vocabulary. He couldn’t return to Earth until the DFEA Unit had been found, the Zockrans properly re-energized, and his planet protected from possible attacks once more.

  Max trailed the Guzzlet ship. He noticed a sudden drop in the air temperature. He shivered and checked the ship’s temperature gauge. The needle was quickly moving into negative territory. Up ahead, he watched as the Guzzlet ship began to descend. It was dipping towards a planet completely covered in ice.

  This must be planet Guzzle—at last!

  The cold was sweeping through the flight deck. It was biting at Max’s face and hands just as it had when he’d faced the Guzzlet warriors in the stadium.

  Max followed the Guzzlet ship from a safe distance. He watched it land. He waited until all of those onboard had exited. They headed into a tall building near the landing pad.

  What will it be like outside? Will my spacesuit give me enough protection to survive even a very short period out in that hostile climate?

  Max began a slow, smooth descent. With every meter, the temperature dropped. He felt his spaceship crunch onto the ice below. He turned off the engine.

  He flicked the switch to unlock the door. He heard a loud click. A hatch on the left-hand side of the flight deck opened. Max flipped on his space helmet. He walked outside, not sure what to expect.

  The chill hit him like a powerful punch.

  It was freezing multiplied by a million. The cold felt like a thousand knife points on Max’s body. His teeth were chattering violently.

  Wherever he looked, there was ice. No wonder the Guzzlets wanted revenge against Earth for forcing them to live in these conditions for so long. Max spotted a large building through the swirling mist. He struggled towards it. He made a mental note. Never, ever complain again when it was a bit cold on a school morning. Compared to this, that would be a beach vacation in the Bahamas.

  Even though he was wearing his helmet, his eyes were crusted with ice. His ears felt like they were about to snap off his head. Finally, he reached the building’s white front door. He reached out a hand. He just about managed to grab the handle.

  No sooner had he done that than a robotic voice called out, “Enter your password.”

  In shock Max spotted the small entry panel beside the door.

  “Enter your password,” repeated the voice. “If no password is entered after this third prompt, security will be called immediately.”

  Max began to panic. Summoning security was not very high on his wish list.

  He needed inspiration.

  But none came.

  “Calling security in five seconds,” announced the voice. “Five, four, three … ”

  “Hang … hang on a sec,” spluttered Max, his teeth chattering violently.

  “Two,” said the voice.

  “STOP!” shouted Max.

  The voice went silent.

  “Thanks,” said Max.

  “No one’s ever interrupted my countdown before,” huffed the voice.

  “Sorry about that,” answered Max. “But I don’t have the password. I really need to get inside.”

  “No password, no entry,” retorted the voice sharply.

  Come on Max, think, think! Maybe flattery will work … ?

  “I really admire you,” said Max. He tried to stop his body from shivering.

  A pause. “Why is that?” asked the voice.

  “Well, it must take a supremely intelligent lifeform to operate an entry system.”

  “You can tell I’m supremely intelligent?” inquired the voice hopefully.

  “It’s obvious!” cried Max. “Your voice has intelligence all over its electronic vocal cords.”

  The voice let out a giggle. “No one has ever praised me before,” it gushed. “It’s wonderful to finally be appreciated.”

  “But I suppose,” continued Max, “your powers don’t stretch to knowing anything about what goes on inside this building?”

  “Yes, they do!” protested the voice. “I know everything!”

  “I bet you don’t know the location of the DFEA Unit.”

  “Of course I do!” replied the voice. “They’re being kept in the strong room on the outer southern wall of this complex.”

  “Wow,” said Max. He was desperate to get out of the cold. “That is very impressive. But I need to get in now.”

  “Are you sure you don’t want to know anything else?” The voice sounded a bit disappointed.

  “Not for the moment, thanks,” smiled Max. “But I’ll
spread the word about your amazing abilities.”

  “Would you?” said the voice, perking up. “That would be great.”

  And with that, the door clicked open. A very cold but very relieved Max Flash entered the building.

  The warmth hit him immediately. He stood there for several minutes. He thawed out his hands and feet.

  He was in a long, narrow corridor. He began to run down it, wincing. His feet felt like oversized blocks of ice. Each step he took, although painful, restored some feeling to them. Max spotted a sliding door. He peered around it. He saw a large square room bathed in silver-and-purple light.

  Max grinned. Standing against the wall were ten humans wearing shiny orange suits. The suits had DFEA across the front in silver letters.

  I’ve made it!

  The Unit had five men and five women. Each of them was smiling and waving at Max. He waved back and started striding across the room towards them.

  “Hey guys!” He beamed.

  But in that instant, the ten members of the DFEA Unit completely vanished.

  What’s going on?

  Max looked at the empty space where the Unit had been. He shook his head. They’d been there. He’d seen them with his own eyes. They hadn’t been cardboard cutouts. They’d been real living, breathing humans. So where were they?

  He grappled with this mysterious twist. Then suddenly, twenty panels on the walls of the room slid open. A Guzzlet marched through each one.

  “Welcome to planet Guzzle!” said the largest and ugliest alien. “A freezing, perilous dungeon!”

  It’s always great to hear someone talking up their home planet!

  “I don’t plan on taking a vacation here,” replied Max. “Shall we cut to the chase? I’ve come to release the DFEA Unit.”

  “I’m surprised one so clever as you fell for our fake projections of your cronies,” hissed the Guzzlet Chief. “You can work wonders with a Multi-Cryptonic Slide Projector.”

  “How very clever of you. Now if you don’t mind, I’ll just get the Unit. We’ll leave you and your Slide Projector alone.”

  “Oh dear!” the Chief sighed dramatically. “You are so out of your depth here, it’s frightening. I almost feel sorry for you.”

  “The only thing that’s frightening is your breath!” exclaimed Max. “I can smell it from here. Have you been drinking from a sewage pipe?”

  The Guzzlet Chief spat out a huge blob of liquid that hissed. It sizzled on the floor before burning itself out.

  “You can mock all you like,” sneered the Chief. “But nothing will stop us from getting revenge on your people. You stopped our plans for total intergalactic domination by freezing us. Our time has now come. With the Zockrans out of action, we can attack your pathetic little planet. We can make you all Guzzlet slaves. It’s about time us Guzzlets took a nice, long holiday. Your planet has all those beaches, cities, and mountains. It looks PERFECT!” He laughed at the look of horror on Max’s face. He snapped his fingers.

  Max looked up. He saw some sort of contraption being lowered toward him on a thin metal pulley. As it got nearer, he recognized it.

  It was a Re-Energizing Pod.

  The Guzzlet Chief shot Max a gruesome smile. “In just over two minutes, you won’t have the energy to save the day! Your rescue mission will be over!”

  Max’s brain whirred. The Guzzlets must have stolen one of the pods along with the DFEA crew. Now he was about to have all his Aura Energy drained out of him. He had to do something fast!

  Max did not try to run. He walked calmly up to the door. He let himself in.

  “A willing victim?” noted the Chief, puzzled.

  But Max had just hatched a plan.

  It would require several elements to work at the same time. But it was possible.

  “Strange. But no matter!” cried the Guzzlet Chief. He threw his hands in the air. “IT’S SHOWTIME!”

  The Chief walked over and hit the Activate switch on the outside of the Pod. Max immediately felt the sensations he’d experienced when he’d re-energized the Zockrans back on Zockra. The Guzzlets clapped their hands and roared approval. Max reached inside one of the pockets of his spacesuit.

  Max knew he had a short space of time to make this plan work. He knew he had to leave the Pod immediately after two minutes were up. Max didn’t want to be inside this thing when the Critical Point was reached.

  He brought out the Direct Passage Pulverizer. He pulled out a short length of tape.

  Holding the roll in one hand, he reached out and stuck the tape to the front of the Pod. There was a huge spark of electricity. The Pod crashed forward at blistering speed. It smashed through the wall in front of it.

  “STOP HIM!” shrieked the Chief as great chunks of rubble flew through the air. The noise was deafening. But the Pod had only just started its journey. It sped through another room. It clattered through the wall at its far side. Max pushed his arms against the wall of the Pod to steady himself.

  But his relief at this blistering escape was suddenly overtaken by a weird sensation that was suddenly spreading through his body. It was as if hundreds of little sharp forks were pricking him.

  I must be nearing the Critical Point!

  Still, the Pod continued on its frenzied path. It bashed through a third, a fourth, and a fifth room. It left a devastating trail of bricks, stone, and dust in its wake. Max stole a backward glance. Through the great haze, Max could see the Guzzlet Chief and his orderlies running behind him.

  The stabbing was getting sharper now. Max’s brain was beginning to feel pinched and tight.

  I have to get out of here soon!

  The Pod sped on, leaving a vast hole in every wall it ripped through.

  Max felt his brain going all fuzzy. It was as if concrete was being tipped inside his head. His eyelids became incredibly heavy. He sensed he was losing consciousness.

  Must stay awake. Must. Get. Out …

  The Pod flew through the seventh room. Through his heavy eyes, Max spied a group of people huddled together in a corner. The Pod smashed through the far wall of the seventh room. This led to the outside and into the frozen wasteland. The Pod thudded over the ice and snow. It abruptly stopped.

  The ten figures leaped to their feet. They ran toward him. The first of the figures to jump through the smashed wall was a woman with short brown hair. She hit the Deactivate switch on the outside of the Pod. Then she yanked open the door.

  Max staggered a couple of steps forward. He fell out of the Pod.

  The woman caught him. “Operative Sandy Larsson,” she said. “I head up this DFEA Unit.”

  Max felt as if a heavy blanket was being pulled from his body and brain. The prodding fork points seemed to vanish in the air. He was delighted to see Larsson and the others. He hardly noticed the freezing conditions this time.

  “Great to meet you,” replied Max. He stretched his arms out in front of him. He shook his head to remove the last of the strange sensations. “There’s a Thargon spaceship at the launch pad. You must fly back to Zockra. The Zockrans desperately need your Aura Energy. The ship is low on fuel. Take some from the Guzzlets’ craft before you go.”

  “You’re coming with us,” Operative Larsson said.

  “I have some unfinished business here,” he replied. He jerked his thumb in the direction of the Guzzlets, who were streaming through the fifth room. They were nearly upon them.

  “We can’t leave you,” said Larsson.

  “YOU HAVE TO!” shouted Max. “I KNOW WHAT I’M DOING!”

  Larsson and the other DFEA members exchanged uncertain looks.

  “You’re sure?” asked Larsson.

  “Completely sure,” replied Max. “PLEASE, GO NOW!”

  Larsson nodded. She started running around the side of the building with her team right behind her. They were braving the swirling, icy mists and freezing temperature.

  Max looked back at the fast approaching Guzzlets. He reached into his pocket and hauled out the Hopper Hurry C
ard. Time to take a little trip …

  “You called, amigo?”

  Max turned around. He saw the very welcome sight of Arcan in his Planet Hopper. Max grinned and yelled, “Hey, Arcan! That was quick. Can you open the carriage doors?”

  Arcan pressed a button. The two doors slid open.

  The Guzzlets were almost on top of Max now.

  “In here, guys!” shouted Max. He ran through the first door into the carriage. The Guzzlet Chief and his followers roared in anger. They piled straight into the carriage. Max sped down past the seats towards the carriage’s other door. He looked back to make sure every Guzzlet was onboard. When he was satisfied they were all in, he shouted to Arcan.

  “CLOSE THE DOORS!”

  Max knew his timing had to be perfect.

  The second door started to close. Max made his move. He threw himself forward. He just managed to slide through the gap before the door crashed shut.

  Max had made it into Arcan’s front carriage. He turned around. He stared into the carriage behind.

  The Guzzlets were completely freaking out. They were dribbling and shrieking and banging on the carriage doors.

  Max pulled out his interstellar map, studied it for a couple of seconds, and then told Arcan where to go.

  “No problemo!” laughed the alien, slamming his foot down. The Planet Hopper soared away from the freezing planet Guzzle. It arced upwards towards a bank of glittering stars.

  “What have you been up to?” asked Arcan. “It looks like things have been getting seriously heavy.”

  “They have,” said Max, “but it’s nothing I can’t handle.”

  They sped through the sky. The sound of the Hopper’s engine competed with the screams of the Guzzlets in the carriage behind them.

  “May I?” asked Max after a few minutes, indicating the driver’s microphone.

  “Go for it,” beamed Arcan.

  Max turned the microphone on. He cleared his throat.

  “Lovely to have you Guzzlets onboard,” Max said into the microphone. “We’ll be traveling at six billion light-years per second. We will be arriving at our destination shortly. Look out for the yellow-tinged nebula to your left. You won’t be seeing it again for quite some time.”