STAR FIGHTERS BUMPER SPECIAL EDITION: Stealth Force

by Max Chase

  Peri looked through the telescope again. He saw Wild Will and his men walking away, laughing.

  ‘We have to get our friends out of there!’ Peri said.

  They sat around a campfire that Spike and Gunner had made on the other side of the hill, out of sight of the town. The sky had darkened and silver stars twinkled over Westrenia. Another time, Peri might have enjoyed the strange sight of the two round golden moons hanging in the sky. But now his only thought was: How are we going to get Dexter’s father and Diesel out of the Hole of Death?

  ‘I suppose it’s no good hoping the townsfolk will set them free?’ Selene asked.

  Dexter shook his head. ‘They’re too scared of ending up in the Hole themselves.’

  ‘And there are too many of Wild Will’s men guarding it for us to attack,’ Spike said.

  ‘If they weren’t all there together, we’d have a chance,’ Peri said thoughtfully. ‘Now, what would make a large group of the bandits leave the town?’

  ‘Something they can rob,’ Selene said. ‘Like a stagecoach!’

  ‘Didn’t Wild Will say they would rob every coach that passed?’ Gunner asked.

  ‘The mail coach goes by tomorrow morning,’ Dexter said. ‘They’ll have their eye on that, I’m certain!’

  Peri smacked his fist into the palm of his hand. ‘Then that’s when we’ll strike!’

  In the distance, a coyote howled up at the two moons. It was cold – the desert temperature dropped dramatically at night. Peri shivered as he tossed and turned under the saddlecloth he was using for a blanket. The others had already managed to drift off to sleep, but Peri’s bionic systems were buzzing, keeping him awake.

  He kept running over tomorrow in his mind, imagining different possibilities. It would make things easy if Wild Will’s whole gang went to rob the mail coach, but that wasn’t very likely. Some men would surely stay behind to guard the Hole of Death. Wild Will might even stay behind.

  Peri decided that his own posse would have to split up. If the others could thwart the mail coach robbers, he would try to take care of Wild Will alone. He only hoped his laser lasso and bionic abilities would be a match for Wild Will’s spring-loaded repeating rifle.

  He turned again and felt something pushing into his hip. For a moment he wondered what it could be. He dug his hand into the pocket of his Expedition Wear and pulled out . . . the Phoenix!

  He had almost forgotten about it. The twin moons cast a yellow light on it as he held the most advanced spaceship ever built in the palm of his hand. The Phoenix’s door slid open and out walked the teeny-tiny, bug-sized figure of Otto, shaking his fist and squeaking. His voice was so high-pitched that Peri couldn’t make out the words.

  He tuned into his special connection with the Phoenix, imagining that he had shrunk along with it. Otto’s voice seemed to lower in pitch and Peri was able to understand him.

  ‘. . . been shaken about all over the place! I had to strap myself into bed or I would’ve been smashed to pieces! What have you been doing? Trampolining?’

  Peri thought back over events since they landed on Westrenia. He’d trained the posse in fighting skills, jumped in and out of ditches, and escaped alien bandits by galloping on a horse. It must have been a rough ride for poor Otto!

  ‘Sorry,’ Peri whispered. ‘It’s been a bit crazy here.’

  ‘How much longer is this going on for? I’m getting space-sick!’

  ‘It’ll be over tomorrow,’ Peri whispered. He was anxious not to wake the others. ‘I hope.’

  ‘You do realise that won’t give us much time to get back to the Space Station?’ Even in his miniature form, Otto had a booming voice.

  ‘It’ll be all right,’ Peri said. ‘We’ll make it.’

  ‘Who are you talking to, Peri?’ said a sleepy voice. Dexter had woken up!

  Peri’s first thought was to jam the Phoenix back in his pocket, but the door was still open and Otto might fall out or get squished. Before Peri could act, Dexter had crawled over and crouched beside him.

  ‘What’s that? Some kind of egg with a squeaking insect inside?’ Dexter asked.

  ‘Er, yes, sort of,’ Peri said.

  Otto started squeaking curses in Meigwor.

  Dexter leaned forward to get a closer look. ‘That’s not an insect!’ he gasped. ‘It’s a tiny, little, red man, with an extra-long neck and arms, and – he’s wearing clothes!’ Dexter pinched his own arm. ‘Ouch! I’m not dreaming! Peri, what is that thing? You must know, because you talked to it.’

  ‘We-e-ell . . .’ Peri began. But no convincing story came to mind. It was against IF rules to tell the Westrenians about the advanced technology of other civilisations, but Dexter was his friend and deserved to know the truth. ‘It’s a kind of ship for travelling to other planets and stars,’ Peri said. ‘We call it a “spaceship”. And the little man is an alien from a planet called Meigwor.’

  ‘Hey, you’re joshing me!’ Dexter said. ‘You can’t travel in that thing. It’s way too small!’

  ‘It’s been shrunk right now, but it can be enlarged,’ Peri explained. ‘Watch.’

  He gave a slight clockwise twist to the ‘Expansion Packs’ dial on the control strip. The ship ballooned until it was as big as an ostrich egg and Otto was about the size of a bee.

  Dexter’s eyes bulged like Venusian gooseberries. ‘Astonishing! And how big can it get?’

  ‘It can grow to the size of a planet,’ Peri said, enjoying the utter amazement on Dexter’s face.

  ‘And you travel to other stars and planets in it?’

  Peri nodded. ‘We were in outer space when your distress signal came through.’

  Dexter started to laugh. ‘I knew you weren’t from around here, but I never thought anything could be that far away! All my life I’ve wanted something magic – something plain impossible – to happen. And now it has!’

  ‘Yes,’ Peri said. ‘But you mustn’t tell anyone. Not even Spike and Gunner. It’s supposed to be a secret.’

  Dexter put his hand over his heart. ‘I won’t say a word. But tell me, has this spaceship of yours got weapons?’

  ‘Space Cannon, lasers and loads more,’ Peri said. ‘I doubt my crew and I have even discovered half of its capabilities.’

  ‘Can’t we use them to blast Wild Will and his gang out of town?’

  Peri shook his head. ‘We’re not allowed to use our weapons on Westrenia. That’s against Intergalactic Force rules. All planets must be allowed to develop at their own rate. If your planet discovered life on other planets that’s much more technologically advanced, it could interfere with your development. So we have to beat Wild Will using only this planet’s technology.’

  ‘We will beat him though,’ Dexter said. ‘Since you’re from beyond the stars, I bet you’re super-smart, right? Wild Will doesn’t stand a chance against you and your pals!’

  ‘You have to help too,’ Peri said. ‘We won’t win without you and Spike and Gunner.’

  Peri shrank the Phoenix back to egg size, closed the door on the still squeaking Otto and slipped the ship back in his pocket.

  ‘Time to get some sleep,’ he said. ‘We need all the energy we can get if we’re going to do battle with the outlaws tomorrow. Goodnight, Dexter.’

  ‘Goodnight, spaceman!’

  A few minutes later, Dexter was fast asleep. But sleep was a long time coming to Peri. He hoped he’d be able to keep his word to Dexter. Beating Wild Will wasn’t going to be easy. Peri hoped they could beat him quickly too. Because, if everything went as planned, the Star Fighters would have just three days to make it home.

  Chapter 8

  The Westrenian sun was climbing in the sky. It was getting hot already. Spike and Gunner had sneaked into town early that morning to grab the final supplies they needed for their plan. Now Peri and the posse crouched in a ditch, waiting for the mail coach. Selene had some firecrackers and a coil of rope. Every now and then, Dexter shot a brief smile at Peri as if to say, Your secret’s safe wit
h me.

  ‘Does everyone know what they’re doing?’ Peri asked.

  Selene nodded.

  The Westrenians fingered their spiral spitball pipes in anticipation and all gave a thumbs-down sign.

  ‘What?’ Peri said. ‘You don’t know what you’re doing?’

  ‘Sure we know,’ Spike said, giving the thumbs-down sign again.

  ‘Then why –’ Peri began, but Selene interrupted him.

  ‘Here comes the coach!’

  Peri saw it on the horizon, racing along in a cloud of dust. He made out four armed men on the roof, as well as two riders galloping alongside. Clearly, news of Wild Will’s gang had spread, and the mail coach company wasn’t taking any chances in his territory. That was a good sign – it meant there would be even more of them to fight the outlaws. We need them, Peri thought.

  He looked towards town and saw Wild Will’s men advancing. He quickly counted that there were twenty riders. Wild Will must have sent almost the whole gang! Even with the extra mail coach guards, the Star Fighters’ posse was going to be heavily outnumbered.

  ‘I’m heading into town,’ Peri said. ‘You sort out these guys, and I’ll take down Wild Will and rescue Diesel and the sheriff – OK?’

  ‘Good luck, Peri!’ Selene said.

  Gunner grinned and gave a thumbs-down sign.

  Oh, right, Peri realised. Thumbs down is a good sign on Westrenia! It felt strange, but he returned the thumbs-down sign. Then he set off, running along the ditch as fast as he could and keeping his head down.

  Soon he heard shouting and gunfire behind him. He forced himself to keep running without looking back.

  When Peri got near the town, he checked over the top of the ditch, then jumped out of it.

  One of Wild Will’s gang was standing by the Buckskinville town sign. The alien was leaning on a rifle. A lookout, Peri thought.

  The alien’s lizard-tongue ran over his lips and cheek. Peri had to get past him somehow. He felt an electric tingling in his chest which spread to his arms and legs. His bionic powers were kicking in. He decided not to bother with anything too subtle. He didn’t have much time.

  He ran straight towards the Westrenian at superhuman Fight-or-Flight speed.

  ‘What?’ Startled, the outlaw picked up his rifle and took aim.

  Peri zigzagged around the bullets that whizzed towards him. Nanoseconds later, he had reached the bandit. Peri gave a bionic kick to one of the tottery wooden legs that held up the Buckskinville sign. The wooden board crashed down on to the bandit’s head. He collapsed in the dust, out for the count.

  Peri ran into town, staying as low as he could in case the townsfolk were keeping a lookout on Wild Will’s orders.

  He quickly made his way to the far end of the town square, where he found the Hole of Death. It smelt pretty bad: a horrible mix of sweat, mud and rubbish that the bandits had thrown in. Flies hovered above the hole, buzzing hungrily. Diesel and the sheriff looked up at him. Up close, Peri could see the sheriff’s resemblance to Dexter – they shared the same fair hair and the same square, determined jaw.

  ‘About time!’ Diesel said. ‘I’m parched and I’m starving!’

  ‘I got here as fast as I could!’ Peri said. ‘I’ll get you out after I’ve dealt with Wild Will.’

  ‘Be careful, lad,’ said the sheriff. ‘He’s more dangerous than you might think!’

  ‘Don’t worry about me,’ Peri said. Then he straightened up and walked into the centre of the square. ‘Wild Will!’ he shouted. ‘Where are you hiding, you coward?’

  Heads popped out from upstairs windows as there was a crash from within the saloon.

  Wild Will stood on the step, a cigar in his mouth. His frill of scales fanned out from his neck, making his head look three times its normal size. His lizard-grin made Peri uneasy.

  ‘Well, what have we here? Aren’t you the boy on one of those Wanted posters? I could do with that hundred zorn reward. Now, the poster says, “Dead or alive”, but I don’t think I’ll bother with “alive”. Dead prisoners are much easier to control.’

  Wild Will slid his rifle from his shoulder and clicked off the safety catch. Before he could take aim, Peri whipped out his laser lasso and flicked it on. The glowing laser rope flew out and coiled round the barrel of Wild Will’s rifle.

  Wild Will’s shot blasted harmlessly into the sky, scaring the birds from a tree at the edge of the square.

  Peri tugged, trying to jerk the rifle from Wild Will’s grasp, but the outlaw held on tight. Peri felt the strength of his resistance. Wild Will was heavy and powerful – he wouldn’t let go unless he had to. The alien outlaw threw back his head and darted his tongue at the laser lasso, trying to break Peri’s hold. Peri switched off the device’s power. This caught Wild Will by surprise, causing him to stumble backward and crash into the wooden rail outside the saloon.

  There was a murmur from the watching townsfolk – and Peri was sure he heard laughter.

  Wild Will was getting to his feet. ‘Why, you little –’

  ‘Listen,’ Peri said, ‘why don’t we settle this once and for all? How about a good, old-fashioned duel? Let’s see who’s fastest on the draw.’

  Wild Will began to raise his rifle again. ‘No, I’d prefer just to shoot you down in cold blood!’

  ‘What’s the matter, Wild Will?’ called a voice from one of the houses. ‘Scared you’ll lose to a boy?’

  There was an excited mutter from the watching crowd. More lizard-heads were appearing at windows and peeping round corners.

  Wild Will laughed harshly. ‘I’m the fastest draw in these here parts. The graveyards are filled with the bones of those who have challenged me and lost. A kid like him doesn’t stand a chance. He doesn’t even have a weapon!’

  ‘I have this,’ Peri said, brandishing his laser lasso.

  ‘All right, then!’ Wild Will said. ‘Let’s see if you think your fancy-dan lasso can help you against a pistol.’ A look of cunning came over the outlaw’s face. He began to walk back towards the saloon. ‘Guess I won’t need my rifle. I’ll just put it in here for safe keeping. My six-shooter should take care of you just fine. Wait there, boy – don’t you run away!’

  ‘Running away isn’t my style,’ Peri said, squaring his shoulders.

  Wild Will went up the step and disappeared into the saloon. He was gone a little longer than Peri had expected. While he waited, Peri looked at the faces watching him through the windows around the square. Several smiled encouragingly. Others gave the thumbs-down sign. He heard someone whisper, ‘Good luck, stranger boy!’

  The sun was directly overhead now. Peri’s shadow was a small black blob at his feet.

  It was high noon.

  Wild Will reappeared from the saloon, without his rifle. He strode into the square, hands hanging by his scaly sides. He stopped and stared at Peri. A wide stretch of dusty ground lay between them. Peri calculated that his laser lasso would just about reach the alien outlaw.

  ‘You know the rules, boy?’ Wild Will asked. ‘Keep your weapon in its holster. I’m gonna count to three, then we’ll see who’s fastest on the draw!’

  Peri nodded. He felt a tingling in his chest.

  Wild Will cleared his throat. ‘One . . .’

  Peri watched the bandit’s hands carefully. He wouldn’t put it past Wild Will to draw and shoot before the count was completed.

  ‘Two . . .’

  Peri caught a tiny movement out of the corner of his eye. He glanced and saw the barrel of a rifle poking through the shuttered window of the saloon.

  It was pointing straight at him!

  Chapter 9

  The tingling in Peri’s chest spread to his arms and legs as his bionic powers took hold again. He threw himself to the ground just as Wild Will said, ‘Three!’

  The rifle in the window fired.

  The bullet passed over Peri’s head and thudded into a building on the far side of the square. Peri rolled, feeling dust spray his face. A bullet from Wild Wi
ll’s six-shooter had struck the exact position where Peri had been lying just a second before.

  He saw sunlight glint off the rifle barrel. It’s tracking me!

  Fighting out in the open was very different to firing weapons from the Bridge of the Phoenix. Peri knew he was going to need all his super strength and bionic speed to survive an attack from two armed, alien outlaws.

  From his position on the ground, Peri drew his laser lasso and whipped it towards the window. The loop settled and tightened around the rifle barrel and jerked it to the side just before it fired again.

  The bullet zipped past Wild Will’s ear, making him jump and upsetting his aim. Wild Will’s shot went skywards.

  Using his Fight-or-Flight speed, Peri jumped up and ran, holding his laser lasso tight. He pulled the rifle clean through the saloon window, dragging one of Wild Will’s bandits out with it. There were cheers and laughter from the watching townsfolk as the bandit crashed to the ground.

  Peri threw himself to one side, feeling the rush of air as a bullet from Wild Will’s six-shooter zoomed past his arm, only narrowly missing him. It splintered a veranda rail. Peri ran at bionic speed across the square.

  Wild Will had drawn a second pistol now. Bullets followed Peri, ricocheting off the fronts of the houses.

  Peri made it to the edge of the square and dived behind the stone well just as another bullet rebounded off the side.

  ‘Come out and fight, you little coward!’ Wild Will snarled.

  ‘You’re the coward!’ Peri shouted back. ‘You cheated!’

  ‘It’s true!’ shouted a man who was leaning out from an upstairs window. Peri chanced a look around the square and saw that it was the same bald man, with the timid expression, who had called out yesterday. Only he didn’t look so timid now. ‘Wild Will did cheat. He got Stinky Stan to snipe at the boy – because he knew he couldn’t beat him fair and square!’