STAR FIGHTERS BUMPER SPECIAL EDITION: Stealth Force

by Max Chase

  There were shouts of agreement from the onlookers.

  Wild Will raised his gun and the bald man hastily withdrew from sight.

  ‘I’m going to teach all you folks a lesson!’ Wild Will bellowed, his tongue snapping angrily at the air. ‘I’m going to make sure I get the respect I deserve from this one-horse town – right after I finish with this pesky kid!’

  Wild Will continued marching towards the well, both guns at the ready. Peri could just see him by peeking round the side of the well – if he leaned out further to fire his laser lasso, he’d be giving his enemy a clear shot.

  Peri snatched a rock from the crumbling well and threw it out, far away from where he was crouching.

  Wild Will spun round and shattered the rock with one well-placed bullet. Peri took his opportunity, darting out from the other side of the well. He saw Wild Will spin back, pistols aimed, but Peri was too fast. A loop of laser rope shot out and wrapped around Wild Will’s body, pinning his arms to his sides. His guns pointed harmlessly down at the ground.

  The outlaw struggled furiously, his scales turning a darker green as he did so. He hissed and viciously flicked his tongue at Peri. The harder he fought against the laser rope, the more it sparked and the tighter it held him. At last he stopped moving, and glared at Peri.

  ‘You can’t escape, Wild Will,’ Peri said, seeing his own face reflected back in the outlaw’s deep, black eyes. ‘And I won’t let you go unless you surrender your guns and promise to leave Buckskinville for good.’

  A huge cheer went up all around the town square, echoing off the buildings.

  Wild Will spat at him. Peri had to duck to avoid being hit – like all Westrenians, Wild Will was a powerful spitter.

  ‘I won’t surrender to a kid like you,’ the outlaw said. ‘My men will be back from their raid soon – then you’ll get what you deserve!’

  ‘I wouldn’t count on that,’ Peri said. ‘But I’m guessing you don’t want to surrender at all? Then maybe I can change your mind for you!’

  Using all his bionic strength, Peri dragged Wild Will over to the well, pushed him into it and let him dangle on the end of the laser lasso. He felt the full weight of the outlaw pulling on the lasso, but the laser rope held. Only the soles of Wild Will’s boots could be seen sticking up above the sides of the well.

  ‘Are you going to surrender now, Wild Will?’ Peri said.

  ‘No!’ The outlaw’s voice came echoing up from inside the well, muffled and hollow. ‘I will never surrender! Never! Never! . . . Waaah!’ He yelped as Peri let him drop a little lower.

  A burst of laughter exploded around the square. People started to come out of their houses. They were smiling and cheering at the tops of their voices and applauding Peri.

  ‘It’s all over!’

  ‘I guess that’s the end of Wild Will’s reign of terror.’

  ‘We should give him a new nickname!’

  ‘How about Useless Will?’

  Peri saw three Westrenians march over to the Hole of Death, carrying a rope. Two others went over to the saloon veranda, picked up the dazed form of Stinky Stan and began to lead him away to the sheriff’s office. He hardly struggled against them.

  More townsfolk gathered around the well to watch.

  Peri gave a tug on the rope. ‘Are you ready to surrender yet, Will?’

  ‘Never!’ came Will’s muffled voice.

  ‘We’ll see about that!’ Peri spun the laser rope round and round, using all his bionic strength.

  ‘Waaaah!’ Will said, as he was flung about in the depths of the well. ‘Stop it – I feel sick!’

  ‘Is that a surrender?’ Peri demanded.

  ‘Please stop while my insides are still inside me . . . I surrender!’

  Peri stopped twirling the rope. ‘Can you swim, Will?’

  ‘Yes, I can swim, but why –’

  Peri switched off the laser lasso’s power. There was a howl and a splash – and a roar of laughter from the gathered crowd – as Will fell into the water at the bottom of the well.

  ‘That’s a real unusual lasso you got there!’ said a Westrenian with pale green scales that were tinted with blue. ‘A lasso that comes out of a pistol – I’ve never seen such a thing in all my life!’

  ‘It’s a . . . new weapon,’ Peri said, thinking quickly. ‘You can buy them in Dry Gulch City.’

  More cheers and applause rose from the crowd as it parted to let through Diesel and Sheriff Lexor, who had just been pulled out of the Hole of Death. Their clothes and faces were streaked with mud.

  ‘Look at me!’ Diesel said. ‘I need a long, hot shower, followed by a bath, followed by another shower.’

  ‘I could use a wash myself!’ Sheriff Lexor said. ‘Then a big, juicy steak and some strong, hot coffee! But first things first. Where’s that no-good Wild Will?’

  ‘Useless Will!’ somebody shouted from the crowd.

  ‘He’s in there!’ Peri said, pointing at the well.

  Splashing, spluttering noises came from within the well.

  ‘Let’s get him out,’ the sheriff said.

  Some of the bystanders got a rope and pulled Will out of the well. He stood sheepishly, with his head hanging low, his fan of scales drooping, water dripping from him.

  Some of the crowd moved threateningly towards him. Several aliens raised their fists. One brandished a stick. Another placed his hand on his gun. Will cringed backward.

  ‘No, stop!’ the sheriff told the crowd. ‘We must do everything right and proper. This town is a place for decent, law-abiding folk. We must not act like outlaws ourselves.’

  The crowd backed away and Will looked distinctly relieved.

  ‘Will and his gang took me by surprise,’ the sheriff said. ‘But that won’t happen again.’ He looked at Peri. ‘I heard it was you who took Will down. That’s mighty impressive for someone so young. It takes a lot of guts to stand up to mean individuals like these.’

  ‘I stood up to them too!’ Diesel said. ‘I would have done more if Peri hadn’t run off and left me.’

  ‘Yes, you told me about that down in the Hole, son,’ the sheriff said. ‘About thirty-five times! But where’s the rest of Will’s band of outlaws?’

  ‘They’re just coming,’ Peri said, pointing.

  His superhuman vision had picked them out before anyone else did. The outlaws were shuffling into the square at the far end, all roped together. They were led by Selene, Dexter, Spike and Gunner, with the four guards from the mail coach.

  Peri felt a surge of relief. It looked like all the training had worked, and no one had been hurt.

  He turned to Will. ‘So do you agree to leave town with all your men and to never come back?’

  Will nodded, but Sheriff Lexor shook his head. ‘Oh no, no! These men will stand trial for their crimes. Westrenia has laws that must be respected and the jailhouse is going to be pretty crowded.’

  ‘Hey, Father!’ shouted Dexter, breaking into a run. ‘Guess what? We captured the gang!’

  ‘You’ve done well, son,’ the sheriff said. He gave Dexter a big thumbs-down sign, and grinned broadly. ‘I’m mighty proud of you.’

  ‘I didn’t do it all alone!’ Dexter said. ‘These guys helped me.’ He put his arms around the shoulders of Spike and Gunner, who had just caught up with him. Suddenly, they didn’t look so scrawny any more.

  ‘That’s good to hear. Maybe you three would like to be my deputies from now on!’ the sheriff said.

  ‘That’d be great!’ Dexter exclaimed. ‘But I must tell you that these three kids from – from distant parts, they did the most. We couldn’t have done it without them!’

  ‘I thank you all on behalf of Buckskinville,’ the sheriff said to Peri, Diesel and Selene. ‘Tonight we’re going to have ourselves a big celebration feast, and we’d be mighty happy if you would be our guests of honour!’

  Peri took a sly glance at the control strip. His crew had only three days left until they were due back at the IF Space Station.


  ‘Thank you, Sheriff, but we were just passing through and we can’t stay,’ he said. ‘There’s somewhere we need to be – and it’s rather a long way from here.’

  Chapter 10

  ‘I can’t wait to get clean!’ Diesel said. His band of hair was the colour of mud, and Peri knew that it hadn’t changed to that colour by itself. ‘I can’t stand all this mud on me, it’s shunkelvr’adroj!’

  ‘What does shunkel . . . shunk . . . What does that word mean?’ Selene asked.

  ‘It’s Martian for “horrible”,’ Diesel replied.

  ‘Well, you don’t have long to wait,’ Peri said. ‘As soon as we’re far enough away so they can’t see us from town, we’ll enlarge the Phoenix. Then you can have your shower.’

  ‘And bath!’ Diesel added. ‘And second shower!’

  They marched on over the sandy ground, with the tall cactus plants casting eerie shadows. For some reason, Peri felt uneasy again, but couldn’t quite put his finger on why. Perhaps he was just anxious about the time.

  ‘I hope we’re going to make it!’ Selene said, as if reading Peri’s thoughts. ‘We don’t have much time to make it back to the Milky Way. I’ll try to find a few shortcuts.’

  ‘We should be all right,’ Peri said. ‘But we’ll need to go Superluminal. Anyway, it was worth the detour, wasn’t it? That was a pretty cool adventure.’

  ‘That’s easy for you to say,’ Diesel said. ‘You didn’t spend most of the time in a filthy, hot hole –’

  Peri raised his hand. ‘Ssshh!’

  He realised now why he’d been feeling uneasy – there was a rustling sound coming from the nearby ditch.

  ‘Somebody’s following us,’ he said under his breath.

  ‘Do you think one of Will’s gang escaped?’ whispered Selene.

  ‘Let’s not take any chances,’ Peri muttered.

  He pointed to the ditch and counted down on his fingers. 3 . . . 2 . . . 1!

  They ran to the ditch, where a figure in a cowboy hat was crouching. Peri, Diesel and Selene jumped down into the ditch and wrestled the alien to the ground.

  ‘You’re outnumbered!’ Peri said. ‘Do you give in?’

  The head beneath the cowboy hat nodded. Peri whipped off the hat and saw the startled face of . . .

  ‘Dexter!’ Selene said. ‘What are you doing here?’

  ‘I didn’t mean any harm – I just wanted to see you take off in your space-boat!’

  ‘Ship, not boat,’ Peri said.

  Diesel looked accusingly at Peri. ‘You told him? That’s against IF rules!’

  ‘We can trust Dexter,’ Peri said.

  ‘That’s right, I won’t tell a living soul,’ Dexter said. ‘Can’t I just take a tiny peek?’

  ‘He has earned it, hasn’t he?’ Peri said to the others.

  ‘Of course he has,’ Selene said.

  Diesel nodded grudgingly. ‘I suppose.’

  ‘Come on, then,’ Peri said.

  They all climbed out of the ditch.

  ‘I think we’re far enough away now.’ Peri placed the Phoenix on a patch of clear ground. ‘Stand well back, everyone – it’s going to get a lot bigger!’

  He twisted the ‘Expansion Packs’ dial on his control strip.

  And the ship began to grow.

  Dexter gasped. ‘That is just a plain, plumb impossible miracle!’

  Soon the vast oval shape of the Phoenix dwarfed them. Its smooth surface shone like silver fire in the afternoon sun.

  The door silently opened and there stood Otto. He had his hands on his hips, with all four elbows sticking out angrily. He craned his long crimson neck towards them.

  ‘About time! And who’s this you’ve brought with you?’ Otto boomed.

  ‘Oh my goodness!’ Dexter said. ‘Is that the same alien I saw when he was an insect?’

  ‘What do you mean, insect?’ Otto said furiously.

  ‘Sorry,’ Dexter said, taking off his hat. ‘I only meant I saw you when you were little. I sure am delighted to make your acquaintance, Mr Alien, sir.’

  ‘I’m not an alien,’ Otto said. ‘You are.’

  ‘We’re all aliens here, except for Dexter,’ Peri pointed out. ‘It’s his planet.’ He turned to Dexter. ‘Would you like to come on board and see what it’s like inside?’

  Otto spread out his long arms to bar the way. ‘He can’t come aboard – we don’t have time!’

  Dexter looked uncertain. ‘Is he – I mean, is it going to be safe?’

  ‘Oh, don’t mind Otto,’ Selene said. ‘He looks scary, but he’s not really evil.’

  ‘Well, he is a bit evil,’ Diesel said.

  ‘But you’ll be safe with us,’ Peri said. ‘Come on!’

  They went up the ramp and Otto reluctantly moved aside to let them pass.

  Peri grinned at how awestruck Dexter was. The alien boy’s mouth was open in a permanent ‘O’ of wonder as he walked along the mauve-lit corridors, touching the smooth, curved walls.

  ‘Come and see the Bridge!’ Peri said.

  A section of wall slid open and they entered the nerve centre of the ship. Dexter gazed around at the seats that rose up from the deck and the giant, hovering control panel with its display of winking lights and banks of monitor screens.

  ‘Oh, this is like the greatest dream ever!’ Dexter said.

  An idea came to Peri. ‘How would you like to take a trip with us? Just a quick one, to see a little bit of outer space?’

  Dexter’s face glowed with excitement. ‘Oh, I’d love that more than anything else in the whole of Westrenia!’

  ‘Only if you promise to never, ever tell anyone,’ Diesel said.

  ‘I promise!’

  ‘Sit here, like this.’ Peri showed Dexter to a seat. Dexter gave a yelp of surprise as an astro-harness snaked around him.

  They all sat down at their stations. Peri beckoned the control panel over, initiated the lift-off sequence and pressed the pyramid-shaped button.

  The Phoenix took off from the desert and the silent g-force pressed them all back in their seats. In the 360-monitor, Westrenia fell away. Within just a few seconds, it looked like a tiny globe.

  ‘Yeehah!’ Dexter shouted, taking off his hat and waving it around.

  ‘We’ll just take a quick trip around the moons!’ Peri said, smiling at both Dexter’s excitement, and his own.

  After all the danger they’d experienced on Westrenia, it was great to be reminded that being a Star Fighter was the most fun in the world!

  No, Peri corrected himself, it’s the most fun in the entire universe!

  In case you missed the first STAR FIGHTERS book . . .

  Peri and Diesel are drawn into a dangerous battle with Xion spaceships.

  Can they make it back home alive?

  Find out! In . . .

  Turn over to read Chapter 1

  Chapter 1

  ‘Eat dust, alien invader,’ Peri shouted as the asteroid shattered into a million glittery pieces.

  This sure beats the simulator, he thought as he swerved left then jetted upwards to avoid the asteroid’s fiery remains.

  Right now he was millions of miles from the Intergalactic Force Space Station, and even further from planet Earth. Up ahead was a bright-blue planet surrounded by shimmering ice rings . . . Saturn! Peri could barely believe his eyes.

  Ping! The sonar let him know that their next target was within firing range. It wasn’t as good as saving Earth from an alien attack, but blowing up cosmic rubbish was still way better than any 3-D game he’d ever played. He’d blasted an ancient TV satellite, and zapped an old rocket booster. And that asteroid had been totally obliterated.

  ‘Try to keep the pod steady this time, you lamizoid,’ Diesel shouted.

  Peri glanced over at Diesel, who was swivelling the D-Stroy lasers in the weapon turret. He noticed the gunner wasn’t wearing his astro-harness, so any sudden manoeuvre would knock the Martian right off his seat. Peri grinned. He banked as hard as he could. ‘
Woo-hooo!’

  Whack-slam! Diesel flipped out of his seat. ‘Ch’açh!’ he cursed. Diesel always spoke his native language when he was angry – which was most of the time. The gunner’s yellow eyes were flashing. The band of hair that stretched across his head was bristling. When he was mad, Diesel sure looked more Martian than human, though in fact he was both.

  ‘You made me miss my target!’ he yelled. ‘I told them to give me a second-year pilot. But instead, I get a newbie who knows less than nothing!’

  ‘Chill,’ Peri said. ‘I’ll get us back on track.’

  Peri chuckled to himself. A few bruises served him right. That morning Diesel had thrown a galactic fit when he and Peri were paired for a rare Intergalactic Force Academy training mission. The half-Martian was a second-year cadet, a weapons ace and 3-D gaming champion – but he wasn’t the brightest star in the constellation.

  But Peri agreed with Diesel about one thing – it was odd that a first-year IFA cadet had been chosen. And Peri wasn’t even the best in his year – he ranked fourteenth for rocket science and tenth for cosmic combat. So why had they selected him?

  During the past two weeks he’d pretty much lived in the flight simulator. He practised over and over again until his vision became blurry. But nothing could compare with the real thing – looping the rings of Saturn, or whipping round Pluto.

  Suddenly, the pod jerked sharply to the left. Peri’s astro-harness snapped him to his seat. Peri struggled to regain control of the steering as the pod looped in a broad U-turn and accelerated.

  ‘What’s happening?’ Peri’s fingers darted over the screens. He engaged the flight stabiliser, checked the energy gauge, and tapped the hologram route finder. ‘Nothing’s working,’ he called to Diesel. ‘It’s like somebody else is controlling the pod!’

  ‘They must be bringing you back to the Space Station,’ Diesel jeered. ‘I bet you’re in trouble for that stupid stunt you –’