“I’m happy doing this as fast as possible,” Benny said. “Anyone else?”
“Faster the better,” Elijah said. “It’ll only take a few seconds for me to latch on to the case once it’s above ground, but I’ll be slow afterward. It’s a lot of mass to tow.”
“We’ll cover you,” Ricardo assured him.
Hot Dog groaned. “Ugh. I was always so bad at protection missions in games.”
“Comforting,” Kira said flatly.
“No one worry,” Drue said. “I’m a great shot! I’m on top of it.”
As they drew closer, the blinking spot on Benny’s windshield got larger, until he could see exactly where they were going with his naked eye. The Jules Verne crater was a large one, almost one hundred and fifty kilometers across, dotted with a few even deeper pockmarks within. It was darker than the surrounding area, a steely gray pool below them.
“All right,” Jasmine said over the comms as they began their descents to the surface. “If Vala and Pito are landing, I suggest Elijah head down with them and the rest of you six make a circle a hundred meters above the surface. That’ll give them some breathing room.”
“You got it, Jazz,” Benny said.
“On me,” Ricardo barked, the commanding tone he’d always taken when ordering the Mustangs around suddenly back in his voice.
They followed the leader of the Pit Crew, spacing themselves out as evenly as possible, forming a ring above the site where the electromagnetic missile was buried. The two alien ships hovered just over the ground as Vala and Pito jumped out onto the surface, shining red masks covering their faces. The commander held Dr. Bale’s scanner, bounding in long strides across the Moon, slowing down once she got a lock on where the weapon was and how far below it was buried.
“Ah,” Pito said. “What a relief that this moon is not covered in ice. Ganymede was a nightmare to dig into. A pity we had to leave it behind after we’d put so much work into it.”
“We are here,” Vala said. “The missile is far below us. It will take a little time. Pito. Let us begin.”
“As you wish, commander.”
From his spot in the Space Runner, it was difficult for Benny to see exactly what was happening at first. The two Alpha Maraudi stood facing each other several yards apart. A few of Vala’s tentacles flipped forward as Pito removed something dark from his pocket and placed it on the ground. Both of them got to their knees, and Benny could just make out a few flashes of gold as their tentacles and palms touched the basalt bottom of the crater.
“What the heck are they—” Drue started.
“Shhhh,” Kira chided him.
At first, it seemed as though nothing was happening. And then Benny could see two circles of alien rock growing to the size of dinner plates in front of each of them—they had planted the strange minerals that they could control and were now using them to mine, as though the minerals themselves were alive, rooting into the surface of the Moon. The ground cracked around them. Excess debris spit out of the new rifts that formed, settling into haphazard piles. It looked to Benny as if the entire surface of the crater was shaking beneath them. All the while, Vala and Pito remained absolutely motionless, completely focused on the task at hand.
“By the glory of the Milky Way . . .” Elijah murmured.
Benny couldn’t help but agree.
We’re doing it, he thought.
Which was when everything went wrong.
There was a beeping in Benny’s space suit collar—the kind that only ever sounded when he was connected to a new comm system.
“That’s weird . . .” he murmured.
And then Dr. Bale’s voice came out of the speakers near Benny’s ears.
“I don’t know how you found it,” the man sneered, “but you’re wasting your time.”
Benny flinched and gripped his flight yoke so hard that his knuckles all cracked.
“Where is he?” Ricardo shouted.
“I don’t know!” Jasmine said of the comms. “Nearby, maybe? He’s using his stealth.”
The only radar they had that was capable of seeing through Bale’s holographic camouflage was down in the crater with Vala. The ground continued to shake under her and Pito as they mined deeper, Moon rock burbling to the surface, piling up around them. All the gold on Pito’s head appeared to be glowing.
“Where’s my dad?” Drue shouted. “Let us talk to him. We had a deal. An armistice!”
“Is that little Drue the third?” Dr. Bale asked. “Unfortunately, Senator Lincoln was seriously injured in the fight against the Alpha Maraudi on Io. He’s resting comfortably in a coma back at the Taj’s infirmary.”
Benny could hear Drue’s angry breath in his ear.
“As such,” Dr. Bale continued, “I am now in control of Project New Apollo.”
“It’s not too late to rethink this, Austin,” Elijah said. “Trust me. You don’t want to use this weapon.”
“Elijah,” Dr. Bale spat, hatred dripping from every syllable. “Of course you’re still alive. Like some kind of interstellar cockroach. That’s fine. Good, even. I want you to see what I’ve created, what we could have done together if you only had the vision.”
A gunmetal gray ship unlike any Benny had ever seen appeared in the distance, shooting toward them. It was shaped like a thick, blunt arrowhead, with an aerodynamic front that sloped up over a large window looking into some sort of bridge.
The Orion.
“Holy whoa,” Benny whispered.
“I figured that thing was gonna be big, but this is ridiculous,” Hot Dog said. “It’s like half the size of the mother ship!”
“Not quite,” Pinky said. Figures filled the windshield as she analyzed the vessel. “I’m picking up huge amounts of energy at the rear.”
“We’re so close,” Vala said. Benny glanced down—both of the aliens were still on their knees. “We’ve reached the weapon.”
“Then we try to buy some time,” Ricardo said.
“You are interfering with Project New Apollo, and therefore the future of every human being in existence,” Dr. Bale said, his tone taking an authoritative air. “Troops, you know your orders. Secure the weapon site.”
And then, one by one, Benny could see dozens of weaponized New Apollo Space Runners floating in the distance behind the Orion as their stealth drives disengaged.
“You’re outnumbered!” Jasmine shouted.
“We can see that,” Kira spat.
“We need”—Vala croaked, straining to talk—“just a little more time.”
“You heard her,” Ricardo said. “Whatever happens, don’t let them near the crater.”
“Be careful,” Elijah said.
“Don’t worry,” Hot Dog replied. “We’re getting good at this.”
Her Star Runner shot forward toward the massive ship, a blaze of gold against the black backdrop of space.
Benny chased after her before he had a chance to even think about what he was doing, the others following suit.
“So, do we have a plan, or . . . ?” Benny asked.
“Yeah,” Drue said. “We’re winging it.”
“Ramona,” Trevone said. “Can you cut Bale out? We don’t want him hearing what we’re saying.”
“Done,” Ramona said. “Max security.”
“Drue,” Ricardo said, “stay back and protect the others.”
“But—”
“You’re our best shot, right?”
“Oh,” Drue said. “Of course. Count on me.”
“Pinky’s found designs of the Orion based on our scans,” Jasmine said. “It looks like there are two huge cannons on either side. Watch out for—”
A bolt of gold energy as thick as a Space Runner shot from the ship. Hot Dog reacted in a split second, her car diving and the shot missing her by what looked like inches.
“I see one of them,” Hot Dog yelled. “Uh, maybe someone with an actual laser or something could work on that? I’m kind of relying on speed here. I’ll try to dist
ract, you know, the gazillion smaller cars.”
“I’m on it,” Trevone said, speeding forward.
“I’ll go after the other one,” Benny said.
He leaned into his flight yoke as he approached the Orion, crossing above a clear window that looked into the bridge where he could just make out the silhouette of a human figure. The surface of the craft was a matte carbon color, making it easy for him to spot the cannon on the side—it was glowing gold, as though it were charging up.
Benny gritted his teeth and pushed forward, pressing on the button that fired the mining laser attached to the front of his Space Runner. After a few tries, he managed to blast the cannon, holding down the trigger, hitting it with a steady stream of focused energy.
But nothing happened.
“This thing’s got major shielding,” he said, flying toward the back of the ship, ready to make another pass.
“I know,” Trevone said. “I hit it dead on several times and didn’t scratch it.”
As Benny’s Space Runner looped around, he caught sight of the back of the Orion for the first time. It was a flat, rectangular surface at least five hundred feet tall, covered in alternating yellow triangles that spanned the full height of the ship. They burned so brightly that Benny almost had to look away.
Hot Dog must have been seeing the same thing. “Those can’t be hyperdrives, right?”
“I’m afraid they are,” Trevone said. “Or at least, something like hyperdrives.”
“Ughhh,” Drue groaned. “I’m missing it.”
The Orion slowed down as it approached Vala. Meanwhile, the fleet of New Apollo Space Runners seemed to speed up, until they were almost upon Benny and the others.
“All right,” Ricardo said. “Let’s show these guys what it means to be on the Pit Crew. Kira! Remember the mobility practices we used to do? Follow my lead.”
“Hai!” she said.
Ricardo and Kira shot forward, meeting the oncoming wave of weaponized cars head on. They avoided the golden bolts fired at them with an ease that Benny couldn’t imagine, their speeds only increasing as they flew. When they finally reached the front line, the two Pit Crew members suddenly dove toward one another, their crafts almost touching. And then they were weaving in and out of the rows of enemy cars, looping past them, hardly anything but blurs.
“Y’all don’t get all the fun!” Hot Dog shouted as her Star Runner shot forward, cutting off several of the enemy vehicles just like Benny had watched her do back on Io.
The New Apollo pilots seemed totally unprepared for such an unorthodox, weaponless assault, and tried to veer out of the way of the expert pilots’ paths, crashing into one another, breaking formation. One of them fired, aiming at Hot Dog. But she was long gone by the time the bolt shot through the hull of one of the other weaponized SRs, which then careened out into open space.
“Guys, those cannons are gathering a lot of energy,” Jasmine said. “Based on the position, the one on the port side could easily take out Vala and Pito.”
“No,” Benny said. “Not Vala and Pito. He wants Elijah.”
“Maybe all of them,” Trevone said.
“Any big ideas, Trevone?” Benny asked, as he circled back, shooting at the cannon again. But it was no use: he wasn’t getting through with his weak laser.
“How ’bout any big ideas, Drue,” Drue said. “Benny, trade places with me.”
“But—”
“I’m doing what you guys wanted!” Drue continued. “I’m protecting everyone! Let me take a shot at it.”
“Fine,” Benny said as he changed his course and headed back toward Elijah. He passed Drue’s car along the way. Watching in the rearview mirror, it looked like Drue was about to fly directly into the port-side cannon.
“Wait!” Benny shouted. “What are you doing?”
“I’ve got this!” his friend yelled.
Drue’s weaponized SR sped faster, headed straight for the glowing, oversized weapon that looked like it could go off at any moment. Benny held his breath, his chest seizing, terrified that his friend was going to crash against the Orion in order to save them.
But instead of flying into the cannon, Drue began firing at the weapon with the plasma bolts Dr. Bale had designed, diving at the last second and twisting his father’s Space Runner around so that the cannon was pummeled from every side as he flew in an arcing loop.
“Woo-hoo!” Drue shouted. The mining lasers Benny and Trevone had tried to use against the Orion’s weaponry had been useless, but the gold beams shooting from Senator Lincoln’s car ripped through cannon. And then, in a huge burst of energy, it exploded, rocking the Orion and sending Drue’s car spinning away from them at incredible speeds.
“Drue!” Benny shouted.
“I’m fine,” Drue said. He paused. “Did you see that?! I was amazing!”
Benny couldn’t help but grin. “Nice shooting. And flying.”
“Learned it from Hot Dog.”
“You’ll have to thank me for that if we survive,” she said.
Benny turned his focus back to Pito and Vala. He had just enough time to breathe a sigh of relief before bolts of energy rained down on the middle of the Jules Verne crater.
While the rest of the Moon Platoon and Pit Crew had their attention on the Orion and the fleet behind it, a single New Apollo ship had snuck past them, its stealth shielding gone now that it was attacking.
Dust filled the crater. Benny gunned his hyperdrive, trying to see what had happened as the debris began to clear. Where was Elijah? Vala? Pito?
Then he spotted it—Ash’s tank of an SR was on the ground.
“Elijah?!” Benny yelled.
There was a coughing on the comms. “I’m here. But . . .” Benny watched as the door to the oversized SR was kicked open, Elijah West spilling out onto the surface of the Moon. “This tow truck is dead.”
Benny suddenly felt cold, like all the blood had drained from his body.
Vala was sprawled across the ground, already picking herself back up. Pito was on his back on the other side of the crater, apparently blown away by the blast. He was trying to get up, but even if he got back to the weapon site, they had no way of getting the missile to the ship now. And with no hope of diffusing it in the middle of a battlefield, Benny wasn’t sure what they were supposed to do.
The New Apollo Space Runner looped around, coming in for another pass, heading back toward Vala and Elijah.
Benny knew he’d only get one chance at this, and he couldn’t risk blowing it. His Space Runner surged forward, his finger over the trigger of his laser. As soon as the enemy was in his sights, he fired.
But he missed. The other SR dove out of the way, close to the ground, dodging.
No, he thought. No, no, no.
And then, out of nowhere, another laser blast shot across the crater, striking the side of the New Apollo car. It pitched forward, its hood catching the surface of the Moon, which caused it to cartwheel across the basalt before skidding to a stop upside down hundreds of yards away from Vala and Elijah.
A silver Space Runner Benny couldn’t account for shot past him.
“Take that, you . . .” an alien voice said. “Fidgets? Idioms?”
A human girl groaned. “Idiots,” she said.
Benny recognized the voice. It was Iyabo. And . . .
“Zee?!” Vala shouted. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“Protecting our people,” the alien said. “And you.”
“Iyabo?” Benny asked.
“You know it,” Iyabo said. “Can’t believe you guys left me behind on the ship. Some of us are good at this sorta thing if you’ll remember. Plus, this little squid baby in my passenger seat was starting to get really annoying. I half came out here just to shut ’im up.”
“I told you not to call me that!” Zee shouted.
“Look,” Iyabo said, “I got you a comm collar and stole an SR. I’ll call you what I want.”
“Ooo! Up there! Let’s shoot tha
t one next!”
Benny watched as a dozen new Space Runners from the mother ship joined the fight above them. It wasn’t much, but it helped their numbers at least. Still, the New Apollo forces were overwhelming them, even as Iyabo’s ship shot off to help.
Vala was calling out over the comms in her alien language as Benny landed beside her and Elijah. He was sure the commander was yelling at Zee, but the alien kid either wasn’t responding or had turned off his comms.
“What do we do?” Benny asked, jumping out of his car.
Elijah looked dumbfounded. “I . . . I don’t know.”
Vala’s tentacles were whipping frantically. “We have reached the missile,” she said. She kept looking from the ground back to the ships above them, searching for Zee. “It’s surrounded by our rock now. Is there another of these towing trucks?”
“No,” Elijah said. “That was it. And if we bring it up now, it’ll just be easier for the Orion to pick up. We can’t move it ourselves.”
Benny stared at the glowing alien stone at his feet, imagining it wrapped around the missile casing so far down below them.
“Then maybe we don’t bring it to the surface,” he said, an idea starting to form.
“What do you mean?” Vala asked.
Benny turned to the two of them. “Maybe we bury it more.”
Elijah smiled. “So deep that they can’t get it. That could work.”
“Straight into the underground city, even.”
“That—” Vala started. She paused. “Yes.” And then she repeated the word, a hint of relief in her voice. “Yes. It can be done.”
“Hold on,” Elijah said. He suddenly looked very concerned. “The last time I saw a bunch of alien rock up here, it was prone to exploding easily. Aren’t we just setting a fuse if we do this? One stray laser blast and a chunk of the Moon is gone.”
“Not all our minerals are alike,” Vala said. “Their properties are vast. This rock is safe. It will protect.” She reached a tentacle out and placed it on Elijah’s shoulder. “You have my word.”
Elijah looked to Benny for a moment and then back to the commander. “Okay.”
Vala nodded. And then, she hesitated, glancing to the far end of the crater.
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