by Zac Harrison
Laser rifles levelled at the students.
John felt his stomach sink. The attack had failed. The students had no chance against laser fire.
“LOOK OUT!”
John’s jaw dropped open, as a hoverbus zoomed across the grass and slammed into the line of droids, sending metal bodies sprawling.
Behind the controls, Lishtig punched the air.
A ragged cheer went up from the students and the scholars in the bus. The students threw themselves back into the fight, and Lishtig whipped the hoverbus round, slamming it into a dented droid that was trying to get to its feet. As he drove away, Lishtig whooped, his purple ponytail streaming behind him.
Quickly, John counted the broken droids. Listhig had taken out three.
Only nine left.
“John, help!” A few metres away, Kritta rolled away from a blast of red laser fire.
John hit the attacking droid from behind before it could fire again. Instantly, a metal hand gripped his wrist with unbelievable strength. Feeling as though his arm would break, he shouted in agony.
From the corner of his eye, John caught a blur of motion. With an elegant backflip, Emmie suddenly rose in front of the droid, her fists smashing into its face.
Forced to defend itself, the droid released John’s arm and threw itself at its new opponent. But Emmie was too quick. Metal hands grabbed at thin air as she cartwheeled to one side.
The distraction was all John needed. His fingers found bare wires. He yanked, feeling grim satisfaction as sparks fountained and the twitching droid fell.
Eight. Quickly, John rose to his knees, yelling, “Thanks, Emmie!”
“You can owe me dinner at Seefood!” the Silaran girlshouted back, breathing heavily as she dropped into a crouch and sprung at another droid.
John glanced around, looking to see if any of his classmates needed help. Emmie was now helping Kritta fight. Even with the desperate battle raging all around, John couldn’t help but admire the way the Silaran girl moved with effortless grace.
More laser fire hissed through the air, narrowly missing Raytanna, who ducked behind the remaining hoverbus. A droid began walking towards her. Picking up a fallen rifle, John pulled the trigger. A laser beam hit the droid full in the back. John expected the droid to fall, but nothing happened. It carried on pacing towards Raytanna.
The gun must be broken.
The droid was almost on Raytanna now, shouldering its rifle again as it stalked around the hoverbus.
“Noooo!” Turning the weapon in his hands, John ran forward, swinging it like a baseball bat and smashing it into the machine’s head.
It turned, bringing its own rifle up to aim at John.
He dived to one side as it fired. A red beam flashed past his head. John crawled backward, fingers clutching at the grass. The droid was already taking aim again. As its metal finger tightened on the trigger, John squeezed his eyes closed.
A second passed. Two.
John opened his eyes.
The droid had stopped. It was standing like a statue with its rifle pointing at John’s heart.
He blinked as Raytanna stepped out from behind it.
“Every robot has an off switch,” she said.
John scrambled to his feet, looking around quickly. Five droids remained, each armed with a deadly laser rifle. Now, however, the scholars were fighting back as well. With robes flapping, Silva launched himself over the side of the hoverbus, metal clashing on metal, as his own fists lashed out at a droid that was threatening to overwhelm Werril. Following Kaal’s example, Deem was lifting another into the sky. Not as quickly as Kaal, John noticed. In old age, the scholar’s wings had lost their strength.
Dodging past Kaal and Emmie, John threw himself at a droid that was attacking Queelin. She had managed to disarm it and was fighting with grim intensity, but her arm was hanging uselessly by her side. She ducked as the machine swung a crushing metal fist at her head.
“Gobi!” John shouted. “Catch this.”
The droid stumbled to one side as John’s body slammed into it – straight into Gobi’s massive fist. The huge punch shattered armour. The robot jerked twice and was still.
“John! Look out!”
John whirled at Emmie’s shout. One of the droids he had thought was finished had climbed to its feet behind him. Horror clutched his stomach as he found himself staring down the barrel of laser rifle again.
A green thunderbolt dropped from the sky. Kaal descended on the robot in a flurry of flapping wings and smashing fists. The laser rifle spun away. Staggering under the weight of its attacker, the droid fought back. Kaal yelled in pain as its fist crunched into his jaw. The droid twisted and a spike found its mark, tearing through Kaal’s uniform and gouging the flesh beneath. Blue blood dripped from the wound, as the Derrilian clutched the droid’s head. Kaal shrieked a battle cry. Muscles heaving, he twisted with all his might. With a crack and a shower of sparks, the soldier droid’s head came away from its body.
Kaal threw it to one side. “Remind me to use that move in Boxogle,” he said, winking at John.
“Help! Help me!” John and Kaal both spun this time. Close to the banks of a stream, Mordant Talliver was caught in a droid’s embrace, a metal hand reaching for his throat.
Chapter 11
The half-Gargon was thrashing at the robot with long black tentacles, but his blows were wildly random. Rather than damaging the droid, he was in danger of wounding himself on its spikes.
“Stop your attack,” the machine droned.
Behind it, Emmie hesitated. A look crossed her face. John knew exactly what she was thinking – why help Mordant Talliver? For a moment their eyes met. Emmie lifted her eyebrows in an unspoken question: Well?
John stared at her, his mind like a rollercoaster. Mordant had never lifted a finger to help anyone but himself. He went out of his way to insult and bully anyone who crossed his path. Yet, for all that he would never be a friend, he was a Hyperspace High student. They owed him their help.
John’s head moved in a tiny nod.
Muscles in his legs tensed to run forward. Emmie leapt into the air, lashing out with a kick that staggered the droid straight into John and Kaal. Mordant screamed as both of them leapt at the same moment, crashing into the machine. “Into the water!” John shouted, heaving with all his might.
The droid released Mordant as it lurched backward. For a second, it tottered on the muddy bank of the stream and then it fell. Water hissed and fizzled. The robot tried to rise, clawing its way to the bank. Then its power source exploded. Lifeless metal remains fell backward.
“It took you long enough,” Mordant choked out. He pushed himself to his knees, hands rubbing red skin around his neck.
“Don’t mention it,” said John sarcastically. “Always happy to help.”
“If you’re expecting thanks, you won’t get it from me. If it wasn’t for you, we’d be halfway back to Hyperspace High by now.”
Ignoring Mordant’s complaints, John turned to look for another droid to attack. The fight was now all but over. Lishtig was beating at one droid with the mangled remains of its own arm. A few metres away, Gobi held the last robot in a tight hug. The spikes on its armour meant nothing to him. They bent and snapped as Gobi’s massive arms squeezed tighter and tighter. Metal squealed and buckled; electronic circuits exploded.
“Never pick a fight with a Koo-rag-tar,” growled Gobi, as he dropped the droid into a crumpled heap of scrap metal at his feet.
“Is anyone hurt?” John yelled. Seeing that all the Hyperspace High students were on their feet, he breathed a sigh of relief. But a few of his classmates were bleeding, and Queelin’s arm was bent at a strange angle.
By the time John got to her, Bareon was already there, making soothing noises as he bent over her arm, his fingers brushing her jet-black skin lightly. Her arm was ob
viously broken, though she was trying not to let the pain show on her face.
“I’ll be OK to help finish Ogun off,” she hissed through clenched teeth.
Bareon looked up sharply. “You’ll do no more fighting today,” he said briskly. “Raytanna and Werril, that goes for you, too. I want to see to those wounds.” Turning to John, he finished quietly, “I don’t suppose you’re going to let me look at this, are you?” He brushed John’s cheek with a long, grey finger and held it up before John’s eyes.
Blood dripped. “I... uh... didn’t know,” John said. “Is it bad?”
“Take two minutes to fix it in a proper medical facility,” Bareon shrugged. “Until then, it will start throbbing soon, but – don’t worry – you’ll live.”
“Good,” said John. “Now, it’s Ogun’s turn.”
“He took Aristil to the library. We’ll fight with you,” interrupted Deem, landing a few metres away. Silva and Thushlar came to stand beside him. John couldn’t help noticing that the old Derrilian was sweating heavily, his breath coming in short, painful pants. The scholars were old, he reminded himself. Their fighting days were long behind them.
“I’ve got a better idea,” he said quickly. “You know Kerallin better than us. Take care of the wounded and send a distress signal. Alert Hyperspace High and the Galactic Council. The rest of us will take care of Ogun.”
John glanced back at his classmates, seeing determination in their faces. Only Mordant Talliver was standing to one side, a sulky look on his face.
Reaching up, Thushlar slapped him on the back, beaming at the other scholars. “Ha!” he cackled. “I like this one. I told you, didn’t I? We should get more of these human Earthlings into Hyperspace High.”
* * *
“It’s no good,” panted Gobi-san-Art. He and Kaal had their shoulders braced against the library doors and were heaving with all their combined strength. “It’s in lock-down. We’d need a guided missile to get through.”
“Is there any other way in?” Lishtig asked impatiently.
“The retina scan opens the doors,” said Emmie, nodding towards a small box hidden in the shadows by the door. “But it won’t recognize any of us. If we asked one of the scholars to activate it—”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea, Emmie,” John interrupted. “Let’s keep the scholars as far from danger as we can.”
“Maybe I can hack it,” said Kaal. Leaning over, he took from his pocket the ToTool he always carried with him. John always thought of the small device as a space-age Swiss Army knife. It seemed to be able to transform into any tool Kaal needed at the touch of a small button. Now, a spike that looked like a very fine screwdriver flicked out of the slim, silver device. Within seconds, Kaal had removed the front of the retina scanner, revealing complex circuits within.
“How long will it take?” John asked.
“It will take as long as it takes,” Kaal replied. “We’re not getting in any other way. Unless you have a guided missile on you.”
John folded his arms nervously.
The Derrilian muttered under his breath as he worked: “Bypass the optic recognition programme... patch the locking circuits to the main board... delete the input codes... input command...”
From the door came the sound of internal bolts snapping into a new position.
“Quick enough for you?” asked Kaal, standing.
The door swung open silently.
Inside, soldier droids were busy emptying shelves and packing globes into foam-lined trays. At the centre of the library, and surrounded by the shining worlds the students had left in place, stood Ogun. Aristil was tied securely to a MorphSeat, a gag across her mouth.
“Faster, you walking junkyards!” the warlord roared. “Work faster, or I’ll have you all melted down.”
Behind him, a droid dropped a globe. It smashed to the ground, a slick of thick liquid spreading across the floor.
The warlord cursed. Crossing to the droid he bent over it, flames streaming from his nostrils, and swung a massive punch that threw the droid across the library. “Be CAREFUL!” Ogun bellowed. “I might have wished to invade that world. Because of your clumsiness, it is now lost to me.”
Its visor blackened with soot, the droid clattered to its feet and backed away.
“STOP!” John flung open the library doors, flooding the room with sunlight. Behind him stood the students of Hyperspace High.
Ogun turned, blinking in the sudden sunlight. “What the—”
John gave him no time to finish. He walked towards the centre of the library, hands held behind his back so that the warlord would not see them trembling. Hoping his voice did not betray his fear, he said coolly, “Beta platoon has been defeated, Ogun. Right now, the scholars are contacting Hyperspace High and the Galactic Council. There will be a fleet of ships here any moment. Go now and you might just escape, though I wouldn’t bet on it.”
“And who are YOU?” Ogun demanded, striding forward to meet John halfway down a row of shelves.
John thought he could feel the floor shaking as the towering warlord stepped towards him. He looked up into eyes that glinted with vicious madness. Wisps of flame licked around the red scales of Ogun’s face.
Keeping his voice steady, John said, “I am—”
Ogun’s taloned hand reached out and grabbed John’s uniform top. John’s feet left the floor as the warlord lifted him, glaring down at the logo printed on his uniform. “You are a Hyperspace High student,” he spat, throwing John to one side.
John slammed into a row of shelves, falling to his knees. Forcing himself to stand upright on shaking legs, he tried to speak again. “Yes—”
Ogun cut him off. “I thought you had already left Kerallin,” he hissed. “But it makes no difference to my plans. You will join the scholars as my hostages.”
Words died in John’s mouth, as the warlord looked over the classmates scornfully. Silently, he cursed himself. Maybe this time Mordant had been right. Maybe it was madness to face this huge warlord.
“Hyperspace High,” Ogun continued, “it’s the greatest school in the universe, isn’t it?”
His question was met by silence.
“You probably think you’re all so very clever.”
Once again, his words were met by blank faces.
The warlord’s eyes blazed with contempt. “Well, I, too, was once a student at Hyperspace High,” he growled, taking a step closer and glaring at the students one by one. “It’s a school for the weak. A school for those who will never have the strength to grasp glory in their hands.” A talon poked Kaal in the chest, forcing the muscular Derrilian backward.
Ogun snorted flame. “Pathetic,” he said. “Look at you all. None of you fit to kiss my boots. But you are not to blame. You are only what your precious school has made you.”
“That’s not—” Listhtig began.
“SILENCE!” roared Ogun, fire pouring from his snout. “You will speak when I tell you to speak.”
John flinched. Danger sparked in Ogun’s eyes. A moment later the warlord chuckled, his laughter sounding even more insane than his fury. “Being expelled from Hyperspace High was the making of me,” he said. “Free of petty rules and useless classes, I began my rise to greatness. I fought for years to become the leader of my people, and when I had achieved that, I began long years of conquest. Now, six worlds bow to me. More will soon follow.”
Finally, John found his voice. “No, you’ll be blasted to pieces trying to escape Kerallin,” he said quietly.
“I SAID, SILENCE.” Ogun turned on John. “How long do you think it will take the Galactic Council to get their war fleet here? And even if they arrive in time to catch me, do you think they will fire on a ship carrying the scholars of Kerallin and students as hostages?”
John’s jaw dropped open.
“I see you did not con
sider those details,” Ogun laughed. “Which is why you will never be as great as me.” He paused for a moment, a talon scratching the scales on his chin. “And yet, and yet... you may be of some use.”
Again, he scanned the student’s faces. “It is true that Hyperspace High takes only the best of students from every solar system. Perhaps if you forget everything you learned there and joined with me, I could still make something of you. In years to come you might make useful lieutenants and generals. Maybe I will give you your own planets to rule. In my name, of course.”
Ogun threw his head back and bellowed with laughter. “Yes,” he said when his laugher had died. “I will make you all an offer – come with me and you will never have to go to school again.” He waved a talon at the globes above. “You can still be masters of all the knowledge in the universe. What have you got to lose? Especially as I will kill anyone who refuses.”
Kaal stepped forward, scowling. “You’re mad,” he growled. “None of us would ever join you.”
“Mad, am I?” Flames flared from Ogun’s snout as he rounded on Kaal. “What planet are you from?”
“Derril,” Kaal answered quickly, his eyes darting towards the globe he had left in the centre of the library. It hadn’t yet been packed by the droids, who continued gathering up the globes. “Where we believe that all people and all knowledge should be free.”
“Oh, is that what you believe?” Ogun said, smirking. A talon stretched out, pointing to the globe that Kaal had glanced at. The warlord snapped an order and a droid brought it to him.
Kaal faced him, anger in his eyes as Ogun tossed the globe into the air.
“All the knowledge of Derril,” the warlord chuckled. “Shall I use it to conquer the planet? Or shall I smash it as I will soon smash you?” Carelessly, he threw the globe upward once more.
“You leave Derril alone,” snarled Kaal. With a flick of his wings, he lunged into the air and snatched the globe before Ogun could catch it.
“How dare you defy me!” howled the warlord. Fire roaring around his head, he threw himself at Kaal.