Rocking the Resistance

by Erin Downing

  “I’m going to try to attack you, okay, pal?” Juno said, nodding at Skitter. “I want you to show everyone how to defend yourself. Got it?”

  Skitter nodded shyly. Juno lunged at her, and Skitter immediately began to grow. She thrust out one of her arms and aimed her still-tiny fist at Juno’s eye socket.

  “Good!” Juno said, leaping backward. “The eyes are one of the most vulnerable parts of the body. That’s a great spot to launch a counterattack.” Without warning, she threw herself at Skitter again. Skitter grew even larger and rammed the heel of her paw into Juno’s nose.

  “Yow!” Juno said, holding her fist over her nose. She pulled it away, revealing a thin trickle of blood.

  “You’re hurt!” Hera shrieked, rushing toward her with a tissue. “You’re bleeding!”

  Skitter meeped apologetically and nuzzled against Juno’s leg. Juno swiped the back of her hand across her face and wiped the blood away. “It’s okay, just a little blood. And, Skitter, don’t worry about it—I told you to defend yourself. The nose is a great target. I’m fine.” She turned to the other girls. “But you know what? Skitter’s too good at this. Any of you want to give it a shot and try to defend yourselves against my attack?”

  “I will,” Rhea said reluctantly, after no one else jumped at the chance. She stood up and braced herself, and Juno came at her. Rhea ducked and covered her head, then screamed.

  Juno groaned. “Are you serious?”

  “You’re tough, Juno!” said Rhea, shrugging. “I didn’t want to get hit. It’s scary when you charge at me like that.”

  “I assure you, Geela and her Android Soldiers are tougher than I am. Ducking and screaming for help are not going to help you in that situation. This time, when I come after you, go for my neck or knees. Those are two of the other most vulnerable parts of someone’s body.”

  Juno attacked again—and again—and again. Each of the girls took a turn trying to defend herself against Juno’s attacks. Juno showed them how to use their elbows, knees, and heads—the hardest parts of their bodies—to inflict the most damage on their attacker. They were all sweating and panting when Chamberlin knocked at the door a while later.

  “Yes?” Juno snapped.

  “Pardon the interruption,” he said. “Captain Hansome is hoping to speak with you. He would like a report on today’s mission.” He looked around the girls’ common room, worriedly noticing how spent and exhausted each of the girls looked. “But if you girls need a rest after all the excitement of today, I can tell him to check in later. In fact, I think I’ll do just that. I don’t believe a discussion with the Resistance leader is the best idea for the moment. I can make you all a nice cup of tea and read a bit of poetry!”

  “Captain Hansome? Captain Hansome!” Luna jumped up and glanced at herself in the mirror. She swiped on a fresh coat of lipstick and fluffed her hair. “Of course we want to talk to him!”

  “Anything to escape Juno’s fight training,” Rhea said, relieved to have a chance to catch her breath. The other girls hustled after Luna. They couldn’t wait to tell the Resistance captain all about the surprise encounter with Geela—and figure out their next move.

  As soon as they had finished their report on the day, Hansome said, “We need to act fast. It’s important that we stop this monster now! If she’s planning to visit the royal prisoners, then…” He trailed off, leaving the if-then unspoken.

  “There are three more planets for us to search,” Athena said, all business. “We’ve ruled out Kantal-ka and Pallomo. That leaves Lud, Tik-tik, and Pluton.”

  Chamberlin cleared his throat, but everyone ignored him.

  “Indeed,” Hansome said, rubbing his chin stubble thoughtfully. “How will we get you authorization to visit each of those planets as soon as possible?”

  Again, Chamberlin cleared his throat. “Might I have a word?”

  “What is it, Chamberlin?” Captain Hansome snapped.

  “Moments before you called, I received a message from the Mighty Kra’s manager. Their opening band has come down with a bug, and they’re looking for someone to step in and take their place at a concert on Lud tomorrow night.”

  “Is now really the time to talk about show business?” Hansome said, irritated. “We are discussing much more important matters at the moment. Prioritize!”

  Chamberlin cleared his throat. “The Mighty Kra have asked SPACEPOP to fill in as their opening act. On Lud.”

  “Wonderful,” Hansome groaned. “Please, could you wait to discuss this namby-pamby band business later?”

  Athena broke in, “What Chamberlin is trying to say is, this is a great opportunity to get the authorization we need to land on Lud!”

  Hansome blinked rapidly. He was obviously embarrassed that he hadn’t made the connection himself. He made his voice sound like a broken robot and said, “What’s that? Sor-sorry. I think we-we-we have a bad connection! I don’t think I heard you correctly, Chamberlin. Did you say something about Lud? What fantastic news. Go forth with care and caution, SPACEPOP. I’ll send over everything the Resistance knows about Lud. We are all counting on you!” Before the princesses could say anything more, the hologram fizzled and went black.

  “To Lud?” Athena asked, even though it was pretty clear what their marching orders were.

  Chamberlin sighed and collapsed into the pilot’s chair at the front of the bus. “To Lud.”

  CHAPTER 10

  “The Mighty Kra!” Luna whooped, jumping up the moment the space bus landed on Lud late the next afternoon. “We are about to meet the Mighty Kra!” Adora hopped up and down beside her, unsure of what was so exciting—but thrilled to be part of the happy moment nonetheless.

  “Hang on,” Athena said, putting her hand on Luna’s arm. Mykie copied her action, dropping a paw on Adora’s furry back to settle her down, too. “Can we just figure out this next line? I’m afraid we’ll lose our flow if we stop now.” Athena plinked out a few notes on her keyboard, singing pieces of their new song. “When I am low, I know just who to call on. Wherever I go, I know I got someone to count on.”

  Luna layered on the next line: “And I know I’ll be all right, ’cause I got you by my side…” She trailed off and then suddenly looked up, her face bright. She fanned her hands in the air and sang out, “So I know I’ll never fall behind…’cause you got my back for all of time.”

  “That’s sounding really nice.” Rhea glanced up from her sketch pad. She and Juno had both been drawing for hours—Rhea was working on a few new fashion designs to update the band’s onstage looks; Juno was sketching a graphic novel retelling of the day they’d saved Captain Hansome and Chamberlin from the floating platform on Kantal-ka. Rhea tapped her sketching stylus on her bottom lip and said, “What if you added something like this: And you know this love is certified, ’cause I got you by my side.”

  Hera stepped out of her bedroom, her head caught in the neck of her show costume. In a muffled voice, she called out, “I think this is going to be an important song for SPACEPOP.” She shimmied into her dress and zipped herself up. Unlike Athena, Hera was mostly dressed but hadn’t yet put on any of her stage makeup. Hera preferred to go au naturel as long as possible. But even she had to admit that makeup helped the girls remain incognito—and everyone looked horribly washed out with no makeup onstage.

  “If we ever figure out the rest of the lyrics.” Athena stood up, scrubbing at her eyes. “I feel like every time we take a step forward and write another line, the end of the song creeps further and further away.” She slipped into her performance outfit, then packed a small bag with her rebel-mission outfit and a few new spy gadgets she’d been working on. “Everyone, toss your rebel gear in here,” she instructed, holding the bag open. “We might not have time to come back to the bus between the show and our search for the dungeon.”

  As soon as they had everything together and had given their gear to Rand, the girls and their pets stepped out of the bus and onto the stark, industrial planet of Lud. Though
it was just after dusk, the planet was completely lit up. The center of the capital city was built tall, with sleek office towers, apartment buildings that were hundreds of stories high, and a twisting maze of skyways and passages that connected most of the buildings so residents of Lud didn’t need to go down to the ground floor of one tower in order to get to another building.

  “Their energy grid must be off the charts,” Hera mused, a note of disapproval in her voice. “It wouldn’t kill them to turn off a few lights in the city when they’re not using them.”

  “The roof of every building on Lud is outfitted with a complex network of solar panels,” Chamberlin told her. “They harvest the sun’s energy during the day and don’t require any additional source of power to keep things running at full strength until midnight. The energy efficiency programs on Lud are considered a model for the rest of the galaxy.”

  “Oh,” Hera said, blushing a deeper shade of rose. “Well, that’s good, then.”

  The band made their way through the stage door of the auditorium where that night’s show would be held. Every single person walking around backstage was wearing black, making SPACEPOP look like a garish rainbow splashed across a dark and dreary storm-cloud sky. “What’s with all the black?” Rhea whispered, her voice loud enough for only her bandmates to hear.

  “It’s the new dress code on Lud,” Chamberlin whispered back. “Geela’s rule. Any Lud resident caught wearing anything but black will be taken into custody. Yet another way Geela is exerting her control over the people of the galaxy.”

  “That’s cruel!” Rhea gasped. “Lud was one of the most fashion-forward planets in the galaxy. Now it’s so drab here!”

  “Geela’s done worse,” Juno pointed out. Then she glanced down. “But I do feel a little overdressed…”

  “Who wants to come with me to introduce ourselves to the Mighty Kra?” Luna asked, looking around for some sign of the five guys in the galaxy’s most popular boy band. The Mighty Kra usually dressed in all-black costumes, so they wouldn’t necessarily be that easy to spot in this particular crowd. “I hope they’re as cute in person as they are on TV.”

  Chamberlin led the girls and their pets through the messy and chaotic backstage to their dressing room. Just before she stepped inside the cramped changing area that would be their home for the next few hours, Luna pointed to a door across the hall. “There’s the Mighty Kra’s dressing room … should we stop over and say hi?”

  “Stop in to flirt, you mean?” Rhea asked.

  “Maybe,” Luna said, grinning. She flipped her hair over her shoulder and said, “Literally the only guys we’ve been around lately have been Chamberlin, Rand, and a fuzzy hologram of Captain Hansome. Seeing all the cute waiters at Geela’s party made me realize how much I miss being surrounded by warm-blooded, just-the-right-age guys. The palace on Lunaria was filled with hotties, and I’m going through serious withdrawal.”

  “Aren’t the guys in the Mighty Kra of Hantalian descent? That’s a cold-blooded race,” Juno noted.

  “Whatever,” Luna said. “They’re cute, talented, and single. That’s all that matters.” She strode across the hall and knocked confidently on the boys’ dressing room door. A tall, orange-skinned alien answered the door. His tan hair was slicked back, revealing sculpted cheekbones and a long, elegant neck. “Mack?” Luna said in a breathless voice. “I’m Luna—lead singer of SPACEPOP.”

  “Hey,” Mack said, blinking slowly. He cocked his head and announced, “You look different in person.”

  “Oh,” Luna said, laughing. “Better, I hope?”

  “I guess,” Mack said in a thick, soupy sort of voice. “Yeah, sure.”

  Luna studied him closely. Of all the guys in the Mighty Kra, Mack had never been her favorite. He wasn’t as cute as Dane, the drummer. He didn’t seem as nice as Dane, either. And now that she’d met him in person, she couldn’t help thinking Mack looked and sounded much worse up close than he did in all the glossy photos and videos online. He always seemed pretty upbeat and interesting in interviews, but in person he looked sort of vacant. Like there wasn’t much going on beneath his shiny exterior. But Luna chalked it up to preshow jitters and decided not to make a snap judgment—for once. “I just wanted to introduce myself before the show,” she said, peering around Mack to wave to the rest of the band. She furrowed her brow. None of them even looked up from their mirrors to say hello. They were all doing their hair or applying a thick cream to their faces. The band’s guitar player, Funt, was making strange smiling faces at himself in the mirror. “So, um, hey!”

  “Hey,” the rest of the Mighty Kra echoed without any enthusiasm. Luna waved again, then swished her hair around her shoulders, hoping to catch their attention. Still nothing.

  “Well, if any of you guys want to hang out after the show or anything…” Luna began hopefully. After reading through Captain Hansome’s mission documents, SPACEPOP had decided to wait until after midnight that night to embark on their search for the Dungeon of Dark Doom. The Resistance had discovered that the planet’s security systems and lighting grid went into sleep mode after midnight to conserve energy. So the rebels would be least likely to be caught on their search mission if they set out after things shut down for the night. Luna went on, “Grab a bite to eat, maybe just hang out and listen to music…” Luna couldn’t help but wonder: Would Captain Hansome feel jealous if she was spotted on a date with another guy?

  Mack shrugged. “I dunno.”

  “I bet the paparazzi would have a field day if they saw some of you out with some of us,” Luna said, winking.

  “Paparazzi?” Dane said, suddenly looking away from his mirror to study Luna. “If there are cameras there, I’m in.”

  Luna frowned. “I can’t guarantee the paps will find us, but I’m sure we can figure out a way to get them to notice us.”

  “I’ll consider it,” Dane said, shrugging.

  “Oh-kay,” Luna said haughtily. She wasn’t going to beg any of the Mighty Kra to go out with her! It was their loss if they didn’t want to hang out. But she couldn’t help feeling the slightest bit miffed—between Captain Hansome’s obliviousness and a cold reaction to her from this boy band, she was feeling very unwanted lately! “Well, if any of you guys do want to hang out, you know where to find me. Um, us.” She spun around and returned to her dressing room with the rest of the band.

  “That went well,” Rhea said drily. “Seems like you and the Mighty Kra have a very promising future ahead of you. Love at first sight.”

  Luna glared at her. “I’m sure I just caught them at a bad time.”

  “Uh-huh,” Rhea said, laughing. “Wanna bet on it?”

  “On what?” Luna snapped.

  “If you end up hanging out with the Mighty Kra later, I’ll make your bed for a week. And what the heck, if you win, I’ll clean your room, too.” Rhea thrust out her hand, waiting for Luna to shake.

  “And if I don’t?” Luna asked.

  “If you don’t, you make my bed for a week.” Rhea cocked an eyebrow. “Deal?”

  “We are on.” Luna grinned. She had never lost a bet in her life, and she had no plans to start now.

  * * *

  “So, Dane, do you like being on the road most of the year?” Luna smiled sweetly across the table of an old-fashioned diner at Dane, the drummer from the Mighty Kra.

  “S’okay,” Dane muttered. He picked at his plate of salad, gazing forlornly out the window. He was obviously waiting for more cameras to show up. Every time a crew of paparazzi appeared outside the window of the diner, Dane came to life. But when there were no cameras, it was a very different story.

  Even though their date was going absolutely terribly, Luna didn’t seem to notice or care—she had won her bet with Rhea, she was on a date with one of the hottest singing sensations in the galaxy, and she now had a servant to make her bed and clean her room for a week. A week of luxury made an evening of Dane’s horrible conversation almost worth it.

  Juno—who had been
suckered into accompanying Luna on her date and was getting nothing out of the evening—disagreed. She had never met anyone as boring and self-absorbed as Dane, and she couldn’t believe Luna seemed totally oblivious to his lack of charm. Chamberlin owed her big-time for going along with Luna. Juno was still convinced Luna would have been just fine on her own, but their butler had insisted that someone go along, just in case. Just in case of what hadn’t been clear. But since Juno was the most capable of brawling with a paparazzo, Chamberlin had begged her to be the third wheel.

  Luna took a sip of her fizz-fizz. Dane glanced across the table at her. “Is that good?” He pushed dry river seaweed around on his own plate.

  “Yeah,” Luna said. “You should order one.”

  Dane laughed humorlessly. “Hardly. I don’t eat—or drink—sweets.”

  “At all?” Luna asked, horrified. She and Juno exchanged a look.

  “I don’t want to mess up my skin.” Dane ran his fingers across his unblemished cheek, then pulled a small mirror out of his pocket and smiled at his reflection.

  “A fizz-fizz from time to time isn’t going to do much damage.”

  “I disagree,” Dane said curtly.

  For a long time, they all sat there quietly, not saying anything. Luna gazed lovingly at Dane while she slurped down her treat. Meanwhile, Dane stared lovingly into his reflection in the napkin holder. Juno thought about how she would rather be doing yoga with Hera—and that was saying a lot.

  The silence stretched on. Luna tried to make conversation about music, but Dane seemed interested only in talking about songs by the Mighty Kra. Luna attempted to ask Dane more questions about life on the road and if he had any pets or hobbies, which made Dane go on and on about the amazing speeder he’d had custom-painted to match his skin. Eager to find something they connected on that would make Dane talk about anything other than himself, Luna brought up books. Dane lit up—and began reading the girls passages from the soon-to-be-published authorized biography of the Mighty Kra.