by Scott Prince
“This story will make me famous!” laughs Sharp, waving his gun around. “It’s the story of the century. Everyone from Amsterdam to America will want to read it,” he says triumphantly. Now I think of Mum. If she finds out that I’ve been playing footy as Deadly D, she’ll do worse than shoot me. Maybe facing Bruce Sharp is easier than dealing with her.
“Don’t worry, Deadly,” says Justice, struggling to breathe in the headlock. “No one’s going to believe this fella.” Sharp tightens his grip.
“They’ll believe me when I have the stone analysed.” He puts the gun down at his feet and pulls Dad’s stone from his jeans pocket. “This type of stone doesn’t belong to earth. When we trace its origins, we’ll have a chance of discovering which planet it actually comes from.”
A strange feeling comes over me. I see Dad next to me. He feels warm and I can almost see through him. It’s the same image as in the photos at home. He has bushy black hair like me. His face is kind and his body is skinny but strong. I know he’s not really here but it feels like he is. He looks into my eyes and smiles.
“You’re Kalkadoon, son. We never give up,” he says. Then he puts his hand on my shoulder and disappears, just like that.
Instantly, his words click into place. I race at Sharp, whose gun is still at his feet. I shoulder-charge him and send him flying backwards into a tree trunk, causing him to drop the stone. His head collides with the tree and he is down for the count! Justice rushes over and helps me to look for the stone. Our fingers rustle through the leaves on the ground, but all we can feel is sticks and gumnuts.
CHAPTER 44
MORE FRUIT BATS
We’re on our hands and knees in the Roma Street Parkland, feeling around for the stone. If only I had a torch. Suddenly, something smooth and round is at the end of my fingertips; I grab it – and then I feel a leather band.
“Justice, I found it!” I yell. Justice comes rushing over.
“Nice work, man!” he says. “You think we can get back to the game in time for the second half?”
“You won’t be playing football ever again, Deadly D,” says a voice from under the tree. In our excitement, we forgot about Sharp. More importantly, we forgot about his gun, which he is now pointing at us. “Who will I get rid of first?” he asks. “The annoying Kiwi kid or the Broncos’ star player?” Still pointing the gun at us, Sharp struggles to his feet. I bury the stone in the palm of my hand. Justice pulls something out of his pocket and blows into it. It looks like a whistle but it doesn’t make a sound.
“Don’t do anything stupid!” yells Sharp. “Whatever that is, throw it to me!”
“Whatever you say, bro,” Justice replies, throwing the whistle in Sharp’s direction. Overhead, a dark cloud circles high above the tree. It’s not a weather cloud; it’s something else, made up of hundreds of small shapes. It’s noisy, too. The large dark mass drops out of the sky with a deafening noise, heading straight for us. The sound of it takes Sharp by surprise, forcing him to look up. He is suddenly engulfed by hundreds of flapping fruit bats! “Drop to the ground!” Justice yells. We both hit the deck, shielding our faces from the swarm of nectar-sucking creatures.
“How did you do that?” I shout over the noise.
“It’s a bat whistle – I flogged it from Taylor’s cave!” laughs Justice. “I’m the Maori Batman!” We give each other a high five. Nice play, Justice.
When the noise subsides, the only thing to be heard is the sound of Bruce Sharp begging for help. He is rolling around on the ground with a handful of fruit bats attached to his face and arms. “They’re scratching me!” he screams. I run over and kick the gun out of harm’s way before pulling the bats off Sharp. Holding them gently, I place them onto the tree trunk to let them settle down. Before long, they fly off in search of their colony. Justice comes over and looks at the pitiful sight that is Bruce Sharp, sitting up against the tree, sobbing.
“You picked the wrong crew to mess with, man,” says Justice, fixing his hair. I pull the laces out of my footy boots and use them to tie Sharp’s hands up behind the tree. He’s not going anywhere.
“You shouldn’t point guns at people, either,” I say. “No one likes bullies, right Justice?”
“That’s right, bro,” smiles Justice. “Bullies are eggs.”
Above us, something amazing shines down and lights up the Parkland like daylight. We try to look up but the light is too bright. We have to shield our eyes from the glare.
“If that’s the police helicopter, it’s a bit late,” says Justice, his hands in front of his face. But it doesn’t look like a helicopter or sound like one. And something tells me that it definitely isn’t the police.
CHAPTER 45
DROP YOU OFF AT URANUS
“Holy hangi!” says Justice, still shielding his face. “What is that thing?” As our eyes adjust to the light, we see the outline of an oval-shaped aircraft. It shoots a bright beam of light directly at us. The light begins as a soft blue but soon turns to yellow. The aircraft makes a loud humming sound as it draws closer to the ground. Anyone else would be scared out of their brains but not us. We know who is inside. I think it’s pretty safe to call it a spaceship.
It stops about five metres off the ground and hovers for a minute. Now that it’s closer, it looks more like a flying Tic-Tac – without the minty-fresh taste. A series of purple and yellow lights flash around the side of ship. I didn’t pick Taylor and her family to be Melbourne Storm fans. Bruce Sharp is still tied to the tree. He can’t believe what he’s seeing. Neither can we, really, but at least we’re prepared for it.
“I knew this would happen!” yells Sharp. “Aliens are going to take over the planet, thanks to everyone’s favourite rugby league player, Deadly D!” he adds hysterically.
“Be quiet, you old fool or we’ll get them to drop you off at Uranus!” says Justice. Sharp shuts up. Justice sniggers to himself. “Get it? Uranus?”
“Yeah, I get it, brah,” I say, not taking my eyes off the ship. From the bottom of the giant Tic-Tac, I hear a sound like a cold can of soft drink being opened; a door is released and a small staircase descends to the ground. Taylor and her family appear on the top step and walk down towards us. They have come for the stone. The rest of the meteorite is somewhere inside the spaceship, ready to be returned to Terrandia. I have the final piece in my hand but it’s the last link I have to Dad. It’s been part of my life for so long and now I am about to give it away forever. Justice grabs my shoulder and pulls me close to him.
“Are you sure you want to do this, bro?” he whispers. “I mean, once you give that stone back, it’ll be the end of everything!” I look at him and smile.
“Do you mean you can’t be friends with plain old Dylan Conlan from Mount Isa anymore, just because his powers are gone?” I’m only gammin’ but he thinks I’m for real.
“Nah, man!” he says worriedly. “I don’t care if you play for the Brisbane Broncos or the Flatwater State School under twelves! We’re tight as, bro. I’ll be your mate forever.” I’m happy to hear him say this.
“Mates forever?” I say.
“Yeah, man, forever,” repeats Justice. We grab each other’s hands and then let go. It’s time to do this.
CHAPTER 46
BRIGHTEST STAR
Taylor and her parents are smiling. As they reach the bottom of the staircase, I walk forward to meet them. Justice stands awkwardly behind me.
“Thank you, Dylan,” Taylor says warmly. “Without knowing it, you have saved so many people.” I realise she must be talking about the people on Terrandia. It feels a bit weird knowing I’ve helped another planet.
I open my hand and show her the stone. Dad’s leather band is still tied around it. I untie the knot and give the stone to Taylor. The leather band stays with me. This is it. It’s time to say goodbye to the stone and to Deadly D.
“Please take care of it,” I say. Taylor can see how special it is to me. She smiles understandingly and places her hand in mine. I feel her
fingers carefully take the stone, before giving it to her dad. He gives me a nod of thanks. Taylor’s mum wipes a tear from her eye.
Justice appears from behind me.
“But what about turning Dylan back to normal? There’s no water around here for him to dive into,” he says. Taylor looks at her parents. Her dad raises his hand in Bruce Sharp’s direction, instantly putting him to sleep like one of the dingos. Then they stand around me, all holding hands. I’m not sure what they are doing but I can feel the energy pulsing from their circle. Starting from their hands, a light-green glow travels through their bodies and then flows into mine. I feel my muscles relax and my body loosen. My eyes close and Dad appears before me again.
“You’re a strong boy. I’m proud of you, son,” he smiles. And then he is gone. I open my eyes and I am looking up at Taylor’s parents. I am Dylan Conlan again. Taylor has a huge grin on her face. Justice is behind me with his hand over his mouth, trying not laugh. I look around at him to see what the joke’s about. He points at my feet. Now that I’ve transformed back into an eleven year-old, my playing shorts have fallen down around my ankles! Shame job! I quickly pull them up and tie the drawstring into a double knot.
My Broncos jersey hangs loosely on my body as I prepare to say my goodbyes to Taylor. “One day, I hope we’ll meet again, Dylan,” she says, taking hold of my hands. Her parents have already started walking up the spaceship’s stairs.
“Me too,” I reply. “Will I ever see you again?”
Taylor points to the sky behind her. “At night, look for the brightest star in the western sky. Our planet will always shine bright for you.” She smiles. Then she kisses me on the lips. Her lips stay there for about five seconds but it feels like forever.
“Ooooooh, lovers!” sings Justice behind me.
“Shut up!” I say, spinning around to see him smiling.
“Take a chill pill, lover boy,” he mumbles. Taylor lets go of my hands.
“You’re a special person, Dylan,” says Taylor, preparing to leave. “I’ll be watching over you.” I know she’s telling the truth. Then she turns and walks up the stairs. The lights on the ship start to flash and the loud humming noise fills the air again. Before the door closes, she looks back one more time. Justice and I wave goodbye. The giant Tic-Tac rises high into the night sky, before its six rocket boosters thrust the ship over Brisbane and out of our lives.
CHAPTER 47
TODAY’S HEADLINES
Deadly D is gone. It doesn’t sink in until Monday morning when Justice and I are riding to school. When we ride past the newsagent, there’s a queue out the door. Next to the door is a newspaper headline that says, “WHERE IS DEADLY D?” The newsagent is never usually this busy but today everyone wants a paper. We spot Mr Stavros the taxi driver, who drops us off at training every week. “What’s this about?” I ask him, pulling up next to him on my bike.
“Haven’t you heard?” he says in his thick Greek accent. “The cops found that reporter in the Roma Street Parkland last night. He kept telling them that Deadly D was abducted by aliens! So the cops took him to hospital to get his head checked.” Mr Stavros laughs. “What a loony!” he says, making circles around his ear with his finger. Justice and I look at each other in total shock. What about my secret?
“So, did he get abducted by aliens?” I ask, wanting to hear more.
“No, of course not!” laughs Mr Stavros. “It says that an anonymous tip off suggested that the pressure of NRL football was too much for Deadly D. They reckon he’s gone walkabout up to Mount Isa,” he explains. Justice gives me a wink.
“You can thank me for the ‘anonymous tip off’ later bro,” Justice whispers.
“Nice cover tackle brah,” I whisper back.
“Oh, and one more thing – that reporter’s in very big trouble with the RSPCA,” adds Mr Stavros seriously.
“What for?” I ask.
“The police found a photo in his pocket of him trying to drown some poor little kittens!” Mr Stavros adds some angry words in Greek – probably swear words. Justice and I thank him and ride to school.
CHAPTER 48
MR BARWICK’S BET
Justice and I are the last ones to walk into class. Everyone’s excited because today is the day we get to race our billy carts. Mr Barwick isn’t as excited as the students. Remember the incident with Sonny Bill Goldfish and Kellogg’s bra? Kellogg’s told Mr Barwick that unless he does her playground duties for a year, she’ll dob on him to Mr Woolly. Mr Barwick didn’t want Mr Woolly to find out about the goldfish incident, so he started to do Kellogg’s duties. But then he had a brainwave. Mr Barwick made a bet with Kellogg. He bet that if our class builds a faster billy cart than her year seven class, Mr Barwick won’t have to do her duties anymore. She agreed and now the bet is on. In half an hour, we’ll be racing down Shank Street in front of the entire school.
All the teams from our class have their billy carts ready. Jamie “Baked Beans” Fraser and his team have called theirs “Silent but Violent”. It’s painted brown and they’ve attached big rubber wheels, stolen from Jamie’s dad’s golf cart. But the favourites from 6B are the boys who are the science champions. Theirs is made of lightweight fibreglass, with heaps of room inside for the two drivers. There are wings on the sides and it even has solar panels. I’m not sure if the solar panels work but they look good.
Taylor has gone but in our hearts, we’re still a team. Justice and I wheel our cart from the storeroom. Everyone laughs when we push it into the classroom. It’s made from scrap pieces of wood that Justice’s dad brought home from a building site, which we painted with black spray paint. On the bonnet I painted the Aboriginal flag. Justice painted the silver fern down the side. We even borrowed Mum’s fluffy dice and hung them off the back seat. We’ve called it, “The Black Flash”. Compared to all the other carts, ours looks like a bomb. Not THE bomb – just a bomb.
CHAPTER 49
THE FINISH LINE
The grade sixes and sevens arrive at the top of Shank Street. Mr Woolly is there with the starter’s pistol. He doesn’t know about the bet but he’s keen to see who has the fastest billy cart. Lining both sides of the street are students, parents and teachers, all cheering us on. To protect them, there are red and white safety barriers, just in case someone’s billy cart flips out of control.
As we get into our starting positions, I begin to feel nervous. Shank Street is so steep, I can see the tops of the roofs of the houses at the bottom. Jared Knutz and his mate Ethan pull up next to us in their cart. They’ve called it “Metal Dragon”. It’s made of shiny aluminium with proper car wheels. There are spikes sticking out of the hubcaps. One touch from those and your billy cart would be torn apart. Jared and Ethan laugh when they see ours.
“Don’t worry about them,” says Justice, sitting behind the steering wheel. He’s painted his old Ninja Turtles bike helmet black, but Leonardo is still peeking through the paintwork. I take a deep breath and tighten my helmet before I notice something stuck to the bottom of my seat.
It’s a note:
Dylan. Good luck today. I’m sorry I can’t be there with you. I’ve made some modifications to the billy cart. Tell Justice to look behind the steering wheel. Love, Taylor.
Lucky I have my helmet on because I’m red with embarrassment. Shame! I tap Justice’s helmet and give him the note. He immediately checks behind the steering wheel, where he finds three red buttons with writing on them. The first button says ‘activate’. On the second it says, ‘ignition’. ‘HOLD ON TIGHT’ is written on the third button. Justice smiles to himself.
“What are you smiling at?” yells Ethan.
“Oh, nothing you’d be interested in,” says Justice.
“Go on, try me,” sneers Ethan.
“We’ve got something you don’t have,” says Justice. Ethan’s face looks furious. He and Jared both give us the death stare.
“And what might that be?” growls Ethan.
“Six rocket boosters. Three on e
ach side,” replies Justice. He hits the ‘activate’ button. The shiny silver rocket boosters emerge from the rear of the billy cart. Ethan and Jared stare at us in disbelief and begin to look a bit uneasy. Justice giggles to himself and then presses ‘ignition’. Flames start to fire out of each silver pipe and the rumbling from the rockets can be heard back at school. “Chur bro,” says Justice, laughing. Ethan and Jared are now in total shock. Mr Woolly holds up the starting gun.
“On your marks, get set … GO!” says Mr Woolly, firing the pistol above his head. Justice slams down the ‘HOLD ON TIGHT’ button – and we do. Before anyone else is out of the starting blocks, Taylor’s rockets have thrust us halfway down Shank Street. The spectators shield themselves from the heat of the flames as we leave the competition in our wake. The smell of victory is sweet – and somewhere in the western sky, a star twinkles brighter.
DAVE HARTLEY
Dave resides on the Gold Coast with his wife and two daughters. As an educator, Dave has taught across many year levels and now uses his role as a deputy principal in the city of Logan to develop a positive school culture based on high expectations for educators and learners. Dave’s people are Barunggam, the traditional people of the Darling Downs/Chinchilla region. Dave never played first grade in the NRL, but was awarded Southport Tigers ‘most improved player’ in 1994 and 1995. He keeps the trophies at his mum’s house.
SCOTT PRINCE
Born in Mount Isa, Scott lives on the Gold Coast with his wife and two daughters and is a proud Kalkadoon man. Recently retired from the NRL, Scott led the Wests Tigers to a premiership victory in 2005 and also won the Clive Churchill Medal in the same year. Scott has played for the Gold Coast Titans, Brisbane Broncos and the North Queensland Cowboys. At the highest level, Scott has represented Australia and played halfback for Queensland in the State of Origin. As an ambassador, Scott represents FOGS (Former Origin Greats), NRL One Community, Gidgee Healing/Deadly Choices, The 2014 PNG Games and James Frizelle’s Automotive Group. Scott is also a commentator on Fox Sports.