Pirate Ambush

by Max Chase

  Peri pointed. ‘That’s what they were heading towards.’

  ‘It must be Haven!’ Otto boomed. ‘The legendary hollow asteroid.’

  ‘That’s just a myth,’ Selene said.

  ‘No!’ Otto shouted. ‘Haven is a free port for smugglers and pirates! It’s run by the Mezzoka Clan!’

  Diesel scoffed. ‘Are you saying that an organised clan of the worst criminals in the Milky Way runs a secret base out of a hollow asteroid?’

  ‘There’s only one way to find out,’ Peri said.

  He reconfigured the Phoenix’s scanners to penetrate deep into the asteroid. But all that showed up on screen was the word Error in angry red letters. ‘There’s definitely something ultra-high-tech there,’ he said. ‘Only the most advanced force field would be strong enough to block the Phoenix’s scanners.’

  ‘We should leave,’ Selene said. ‘If Otto’s right, we’re heading for big trouble.’

  Otto shook his massive head. ‘Let’s blast our way in!’

  ‘Blasting isn’t always the answer,’ Peri said. ‘I think we should trick our way inside. We need to disguise the ship, and then go undercover as space criminals.’

  A control pad slid out from the main console as if the ship had read his mind. A hologram of the Phoenix appeared above it. Peri twisted a zip-dial and the image of the craft shrank a bit and turned pink. He twisted another and its smooth shape became rounder and less sleek.

  ‘I don’t think many pirates fly pink ships,’ Selene said. Peri twisted the dial again and punched a few buttons. It wasn’t long before the Phoenix looked like it had come off worse in several space-battles. Its hull was now black and red, with countless dents and scratches – the perfect disguise for pirates.

  ‘Now for us,’ Peri said. ‘We can’t go around in Expedition Wear.’

  ‘I’ll sort it out,’ Diesel said, pushing Otto aside and pressing buttons on the control panel. ‘We need camouflage and lots of black so we can hide in the shadows and stuff.’

  ‘No!’ Otto boomed, elbowing Diesel out of the way. ‘I want clothes in the latest Meigwor style! We need greens and blues with ammo-belts and massive weapons!’

  ‘The Meigwors have style?’ Diesel scoffed.

  ‘We need to look like successful space pirates,’ Peri said.

  ‘Commands accepted,’ the Phoenix announced calmly. ‘Please wait.’

  There was a short pause before the ship’s robotic arms shot out of the ceiling and grabbed all four crew members. Their Expedition Wear was quickly swapped for dark blue Astro-jeans and tight-fitting black jackets.

  ‘We’re ready to go!’ Peri slammed the pyramid-shaped button and they blasted off towards Haven. He kept the scanners sweeping the asteroid, looking for a way to get inside, but there was nothing.

  Dwoooooooooooo . . .

  ‘What was that noise?’ Otto asked.

  ‘I think the engines have stalled,’ said Peri, desperately jabbing at the controls.

  Eeeee-rrraaaaa. Eeeee-rrraaaa! Sirens sounded across the Bridge. Robotic arms shot from the walls and then sprang back again. Lights flashed on and off. The control panel swung away from Peri and rose up into the air. Artificial gravity turned off and on again, throwing them into the air before dropping them back on the deck.

  ‘We’re being scanned,’ Selene shouted as a yellow light flashed through the Bridge. ‘Everything has gone haywire! I can’t stop it.’

  ‘Fight it, Phoenix,’ Peri urged.

  But before he could do anything else, a blinding light exploded through the Bridge.

  Chapter 7

  The ship was in total darkness. Peri clicked his fingers, but the control panel didn’t respond. He couldn’t feel his bionic connection with the ship. His hands turned cold with fear as he realised the ship was completely without power.

  What had happened to the Phoenix?

  ‘We’re under attack!’ Otto shouted. ‘We must fight!’

  ‘Stay calm,’ Peri yelled. ‘We need to restore power.’

  ‘Working on it,’ came Selene’s muffled yelp somewhere in the dark.

  Two beams of light sliced across the Bridge. Otto and Diesel were in the cosmic-combat position, torches in one hand and zapsters in the other. One of the beams caught Selene’s legs wiggling into a hole in the deck.

  ‘An alien intruder has captured Selene!’ Otto boomed. ‘I blast!’

  ‘Wait!’ Peri yelled. ‘Selene is below deck trying to restore power.’

  Otto lowered his blaster. ‘Are you sure?’

  ‘Yes!’ There was a flicker of light across the Bridge. Peri ran to the control panel and started activating every sensor he could think of. ‘We don’t have full systems. The sensors are dead. Diesel, check weapons.’

  Diesel was already flicking switches at the gunnery station. ‘S’fâh,’ he yelled as he thumped it. ‘We’re defenceless!’

  Selene pulled herself back on to the Bridge. ‘It’s a dampening field round the ship,’ she explained. ‘We’ve not sustained any actual damage. Whoever attacked us doesn’t want to destroy us. They’re restoring systems one by one.’

  As she spoke, the 360-monitor sprang to life. They could see that they were actually inside the asteroid! The Phoenix was surrounded by a flickering blue electro-fence. Everywhere Peri looked he could see space vessels of different shapes and sizes jostling for room behind the electrified barrier. Beyond the fence, jutting from the far side of the asteroid, was a settlement of squat, ramshackle buildings and the odd space rocket.

  A green-skinned horned Venusian in a blue sash appeared on the screen and hissed at them like a Martian lizard. Peri pressed the slight bulge under his chin and activated his SpeakEasy computer chip. The translation device crackled loudly before Peri found the right wavelength. ‘Language frequency 23.10.04,’ Peri told the others.

  Diesel adjusted his SpeakEasy implant as Selene and Otto strapped two battered SpeakEasy devices to their heads. Now they could all hear what the Venusian was saying: ‘Haven Security. All ships visiting Haven must be inspected by security teams. Please grant permission to board your vessel or exercise your right to be destroyed.’

  Peri hit the mute button. ‘Otto is our best chance of getting in. They won’t suspect him of being an IF agent.’

  Diesel nodded. Otto had been a bounty hunter on planet Meigwor. ‘He’ll probably blend right in on Haven.’

  ‘Yes!’ Otto boomed. ‘Follow my lead, space-monkeys! I know how to deal with the criminal world!’

  Peri reactivated the communications channel.

  Otto took a deep breath. ‘Listen –’

  ‘Stand by,’ the Haven security guard replied. ‘Beaming aboard.’

  With a blaze of fizzy orange light, the security officer appeared. He had a blaster in each hand. He looked around the Bridge.

  ‘Haven welcomes you,’ he said as he holstered his weapons.

  Otto licked his lipless mouth. ‘Keep your welcome! Just lead me to the trouble!’

  The security guard straightened his sash. ‘No weapons, or personal defence devices, are allowed on Haven. You must obey the rules. Haven was established to allow the exchange of goods and services away from prying eyes, not as a place for troublemaking. Honour among thieves is strictly enforced here. Understood?’

  Otto nodded and the guard carried on: ‘The atmosphere has been configured to be safe for all species. And we value privacy. We don’t want to know your names. No one will give you theirs or tell you where they’re from. So don’t even ask. Everyone enters Haven at his, her, or its, own risk. There are no peacekeepers, no police and no IF here. Do you agree to these terms?’

  ‘Of course!’ Otto boomed. ‘My crew and I are no strangers to places like these.’

  ‘Stand together for beaming.’ The security guard turned to Selene. ‘You must leave that device behind. It’s been identified as a weapon.’

  Selene looked at her electro-pulse gadget, which she was holding in her hands. ‘But –’


  Peri put a hand on Selene’s shoulder. ‘Don’t argue,’ he hissed. ‘It doesn’t work yet anyway.’

  Selene put her gadget down and stood with the rest of the crew. The guard pulled what looked like a remote control from his pocket and fired it at them.

  An orange teleportation beam fizzed around the crew. It tingled against Peri’s skin and the orange light covered his eyes. He felt like an astro-mint in a bottle of Saturn Soda. Then, nanoseconds later, the beam vanished and Peri found himself on a metal teleportation platform in the middle of Haven. He looked out across the vast interior of the asteroid. On the other side, he could see the Phoenix waiting for them behind the blue electro-fence.

  ‘Get a move on!’ said a guard in a green sash. ‘Other people need to use the teleportation platform!’

  As Peri and his crew hurried away from the platform, a thin man with more scars than money ran beside Otto. ‘Need a better crew, captain? They look on the small side.’

  ‘No, no!’ Otto pushed him away. ‘They’re useless, but they’re my crew and I’m keeping them!’

  ‘Useless?’ Diesel snarled. ‘How dare you –’

  ‘Keep quiet, space-monkey!’ said Otto as he led them into the heart of Haven.

  It was hard weaving through the streets. Everyone was elbowing and shoving their way forward. Peri peeked through an open door in one of the shacks that lined the streets. Two tough-looking aliens sat inside, deep in conversation. One of them opened a wide astro-case. Peri caught a glint of gold, before the alien noticed him and slammed the case shut. His glare was enough to make Peri slip away quickly and not look back.

  Every street corner had buskers or pirates arguing – sometimes both. The whole place stank of stale drink, sweat and open drains.

  Peri pulled his crew aside. ‘I picked up some short-range coms-patches from the Phoenix,’ he whispered. He pulled the postage-stamp-sized devices from his pocket. They had delicate gold circuitry on one side and chameleo-skin on the other.

  He handed them out. ‘Stick one behind your ear. It’ll blend into your skin, and they’ll allow us to communicate with each other. Without our Expedition Wear, we’ll need them if we get separated.’

  Peri stuck his coms-patch on. He heard a loud whistling in his ear as the device connected to his circuits and his brain. The whistling vanished and a menu of options appeared in his mind’s eye: Open Radio, Close Radio, Track Others, Transmit Image.

  Peri mentally chose the last option. He’d uploaded an image of Jaxx into his coms-patch before leaving the ship. ‘I’m sending you all a photo of Jaxx.’

  The space pirate flashed across Peri’s vision like a ghost. He was looking at Selene, but he could see Jaxx’s face hovering over her. The space pirate looked really familiar as if he’d met him somewhere before.

  ‘Will you stop looking at me?’ Selene huffed.

  Peri shook his head and the image of Jaxx faded. ‘Haven’s huge. We should start searching.’

  ‘This way,’ Otto shouted, pointing towards the roughest-looking area of the marketplace. The streets were even narrower, as if the shacks had been pushed together by a trash compactor. The buildings seemed to have been made from whatever their alien owners could find – shipping crates, bits of spacecraft, sheet metal and tarpaulins. Smoke and the sound of arguing drifted through the gaps in their walls.

  ‘How are we going to find him in there?’ Diesel asked.

  ‘I have found more elusive prey in harder places,’ Otto boomed. ‘This is child’s play.’

  As they followed Otto down the alleyway, Diesel muttered, ‘Meigwors have strange childhoods.’

  Peri tried not to laugh. ‘Everything about Meigwors is strange,’ he said. But he was worried about how they were going to find Jaxx. They couldn’t disappoint General Pegg. They had to locate Jaxx and this was their only lead. Peri wasn’t about to let his first official Star Fighter mission end in failure.

  Chapter 8

  ‘Mind your own business or I’ll blast you into space,’ snarled an alien with a dozen eyes.

  Peri swallowed as he backed off into the crowd, hoping the alien wouldn’t come after him. It was really hard to search for anyone on Haven. No one on this asteroid liked to make eye contact unless they absolutely had to.

  At the next crossroads, Peri stopped his crew. ‘We’re attracting too much attention as a group. Let’s split up. Selene, head back to the teleportation platform and keep watch. Otto, go left. Diesel, go right. I’ll carry on in this direction. Use your coms-patches to keep in touch.’

  Peri set off, but the alleys got narrower and darker as they twisted down and down into the worst part of Haven. The smell of sewage became almost unbearable. But before he decided to turn back, Peri spotted a crowded tavern.

  The perfect place to find a space pirate!

  Peri sneaked along the outside of the tavern, peeking through the gaps in the tarpaulin sides. Tired-looking waitresses carried large trays filled with glasses that brimmed with a foul-smelling liquid and dishes piled high with fried space-rats on sticks. There was no sign of Jaxx. Two humans with scars over their faces and burns on their arms were talking close to the tarpaulin. They had to be space pirates. Peri edged closer to eavesdrop. He listened for a while. He could only hear snatches of their conversation.

  ‘. . . IF ship for sale . . .’ The words triggered an internal alarm. Peri leaned in.

  ‘I’ve never seen a real IF ship,’ one pirate said. ‘But I bet it’s a perfect replacement for our rust bucket.’

  The other pirate was halfway through crunching into a fried rat. ‘Can’t be a real one, can it?’ The pirate spat tiny flecks of fried rat as he spoke. ‘We’ll check it out, but I want to eat first.’

  ‘Yeah, all right. The guy selling it hangs around outside the Probe Palace. He should be there for a while.’

  Peri couldn’t believe his luck. He activated the coms-patch. ‘Someone’s trying to sell an IF ship. It has to be Jaxx,’ he whispered. ‘Otto, the seller does business around the Probe Palace. See if you can find out where it is. I’ll round up the others. We’ll meet you there.’

  ‘Maybe later,’ Diesel replied. ‘I’m in the middle of buying something.’

  ‘That sounds like a long shot, Peri,’ Selene chipped in. ‘And I’m in a good place to watch people coming and going. Jaxx is bound to pass me if he’s here.’

  Peri sighed. Why aren’t they listening to me? He would have to go and collect them. He activated the location-trackers on the coms-patch. An arrow appeared in his field of vision and Peri started jogging in that direction. He weaved through the streets until he found Diesel in the middle of a small crowd, haggling with an old man.

  ‘Come on,’ Peri said, pulling Diesel away. ‘We’ve got to go.’

  ‘Põr’sünĝ, Peri,’ Diesel hissed. ‘I’ve got him down to ten squares. You have to be pretty clever not to fall for their tricks. They always start too high.’ Diesel turned, but the old man and the crowd had melted away. Diesel patted down his pockets, then gasped. ‘S’fâh, all my squares are gone. I’ve been robbed!’

  Peri dragged the half-Martian away before he could cause more trouble.

  They found Selene crouched by the teleporters, watching people arrive and depart. She shrugged and followed them.

  Peri activated his coms-patch. ‘Otto, any luck finding the Probe Palace?’

  ‘Yes!’ Otto boomed over the coms-patch. ‘It’s a large casino next to a used-spaceship yard! Transmitting coordinates now.’

  A map flashed across Peri’s mind’s eye. ‘Come on,’ he said.

  Peri led Selene and Diesel back through the streets of Haven until they came to a tall, tapered building that towered over the others. A sign saying Probe Palace Casino hung over the door. Otto was waiting for them outside. He pointed to a squat orange alien with a mouth full of gold teeth who was standing at the entrance to the used-spaceship yard.

  ‘That’s Awdus Erox, the spaceship dealer!’ Otto boomed. ‘I bet he bought t
he ship from Jaxx hoping to sell it for a lot more!’

  ‘But why would Jaxx abandon a decent ship?’ Diesel said.

  ‘He must suspect the IF is tracking him,’ Peri said. ‘But he’s always a step ahead of us. Someone must be helping –’

  ‘What do we do now?’ Selene interrupted.

  ‘The ship is our only lead,’ Peri said. ‘Diesel, Otto, you guys pretend you’re interested in buying it. That will create a diversion, then Selene and I can sneak on board to snoop around.’

  As Diesel and Otto started haggling with Awdus, Peri and Selene tiptoed past. The IF ship was made of sleek grey and yellow panels. It wasn’t big, but it looked fast and well designed. It was definitely the best ship in the yard.

  ‘This way,’ Selene said as she shinned up one of the ship’s metal landing struts.

  She pulled out an electro-wrench from her pocket and removed an access panel, then helped Peri up into the ship and on to the Bridge. Inside, it was a mess. The deck was covered in wires, components and strange-looking gadgets.

  ‘I think Jaxx was taking apart the consoles,’ Selene muttered, almost to herself.

  ‘See if you can figure out what he was trying to do,’ Peri said. ‘I’ll check the computers.’

  He activated the main console. The flight data confirmed that the ship had escaped just before the IF Space Station had exploded. Peri searched for more, but there was little else in the memory. Jaxx had done a good job erasing the data, especially the security feed. Peri hunted around the ship’s programming for anything that the space pirate might have overlooked.

  ‘Gotcha!’ Peri found a back-up flight plan on the system. His neck tingled as he pulled it up on screen. Jaxx was planning to intercept a comet close to the rings of Saturn.

  But that didn’t make sense. Why was Jaxx returning to the solar system and not running as far away as he could?