by Max Chase
Peri turned to ask Selene what she thought, but she was fiddling with some sort of gadget. It looked a bit like her electro-pulse device, but she’d been made to leave that behind on the Phoenix.
‘What have you found?’ he asked.
Selene quickly shoved the device into a bag. ‘Nothing useful.’
Peri frowned. Why is she acting so weirdly? he wondered.
‘Did you find anything?’ she asked.
Peri nodded. ‘A flight plan. I think Jaxx is heading for the rings of Saturn.’
‘We’d better get going then,’ Selene replied, slinging the bag over her shoulder and heading for the exit hatch.
Peri ran after her and they raced back to collect the others.
Diesel and Otto were still arguing with Awdus Erox.
‘Let’s go,’ Peri said.
‘Not now, Peri!’ Diesel shouted. ‘This ship is almost ours. We’re down to a thousand squares.’
‘It’s not worth more than nine hundred squares!’ Otto boomed.
‘Nine hundred squares?!’ Awdus Erox spluttered. ‘That’s daylight astrobbery!’
‘Don’t you know how to haggle?’ Diesel asked him. ‘You couldn’t sell space to an astronaut.’
‘Is that so?’ Awdus Erox huffed. ‘I sold a sleek one-person craft earlier today. It was a sweet deal, part-exchanged for that ship.’
Awdus must have sold it to Jaxx, thought Peri. A one-person craft would be perfect for intercepting a comet. ‘We’ve got to go – now!’ he told his friends.
‘You and your precious Star Fighter mission!’ Otto boomed, shaking his head.
Awdus Erox gulped. ‘You’re Star Fighters!?’
Before any of them could react, Awdus had run off and there was a yell from a large pirate close by. ‘Star Fighters . . . Get them!’
Peri spun around. There were three pirates armed with metal poles charging at them. ‘Smash the Star Fighters!’ one of them hollered.
‘Run!’ Peri screamed.
Shouts for Star Fighters’ blood followed them as they fled. Otto took the lead, shoving aside anyone who got in his way. Peri leaped and dodged the aliens who had fallen as he ran, making sure Diesel and Selene were keeping up with them.
The mob was getting louder as they knocked over stalls and crashed into people. Diesel, now ahead of Peri, stumbled. Something clattered to the ground from Diesel’s pocket and Peri snatched it up. He jumped over a sewer ditch and kept running. Peri glanced down at the object in his hands. It looked like the Mission Capsule Diesel’s father had given him. But there was no time to think about it. Peri raced on, hoping he’d survive the angry crowd long enough to find out the secret Diesel was keeping.
Chapter 9
‘Hurry!’ Peri yelled to Selene. ‘The mob’s catching up!’
Diesel was already on a teleportation platform. He was fighting back angry aliens who were trying to stop Otto taking over the controls. Peri stuffed the Mission Capsule into his jacket pocket so Diesel wouldn’t see it. Then he shoved through the queue of aliens and ran on to the platform with Selene right behind him. As he and Selene skidded to a halt, Peri shouted, ‘Let’s get out of here!’
Otto slammed on the controls and they were beamed aboard the Phoenix.
Peri jumped into the captain’s chair and hit the pyramid-shaped button to fire up the engines. ‘Selene,’ he said, ‘override Haven’s security and beam us out of here!’
‘Already on it,’ she yelled as her hands darted over the controls. A flash of bright light filled the Bridge and then vanished. They were back in outer space.
With a twist of a zip-dial Peri removed the Phoenix’s disguise, then pulled down the thrusters and set their speed to maximum. As soon as they were clear of Haven, he planned to find out what was on Diesel’s Mission Capsule.
‘Something’s following us,’ Diesel said. ‘They’re too small and fast to be ships or drones. Magnifying now!’
A black-and-yellow mist appeared on the screen. As the 360-monitor zoomed in, Peri saw thousands of small robotic wasps swarming towards them.
‘Zespa!’ Selene cried. ‘My dad told me about them. Their wings are made from ultra-sharp blades and will tear through the Phoenix like a photon beam through ice. Activate shields.’
‘Ch’açh!?’ Diesel exclaimed as the cloud of Zespa grew larger and wider. ‘Haven’s scanners have damaged our shields too! They won’t take many hits.’
‘We’re going to have to outrun the Zespa!’ Peri grabbed the Nav-wheel and fired the thrusters. It was going to take all his ability to outrun a million robot wasps in an enormous asteroid field.
Something sleek and metallic caught his eye. It was a small, one-man fighter, blasting away from Haven.
‘Jaxx!’ Peri yelled and pointed at the 360-monitor. ‘Otto and Diesel, start shooting Zespa!’ Peri swung the Phoenix round to follow Jaxx. Within seconds, Otto was blasting with the Phoenix’s quantum-blaster.
Chung-Tung-Tung! Shoow-waaawk!
Diesel was firing the laser cannon. ‘Seventy destroyed!’ he yelled.
‘That’s nothing!’ Otto shouted. ‘Two hundred vaporised.’
Chung-Tung-Tung! Shoow-waaawk!
‘Three hundred obliterated!’ Diesel yelled.
Peri swerved around a space-rock, then dodged more Zespa. They were everywhere. Every time he spun around an asteroid more deadly creatures were waiting. It wouldn’t take long before they’d overwhelm the ship and Jaxx’s craft was getting further and further away.
‘I’ve got something that might help,’ Selene said. ‘An electro-pulse!’
‘But it’s never worked properly,’ Peri hissed. ‘This is not the time to test out a new gizmo!’
‘Trust me!’ Instead of reaching for the gadget she had left on board when they teleported on to Haven, Selene pulled a different one from her bag. It was almost identical. It was the device he had seen Selene fiddling with on Jaxx’s ship and then hidden from him.
Peri wove in and out through the swarm of Zespa, narrowly missing an asteroid. They didn’t have much choice – it was Selene’s device or nothing. He nodded at her. ‘Give it a try!’
Selene activated the electro-pulse.
Huummm-mmm-MMM! Beep-Beep-BEEEEP!
Its strange racket got louder and louder, and then went completely silent before a blinding flash of blue light erupted from the gadget. Peri’s eyes flickered and his body twitched as the pulse crackled through him and out into space.
In an instant, the Zespa were nothing more than floating dots spiralling slowly away through space.
‘Mars’rakk!’ Diesel cheered as he high-fived Otto. ‘Selene, I can’t believe it worked. How did a wastoid like you manage that?’
‘It was nothing. Just some . . .’ Selene looked away. ‘Hey, where’s Jaxx?’
Peri activated the long-range scanners. They showed . . . nothing.
‘He’s escaped!’ Otto boomed.
‘Not for long,’ Peri said. ‘I know where he’s heading. If we use Superluminal speed, we can beat him to the rings of Saturn.’
Peri slid open the red Superluminal panel and punched in the coordinates. He flicked the switch and the Phoenix moved faster than light itself. As the view in the 360-monitor blurred into a swirling pattern of starlight, Peri felt for the Mission Capsule in his pocket. He looked around. Diesel and Otto were comparing footage of their Zespa-blasting. Selene was fiddling with her gadget again. They were distracted, but Peri knew they’d notice if he slipped away. He didn’t have much time before they reached Saturn. And he needed to see what Diesel’s Mission Capsule said before they got there. He didn’t want any more surprises.
His hands tingled as a button labelled Sneak-o-Cloak flashed on the controls. He smacked it and saw a faint shimmering green field of energy projected from the control panel. As the light stretched past, Peri’s bionic connection told him it would hide his actions from the rest of the crew. As long as no one walked right up to him, all the others would see was a ho
logram of Peri just sitting in the chair.
A monitor whirled up from the arm of his chair and a Mission Capsule reader popped out of the top of it. Peri plugged Diesel’s capsule into place. Peri channelled the sound into his coms-patch. The screen flickered, before the stern-faced emperor appeared.
‘My son . . . you must get the Heart of Mars back at any cost!’ The emperor pointed to a jewel as big as one of Otto’s fists. It glowed with an orange radiance. It was stunning. Distracted, Peri didn’t notice Diesel walk over and step suddenly through the Sneak-o-Cloak.
‘Will you tell Otto –’ Diesel stopped and his eyes flashed yellow. ‘That’s my Mission Capsule!’
Diesel lunged, but Peri grabbed the capsule first and slipped out of the chair. ‘You should have shared this with me. We’re Star Fighters, and we’re friends.’
‘Give it back. You’ve no right to look at it,’ Diesel shouted, kicking the chair. ‘My father swore me to secrecy. He blames the Xion attack for the Heart of Mars being stolen, and thinks that all Martians will be cursed until it’s returned. I have to find it and you can’t stop me.’
Peri sighed and handed the Mission Capsule back. ‘Diesel, didn’t you think I would want to help you?’
‘Stealing my Mission Capsule was a strange way to go about it!’ Diesel growled. ‘I don’t need any help, but . . . having a lamizoid like you on my side wouldn’t hurt, I guess.’
Peri glanced up at the 360-monitor. Saturn, the dusty gas giant, was beginning to fill the entire screen. Sunlight glinted off its wide, revolving ice rings. ‘We won’t tell the others,’ he said, deactivating the Sneak-o-Cloak.
The green shimmer around them vanished.
‘Selene,’ Peri said, ‘use the Exo-Scanner to look for Jaxx’s ship’s heat signature.’
‘Already on it,’ Selene reported. ‘Displaying on screen.’
Peri studied the scanner’s results. The rings of Saturn were shown as a patchwork of different colours and shades, revealing the coldest and hottest spots. They were all blues and browns, apart from a tiny amber speck. Peri was puzzled that Selene didn’t spot it, but there was no time to think.
‘There’s Jaxx!’ Peri pointed and snapped his fingers. The control panel slid under his hands and he fired the sub-light engines. ‘If we’re quick enough, we can catch him by surprise.’
But as they got closer to the one-man ship, it bolted.
‘He’s going in at the wrong angle,’ Peri shouted and pulled hard on the Nav-wheel, adjusting the Phoenix’s position. He watched as Jaxx’s ship bounced helplessly between the ice rings. Peri carefully activated the thrusters. As the Phoenix surged forward, Jaxx’s small craft dived through the rings.
‘Diesel, Otto,’ Peri shouted, ‘we’re going through the rings! I need your help to blast a path for us.’
Peri swerved down. The gunners started blasting chunks of ice out of the way. As they came out of the other side of the rings, Jaxx’s craft was flying wildly out of control and on a collision course with the planet.
‘Something’s wrong!’ Selene cried.
‘Scanners show that Jaxx is injured and unconscious,’ Peri reported.
‘If I don’t do something, he’s going to crash!’ Selene screamed.
Before Peri could ask the engineer what she meant, Selene had vanished.
Jaxx’s ship was lurching between the churning masses of ice. It wasn’t going to survive long!
‘Phoenix,’ Peri called, ‘find Selene!’
Selene appeared on the monitor inside Jaxx’s cramped vessel. She was leaning over the unconscious body of Jaxx, trying to steer his ship. ‘I’m doing the best I can, but the ship’s too badly damaged,’ she yelled. ‘You’ve got to beam us back, Peri!’
Peri’s fingers raced across the control panel. He pulled a lever to activate the teleportation beam, but nothing happened.
‘It won’t work!’ Peri cried. ‘The mineral deposits in the ice are causing too much interference.’
Selene looked terrified. ‘If you don’t do something,’ she said, ‘we’re going to die!’
Chapter 10
‘Engine’s in a critical condition,’ Selene yelled. ‘Navigation’s dead!’
Jaxx’s ship spun off the edge of an ice-rock, scattering pieces of the starboard engine across the rings. Peri needed to somehow get the small vessel away from the ice rings’ interference. It was the only chance he had of beaming them on to the Phoenix before Jaxx’s ship crashed or exploded.
This isn’t just some stupid obstacle course, Peri thought. Selene and Jaxx’s lives are in my hands!
‘The IF obstacle course!’ Peri exclaimed. His mind tingled as he realised he knew what to do. His hands darted across the control panel. He yanked on the thrusters, sending the Phoenix hurtling towards the tiny craft.
‘Have you lost your bionic mind?’ Diesel shouted. ‘You’re going to get us all killed!’
‘Peri!’ Selene pleaded. ‘Don’t do anything stupid!’
‘Don’t worry,’ Peri yelled. ‘I’ve done this before!’
It wasn’t going to be easy to intercept Jaxx’s out-of-control ship, especially at this speed. He thought he might just be able to snatch them up with a laser net – if he could dodge the ice debris . . .
He swerved the ship left, then right. It was just a matter of timing – and hoping that the g-forces involved wouldn’t rip both ships apart. He activated the laser net as the Phoenix hurtled towards Jaxx’s vessel. Using his bionic connection to make microscopic adjustments, he angled the net to grab the damaged ship.
‘Hold on tight!’ he yelled to Selene.
The Phoenix heaved violently as the laser net snatched up Jaxx’s ship. Peri strained against his astro-harness as both vessels were thrown spinning off into space towards Jupiter. But they still weren’t far enough from the rings’ interference.
‘Ten, nine, eight –’ Peri counted.
‘Peri!’ Selene screamed. ‘Jaxx is awake, but we’re losing engine stability!’
Peri smashed on the emergency thrusters. The Phoenix roared forward. The whole Bridge shook from the strain. The laser net was ripped apart by the awesome forces bearing down on it, catapulting Jaxx’s ship away from the rings.
‘Activating teleporter!’ Peri yelled as he slammed down the lever.
A nanosecond later, Jaxx’s ship exploded in a fireball the size of a comet.
‘S’fâh!’ Diesel exclaimed.
Otto bowed his head. ‘It was a noble death.’
Peri pulled another lever. Selene and Jaxx rematerialised on the Bridge in a bright shimmer of orange light. They had their arms around each other as if they were wrestling.
‘No!’ Peri and Diesel leaped from their chairs and grabbed the fugitive. ‘Get your hands off her!’
‘Death to the pirate!’ Otto rushed forward with his silver electro-prod out.
‘Wait!’ Selene jumped and grabbed Otto’s arm. ‘It’s not what you think.’
‘Let go!’ Otto yelled, trying to shake Selene off. The electro-prod swished wildly, sending sparks flying everywhere. As Otto dragged her towards Jaxx, Selene pulled a small tube from her belt and pressed it into the Meigwor’s arm.
Otto screamed and dropped his weapon to cradle his arm. ‘What was that for? He was trying to hurt you!’
Selene snatched up the electro-prod and pointed it at Otto.
‘He was hugging me!’ Selene panted. ‘Jaxx is my dad!’
‘Hugging?’ Otto boomed, the splotches around his eyes darkening. ‘Awful . . . Terrible . . . Disgusting human behaviour!’
‘Your dad?’ Peri let go of Jaxx and stared at him. He could see the family resemblance now. Selene had his eyes and chin. They even had matching smears of grease on their cheeks.
‘Is that why he was always ahead of us?’ Peri asked.
Selene looked embarrassed. ‘We worked out how to send coded messages from one electro-pulse to another. Mine got damaged and I’ve been trying to fix it ever since. I could
send messages, but I couldn’t receive any from him.’
‘Why did he leave his electro-pulse behind in the IF ship?’ Peri asked.
‘I wanted Selene to know I’d received her messages,’ Jaxx said softly.
‘Enough of the sappy reunion!’ Otto boomed. He grabbed Jaxx and pulled his hands behind his back. With his other arm he slipped a handcuff around Jaxx’s wrist. ‘We arrest him and finish the mission!’
‘But my dad is innocent!’ Selene protested. ‘He’s not a space pirate. Just give me a chance to prove to you that he isn’t guilty of any crimes. Don’t you want the truth? My dad didn’t steal anything from the emperor!’
‘Are you calling my dad a liar?’ Diesel said. ‘Jaxx is the liar here – and the thief. He stole the Heart of Mars. That’s treason!’
Peri put his hand on the gunner’s shoulder. ‘Calm down, Diesel. Listen, if we want to recover the stolen gem, we need to hear Jaxx’s side of the story.’
Jaxx cleared his throat. ‘Someone stole my IF identity chip and used it to steal the jewel. I wasn’t even on Mars when it happened. The IF wouldn’t believe me. And what’s worse, when they decided I was a space pirate, they started blaming me for other crimes.’
Peri studied Jaxx’s face. He didn’t look as though he was lying. ‘So why did you come here?’
‘I knew the only way to clear my name was to get the Heart of Mars back for the emperor, so I took an IF ship to go and find it. I think I’ve discovered where it is and I want to return it to prove my innocence.’
‘It’s true,’ Selene chipped in. ‘Peri, if we get the Heart of Mars back, we can catch the real pirates and still complete our mission. You have to trust me.’
‘I’ve had enough!’ Otto said. ‘His innocence or guilt is not our problem! We should take him back!’
‘My dad is telling the truth,’ Selene pleaded. ‘Who do you think taught me to be an engineer? A pirate or this man?’
Diesel let go of Jaxx. Diesel whispered in Peri’s ear, ‘I can’t fail my father. We’ve got to do whatever it takes to find the Heart of Mars.’