He had gotten into the habit of coming here when he wanted to get away—and this was one of those times. The view helped soothe his mind. From here, he could see the whole sweep of the valley, and the sparkling river running through it.
We’ve got everything we need here, he thought. Why go anywhere else?
A twig snapped on the trail behind him. He was about to fire a snowball at the interloper when he realized it was Ebony.
‘Oh,’ he said. ‘Hey, sis.’
‘Hey, yourself.’
He peered behind her. ‘You escaped from the clutches of the evil Mister Okada and his daughter,’ he said.
Sighing, Ebony scrambled onto the rock next to him. ‘You’re wrong about them,’ she said.
‘How do you know?’
‘Because all they’ve done is try to help us.’
‘Help us? You mean, apart from Quinn being part of a conspiracy to destroy us? And Mister Okada being a Bakari—the aliens who wiped our memories in the first place?’
‘That’s true, but—’
‘But nothing.’
Ebony shrugged. ‘What about Asgard?’ she said. ‘Mister Okada has opened his home and made us welcome.’
‘That doesn’t mean anything.’
‘It means a lot.’ Ebony picked at a flower growing in a crevice and turned it to silver. Examining its delicate structure, she turned it to helium, and it disappeared. ‘Mister Okada was being held hostage by E-Group. Quinn was forced to work with them to save her father.’
‘It doesn’t mean we need to trust them.’
‘Wouldn’t you do the same?’ Ebony asked. ‘If I were in danger, wouldn’t you do anything in your powers to keep me alive?’
Chad looked away. ‘Of course, I would.’
‘Thanks to Quinn and her father, we now have a home We have a place to train. We have food. We haven’t seen The Agency for weeks. We’re safe.’
‘All the more reason to stay that way.’
‘But it won’t! You heard Mister Okada. The Tagaar will be here within months! It’ll be game over when they arrive! Armageddon!’
‘Does it have to be us?’
‘That’s just how it is,’ Ebony said.
Chad groaned. ‘Are we even sure we can do this?’ he asked. ‘Can Liber8tor make that sort of trip?’
‘Let’s find out.’
Chad reluctantly followed Ebony back into Asgard. Taking an elevator down, they made their way across to the voluminous chamber holding Liber8tor. Chad stared up at the ship, feeling strangely homesick. The Tagaar vessel had been their home for all the time they’d been on the run.
‘Ferdy?’ he said.
Although Ferdy’s consciousness was stored in the Liber8tor computers, he could still connect to the Asgard systems.
‘Hello, friends Chad and Ebony,’ Ferdy said, his voice reverberating around the interior. ‘Ferdy is pleased to see you.’
‘We were wondering if Liber8tor is still able to travel into space?’ Ebony said.
‘Ferdy assumes you’re asking because of Mister Okada’s plan to infiltrate the Tagaar empire,’ Ferdy said.
‘You know about that?’
‘Ferdy does. And the largest worm in the world is the Giant Gippsland Earthworm.’
‘Yeah, thanks.’ Ferdy was always supplying them with strange information. ‘So what do you think?’
‘Ferdy thinks about a lot of things.’
Exchanging glances, Chad and Ebony climbed aboard and made their way to the bridge. Chad settled into his seat. The first time, the seat had felt uncomfortable and big for him. Now it seemed to fit like a glove.
It’s amazing what you can get used to, he thought.
Chad continued. ‘What does Ferdy think...I mean, what do you think about this mission to Tagaar, and fooling them into thinking their prophecies have come true?’
‘Ferdy thinks it’s an audacious plan.’
‘I don’t know what audacious means.’
‘It means daring, brave, fearless, intrepid—’
‘I get the idea.’
‘The Tagaar place great importance in their beliefs. There have been four other times in Tagaar history when ancient prophecies have changed the course of Tagaar society.’
‘Really?’ Ebony said. ‘Like when?’
‘On three occasions, texts were found that told the Tagaar to either attack or withdraw from other worlds. On another occasion, an ancient text told them to destroy one of their own cities.’
‘And they did it?’ Chad said.
‘They did.’
‘Wow.’
‘Such is the power of belief. And the square root of 998 is 31.59—’
‘Great.’ Chad leaned back in his seat and peered at Ebony. ‘I suppose this could work.’
Footsteps approached.
‘What are you doing here?’ Dan said, appearing on the bridge.
‘Playing the harmonica while balancing a stack of plates on my head,’ Chad said. ‘What does it look like?’
Ebony cut in. ‘Chad’s coming to terms with the idea of paying the Tagaar a visit,’ she said.
‘Good,’ Dan said. ‘He looked scared.’
‘What?’ Chad snapped. ‘Scared? Me? I’m The Chad.’
‘You’re the turkey who said he didn’t want to go.’
‘I’m not interested in missions that get me killed.’
Dan settled into the pilot’s seat. ‘So you admit it,’ he said. ‘You’re afraid.’
‘I’m never afraid. Well,’ Chad amended, ‘hardly ever.’
‘If we succeed in this mission,’ Ebony said, ‘it means Earth will be forever safe from the Tagaar. And that’s not including all those other worlds. An entire empire will lay down its arms and choose peace. It could save billions of lives.’
‘Are you trying to say it’s important?’
‘You’re an absolute pain.’
Brodie strode onto the bridge.
‘What is this?’ she said. ‘A meeting?’
‘More like an intervention,’ Ebony said.
‘I’m surprised to see you here,’ Brodie said to Chad, in mock surprise. ‘I thought you’d moved out.’
‘Chad’s coming with us to take on the Tagaar,’ Ebony said, turning to him. ‘Aren’t you?’
Chad sighed. ‘I still think you’re all crazy,’ he said.
‘Crazy is what we do best,’ Ebony said.
Chapter Four
I stabbed at the sensor screen. ‘Air circulation is normal,’ I said. ‘Temperature stable. Oxygen recycling at 100 percent.’
We were at our stations on the Liber8tor bridge. Three days had passed since Mister Okada had announced his plan. Chad had finally agreed to accompany us—under protest—and we had been working ever since to ready Liber8tor for flight. Before settling at Asgard, we had flown every day for months, but only around Earth. Now we needed the ship at peak efficiency for space travel—and there were no mechanics where we were headed.
‘Engine checks normal,’ Dan said.
‘Astro-navigation is fully operational,’ Ebony said. ‘The translation system is working.’
One of the difficulties had been in understanding where we had to go. Our reading of the Tagaar language was rudimentary. So Ferdy had devised a translation system so we could read the 3D charts.
Brodie looked up from her station. ‘Science systems are operational,’ she said. ‘Ferdy and the Liber8tor computer system couldn’t be working better if we’d given them a grease and oil change.’
‘Friend, Brodie,’ Ferdy said. ‘Neither Ferdy nor Liber8tor require grease or oil. Liber8tor uses a polycarbonate liquid—’
‘It’s a joke.’
‘Oh,’ Ferdy said. ‘Ha ha.’
‘Chad?’ I said. ‘Weapons?’
‘I’m ready to shoot anything that moves.’
‘Not while we’re still in Asgard.’
‘Point taken.’
Mister Okada and Quinn were sitting to one side. Mister Oka
da was busily tapping at a display, reading a fast-moving stream of information. At the same time, Quinn was tucked into a corner, looking uncomfortable and out of place. She gave me a small nod.
‘Ready for space?’ I asked.
‘Ready as I’ll ever be.’
I realized she was pale. ‘Are you all right?’ I asked.
‘Oh, fine,’ she said airily. ‘Although heading to space wasn’t exactly on my bucket list.’
I nodded, thoughtful. It hadn’t crossed my mind that she shared our lack of excitement about this trip. Sure, Liber8tor was designed to travel the galaxy, but by an experienced crew—which we weren’t. And Quinn had even less experience than us.
‘Hey, Ferdy,’ I said. ‘What about you? Are you nervous?’
‘Ferdy does not feel fear,’ Ferdy said. ‘Although there is a tremor in the sensor array that could be interpreted as trepidation.’
‘I know the feeling. There’s a little shake in my sensor array too.’ I did a final check of the systems. ‘Engage cloak.’
‘Cloak engaged,’ Brodie said.
‘Let’s go.’
Dan increased the engine power, and we lifted off. The roof of the Asgard hanger slid back, and bright sunlight splashed our faces as Liber8tor cleared the hill. I caught a glimpse of verdant forest, then sky.
‘I’m feeding the co-ordinates of our FTL departure point to the Liber8tor computers,’ Mister Okada said.
‘FTL?’ Chad asked.
‘Faster Than Light,’ I said. ‘Didn’t you read the manual?’
‘I must have skipped that chapter.’
Great, I thought. That was chapter one.
Dan increased power. Soon the landscape was reduced to a map. I looked down at the outline of North America as the sky above turned dark blue. The curvature of the Earth became more extreme. We were very high up now. Soon the atmosphere was reduced to a thin layer, like clear lacquer painted onto the outside of a balloon.
‘That’s our home,’ Quinn said.
‘It’s a big place,’ Brodie said. She shifted her gaze to another window that was filled with nothing but the cold blackness of space. ‘But maybe not so big.’
‘Have you all seen that Carl Sagan video?’ I asked.
‘Carl Sagan,’ Chad said. ‘What does he sing?’
I sighed. ‘He was a scientist,’ I explained. ‘He described Earth as a pale blue dot.’ I peered down at the planet. It was easy to believe. Seen from a distance, the Earth would be like a grain of sand floating in an inky ocean. I wondered when we would see it again.
Boom!
The ship rocked, and alarms started to sound.
‘What was that?’ I yelled.
‘We’re under attack,’ Dan said. ‘Three Flex fighters. No, make that five.’
Flex fighters were owned by The Agency. They’d obviously found a way around our cloaking technology.
‘Let’s get out of here,’ Chad said.
Dan swung the ship around. ‘We need to reach the right departure co-ordinates,’ he said. ‘Otherwise, we’ll land in the wrong place when we drop out of FTL.’
‘Which means?’
‘We could end up millions of miles away from where we’re supposed to be!’
‘Then, we need to fight!’
‘Which we can’t do,’ Brodie said, checking her systems. ‘That attack knocked out our weapons.’
‘What can we do?’ I asked.
The ship was hit by another blast.
‘We just need to make it to the departure point,’ Mister Okada said.
‘Our shields are down to fifty percent,’ Brodie said.
‘At this rate, we won’t survive long enough to make it to the departure point,’ Chad said. ‘The Agency must have upgraded their ships.’
‘They’ll blow us to pieces!’ Quinn said, her voice shrill.
‘I’m heading to the airlock,’ I said. ‘I’ve got an idea.’
Within seconds, I was scrambling down ladders to the lower decks. I’d never done this before, but it could work. Entering the airlock, I locked the door behind me and hit my communicator bracelet.
‘I’m in the airlock,’ I said.
The ship rocked wildly again. The lighting flickered. Liber8tor couldn’t take much more of this.
‘You’re in the airlock?’ Chad’s voice came back. ‘So?’
‘I need the airlock door opened,’ I said.
No reply came back for a moment.
‘Did you just say to open the airlock door?’
Another blast hit the ship.
‘I did. I’m going to create an air bubble around me. When you open the door, I’ll release air from the bubble to propel myself around. I’ll create cannonballs to attack the ships.’
Liber8tor shuddered again.
Chad’s voice came back. ‘That’s the most insane idea I’ve ever heard,’ he said.
‘Probably,’ I agreed. ‘If you’ve got a better one, I’ll go with it.’
Several seconds passed. Obviously, no one did. ‘Prepare for outer door release,’ Chad said.
‘One thing,’ Mister Okada’s voice cut in. ‘The shield of your air bubble has got to be rock solid. No human can survive the radiation for too long—and the temperature is a hundred below zero.’
That was cold. I’d have to be quick because the bubble protection would only retain its heat for a short time.
‘Got it,’ I said. ‘Open the airlock.’
I formed an impenetrable shield around me, and the doors opened. I flew out into the vacuum of space.
It was terrifying.
I was surrounded by air, so I could breathe, but I was instantly disoriented. The sun was blindingly bright, the Earth silent and still, and Liber8tor was moving away from me at great speed. There were ships everywhere, but sound needed air to travel in, and space was a vacuum. The only sound I could hear was the panicked sound of my own breathing.
Chad was right. This was the most stupid thing I’d ever done. Then a Flex ship made straight for me. I formed a cannonball and aimed it at the engines. The air bubble broke away from me and slammed into the craft. The engine flashed and died.
Hmm. Maybe this wasn’t so crazy after all.
It only took a few minutes, but disabling the Flex fighters proved to be surprisingly easy. Their maneuverability was nothing as compared to mine. I could turn on a dime. They couldn’t. Turning back to Liber8tor, I headed in the direction of the ship, then stopped dead in space. I was so shocked I almost dropped the air bubble.
The upper half of the ship was gone, but there was no debris. It looked as if it had been neatly cut in two. How could such a thing happen? How could the ship have been destroyed?
‘Axel?’ Brodie’s voice came over my communicator.
‘Brodie? Where...what...’
‘I know. It’s weird. Liber8tor separated into two parts. The upper half of the ship is on its way to the Tagaar system. We’re going to rendezvous with them there.’
‘The upper half...’ My voice trailed off. ‘The ship can divide in two?’
‘I know. It came as news to us too. I’ll meet you at the airlock.’
I returned to the airlock feeling a strange sense of relief and bewilderment.
‘Weird, huh?’ Brodie said, appearing in the doorway after the atmosphere had been restored.
‘Weird isn’t the word,’ I said, dazed. ‘Since when can the ship divide in two?’
Ferdy’s voice came over the intercom. ‘The ship has always been able to separate,’ he said. ‘It is a standard design function of Tagaar fighter ships.’
‘You never thought to mention it before?’ I said.
‘Ferdy did not think it important.’
‘Ferdy did not...’ I shook my head. ‘So you’re onboard our ship, but the other ship...’
‘Axel may think of this ship as L2,’ Ferdy said. ‘The ship containing Chad, Dan, and the others is L1. Ferdy is on both ships simultaneously.’
‘How?’
‘Copying Ferdy is like copying any program,’ Brodie explained. ‘He’s just bigger and more complex.’
‘But why—’
‘Mister Okada suggested it. Our ship drew the Flex ships away while the other half of Liber8tor escaped.’
It made sense.
‘More Flex fighters are on the way,’ Ferdy said, adding, ‘the secondary bridge is located on level three.’
We have a secondary bridge?
‘Great,’ I said, more than a little peeved. We had been on board Liber8tor for months and not known it could split in two. We found the secondary bridge, and I realized I had seen it before; I’d thought it was some kind of training room. It was a simpler version of the main bridge, but much smaller with seating for three.
‘Should Ferdy activate the FTL drive?’ Ferdy asked.
‘Yes,’ I said. ‘And Ferdy?’
‘Is there anything else we should know about?’
‘There is a fire-breathing dragon on Level One.’
‘What?’
‘Ferdy is making a joke.’
I sighed. ‘Activate the FTL drive,’ I said. ‘Next stop—Tagaar.’
Chapter Five
‘This is crazy!’ Chad yelled. ‘We’ve got to go back for the others!’
‘We can’t,’ Dan said. ‘We’re in wormhole space. There’s no going back.’
He stared out the window. He’d had no idea of what wormhole space would look like, but it wasn’t this. It was dark outside except for the stars, which were now stretched out into long rainbow streaks.
‘There must be a way to turn around!’ Chad snapped.
‘It takes time to calculate a destination point,’ Mister Okada said. ‘Axel and Brodie will be well on their way by the time—’
‘I wasn’t asking for your opinion!’
‘Chad,’ Ebony cut in. ‘Keep it cool.’
‘We’ve just cut the ship in half! And left Axel and Brodie to die!’
‘Liber8tor is designed to divide into two ships,’ Ferdy said. ‘And the distance from Berlin to San Francisco is—’
‘I don’t care how far it is!’ Chad snapped. He looked ready to explode. ‘How are we going to find Axel and Brodie?’
‘They’re meeting us at Tagaar,’ Dan said. ‘We’re due there in about three hours.’
He wasn’t happy about leaving Axel and Brodie behind, but there was nothing else they could have done. Their mission was about to be scuttled before it had even begun, and Ferdy’s suggestion about dividing the ship had been the only sensible course of action.
Teen Superheroes Box Set | Books 1-7 Page 81