The Incredible Space Raiders from Space!

by Wesley King

  Jonah frowned. The air was dry and musty and cool, but water would still evaporate over time. He slowly walked over and touched the spilled water.

  It was still cold.

  Which meant the glass had been filled recently. Maybe that very day.

  He glanced back at the door, suddenly alarmed. He’d assumed that journal was old and that the space princess and her father and Mr. Monkey had been trapped in the room with the blue door, hiding from those creatures, many, many years ago.

  But now that he thought about it, he didn’t know that. The space princess could still be on board. And that meant she could come back at any moment.

  Jonah quickly filled a glass of water and chugged it down. Then he stuffed a few more food bars into the pockets of his uniform and reluctantly headed for the door. It would have been nice to spend a few hours in Home Sweet Home. It had stuffed toy frogs and teacups. But things were never easy on the Fantastic Flying Squirrel.

  Jonah slowly slid the door open and risked a quick peek into the hallway. It was empty, so he stepped out, shut the door, and continued down the Haunted Passage. He was very confused. The space princess had to be a little girl, judging by the toys.

  How was she avoiding the Shrieker? Was she a crew member’s daughter?

  He was still thinking about that when he came across something very, very disturbing. Jonah stopped midstep, his eyes widening. He’d found another open door.

  Sort of.

  It was a plain gray door, or used to be. The same kind that led into Jonah’s bedroom back in Sector Three. In fact, there was a bedroom behind this one too. But it was the door that had Jonah trembling.

  There were claw marks, but only on the few sections that were left. The rest had literally been torn open. The metal was stretched and torn and jagged, and a huge hole had been ripped in the middle where something large could squeeze its way inside.

  Whatever it was—the Shrieker or the EETs—could rip doors open.

  The blue door must have been reinforced, which made sense if they kept guns in there. Normal doors—the kind on every Space Raider’s bedroom—didn’t stand a chance.

  He just hoped no one was in there at the time.

  Jonah decided he was ready to head back into the air ducts. There were fewer signs of monsters in there. He climbed into the nearest grate and saw that it led to a main supply duct that ran alongside the Haunted Passage, just like farther down the hall.

  It was just as dusty and dark, too.

  Sighing, Jonah started crawling down the duct, his fingers sliding on the dust. It occurred to him that if the space princess was still on the ship and still a kid playing with dolls, then it couldn’t have been that long ago that the creatures attacked. Which meant they might very well still be on the ship.

  He was definitely staying out of the Haunted Passage.

  Jonah was still thinking about the claw marks as he turned left into the main duct. He stopped. There, crawling right toward him, was a girl.

  She saw him and came to an abrupt halt. “Uh-oh,” she said.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  * * *

  * * *

  BEFORE JONAH COULD SAY ANYTHING, the girl started backing down the air duct with surprising speed.

  “Hey!” Jonah said. “Wait!”

  She ignored him.

  Jonah started crawling after her. “Wait!”

  He chased her down the air duct, slowly closing in. He should have caught up quickly, considering she was moving backward, but she was clearly an experienced air-duct adventurer. She kept shooting annoyed glances at him as he called out for her.

  The chase continued for another minute, until she finally backed past a supply duct and then crawled headfirst toward the Haunted Passage. Jonah picked up his pace. If she got out of the air duct and ran, he would never catch her.

  “This is really unnecessary!” he called, pumping his arms and legs.

  He turned down the supply duct and saw that she was almost at the grate. From this angle he noticed she was wearing blue jeans and dirty sneakers. She clearly wasn’t a Space Raider. The girl spared another annoyed look back at him. Jonah thought she might just push the grate off and run, but she was too careful. She was forced to pause for a moment, listening for footsteps and taking a peak out into the Haunted Passage.

  She waited just a second too long.

  Just as she was removing the grate and crawling out, Jonah took a desperate lunge and grabbed on to her right ankle. It wasn’t very polite, but he was desperate. She tried to kick him off, but he held on tight, even as her left foot kicked him in the forehead.

  “Ow,” Jonah said. “Can you just wait a second? I need advice. I need to save the other Space Raiders.”

  The girl stopped kicking and looked back. “You’re going to the top level?” she asked. She had a fairly thick British accent.

  “That’s the plan,” Jonah said. “If I let go, will you kick me?”

  She seemed to consider this. “I guess not.”

  Jonah tentatively let go, half expecting her to kick him in the head and run. Thankfully, she just slowly climbed to her feet and stood back, letting him crawl out of the air duct and stand up. She was a few inches taller than he was and probably a couple of years older. He saw now that she was wearing a purple woolen sweater over her ripped blue jeans. Both were stained. Even though her black hair was filthy and clumped together, it fell to her shoulders and framed delicate cheekbones and brown eyes. Her skin was the same light brown as Martin’s. She looked almost regal—in a dirty, stuck on an old, musty ship kind of way.

  It suddenly clicked into place.

  “You must be the space princess,” Jonah said, almost in awe.

  She looked at him for a moment and then laughed. “The space princess? What have you been eating, dimwit?” She didn’t really speak like a princess. “You must be Prince Rat Boy, crawling through the ship to save me.”

  “Uh,” Jonah said, confused. “No.”

  “Sally Malik,” she said, extending her hand. “Fellow space rat.”

  Jonah tentatively shook her hand. She had a very strong grip, and he winced a little. “Jonah the Now . . . Jonah Hillcrest. What are you doing on this ship?”

  She looked down the Haunted Passage. “This isn’t the best spot. Follow me.”

  Without waiting for him to agree, Sally Malik took off down the hallway, moving with light, almost silent footsteps. Jonah felt clunky and awkward behind her. They must have been close to the engine by now, as the moaning noise was even louder and there was a slight vibration in the floor. Jonah listened carefully for shrieking.

  They walked by one double door with a button next to it on the wall and a little blank screen over the doorway. Jonah knew what that was. An elevator shaft.

  “Have you ever—”

  “It’s broken,” Sally said, not even bothering to look back.

  She stopped in front of a yellow door, which had faded and was exposing some of the rusted gray metal beneath it. Sally quickly pulled the door open and gestured for him to get inside. It was pitch black.

  “Go,” she said sharply.

  Jonah hurried inside, and she shut the door behind them. Jonah couldn’t see an inch in front of his face. He heard Sally’s quiet footsteps move around him.

  “You’re not going to bonk me, are you?” he whispered.

  She snorted. “You’d already be bonked.”

  There was a click, and a portable light flicked on and bathed the small room in a white glow. Jonah blinked against the sudden glare. They were in some sort of storage room, and it was filled with cleaning supplies and spare lights and tools and other odds and ends stacked on metal shelves. There was also a chair in the corner with some food bars and a bottle of water tucked beneath it.

  “Welcome to my secret lair,” Sally said, plunking down in the chair.

  “It’s nice,” Jonah said hesitantly. “You sleep here?”

  She frowned. “Of course not, bucket head. Do you
see a bed in here? I have a little cot tucked in a service shaft near the back of the ship. In the Unknown Zone.”

  “You live in the Unknown Zone?” Jonah asked incredulously.

  Sally nodded. “As long as you avoid the Shrieker, it’s the safest place on the ship. The crew doesn’t go there very much. Once in a while to fix engine problems, but you can always tell when that’s going to happen. We stop moving.”

  Jonah found an old container of what looked like floor cleaner and sat down on it.

  “How long have you been on the Squirrel?” Jonah asked.

  Sally scooped up a food bar, opened the wrapper, and took a bite. She chewed a bit loudly, and she was still chewing as she replied. Definitely not a princess, he decided. “Must be two years by now,” she said thoughtfully. “Or close to that. Hard to keep track of time on this old tub. It was the first batch, anyway. Want one?”

  Jonah shook his head. “You were a Space Raider?”

  “Once,” she said, picking her teeth. “But I ran away.”

  “You what?”

  She glanced at him. “I ran. I didn’t want to fight Entirely Evil Things. I didn’t even want to be a Space Raider. So I left, and I’ve been hiding in the ship ever since.”

  She finished her food bar and threw the wrapper in a bucket beside her.

  “The commander tried to find me for a while. She and I were close. I was one of the first recruits. From Earth. Even after the first mission, she still sent adventurers after me. But it’s hard to find a space rat. I thought someone had finally pulled it off today.” She gave him a toothy grin. “But I guess it takes a rat to find one.”

  Jonah didn’t particularly like being called a rat, especially after having the name Jonah the Now Incredible, but he supposed that was the least of his problems.

  “So what do you do?” he asked.

  She gestured around the room. “Hide. Eat. Sometimes I hang out in Home Sweet Home. I crawl around air ducts. Sleep in my room. Hide from the Shrieker and the crew. And mostly I sit up in the Bubble, staring at the stars. The one good thing about the Fantastically Awful Flying Squirrel.”

  “The Bubble?”

  “I’ll show you sometime . . . . if we meet up again.”

  Jonah frowned. “If?”

  “I work alone,” Sally Malik said. “Secret of my success.”

  She stood up, brushing some crumbs off her thick sweater.

  “On that note, you should probably get moving. There’s a main staircase farther down the hall, but watch out for crew members. The service shafts might be a better choice.” She walked right past Jonah and opened the door. “See you, space rat. Maybe.”

  Jonah looked at her. He was slightly hurt that even a space rat didn’t want him around. Sally seemed a bit rude and probably wouldn’t have been the nicest companion, but it certainly beat sneaking through the Squirrel alone. But there was something she’d said that bothered him even more. Something he definitely didn’t want to hear: She’d been here for two years.

  “Why haven’t you gone home?” he asked quietly.

  “Home?” she said. Her dark eyes tightened and her voice lowered. “Home is a London street. But you’re right. I would love to go back. I would love to feel the cold rain on my face and summer nights and hard stone and even those stiff little beds in the shelter when it’s too cold to stay outside. But I can’t. Once you’re on the Squirrel, you’re stuck. Maybe Space Raiders go home. I don’t know. None of my friends did. They went off to the Dark Zone and never came back. Do yourself a favor—don’t go back to the sectors. You’re better off finding yourself a bed. The Squirrel is your home now.”

  Jonah thought of his mom and dad and Mara. He thought of his own bed and his own room. That was his home. And now she was telling him he could never go back.

  Jonah felt his eyes water. He wasn’t supposed to cry in front of the person who hurt him. But what did it matter now?

  “Oh, here we go,” Sally muttered. “Listen, it’s not all bad. I mean, it’s pretty bad. Actually, it’s terrible. It’s cold and dark and it sounds like a haunted house.” She paused. “I’m not very good at this. Do you want a hug or something?”

  Jonah shook his head and wiped his eyes with his sleeve. Then he stood up and nodded at her. “See you around,” he said. “Maybe.”

  He walked slowly past her into the corridor.

  “Ugh, you are annoying,” Sally muttered. “You look like a lost puppy. Just sadder and less cute. All right, I’ll take you to the engine room. You can sneak up to the top level a lot easier through there. But that’s it.”

  Jonah looked back. “Thanks—”

  “Shut it,” she said, pushing him out the rest of the way and sliding the door shut. “I’m only doing this because I’m picturing a lost puppy. Don’t ruin it by talking. And follow my lead. If you get me eaten by the Shrieker, I’m going to be very upset.”

  She started down the Haunted Passage.

  “I like your sweater,” Jonah said hopefully.

  She glanced back. “My sweater?” she asked. “It’s a purple rag, pinhead. I take it back: You’re too daft to be a puppy. My sweater. You could have at least said my jeans.”

  “Is it too late?” Jonah asked.

  “Yes.”

  Jonah smiled and hurried after her. He already felt a bit better. Maybe Sally was stuck. But Jonah wouldn’t be. He would save Martin and the others and go back to the ISR. Then he’d figure out a new plan. One way or another, Jonah was going home.

  “Hurry up, rat boy,” Sally called. “Don’t push your luck.”

  Jonah picked up his pace. He just had to make sure Sally didn’t kill him first.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  * * *

  * * *

  SALLY LED JONAH ALONG AT a brisk pace until the Haunted Passage came to a sudden halt at a set of big yellow-and-black steel doors. The faded words RESTRICTED: CREW MEMBERS ONLY were written across them in black letters.

  “The Unknown Zone?” Jonah guessed.

  Sally just nodded and punched 111 into the control panel. The big doors slid open.

  “How’d you know—”

  “Found the training manual,” Sally said. “They’re not very creative.” She waved a hand over the hall. “Welcome to the Unknown Zone. Or, as I call it, Moaning Manor.”

  It was easy to see why she’d picked that name. The groaning of the ship’s engine filled the hallway, as if the ghosts had gathered in the walls here. The hallway itself was made of the same gray metal as the rest of the ship, but it was shorter and wider, and faded yellow and black paint ran along the walls like a warning stripe. Moaning Manor was even scarier than the Haunted Passage, Jonah decided.

  It was the perfect home for the Shrieker.

  “Where does it live?” Jonah asked quietly.

  Sally shrugged. “Who knows? There are service shafts and back hallways and other places where it probably crawls into. I don’t think it knows how to use doors.”

  “Have you seen it?”

  She laughed. “If I did, do you think I’d still be here? A word to the wise. Don’t try. I’ve never seen it. But I’ve heard kids who have. I’ve heard them scream.”

  Jonah blanched. “Let’s keep moving.”

  “Good idea.”

  She pointed out a few doors as they went. “That’s the door I’d like to get into. I think it leads to the shuttle bay. Only way off this ship. But that code isn’t 111. And they only go there for two reasons: to pick up new Space Raiders or drop them off in the Dark Zone.”

  Jonah made a mental note to inspect that control panel.

  She pointed at a very wide gray steel door. “And here we have the storeroom. That’s a 111. I suggest grabbing a few extra food bars—”

  She suddenly stopped.

  Jonah frowned. “What?”

  For a moment, she didn’t say anything. Then she turned to Jonah.

  “They’re coming,” she said quickly. “Inside!”

  She punched t
he code in, and she and Jonah ran inside the storeroom. Sally slapped the door panel, shutting the door behind them. The room was about five times the size of the cafeteria, and it was stacked high with big cardboard boxes labeled RATIONS.

  “Get behind the stacks,” Sally said. “Go!”

  She and Jonah squeezed through the stacks of boxes and cowered down near the back of the room. Jonah had a narrow view of the door from his position.

  “The Shrieker will come in here?” Jonah asked, confused. “I thought it can’t use doors.”

  “Not the Shrieker,” Sally murmured.

  The storeroom door slid open, and two men walked inside. Jonah hadn’t gotten a very good look at the two men who had taken Martin, but he knew these men were different. One had skin as black as space, a shaved head, and a thick, puckered scar running from his left eyebrow down to his chin. One of his eyes was missing. In its place was a circular metallic replacement with a red lens. He wore a holstered gun on his right hip.

  The second man was a contrast in every way. His skin was pale, almost as pale as the commander’s, and he had long straggly white hair and a beard that still had a few streaks of black. His skin was wrinkled and worn and slightly yellowed from age, and he was at least six inches shorter than the man beside him.

  The only similarity was the gun.

  The two men walked over to the boxes, and each grabbed one.

  “I’m sick of these bloody rations,” the older man snarled. “The captain is the cheapest guy I ever met. I don’t believe we’re running short on the real food. I think the captain wants to make sure he doesn’t run short, so he’s switching us over to the rations.”

  “We still have three weeks there and four back,” the other man said. His voice was deep and intimidating. “We might even run out of the rations.”

  “So we take them from the kids,” the older man said, wrapping his hands around the box and starting for the door. “Easy enough.”

  “If they don’t make it, we don’t get paid.”

  “How would they know?” the older man sneered. “We should fire Leppy out into space, if you ask me. Save some food. Not to mention the bloody shouter. If I catch that bugger, I’ll burn ’im down on the spot.”