Game On: Alien Space Adventure (The Adventures of Jayden Banks and the Jameson Twins Book 1)

by R.E. Rowe

  Chapter 12

  Jayden ran around the room searching for a way out. When he didn't find one, he focused his attention on the five massive contraptions. “OMG.”

  The metal fighting machines reminded Jayden of an online space game he’d played back home. Each one looked like an upright military tank with a tapered top, an arsenal of missiles, and other weapons mounted all over its massive metallic body. Two short tank treads supported it on the bottom like feet. For a brief moment, Jayden thought the machines would be a gamer’s dream weapon until reality slapped him in the face.

  The five of them stood silently, staring at the huge mechanical wonders.

  “I’m going to vomit,” BBgun moaned.

  “Will you shut up?” Zebraguts said.

  Jayden shot BBgun an angry look. “Get it together, BBgun! It’s not the time to freak out.”

  BBgun gazed down at his feet, shoulders shaking and ears wiggling.

  “So these are what Sanders was talking about,” Knifetango said.

  “Yep,” said Parker. “Robo pods.”

  A three-step ladder leaned up against each pod’s midsection. Jayden climbed up and peered through an open, circular hatch door. A large, black leather bucket seat with shoulder and waist belts was mounted squarely inside the belly of the pod just as Captain Sanders had described. Control panels, displays, and flashing lights lined the inside walls of the pod.

  “These are whacked out!” Zebraguts shouted from another pod.

  “Seems like they’d be clunky,” Knifetango said.

  A loud gong sounded.

  “Enter a pod capsule immediately!” a women’s voice thundered. “Failure to do so will result in your immediate egress into space.” The voice softened. “Have a nice day.”

  “Guys!” Jayden shouted. “Huddle up. Fast!”

  They gathered in front of the pods.

  “I feel like a mouse in a maze looking for cheese,” Parker muttered.

  “What does egress mean?” asked BBgun.

  “It means you get tossed out into space and die,” Jayden said.

  “Guess we’re trapped,” Zebraguts said.

  Jayden continued scanning the room. No matter how many times he searched, there was no way out.

  “Now what?” Parker asked Jayden.

  Jayden let out a huff and gazed at Parker. “Guess we pick a pod. Get inside and do what the lady says. Once we figure out how to operate them, maybe they’ll help us find your sister and a way back home.”

  “You lost your sister in this place?” asked Knifetango.

  “What?” Zebraguts asked Parker. “You have a sister?”

  “Never mind,” Parker said.

  “I have a sister too,” BBgun said.

  “Come on. Get into a pod.” Jayden hurried to the closest pod and sat down on the leather seat inside the capsule. A head-high, circular computer display extended around the inside of the entire pod belly. Control panels surrounded Jayden and switched on when he sat down. Lights blinked and displays flashed information that Jayden didn’t understand.

  Well, here goes nothing. Jayden rubbed the soft leather on the armrests of the bucket seat. Not bad. Luxury at its finest. Those Ga sure know how to build stuff.

  Jayden sat back farther in the chair and immediately, a metal bar clamped down over his thighs. “Ow!” He struggled to move. Soft leather inflated underneath the metal base, pushing down on Jayden’s legs and locking them in place. A keyboard, joystick, and trackball moved to within his reach.

  “Warning, secure your seatbelts immediately,” said the intercom. “Your transport is now en route.”

  En route? Jayden wondered. To where?

  He put the chair’s straps over each shoulder, and then fastened the waist belt. The robo pod’s outer door slammed shut, and the displays around him came to life.

  Strange looking characters transformed into English descriptions of weapon and other controls. Cool air circulated inside the capsule. The pod’s inside walls began to transform into a see-through outer skin, allowing Jayden to view the other pods nearby.

  He took stock of the inside of the pod. When Jayden moved his eyes to the right or left, and up or down, his chair rotated smoothly in that same direction. Holograms activated over the panels.

  A rotating hologram of a light bulb floated near his head. Jayden tried to touch the hologram. Instantly, the hologram popped into smaller holograms hovering over each of the physical controls around him.

  Jayden picked a small light bulb and moved his hand through it. The hologram changed into a video animation showing how to fire a laser. He choose another one. This time an animation played showing how to fire blasters.

  Then a hologram of a man appeared. The man had bushy eyebrows and a bright red beard. His image was the size of a small doll and floated a foot in front of Jayden’s face. Live holograms of G-striker, BBgun, Knifetango, and Zebraguts appeared and hovered on either side of the floating, red-bearded man.

  “Congratulations on completing training school . . .”

  “Hey, wait a minute!” Jayden shouted. “We just got here!”

  The hologram continued talking.

  “Can anyone hear me out there?” Jayden asked the hologram faces of Parker and the rest of their squad.

  Parker began shouting. The rest of their squad joined in, but the red-bearded man ignored them and continued talking. Jayden figured Red Beard was a recording.

  “Time to rock and roll, gentlemen.” The man raised his voice above their combined shouts of disapproval. “Now, listen up!”

  They all stopped shouting.

  Red beard continued. “You’ll find the controls easy to use and compatible with most video game devices available on Earth just like we showed you in training. Remember to breathe deeply and work as a team. An automated reference guide is on your left if you need it. It accepts voice commands—”

  “We’re so dead.” BBgun groaned.

  “Remember your training, gentleman,” Red Beard continued. “Thruster buttons and holograms on your right and left . . .”

  What training? Jayden thought.

  Buttons, switches, and two-dozen readouts surrounded him. He tugged on his seatbelts. They didn’t budge. “We haven’t had training!” Jayden screamed.

  The recording continued. “Do not pull the red lever over your head. It’s the egress lever and ejects you from the robo pod. If an egress occurs, you’ll be able to breathe on Zeta 109b1, but death or capture from the Atilla is highly probable. Avoid capture at all cost unless you wish to become an Atilla pop-jolly snack. They’ll eat your head off . . . literally.”

  Jayden watched BBgun's hologram crying as he scratched at his jaw until it hurt. Eat, as in chew and swallow?

  “Should your robo pod become incapacitated and unable to function, it will self-destruct after ten seconds . . .”

  “Not cool,” Knifetango said.

  “A wide selection of Earth music has been provided for your listening pleasure. For a music and language selection from other planets, dial in the star designator using the third knob on your right. Prepare for battle. You will be landing directly on the battlefield . . . Good luck, Space Warriors.”

  “Yeah right, we’ll need more than luck,” Parker muttered.

  “Can you guys hear me?” Jayden asked. “G-striker?”

  Parker’s hologram appeared to look up. “Roger that, Killgeek. I can see you too.”

  “What’s happening?” BBgun asked.

  “It sounds like we’re being sent into a real battle,” Jayden replied.

  The voice of another man blasted from an invisible speaker. This one talked faster. “Listen carefully, gentlemen. The Atilla have overrun a world known as Zeta 109b1, orbiting a star in the Carina Nebula within the Sagittarius-Carina Arm of our Milky Way Galaxy. You’ll be providing cover for our evacuation transports. Just don’t blast the inhabitants. You can’t miss their six-foot tall, preying-mantis bodies. Even have two wil
d-looking antennae. For some reason, them things like to wear bright pink clothing. Don’t ask me why.” The voice let out a loud sigh, and then cleared his throat.

  Saving pink bugs? Jayden thought. That’s the mission?

  “As of one hour ago, the invading Atilla forces have massacred one billion of them pink-dressed crickets. The good news is nearly five hundred million Pinkies have escaped. The bad news is five hundred million more remain stuck on their planet.”

  Knifetango’s hologram sighed. “Sounds like we’re going to war.”

  “This is bad,” Zebraguts added, shaking his hologram head.

  “Okay, okay,” Jayden said. “Let’s think . . . start studying your controls. Figure out how the pods work. Just like a game, right?”

  “Really? That’s the plan?” BBgun asked.

  “Look, anybody have a better idea?” Jayden yelled back.

  “Killgeek is right. Get busy,” Parker said. “Let’s figure out these tin cans.”

  Jayden scrambled to make sense out of the controls. A few minutes passed.

  “I still don’t get it,” Parker said in a low voice as the briefing continued in the background.

  “What do you mean?” Jayden asked him.

  “What’s the Atilla’s motivation?” Parker asked with beads of sweat shining on his upper lip. “From what they told us, their galaxy is way bigger than ours. The Atilla have trillions of planets. Probably with all the resources they could ever need. It’s totally insane. Why do they need our galaxy? Even our shooter games have a mission.” Parker raised his voice louder. “We always have a mission! The Atilla gotta have one too.”

  Jayden thought Parker’s point was a good one. But at that moment, he knew the bigger problem was finding a way to escape so they could start searching for Nora.

  “I’m getting the hang of these controls,” Zebraguts said, his hands moving over his control panel.

  “Yeah, me too,” Knifetango said.

  The man’s voice started again. “Watch for the large red X. Those are your assigned targets. Do not, repeat, do not, shoot anything pink, or you’ll be painted with a laser-red X.” The voice paused for a moment, then changed to a whisper. “Good luck and Godspeed. Somebody’s gotta outlast them Atilla monsters. Maybe you’ll be the first.”

  “We’re going to die,” BBgun whimpered.

  “Chill, chief,” Zebraguts said. “I ain’t dying without a fight.”

  “Doesn’t sound good, though,” Knifetango whispered.

  “Look, let’s just imagine we’re inside one of our favorite games,” Jayden said. “Focus on winning. Got it?”

  “Good point,” Parker said. “You take the lead, Killgeek.”

  “I’m good with that,” Knifetango said. “We’ll need a clan leader.”

  “Good idea, friend,” Zebraguts added.

  “I’m in,” BBgun said. “I don’t want to die.”

  “Come on, Killgeek, let’s kick some Atilla butt. That is if they have butts . . . you lead, we’ll follow,” Parker said. “We still have my sister to rescue. Don’t forget that, okay?”

  Jayden knew Parker was right. “Roger that. I’ll do it. Let’s get there first and see what we’re up against. Then we’ll look for someplace to ditch these pods. Use gamer names from now on. Stay close, G-striker.”

  “Now you’re talking,” Parker said with a hoot.

  “Kick butt,” Zebraguts said.

  “Time to rock,” Knifetango added.

  Jayden scanned through the music channels and found one that got his blood pumping. “Everyone switch to music channel three-niner-one. It’ll be our theme song, but keep the volume low enough so we can communicate. We’re going to show these dirty Atilla gorillas how we roll back in the hood.”

  “Oh, brother,” Parker whispered. “Back in our gated-community hood?”

  “We’re going to die,” BBgun groaned.

  “BBgun, get your act together. Today is not a good day to die,” Jayden said. “So listen up and do what we say, or I’ll blast you myself.” Jayden moved a control for his crane arm and smacked the side of BBgun’s pod. “Got it?”

  “Roger.” BBgun’s voice wobbled. “BBgun ready.”

  “Knifetango ready.”

  “Zebraguts ready.”

  A moment passed, then another. “Parker, I mean, G-striker, you there?”

  “Roger, Killgeek, G-striker here. Just making a few modifications.”

  “Modifications?” Jayden asked Parker.

  “You’ll see. Snipe weapon configured along with blaster and scatter mode. It took a minute, but I figured it out. There’s a blue button above your head that activates what appear to be grenade launchers. The switches allow you to configure how the weapons will fire,” Parker said. “G-striker, ready.”

  A gong sounded. “Prepare for engagement,” a woman’s voice said. “Don’t move, children, until the door opens.” She sounded as if she was someone’s grandmother managing a crosswalk.

  Jayden still didn’t feel any motion at all. It was hard to comprehend that they were already halfway across the Milky Way Galaxy and headed into battle on an alien planet.

  Suddenly, a hologram popped up in front of his face, and the grandmotherly-sounding voice counted down as though she were reading a nursery rhyme. Jayden stiffened.

  Her calm voice continued. “5 . . . 4 . . . 3 . . . 2 . . . 1.”

  The white wall in front of their pods fell forward like a ramp, landing on the ground outside with a crash.

  Dust filled the air.

  Jayden, Parker, and the other boys sat silently in their robo pods.

  When the dust cleared, Jayden looked out and saw utter chaos. Massive, blown-up piles of metal and concrete slabs covered the landscape. A block away, golden skyscrapers with hundreds of brightly lit windows towered into a red sky. The buildings were at least a hundred stories high and lined both sides of the wide street on which they’d landed.

  Crumpled structures and crushed metal vehicles littered the street. Flying spacecraft and UFOs zoomed above like flies over rotten hamburger. Everything near them was either blown up or on fire. Destroyed robo pods were stacked on top of other crumpled vehicles. It looked to Jayden like a massive pile-up of eighteen-wheelers.

  Jayden scanned the landscape. Farther away, he watched as bombs dropped from a sky full of buzzing fighter craft. Closer to them, he saw lines of marching Space Command robo pods.

  Jayden didn't see a single red X. Nothing around them looked like the alien killers Leader Nuk’ana had described to them. Nearby, a group of tall, pink creatures with large, round eyes, stick legs and arms, ran around frantically like ants in a frying pan. Two thin antennae extended high above their pointed heads. Jayden couldn't believe crazy-looking bug creatures were one of the galaxy’s most intelligent life forms.

  A large mass of flying metal suddenly crashed near them, exploding upon impact.

  “Killgeek?” Parker screamed. “What do we do?”

  Jayden swallowed hard and searched down the city block for a place to take cover. He tried to breathe, but couldn’t.

  Jayden was officially in choke mode.

  “Killgeek!” Parker yelled. “Talk to us!”

  “Crap!” Zebraguts yelled. “Say something!”

  Jayden forced out a stutter, “Give me a second.”

  “Oh man . . . follow me!” shouted Parker.

  Through the transparent skin of his pod, Jayden saw Parker’s robo pod take off down the ramp and into the street. His tank treads were zipping.

  “Wait!” Jayden shouted. “Get back here! You’ll be dead in ten seconds without us backing you up.”

  Parker stopped his robo pod and turned back toward the transport. He raced his machine back up the ramp.

  Jayden was coming out of his fog. Parker's “leap before looking” approach would get them all killed. He scanned the street for something large enough to hide five massive robot rear ends. The glow of a raging skyscraper fire lit u
p the area.

  There, he thought, a good place to regroup. A short way down the street, Jayden spied the entrance to an alley with towering skyscrapers on either side.

  “G-striker, get on my six, the rest of you guys move to my right. Pronto!” Jayden’s head cleared, but his heart raced like a hot rod. “Follow me, now!”

  “Thank goodness you woke up,” Parker mumbled, moving his pod aside so that Jayden could take the lead.

  Jayden ignored him. He quickly figured out that pushing the right foot pedal made his robo pod move fast, while the left one slowed him down. He used the controls to move the upright tank into a bent-over position, with the tank body positioned horizontally above the top of the treads. The seat rotated too, so Jayden stayed upright. The pod moved awkwardly at first, but then Jayden figured it out and accelerated. He zipped down the ramp and weaved through burning piles of metal, before turning down the alley.

  Jayden checked to make sure all the pods were following him. Only three. Dang it, he thought.

  BBgun whimpered over the voice monitor. He hadn’t left the transport. The kid was a sitting duck inside the large square vehicle that had brought them there.

  Blasts and explosions erupted nearby. “BBgun!” Jayden screamed. “Move it, now!”

  No response.

  Jayden softened his voice. “BBgun, I need you to focus. Press the pedal on your right and use the trackball to steer. Push the button in front of your nose to move your pod over here.”

  “Oh, that’s how it works?” BBgun said. “Be right there.”

  The kid accelerated out of the transport and made his way to the alley next to Jayden. Just as he joined them, a bomb blew up their transport in a rolling ball of fire and smoke.

  “That was a little too close for comfort,” BBgun said.

  “No kidding,” Jayden said. “BBgun, you gotta get a grip or you won’t last long. Now huddle up, boys.” They repositioned their pods in the alley as if they were a huddling football team.

  Jayden studied the alley. It was about thirty-feet wide and easily a mile long. On both sides, the golden walls of skyscrapers towered overhead.

  “G-striker,” Jayden said, “do some hunting, would you?”

  “Roger that, Killgeek.” Parker replied.

  Parker left the cover of the alley and disappeared down the street. A skyscraper a block away took a direct hit. Exploding glass and gold fragments rained down on the street.

  “Everyone stay put until G-striker gets into position!” Jayden shouted.

  Jayden watched on his heads-up display as Parker’s hologram pushed buttons and moved controls inside his pod. A few more minutes passed before Jayden tapped both feet. His best friend was taking way too long. “Report, G-striker.”

  Silence.

  He tried again. “G-striker, would you tell me what you’re doing? Please—”

  “Take a chill pill, would you, Killgeek? Need another second or two. Standby.”

  Massive bomb explosions were getting closer. Jayden was officially beyond nervous.

  “Okay, I’m set,” Parker said, finally. “In hawk eye position around the corner, about twenty feet above you.”

  Above? Jayden thought. He moved his pod towards the street and the others followed him, then peered around the corner. “What the heck?”

  Parker waved with one of his robo pod’s massive, metal crane arms.

  Jayden gave a half-wave back. His robo pod had somehow drilled into the side of the building.

  “How’d you manage to get a big butt, mass of metal to stick on the side of a skyscraper?” Jayden asked.

  “A slight modification,” Parker said. “These puppies have some epic thrusters on them. Boy howdy. I was flying when I used ’em. Totally insane. The pod has giant clamps like way cool gecko claws.”

  Jayden pressed a button on the control panel that caused a new heads-up display to appear showing distinct images from inside each one of the pods.

  Zebraguts’s eyes went wide and his jaw tight. “Serious mojo.” He worked the controls of his pod super-fast.

  “What do you see?” asked Knifetango. His hologram scratched under his black cap and rubbed his crooked nose every few seconds. Then he moved his hands across the control panel just as fast as Zebraguts had.

  “We got twenty metal monsters about the size of upended minivans heading our way,” Parker said with passion. “They have a big cylinder body unit and a treaded bottom piece.”

  Jayden knew Parker was in “game on” mode. “Are red Xs showing up on your display?” Jayden asked.

  “Yep.” Parker paused. “Holy smokes.”

  “What?” Jayden asked him.

  “There’s a row of guns going all around their cylinder bodies,” Parker muttered.

  “Guns?” Zebraguts asked.

  Parker nodded. “Yep. Multiples. Gun barrels a foot apart, built into a cylinder that rotates around the entire frame. Three hundred and sixty degrees of pain.”

  A rotating machine gun? Bad news. Just when he was gaining a pinch of confidence, the alien firepower became more ridiculous. “Roger,” Jayden said. “Recommendations?” He noticed that at least one hundred robo pods had been obliterated only a few blocks away.

  Parker chimed in. “They’re moving forward, destroying row after row of pods like ours. Dang. It’s a total massacre. Looks like the Atilla are hammering our guys big time. No red Xs on the ones getting blown to bits.” He paused. “The way things look . . . we don’t stand a chance.”

  BBgun sniffled.

  “Give me options, G-striker,” Jayden said. “I’m not ready for game-over yet.”

  Parker's hologram nodded, then continued. “Position two of our squad on the far side of the street. Put them in the alley across from your position. Keep one with you. I’ll stay up top and snipe. Everybody, use your blasters in rapid fire. Look for the blue switches and turn them on. Press and hold the yellow button to fire.”

  “I see the switches,” Zebraguts said.

  “Me too,” added Knifetango.

  “I’ll take out as many of those Atilla gorillas as I can during their approach,” Parker said. “I’ll use my armor-piercing blasters on their backsides. One last thing, I found a laser splash control. I’ll paint a red dot on the targets.”

  “Good. All we need to do once G-striker paints targets is launch our missiles,” Jayden said. Snap! The missiles would find Parker’s red dots then . . . boom, baby. “Use the purple button to fire missiles.” He wiggled his fingers like he usually did playing online. “On my mark. Zebraguts and Knifetango, far side across the way, pronto. BBgun and I will stay put.”

  “Remember, only paint targets with red Xs on them!” Jayden yelled at Parker.

  Parker nodded, his face beet red and dripping with sweat.

  Jayden, took a breath and held it, trying to will his heart back into his chest. He was determined not to freak out. The situation was not only nuts, it was totally confusing. Working the controls, moving the pod, firing weapons. His head pounded.

  “Go, go, go!” shouted Parker.

  “Ten-four, G-striker,” Zebraguts added. “Game is full on.”

  “I’m right behind you, Zebraguts,” Knifetango said. “Pedal to the metal, boys. These pods are way awesome.” He let out a whoop, and his robo arm punched the air.

  Zebraguts and Knifetango moved out and took positions in the alley across the street. The alley was a mirror image of the one BBgun and Jayden were in with towering golden skyscrapers all around.

  Jayden’s eyes shifted, and his fists flexed as he slapped the control panel entering commands. He jerked his head around to keep his gaze fixed on the approaching army of Atilla machines painted with red Xs.

  The robo pods moved gracefully. It was incredible to Jayden considering their massive size, and hard to believe other boys like him were sitting in comfy leather chairs inside the belly of each one.

  Jayden found a control panel for an array of mortar rounds and g
uided missiles. He peered around the corner of the alley into the street. Rows of Atilla-monster minivans marked with red Xs moved toward the alleyway. The Atilla machines had filled the street and were destroying every Space Command robo pod they encountered.

  “In position,” Knifetango reported.

  “Targets painted!” shouted Parker.

  “On my mark,” Jayden said. “You ready, BBgun? See the weapon controls that G-striker talked about?”

  “I see them. I’m ready.”

  “Blast ’em!” Jayden yelled. “Fire! Fire! Fire!”

  They unloaded a rain of pain on the approaching Atilla as more Space Command robo pods joined their battle.

  “Let those pods go on ahead,” Jayden commanded. “Hold your position and keep firing at red Xs.”

  Jayden and BBgun blasted Atilla from one side. Knifetango and Zebraguts blasted them from the other side. Parker shot at every metal monster within two football fields of the alleyway. Explosions rocked the gold skyscrapers as Atilla machines exploded into metal fragments.

  It was working! The five of them had helped other good-guy robo pods move forward, forcing the Atilla to retreat.

  The battle raged with explosions all around them. Jayden gazed up and down the street. Dang, he thought. For every Atilla blown up, two more Atilla replacement machines appeared. But Jayden’s clan stayed put in the alleys and continued firing down upon the Atilla from their positions.

  After what seemed like an hour, they had blown up all the Atilla they could see, and the Atilla reinforcements had stopped coming. Space Command reinforcements had ceased as well.

  As the smoke cleared, Jayden surveyed the area. Destroyed Atilla machines and Space Command robo pods were scattered all around them, making the street look like a junkyard. What a mess, he thought.

  Suddenly, his stomach dropped. Two massive armored vehicles with red Xs painted appeared from around a corner and moved toward them.

  More Atilla arrived. Each one shaped like a massive industrial robot with tank tread feet and guns for arms. These Atilla machines were bigger than the other Atilla pods they had been fighting and twice as large as Space Command’s robo pods.

  The two giant pods fired laser bursts out of their gun turrets. They easily vaporized everything in their way, clearing a path toward Jayden’s position.

  “Killgeek, we’re made!” Parker yelled. “I’m taking ’em out!”

  Parker returned fire with his missiles and scored a direct hit! Both Atilla machines blew up in a tremendous ball of fire.

  Jayden let out a sigh. “Nice going, G-striker.”

  “Any time,” Parker said. He fired his rockets to move back to Jayden’s position while shooting down the long street at new Atilla machines joining the fight.

  Jayden was impressed. Parker had obviously mastered the controls of his robopod. With a steady barrage of firepower, Jayden, Parker and the rest of the squad pushed the new wave of Atilla pods back.

  Suddenly, Zebraguts screamed, and Jayden heard explosions getting closer.

  Jayden zoomed in on Zebraguts’s and Knifetango’s robo pods. He saw Atilla pods firing at them from the far side of their alley a half-mile away. The Atilla were closing in on them fast. Jayden felt a chill when he realized Zebraguts and Knifetango had nowhere to go.

  “Killgeek,” Zebraguts said, “An electronic voice inside my pod is identifying itself as Atilla. It’s telling me I should give up or be destroyed.”

  “The voice is telling me the same thing,” Knifetango said. “It wants me to egress.”

  “Can anyone else hear it?” Jayden asked.

  Parker and BBgun both shook their hologram heads no.

  “Is there any way we can help them, G-striker?” Jayden asked Parker.

  Parker’s voice cracked. “Sorry . . . afraid not. We’re pinned down too.”

  “Surrender then, Zebraguts and Knifetango.” Jayden let out a huff. “We’ll blast our way out of here and circle around to rescue you . . . You read?”

  “Roger, Killgeek. Cross your fingers we don’t get eaten. Zebraguts out.”

  “Ten-four. Knifetango out.”

  “BBgun, G-striker, point your guns that way and follow me this way,” Jayden said, using his hands to point in two different directions.

  As they blasted the approaching Atilla, the three of them retreated. Jayden searched for a way to circle around the block to rescue Zebraguts and Knifetango. When they reached the far end of the alley, Jayden made a right turn and abruptly stopped his pod. Parker and BBgun stopped behind him.

  A new line of Atilla pod reinforcements approached from the opposite direction. It was obvious to Jayden that moving their pods around the block to rescue Zebraguts and Knifetango was no long possible. They were screwed.

  “We’re blocked,” Parker said. “No way we can circle back to get them now.”

  Jayden clenched his teeth and yelled. “Dang it!” He pointed to a two-story pile of destroyed robo pods. “G-striker, over here! Let’s regroup behind that massive metal pile.”

  Seconds later, Jayden, Parker, and BBgun huddled together behind the crumpled pile of metal as the Atilla continued marching closer. Jayden’s stomach spun. There was no place to run.

  “Knifetango, Zebraguts. Do you read me?” Jayden shouted.

  No answer.

  “The Atilla just keep coming,” Parker groaned.

  “They got us pinned too,” BBgun said.

  Jayden’s tablet vibrated behind him in his shirt. He’d forgotten he even had it on him. It vibrated again. He quickly reached down, lifted up his Space Command shirt, and snatched the tablet from the hidden pocket of his t-shirt.

  A picture of a galaxy rotated on the tablet screen. Weird, he thought. He had never seen that before.

  Portrait of our Milky Way Galaxy - Art©www.jonlomberg.com

  Suddenly, a white beam of light flashed from the tablet like it had back in Jayden’s bedroom. But this time, the flash transformed into a soft white light beaming from the tablet.

  The beam changed before his eyes into a hologram floating at face level. At first, it looked to Jayden like a glob of moving colors: blue, purple, red, and then yellow, every color of the rainbow. The glob of colored light rotated in a circle as though it were a Fourth-of-July sparkler. Around and around it went. The colorful flashes grew bigger, and brighter.

  “What in the—?” Jayden muttered. “Are you guys seeing this?”

  The glob of colors morphed into the figurine of a doll-sized girl with bright eyes, a petite nose, and thin face. Jayden closed his eyes and shook his head, but when he opened them the doll-sized floating pixie was still there. She blew Jayden a kiss, then winked one of its large eyes. He heard a high-pitched whisper. “It’s time for you to go now.”

  “See what?” Parker asked.

  Jayden rubbed his face in shock. Go? Go where? The only explanation that made sense was he had to be losing his mind. Then, just as suddenly as she’d appeared, the fairy-sized hologram disappeared, and the tablet blanked out.

  “This can’t get any weirder,” Jayden mumbled. “Time to go?”

  “Killgeek?” Parker shouted. “Go where?”

  Jayden put the tablet back into his t-shirt. His attention shifted beyond his pod. The Atilla closed in on them. It can’t end this way, he thought. No way did Jayden want to become an Atilla snack.

  “Game over.” Jayden sighed. “Be proud, boys, at least we set a new record for how long we lasted.”

  Jayden, Parker, and BBgun positioned their pods as close together as possible. Each one faced each other.

  Jayden could see Parker and BBgun’s long faces in the heads-up display.

  Parker held his head low. “Sorry, Nora.”

  BBgun sat up tall with his ears at attention. He didn’t look like the frightened little boy Jayden had first met. The one who wanted to run away at Nuk’ana’s briefing.

  Jayden’s pulse slowed. “G-striker, you remember our smoke-a-bloke
?”

  Parker straightened his back and squared his shoulders. “Roger that.”

  “The what?” BBgun asked.

  Jayden located the buttons to release all his remaining blasters. “Prepare to fire all your weapons when they get up on us. Begin self-destruct sequence on my mark. No way the Atilla are capturing us—”

  Before Jayden could finish, a crackle blasted over the communication channel. “G-striker, Killgeek, you read me?”

  The girl’s voice sounded familiar.

  It couldn’t be, Jayden thought, could it? He reflected on what the pixie girl had said, and now he heard Nora’s voice? “Guys, stop the sequence,” Jayden yelled. “Disable!”

  Large explosions hit the Atilla that had been approaching them. “G-striker, Killgeek, you read me?” the voice asked again. “Come in. Over. I can’t push them back for long.”

  “Nora?” Parker asked.

  “Roger, we read you!” Jayden shouted.

  “Zeekmo here to save your skinny rear ends. Egress and prepare for pick up. I have you in my laser sight.”

  “You’re alive?” Parker asked. “You’re alive!”

  “So far, but hurry. Bad guys are kicking our butts up top too. They’re getting close. An Atilla spacecraft is closing in on my position. I only have about thirty seconds. Get a move on, boys.”

  BBgun and Parker hit the egress button, and then Jayden pressed his button. The belly of the pod opened, and he jumped out and landed on a large block of solid gold metal the size of a truck near Parker and BBgun.

  Jayden felt seriously small. Towers of crumpled debris and mangled skyscraper surrounded the pods. The air was thin and smelled of burnt tires and gunpowder mixed with cotton candy. Gross. It was hard for him to breathe.

  Explosions rocked the skyscrapers and knocked the three of them onto their butts. Jayden felt like an ant next to the towers of destroyed Space Command metal pods and crushed Atilla monster machines. He jerked his head up towards a flying UFO like the one from the observatory.

  A white beam of light shined down on them.

  The next thing Jayden knew, the three of them were inside the hull of the UFO standing on a glowing white circular platform. A spiraling metal staircase ascended on both sides of the circular room. He saw stars from portals along the circular wall.

  Parker sprinted for the stairs with Jayden and BBgun at his heels.

  When Parker reached the top, he let out a whoop and punched the air. Jayden did the same. Nora was sitting in a black leather bucket seat in front of a wooden steering wheel. She looked like a Formula 1 racer, and wore the Space Command’s black uniform with a black cap on her head. Her tan had faded, but her bright eyes and cute sideways grin reminded Jayden of home.

  Cleo, the girl Jayden and Parker had met at the observatory, sat next to Nora. She wore a similar Space Command black uniform and matching cap.

  Nora played a drum solo on the controls of the UFO. “Welcome, Space Fighters,” she said. “You were about ten seconds from becoming pop jolly.”

  “I found Nora,” Cleo said with a smile on her face. “She saved my rear, big time.”

  Nora hit the keyboard again and jumped out of her seat. She gave Parker a giant bear hug. “You crazy twin brother of mine. What do you think you’re doing? Trying to get yourself killed or something?”

  “Glad to see you too, sis.” Parker took a step back. He grabbed Nora’s hat, yanked it off, and froze.

  Jayden didn’t say a word. Nora’s head had been completely shaved. He couldn’t help but stare, although it didn’t matter. She still looked awesome in Jayden’s opinion, no matter her hairstyle.

  “All the girls got buzzed,” Cleo said, and lifted up her hat to show off what had become of her pixie cut.

  Parker started to get teary-eyed. “I thought I’d never see you again, sis.”

  “I know, right? When they took me, I figured I was burnt toast.” Nora snatched her hat back and flipped it onto her head. “Once I got here, I wasn’t about to fight in some ridiculous alien war.”

  Nora smiled at Jayden. “Hola, Surfer Boy.” She walked over and gave Jayden a big hug. “Guess we’re all in the Hair Club for Space Kids clan, huh?”

  Jayden smelled jasmine, and his voice box seized.

  “Thanks for coming after me,” she said.

  Jayden cleared his throat and took a deep breath. “How’d you find us?”

  “Well, first, Cleo found me. She said two crazy cute guys were looking for me. One looked like a surfer, and the other wore a black leather jacket and a cap with “Pop Star” printed on it—”

  “Basically, I saw the wasp birthmark,” Cleo interrupted.

  Nora shot her a grin, then continued. “I heard rumors that Space Command was sending all the boys into hand-to-hand combat. I picked up on some chatter about a squad headed to the front line with no training. I checked the uniform tags. Sure enough—your names popped up. Then I hacked one of Dione base’s control panels, hitched a ride on a transport, and then stole one of these badass flying saucers. The rest is history. Some idiot named Sanders broadcasted a message to all commanders in the area telling them he didn’t figure you’d last ten seconds. He told them not to waste resources rescuing you.”

  Jayden smirked. “Winning.”

  “You saved us,” BBgun said. “We were all but cooked.”

  Cleo and Nora stared at the BBgun’s giant radar-dish-sized ears. Jayden could tell Nora was about to make a comment, but Parker stopped her with a discrete shake of his head.

  “This is BBgun,” Jayden said. “The other two guys in our squad . . . well—” Reality started to sink in, and Jayden looked down at his shoes. “I think they were captured.”

  Nora made a face. “I heard over the comm. I’m sorry I didn’t get here earlier.”

  Parker coughed. “Hey, you hacked a control panel, hitched a ride, and stole a UFO. That’s pretty darn awesome for a newb!”

  BBgun gazed at Nora with a stupid grin. “You’re amazing.” His ears turned purple and wiggled.

  No kidding, Jayden thought.

  “I admit I was a tad nuts,” she said. “But it wasn’t hard to do once I found the Ga training manual. They use a big binder to train the officers.”

  “The manual was in English?” Jayden asked.

  “It was in about twenty different language sections, like one of those product manuals back home. I just read the section in English and used what I’d learned from hacking your dad’s tablet to figure out the Ga encryption scheme. The control panel was way more complicated, but not completely different either. Long story short, I’m here.”

  “Are we going home now?” asked BBgun.

  “Wish it was that simple,” Nora said. “It seems like it should be as easy as driving to the mall. Unfortunately, I need coordinates to get there. At the moment, I’m still working on that.”

  “So where are we headed now?” Parker asked.

  Jayden stared out a long viewport window that surrounded the circular room above their heads.

  Nora sat back down and flipped a switch and the entire metallic top of the UFO went transparent and filled with bright stars. Jayden couldn’t believe they were flying around in space.

  “Nice viewport, huh?” Nora asked.

  A nearby red planet reminded Jayden of Mars. Three colorful moons floated around it. He was having trouble getting his head around everything that was happening. The city battle was far away, but it didn’t feel like they’d moved at all.

  “Right now, we’re on the dark side of the second moon orbiting that red planet,” Nora said. “Every other place around here is crawling with either Atilla, shape-shifting Zepar, or Space Command grunts like us.”

  Jayden shook out his hands in relief. They had Nora and the tablet! Next stop: home. He could almost smell Rosa’s chicken and coconut rice. “Once you figure out the coordinates, how long will it take to get back to Earth?” he asked.

  “Sorry, not possible,” Cleo sai
d. “Afraid this little flying thing doesn’t have the range.”

  “This UFO won’t make it home?” Jayden asked Nora.

  Nora shook her head. “Nope.”

  So much for home cooked Columbian anytime soon, Jayden thought. His stomach churned again as he clawed the high back of Nora’s seat to steady himself. “So how do we get home?”

  Nora glanced over her shoulder at him. “Once I figure out the coordinates, we’ll need to snatch a bigger ship. But I found something else.”

  “What’s that?” Parker asked her.

  “There are rumors about a large group of rebel kids our age from different planets.”

  “Rebel kids?” Jayden couldn’t imagine why anyone would rebel against Space Command with the consequence being death by the freaky-looking Leader dude’s BBQ light beam.

  “They go by the name of the Spring Tide Masons,” Cleo added.

  “I guess they were tired of being told what to do by reptile-eyed bullies,” Nora said. “Creepy too. When their jaw isn’t extended, they look like accountants to me.”

  Jayden grinned. He was thinking banker, but Nuk’ana did sort of look like his dad’s bald accountant.

  “Should we try to find the rebels?” Jayden asked.

  Nora nodded. “I hear they have a long range transport spacecraft. That seems like the best chance of getting back to Earth.”

  “Assuming we do find them, how do we know they’ll help us?” Parker asked his sister.

  “Well, put it this way,” she replied. “If we don’t find them, we’re on our own. And if we’re on our own, we’re carbon dust for sure.”

  “What do you want us to do?” Parker asked.

  “I need some time to work on hacking the more secure parts of the Space Command communication system,” Nora said. “Maybe I can monitor encrypted communications. That way we can figure out where to find the masons.” She paused and gave them one of her long looks. “Why don’t you guys get some rest? You all must be exhausted.”

  “Can’t remember when I slept last,” BBgun said. “Or ate.”

  “Downstairs there’s a crew quarters. Not much room though. The Ga are tiny. Just under four feet from what I can tell.”

  “You saw one?” BBgun asked.

  “Nope, but I can tell by the way Space Command and the Ga modified this flying saucer for humans.” She shot back to her feet and hugged Parker again. “Glad you’re here with me.”

  Jayden saw tears in Parker's eyes.

  “Go get some rest,” Nora said. “Take the stairs down. There are cots, pillows and blankets, food and drinks, and a shower. The food and drinks are seriously good. Wait until you try the food cubes.”

  Nora gazed at Jayden with soft eyes. She took both of his hands in hers. “Thanks again for watching over my brother.”

  Jayden smiled. “Um, he was doing pretty well on his own.”

  Nora hugged Jayden again. “I mean it.” She stepped back and touched Jayden’s face with her hand. “Thank you.”

  It felt as though every nerve in Jayden’s body had activated at once. “I, um—”

  Nora smiled. “Go. Get a drink, something to eat. You need to keep your strength up.”

  “Oh, wait. I have something to show you.” Jayden reached around to his secret shirt pocket, retrieved his dad’s tablet, and handed it to her. The display showed a new picture on it of the Milky Way Galaxy with a blue background like a screen saver. Black, bold letters “SECC” were in the middle of the Milky Way image. “Weird, huh? Somehow it connected itself to Space Command’s network.”

  Nora’s eyes went wide. She held the tablet close to her face, studying it. “Can I hang on to it for a while? All the malware code I wrote to fix it should still be hiding in email attachments inside. It might help me access their systems deeper.”

  “Sure,” Jayden said. “It’s running low on battery. It’ll need a charge soon. Can you get power to it?”

  “I don’t know,” Nora replied. “I’ll figure something out.”

  “I’ll stay and help you,” Cleo said to Nora.

  Nora nodded but kept her eyes fixed on the tablet’s display.

  The three boys lumbered down the stairs. Jayden realized Nora was right. He was exhausted.

  It didn’t take long before they found the crew quarters. The space was about twice the size of Jayden’s bedroom, with smooth, black walls, three beds that looked like cots, and a separate area with a bathroom and shower combo, just barely bigger than a commercial airplane’s restroom.

  After Jayden took a shower, he was too tired to eat. He curled up on a single-sized cot. For the first time since the bus ride, he yawned. They hadn’t been zapped or eaten by aliens. Nora had found them. He’d even recovered the tablet.

  Maybe their luck was improving.