Deadly Mission

by Max Chase

  “Here, Prince, Prince, Prince,” Diesel called.

  “He’s royalty, not a cat,” Peri hissed.

  “With the Meigwors, anything is possible,” muttered Diesel, before bellowing, “Your Royal Highness, you-hoo?”

  Yooou-hoooo-hooo-hoo. The sound echoed through the cellar.

  Peri stumbled forward in the dark. He couldn’t even see if he was walking in a straight line. He bumped into something.

  “Hey, lamizoid, watch it!” Diesel snapped.

  “I’m not Martian. I can’t see in the dark.”

  There was an awkward silence. Something wasn’t right. “Wait a minute …,” Peri muttered, staring through the blackness at where he thought Diesel was.

  “Why aren’t your eyes glowing?” he asked. “Don’t Martians have illumovision? Shouldn’t you be able to see in the dark?”

  “Um, well …,” Diesel muttered. Peri couldn’t see Diesel’s face, but he could hear a squeak of embarrassment in the gunner’s voice. “Just because illumovision isn’t part of my half-Martian blood doesn’t mean I’m not all Martian where it counts. I could beat you any day with both eyes shut and—”

  “Hey, space-monkeys!” Otto bellowed. “We can leave now! I’ve found the prince!”

  Peri shook his head. It figures. Otto sent us down here for nothing.

  Diesel didn’t seem to mind. They stumbled through the darkness until they spotted the slimy rungs of the ladder. As Peri climbed out, he found Otto wrestling with a large silver blanket. It thrashed around in his arms, mumbling and cursing.

  “Otto,” Peri demanded. “What on Neptune is going on?”

  “Nothing!” Otto shouted. He prodded the blanket, threatening whatever, or whoever, was inside as he did. “You can shut up, or I’ll let the Earthlings blast you.”

  Otto glanced at Peri and Diesel. “It’s for his own safety! He’s been brainwashed by the evil Xions!” Otto’s lipless mouth slid into a sheepish smile. “Just a moment!”

  Otto pulled a rope from a utility pouch and looped it around the blanket. The rope encircled the prince, tying the silver material into a bundle that Otto flung over his shoulder. “We go now!”

  But Otto didn’t even manage a single step. Eeeerrraaaa-eeerrraaa! Alarms blasted from every direction. Metal gates crashed between the archways in the corridor, sealing them off from the rest of the palace.

  Chapter 6

  Eeeerrraaaa-eeerrrraaaa. The palace alarms were screeching at full volume.

  One of the gates had jammed halfway down. Peri, Diesel, and Otto ducked under it and ran.

  They passed a picture of the Xion king in full battle gear. Instead of black, his shell was a brilliant gold. He held the suit’s helmet under his arm, but his hands were pincher claws and the suit’s scorpion tail curled behind him. Peri couldn’t help feeling their daring rescue was about to end badly.

  Peri urged his crew on, turning this way then that, down the twisting corridors. It was getting so hot and stuffy that even the Expedition Wear struggled to keep them cool. They raced around the next corner, and another portrait of the king of Xion greeted them. It was the same as the last one.

  “Don’t they have any other pictures of the king?” Diesel wondered aloud.

  “Wait a minute,” said Peri, trying to catch his breath. “We’re running in circles.”

  “Nonsense!” snapped Otto, adjusting the silver bundle over his shoulder. “Meigwors have a keen sense of direction!”

  “Listen,” Peri panted, supporting himself against the corridor wall. “We’ve seen this picture twice already.”

  Otto licked the sweat off his forehead with his tongue. “No, we haven’t!”

  “Yes, we have,” panted Diesel. “It’s a self-repeating maze.”

  “We’re trapped,” Peri said. Anger pulsed through him, as a computerized voice rang out inside his head: Fight-or-Flight—activated.

  That had never happened before. Peri’s Expedition Wear tightened as his muscles swelled. His feet tingled and his arms throbbed. He didn’t know what was happening. His circuits buzzed with energy. His bionic abilities obviously extended beyond the Phoenix, but it was no time to test them! He didn’t know what he’d activated, or how to switch it off.

  “I’m going to get us out of here,” Peri told Otto and Diesel. His legs powered forward. Without hesitation, he grabbed hold of the metal bars that were blocking their way and twisted. Snap! Peri gasped at his superhuman strength, but continued to pull bars from the gate as though they were nothing more than matchsticks. Snap! Snap!

  Before either of the others could react, Peri heard the sound of the palace guards’ heavy boots thundering along the marble corridors behind them. The effects of Otto’s freezing trick must have worn off. Peri grabbed Diesel and Otto and pulled them through the gap in the gate.

  “Run!” Peri sprinted down the marble corridor.

  The corridor ahead was clear, so he put on an extra spurt of speed. As he reached the next junction his body stopped so suddenly he thought his eyes would pop out. One moment he had been zooming down the corridor, the next his muscles were fighting to keep him upright. His heart was pounding fast enough to explode. What if he had overdone it and snapped some internal wiring or tripped a switch?

  He glanced behind him. Diesel and Otto were still struggling to catch up. The palace guards were in hot pursuit. He tried to move forward again, but his legs were frozen. Instead, he heard the calm computerized voice inside his head say: Flesh-vaporizing trap, calculating optimal route to avoid. Calculation done.

  Suddenly, he could see the red beams of the deadly rays crisscrossing the junction.

  Ready in three, two …

  Peri could do nothing to stop his body from crouching. He couldn’t even close his eyes.

  … one!

  He leaped higher into the air than he had ever done outside of a 3-D game or zero-gravity training. He soared up, his hair brushing the ceiling. He felt so powerful and skilled. He tucked into a double somersault, tumbling perfectly through the gaps in the flesh-vaporizing rays.

  Not even Diesel could do that!

  His body knew what to do next. Instantly, it twisted and launched him into a backflip, followed by a perfectly controlled forward roll. Peri landed in front of a control panel, and his hand smashed into it. Sparks flew as a jolt of energy burst from his arm into the wall. Smoke poured out between the cracks in the plaster, and the beams crisscrossing the room flickered and faded away.

  “All clear!” Peri shouted as he super-charged down the final corridor to the palace courtyard. I could get used to being bionic, he thought. But as he did, the floor slid away to reveal a pit lined with deadly spikes. He skidded to a stop a half inch from the edge of the trap.

  “The guards have powered up their lasers!” shouted Otto. He and Diesel were getting closer.

  Zap-zap-zap-kaaapowww! Laser fire blasted the walls around him, raining down fragments of stone.

  Otto sprinted ahead of Diesel. He squealed when he saw the pit for the first time. Peri grabbed the Meigwor by his ammo belts and threw him and the prince clean across.

  Zap-zap-zap-sssizz. The laser fire was getting closer.

  “Come on, Diesel,” Peri urged.

  “I’m coming!” The gunner put on an extra burst and raced toward Peri. When he saw the pit, his eyes widened and his band of hair turned plasma white.

  “Don’t stop. Keep going!” Peri called. “I’m going to catapult you across!”

  “Are you crazy?” yelled Diesel.

  “Just trust me!” Peri grabbed Diesel and tossed him over the deadly spikes.

  Peri took one last look at the approaching guards, glanced across the pit, and hoped his bionic body wouldn’t let him down. He prepared himself to take a running leap.

  Zap-zap-boom!

  The ceiling began to crumble and rain down around him. He had to go now. He fixed his eyes on Diesel and went for it. As he jumped, it felt as though he was leaving his stomach behind. He cou
ldn’t help but imagine falling onto the spikes.

  But he made it. He rolled as he landed and then stood up. Phew!

  Zap-zap-fhizzz. A laser blast punched against his shoulder, knocking him down. Peri was ready for burning pain to rip through his circuits, but nothing happened. He pressed his hand against his shoulder, but found only a small hole burned into his jacket. I’m bionic and lucky!

  As he crawled toward Otto and Diesel, his suit began to buzz, changing color from blue to the same dusty orange as the marble in the palace. The suit’s material began to harden. Peri stood up. Another laser blast hit him, but this time it ricocheted off, almost hitting Otto.

  “Diesel!” Peri exclaimed. “Our suits are laser-proof!”

  “You two hold back the guards, then!” Otto shouted. “I must get the prince to safety!”

  They broke out into the palace courtyard. Peri glanced behind. Not a single guard had pursued them over the spiked pit. They had escaped! He punched the air. All they needed to do now was make it to the Phoenix, return to Meigwor, and get Selene back.

  “Let’s go,” Peri urged, but as he took another step, his legs buckled. He only just stopped himself from falling. Something was wrong. His bionic body was feeling sooo heavy, but why? He tried to force himself on, but the air was thickening around him. “Activate Fight-or-Flight,” he muttered desperately, but his body slowed. Some robot I am, he thought. I don’t even know how to operate myself.

  “Come on, Peri,” Diesel said. “We’ve got to get out of here.”

  Peri stumbled forward. Diesel grabbed him, stopping him from collapsing completely. Peri looked around. There wasn’t a single guard in the courtyard.

  “I can’t believe it,” he said to Diesel. “We got away with it.”

  Diesel shook his head and pointed at the sky.

  Peri looked up. “Oh …”

  Hundreds of Xion guards on cruisers were circling above the courtyard like a swarm of Neptunian gnats. Every single one of them had their blasters aimed at Peri and his companions.

  Chapter 7

  The Xion cruisers looked like they meant serious, deadly business. Running was impossible. The cruisers were light and sleek, which meant they would also be fast and easy to maneuver through the narrow streets. The Xion guards had laser assault-blasters pressed against their shoulders, their webbed fingers poised to shoot. They had bubblelike headphones protecting each ear from Otto’s booming, hypnotic voice.

  “Raise your hands, space-monkeys!” hissed Otto. “Before they use it as an excuse to kill first and ask questions later!”

  “But why haven’t they attacked?” Peri asked, lifting his arms.

  “They probably want a public execution,” Diesel said, doing the same. “Emperor Elliotte the First used to do that.”

  “Shh,” Otto said. “They might not know we have the prince! They could think we’re just intruders!”

  “Are you insane?” Peri said. “Isn’t it obvious we have him? What else do they think you have over your shoulder?”

  “The blanket’s invisible to them!” Otto whispered in a low voice, but it still felt as if he was shouting. “Their eyes can’t see certain types of silver! It’s the wrong light-wavelength!”

  “Is that why your blaster is silver?” Diesel asked.

  “Exactly!” Otto grunted.

  Peri couldn’t see how that would help them. His arms were shaking from holding them in the air. It wouldn’t be long before his whole body collapsed.

  Out of the corner of his eye, Peri saw Otto slowly reaching for his weapon.

  He’s insane, thought Peri. We’re 700 percent outgunned and in eighty times more trouble than we’ve ever been, and he’s still going for his blaster!

  “You’re going to get us killed,” Peri hissed.

  As Otto’s hand reached his blaster’s grip, angry red dots spread across his skin like the Ich’stein Pox. The red dots covered every bit of him, including his ammo belts and his cloak.

  “Don’t move, Otto!” Diesel warned. “They have their laser sights on you.”

  Otto raised his hand slowly away from his blaster. He flicked a look at Peri. “You’d better follow the same advice!”

  Peri glanced down at himself, then over at Diesel. Otto was right. Red laser spots danced over their bodies too.

  A cruiser with a red stripe along its sleek black sides hovered closer. The guard sitting on it stood up. There was a large badge on his chest and a row of medals. A strange plume of feathers had been stuck to the back of his helmet.

  “Return the prince or perish,” he ordered. His voice was amplified by the loudspeakers in the courtyard. “You have ten seconds to tell me what you have done with His Royal Excellency.”

  “Ten …”

  Peri glanced at the silver bundle on Otto’s shoulder. If they handed over the prince, he was sure they’d be killed anyway for helping the Meigwors. It was odd that the Xions had called their enemy His Royal Excellency. Peri wouldn’t have called Diesel by his official title in a million light-years.

  It’s probably a Xion trick to confuse us, he thought.

  “Nine …”

  There’s only one thing to do.

  “Eight …”

  “We can’t let them take the prince,” Peri whispered to Diesel. “Even if we die trying to defend him.”

  “Seven …”

  “But he’s a Meigwor,” Diesel replied.

  “It doesn’t matter,” Peri said. “We’ve got to do our duty and protect him!”

  “Six … five …”

  “If we fail to return the prince,” Peri said, “we’ll never see Selene again.”

  “Four … three …”

  “Come and get us, you Xion cowards!” Otto boomed.

  “Two …”

  Otto threw his head back and roared: “You couldn’t pulverize a space-bug with a planet-buster!”

  “One …”

  Peri couldn’t let these aliens win. He had to do something to stop them.

  “Ready!” screamed the Xion commander. “Aim!”

  But what could he do? He was unarmed, trapped—helpless.

  “Fire!” barked the commander.

  Hundreds of searing red laser beams burst from the assault-blasters.

  Peri felt his hands thrusting forward. “Noooo!” he screamed.

  A brilliant flash of electric blue light erupted from his outstretched fingers. The air crackled with energy as the laser beams were vaporized in midair.

  Peri stared at his hands in amazement. “What in the Milky Way was that?” he gasped.

  “There’s only one thing that disrupts laser beams—an electromagnetic pulse!” Otto exclaimed.

  “Yeah, well done, Peri,” Diesel muttered moodily. “But I’m the gunner. Next time you find a cool gadget on the Phoenix, tell me before you take it, or there’ll be trouble.”

  “Yeah,” said Peri, hiding his hands behind his back. Diesel had no idea Peri was part bionic. “I’ll do that next time.”

  Some of the Xion guards examined their weapons; others beat theirs against the side of their cruisers to see if they could make them work again.

  “We must get out of here fast,” said Peri, but as he tried to step forward, his vision swam as though he was back in the Cos-Moat. “Activate engines,” he mumbled.

  “It must be heatstroke,” Diesel said. “You’re not making sense, Peri.”

  It was no good. Peri’s legs buckled under him and he fell to the ground. His body refused to respond to his commands. He was utterly exhausted.

  This is the end for me, he thought.

  Diesel knelt beside him, trying to loosen Peri’s Expedition Wear jacket.

  Peri looked up. A Xion cruiser had broken formation and was speeding toward them. It took him a moment to realize the guard had tossed aside his useless state-of-the-art weapon and was reaching for an old-fashioned machine-blaster. Peri tried to warn the others, but all he could speak was gibberish, “Guuaaaa-guaaaarr-aarrd.”
<
br />   The voice in his head was repeating a warning: Bionic batteries drained. Bionic batteries drained.

  The electromagnetic blast must have taken the last of his energy. After all they had been through to rescue the prince, had he blown the entire mission because he didn’t know how to operate his own body?

  “Leave without me,” Peri said. “I don’t have the energy to stand, let alone run.”

  “I’m not leaving you,” said Diesel. “You’re not getting away from me and Otto that easily …”

  “Get the prince back to the Phoenix. We can’t fail on our mission,” Peri ordered. “I’ll fight them off as long as I can.”

  Chapter 8

  Otto ripped a smoke grenade from his ammo belts. He whipped the pin out with his tongue and threw it toward the guards. The grenade exploded in a cloud of lurid yellow smoke.

  “Quick, before the smokescreen disappears!” Otto snapped, grabbing Diesel and trying to pull him away from Peri, but the half-Martian gunner wouldn’t budge.

  “We’re not leaving Peri!” Diesel shouted, trying to shake off the Meigwor. But Otto was already dragging him toward the palace gatehouse. “This isn’t the end!” Diesel shouted over his shoulder. “Keep fighting, Peri!”

  “Catch!” Otto shouted from the shadow of the gatehouse. The Meigwor threw him a couple of smoke grenades, but they fell short and rattled against the marble, out of Peri’s reach.

  Otto vanished, dragging Diesel behind him.

  As Peri reached for the grenades, sharp chips of marble stung his arms as blaster rounds ricocheted off the ground. There was a stone bench close by. Peri used all his strength to crawl toward the shelter.

  I wish the Phoenix was here, he thought.

  He wouldn’t be able to hold off the palace guards for much longer. At least I helped Otto and Diesel make a clean getaway. They’ll get Selene back. The mission will be a success.

  Peri glanced over the bench and saw a swarm of palace cruisers searching the city for Otto and Diesel. In the distance the sleek egg shape of the Phoenix rose like a white sun over the city. The guard cruisers would be no match against his ship.