Jonathan Rush and the Star Academy

by Gregory Blackman

  Chapter Ten

  Johnny awoke on board the Aidos. His body hurt, everywhere. He groaned as he opened his eyes. His vision was blurry, but he managed to see a figure standing over him. He didn’t need to see her face to realize it was Amy.

  “You’re awake!” Amy exclaimed as Johnny lifted his head. She sprung at Johnny, giving him the tightest hug of his life. He had worried her a great deal. “You gave me one heck of a scare, Johnny. I’m glad you are okay.”

  “Okay wouldn’t be the word I would use to describe the situation,” Davan said. He walked to Amy, joining her at Johnny’s bedside. “Just what were you thinking, little man? You received a serious concussion, and you could have very well lost your life.”

  Johnny knew he had disappointed everyone. Just then, he remembered why he had risked his life.

  “Robby!” Johnny shouted, sitting up from his bed. “Where is Robby? Is he okay?”

  “He is fine,” Davan reported. “We had to deactivate him however, as he kept trying to leave the ship and return to Nox. You should not have done that, Johnny.”

  Johnny didn’t understand. He had saved, or at least tried to, Robby’s life. Why would he want to leave and go back to the people that were abusing him?

  “Droids aren’t like people, Johnny.” Davan said. “While some show signs of emotion and self-awareness, they are programmed to serve a purpose. I have no doubt you saved the droid’s life, but he is simply trying to fulfill his programming. By bringing him aboard, he was unable to fulfill his primary reason for being.”

  “Can we do anything for him?” Johnny inquired.

  “I believe I can actually,” Davan responded. “I can reprogram him to accept you as his Master, if you wish.”

  Johnny nodded his head and Davan joined him by the table. He lifted his head to get a better look at the droid. There Robby was, lying motionless. Davan started to touch the control panel beside the bed, attempting to reprogram Robby.

  “Stop, please!” Johnny pleaded. He suddenly had a change of heart. They had no right to re-program the droid, he thought. Robby had shown personality, and as Davan called it, self-awareness. He could not demand that from a potential new friend. “Is there any way you can remove the need for a Master?”

  Davan looked puzzled. He had never heard such a request; a droid without a Master? He wasn’t sure if such a thing had ever happened before, but he respected the wishes of the young boy.

  “Why would you want that, little man?” Davan asked.

  “I want him to want to be my friend,” Johnny said. “Anything less and he wouldn’t really be my friend.”

  Davan smiled and got to work repairing the tiny robot.

  Meanwhile, on the bridge, Kenzel and Selene were having a very serious conversation.

  “Do you want to explain to me, just what the heck those things were?” Selene demanded.

  “I wish I could tell you Selene. I wish I knew myself,” Kenzel replied. “I believe something came out of the Rift, and transformed the population down below. As for their intentions, or even how it is possible, I cannot say.”

  “Well that’s just great, isn’t it?” Selene said, frustrated. She was not one to run away from a fight, but that was not even close to winnable. They should have had a whole squadron of troops with them, she thought. “The Star Master is going to get an earful from me when we get back.”

  The door opened and Davan walked on to the bridge.

  “How is the boy?” Kenzel asked.

  “A mild concussion, he will be fine,” Davan replied. The serious look on his face told Kenzel that wasn’t the only thing on his mind.

  “What is the matter?” Kenzel wondered.

  “The droid,” Davan started. “The droid weighs over two hundred pounds. It is one thing for students to develop mental abilities before turning eighteen, but having their strength grow to such extremes, at such a young age, has just never happened before. You realize, that this means—“

  Suddenly, the starships alarm started. The lights on the bridge turned red, and both Selene and Kenzel scrambled to get to their terminals.

  “Sir, we have dropped out of warp,” Selene told Kenzel. “Something is holding us, we cannot move. We’re stuck. What could be doing this?”

  “That is what is holding us,” Kenzel replied. He pointed to the view screen where a large battleship was beginning to de-cloak. Just then, both Amy and Johnny rushed on to the bridge.

  “Whoa,” Johnny exclaimed as walked on to the bridge. The battleship was gigantic; easily ten times the size of their little cruiser. Looking like a giant rifle in space, it had a square front and ran lengthwise for what looked like a mile. Large guns littered the main body of the battleship, and they were all directed at the small cruiser.

  “We are the Void Empire. Surrender or be destroyed,” a strange and terrifying voice barked over the communications channel.

  “Just what the heck is the Void Empire?” Davan asked, looking at Kenzel. Kenzel said nothing, he didn’t have to; even if Davan couldn’t read Kenzel’s mind, he knew something was being hidden from them all; something bigger than any of them could imagine.

  Davan may not have known, but the young star student behind him knew all too well. The Void Empire…could there be any chance they were the same people from his dreams? Johnny sure didn’t want to find out.

  The large battleship shot a bright white beam from its enormous side, and the starship began to be sucked in closer, and closer.

  “We’re being pulled in,” said Selene, who was frantically trying to mash every button she could find. “There’s nothing I can do.”

  “Trying emergency power reserves,” Kenzel said, desperately. “It’s no use, we’re going in.”

  The side of the battleship opened, revealing a large docking bay. The Aidos was engulfed by it and lowered into its hanger bay.

  “What did you get us in to?” Davan asked Kenzel. Just then, thick clouds of gas started to pour into the Aidos. “They are trying to choke us out!”

  The gas worked quickly, causing them all to gasp for air. The children were the first to hit the floor, but soon fell down.

  Johnny was losing consciousness quickly. His vision was getting blurry and he had little time left.

  Suddenly, the gas dispersed and a large figure walked on to the bridge. Johnny could barely see, but would recognize that silhouette anywhere. It was the large, half-man, half-machine from his nightmare. The Dark Prince had found him.