‘That was a pretty abrupt way of ending a meeting,’ I said. ‘But you don’t know the half of it. We’ve been here for more than a day and a half.’
‘What?’
‘And that’s not all,’ I said thoughtfully. ‘Why are we here?’
‘What do you mean?’
‘I mean—why are we here? He obviously didn’t like us refusing his request. Twenty-two could have just tossed us into space.’
‘Well, I’m glad he didn’t. Being thrown out an airlock wasn’t exactly how I planned my day.’
I turned my attention to the cell. Apart from its size, it was identical to the other chambers we’d already seen. It would have been easy to believe it was a sealed box—except we knew there had to be a door.
‘This room has zeno emitters,’ Brodie said, indicating the ceiling. ‘So our powers our nullified.’
She was right. The only break in the ceiling was a single device set into the middle. I frowned. Cone-shaped, it resembled an old fashioned lampshade.
‘How high is that ceiling?’ I said.
‘What? I don’t know. Maybe about ten feet...’ her voice trailed off. ‘Are you thinking what I’m thinking?’
‘You might be able to reach it if you stand on my shoulders.’
‘Can getting out of here be that easy?’
‘The Bakari are bright, but they might not have a lot of experience in holding prisoners.’
I dropped to one knee, and Brodie stepped onto my shoulders. Holding her hands to give her balance, I slowly stood.
‘Move back a little,’ she instructed.
‘Okay.’
‘To the right.’
‘Sure.’
‘No, the other right.’
‘Oh.’
‘Stay still.’
This was tiring, and Brodie’s left foot was digging into my collarbone. ‘Can you reach it?’ I grunted. ‘I can’t do this all day.’
‘I need to be a bit higher.’
She stepped onto my head, and we began to wobble. ‘Hold on,’ I said. ‘I need to—’
Brodie let out a yell, and an instant later, she came crashing down on me.
I groaned as we untangled ourselves. ‘Next time can you—’ I stopped as I saw the object in Brodie’s hand. ‘You’ve got to be kidding.’
She had the zeno emitter. ‘And that’s how it’s done,’ she said, grinning. ‘Now, let’s get out of this place!’
With my powers restored, I focused on pulling air into the room. Within seconds, I had established a micro-gap along one wall. Expanding the air within it, I exerted force, and the door ripped away from the bulkhead, leaving a jagged gap.
‘Come on!’ Brodie urged.
We scampered out of the room and into the corridor. Our comm bracelets came back online. ‘Ferdy!’ I said. ‘We need to make a quick getaway.’
‘It is indeed good to hear you, friend Axel,’ he said. ‘And the game of chess is believed to have originated—’
‘Just get Liber8tor ready to leave!’
By luck more than good planning, we found the loading bay. Scrambling back on board the ship, we made our way to the bridge where Brodie started the engines.
‘We need to put some distance between us and this Bakari ship,’ she said as we lifted off. ‘Axel. Take the weapons console.’
I settled behind the controls. ‘What do I shoot at?’ I asked.
‘Anything!’
In my panic, I couldn’t remember what weapon fired what. We had torpedoes and laser cannons, but which was which? Looking up, I saw the robot cruise through the open doorway into the loading bay. I slammed my hands down on the control panel, and Liber8tor fired a barrage of weaponry into the ship.
Ka-boom!
The resulting explosion almost threw me from my seat. Struggling with the controls, Brodie reversed us into the vacuum of space.
‘I’m engaging FTL,’ she said. ‘Hang on!’
Before the stars slid into streaks of light, I cast a final look back at Twenty-Two’s ship. The underneath of it was flying apart. It looked like I’d hit some sensitive systems. Another explosion ripped a quarter of the ship away, and it rolled lazily onto its side.
‘We did it!’ I said.
For once, winning had been easier than expected.
Chapter Twelve
The alien known as Twenty-Two nodded with satisfaction as he watched Liber8tor disappear from sight.
‘Good,’ he murmured to himself. ‘Everything is going precisely as planned.’
Chapter Thirteen
‘But where is she?’ Chad demanded.
He felt ready to explode. One minute, Ebony had been standing by the doorway; the next, she was gone. If she’d gone to see Salia’s mother, why hadn’t she returned? Chad had tried contacting her on his comm bracelet but without success. Then he had contacted Dan back at Liber8tor, but he hadn’t heard from Ebony either.
Where is she?
‘I think we need to face an unpleasant possibility,’ Mister Okada said. ‘I believe she has been kidnapped.’
‘That’s ridiculous!’ Chad snapped. ‘Ebony has superpowers. She could fight off a dozen attackers!’
‘Not if she were taken by surprise. And this is a strange world. She may have been taken unawares.’
Chad felt his stomach turn over. What Mister Okada was saying could be true. Any of them could be taken by surprise.
‘What should we do?’ Quinn asked her father.
‘We’ll ask around the market,’ he said. ‘But we must stay together.’
They spent the next few hours asking at market stalls and shops. Few people recalled seeing her, and those that did had no idea where she had gone. The sun was low in the sky by the time Chad and the others reached the spaceports.
By this time, Chad was gloomy about their prospects. Anything could have happened to Ebony. She could even be dead.
Why did we come to this terrible place? We should have stayed on Earth.
But he knew the answer.
Because Earth is doomed if the Tagaar aren’t stopped.
A shop owner at one of the spaceports had a possible lead.
‘There were some Brallians here,’ he said.
‘Who are they?’ Chad asked.
He explained they were aliens from a pair of twin worlds a few light-years from Gastara. They had been making some strange inquiries all through the market about a metal called dibranium.
‘Dibranium is virtually indestructible,’ Mister Okada explained. ‘It’s often used by banks for vaults.’
But what’s that got to do with Ebony? Chad wondered. Then he realized Ebony could break through such a vault in seconds.
They quizzed the shop owner further, but he knew nothing more about the men. They fetched Dan from the ship and continued asking at other stalls about the Brallians. Finally, an attendant at a spaceport was able to give them a lead.
‘Their leader was a man named Tardon,’ the man said.
‘Is he a criminal?’ Dan asked.
‘Worse.’
The attendant explained that a war had been raging between Brall One and Brall Two for centuries. Tardon and his crew were known terrorists.
‘Do you know where he was headed?’ Quinn asked.
‘He mentioned the planet Devilia.’
Thanking the man, they started back towards Liber8tor, but Dan stopped them. ‘Wait a minute,’ he said. ‘You’re forgetting the ship still needs to be repaired.’
‘How long would that take?’ Chad asked.
Dan shrugged. ‘I’m not sure,’ he said. ‘Hours, maybe a day.’
‘We can’t wait that long!’
Mister Okada was staring past them. ‘We may be in luck,’ he said. ‘I think I’ve spotted someone who may help us.’
A man covered with bristly black body hair, and two stubby horns poking from his forehead, was entering the spaceport. Mister Okada hurried over, and they talked. The stranger burst out laughing.
Bringi
ng him over, Mister Okada introduced him as Garan. ‘We’ve known each other a long time,’ he explained. ‘He’s an old friend.’
Garan laughed. ‘So, your name is Okada now,’ he said. ‘What a foolish name!’
Mister Okada gave a small smile. ‘It is easier to say than my real name,’ he said. ‘Now, we seek your help.’
‘You need the use of my vessel?’
Mister Okada explained what had happened.
‘That’s a dangerous region of space,’ Garan said. ‘The Brallians have been fighting for years.’
‘If we’re quick,’ Mister Okada said, ‘we won’t have to enter Brall space. It sounds like their first stop was Devilia.’
‘Then we’d better go.’ Garan frowned. ‘But the Sorcerer doesn’t run on goodwill.’
‘The Sorcerer?’ Chad said.
‘My ship.’
‘What will it cost?’ Mister Okada asked.
‘What have you got?’
‘The girl we’re rescuing has the power of transmutation. Once retrieved, she can make anything you want.’
‘If we rescue her.’
‘Imagine what you can have—a chair made of gold. A diamond table. A platinum bed.’
Garan nodded. ‘All right,’ he said. ‘But I’m not going to get myself killed. If this mission takes a wrong turn, I’m dropping you off at the nearest planet and heading in the opposite direction.’
Chad wanted to snap at the alien, but that was pointless. It was his ship, and they had no other option. They wished Dan well with the repairs, promising to return as soon as possible.
Weaving through the spaceport, they passed hundreds of ships until they neared a small, insect shaped vessel. A beeping came from a communicator on Garan’s wrist.
‘Wait,’ he cautioned, waving them back. ‘We may have a problem.’
‘What do you mean?’ Quinn asked.
‘It’s—’
A reptilian alien stepped out from behind the landing strut of a ship and raised a gun.
‘Watch out!’ Chad yelled.
They dived out of the way as Garan whipped out a weapon and fired. The reptilian disappeared behind the strut.
‘Quickly!’ Garan said. ‘We must get to the ship.’
They darted down the side of one of the vessels.
‘What’s going on?’ Mister Okada asked, confused. ‘Who was that?’
‘Someone that doesn’t like me.’
‘Obviously!’ Chad snapped. ‘But why?’
‘It’s a long story.’
They rounded the vessel and started towards the rear of Garan’s ship. A shot rang out, and a projectile pinged past.
A pair of aliens burst out from behind cover and started towards them. Chad formed an ice barrier, and their gunfire slammed into the wall. Meanwhile, Garan activated the ramp beneath his ship and it descended.
Bang!
Mister Okada cried out.
‘Dad!’ Quinn screamed.
‘I’m all right,’ Mister Okada said, gripping his arm.
Garan spun around, shot at the third shooter, and he fell to the ground. Quinn and Chad helped Mister Okada up the ramp. The interior of Garan’s ship was a single room with panels and piping running along both sides. He retracted the ramp and settled into the pilot’s seat.
More shots rang out against the side of the vessel.
‘At least we’re safe now,’ Chad said.
‘I hope so,’ Garan replied.
‘But surely—’
‘Quiet! I need to concentrate on getting out of here!’
Seconds later, Garan had the vessel in flight, and they were racing away from the Gastara market. Another vessel, a single tube-shaped ship, took off after them. It started firing at the Sorcerer.
‘I’ll engage FTL once we clear the atmosphere,’ Garan said. He brought up a targeting display on his console. ‘This should slow them down.’
He pressed a button, and the Sorcerer shuddered. Peering through a tiny porthole window, Chad saw a swarm of black dots falling towards the pursuit ship.
‘What did you fire at them?’ he asked.
‘It’s a type of flak,’ Garan explained. ‘It’ll block their engines long enough for us to get away.’
They reached the outskirts of the atmosphere. The pursuit ship seemed unaffected by the flak, but then it dipped and rolled. It let out one last volley of weapon’s fire but missed the Sorcerer completely.
‘I’m entering the co-ordinates,’ Garan said.
Quinn pointed out the window. ‘There’s another ship!’ she said.
The vessel was of the same make as the first, but arrowing towards them at great speed. It fired a blast at the Sorcerer.
Just as it seemed about to strike their ship, Chad felt the engines surge. Gastara disappeared from sight, and a kaleidoscope of rainbow stars began to slide past the window. They were in FTL mode.
‘We’re safe,’ Garan said, leaning back in his seat.
‘Great,’ Chad said, turning to him. ‘Now tell us what’s going on!’
Chapter Fourteen
‘What do you mean?’ Garan growled.
‘I want answers!’ Chad snapped. ‘Who were those people? And why were they shooting at us!’
There was a blur of movement, and then there was a gun in Garan’s hand. ‘I don’t answer to freaks!’ the alien said.
‘Freaks? Why you—’
‘Stop this!’ Mister Okada said.
The Bakari had a weapon aimed at both of them. Where this had come from, Chad had no idea. It resembled a miniature rifle but was blue and silver. A hum came from it.
Garan blanched. ‘We’ve been friends for a long time—’
‘We have,’ Mister Okada said, ‘and I want us to stay friends. But I can’t have you killing this boy.’ He glanced at Chad. ‘And I can’t have you killing the pilot. No one else knows how to fly the ship.’
Chad glanced at the controls. Mister Okada was right. They didn’t look anything like those on Liber8tor.
Slowly, Garan put his weapon away. So did Mister Okada.
‘We must focus on getting to Devilia,’ Mister Okada said. ‘We can trade stories on the way.’
Sighing, Garan fell back into his seat. ‘I owed money,’ he said, gloomily, ‘to a group called the Kell Syndicate.’
‘How much money?’ Mister Okada asked.
‘A lot. I lost a lot through gambling. It was a game called Tri-Go. I didn’t realize until the end that I was being scammed. They were cheating, but by then I’d lost almost everything.’
‘Can’t you go to the authorities?’ Quinn asked.
‘What authorities? It’s every man for himself out here.’
‘What will they do when they catch you?’
Garan’s face fell. ‘The Kell Syndicate doesn’t like debtors,’ he said. ‘Mostly, they disappear without a trace.’
The alien stopped speaking. Chad couldn’t help but feel sorry for the man. He had almost gotten them killed, but it wasn’t entirely his fault. Chad turned away, noticing Mister Okada’s arm. His shirt was torn from where he had been shot, but there was no blood.
‘How—’ he began.
Then he remembered. Axel had told him he had seen Mister Okada get shot in the head—and survive. As a Bakari, he was seemingly invincible. Mister Okada followed his gaze.
‘It takes a lot to harm me,’ he said.
‘I’m sure.’
Garan glanced over his shoulder. ‘You’re still amazing people with your magic tricks?’ he said to Mister Okada.
‘Science and magic look the same to those who do not understand.’
A light began flashing on the Sorcerer’s console. ‘We’re almost there,’ Garan said. ‘We’re dropping out of FTL speed.’
The ship jolted, and Quinn fell against Chad.
‘Sorry,’ she said, reddening.
‘No problem,’ he said.
She flashed him a smile, and he was surprised to find himself smiling in return. He lo
oked away.
Stop smiling, he told himself. She’s the enemy.
But she didn’t seem like the enemy. She seemed like any regular teenager. Although she’d betrayed Axel and their group, Quinn had been under duress.
Chad sighed. Life was complicated.
A planet slid into view. Chad peered down at it with interest. There were no signs of oceans or rivers of any kind. It looked to be a desert world.
One of the Sorcerer’s console started beeping. ‘I’m picking up a transmission from the surface,’ Garan said. ‘A facility has been raided on Devilia. Some kind of weapon has been stolen.’
‘That’s too much of a coincidence,’ Chad said. ‘They must be the ones who kidnapped Ebony.’
‘I’m picking up a vessel named the Braxius on my scanners. It’s engaging FTL drive.’
‘Follow it,’ Mister Okada said.
The other ship disappeared, and seconds later, Garan engaged the Sorcerer’s FTL drive. Chad gripped the pilot’s seat as the vessel traveled in the Braxius’s wake, rainbow streaks of color sliding by the ship.
‘Do you know anything about that ship?’ Chad asked.
‘It’s Brallian. They’re probably—’
A burst of light came from the rear of the Braxius.
‘What’s that?’ Quinn asked.
‘They’re firing at us,’ Garan snapped. ‘Hold on!’
He swerved their ship, and the blast whizzed by, narrowly avoiding them. A targeting display appeared on the viewscreen.
‘What are you doing?’ Mister Okada asked. ‘You can’t shoot at them.’
‘Why not? They’re shooting at us!’
‘You might destroy the ship—and kill Ebony.’
Garan cursed as another blast came from the vessel. ‘I didn’t sign up for certain death,’ he said, swerving the ship again. Chad and the others were thrown against the bulkhead. An explosion came from outside the vessel. ‘That was too close. We’re not built to take on that kind of weaponry.’
‘Please, old friend,’ Mister Okada implored, gripping the man’s shoulder. ‘We have to save the girl.’
Growling, Garan did not speak at first. ‘The Braxius is dropping out of FTL drive,’ he finally said. ‘I’ll do the same.’
A moment later, they were back in normal space. Garan turned the control stick, and the vessel swerved sideways. This time Chad and the others were thrown to the floor.
Teen Superheroes Box Set | Books 1-7 Page 85
