Evil Star (9 page)

Then he noticed that some of the crowd were also chanting for Selene and Jaxx. He felt a tingle of relief.
Surely no one would be cheering us if we’re in trouble?

General Pegg raised his hands and the room fell silent. ‘Selene.’ He beckoned to her.

Selene took a deep breath, straightened her tool belt and stepped forward.

‘There is a long list of charges against you,’ said the general, ‘from breaking IF security protocol to stowing away on IF bases. In addition to this, we have found unauthorised changes to the
Phoenix
–’

‘I was just fixing her!’ Selene interrupted.

‘Quiet,’ the general replied. ‘I should send you to space-detention. You clearly have no respect for authority, and find it impossible to obey orders.’

‘Sir, if I might –’ Peri started.

‘No, Peri,’ the general said. ‘Nothing you will say will change my mind. After reviewing the mission reports and all available data, it is my opinion that Selene is . . .’ He paused and glanced at the serjeant-at-arms in his ceremonial uniform. ‘An essential part of the
Phoenix
’s crew. Despite your lack of formal training, you are one of the brightest engineers we have ever seen, and so very brave too. Selene, please repeat after me.’

As Selene recited the IF creed, warm energy flowed through Peri’s circuits. His engineer friend was now officially part of their crew! The general pulled a titanium badge from the box held by the serjeant-at-arms and pinned it to Selene.

‘You are now a Star Fighter,’ General Pegg declared.

There was a cheer of ‘Peace in space’ from the guests, before the general raised his hand for silence again.

Selene’s smile vanished as he turned to Jaxx. Peri felt the warmth drain from his circuits as he realised that her father might still be punished.

The general took a deep breath. ‘We’re very sorry to have wrongfully accused you of being a space pirate. By order of His Imperial Majesty the Emperor, you are cleared of all charges. If you are happy to agree, we would like to appoint you as the IF’s chief technician.’

Jaxx smiled and nodded. ‘It would be an honour.’

‘Sir,’ Peri asked, ‘what about Daxx and Tonka?’

‘Daxx is in prison,’ said the general, ‘and will be for a long time. Unfortunately Tonka Mezzoka managed to escape. However, thanks to the
Phoenix
, the IF has confiscated the Mezzanator and captured most of the key leaders of the Mezzoka Clan. Tonka won’t be as powerful without them as he once was.’

The general paused and frowned. ‘You youngsters have achieved something remarkable. I sent you out on a very simple mission – to capture Jaxx. Not only did you accomplish this and return the Heart of Mars, but you also found the time to bring down the Mezzoka Clan, something we’ve been trying to do for years! Peri, Diesel . . . Selene, I know you probably want to take a well-earned rest after all your adventures. But I need my best young Star Fighters back on the job immediately. Your next mission is even more dangerous and important than the last one. There’s no time to lose.’

Peri shared an excited look with Diesel and Selene. He couldn’t wait to get back on the
Phoenix
and defend the Milky Way once more. Now that all three of them were officially Star Fighters, he felt ready to take on an entire galaxy.

He looked at the general. ‘What’s the mission?’

Join Peri and the crew of the Phoenix on their next mission!

Can they outwit a gang of outlaws on a remote desert planet?

Find out! In . . .

STEALTH FORCE

COMING SOON!

Turn over to read Chapter 1

Chapter 1

‘I’ll tell you something interesting,’ Anurack said, his four heads bobbing enthusiastically. He held up his fork. ‘Something very similar to this green vegetable – which you call a “pea” – grows on Torganora, one of the planets of the Shantanian system in the Crab Nebula. But on that planet it’s called a “blarp”.
That’s very interesting, isn’t it?’ One of his heads looked at Peri, another at Diesel and another at Selene. The fourth just smiled at nothing in particular.

‘Erm,’ Peri said. ‘That’s
quite
interesting.’

‘Yes, I knew you’d find it interesting,’ Anurack said. He popped some chips into the mouth that had just spoken and began speaking from a different head. He was always switching his voice from one head to another. Keeping track of them made Peri dizzy. ‘Now, you see this fork? On the planet Sklomp, they don’t use forks – they use hollow wooden tubes to suck their food up. Of course, they eat porridge mainly. Isn’t that just fascinating?’

Diesel rolled his eyes. Selene snorted, trying to suppress a giggle.

Peri shot her a warning look. It was very important not to offend Anurack: General Pegg had told them that Anurack’s Galactic Federation were old allies of the Milky Way. The Star Fighters’ assignment was simply to return him to his home planet of Koring, keeping him safe and happy. At cruising speed the trip took five days, but there were times when it had seemed more like five months to Peri. Anurack talked non-stop, and was surely the most boring sentient lifeform in the universe. And that was including the Talking Worms of Betelgeuse.

They had almost reached Koring and were having their last meal together in the
Phoenix
restaurant: a classic Earth-style feast of steaks, chips, peas and tomato ketchup, with fruit and ice cream to follow.

‘This tomato ketchup,’ Anurack said, as he dipped a chip, ‘is red, which I believe is the colour of Earthlings’ blood. On Jangananx they have a strange superstition where they can’t eat anything the colour of their own blood, which is yellow. That means they can’t eat bananas. What do you think of that?’

‘I think it’s really boring,’ Diesel muttered.

Oh no!
Peri thought.
Diesel’s cracked – and we’re so close to the end of this endless journey!

General Pegg had promised that if the
Phoenix
crew carried out this mission on time and without incident, there would be another, much more exciting mission for them. But if they offended Anurack they’d probably all be grounded indefinitely.

All four of Anurack’s heads swivelled in Diesel’s direction. One of the heads looked puzzled, one looked suspicious and one looked hurt. The fourth looked all those things at once as it spoke. ‘What did you –’

‘Diesel said it was really, really
enthralling
!’ Peri said, with a burst of inspiration.

Anurack’s four heads smiled.

‘That’s it!’ Diesel said. ‘And very useful. If I ever go to Jangananx, I’ll know not to go around offering everyone bananas!’

‘Oh, but you could offer them bananas if they were peeled,’ Anurack said. ‘They love fruit on Jangananx. Do you know, it’s been calculated that they eat 5,734 varieties of fruit there?’

Peri stole a look at his watch. They would be docking in fifty-three minutes. Fifty-three long minutes, each filled with sixty long seconds.

‘Here we are!’ Peri said, fifty-two minutes later. The grey-and-brown sphere of Koring filled the 360-monitor. ‘Soon we’ll be landing on Planet Boring – I mean,
Koring
.’

Selene snorted, just managing to contain her giggles. Diesel had gone and locked himself in his sleeping quarters on Peri’s orders because they couldn’t risk him upsetting Anurack.

‘Koring’s a very interesting planet,’ Anurack said. ‘It orbits our sun at a mean average distance of 121 million kilometres. The atmosphere is composed of 17 different gases . . .’

Peri tuned Anurack out as he concentrated on easing off the boosters and adjusting the Nav-wheel to line the
Phoenix
up with the docking bay below. His special bionic connection with the ship made the tricky move feel simple and instinctive, as though he was manoeuvring his own body into position. A few moments later, the
Phoenix
came to rest neatly between the gates of the docking bay.

Peri breathed a sigh of relief. ‘Welcome home, Anurack.’

He and Selene led Anurack off the Bridge and down a mauve-lit corridor. Peri sent a telepathic order to the
Phoenix
and watched the wall open noiselessly. A ramp extended itself down to the floor of the docking bay, where a group of four-headed Koringers were waiting.

‘It’s been a pleasant voyage,’ Anurack said. ‘I’ve enjoyed talking to you.’

Peri raised his voice to cover Selene’s giggle. ‘We enjoyed it too.’

‘I’ll let General Pegg know what a good job you did,’ Anurack said. ‘I only wish you could come and visit for a little while – I know everything there is to know about Koring, so I could give you a guided tour of the whole planet. You’d find it really interesting.’

‘I’m sure we would, but we don’t have the time,’ Peri said.

He noticed a small timer had appeared in the bottom corner of the Mission Update screen on the control panel. It said,
120 hours, 0 minutes, 0 seconds and 0 tenths of a second
. As he watched, it began to count down, the tenths flickering away at lightning speed, the seconds ticking away steadily after them.