Frozen Enemies (2 page)

The tongue-lashing lasted several minutes, by which time the whole class had lowered their Privateers. Cheeks burning, John tried not to look at Mordant, wearing a grin so wide, it looked like the top of his head might flip off.

Eventually, the sergeant calmed down enough to give orders again. “Line up,” he told the class. “As some of you obviously want to crash every single one of my ships, the rest of the lesson will be devoted to emergency landings,” he croaked, voice ragged from shouting.

“Safety Code Violation.”

Every head swung around.

At the far end of the hangar a hovering shape was framed in the doorway of the TravelTube. Completely white, it looked like a white ball on top of a larger egg. Blank-faced, and with no trace of emotion in its electronic voice, the Examiner somehow managed to seem threatening. Even Sergeant Jegger was silent as the machine floated forward. “John Riley,” the Examiner continued, making itself heard inside every Privateer, “you have failed to acquire the minimum flight competency required for the Archivus Major field trip.”

John gulped.

“Your status is under review. Failure will result in the cancellation of your participation.”

“Errr... what?” John asked, still shaken by his crash and not following what the white machine was telling him.

“You crashed, John Riley. Now you must be examined,” the machine said, floating back towards the TravelTube. “On the morning of the trip to Archivus Major your flight skills will be tested. If you fail, you will be kept behind.”

Sprawled across a deep, black sofa in the dormitory room he shared with Kaal, John stared moodily at a large entertainment ThinScreen. He was trying to watch a Sillaran show called
Black Star 360
but couldn’t understand the plot. It involved a Sillaran woman dressed in black, flying around the galaxy trying to find the Holy Chalice of P’rawn and killing lots of aliens along the way. Why she was looking for the chalice and what the aliens had done to upset her wasn’t explained. No matter how hard John tried to concentrate, his thoughts kept returning to his earlier crash.

The Examiners were notoriously harsh; it wouldn’t be easy to get through any test they set. John was certain he’d messed up his chances of seeing the museum planet.

With a sigh, he looked around his room for something to take his mind off the problem. Outside the floor-to-ceiling viewing window, stars streamed by as Hyperspace High powered its way through the galaxy. It was a sight of incredible beauty, but John’s gaze moved onto the long desk against the opposite wall. There, two ThinScreens were currently switched off. He thought about making a start on the extra work that Ms Vartexia had set him, but decided he wasn’t in the mood.

Next to the desk was a door to the bathroom, which contained a jet bath the size of a small swimming pool.
No. If I have a bath, I’ll get into my pyjamas and it’s way too early for that
, John thought, feeling sorry for himself.

His gaze rested on his bed pod. There was one at either end of the room. The pods also had food and drink portals and another entertainment ThinScreen that John used when he didn’t want to disturb Kaal.

Remembering the twinge of homesickness he had felt when the Privateer showed him an image of Earth, John made a decision.

“I’ll call Mum and Dad,” he said to empty air. “That will cheer me up.”

“Will you be wanting to make a Skype call?” asked a deep, friendly-sounding voice.

“Oh, hi, Zepp. Yeah, that would be great. Could you please set it up?”

“As always, it will be a pleasure. But you know the rules, you’ll have to get changed.”

“Sure.” John crossed to his locker and pressed a hand to the pad that opened it. Pulling off the red and silver Hyperspace High uniform he was wearing, he picked out a plain white T-shirt and jeans. When Lorem had invited him to remain on the ship as a student, he had made it clear that John’s parents could never know that he wasn’t where he was supposed to be – at Wortham Court boarding school in Derbyshire.

“Ready.” John sat cross-legged on his bed and checked behind him to make sure that nothing would be visible to his parents except a plain white wall.

The ThinScreen flicked on, showing the Skype homepage. Zepp had already patched into Earth’s internet hundreds of light years away and placed the call.

A few moments later his mother answered, looking flustered but pleased to see him. “John,” she said, smoothing her tousled hair. “Sorry, I’ve just got in from the garden. Windy out, isn’t it?”

“Hi, Mum. Great to see you. How was your day?” John smiled at the screen and carefully changed the subject. It could have been raining goats over his parents’ house, for all he knew about the weather on Earth.

“Rubbish!” his father interrupted, leaning over his wife’s shoulder. “The wind blew the bins over. There’s rubbish all over the garden. How was yours?”

“Oh, the usual,” replied John, already feeling happier. It didn’t matter what they said, the sight of his parents’ faces always cheered him up. “I’m not doing so well in history, but the teacher’s OK. She and the headmaster are taking us to a museum in a couple of days.”

“Oh, I didn’t know there were any history museums in Derbyshire,” his father replied. “Where is it?”

“Umm... errr...” John choked, unable to answer.

A message flashed up on the screen.

“The History of the World Museum in Liverpool,” John gabbled with relief, thanking his stars that Zepp was able to help. “It’s a bit of a drive, but we’re setting off early.”

“Well, I hope it helps you with your marks,” said his mother. “You look tired. There are black circles under your eyes. Are you getting enough rest?”

John rubbed his eyes. “I did have a bit of a late night yesterday,” he admitted sheepishly.

“Make sure you get an early night tonight,” said his mum, sounding concerned. “You don’t want me to write to the headmaster, do you?”

“Ugh, no, Mum. I definitely don’t want that.”

“Leave the boy alone,” his dad chipped in, grinning. “He’s probably been having midnight feasts with his chums, or whatever it is they do at posh boarding schools. Isn’t that right, son?”

“Err, yeah. Sort of, Dad.”

“So, apart from scoffing in the middle of the night, what else have you been up to?”

John didn’t enjoy lying to his parents, but he knew it was necessary. If he didn’t give them some fake details about his life at Wortham Court, they might become suspicious. Nevertheless, he tried to keep his stories as close to the truth as possible. “Just hanging out with my friends Carl and Emma,” he told them. “We study together in the library, and Carl’s been teaching me martial arts.”

As he chatted with his mum and dad, John slowly relaxed. The question about the museum had been a close call, but after a month on Hyperspace High he was getting used to telling his parents what they expected to hear. Without ever mentioning that “Carl” and “Emma” were from different planets, he had told them everything about his friends. In his tales, Zepp had become a computer whizz who loved music, while Lorem was Professor Holt, the learned headmaster who seemed to know everything. Hyperspace High itself became the converted stately home John had seen in the brochures about Wortham Court.

He only realized that he had become a little too relaxed when he found himself saying, “...And I made a fool of myself in a flying lesson—”

As the words left his mouth, he knew he had made a mistake. His mum and dad were blinking in surprise.

“
Flying lesson!”
his dad yelped. “Wortham Court gives you
flying
lessons?”

“Surely they don’t let students pilot aircraft,” his mother gasped.

“Yeah... umm... no... ahh,” John stammered. “That is...” He stared at the screen, hoping that Zepp could come up with some way he could explain the flying lessons.

Nothing. He was on his own.

Panicking, John gabbled the first thing that came into his head. “It must be a bad connection. I said ‘frying’ lesson. The school gives us cookery lessons. You know, the importance of nutritious food and all that. We call them ‘frying lessons’. Anyway, I dropped an apple pie I’d made into someone’s bag. Made a complete mess of all their work...”

John took a deep breath, watching his parents’ faces closely.

His dad was first to speak. “
You
are learning how to cook?”

“Oh, yeah. It’s fun,” John said, nodding furiously. “Cakes and all that.”

“But you’ve never even been able to boil an egg,” his mum cut in.

John shrugged. “Well, I wouldn’t say I’m a top chef yet, but I’m learning.”

“Brilliant, you can make Christmas dinner this year,” his dad said, grinning.

John’s shoulders sagged, glad that his parents had swallowed the story, but feeling ashamed for telling them such an enormous lie. Forcing a smile onto his face, he ended the call as quickly as he could. He couldn’t face the thought of having to come up with any more lies that night.

“Phew. Sorry, Zepp. That was really close,” he took a deep breath when the screen had gone blank.

“Your parents believed you,” replied the computer calmly. “Are you all right?”

The call over, his worry about the flying examination came flooding back. With another sigh, he leaned against the wall. Over the past month, he had come to share his innermost thoughts with the computer. Zepp was always cheerful, often made him laugh, and usually had something helpful to say.

“I’m worried about having to take this test for the Examiners,” John admitted. “If I fail, I’ll be stuck here while everyone else goes to Archivus Major. I thought I was getting good at flying, but that’s my second crash. I messed up in Hyperspace History today, and I can’t even get my story straight for my parents. I don’t want to leave Hyperspace High, but at this rate Lorem is going to think letting me stay was a mistake.”

“That is unlikely,” said Zepp’s voice gently. “Accessing your report file, I see that Sergeant Jegger has made positive comments about your flying abilities, and many other teachers say that you are trying hard in subjects that are completely new to you. Professor Dibali thinks that one day you could become one of the school’s leading mathematicians. The general opinion among the staff is that you have the potential to be an excellent student. As I have mentioned before, the headmaster rarely makes mistakes.”

“But—” John began.

“Perhaps if you had a little more faith in yourself, things wouldn’t seem so bad. Of course, it would help if you made sure the inefficient lump of goo you call a brain always had enough sleep.”

John grinned. He couldn’t hide anything from the computer.

“I might add that no problem was ever solved by sitting around feeling sorry for yourself,” Zepp added. “Why don’t you take a night off, have some fun, and get to bed on time?”

“Thanks, Zepp. Has anyone ever told you that you’re a good friend?”

“No. No, they haven’t,” replied the computer, sounding taken aback and pleased at the same time.

“Well, it’s true.”

Just then, the dormitory door hissed open.

“John!” yelled Kaal, running into the room, his wings flapping in excitement. “You’ve got to come, now.”

“What?” John scrambled to the edge of his bed pod. “What’s the matter?”

“Nothing’s the matter,” said Emmie Tarz, walking in behind the big Derrilian. “There’s a special showing at the 4-D cinema. It starts in five minutes.”

“Vartexia arranged it,” Kaal jabbered. “One of Archivus Major’s most famous exhibits is a frozen battle between the Goran and the Subo, so she asked the cinema to show
Battleground Zero
. It’s a classic. Come on, what are you waiting for?”

“Hang on, what’s a 4-D cinema?” John asked.

Emmie and Kaal stopped and looked at each other. “He’s never seen a 4-D movie, Kaal,” said Emmie, with mock seriousness. “I don’t suppose they have them on Earth.”

“Well, Emmie, then it’s our duty to make sure he does,” replied Kaal. “You grab his right arm, I’ll take the left.”

Laughing, the two of them hauled John out of his bed pod. John allowed himself to be hustled through the door, joining in their laughter.
Zepp’s right
, he thought to himself.
No point in worrying all night
.

* * *

“So what happens now?” John whispered. They were sitting in a dark, cave-like room. In the Centre, about sixty students sat in MorphSeats, which moulded to the shapes of their bodies in the same way as the seats in the Xi-Class Privateers.

“Wait and see. Here, have some Walja Tots for the movie,” Kaal replied, passing John a bag.

Excitedly waiting for the 4-D film, John had temporarily forgotten how revolting Kaal’s food looked in the canteen every day. Without thinking, he popped a Walja Tot in his mouth. “Ugh, they taste like fishy blue cheese,” he gagged.

“How can you not like Walja Tots? They’re delicious.”

The student in front of them turned his head. He looked like a white bat. “Shhhh,” he hissed. “The movie’s starting.”

Dim lights went out. In the darkness, John felt like he was floating in space. He blinked in astonishment as he realized he
was
floating in space. All around him, above and below, stars twinkled. A comet flashed past, so close he could almost reach out and touch it. Planets whirled around him. The temperature in the room had dropped to freezing, and the gravity was gone. John felt goosebumps crawling up his arms as he floated free of his seat, slowly turning in the depths of space.

“W-w-wow,” he croaked.

“
Shhhh
.”

A deep voice boomed in the silence. “For every species there comes a time when it takes its first footsteps into the unknown darkness beyond the stars.” The voice paused for a moment and a star lit up. John felt like he was hurtling through space as it became bigger and bigger, before seeing planets spinning around the star.

“One sun, two planets,” the voice continued. “Suboran, belonging to the Subo, a species with a history of bloodshed and battle. Gora Prime, belonging to the proud and independent Goran. When the Subo discovered the secrets of space travel, they turned upon the neighbouring planet and started a war that raged out of control...”

The scene changed. Now John found himself sitting on a rock by the edge of a sea. Gravity had returned, and the MorphSeat had become hard with sharp edges. A salty wind blew across the scene, tangling John’s hair.

“...A WAR THAT ALMOST DESTROYED THE GALAXY!” boomed the voice. Instantly, there was a heavy rumbling. The rocks shook and strange, four-winged birds took to the sky, crying in terror. John turned his head. Over the crest of a craggy hill an oddly shaped, bright-red tank appeared. It stopped for a second, then crashed down the rocks towards him.

“Will you be
quiet
!” snapped the bat-like student in front. John hadn’t realized that he’d yelped in shock. “Haven’t you ever seen a 4-D movie before?”

John was unable to take his eyes off the tank thing. Now he realized that it wasn’t on wheels but on tens of short, heavily armoured legs. Great crab-like pincers jutted from its body. As it ran past, he could smell it. He realized it wasn’t a machine at all, but an alien creature.

Just as the alien was about to crush the audience beneath its weight, it changed course. A hole opened in its crusty armour. In a voice like a whirlwind, it bellowed, “FOR GORA PRIME!” and crashed into the sea. A huge wave rolled up the rocks. John gasped as cold water hit him.

“Into the sea. The Goran spy escaped into the water!”

John spun around, as the booming voice shouted behind him. Dozens of massive, seal-like creatures had appeared on the craggy rocks around him. Small, dark eyes flashed in their grey faces. Their blubbery bodies moved forward on grasping limbs that ended in webbed claws. Each one had a sharp metal spike jutting out of its forehead. These, John guessed, must be the Subo.