Authors: Max Chase

Pirate Ambush (9 page)

‘Is that why he was always ahead of us?’ Peri asked.

Selene looked embarrassed. ‘We worked out how to send coded messages from one electro-pulse to another. Mine got damaged and I’ve been trying to fix it ever since. I could send messages, but I couldn’t receive any from him.’

‘Why did he leave his electro-pulse behind in the IF ship?’ Peri asked.

‘I wanted Selene to know I’d received her messages,’ Jaxx said softly.

‘Enough of the sappy reunion!’ Otto boomed. He grabbed Jaxx and pulled his hands behind his back. With his other arm he slipped a handcuff around Jaxx’s wrist. ‘We arrest him and finish the mission!’

‘But my dad is innocent!’ Selene protested. ‘He’s not a space pirate. Just give me a chance to prove to you that he isn’t guilty of any crimes. Don’t you want the truth? My dad didn’t steal anything from the emperor!’

‘Are you calling
my
dad a liar?’ Diesel said. ‘Jaxx is the liar here – and the thief. He stole the Heart of Mars. That’s treason!’

Peri put his hand on the gunner’s shoulder. ‘Calm down, Diesel. Listen, if we want to recover the stolen gem, we need to hear Jaxx’s side of the story.’

Jaxx cleared his throat. ‘Someone stole my IF identity chip and used it to steal the jewel. I wasn’t even on Mars when it happened. The IF wouldn’t believe me. And what’s worse, when they decided I was a space pirate, they started blaming me for other crimes.’

Peri studied Jaxx’s face. He didn’t look as though he was lying. ‘So why did you come here?’

‘I knew the only way to clear my name was to get the Heart of Mars back for the emperor, so I took an IF ship to go and find it. I think I’ve discovered where it is and I want to return it to prove my innocence.’

‘It’s true,’ Selene chipped in. ‘Peri, if we get the Heart of Mars back, we can catch the real pirates and still complete our mission. You have to trust me.’

‘I’ve had enough!’ Otto said. ‘His innocence or guilt is not our problem! We should take him back!’

‘My dad is telling the truth,’ Selene pleaded. ‘Who do you think taught me to be an engineer? A pirate or this man?’

Diesel let go of Jaxx. Diesel whispered in Peri’s ear, ‘I can’t fail my father. We’ve got to do whatever it takes to find the Heart of Mars.’

Peri had one huge cosmic dilemma on his hands. Should he arrest Selene’s dad or could he let him go? And if Jaxx didn’t steal the Heart of Mars, then surely it was Peri’s mission to find the real villain? Wasn’t that what the IF creed was really about? And he’d promised to help Diesel recover the Heart of Mars too – didn’t friendship come before orders?

‘
Incoming message from General Pegg
,’ the
Phoenix
announced as a monitor whirled from the control panel.

Instantly Selene shoved her dad to the deck. Otto threw himself behind the captain’s chair. Peri pulled Diesel closer so that they blocked the view of the rest of the Bridge.

‘What are you two up to?’ General Pegg said as he appeared on the screen. ‘I want a report now!’

‘Umm, sir, we . . .’

‘There is a problem with your Mission Capsule,’ Pegg continued. ‘Why has it stopped sending data?’

Selene and her dad were huddled near Peri’s feet. He glanced down and saw the Mission Capsule in Selene’s hand. She smiled guiltily.

Peri looked up, knowing he couldn’t betray his crew. ‘I think that the capsule got damaged in a Zespa attack, sir.’

‘What about Jaxx? Have you caught him yet?’

In the corner of his eye, Peri saw Jaxx trying to comfort Selene – as much as he could with his hands still cuffed behind his back. He certainly looked more like a concerned father than a sneaky villain. Peri had to trust Selene. If she said he was innocent, he believed her. It wasn’t right to force them apart especially if they could find proof he wasn’t really a pirate.

‘Jaxx slipped away, sir, but we’re on his trail!’ Peri said.

The general sighed. ‘Maybe I was right about the pair of you being too young to be Star Fighters,’ he muttered. ‘You have
one
more chance to complete your mission. If you fail again, you will return, and we will review whether you should be demoted back to cadet level. Terminate message.’

As the screen whirled back into the control panel, Otto stomped away from behind the captain’s chair. ‘You Earthlings are too soft! Meigwors don’t give anyone a second chance!’

Selene jumped up. ‘Thank you,’ she said to Peri as she helped Jaxx up. ‘I knew you would do the right thing.’

Peri looked at Diesel and knew he was thinking the same thing. They had taken a big risk for their friend, but they were going to prove General Pegg wrong. He and Diesel were not only old enough to be real Star Fighters, but they were the best Star Fighters in the entire Intergalactic Force. They would return the Heart of Mars to the emperor and bring the
real
pirates to justice!

Can they trust Jaxx? Who really stole the Heart of Mars?

Will Peri and Diesel survive an encounter with a terrifying Trojan Crab?

Find out! In . . .

Turn over to read Chapter 1

Chapter 1

‘Wow!’ Peri gasped. Through the 360-monitor, he could see a comet whooshing through outer space like an old-fashioned firework – the kind he had seen in
Did They Really Do That?,
a film about ancient Earth customs. The comet was going to miss the
Phoenix
by only a few hundred kilometres.

‘We don’t have time to admire the scenery, you voidoid,’ Diesel said. ‘Have you forgotten our mission? We have to recover the Heart of Mars.’

‘And then hand over this criminal!’ Otto grunted. He flicked his long black tongue in Jaxx’s direction. Their official Star Fighter mission was to capture the space pirate, but the emperor had also secretly commanded Diesel find and return the Heart of Mars.

Selene moved closer to Jaxx, her father. ‘He’s no pirate!’

‘That’s right, I’m not,’ Jaxx said. His voice was mild, polite, friendly – the exact opposite of how Peri imagined a space pirate would sound.

Jaxx had escaped from prison and Peri and the crew of the
Phoenix
had finally chased him down in the rings of Saturn. They had rescued him from his stealth ship only a nanosecond before it blew up, and then arrested him. Only Selene’s pleading had spared him from being turned in to the Intergalactic Force immediately.

Jaxx held out his hands. ‘Perhaps you could take these handcuffs off me now?’

‘We did agree to trust him,’ Peri said, as he saw Otto eyeing Jaxx suspiciously.

‘
I
didn’t!’ Otto boomed.

‘Come on! He is our friend’s dad,’ Peri said. He touched a section of the wall and the Bits and Bobs drawer slid out. He pulled out the Universal Release Gun and pointed it at Jaxx’s wrists. There was a sizzling sound and the handcuffs melted into a silvery goo that dripped on the floor of the Bridge.

‘Hey!’ Otto protested. ‘Those handcuffs are my property!’

‘
Were y
our property,’ Selene said with a grin.

‘Thanks,’ Jaxx said, shaking the goo from his hands.

‘So, you say you know where the Heart of

Mars is?’ Diesel demanded.

The Heart of Mars was a priceless, glowing, orange orb of pure chrysolite from Mars, the size of a Meigwor’s fist. It belonged to the Martian royal family. Diesel’s father, the emperor, believed that all Martians would be cursed until the Heart of Mars was returned.

‘I don’t know
for sure where it is,’ Jaxx said. When Diesel’s yellow eyes narrowed in disbelief, he quickly followed up with, ‘But I do have a pretty good idea where to look.’

‘Where, then?’ Diesel pressed.

Jaxx pointed out of the 360-monitor. ‘In that beautiful comet,’ he said.

‘That’s the comet you plotted a course for, back on Haven?’ Peri said.

Jaxx nodded. ‘It’s two years since the comet last passed through the Milky Way, and it’s also two years since the Heart of Mars was stolen.’

Peri saw Diesel’s fists clench. ‘That doesn’t prove anything!’ Diesel shouted.

‘I know,’ Jaxx said. ‘But I have strong reason to believe that . . . Well, just take it from me, the jewel is on that comet.’

Bloomsbury Publishing, London, New Delhi, New York and Sydney

First published in Great Britain in August 2012 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

This electronic edition published in 2012 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

50 Bedford Square, London, WC1B 3DP

The moral rights of the author and illustrator have been asserted

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