Crash Landing Read online

  To the J Division: Jon, Jenny, Jack and James

  Special thanks to Benjamin Scott

  It is the year 5012 and the Milky Way galaxy is under attack ...

  After the Universal War ... a war that almost brought about the destruction of every known universe ... the planets in the Milky Way banded together to create the Intergalactic Force - an elite fighting team sworn to protect and defend the galaxy.

  Only the brightest and most promising students are accepted into the Intergalactic Force Academy, and only the very best cadets reach the highest of their ranks and become ...

  To be a Star Fighter is to dedicate your life to one mission: Peace in Space. They are given the coolest weapons, the fastest spaceships - and the most dangerous missions. Everyone at the Intergalactic Force Academy wants to be a Star Fighter someday.

  Do YOU have what it takes?

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Will Peri and the crew make it safely to planet Xion?

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 1

  ‘We made it!’ Diesel cheered. The gunner’s narrow band of hair was a happy shade of orange. He wiggled around the Bridge in some strange Martian victory dance.

  Even Otto, the Meigwor bounty hunter, looked on the verge of a little smile. His lipless mouth curled upwards like a dying space-slug.

  Diesel whooped. ‘If I wasn’t the most amazing gunner in this galaxy, we’d never have got out of that alive.’

  Otto’s faint smile faltered. ‘I saved us!’ boomed the Meigwor. ‘It was my skill that obliterated that massive rock!’

  Diesel stopped dancing. His eyes flashed yellow. ‘That wasn’t skill, it was luck. If it wasn’t for me, we’d have been smashed into oblivion.’

  Peri couldn’t help laughing. With those two arguing, everything was back to normal. Peri high-fived Selene, it was good to have their engineer back and safe. They’d rescued her from the Meigwors, refused to hand over Prince Onix and made a lucky escape from Otto’s home planet. The vengeful Meigwor General Rouwgim had created a giant asteroid storm and it had been a team effort to guide the Phoenix through it without being pulverised. Diesel and Otto had blasted what they could, while Peri and Selene had navigated the Phoenix through the deadly shower of rocks.

  ‘I’ll check the damage, while you plan our next move,’ Selene said.

  Peri smiled. Selene’s time in captivity had done nothing for her bossiness. She was even back in her patched spacesuit and had a smudge of grease on her cheek.

  ‘Otto, Diesel, stop arguing,’ she snapped. ‘I need you to check over the weapons systems to see what needs to be repaired first.’ The two gunners glared at her but knew better than to argue. They slouched to the gunnery station.

  ‘Onix,’ Selene continued as she pushed past the prince, ‘try to stay out of the way.’

  ‘No one talks to the firstborn son and heir to the throne of Xion like that!’ the prince said, stiffening, and slicked his webbed fingers through his hair. ‘Especially not a girl.’

  Peri winced. Onix was in really big trouble. He didn’t know Selene. She could use most of the weapons on the Phoenix, and she didn’t like being treated like a girl. Selene’s eyes narrowed like the focusing lens on a DeathRay pulveriser. ‘I’m the engineer of this ship and you’ll do what you’re told or you can find another ride home.’

  Onix didn’t say a word, but moved as far away from her as he could.

  ‘Right,’ Peri said. ‘Our priority is to return Prince Onix to Xion.’

  ‘No! We must return to Earth!’ Diesel yelled. ‘The emperor will be missing me . . . I mean, us! Earth needs its best Star Fighters back.’

  Selene adjusted some nano-dials on the control panel. ‘Maybe the prince can tell Xion to stop attacking the Milky Way. Then we can go home.’

  Peri clicked his fingers and the control panel slipped from under Selene’s hands. It floated towards him. ‘First,’ he said, ‘let’s contact Xion and explain that kidnapping Onix was a mistake. We don’t need a second planet after us.’

  Peri activated the com-pad, flicking a zip-dial to scan all frequencies and automatically connect with planet Xion.

  ‘Hold it!’ Otto boomed. ‘The Xions will take me prisoner!’

  ‘I’ll make sure you get far worse,’ mumbled Onix, ‘you muscle-bound Meigwor freak.’

  Otto pulled a short silver stick from his snakeskin belt and stepped towards the prince. ‘What was that, squid-breath? You think these pathetic Earthlings are going to defend you?’

  ‘Pathetic?!’ Diesel shouted. ‘We could beat the entire Meigwor space fleet without breaking a sweat.’

  Otto’s black tongue shot out and cracked like a whip in front of Diesel’s nose. ‘Stay out of it, space-monkey!’

  ‘Never!’ Diesel launched himself, grabbing the two lumps on Otto’s freakishly long neck as Onix leapt on to the Meigwor’s legs. Otto staggered backwards until he lost his balance. Peri sprang from the captain’s chair to avoid being hit, but one of Otto’s double-jointed elbows slammed into Peri’s chest and pinned him against the deck.

  ‘Cosmic squid-brains!’ Otto roared. ‘Space-monkey slime!’

  Peri scrambled free from the fight. Diesel was darting and weaving and trying to punch Otto wherever he could. Otto was trying to shake Onix from his back, but the prince clung on like a space-limpet.

  ‘Meigwor scum,’ the prince yelled, as gobs of fishy sweat flew off him. ‘Lumpy-necked space-freak!’

  Otto was flailing around trying to hit both of them with the silver stick. The weapon was now eleven times longer than it had been. As the Meigwor waved it about, sparks flew everywhere.

  Whaacckk! The stick smacked against Peri’s arm.

  Craackle. A zap of electricity fizzed through him. His muscles and computer circuits twitched uncontrollably, making his eyes water as his vision shimmered. The stick is an electro-prod! he realised.

  ‘Stop it now, before someone gets hurt,’ Peri yelled, dodging Otto’s electro-prod, Diesel’s fists and Onix’s sweat. Otto threw Onix from his back, before knocking Diesel and Peri to the deck and pouncing on them. It was going to be hard to break up the fight alone.

  ‘Selene – help!’ Peri called.

  Peri saw the engineer grab what looked like a ten-centimetre-square piece of pink paper from her tool belt. She dashed towards the prince as he stood up, ready to rejoin the fight. She slapped the paper on his forehead and it stuck. Onix stumbled backwards looking stunned.

  ‘One down, two to go,’ Selene muttered, as the prince fell face first on to the deck. ‘Sleep well, Your Highness.’

  ‘Who’s next?’ Selene asked and looked from Diesel to Otto. The pair stopped struggling as they glanced at Onix’s limp body.

  Peri wrestled free from under them and rushed over to the prince. Onix was out cold. ‘What have you done?’

  Selene snatched the sticky paper from the prince’s forehead. ‘I call it a Sleepez. Something I invented myself,’ she said proudly. ‘The adhesive is a sedative. The prince will be out for a few hours.’

  ‘Hours?’ Peri said, shaking the prince.

  ‘He got what he deserved,’ Selene replied.

  ‘His Royal Majesty, King of Xion,’ announced the ship.

  Peri looked up. The face of the Xion king dominated the 360-monitor. For a nanosecond, the king looked curious – but then his expression changed to shock and horror. Peri’s circuits chilled as he realised what the scene on the Bridge must look like to the king. Peri was kneeling over an unconscious Onix, sha
king him.

  ‘What have you done to my son?’ the king shouted.

  ‘No,’ said Peri, standing up. ‘Wait! You don’t understand.’

  The king looked so angry; Peri felt as if his voice might rattle the Phoenix, even from light years away. ‘Wicked aliens! You taunt me with my son’s dead body! Xion won’t stand it! You will pay for this . . . with your lives!’

  ‘He’s not dead!’ Diesel shouted. ‘Selene just knocked him out!’

  ‘Shut up, Diesel, and wake him up,’ Peri hissed as he tried to block the king’s view of Onix. ‘Get Otto to help.’

  ‘Your Majesty,’ Peri addressed the king. ‘We’ve just prevented your son from falling into the hands of the Meigwors.’

  ‘Lies!’ screamed the king. ‘I can see a Meigwor behind you, torturing my son!’

  Peri spun around. Diesel and Otto had each grabbed hold of either end of the prince and were trying to tug him from the other’s grasp.

  ‘You’re going to kill him!’ Otto boomed, pulling on the prince’s legs.

  ‘Give him to me,’ yelled Diesel, yanking Onix back. ‘I got top marks in my medical treatment exam.’

  ‘Never!’ Otto yelled. ‘I’ll cure the Xions, once and for all!’

  ‘Stop it!’ Peri shouted at them. ‘This isn’t a tug of war.’ He spun round again, realising the king was watching everything. ‘Wait, they’re not torturing him.’

  But the king had made up his mind. ‘My son’s death will be avenged,’ he shouted. ‘Let’s see if your fancy ship can escape the entire Xion fleet!’ His eyes turned to someone off-screen. ‘Launch all the Deathray transporters, ready the battleships, orders to destroy!’

  ‘No,’ said Peri, ‘you must listen to –’

  But the king had vanished. Peri activated the Velocity View. The long curved monitor whirled from the back of the control panel. It pulsed to life and showed a mass of green dots swarming from Onix’s home planet. Peri could imagine every ship in the fleet heading straight for the Phoenix.

  Selene pulled a small pen-like object from her tool belt and fired a bright yellow laser beam at the prince.

  ‘Don’t make it worse!’ Peri shouted.

  ‘I’m not,’ she replied, as she finished tracing a line around the prince’s body. The yellow light melted over Onix and he disappeared. ‘I’ve sent the prince to the Med Centre, out of harm’s way.’

  Diesel tugged at the sleeve of Peri’s Expedition Wear.

  ‘What is it?’ Peri asked.

  Diesel pointed to the Velocity View. A cluster of red dots were also approaching the Phoenix. ‘The Meigwors have found us too!’

  Chapter 2

  Blip. Blip-Blip. Blip-Blip-Blip. Green lights flashed over the Velocity View as more Xion ships appeared.

  Ping. Ping-Ping. Ping-Ping-Ping. Red lights swarmed across the screen from the other side of the universe as Meigwor ships appeared.

  Peri shook his head. Hundreds of battleships, fighters and destroyers filled the screen.

  And they were all gunning for the Phoenix.

  Peri couldn’t remember worse odds in a battle scenario – not in any of the galactic-war class simulations he’d sat through or the Explosive Book of Space Battles.

  Otto and Diesel leapt to the gunnery station. Diesel smacked a switch and the floating console expanded to reveal further rows of triggers, 3-D target trackers and X-plode detonators. Diesel cracked his knuckles as he looked over the weapons systems.

  Peri and Selene slipped into the two captain’s chairs. Astro-harnesses snaked round them. Peri gripped the Nav-wheel.

  ‘Get ready,’ shouted Selene. ‘Incoming!’

  Twenty-two Meigwor fighter pods were on a fast-approach. They were like giant cobra-heads, flying in a perfect V-formation. But instead of fangs, the cobra-heads had ultra-accurate lasers. Peri jerked the Nav-wheel and pulled the thrusters hard, trying to get beyond their weapons’ range.

  He wasn’t fast enough. The Meigwors opened fire. Brilliant orange lasers crisscrossed the black space. Their complicated firing pattern left little room for manoeuvring – even for the most brilliant ship in the Milky Way. Peri banked hard, pushing the thrusters to maximum.

  But no sooner had they dodged the first round of laser fire, when Selene shouted, ‘Xion ships within firing range!’

  The Xions’ massive spherical battleships had their weapons ready. Pulverising DeathRays and cluster missiles burst from huge spikes in their hulls. Peri slammed on the dodge mechanism to avoid being hit. The ship shifted to the right as the missiles burst past. He twisted the Nav-wheel to escape the other weapons, but too many vessels were firing.

  Ziiing-frroooaaarr! A DeathRay glanced off the port shield, spinning the Phoenix with the force of its blast. Peri yanked the anti-drift levers, fighting to gain control. As the ship stopped spinning, he kicked the thrusters hard. The Phoenix shot forward, but a missile slammed into it and exploded against the shields. Shhhaaablllaaammm!

  Peri was thrown against his astro-harness. Warning lights flashed across the entire control panel. The shield’s protective power was dropping to dangerous levels. He didn’t know how many more hits the ship could take.

  ‘Weapons lock on Xion target!’ Otto cheered from his gunner’s station. ‘Watch me blast their ship into another universe.’

  ‘Hold fire,’ Peri ordered, smacking the turbo-reverse to stop another cluster missile from slamming into the Phoenix. ‘Don’t shoot the Xions. It’s just a misunderstanding!’

  Kaaaaboooom! The ship shook again as the missile exploded close by.

  ‘Are you mad, space-monkey?!’ Otto boomed. ‘We must fire back. And I have got a clear shot!’

  ‘No, Peri is right,’ Selene said. ‘They’ll never believe our story if we shoot back. It’ll make things worse.’

  Otto slapped the side of the gunnery station angrily. ‘Worse? They’re already shooting at us!’

  ‘Peri,’ Diesel shouted. ‘I’ve got a clear shot. Permission to vaporise the Meigwor fighter!’

  ‘Permission granted,’ Peri replied.

  ‘What?! NO!’ Otto’s lumps twitched. ‘What happened to not making a bad situation worse?’

  Peri stared at the blobs on the Velocity View screen. He didn’t want to admit it, but Otto was right. Blasting ships from space just because he didn’t like those particular aliens was wrong. They shouldn’t be destroying anything, unless they had no choice. Star Fighters save planets, they don’t destroy them, he thought.

  ‘Otto’s right,’ Peri said. ‘Hold your fire. We should evade – let’s go Superluminal!’

  ‘We can’t!’ Selene exclaimed. ‘The Phoenix is still rejuvenating from escaping the asteroid belt. It needs all its power to keep the shields up.’ She pushed her hair back and stared at the console. ‘Just give me a minute.’

  ‘We don’t have time,’ Diesel shouted. ‘We’re going to be obliterated any moment.’

  ‘I know!’ she screamed. ‘Let me think.’

  Selene hit the console. ‘That’s it! I’ve just got to re-route power to the ship’s cloak,’ she said, almost as fast as her hands blurring over the controls. ‘And make an adjustment so we don’t show up on any space-wake scanners. There!’

  Suddenly, the Xions and the Meigwors stopped firing.

  ‘We did it!’ Selene punched the air.

  ‘Great,’ said Peri. ‘Except . . . If we’re no longer between the Meigwors and the Xions, then the only thing they can see is each other.’

  Diesel gulped. ‘They’ll open fire –’

  Selene put her head in her hands. ‘And we’ll be caught in the middle.’

  ‘We’ve got to get out of here now!’ Peri yelled.

  But it was already too late. The two enemy fleets launched every weapon in their extensive arsenals. Ships exploded on both sides.

  The Phoenix was an invisible sitting duck.

  With thrusters at maximum, Peri dodged missiles, DeathRays and fighter drones. The alien ships had broken formation, a
ttacking each other in ship-to-ship combat. As long as they remained distracted, he hoped he could creep the Phoenix safely through the warzone.

  Peri swung the vessel out of the path of a Meigwor viper-ship, pursued by a dozen Xion fighter craft. Otto gripped the sides of the gunnery station. The patches around his eyes grew darker and darker.

  Suddenly, a pulverising Death-Ray lit up the monitor and the Meigwor ship exploded into a gazillion pieces.

  ‘Stinking Xion,’ Otto yelled, as his hands darted across the gunnery station. Peri saw the Phoenix spit a hail of missiles at the Xion ships.

  ‘Otto, no!’ he shouted, but warnings were already flashing across the control panel. ‘If we fire, then the other ships can pinpoint our –’

  Kllaaablaam! The Phoenix shook as a DeathRay made a direct hit.

  ‘We’ve lost the cloak,’ Selene screamed.

  ‘Multiple weapons lock,’ the Phoenix reported. ‘Evasive manoeuvres advised. Nice day to go surfing.’

  Peri wondered if that last blast had scrambled the ship’s logic-circuits. But as he jammed on the hyper-brakes and spun the ship around, he understood what the Phoenix was suggesting . . .

  The alien ships opened fire on their position. Peri kicked the thrusters beyond maximum and moments later, DeathRays, cluster missiles and BlastBeams exploded barely a fraction behind them. It was like a sun going supernova!

  A massive shockwave smacked into them, catapulting them away from the fiery explosion. Peri tried to surf the wave as the Phoenix had suggested, but it was too powerful. The ship was spinning out of control. Even the UpRighter mechanism strained against the forces battering the ship, letting the Bridge tip one way, then another. Peri clung on to the Nav-wheel, glad for his astro-harness.

  ‘Gravitational pull detected,’ the Phoenix announced.

  ‘That can’t be right,’ Diesel shouted. ‘There’s nothing here.’