Chapter 1
‘That treacherous double-crossing snake in the grass!’ Diesel slammed his fist into the wall as he and Peri walked along the corridor that led to the Bridge of the Phoenix .
‘I don’t think they have grass on Meigwor,’ Peri said.
‘What do they have?’ asked Diesel.
Peri shrugged. ‘Trees, mostly. It’s a jungle planet.’
‘Snake in the trees, then. Let’s push Otto into the air-lock and out into space and let the space-sharks chew on his big, long, rubbery neck!’
The strip of hair on Diesel’s head was bristling like a Betelgeusian Pinfish’s spines, and glowing bright orange, as it always did when the half-Martian was really angry.
They had just survived a dangerous mission on the planet Xion, supposedly to rescue a kidnapped Meigwor prince. The Meigwor had sent Otto, a bounty hunter, to lead the mission, but he had lied to Diesel and Peri. They had raided the Xion palace and captured someone, but it wasn’t a Meigwor prince .
They hadn’t rescued anyone – they had in fact kidnapped a Xion prince!
‘Let’s give him what he deserves –’ Diesel said.
Peri held up his hand. ‘If we throw Otto to the space-sharks, the Meigwor will take it out on Selene.’ Their friend was being held on Otto’s home planet. ‘It’s time we stopped letting Otto boss us around. We need to rescue Selene and then return Prince Onix to Xion.’
‘Otto won’t back down without a fight.’
‘Then we’ll give him a fight!’ Peri said. ‘There are two of us – we should be able to disarm Otto and take back our ship.’
They were nearly at the Bridge now. Peri touched a button on the belt of his Expedition Wear. Diesel did the same. The surfaces of their suits became hard and shiny, like armour. Steel gauntlets emerged from the sleeves and covered their hands. Plexiglas helmets rose from the necks of the suits, encasing their heads in identical transparent, armoured bubbles.
‘We might need more protection,’ Peri said.
He touched the wall and a section slid smoothly back to reveal a chamber filled with vaporisers, blasters, phasers and jellifiers in countless different shapes and sizes.
‘Look,’ Peri said. ‘Otto’s been here.’ He pointed to a silver flask on a shelf. It was the flask in which Otto kept his favourite drink, Meigwor Mudcreeper’s Blood. Peri grimaced. ‘Dunno how he can drink that stuff.’
Diesel picked up a little black weapon, with a wide, square muzzle. ‘I’ve seen these in the training manual,’ Diesel said. ‘It’s a duster.’
Diesel took aim at Otto’s flask. He pressed the trigger. The flask dissolved into a small heap of fine grey dust.
‘Wow,’ Peri said. ‘Better not use that unless it’s life or death.’ He picked up a handful of green pellets, about the size of acorns. ‘I recognise these – Paralysides, aren’t they?’
Diesel nodded. ‘Chuck one at someone and it’ll leave them totally immobilised for up to an hour.’
‘That’s more like it,’ Peri said. ‘We could use these on Otto, if we have to.’
They filled their pockets with the pellets. They both took a duster, too, just for show.
‘Come on,’ Peri said. ‘It’s sorting-Otto-out-time!’
When they reached the door to the Bridge, Peri heard shouting. He caught Diesel’s arm. ‘It sounds like more than one voice.’
‘Maybe Otto’s listening to the Sonicwave System,’ Diesel said. ‘Perhaps that’s what Meigwor music sounds like.’
The doors to the Bridge slid open. Peri saw three huge Xion guards attacking Otto. They were dressed in black battle gear that made them look like giant insects. Each carried an electric mace in his clawed hands. They swiped viciously at Otto, who was dodging desperately, his crimson neck swaying from side to side. He fired a constant stream of laser blasts at the intruders. Every time a Xion guard was hit he staggered back and screamed, before returning to the attack. Otto was holding them off, but he
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