Deadly Mission (6 page)

“Diesel!” Peri exclaimed. “Our suits are laser-proof!”

“You two hold back the guards, then!” Otto shouted. “I must get the prince to safety!”

They broke out into the palace courtyard. Peri glanced behind. Not a single guard had pursued them over the spiked pit. They had escaped! He punched the air. All they needed to do now was make it to the
Phoenix
, return to Meigwor, and get Selene back.

“Let's go,” Peri urged, but as he took another step, his legs buckled. He only just stopped himself from falling. Something was wrong. His bionic body was feeling sooo heavy, but why? He tried to force himself on, but the air was thickening around him. “Activate Fight-or-Flight,” he
muttered desperately, but his body slowed.
Some robot I am
, he thought.
I don't even know how to operate myself.

“Come on, Peri,” Diesel said. “We've got to get out of here.”

Peri stumbled forward. Diesel grabbed him, stopping him from collapsing completely. Peri looked around. There wasn't a single guard in the courtyard.

“I can't believe it,” he said to Diesel. “We got away with it.”

Diesel shook his head and pointed at the sky.

Peri looked up. “Oh …”

Hundreds of Xion guards on cruisers were circling above the courtyard like a swarm of Neptunian gnats. Every single one of them had their blasters aimed at Peri and his companions.

The Xion cruisers looked like they meant serious, deadly business. Running was impossible. The cruisers were light and sleek, which meant they would also be fast and easy to maneuver through the narrow streets. The Xion guards had laser assault-blasters pressed against their shoulders, their webbed fingers poised to shoot. They had bubblelike headphones protecting each ear from Otto's booming, hypnotic voice.

“Raise your hands, space-monkeys!” hissed Otto. “Before they use it as an excuse to kill first and ask questions later!”

“But why
haven't
they attacked?” Peri asked, lifting his arms.

“They probably want a public execution,” Diesel said, doing the same. “Emperor Elliotte the First used to do that.”

“Shh,” Otto said. “They might not know we have the prince! They could think we're just intruders!”

“Are you insane?” Peri said. “Isn't it obvious we have him? What else do they think you have over your shoulder?”

“The blanket's invisible to them!” Otto whispered in a low voice, but it still felt as if he was shouting. “Their eyes can't see certain types of silver! It's the wrong light-wavelength!”

“Is that why your blaster is silver?” Diesel asked.

“Exactly!” Otto grunted.

Peri couldn't see how that would help them. His arms were shaking from holding
them in the air. It wouldn't be long before his whole body collapsed.

Out of the corner of his eye, Peri saw Otto slowly reaching for his weapon.

He's insane
, thought Peri.
We're 700 percent outgunned and in eighty times more trouble than we've ever been, and he's still going for his blaster!

“You're going to get us killed,” Peri hissed.

As Otto's hand reached his blaster's grip, angry red dots spread across his skin like the Ich'stein Pox. The red dots covered every bit of him, including his ammo belts and his cloak.

“Don't move, Otto!” Diesel warned. “They have their laser sights on you.”

Otto raised his hand slowly away from his blaster. He flicked a look at Peri. “You'd better follow the same advice!”

Peri glanced down at himself, then over at Diesel. Otto was right. Red laser spots danced over their bodies too.

A cruiser with a red stripe along its sleek black sides hovered closer. The guard sitting on it stood up. There was a large badge on his chest and a row of medals. A strange plume of feathers had been stuck to the back of his helmet.

“Return the prince or perish,” he ordered. His voice was amplified by the loudspeakers in the courtyard. “You have ten seconds to tell me what you have done with His Royal Excellency.”

“Ten …”

Peri glanced at the silver bundle on Otto's shoulder. If they handed over the prince, he was sure they'd be killed anyway for helping the Meigwors. It was odd that the Xions had called their enemy His Royal Excellency. Peri wouldn't have called Diesel by his official title in a million light-years.

It's probably a Xion trick to confuse us
, he thought.

“Nine …”

There's only one thing to do
.

“Eight …”

“We can't let them take the prince,” Peri whispered to Diesel. “Even if we die trying to defend him.”

“Seven …”

“But he's a Meigwor,” Diesel replied.

“It doesn't matter,” Peri said. “We've got to do our duty and protect him!”

“Six … five …”

“If we fail to return the prince,” Peri said, “we'll never see Selene again.”

“Four … three …”

“Come and get us, you Xion cowards!” Otto boomed.

“Two …”

Otto threw his head back and roared: “You couldn't pulverize a space-bug with a planet-buster!”

“One …”

Peri couldn't let these aliens win. He had to do something to stop them.

“Ready!” screamed the Xion commander. “Aim!”

But what could he do? He was unarmed, trapped—helpless.

“Fire!” barked the commander.

Hundreds of searing red laser beams burst from the assault-blasters.

Peri felt his hands thrusting forward. “Noooo!” he screamed.

A brilliant flash of electric blue light erupted from his outstretched fingers. The air crackled with energy as the laser beams were vaporized in midair.

Peri stared at his hands in amazement. “What in the Milky Way was that?” he gasped.

“There's only one thing that disrupts laser beams—an electromagnetic pulse!” Otto exclaimed.

“Yeah, well done, Peri,” Diesel muttered moodily. “But
I'm
the gunner. Next time you find a cool gadget on the
Phoenix
, tell me before you take it, or there'll be trouble.”

“Yeah,” said Peri, hiding his hands behind his back. Diesel had no idea Peri was part bionic. “I'll do that next time.”

Some of the Xion guards examined their weapons; others beat theirs against the side of their cruisers to see if they could make them work again.

“We must get out of here fast,” said Peri, but as he tried to step forward, his vision swam as though he was back in the Cos-Moat. “Activate engines,” he mumbled.

“It must be heatstroke,” Diesel said. “You're not making sense, Peri.”

It was no good. Peri's legs buckled under him and he fell to the ground. His body refused to respond to his commands. He was utterly exhausted.

This is the end for me
, he thought.

Diesel knelt beside him, trying to loosen Peri's Expedition Wear jacket.

Peri looked up. A Xion cruiser had broken formation and was speeding toward them. It took him a moment to realize the guard had tossed aside his useless state-of-the-art weapon and was reaching for an old-fashioned machine-blaster. Peri tried to warn the others, but all he could speak was gibberish, “Guuaaaa-guaaaarr-aarrd.”

The voice in his head was repeating a warning:
Bionic batteries drained. Bionic batteries drained.

The electromagnetic blast must have taken the last of his energy. After all they had been through to rescue the prince, had he blown the entire mission because he didn't know how to operate his own body?

“Leave without me,” Peri said. “I don't have the energy to stand, let alone run.”

“I'm not leaving you,” said Diesel. “You're not getting away from me and Otto that easily …”

“Get the prince back to the
Phoenix
. We can't fail on our mission,” Peri ordered. “I'll fight them off as long as I can.”

Otto ripped a smoke grenade from his ammo belts. He whipped the pin out with his tongue and threw it toward the guards. The grenade exploded in a cloud of lurid yellow smoke.

“Quick, before the smokescreen disappears!” Otto snapped, grabbing Diesel and trying to pull him away from Peri, but the half-Martian gunner wouldn't budge.

“We're not leaving Peri!” Diesel shouted, trying to shake off the Meigwor. But Otto was already dragging him toward the palace
gatehouse. “This isn't the end!” Diesel shouted over his shoulder. “Keep fighting, Peri!”

“Catch!” Otto shouted from the shadow of the gatehouse. The Meigwor threw him a couple of smoke grenades, but they fell short and rattled against the marble, out of Peri's reach.

Otto vanished, dragging Diesel behind him.

As Peri reached for the grenades, sharp chips of marble stung his arms as blaster rounds ricocheted off the ground. There was a stone bench close by. Peri used all his strength to crawl toward the shelter.

I wish the
Phoenix
was here
, he thought.