Secret Weapon (2 page)

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

‘And who put it there, Mr Space-Pirate-Who-Says-He-Isn’t-A-Space-Pirate?’ boomed Otto. ‘If it wasn’t you, then who was it?’

‘Just . . . someone I know.’

Peri felt a tingle of dread in his circuits. Jaxx didn’t seem as relaxed as before. He was acting as if he was trying to hide something. Perhaps he wasn’t as innocent as he’d claimed?

‘Leave him alone!’ Selene snapped, squaring up to Otto. ‘My dad didn’t steal anything – but he knows who did and he knows where the gem is. Isn’t that enough?’

‘What if it’s not really there?’ Diesel objected. ‘We will have wasted even more time.’

Peri had an idea. ‘The Heart of Mars has a constant temperature, doesn’t it?’ he asked Diesel.

Diesel nodded. ‘It’s what they call a warm-blooded stone. If you put it in a freezer, it gets no colder. Put it in a furnace and it gets no hotter.’

‘Right,’ Peri said. ‘So the comet, travelling through deep space, must be pretty close to absolute zero. We just need to do a heat-scan – if a warm spot shows up, we know it’s the Heart of Mars.’

‘Brilliant!’ Selene said.

Peri clicked his fingers. The control panel glided across the Bridge towards him. His special connection to the
Phoenix
meant that he knew instinctively what to do. His fingers moved rapidly over the console as he activated the infrared scanner.

An image of the comet appeared on the monitor. The body was a uniform dull red.

‘That can’t be right,’ Peri said. ‘It looks like the whole thing’s warm.’

‘Maybe the Heart of Mars heated the comet up,’ Selene suggested.

Diesel shook his head. ‘It’s far too small to warm up a whole comet.’

‘It’s weird,’ Peri said slowly. ‘I wonder if the scanner’s not working properly.’

‘Whatever your instruments tell you,’ Jaxx said, ‘the Heart of Mars has to be on that comet. Trust me.’

‘That’s just the trouble,’ Otto grunted. ‘We don’t.’

Selene glared at Otto. ‘The only thing we can do is land on the comet and look for the stone ourselves. When we find it, that’ll prove my dad is innocent.’

Peri didn’t see how this would prove Jaxx’s innocence – especially since Jaxx had been planning to intercept the comet before the
Phoenix
came along. He didn’t say any of this aloud though. It would only upset Selene. Besides, right now the important thing was to recover the stone, whoever had stolen it.

‘We’ve got to try,’ Peri said. He had to prove General Pegg wrong. The general had made it clear that he wasn’t sure if Peri and Diesel were cut out to be Star Fighters.

‘The comet is very small,’ said Jaxx. ‘You won’t be able to land the
Phoenix
on it. And it’s travelling towards us at about fifty kilometres a second,’ he added. ‘It’s going to be very difficult to land anything at all.’

‘Well, we’ll think of a way,’ Peri said. He wasn’t about to fail – not when his future as a Star Fighter depended on it. ‘We’ve just got to.’

Chapter 2

‘There must be a way to do this,’ Peri said. ‘Jaxx, how were you planning to intercept the comet?’

‘I had a one-person stealth craft – it was small enough to land on the surface,’ Jaxx replied.

‘Couldn’t we just shrink the
Phoenix
?’ suggested Selene.

‘Not when it’s in motion,’ Peri said.

‘Even if you
had
landed on the comet,’ Diesel said to Jaxx, ‘how were you going to look for such a small stone?’

‘I had an Elemental X-Ray Detector,’ Jaxx said, ‘but it was left behind when you teleported me off the stealth craft.’

‘Not a problem!’ Peri said. ‘The
Phoenix
has an Elemental X-Ray Detector too.’

‘We would need to fly very close and remain at a constant distance to get a good reading,’ Jaxx said.

Otto yawned noisily. ‘Boring!’ he said. ‘There’s no way we can search that comet, so it’s a waste of time talking about it.’ He yawned again and stretched, flexing his long rubbery arms.

‘Wait a minute,’ said Diesel, staring at Otto’s limbs. ‘What about a laser lasso! If we let the comet pull us along, we’d maintain the same speed.’

‘That might work,’ Peri said, slapping Diesel on the back. Maybe they were finally beginning to work as a team.

‘Yes,’ Jaxx said. His whole manner changed. He seemed to take control of the Bridge. ‘Peri, if Selene and I plot the coordinates, can you pilot the ship and bring it in close? And, Diesel, can you fire the lasso?’

‘What about me?’ Otto grumbled. ‘What am I supposed to do?’

Jaxx shrugged. ‘Try not to get in the way.’

Peri sat down in the captain’s chair and took hold of the ship’s Nav-wheel, as Otto moved to the back of the Bridge. Peri glanced across at Selene and her dad standing together, bent over a computer screen. The family resemblance between them was obvious now. He wondered how he hadn’t noticed it when he first saw the images of Jaxx on the Mission Capsule.

‘Sixteen degrees starboard,’ Jaxx called out. ‘And ten degrees under.’

Peri twisted the Nav-wheel to the right and downwards. On the 360-monitor, he saw the comet growing in size as it approached.

‘Hold starboard course,’ Jaxx said. ‘Another two degrees under.’

Peri tilted the Nav-wheel.

‘Diesel, get ready,’ said Selene. Diesel was sitting at the gunnery station, hands poised over the controls. ‘Ten, nine, eight . . .’

The comet was rushing up to meet them.
If we hit it at this speed
,
Peri thought,
we’ll be smashed to pieces!

‘Correct the course!’ Jaxx said. ‘Five degrees to port.’

Peri corrected. The comet now appeared at a slight angle to them. Peri could see it clearly. A large coppery shape, like a flattened ball, covered in spiky humps and bumps, the sparkling tail streaming behind it.

‘. . . three, two, one – fire!’

Diesel hit the firing button. Peri saw a golden rope fly out from the
Phoenix
, encircle the body of the comet and draw itself tight. He felt a slight tug on the ship as the laser rope took the strain. The
Phoenix
shifted course slightly. They were now being towed along by the comet.

‘Nice work!’ Jaxx said. He and Selene high-fived each other.

‘Are we close enough to use the Detector now?’ Peri asked.

‘For sure,’ Jaxx said. ‘The laser lasso keeps us within range.’

Diesel emerged from the gunnery station. Peri could tell Diesel was very pleased with himself. His strip of hair glowed bright yellow. ‘Good idea of mine, wasn’t it?’

‘Ten out of ten,’ Jaxx said. ‘Now let’s get the Detector on the case.’

Peri clicked his fingers again, and the control panel floated over to him. He swiftly found the programme for the Detector.

A sharp, stern woman’s voice echoed around the Bridge:
‘HELLO. I AM THE ELEMENTAL X-RAY DETECTOR.’

‘Wow,’ Jaxx said. ‘State of the art. My El-X-Ray Detector didn’t speak to me.’

‘PLEASE DO NOT CALL ME THE “EL-X-RAY”. I DISLIKE IT.’

Peri saw Jaxx smile.

‘PLEASE ENTER THE COORDINATES FOR YOUR DESIGNATED SCAN-ZONE.’

Peri wished it had a nicer voice. It reminded him of Mrs Zargonara, the hyper-strict maths teacher at the IF Academy.

‘PLEASE ENTER THE COORDINATES!’
the voice said.
‘I HAVE ASKED YOU ONCE ALREADY.’

‘What are the coordinates?’ Peri asked Jaxx.

‘Relative to
Phoenix
, 28 starboard, 11 under, distance 0.0000000000571 of a parsec, velocity zero.’

‘You got it!’ Peri was tapping in the numbers as Jaxx spoke. A close-up of the comet filled the 360-monitor.

‘SCAN-ZONE FOUND,’
said the programme.
‘ENTER YOUR SEARCH TERMS.’

Peri keyed in
MARTIAN CHRYSOLITE
.

The image on the monitor remained unchanged.

‘NO RESULTS MATCHING YOUR SEARCH TERMS. ARE YOU
SURE
YOU HAVE SPELT IT CORRECTLY? CHECK YOUR SEARCH TERMS AND RE-ENTER.’

The programme sounded annoyed that they had made a mistake. Peri felt a hot tingle in his wiring, the way he had in Mrs Zargonara’s maths class when he got an answer wrong.

Diesel’s strip of hair had turned a crestfallen brown. Selene looked devastated. She gazed up at her dad, as if waiting for a word of consolation or explanation.

‘I ASKED YOU TO CHECK YOUR SEARCH TERMS,’
the computer programme said irritably.
‘I HAVEN’T GOT ALL DAY!’

‘I don’t understand,’ Jaxx muttered.

‘I do!’ boomed Otto, walking back to the front of the Bridge. ‘You just made up the story about the Heart of Mars so that we wouldn’t turn you in! You can’t fool a Meigwor!’

‘Wait,’ said Peri. ‘Could the Heart be inside a protective box or case?’

Jaxx’s face lit up. So did Selene’s. ‘Lead,’ she cried. ‘X-rays can’t see through lead. Maybe the Heart is inside something made of lead.’

Peri keyed in the word
LEAD
.

‘ABOUT TIME,’
the programme said.
‘LET’S HOPE WE HAVE MORE LUCK WITH THIS ONE . . . YES, RESULT FOUND. IT WOULD HAVE SAVED TIME HAD YOU ENTERED IT CORRECTLY TO BEGIN WITH.’

‘Oh, be quiet,’ Peri muttered. He’d always wanted to say that to Mrs Zargonara. He turned the volume down to zero before the programme could answer back.

On the 360-monitor Peri saw a small dot that hadn’t been there before. He used the touchpad to zoom in on it. It showed up as a black, cylindrical object.

‘Yes!’ Selene shouted.

‘The Heart must be inside that container,’ Jaxx said. ‘Well done, Peri!’

‘How do you know there’s anything inside it?’ Otto said. ‘It could be empty. You still haven’t proved anything!’

‘We have no choice – we’ll have to land and check it out,’ Peri said.