The Incredible Space Raiders from Space! (25 page)

Sally smiled. “Thanks, Jonah.”

When that was done, he'd asked for some time alone. Everyone had to start training for their new jobs, especially the bridge crew, so there was no rush. Jonah
needed time to think. How could he tell them now that he wanted to go home?

He tried to write in his journal, but he didn't know what to say. He wanted to see his parents. He wanted to apologize for thinking they had given him away. He wanted to say all these things in person. But how could he leave?

A knock sounded at the door.

“Come in,” Jonah said, putting the journal aside.

Willona smiled as she walked in and slid the door shut behind her. Then she plopped down on the bed.

“Hey,” she said.

“Hey.”

Willona looked at the window. “Feels like a long time ago that I woke you up in here, doesn't it?”

Jonah smiled. “Yeah. A lot has changed.”

“But not everything,” she said quietly. She was playing with her fingers in her lap. “Do you want to go home, Jonah?”

Jonah looked at her in surprise. “What?”

Willona rolled her eyes. “I know you better than anyone. You didn't come down here to take a nap. You want to go home.”

He fell silent for a moment. “I don't know what to do.”

“I know,” Willona said. “But I just wanted to let you know that we're with you. If you want to go home, the Space Raiders will follow. We'll still come back for the
others. But if you want to go home, we understand.”

Jonah looked at her. “I guess I need to decide soon.”

“Probably,” she said. “Martin's already figured out how to make this thing fly.”

“That doesn't surprise me,” Jonah said. He thought about something and looked at her. “Where do you come from, Willona? Everyone else told me. What were your parents like?”

Willona shook her head. “Still breaking the rules. I come from space, Jonah. That's my home now. Where I come from doesn't matter at all.” She paused. “But they were very nice,” she said quietly. “I was an only child. They were very loving. They always told me I could be anything I wanted. That I just had to focus on my goals. That if I did that, I would be happy.” She looked at Jonah. “When they died, I just wanted to be happy again. I wanted to be something great. And now I'm the communications specialist on the greatest ship in the fleet. I think my parents would be proud of me.”

With that, she hurried out of the room, marching with her head held high.

Jonah smiled and leaned back. There was just one more person he had to talk to.

•  •  •

Erna the Strong stepped aside to let Jonah through the door, giving him a very professional salute as she did. Jonah had told everyone they didn't have to salute or call
him sir, but some Space Raiders insisted on formalities.

Jonah walked inside, and the commander looked up from the corner. It was a nice bedroom. The cold gray walls were painted pink, and a frilly lace blanket lay over the cot. A desk with a computer sat beside it, along with a stack of journals.

The commander was sitting on the floor, her arms wrapped around her legs. Her eyes were puffy and red from tears, and her raven hair was matted to her cheeks and forehead. She looked like a little girl who had grown up too fast.

He'd realized it when he was talking to Sally. The commander had another name. She looked up, and her eyes widened when she saw what Jonah was holding. A tiny smile split her lips as he handed them to her.

“Mr. Monkey,” she whispered, hugging the pink monkey to her chest. “And my notebook.” She met his eyes. “I couldn't risk taking them to Sector One. How did you know?”

“It started adding up,” Jonah said. “I realized you had to be the space princess.”

“Thank you,” she said. “My mom gave this to me. It's all I have left of her. When she passed away, everything started going wrong. They built new passenger ships and nobody wanted to fly on this old thing. My dad had put all his money into it, so we had nowhere else to go. I used to hear him crying after she died, shouting and screaming
that he wanted her back. He did that for weeks. And then one day he just woke up, and he was cold. He wasn't my dad anymore. He was hired by the commission, and he found a new crew. Then we started picking up kids. He told me he was finding me some friends. He just didn't tell me what he was doing with them. Not until it was too late.” She looked up at Jonah. “I'm sorry.”

“I know,” Jonah said, sitting down at the desk. “I need to ask you a question.”

She nodded, still hugging Mr. Monkey.

“If I take the
Squirrel
back to Earth, what will happen to the Space Raiders?”

The commander thought about that for a moment. “The commission will send a team to take the ship back. They don't want the public to know about Project Weed, so they'll cover it up. The Space Raiders will be locked in the sectors and sent to PER-7.”

“That's what I thought,” Jonah murmured. “How many shuttles are there?”

“Two,” she said, glancing at him. “One that could make it back.”

“Could I fly it alone?” he asked.

“Yes.” She met his eyes. “But you can't leave.”

“Why not?”

She laughed. “Do you think this is over? The commission will send a ship to take the
Squirrel
back either way. Maybe pirates. Maybe soldiers. They can't have
kids running around on a spaceship, especially ones who know a secret that the commission is trying to hide. They'll take the
Squirrel
back and send the Space Raiders to PER-7. The PER planets—we don't know what's on them. We don't know what you might find down there. And there are other things in space much worse than pirates. Trust me.”

Jonah paused. “What happened that day?”

Her voice lowered. “They came fast. Attacked from the top level. Cut a hole in the ship. We were on a mapping expedition, looking for PER planets. My father and the crew fled down to the lower levels, trying to escape. Some of them didn't make it. Regular doors didn't stop them. We made it to the armory.”

Jonah leaned forward. “Did you see them?”

“No,” she whispered. “I just heard them.”

Jonah nodded, the last piece of the puzzle falling into place. He'd wondered about the claw marks on the blue door and what was written in the diary. Part of her story was real.

“What happened then?”

“We stayed in there for two days. Finally, they decided to have a look. The creatures were gone. Their ship had taken off, and we've never seen them again.” She looked at Jonah. “But they're out there, Jonah. The Entirely Evil Things. And this time there are two hundred kids on the
Squirrel
. It would be a lot worse. They
need a captain. Someone who can lead them through all this. They need the special recruit.”

“I'm not special—,” Jonah started.

“Not because we had to go back for you,” she said. “I knew it was a mistake. But you're special because you have a family. You don't need this like the others do. It made you question everything. And it made you fight back. You can't leave them, Jonah.”

Jonah looked into her piercing green eyes, and he knew she was telling the truth. The thought of evil creatures roaming the stars was enough to make his skin crawl. But she was right. He couldn't leave them. Not yet.

Not until the other Space Raiders were safe.

“Is there a way to send a message back to Earth?” he asked quietly.

She nodded. “We're out of range of a broadcast, but there are a few message pods in one of the storerooms. You can send one back to Earth.”

“Thanks,” Jonah said. “Well, I better get back to the bridge.”

“Can I ask you a favor?”

“Sure.”

She looked down at Mr. Monkey. “My father isn't evil. He's just . . . broken. My mom is dead. I've barely even spoken to him since this started. I think he feels alone. I'm not excusing what he did. I hate him for it. But
he's still my dad.” She glanced at Jonah and handed him the pink monkey. “Can you give him this? He knows my mom gave it to me. Just tell him that I still love him and it's not too late.”

Jonah took the monkey. “I can do that.”

“Thank you.”

“In a week or two I'll talk to the others about letting you out.”

“No rush,” she murmured. “I have some writing to do.”

Jonah smiled and headed for the door. “Me too.”

Dear Mom and Dad and Mara,

I wrote you a bunch of letters on this ship, but I figure one will probably do. I guess you know what happened by now, but if not, I kind of took over the
Squirrel.
It's a long story, but I'm a captain now, and we have to save the other Space Raiders.

Actually, none of this makes any sense without the other letters. Doesn't matter.

What's important is that I can't come home. Not yet. I want to, but it doesn't feel right abandoning my friends. I'm not the same scared little boy who left. Well, I'm still scared. And a boy. And I haven't
grown, at least not physically. But everything else has changed. And I think that's a good thing. I would like to grow taller still. A few inches, even.

Anyway, there are a few things I wanted to say. The first is that I love you. I know I accused you of possibly giving me away—actually, you wouldn't have known that. Ignore that last sentence. But I know now you missed me, and I also know that I am very, very lucky to have parents like you. And you, too, Mara. Still not your boyfriend, though.

The second thing is that I will come home eventually. I don't know when, but I'll come back. And don't worry, I'll be fine. I'm pretty good with a bonker. Long story.

Finally, I need you to do me a favor. There's a boy living in the Charles Hodge Orphanage named Jonah R. Hillcrest. He was supposed to be here, but they took me by mistake. I think he would have liked it here. I think he would have found a home.

I'd still like him to have one. I know this is a lot to ask, but could you look after him until I get back? He can have my stuff. Sorry if he's a pickpocket or something, but it turns out pickpockets aren't half bad either. Give him a chance. He'll probably surprise you.

Well, I better get to the bridge. We're about to set out for PER-1 to save the first batch of Space Raiders. I've never captained a ship, as you know, so wish me luck.

And if this is the last letter you get from me (even though I said I'll be back), good-bye. I love you. If strange men come to the door for the new Jonah, tell him to hide.

Sincerely,

Captain Jonah the Now Incredible,

Commander of the Incredible Space Raiders from Space

Jonah read over the letter one last time and then stuffed it into the circular message pod and closed the cap. It was time. He'd given Captain White Shark the monkey and the commander's message—accompanied by two Space Raiders with guns, of course—and watched as he took it with trembling hands. When Jonah closed the brig door, he thought he saw tears in Captain White Shark's cold gray eyes.

He walked down the crew's quarters toward the bridge, where the double doors were wide open. Space Raiders saluted him as he walked by. He walked onto the bridge, where his crew was waiting. Martin was standing by the wall equipment.

“Do you know where we blast off message pods?” he asked.

Martin nodded. “Of course.”

Jonah tossed him the pod, and he caught it in both hands. “Please send this when you have a chance. To Earth.”

Martin grinned. “Yes, sir.”

“I told you to stop—” He sighed. “Thank you.”

Jonah climbed up into the captain's chair and sat down. It was big and bulky and his feet didn't even touch the floor, but it was still quite a view. He looked into space, where a million stars and nebulae and planets sparkled in the darkness. It was beautiful.

“Did you find PER-1?” Jonah asked Ria, the new navigator.

He'd debated which group to save first, but they'd ultimately decided to go for the group that had been stuck on the planet longest. It seemed fair.

“Yes, sir,” Ria said, glancing back. “Two weeks' flight.”

“I guess we better get started,” Jonah said. “Alex, let's go bring the Space Raiders home.”

Alex grinned and pulled the throttle. With a slow, steady movement, the ship started forward. The bridge crew cheered—Willona being the loudest—and Jonah heard the cheer echo back through the hall, where it was taken up by the other Space Raiders.

He knew there was danger ahead. He knew this journey was far from over. But no matter what happened,
they'd already won. Because not one of these Space Raiders was an orphan anymore. A castoff. They were a family, and this was a home. There was no better feeling than that. And for now, it was his home too.

He was Jonah the Now Incredible . . . from Space.

Thank you to my new and yet already long-suffering wife, Juliana, who puts up with me while I voyage across the stars. Your patience and humor give me a great reason to come back to Earth. Thanks as always to my parents, who still support and encourage me every step of the way, even though I don't have to live at home anymore and eat all their groceries. Sometimes I wish I still could, though. Thanks to the rest of my family for your love and support, and a special mention to my first nephew, Jacob King—you're not even one yet, and you're already in a book! I hope you like this one day.

Thank you as well to Deb and Rick for bringing me into your family with open arms. Rick, you're an inspiration to anyone facing challenges in their life, and you certainly put my problems in perspective. I'm honored to call you my father-in-law.

A huge thank-you to my fantastic editor Sylvie Frank, who shares a love of all things wacky and weird and fun. You brought humanity to the story, so thank you. And
thank you as well to Paula Wiseman for bringing me on board and giving this strange story a chance. And, of course, to my amazing agent and friend Brianne Johnson, who continues to provide me with support and encouragement. Thank you for continuing to believe in me and for always pushing me to be better.