The Incredible Space Raiders from Space! (7 page)

She gave him a reassuring pat on the arm. “Things will get better,” she said, though she kept her voice down. “When Samantha finds out you're on the List, they'll all say sorry. Well, not the commander. Or Erna the Strong. Or Lieutenant Gordon. But the regular kids. Even Ben the Brilliant.” She grimaced. “I hate calling him that.”

“Is that the boy with the black hair?” Jonah asked.

“Yep. He's not very nice. I'm not even sure if he's that smart, now that I think about it.” Willona shrugged. “Rules are rules. He's probably not sure I'm that awesome, even though it should be pretty obvious. Are you hungry?”

Jonah frowned. “I thought I had to go back to training?”

“Well, Alex is going to be busy preparing,” Willona said. “He needs to study his maps. Might as well take a break. I'd train you, but I'm not a very good fighter. That's why I'm the official greeter, I guess. Come on. Let's get you a food bar.”

They started down Squirrel Street. Willona was really marching now, swinging her arms and raising her knees with exaggerated precision. Jonah supposed she was trying to set a calming example for the others. He just walked along behind her.

“Why did you mention Ben the Brilliant?” Jonah asked. “You said even him. How come?”

Willona glanced back. “Because he wants to exile you.”

“What?” Jonah said.

Willona stopped. “Yeah. He was asking people to vote.” She waved a hand in dismissal. “Don't worry. If you're on the List, they can't exile you.”

“And if I'm not?” Jonah asked.

She forced a smile and kept marching. “Then they voted to exile you. Twenty-eight to three.”

•  •  •

Jonah accepted a food bar from the official food sorter, a very serious-looking girl named Lyana the Forgotten. Jonah had wanted to ask her why she'd chosen that as a name, but she was clearly one of the twenty-eight kids who had voted to exile him. She'd looked very sour when Willona asked for the food bar, and only when Willona had stood there with her hands on her hips and reminded Lyana of the commander's words had she finally fetched him one.

“You don't get another one until tomorrow,” Lyana said coolly.

She had long black hair that was braided down her back and interwoven with a few blue ribbons. Her eyes were big and brown, but they looked very sad or very angry. Jonah would have felt bad for her if she didn't keep looking like she wanted to hit him over the head with a box.

“What about dinner?” Willona asked.

“He missed lunch. So this counts as dinner. He can come get breakfast in the morning. If Samantha doesn't come back by then.” She glanced at Jonah. “After that we don't need to worry about it.”

“I like your ribbons,” Jonah said.

It was a bit of a long shot, but his mother had once
told him that if someone didn't like you, you should say something nice about them. He thought back to that day.

“Jonah?” his mother had said, sitting down on the bed beside him.

She was always dressed very nicely. She worked in an office, and so every day she wore crisp gray suits with shiny black shoes, and her hair was neatly combed. Everyone always said Jonah looked like her. On that day she'd come home from work to find him lying facedown in bed, his cheeks and pillow stained with tears that had long since dried. Jonah came home four hours before his parents, so he always had time to cry alone.

She'd rubbed his back, her rings catching on his shirt. “What happened?”

Jonah spoke into his pillow. “They called me names. After school. Peter especially. The one I told you about.” His voice cracked a little. “I shouldn't cry.”

That's what his father always told him.

“It's okay to cry,” his mother said comfortingly. “But not in front of the person who hurts you. What did he say?”

“I don't know,” Jonah murmured. “He said my haircut was dumb. And that I had big ears. And that I looked like a girl. He was pretty busy. Lots to say, I guess.”

His mother patted his back. “Here's what you do. Tomorrow he'll call you more names, right?”

“That seems to be the pattern,” Jonah agreed.

“So this time you'll say, Very creative, Peter. I especially like the part about my dumb haircut. Can I use that one?”

Jonah glanced at her. “I'm not sure you're getting the problem.”

She smiled. “I am. When someone doesn't like you, say something nice about them. It makes them angry, because it makes you better.”

Jonah thought about that. “It's worth a try, I guess.”

The next day he had told Peter that he liked his shoes, and Peter punched him in the stomach. As Jonah lay there, he decided that he was done taking advice from his mother. But the day after that, Peter didn't say anything. Maybe it wasn't as fun anymore. Maybe the principal had threatened to expel him. It was a private school, and they didn't like it when you punched other students.

But it had worked. And so Jonah decided to try it again.

To be fair, Lyana the Forgotten didn't punch him in the stomach. She just stared at him for a moment and then looked at Willona, who shrugged.

“Where did we find this kid?” Lyana said.

“I assume you don't actually want an answer,” Willona replied, “because that's classified and I'd have to report you. You're probably just surprised because that was a little weird. I'll pretend you didn't ask.” She paused. “We'll probably get going now.”

“Good idea,” Lyana said.

When they left the cafeteria, Willona turned to him. “You like her ribbons?”

“I thought it was a nice thing to say,” Jonah mumbled.

“You are an Incredible Space Raider, Jonah,” she said. “You don't have time for ribbons. And what's wrong with my hair?”

Jonah frowned. “Nothing. It's nice.”

“Thank you,” Willona said. “But it's too late. Now, we better go say good-bye to Alex. He's going to have to go deep into the Wild Zones. . . .” She stopped. “Uh-oh.”

Jonah turned around and saw Erna the Strong walking toward them. Terrified Space Raiders pressed against the walls in front of her, trying to get out of her way.

“I'm in trouble,” Jonah whispered.

Erna the Strong stopped in front of him. “Jonah the Now Incredible, you are summoned to Sector One. The commander would like a word.”

“Do I have a choice?” Jonah asked.

“No,” Erna said.

Jonah watched as more and more Space Raiders stepped into the hallway, closely watching the encounter. Ben the Brilliant was wearing a very evil-looking smirk. He spotted Jemma, and she just gave him a sad smile.

Jonah resigned himself to his fate. “Lead on,” Jonah said.

“Actually, I walk behind you,” Erna the Strong replied. “Regulations.”

“Makes sense,” Jonah said.

He started walking down Squirrel Street, Erna the Strong close behind him. Willona obviously couldn't resist. “Wait! Was he on the List?”

Erna the Strong hesitated. She probably wasn't supposed to say anything, but she could see that every single person in the sector was eagerly listening for the answer. Even Lieutenant Gordon had stepped out of his room. Erna the Strong couldn't resist.

“We don't know,” she said. “Because the List was gone.”

Everyone looked at Jonah, their eyes wide.

“Is that a bad thing?” he whispered to Willona.

She nodded. Erna the Strong turned back to him.

“I like your hair,” Jonah murmured.

Erna raised one of those fierce, bushy red eyebrows, dug her incredibly strong fingers into his shoulders, and started pushing him down the hallway. He caught one last glimpse of Willona the Awesome, sadly waving good-bye.

H
OW DID YOU DO IT?”
Lieutenant Potts asked, leaning forward dramatically.

He was a round-faced boy with bright pink cheeks, deep-set blue eyes, and a nose that looked a bit like a pig's snout. He was also one of the few Space Raiders on the ship who wasn't wiry and slender; on the contrary, he had a bit of belly that hung out below the table. But despite his jolly appearance, he wasn't overly friendly. Actually, he was a bit of a bully. He was also the leader of Sector Two.

“Well?” he repeated.

Jonah looked around the room, confused. The commander was watching intently.

“How did I do what?” Jonah asked.

Lieutenant Potts sat back, shaking his head in exasperation. Samantha the Bravest and Most Daring Adventurer folded her arms, staring at him suspiciously.

“How did you steal the List?” she said. “How did you know where it was?”

She looked a lot like Alex, now that Jonah took a
better look at her. She had the same wispy blond hair that fell well past her shoulders, and equally big, round ears. He thought maybe she'd take pity on him, since he knew Alex, but apparently not.

Jonah wasn't exactly sure what to say. He was being accused of stealing something he'd never seen on a ship he'd been on for a day from a bunch of people who terrified him. Erna the Strong was waiting by the door, ready to take him back to the brig.

“I didn't steal anything,” Jonah said. “I've only left Squirrel Street once so far. And then Alex and I ran into a screaming monster, so I wasn't in a rush to leave again.”

The commander tapped a finger on the table. She seemed to like doing that.

“Is it possible he could have found the List without knowing where it was?”

Samantha seemed to think about that. “I guess. I found it by accident.” She paused. “But it would have taken him a while.”

“Is there any chance he could have slipped away for that long?” the commander asked Lieutenant Gordon, who had hurried along behind Jonah and joined the meeting.

Lieutenant Gordon shook his head. “I don't think so. When we lost Kyla the Courageous and Daniel the Ninja, he was sent back to his room. But the guards were still at their stations. He couldn't have left.”

Lieutenant Potts snorted. “How convenient.”

Jonah put up his hand.

The commander looked at him in surprise. “Yes?”

“Can I speak without being sent to the brig?” Jonah asked.

“That depends,” she replied.

Jonah lowered his hand uncertainly. “Can I just say that I hoped Samantha would find the List and prove that I'm not an Incredible Space Raider? I don't want to be here either. I want to go home.”

Everyone looked at the commander. Lieutenant Gordon rubbed his forehead.

The commander stared at Jonah for what seemed like a very long time. Her lightning-streaked hair was tied into a ponytail this time, revealing her sharp cheekbones.

“You can't go home, Jonah the Now Incredible,” she said finally. “Not until our mission is done.” She looked around the room. “We can't blame him for wanting to go home. But in the absence of proof, we have to assume he was recruited for the ISR.”

Lieutenant Potts looked like he was going to object, but he thought better of it.

The commander turned back to Jonah. “I don't think you stole the List, Jonah. You don't seem . . . quite capable of that. No offense.”

“None taken,” Jonah said.

She nodded. “However, if you are the right recruit,
then you are also a special recruit. We don't know why that is, but perhaps we'll find out soon. For now, we're in a serious situation. You can return to training and be granted some information about our mission. You are still, however, on brig duty.”

“We can't give information to a possible spy,” Lieutenant Potts said.

The commander straightened and looked at him. Jonah heard Erna the Strong shift behind him. Lieutenant Potts shrank in his chair.

“I believe I just said Jonah was a member of the ISR,” the commander said quietly. “Didn't I say that?”

Everyone in the room nodded.

“I thought so,” she continued. “Does that mean you're questioning my judgment, Lieutenant Potts?”

“No,” he said quickly, his round pink cheeks turning bright red. “Sorry.”

She held his gaze for a moment longer and then turned to Lieutenant Gordon. “You will inform your sector that Jonah is cleared for duty. Jonah, you are dismissed. You can take him back, Erna.”

With that, Erna the Strong escorted him out, a little more gently this time. He felt Lieutenant Potts watching him go. Jonah suspected he hadn't seen the last of him.

When they were back in the hallway, Erna the Strong looked at him.

“You're lucky,” she said.

“I guess,” Jonah agreed. “Can you grab my arms? My shoulders kind of hurt.”

Erna the Strong smiled, the first time she'd done so. “You're not in trouble, Jonah the Now Incredible. You can walk on your own.” She paused. “But I still walk behind you.”

Jonah nodded. “Fair enough.” He started down the hallway. “Do you think they'll be nicer to me now?”

There was another pause. “No.”

•  •  •

Erna the Strong was right. They all stared at him coldly when he walked back into the sector, a free Space Raider. Willona came out of her bedroom and looked at him in shock. She must have thought he was never coming back, unless it was to go straight to the brig. Even when Lieutenant Gordon came back and told everyone that Jonah was an official member of the ISR, it didn't change. They all kept staring.

Before long, Jonah found himself back in his bedroom. It was small and cold and the view of space was a bit lonely, but it was better than being out there with the others. Even Jonah, who was used to getting teased, could only take so many dirty looks before he needed a break. And so he just sat there on his tiny cot with its very thin white pillow stained yellow, brown blanket with
loose threads and holes, and sheets that probably hadn't been washed in twenty years. He stared out the window at the lonely view of space and looked at the tiny stars and the great blackness that seemed to go on forever.