“What? Is it back?”

  “No, one of the drones just rammed into something.”

  “I thought we’d found all the buildings.”

  “Me too. Come on, let’s go and take a closer look.”

  They shot out from under the waves like an arrow, racing towards the floating building they’d discovered earlier.

  “It’s not here,” said Vyleria looking intently at her holowatch. “It’s a lot further up.”

  Higher and higher they flew, faster and faster, until at fifty thousand feet they came to a stop over a white sheet of clouds. Vyleria then fired a spread of locator beams in all directions, the sky turning momentarily green.

  A gigantic glass tube appeared before them, stretching from horizon to horizon, like a long string of translucent spaghetti. At its centre was what looked like some kind of bridge or viewing platform. It glimmered brilliantly in the afternoon sunshine.

  “How come we didn’t detect this earlier?” asked Jack.

  “The drones didn’t come this high. I didn’t think there’d be anything up here. It’s far too windy. Or at least it should be; this is an amazing feat of engineering.”

  “What do you think it is then? Some sort of telecommunications relay?”

  “Good guess, but not even close.”

  “What then?”

  “We need to take a closer look before I know for sure,” said Vyleria. “But I think I’ve got an idea. How are your flying skills?”

  “Better than ever.”

  “Prove it,” she said, lowering the ramp of their spaceship to let in a torrent of air.

  “But what about the spaceship? We can’t just leave it here.”

  “Can’t we?” asked Vyleria as she activated her rocket boots and shot off towards the glass tube like a comet.

  “Vyleria wait,” said Jack following her out into the gale force wind. “What about the spaceship?”

  “Relax. I’ve parked it. Do you think I’d destroy our only ride home?”

  “Of course not.”

  “Well then, hurry up and show me your moves.”

  “Okay, you got it,” said Jack, doing a quadruple somersault, followed by a triple sonic flip.

  “Still rusty, I see,” said Vyleria, ducking and diving amongst the clouds.

  “Quit it,” said Jack as she looped over him like a ballerina or a comet or both.

  “Come on, let’s get this over with,” she said. “Before I make you dizzy.”

  “In your dreams.”

  “I wasn’t talking about space gymnastics.”

  “Oh,” said Jack going red.

  After Jack and Vyleria had finished their bout of aerial gymnastics, they swooped down onto the metal platform they’d seen earlier. It was large and flat and shaped a little bit like a giant cricket bat - if cricket bats were made of metal and a couple of miles long that is.

  “What happened to the wind?” asked Jack. “It’s gone.”

  “I don’t know. And it’s not in the least bit cold either. Perhaps we’re in some kind of vacuum or energy field. Which is good, otherwise we’d get blown half way around the planet.”

  “Well then, how did we manage to get in?”

  “It’s probably programmed to admit people. We have similar technologies on Elaria. It’s really not that complicated.”

  “If you say so,” he said, imagining what it would be like to surf the tops of skyscrapers like an eagle. “When are you going to tell me what it’s for?”

  “All in good time. Let’s take a look at one of those tubes first,” said Vyleria, igniting her rocket boots. “Perhaps we’ll find our answers there.”

  “You’re not serious, are you?” asked Jack, peering into the darkness. “You’re not going to get into that thing? You don’t even know what it is yet.”

  “Actually, I do. We call them Sky Ways back home. We are looking at putting something like this above Elaria in order to cut back on some of the air traffic. Imagine it Jack, shooting through the air at thousands of miles an hour in a vacuum. Wouldn’t that be amazing?”

  “That depends on how comfortable it was. Besides, how do you know it’s even still working?” he asked, as they stepped up to the entrance. “It looks more like a water slide than anything.”

  “Well, if something does go wrong I’ve got my rocket boots. Plus, I can always call on the mothership or else one of the drones in an emergency. Besides, I’ve already scanned this thing. It’s in perfect working order. See you soon Jack!”

  Vyleria tapped away at a few buttons above the entrance, before she jumped into the glass tube and was sucked into the deep blue distance.

  “Oh well, here goes nothing,” said Jack, tapping the same buttons Vyleria had pressed, before being sucked off into oblivion.

  Jack sped along like a human bullet, going quicker and quicker, blue skies and white clouds blurring all around him, Vyleria a dim red speck in the distance.

  He turned left and right, swooping up and down, going this way and that, as he swished and swirled above the planet.

  And then suddenly he was descending, plummeting, down and down and down as the tube pierced through waves and ran under the sea before he was shooting up again, like an arrow through the darkening clouds, as thunder and lightning and hail and snow clashed and roared all around him.

  Then he stopped.

  Jack looked around, dazed. He was back on the platform. On the other side by the look of it. He couldn’t possibly have travelled all around the world, could he?

  “How was your ride?” asked Vyleria, jumping out from behind him, face beaming. “You can thank me later by the way.”

  “Thank you for what?”

  “For rescuing you, silly. Weren’t you looking at what buttons I pressed? You were supposed to tap the return button not the endless cycle one. If it wasn’t for me, you’d still be out there now going round and round forever.”

  “I… err… I thought I copied you correctly, but you typed them too fast.”

  “Too fast? What are you talking about? I gave you all of one second, Jack.”

  “That’s exactly my point, Vyleria. You’ve got to slow down. I’m not as good as you. Yet.”

  “Ha! You can keep trying. It’s never going to happen. Of course, if you’re certain…”

  “I am certain!”

  “Then we can go a little faster this time. Would you like that?”

  “Sure. Anytime,” said Jack far more bravely than he’d intended. “How fast are we talking?”

  “Oh, I don’t know. I think one hundred thousand miles an hour ought to be sufficient.”

  Jack almost asked her if she was crazy, but thought better of it. She was probably joking anyway. “Okay, fine,” he said, oozing courage. “Bring it on!”

  Jack had been in the tube approximately 0.01 seconds when he realised that Vyleria wasn’t joking, not even in the slightest. If before he’d been a missile now he was a human spaceship as he zipped about the sky, going in all manner of directions, making sudden twists and turns, until the sky, the clouds and the sea became one big white, creamy blur.

  “Wow! That was awesome,” shouted Vyleria, shuddering to a stop behind him. “Let’s do it again.”

  “Sure, but perhaps a little slower this time. I almost brought up my breakfast on that last bend.”

  “What are you doing here? You’ve got to leave here immediately. You’re in danger.”

  Jack and Vyleria spun around instantly.

  Before them was a blonde-haired boy, with tanned, golden skin and bright yellow eyes. Jack thought that he looked like the images he’d seen of the Greek God, Apollo. Minus the toga and harp of course.

  “What do you mean we’ve got to leave?” asked Jack. “Who are you to tell us to do anything?”

  “Jack,” said Vyleria. “What’s gotten into you? Why are you being so rude?”

  “You’re kidding, aren’t you? A strange boy turns up out of the blue on a planet where we KNOW lava man has been and you don’t see anything strange about it? It can’t be a coincidence.”

  “Oh, come on Jack, you’re talking nonsense.”

  “Am I? Just think about it. Where did he even come from?”

  “Look, just listen to me for one second…”

  “No, it’s okay,” said the boy, his yellow eyes twinkling in the sunshine like little golden nuggets. “He doesn’t know me; it’s understandable that he should be suspicious, what with the Scourge around and all.”

  “The Scourge?” asked Vyleria. “Where have I heard that name before? It sounds familiar.”

  “The alien we found in the space graveyard,” said Jack. “The one who looked like Brad Pitt – he mentioned something about them. Could they be related?”

  “They’re the ones who did this,” said the boy, his teeth as white as pearls. “With the collapse of the alliance it was only a matter of time before they came for us, before…”

  “Before what?” asked Jack. “You’re making it up. Let’s hurry up and test him and get this over with.”

  “Jack!”

  “No, it’s okay,” said the boy, his tight-fitting blue suit hugging his muscles. He looked like a cross between an Olympic swimmer and a male model. “The sooner you trust me the better. We’re running out of time.”

  “Your bomb is on a countdown fuse, is it?”

  “Hey!” yelled Vyleria. “Why are you being like this?”

  “Right well, if you won’t do it then I will,” said Jack, pointing his holowatch towards the boy.

  Jack expected the boy’s sun-kissed skin to explode and crackle with red hot magma and the lava man to come pouring out, but annoyingly for him the golden-haired boy remained exactly the same.

  “It must be defective,” said Jack, fiddling with his holo-watch. “He’s tricked us somehow.”

  “What are you talking about?” said Vyleria. “You can’t trick our scanners. You know that as much as anyone.”

  “Okay well then why didn’t our scanners detect him earlier?”

  “I was hiding,” said the boy, “in one of the buildings. They are invisible to most scanners…”

  “He’s got a point,” said Vyleria.

  “I don’t…”

  “Listen, we don’t have much time,” said the boy. “They’ll be coming soon.”

  “Who will be?” asked Jack. “Your friends, the lava people?”

  “The Scourge?” asked Vyleria, glaring at Jack.

  “No – well, yes in a way.”

  “Well, which is it?” asked Jack. “Either it is the Scourge, or it isn’t. You keep changing your story.”

  “I’m not changing my story at all,” said the boy, giving him a white, teethy smile. “Not one bit. It’s the Dreadnuts.”

  “The Dreadnuts?” said Jack. “They sound like a thrash metal band. You’re having us on. We should be looking for lava man not these dreadnuts or whatever they’re called.”

  “Jack! Let him finish. Go on – you were saying?”

  “Thanks,” he said, glaring at Jack. “Yeah, the Dreadnuts. That’s how they conquered us. By turning us against each other. Perhaps it’s better if I show you. It’s hard to explain.”

  “What so you can lead us into an ambush? We’re not that stupid.”

  “Jack,” said Vyleria, her cheeks tinged with purple. “Why are you being like this? He’s done nothing to suggest he’s untrustworthy. If he wants to take us to the Dreadnuts, then we should let him.”

  “What are you mad?”

  “No, I’m not,” said Vyleria, her cheeks a little darker now. “I’m just being reasonable. Like you should be.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Look, I’m not going to argue with you now,” she said, turning back towards the tall Apollo lookalike. “Tell us about the Scourge. Who are they?”

  “They’re whoever sent the Dreadnuts.”

  “Well duh, can you tell us anymore than that?” asked Jack. “Golden boy here is the king of vague.”

  “I don’t know exactly,” the boy said, focusing on Vyleria. “But it was rumoured that they originated from dark matter.”

  “Dark matter?” asked Vyleria. “Are you sure?”

  “Yes, or at least that was what I heard.”

  “But that’s impossible,” she said. “Our best scientists have been investigating the dark matter regions of space for centuries and have found nothing even remotely resembling life. Not even so much as bacteria. You must be mistaken.”

  “Well, that was what I heard anyway. It was pandemonium during the attack. It could have just been a rumour. Many people were saying lots of crazy things back then. And experiencing worse.”

  “Or you could just be lying,” said Jack.

  “I’m not lying!” shouted the boy. “All my family, all my friends are dead because of the Scourge. Massacred. You are my only hope now.”

  “Only hope for what?” asked Vyleria.

  “To escape. I presume you have a spaceship orbiting the planet. You couldn’t have got here otherwise.”

  “Yes, but…”

  “Vyleria, it’s a trick,” said Jack. “We can’t let him come with us. The secrets, the technology – you saw what the Xenti did with it. If it should fall into the wrong hands, then the whole universe would suffer.”

  “I wouldn’t have to stay for long,” said the boy, still looking at Vyleria, eyes twinkling in the sunlight. “You could drop me off at the nearest uninhabited planet. I’ve been surviving very well on my own; I just need to get away, before….”

  “How have you survived this long on a planet with no life then?” asked Jack. “The attack happened what, months ago? Surely you should’ve starved to death by now?”

  “I had some supplies, a spaceship.”

  “Where?”

  “I lost them. There was an attack by the... I only just managed to escape.”

  “How?”

  “By hiding in one of the disused branches of the Sky Road. Since it’s invisible most of the time it was quite easy, if a little lonely. But it helped me to avoid their scans.”

  “And ours too by the sounds of it,” said Vyleria.

  “Well, it’s a shame the rest of your people weren’t so resourceful,” said Jack, his blue eyes locking onto his gold. “Perhaps then you would have someone to back up your story.”

  “Jack, that’s unnecessary…’

  “I don’t care what you think Vyleria,” said Jack. “Earth was nearly destroyed a few hours ago and I for one am tired of playing games. I’ve come too far for that.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  Jack raised his right hand in one quick fluid movement, his jet-black space pistol appearing in his hand soon after. It was pointed straight at the boy’s head.

  Jack thought that with all the nightmares he had been having that his space pistol would have felt heavier, more of a burden in his hand, but he was wrong, it felt as light as a feather, and if this boy didn’t start telling the truth then he was going to shoot him right here, right now.

  Murder or not.

  Chapter 25: The Dreadnuts

  “Who are you? What’s your name?” shouted Jack, space pistol still pointed at the boy’s head. His hand didn’t even so much as tremor.

  “Jack! What are you doing?” said Vyleria. “Have you gone crazy?”

  “Something’s not right, Vyleria. I know it.”

  “How? You’re not acting rationally.”

  “I…”

  “My name is Jorge A’llan,” said the golden-haired boy. “This planet is called Tel’andria. It was attacked two months ago by the Scourge. I survived. Barely. My family and friends weren’t so lucky.”

  “How did you survive?” asked Jack, his finger itching over the trigger.

  “I’ve already told you,” said Jorge. “If you’d just listen instead of shouting at me.”

  “Don’t change the topic. How did you escape? Why aren’t you dirtier?” asked Jack, looking him up and down. “Why aren’t your clothes ripped? You look as if you’ve just stepped out of a space hotel or something.”

  “I could ask the same of you,” said Jorge, his white teeth glimmering in the sunlight. “But that’s not important right now. What is important is that we get to get out of here. NOW. The Dreadnuts will be coming. Soon.”

  “Okay, where can we hide?” asked Vyleria.

  “Oh, come on Vyleria,” said Jack. “You don’t believe this nonsense, do you? He’ll probably take us to his hideaway and then turn on us. All of this is too good to be true.”

  “He has a point,” said Vyleria. “What do you want?”

  “What do I want? I want to get out of here, that’s what,” said Jorge. “I want to find the Scourge and get my revenge. Please, you’ve got to believe me.”

  “Jack, maybe he’s right,” said Vyleria, looking him straight in the eyes. “He sounds like he’s telling the truth. At least put your weapon down. You’re scaring me.”

  Jack hesitated for a moment. He wanted to do exactly as she asked, but every fibre in his body, every thought and feeling, told him that Jorge was lying and that this was a trap.

  He lowered his pistol anyway.

  He knew Jorge was lying, but he didn’t want to lose Vyleria in the process. He would find another way. Somehow.

  “Thank you,” said Jorge. “I won’t let you down, I promise.”

  “Don’t thank me. Thank Vyleria. If it wasn’t for her you’d be at the bottom of the ocean by now.”

  “You won’t regret this Vyleria,” said Jorge, turning round to face her. “I promise. But we don’t have much time. We’ve got to get out of here. The dreadnuts…”

  “I don’t see anything,” said Jack, scanning the snow-white clouds. “Indeed, I’m not even sure what I’m supposed to be looking for. We scanned earlier and didn’t find anything. I still say he’s making this up.”

  “I’m not making this up. They have a way of hiding, of staying invisible.”

  “Well, we should at least get Grunt to do another scan just in case.”

  “Vyleria…”

  “What? It can’t hurt Jack. It will only take a couple of seconds.”

  “Okay fine, have it your way,” said Jack. “Hey, Grunt – come in Grunt. Grunt? Why isn’t he answering?”

 

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