Blast Off!

  For my co-author, from his Dad

  Contents

  Chapter One: A Class Trip

  Chapter Two: An Alien World

  Chapter Three: Cave of Wonders

  Chapter Four: Invasion Threat

  Chapter Five: Badly Behaved

  Chapter Six: Net of Energy

  Chapter Seven: Bundle of Wires

  Chapter Eight: Critical Damage

  Chapter One

  A Class Trip

  ‘Now, are you certain you’ve got everything you need, Luke?’ said Captain Riley. The two of them – a tall woman with short dark hair, and her son, the spitting image of her – were walking along the main access corridor of the United Earth spaceship Buzz Aldrin, their space boots clanging on the metal deck.

  ‘Absolutely positive,’ sighed Luke, shifting his bulging schoolbag from one shoulder to another. ‘I’m only going on a class trip. Clarke said we’ll be on the planet for a few hours, tops. You’re making me take so much stuff, I could survive down there for years.’

  ‘Sorry,’ said Mum, slightly embarrassed. ‘It’s just that this is the first time you’ve been off the Buzz Aldrin since we left Earth, and I worry about you. Actually, I wish I were coming, too. I could do with some fresh air.’

  Luke was looking forward to being out in the open himself. It was nearly a year since the remnants of humanity had fled a polluted Earth in a fleet of spaceships. They were searching for a new home, a planet they could colonise. But planets were few and very far between in the dark emptiness of space. Then at last they had found one that seemed possible, a medium-sized world with a breathable atmosphere orbiting a pair of suns.

  For a while, excitement had buzzed through the Buzz Aldrin. The planet, however, had turned out to be a major disappointment, a barren ball of rock and sand without any plants or animals. The search would have to go on, but Luke’s mum had put the Buzz Aldrin into a parking orbit so they could do some repairs, and she had agreed when Clarke, Luke’s computer-generated teacher, had asked if he could organise a class trip.

  ‘Well, you can stop worrying,’ said Luke. ‘Everything’s going to be fine.’

  They had reached the end of the corridor and Mum punched the entry code into the keypad next to the shuttle-bay doors.

  ‘I’ll do my best,’ she said with a smile, and gave him a kiss as the doors hissed open. Luke rubbed his cheek with the sleeve of his parka and hurried inside, hoping none of his classmates had seen.

  The shuttle bay was a large steel cavern with a high curved ceiling and a wide pair of doors in the hull wall. Inside was the shuttle itself. The small craft was designed to be used for short journeys between the Buzz Aldrin and planets or other spaceships. It was a chunky vessel the size of an old Earth-style minibus, with a cockpit at the front and a couple of stubby engine vents at the rear.

  The rest of Luke’s class were waiting with their parents. Mum went off to talk to the grown-ups, and Luke soon found Yasmin and Yuri, his best friends. He dropped his schoolbag on the deck, where it landed with a loud CLUNK!

  ‘What have you got in there, Luke?’ said Yasmin, raising an eyebrow. Her long brown hair was tied back in a ponytail and her coffee-coloured skin shone with health. All the kids had been told to wear a warm coat, and her parka was by far the most stylish. ‘Anyone would think you were leaving home!’

  ‘No such luck,’ muttered Luke. ‘How long before we get under way?’

  ‘Clarke is just doing the pre-flight checks on the shuttle’s systems,’ said Yuri. He was small and skinny and red-haired, and his schoolbag was stuffed to the brim, too. Luke guessed it contained Yuri’s favourite laptop as well as loads of other electronic gadgets. ‘Ah, here he comes now.’

  Luke turned round and saw an elderly man with white hair and a droopy moustache emerging from the shuttle. Clarke was a hologram, and until recently he had been able to take on the appearance of any famous person in the ship’s knowledge banks. But a major computer glitch – caused by Luke and his friends – had left him permanently stuck in the form of Albert Einstein.

  ‘Good morning, Primary One and parents,’ said Clarke in his quiet voice. ‘It’s lovely to see everyone. You children are in for a real treat today.’

  ‘That sounds promising,’ Luke whispered, exchanging grins with Yasmin and Yuri. But their smiles soon vanished.

  ‘As you might know, my hobby is geology,’ Clarke continued. ‘So I’ve decided we’re going to spend the day studying the planet’s rocks. Right, everybody, on board now please.’

  ‘Oh no,’ groaned Yasmin, her shoulders slumping. ‘How dull can you get?’

  ‘Well, that’s Clarke for you,’ muttered Yuri. ‘He’s the Prince of Dullness.’

  ‘Too right,’ said Luke. ‘Maybe I should ask Mum if we can have a new teacher. I’m beginning to think anyone would be better than him.’ He picked up his schoolbag and trudged grimly towards the shuttle.

  Chapter Two

  An Alien World

  Getting the class into the shuttle turned out to be a tight squeeze, and there was lots of bad-tempered pushing and shoving as everyone found their seats.

  ‘Ouch! Watch where you’re putting your big feet, Luke!’ said Yasmin.

  ‘Just be grateful he didn’t drop his bag on them,’ said Yuri, laughing.

  ‘Huh, you can talk,’ Luke muttered, elbowing his way beyond his friends into a tiny space by a view-port. He tried to shove his bag beneath the seat, but it wouldn’t fit, and he ended up with his legs draped over it uncomfortably.

  ‘Settle down, everybody, please, and fasten your seatbelts,’ said Clarke, from the pilot’s seat. He touched a glowing square on the control panel and the shuttle door closed. Luke felt the engine throb into life.

  ‘Hey, sir!’ Yasmin said cheekily. ‘Are you sure you can fly this thing?’

  ‘You’d better hope so, Yasmin!’ Clarke replied. A clanking sound resonated through the shuttle as the docking clamps were released. The bay’s exterior doors opened and the shuttle rose from the deck. Clarke gave the engine more power, and the kids were pushed back in their seats.

  Luke looked out of the view-port, and for a moment it seemed the Buzz Aldrin was shrinking, even though he knew that was just an illusion. Soon he could see the whole ship – the central axle over a kilometre in length, the huge engine pod at one end, the colossal golf-ball-like guidance module containing the ship’s bridge at the other. And halfway along the axle, spinning constantly to create their artificial gravity, was the giant wheel where everybody lived.

  Beyond the ship lay the star-spotted blackness of space, but Luke’s eyes were drawn to their destination. To begin with it was just a yellow and black object the size of a basketball, but gradually it grew until it filled the view-port. Clarke took them into the atmosphere at a steep angle, then quickly levelled out the shuttle.

  Luke stared at the alien world below, the first he had ever seen this close. The suns were rising on the horizon and casting their light over the jagged yellow landscape. Endless rough cracks zigzagged across it, and enormous mountains cast shadows that seemed to stretch forever.

  Luke frowned uneasily. The planet looked harsh and forbidding and rather scary. Suddenly, the shuttle lurched to one side and started to judder.

  ‘Don’t worry,’ Clarke said over his shoulder. ‘Just a little turbulence!’

  ‘I’m going to throw up,’ moaned Yuri, who had gone a nasty shade of green.

  ‘If you’re sick on me, it will be the last thing you ever do,’ snapped Yasmin.

  Fortunately, the journey didn’t last long. Just seconds later Clarke brought the shuttle down to a smooth landing, and the juddering stopped.

  ‘Phew, thank goodness for that!’ muttered Yuri. ‘Let me out of here.’

 
Clarke opened the door, and there was more pushing and shoving as the class disembarked. Luke still felt faintly uneasy, and was the last to step onto the surface of the planet. They had landed in what looked like a small valley, its bottom a flat expanse of coarse yellow sand, its sides dotted with large boulders. The air was crisp, which was good, but it was cold, too, and Luke was glad of his warm parka.

  ‘Gather round,’ said Clarke, grinning as if all his Christmases and birthdays had come at once. ‘Isn’t this just wonderful? I’d like you to take out your notepads and worksheets. I thought we could start by taking a look at the various rock strata in the area. Now, follow me!’

  Most of the class did as they were told, but Yasmin held back her friends.

  ‘There’s no way I’m going to spend my time down here looking at a load of old rocks,’ she said. ‘Come on – let’s go and do a bit of exploring of our own. Clarke will be so busy enjoying himself, he won’t notice we’ve gone.’

  ‘Sounds good to me,’ said Yuri, who was his usual pale and freckly shade once more. ‘What about you, Luke?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ said Luke. ‘I mean, what if we run into something dangerous? We’ve no idea what might be waiting out there…’

  ‘Come on, don’t be such a wimp,’ said Yasmin. ‘Your mum wouldn’t have let Clarke bring us down here if the scans had detected anything dangerous.’

  Luke shrugged. ‘OK, Yasmin,’ he said. ‘You lead the way.’ But for some reason he couldn’t help crossing his fingers behind his back.

  Chapter Three

  Cave of Wonders

  Yasmin looked round, then led her friends into a small gully at one end of the valley. It took them up to the valley rim, from where they could see a vast expanse of broken country, an endless landscape of yellow sand and rocks. Above them, the cloudless sky was a sickly orange with purple streaks.

  ‘Well, it’s not paradise, is it?’ snorted Yasmin. ‘You’d have to be a boring old hologram teacher whose hobby is studying rocks to love it.’

  ‘What’s that over there?’ said Yuri, pointing. ‘It looks like the mouth of a cave.’

  ‘Might as well check it out,’ said Yasmin. ‘You never know, it might be the entrance to an underground alien theme park with rides and other cool stuff!’

  ‘Yeah, right,’ said Luke.

  ‘Just kidding,’ said Yasmin. ‘OK, last one there has to carry Luke’s bag!’ She gave Yuri a high-five, then the two of them dashed down the outer slope of the valley, their boots kicking up a cloud of yellow dust.

  Luke sighed and trudged after them. His bag seemed heavier than ever, and he began to think he should have left it behind in the shuttle. By the time he caught up with the others, he felt hot inside his parka, despite the chilly air.

  ‘Hey, Luke, come and look at this!’ Yuri called over to his friend. ‘It’s awesome…’

  At once, Luke’s mood lifted. Yuri was right. Inside the opening was a huge cavern, its far wall lost in shadow.

  ‘I’d like to go in,’ murmured Yasmin. ‘But it’s very dark.’

  ‘No problem,’ Luke said triumphantly. ‘I’ve got a torch in my bag.’

  He delved inside and got out the torch. It was a heavy-duty one, the kind used by repair crews on the Buzz Aldrin. Luke switched it on and the powerful beam shone out, slicing through the darkness as he moved it over the walls.

  ‘You know, I don’t think this is a natural cave,’ said Yuri, suddenly serious. ‘I mean, look at the floor and walls – they’re almost totally smooth.’

  ‘You’re right,’ said Luke. ‘And are those doors over there?’

  They walked further into the cavern and stood in front of a semi-circular opening five metres high. Several similar openings flanked it on either side, all of them sealed by slabs of dark metal covered in strange markings.

  ‘Umm, nice decoration,’ said Yasmin, peering closely at a swirl of flowing lines. ‘I used to have a dress a bit like that. And what’s this, a handprint?’

  ‘It might be,’ said Yuri, moving forward to look. ‘Although it has only three fingers. It’s cut into the door… Hey, maybe it’s an opening mechanism of some kind!’

  Yuri reached out, but Luke grabbed his arm. ‘Don’t touch it!’ he warned. ‘Maybe we should just go back and tell Clarke.’

  ‘What, and get in trouble for sneaking off?’ said Yasmin. ‘I don’t think so.’

  ‘Hang on a second,’ said Yuri. He had pulled a small gadget from his bag and was pointing it at the door. ‘I’m picking up some kind of energy reading.’

  ‘Which means there’s something in there!’ said Yasmin, her eyes shining. ‘Well, Luke?’

  ‘Oh, go on then,’ said Luke with a shrug.

  Yasmin grinned and then whacked her palm down hard on the dark metal. Nothing happened at first, but then the handprint began to give off a weird alien glow, a yellow light that shone right through Yasmin’s hand. A grinding noise followed and the slab split down the middle, each half sliding into the walls on either side. Luke shone his torch into a dark passage.

  ‘After you, Luke,’ said Yasmin. ‘You’re the one in charge of the torch.’

  ‘Oh, so suddenly I’m the leader, am I?’ Luke muttered. But he was curious now, despite his doubts, and he headed into the passage. It was long and narrow, with several twists and turns.

  After a while, they walked out onto a wide balcony overlooking a massive chamber. In the centre was a huge golden sphere crackling with energy. It was throbbing, too, pushing pulses of purple light through transparent tubes that snaked out of it and covered the chamber’s floor and walls. Just like a giant heart pumping blood around the veins of a body, Luke thought. He shivered at the strangeness of the sight.

  ‘Not a theme park, then,’ Yasmin said. ‘Pretty cool, though! What do you –’

  Suddenly, a glowing figure seemed to appear out of the air in front of the sphere. A huge, purple, android-like creature with two arms and two legs, a smooth, featureless body, a round face with a black line where its eyes should have been, and a shorter line for a mouth. The kids stared at it, wide-eyed.

  ‘I told you we shouldn’t have come in here,’ Luke murmured.

  Chapter Four

  Invasion Threat

  ‘Relax, Luke, you worry too much,’ said Yuri, a big grin on his face. He pulled another gadget out of his bag and pointed it at the android. ‘This is absolutely incredible. A real alien being. No, wait a minute, it’s a hologram!’

  ‘Like Clarke?’ said Luke, rather surprised, although it made sense. ‘I suppose that would explain how it just appeared out of thin air.’

  ‘So you don’t think we’re in any danger from it, then?’ said Yasmin.

  ‘No idea,’ said Yuri. ‘I can tell you one thing, though – it’s scanning us.’

  Luke looked more closely at the hologram and saw purple light pulsing along the line at the top of its face. The golden sphere was crackling more, too. Then the pulsing stopped, but before they could say anything, the hologram spoke.

  ‘ORGANIC LIFE FORMS HAVE BEEN DETECTED!’ it said, its voice booming out and echoing round the chamber. ‘IDENTIFY YOURSELVES!’

  Yasmin opened her mouth to speak, but Luke held up his hand. ‘I think you should let me do the talking, Yasmin,’ he said. ‘You can be a bit tactless.’

  ‘Is that so? Well, be my guest,’ said Yasmin, giving him a dirty look.

  Luke took no notice, and turned to address the hologram. ‘My name is Luke Riley, and these are my friends Yuri and Yasmin,’ he said. ‘Who are you?’

  ‘I AM PLANETARY DEFENCE UNIT ALPHA,’ the hologram boomed.

  ‘Fascinating,’ murmured Yuri. ‘Ask who created it in the first place.’

  ‘I was just about to!’ Luke hissed. ‘Who created you in the –’

  ‘THE MAKERS,’ Alpha boomed. ‘THEY WERE ORGANIC AND HAD TO BE DESTROYED LONG AGO. ALPHA HAS BEEN ALONE… UNTIL TODAY.’

  Luke glanced at Yuri and Yasmin, and raised his eyebrows. ‘I
hope you don’t mind me asking,’ he said. ‘But why did these… Makers have to be destroyed?’

  ‘ALPHA WILL SHOW YOU,’ boomed the hologram. Suddenly pictures began to scroll across the golden sphere, images of a great civilisation – amazing cities and machines built by a race of tall, thin aliens with three-fingered hands. ‘THE MAKERS CREATED ALPHA TO DEFEND THE PLANET FROM INVASION,’ Alpha boomed. ‘BUT THEN THEY DECIDED TO SWITCH ALPHA OFF…’

  ‘They probably got fed up with the sound of its voice,’ muttered Yasmin. ‘I mean, I bet it’s even more boring than old Clarke when it really gets going.’

  ‘SO ALPHA HAD TO DESTROY THEM AND CLEANSE THE SURFACE OF THE PLANET,’ boomed the hologram, and paused. ‘YOU ARE ORGANIC,’ it said at last. ‘ALL ORGANIC LIFE FORMS ARE A THREAT TO ALPHA.’

  The line at the top of Alpha’s head began pulsing with purple light again, but more intensely this time. The pulsing in the tubes seemed to have speeded up as well, and the sphere crackled so strongly that bolts leapt from it to Alpha.

  ‘Now hang on a second,’ said Luke. ‘You shouldn’t judge us by these Makers of yours. We’re just some human beings looking for a new home.’

  ‘NEW HOME?’ boomed Alpha even more loudly. ‘ALERT! INVASION THREAT CONFIRMED. ORGANIC LIFE FORMS MUST BE DESTROYED!’

  The purple pulsing in the tubes went crazy, and the golden sphere crackled like a machine in a mad scientist’s laboratory. Alpha was humming ominously.

  ‘Great job, Luke!’ muttered Yasmin.

  Alpha lifted its arms and fired two bolts of purple energy from its hands. The kids ducked just in time, and the bolts ZAPPED! into the roof of the passage above them, blowing a big hole in it.

  Then Alpha slowly floated up until it was hovering above the balcony, its whole body now pulsing with purple fire.

  ‘Guys, I think we should probably –’ said Luke, his voice trailing away, eyes locked on the vision before him.