Lab Rats in Space (5 page)

They all fell silent. In the dark they could hear the sounds of the docking area and could feel themselves being moved. Without saying a word, they all huddled closer and held hands.

The Lab Rats were about to be loaded onto a ship and plunged into an unknown universe. They didn't know where they were going, they didn't know where they wanted to go or even who they were. All they knew was that they wanted to escape the Research Station and that they had each other. As they held hands—and hammer— in the dark, they hoped that this all might be enough.

‘C
aptain, there are reports of unauthorised life forms on the ship.'

Captain Redlock looked puzzled at the news.

‘What, from the Research Station?' he asked Rudi, his second in command.

Captain Redlock was the captain of the Interworlder, a massive cargo ship that transported containers around the galaxy. It wasn't a very exciting job. He would much rather have been chasing bandits in outer space in a small fighter ship. But he had a family and bills to pay so he collected and delivered containers instead.

Collecting cargo from the Research Station was fully automated. The Interworlder would dock, machines loaded the containers onto his ship and they were given clearance to leave by an automatic signal. Of all
the places he collected containers, Professor Xanax's Research Station was the one Redlock liked least. His crew thought it was creepy.

Nobody on the Interworlder ever opened up the containers. They all knew they contained Xanax's inventions and creations but they did not know what they were. They did not want to know.

All they knew was that every five minutes another ship took off from the station with another container that had been ordered by someone in the galaxy.

In all the time Redlock had collected from the Research Station, he had never met Professor Xanax. In fact he had never seen another living being there. The crew told wild stories about terrifying creatures which didn't exist anywhere else in the universe. Redlock did his best to ignore them, but it was hard not to wonder what was actually in the big white station as it floated alone in space.

It was always white. Most space stations were dirty. Things bumped into them. Some got patched during repairs, others had huge advertisements painted on them. Not this one. It was pure white, without a blemish. It was hard to believe anything natural could live on it.

‘They want us to check the containers for life forms. If we find any we are to return immediately to the station,' Rudi said. ‘They've transmitted access codes to open them up.'

‘OK, we better not make a big thing about this,' said Redlock. ‘You and I will go down and check it out.'

Captain Redlock knew his crew would not like the idea of anything escaping from the Research Station on their ship.

The Interworlder had three huge cargo bays. The Research Station containers were in Cargo Bay 3, along with four hundred other containers. Captain Redlock and Rudi rode a hovercraft to the far end of the bay where the containers were.

‘There's something funny going on here,' said Rudi as they glided along. ‘I've never seen anything get in or out of their containers and we never receive any communication from the station.'

‘I know,' said the captain, ‘but we really don't want to get on the wrong side of Professor Xanax.'

‘I've heard he pulled the hairs off a mouse, one by one,' said Rudi.

‘Let's not spook ourselves with gossip. We'll just check the containers, report back and get on our way as fast as we can,' assured the captain.

They arrived at the first container, raised their hovercraft to the top of it and transmitted the access code. The lid slid back. Inside was a round metal ball floating in the middle of the container, spinning around slowly.

‘How does it do that?' asked Rudi.

‘I don't know, but it doesn't look like a life form. Let's move on.'

The next container was packed to the top with metal boxes.

‘No room for anything in here,' said Rudi.

They opened up the last one.

Captain Redlock couldn't believe what he saw. Five faces stared up, squinting at the light.

‘They're kids!' he said.

‘Look!' Rudi pointed at Zed, who had leapt to his feet. Blinded after having sat in the dark for so long, he held up his fists towards the sound of the voices, all three of them.

‘We're not going back!' he shouted.

‘He's got three arms!' Rudi said, amazed. ‘And that one has a hammer for a hand!'

Captain Redlock looked horrified. What were these creatures? The one with the hammer answered his question.

‘We've escaped from Professor Xanax's lab. He's been experimenting on us.'

‘Please don't send us back,' begged Jay.

Redlock was stunned. He was really hoping not to find any life form at all. At the most he was expecting some rats, not real people and certainly not children. How could he send children back to that Research Station? He thought of his own children and how angry he'd be if someone had done this to them.

‘Please don't send us back!' they pleaded.

‘We're not moving until you promise,' KT said stubbornly.

Captain Redlock looked at Rudi who just shrugged his shoulders.

‘OK, climb out,' he said. ‘We'll see what we can do.'

He knew a pile of trouble was going to crash down on him.

‘Say it,' said KT. ‘Say you promise.'

‘I promise I won't send you back,' the captain said.

Jay started to move. Emm stopped him.

‘He didn't put his hand on his heart.'

‘Fine,' the captain put his hand on his heart.

‘Him too,' Emm pointed to Rudi.

They put their hands on their hearts.

‘We promise not to send you back to the Research Station.'

‘Or give us over to Xanax's research assistants,' Zed added.

They repeated that too.

‘Or leave us somewhere where it's obvious they can pick us up and take us back.'

‘Or leave you somewhere where it's obvious they can pick you up and take you back.'

‘Or…'

‘Stop or we'll be here all night.' Redlock cut them short.

They all piled onto the hovercraft, which dipped with the extra weight.

‘What's that?' Rudi pointed to XL.

‘He's one of us. He escaped too.' Emm patted his fur as they set off.

‘The crew aren't going to like this,' Rudi said quietly to the captain.

‘I know. Take them as quickly as possible to my room and stay there with them. I'll report back to the Research Station.'

Captain Redlock hoped they would believe him when he said they had found nothing. Xanax's message had gone out to all the cargo ships which had docked at the station that day. With any luck they would not send a ship out to check every one.

The minute Redlock returned to his command post on the control deck, he knew his worst fears were about to come true. Hovering in the middle of the bridge was a holographic projection of a head. The shiny head looked like it had been polished for hours. Redlock could just see the collar of a white rubber lab coat.

His crew stared at the head, too scared to move. They didn't have 3-D holographic projection on their ship, just a flat screen. They had no idea how this head had suddenly appeared.

‘Captain Redlock,' the head smiled at him, ‘how good of you to help us.'

‘Professor Xanax, I presume,' the captain said. ‘What an honour.'

‘I do apologise for troubling you. This is quite embarrassing.' The professor smiled like his lips were being pulled apart by a machine. It wasn't pretty. One of the crew shut his eyes—the smile was the scariest bit yet.

‘It seems the life forms which escaped from our lab found their way into a container on your ship. Could you come back so we can clean them up?'

Xanax spoke like some germs had escaped from a test tube.

‘Can't help you professor,' Captain Redlock was even more determined to help the kids now. ‘We've already checked the containers. There are no life forms in them.'

‘They're not visible to the human eye,' Xanax tried to smile again.

Redlock knew he was lying.

‘We really can't afford any delays. I can assure you the containers have no living creatures in them. I'd hate for you to waste your time with us.'

The captain was telling the truth. The containers were empty… now.

Xanax's smile snapped shut.

‘Very well. Until
later
captain.'

The holograph disappeared.

Redlock knew this would not be the end of the matter.

‘OK. Let's get away as quickly as possible. Maximum power please!'

He had to think of a way to get the kids off his ship, and fast.

R
udi thought the Lab Rats looked hungry, but he didn't want the kitchen knowing there were five hungry mouths and a strange furry brick in the captain's quarters. So he had one huge plate of food sent up from the ship's kitchen.

‘The captain's very hungry,' he said, ‘so pile the plate up high; bacon, mashed potatoes, some sausages, the lot… and he'll want a massive bowl of chocolate ice-cream… and he's in the mood for lemonade… a really big bottle.'

The children stared at the huge plate. They hadn't seen real food before. They sniffed. It did smell good.

‘Eat up then!' said Rudi.

‘What? This?' Dee asked.

‘It's weird!' said KT.

Rudi ate some to show them it was OK. They told him what they ate in the lab.

‘Disgusting!' said Rudi.

‘Wow!' Zed was the first to put some food in his mouth. ‘It's like a smell but inside your mouth. You've got to try it!'

They all dived in and were soon enjoying the first real meal any of them could remember.

‘The brown stuff's cold!' said Jay. He took a massive bite and froze his teeth.

‘The bubbles go up your nose!' Emm tried the lemonade. ‘You had better leave it alone, Jay.'

‘Food's fun!' declared KT.

It didn't take long before they were all full.

‘My stomach hurts now!' said Zed.

Rudi explained that they were full and it would soon go down as they digested the food.

They'd been finished a while when Captain Redlock came to tell them he'd spoken to Xanax.

‘We're going at maximum power to the planet Goran, our first destination. It's a small planet which has good relations with most other worlds, so they'll be able to help you find your homes. I just hope we reach there before Xanax catches us.'

The children looked uncomfortable as they sat on the edge of his bed with their legs crossed in front of them.

‘Thank you!' said Zed quickly and bent over. Soon they were all pressing their hands at the top of their legs. They couldn't sit still.

‘What did you feed them?' Redlock quizzed Rudi.

Rudi explained that they had never eaten real food before.

‘Have you ever been to the toilet before?' he asked them. Their puzzled looks told him the answer.

‘OK, ladies first.' Dee and Emm took turns to go to the toilet. Through the toilet door, Captain Redlock explained what they had to do.

‘Oooh! My tummy's leaking!' shouted Emm.

‘It's OK… that's normal,' Captain Redlock shouted back.

The boys enjoyed the fact that they could go standing up and spray around the bowl. Emm didn't think that was very nice.

‘Sitting down is more elegant,' she announced.

XL didn't need to use the toilet because he didn't have a mouth for eating. He just tutted at the childish pleasure they had got from the food. He didn't admit it, but part of him wished he could join in the fun.

Dee did try to let him join in. She held him over the toilet bowl so he could pee too.

Very quickly she realised he didn't enjoy being dangled over the water.

As she moved him away from the toilet, they were all bathed in a red light and a horn started. She ran back to Redlock's cabin where the others were.

‘What's happening?' she asked. They looked at each other, knowing the answer but not daring to say the word. Xanax.

Rudi burst into the room.

‘OK kids, it's time to move. The Captain has a plan to help you. I just hope it works, I really do.'

On the command deck, Redlock had ordered the red alert, locked all the docking stations and told the crew to continue at maximum speed to the planet Goran. They had detected one of Xanax's ships closing in on them. The two ships were hurtling through space in a race to the planet Goran. Slowly but surely, the professor was getting closer.

Xanax's huge face appeared in the air again. Wherever anyone moved, his eyes followed them. Each crew member felt like he was talking directly to them, even though he was addressing the captain.

‘Captain,' Xanax was not smiling. It was all he could do to contain his anger. His head was shinier than ever, and the veins stood out on it. ‘The life forms in the containers you hold are extremely dangerous. If they escape they could cause some horrible diseases. They are very nasty organisms.'

Redlock clenched his fist. He wanted to punch the holograph. They weren't germs, they were children. Redlock wanted to say that but he didn't want to give away the fact that he had found them.

‘All I ask is that you allow us to dock and remove our containers,' Xanax wiped his hand over his head. The squeak from his black rubber glove made everyone wince. As they stared at his eyes, they felt the temperature drop. His stare was so cold it sucked all the warmth from the room.

‘Once the containers are on my ship, they are the property of their new owners. You have no right to take them back. It's the intergalactic law.' Captain Redlock had his argument ready.

‘I don't care much for intergalactic law,' Xanax said quietly. ‘Call the space police if you want, see how much it helps you.'

‘You can't make me hand the containers over,' replied Redlock.

Xanax managed a smile for real. He stretched a hand out from his own holographic projection. Everyone took a step back, worried he was reaching out to strangle them. Everyone except for the captain. He stood his ground. He glanced to the side as Rudi joined him on the command deck. Rudi gave him the tiniest nod of the head to let him know the plan was in place.

‘Oh can't I?' Xanax smiled for real. ‘Why don't we try a little experiment?'

He pressed a button on the Typetor and raised one eyebrow with perfect precision.

The crew held their breath, but nothing seemed to happen.

‘Check for intruders and arrest them,' Redlock ordered without taking his eyes off Xanax.

‘There are none, the ship's clear,' came the answer.

Redlock looked at his monitor and saw that Xanax's ship was virtually alongside his. They would not be able to outrun him now.

Xanax and the captain stared at each other.

‘I'm waiting Xanax.' Redlock hoped Xanax's experiment had not worked.

‘You have an intruder. I can promise you that. You should notice it right about…'

Xanax snapped his fingers with a squeak.

‘…now.'

The second Xanax said ‘now', one of the crew crumpled to the floor. His body looked liked it had turned to jelly.

‘Help,' he cried.

‘It's a virus,' continued Xanax, ‘rather unpleasant. It turns bones to jelly. You can see the results. Let's see how long your crew can last without bones. Won't that be a fascinating experiment Captain Redlock?'

Another crew member fell to the floor.

‘Don't worry, it only lasts a short time…' announced Xanax, ‘…if you have the antidote.'

The ship's navigator opened her eyes wide as she felt her bones collapse into a wobbly mess. She grabbed her chair for support, but with no bones in her fingers she couldn't grip. Down she fell, unable to move and barely able to breathe.

‘Soon your entire crew will be helpless. You won't be able to operate the ship. Nobody will. I think the antidote is a fair exchange for those life forms.'

‘Fine, you can take the containers,' Redlock said.

Xanax tutted so loudly a bit of spit came to his mouth. He raised a finger and wiped the bottom of his lip carefully.

‘Not good enough, Redlock. As you said, there are no life forms in the containers. I WANT THOSE LIFE FORMS NOW!'

Xanax shouted so loudly the controls in front of Redlock shook.

‘No.' Redlock returned quietly. ‘They're just children.'

‘They may look like children but believe me they are extremely dangerous.'

‘Captain!'

Redlock looked at Rudi. He had fallen too. The captain was the only person left standing on the deck. He had no choice.

He could feel a tingling sensation in his feet. It was starting. Soon his bones would be jelly.

‘OK. I give in. Release the antidote. Here.'

Redlock opened the docking port to allow Xanax to board his ship.

‘Very wise. I'll see you shortly. You'll all recover once we're aboard.'

Xanax's hologram disappeared.

Redlock's legs were giving way. He grabbed the control panel in front of him with his arms. He could feel them growing weak. There was just one button he had to press. One button he had to reach for. He was holding his whole body up with what he had left of his arms. It felt like a dead weight. He leaned his stomach on the panel to try and take some of the weight as his arm stretched forward to the launch button. He could feel the jelly racing along his arm, working past his elbow towards his wrist.

He stretched further. He was just millimetres away from the button. As his finger hovered near it, he felt the jelly in his hand bones. He had to reach that button. Without it, the children would be sent back to the Research Station. He stretched but he couldn't move his finger any further. He couldn't hold anything. There were no bones left in his body. Exhausted, his finger fell and landed on the button. It was enough.

Redlock's body slid to the ground. His entire crew lay on the floor, awake but helpless, waiting for the antidote to take effect so they could move again.

Redlock had taken a risk not expecting Xanax to do anything so horrible. In pressing that button, Redlock had given the Lab Rats just once chance of escape. All he could do was hope that it would work.