Secret Weapon (8 page)

He looked back out into space and saw three Stealth Snappers bearing down on him.

Chapter 9

The three Snappers fired a volley of Incinerator Balls. Peri dived under the first one and steered the mini-pod in between the other two. He looped-the-loop and fired his laser cannon, forcing the Snappers to swerve.

He braced himself for them to return to the attack. But they didn’t. They turned away from him and dived towards Io.

Of course!
Peri thought.
They’re not going to waste time on me. They want Diesel. They want the Heart of Mars.

He radioed the
Phoenix
. With relief, he heard Selene’s voice. ‘Is that you, Peri?’

‘Yes,’ he told her. ‘Diesel has landed on Io. The space pirates are after him. Can you get a fix on his pod and teleport him aboard the
Phoenix
?’

‘Sure.’

‘Can you do it without Daxx knowing?’

‘Sure.’ Selene chuckled. ‘Otto’s taking care of my uncle.’

‘Diesel may have landed with quite a bump,’ Peri said. ‘Beam him up to the Med Centre.’

Peri turned towards the
Phoenix
. The super-charged pod took him back in no time.

The outer wall of the
Phoenix
slid open. Peri docked. The air-lock closed behind him. Peri jumped from the pod and ran along the smooth, mauve-lit corridors until he reached a portal.
Med Centre
,
he thought. The door hissed open.

Peri’s parents had upgraded the Med Centre when the ship was refitted, and it had been designed to make patients feel more comfortable. A Levi-bed floated by the wall. Soft, plinky-plonky xylophone music played through speakers that Peri couldn’t see. A fountain burbled in one corner. The Android Doctor stood silently in another corner, waiting to be activated. It was a calm and relaxing environment. But Peri did not feel calm or relaxed.

Where is Diesel?

A shimmering patch appeared on the Levi-bed.

‘No – go away!’ Peri heard Diesel’s angry voice shout. ‘You can’t have the Heart of Mars!’

As Peri watched, the shimmering patch materialised into Diesel. He had a bruise on his cheek and a cut on his hand.

He stopped shouting when he saw Peri. He looked momentarily confused, then broke into a broad grin. ‘Oh, it’s just you. Those space pirates were just about to break into my pod –’

‘Well, you’re safe now,’ Peri said. ‘Are you OK?’

The Android Doctor’s eyes flashed blue. It moved forward on noiseless wheels and bent to examine Diesel.
‘Hmm, what seems to be the trouble?’
it said.
‘Looks like some minor cuts and bruises to me. Nothing to worry about, young man.’
It dabbed antiseptic cream on Diesel’s hand and gave him two white pills.
‘Take these if you feel any pain. Call me in the morning if you don’t improve!’

It reversed back into the corner and the light went out of its eyes.

Peri helped Diesel to his feet. ‘Have you got the Heart of Mars?’

Diesel nodded. He patted his pocket. ‘But anyone who wants it is going to have to kill me first!’

‘But it’s not just
your
life that’s in danger,’ Peri pointed out. ‘You were prepared to let Selene and Otto die to save it.’

‘You don’t understand,’ Diesel said. ‘It has to be saved at all costs!’

‘Why? Come on, you don’t really believe that all Martians will be cursed. It must be something else.’

Diesel shook his head. ‘I’m not allowed to say.’

‘Diesel, you have to help us here. Daxx has got Jaxx and –’

‘Daxx has got Jaxx? What does that mean?’

Peri realised that Diesel wasn’t up to speed. ‘The guy on the Bridge is not Selene’s dad. He’s his twin brother, Daxx. He’s holding the real Jaxx hostage until we hand over the Heart of Mars.’

‘So? That’s not my problem.’

Peri looked at him steadily. ‘It’s a big problem for Selene – and she’s our comrade. If Daxx doesn’t get the Heart of Mars, she’ll never see her dad again. Those space pirates will probably kill him. What’s more important – saving a human life, or saving the Heart of Mars?’

‘Saving the Heart of Mars!’ Diesel said immediately.

‘Come on, Diesel!’ Peri said. ‘It was Selene who saved
you
just now, you know? It was her who beamed you off Io in the nick of time. The least you can do is help save her dad.’

Diesel chewed his lip.

‘Don’t forget we’re on a mission from the IF!’ Peri said. ‘Now that we know Daxx is the
real
pirate, it’s our duty to arrest him.’

‘Arrest him, yes,’ Diesel said. ‘I’m fine with that. But not with giving him the Heart.’ He patted his pocket protectively.

‘We need to bargain with him to get him to release Jaxx,’ Peri explained. ‘
Then
we can arrest him and get the Heart of Mars back.’

The strip of hair on Diesel’s head went through a whole spectrum of colours, as if he was thinking hard. ‘So you mean, just . . .
show
it to him?’

‘Well, sort of. We might have to let him hold it. But once we’ve got Jaxx back –’

‘Then we double-cross him!’

‘Yeah,’ Peri said. ‘Sort of.’

He didn’t think it was a
real
double-cross. The agreement was to exchange the gemstone for Jaxx, and that was exactly what they were going to do.
After
the exchange had been made, however, the fact remained that Daxx was still a space pirate in possession of stolen property and they were entitled to get it back from him. But if Diesel preferred to see it as a double-cross, Peri wasn’t going to argue.

Diesel nodded reluctantly. ‘Oh . . . all right then.’

‘Let’s get to the Bridge!’ Peri said.

The first thing Peri saw was Otto sitting on Daxx’s chest.

‘Get off me, you disgusting entity!’ Daxx said.

‘I am not disgusting,’ Otto said, picking his nose and placing an ultra-large Meigwor bogey on the end of his tongue. ‘And you should learn some manners!’

‘Hi, guys!’ Peri said.

Daxx twisted his head to look at Diesel. He groaned. ‘Those stupid incompetent pirates! They let you get away!’

‘You all right, Diesel?’ Selene said.

Diesel looked at the ground. Peri thought he might have blushed. ‘Yeah. Er – thanks.’

‘We need to talk,’ Peri said. ‘Otto, you can get off Daxx now.’

‘
Oof!
’ Daxx said, as Otto’s weight was lifted from his chest.

‘Here’s the situation,’ Peri said. ‘Daxx, you have Selene’s dad. We have the Heart of Mars! Show him, Diesel.’

Slowly, Diesel put his hand in his pocket and drew out the precious stone.

Peri caught his breath. The Heart of Mars was the size of a large peach. It glowed with a warm orange light, as if it was alive. As Diesel turned it in his hand, something seemed to be moving in its depths, and sparkles and rays of orange, yellow, silver and gold light darted from it. It made everything else on the Bridge look dull. Nobody could look at anything else.

‘Wow,’ Selene said softly.

‘Do you want to trade?’ Peri said to Daxx. ‘The Heart of Mars for our friend’s dad?’

Daxx licked his lips. ‘Do you really need an answer to that?’

Otto waved his double-jointed arms at Peri. ‘This is wrong! Our job is to
arrest
space pirates, not give them precious stones!’

‘We have no choice,’ Peri said. ‘Daxx, get ready to beam your brother aboard. The moment he materialises, you get the Heart of Mars. That’s the deal.’

Then Peri saw Diesel backing away, gazing at the Heart of Mars. He slipped the stone back into his pocket and the light seemed to go out of the room.

Peri felt a sickening sense of dread. ‘Diesel, what are you playing at?’

‘I won’t give it away!’ Diesel said. His face looked grimly defiant. ‘I can’t. If you want it, you’ll have to kill me.’

Chapter 10

‘Diesel!’ Peri said. ‘You agreed!’

Diesel’s strip of hair had turned an angry red. ‘I’ve changed my mind!’

Peri saw Selene reach into the pocket of her overalls. ‘Hey, Diesel?’ she said.

Diesel turned his face to look at her. ‘What?’

‘Catch!’

Selene tossed a yellow-and-green ball with rubbery tendrils to Diesel. He instinctively caught it. The rubbery tendrils stuck to his hands and the ball started buzzing.

‘
Ch’açh!
What –’

A smile spread over his face. He started laughing uncontrollably. He bent double, then slid helplessly to the floor, snorting with laughter like a Shantanian warthog.

‘What in space was that?’ Peri asked.

‘Hilaro-Ball,’ Selene said, with a grin. ‘Me and my dad invented it together. It tickles the pleasure nerves and sends you into fits of laughter. But it doesn’t last long – so we’d better move fast!’

She plucked the Heart of Mars from Diesel’s pocket.

‘All right, Uncle Daxx,’ she said, holding the precious stone out for him to see. ‘Get ready to beam my dad aboard. As soon as I see he’s unharmed, I throw this to you.’