STAR FIGHTERS BUMPER SPECIAL EDITION: Stealth Force (7 page)

Peri lowered the telescope. ‘Those bandits can’t draw to save their lives – that looks nothing like me!’

It was late in the afternoon. Peri checked the countdown. Now they had only 97 hours and 24 minutes to rescue Diesel and the sheriff, save the town and return to the IF Space Station! Their situation seemed to be getting worse.

They had left the horses tethered underneath a tree and had sneaked closer to Buckskinville. They were lying on their stomachs on a small hill just outside town.

‘Let me see,’ Dexter said, taking the telescope from Peri. He scanned the square. ‘There are
lots
of posters up. We’ve all got a price on our heads!’

‘Can I see?’ asked Selene. She looked through the telescope – and started. ‘Oh, Rigel rats!’

‘What is it?’ Peri said.

Selene handed him the telescope. ‘Look at the far end of the square,’ she said grimly.

Through the round lens, Peri saw that Diesel and a man who he guessed was Dexter’s father were being pulled along at the end of a rope by the bandits. Wild Will was standing by a strange patch of dark earth. Diesel and the sheriff were brought right up to its edge, then Wild Will jabbed each of them in the back with his tongue. They fell forward into the dark patch – and disappeared.

For a moment Peri was bewildered. ‘I just saw Diesel and your dad, but I think they’ve been pushed down a hole!’ he said.

Dexter took the telescope from him. He peered through it and groaned. ‘It’s the Hole of Death!’

‘What’s that?’ Peri asked. ‘It doesn’t sound good.’

Dexter didn’t seem able to speak.

Gunner answered for him. ‘It’s a form of punishment. They throw prisoners down a hole that’s too deep to climb out of. There’s no food, no water and no protection against the sun. They’re left there to die.’

Peri looked through the telescope again. He saw Wild Will and his men walking away, laughing.

‘We have to get our friends out of there!’ Peri said.

They sat around a campfire that Spike and Gunner had made on the other side of the hill, out of sight of the town. The sky had darkened and silver stars twinkled over Westrenia. Another time, Peri might have enjoyed the strange sight of the two round golden moons hanging in the sky. But now his only thought was:
How are we going to get Dexter’s father and Diesel out of the Hole of Death?

‘I suppose it’s no good hoping the townsfolk will set them free?’ Selene asked.

Dexter shook his head. ‘They’re too scared of ending up in the Hole themselves.’

‘And there are too many of Wild Will’s men guarding it for us to attack,’ Spike said.

‘If they weren’t all there together, we’d have a chance,’ Peri said thoughtfully. ‘Now, what would make a large group of the bandits leave the town?’

‘Something they can rob,’ Selene said. ‘Like a stagecoach!’

‘Didn’t Wild Will say they would rob every coach that passed?’ Gunner asked.

‘The mail coach goes by tomorrow morning,’ Dexter said. ‘They’ll have their eye on that, I’m certain!’

Peri smacked his fist into the palm of his hand. ‘Then that’s when we’ll strike!’

In the distance, a coyote howled up at the two moons. It was cold – the desert temperature dropped dramatically at night. Peri shivered as he tossed and turned under the saddlecloth he was using for a blanket. The others had already managed to drift off to sleep, but Peri’s bionic systems were buzzing, keeping him awake.

He kept running over tomorrow in his mind, imagining different possibilities. It would make things easy if Wild Will’s whole gang went to rob the mail coach, but that wasn’t very likely. Some men would surely stay behind to guard the Hole of Death. Wild Will might even stay behind.

Peri decided that his own posse would have to split up. If the others could thwart the mail coach robbers, he would try to take care of Wild Will alone. He only hoped his laser lasso and bionic abilities would be a match for Wild Will’s spring-loaded repeating rifle.

He turned again and felt something pushing into his hip. For a moment he wondered what it could be. He dug his hand into the pocket of his Expedition Wear and pulled out . . . the
Phoenix
!

He had almost forgotten about it. The twin moons cast a yellow light on it as he held the most advanced spaceship ever built in the palm of his hand. The
Phoenix
’s door slid open and out walked the teeny-tiny, bug-sized figure of Otto, shaking his fist and squeaking. His voice was so high-pitched that Peri couldn’t make out the words.

He tuned into his special connection with the
Phoenix
, imagining that he had shrunk along with it. Otto’s voice seemed to lower in pitch and Peri was able to understand him.

‘. . . been shaken about all over the place! I had to strap myself into bed or I would’ve been smashed to pieces! What have you been doing? Trampolining?’

Peri thought back over events since they landed on Westrenia. He’d trained the posse in fighting skills, jumped in and out of ditches, and escaped alien bandits by galloping on a horse. It must have been a rough ride for poor Otto!

‘Sorry,’ Peri whispered. ‘It’s been a bit crazy here.’

‘How much longer is this going on for? I’m getting space-sick!’

‘It’ll be over tomorrow,’ Peri whispered. He was anxious not to wake the others. ‘I hope.’

‘You do realise that won’t give us much time to get back to the Space Station?’ Even in his miniature form, Otto had a booming voice.

‘It’ll be all right,’ Peri said. ‘We’ll make it.’

‘Who are you talking to, Peri?’ said a sleepy voice. Dexter had woken up!

Peri’s first thought was to jam the
Phoenix
back in his pocket, but the door was still open and Otto might fall out or get squished. Before Peri could act, Dexter had crawled over and crouched beside him.

‘What’s that? Some kind of egg with a squeaking insect inside?’ Dexter asked.

‘Er, yes, sort of,’ Peri said.

Otto started squeaking curses in Meigwor.

Dexter leaned forward to get a closer look. ‘That’s not an insect!’ he gasped. ‘It’s a tiny, little, red man, with an extra-long neck and arms, and – he’s wearing clothes!’ Dexter pinched his own arm. ‘Ouch! I’m not dreaming! Peri, what is that thing? You must know, because you talked to it.’

‘We-e-ell . . .’ Peri began. But no convincing story came to mind. It was against IF rules to tell the Westrenians about the advanced technology of other civilisations, but Dexter was his friend and deserved to know the truth. ‘It’s a kind of ship for travelling to other planets and stars,’ Peri said. ‘We call it a “spaceship”. And the little man is an alien from a planet called Meigwor.’

‘Hey, you’re joshing me!’ Dexter said. ‘You can’t travel in that thing. It’s way too small!’

‘It’s been shrunk right now, but it can be enlarged,’ Peri explained. ‘Watch.’

He gave a slight clockwise twist to the ‘Expansion Packs’ dial on the control strip. The ship ballooned until it was as big as an ostrich egg and Otto was about the size of a bee.

Dexter’s eyes bulged like Venusian gooseberries. ‘Astonishing! And how big can it get?’

‘It can grow to the size of a planet,’ Peri said, enjoying the utter amazement on Dexter’s face.

‘And you travel to other stars and planets in it?’

Peri nodded. ‘We were in outer space when your distress signal came through.’

Dexter started to laugh. ‘I knew you weren’t from around here, but I never thought anything could be
that
far away! All my life I’ve wanted something magic – something plain impossible – to happen. And now it has!’

‘Yes,’ Peri said. ‘But you mustn’t tell anyone. Not even Spike and Gunner. It’s supposed to be a secret.’

Dexter put his hand over his heart. ‘I won’t say a word. But tell me, has this spaceship of yours got weapons?’

‘Space Cannon, lasers and loads more,’ Peri said. ‘I doubt my crew and I have even discovered half of its capabilities.’

‘Can’t we use them to blast Wild Will and his gang out of town?’

Peri shook his head. ‘We’re not allowed to use our weapons on Westrenia. That’s against Intergalactic Force rules. All planets must be allowed to develop at their own rate. If your planet discovered life on other planets that’s much more technologically advanced, it could interfere with your development. So we have to beat Wild Will using only this planet’s technology.’

‘We
will
beat him though,’ Dexter said. ‘Since you’re from beyond the stars, I bet you’re super-smart, right? Wild Will doesn’t stand a chance against you and your pals!’

‘You have to help too,’ Peri said. ‘We won’t win without you and Spike and Gunner.’

Peri shrank the
Phoenix
back to egg size, closed the door on the still squeaking Otto and slipped the ship back in his pocket.

‘Time to get some sleep,’ he said. ‘We need all the energy we can get if we’re going to do battle with the outlaws tomorrow. Goodnight, Dexter.’

‘Goodnight, spaceman!’

A few minutes later, Dexter was fast asleep. But sleep was a long time coming to Peri. He hoped he’d be able to keep his word to Dexter. Beating Wild Will wasn’t going to be easy. Peri hoped they could beat him quickly too. Because, if everything went as planned, the Star Fighters would have just three days to make it home.

Chapter 8

The Westrenian sun was climbing in the sky. It was getting hot already. Spike and Gunner had sneaked into town early that morning to grab the final supplies they needed for their plan. Now Peri and the posse crouched in a ditch, waiting for the mail coach. Selene had some firecrackers and a coil of rope. Every now and then, Dexter shot a brief smile at Peri as if to say,
Your secret’s safe with me
.

‘Does everyone know what they’re doing?’ Peri asked.

Selene nodded.

The Westrenians fingered their spiral spitball pipes in anticipation and all gave a thumbs-down sign.

‘What?’ Peri said. ‘You
don’t
know what you’re doing?’