The Incredible Space Raiders from Space! (19 page)

“Yeah,” Jonah said. “I know what you mean.”

She looked at him. “Tell me about your family.”

“My family?”

“Yeah,” she said. “I want to hear a nice story for once.”

Jonah paused. “Well, my mom is a lawyer. She has the same hair as me, and green eyes, and she always wears gray suits. She looks very professional.”

Victoria smiled. “And your dad?”

“He's a community planner. He's pretty serious. Doesn't laugh much. But when he does, it's this big, booming laugh that shakes the whole room. We never hugged or said ‘I love you' or anything like that. But I think he did. I thought he did.”

“What do you mean?” Victoria asked, frowning.

Jonah didn't say anything for a moment. He had this feeling that his voice might break or tears might well up
or any number of other things that would be embarrassing. “I think they gave me up,” he said quietly. “I think they sent me to be a Space Raider.”

“Maybe it was a mistake,” Victoria said.

Jonah stared out into space. “Maybe,” he whispered. “I hope so.”

“Any brothers or sisters?”

“Sister,” Jonah said, smiling again. “Mara. Seventeen. She's really popular. She has an eighteen-year-old boyfriend who's the worst. He calls me Jonie.”

Victoria snorted and then covered her mouth. “Sorry.”

“It's all right,” Jonah said. “Not sure why it bothered me, really.”

“Things change on the
Squirrel
,” Victoria said. “You see things differently.”

Jonah looked at her. “Did you hate me when you found out I had parents?”

“No,” she said. “I didn't hate you. But I didn't want you to be here. I wanted this to be a special mission for kids like Matty and me. I wanted to feel special. And at first you changed that a little. Like any kid could be a Space Raider. I thought we were here because we were strong. Because we had survived something terrible. It made sense.”

“And now?” Jonah said.

She smiled. “Now I'm very happy you're here. I think you were a special recruit. Maybe you were sent here to
lead the rest of us. I don't know. But you're a pretty good Space Raider, Jonah the Now Incredible. The best one ever, I think.”

They met eyes. She really did have pretty eyes. Jonah realized they were going to kiss again. He wondered if she would move in. Should he? How did this work?

“Make me puke, why don't you?” Willona growled, standing up and yanking her blanket with her. “The best Space Raider ever? More like the . . . stupidest Space Raider ever!” She paused. “Okay, I didn't mean that. Don't tell Lieutenant Gordon. But still.” She pointed a stern finger at him. “You shouldn't play with hearts. Not in space.”

With that, she walked over to the next-closest group and lay down beside them, pointedly turning away from Jonah and grumbling something about charming spies.

“Maybe I should try to get back to sleep,” Victoria said awkwardly.

“Okay,” Jonah replied.

She quickly went back to the other side of the group and lay down, sparing Jonah one last smile before pulling her blanket up over her mouth. He sat there for a moment and then suddenly noticed that Sally was watching him from the corner.

She gave him a lopsided grin. “I've said it before, and I'll say it again. You are full of surprises, Jonah the Now Incredible. The space opera continues.”

She turned back to the glass, chuckling and shaking her head.

Jonah sighed. Of all the problems he might have on the
Fantastic Flying Squirrel
, having two girls like him was far and away the most unexpected.

•  •  •

There was no day and night in space, of course, so the Space Raiders just woke and slept whenever they felt like it. They had breakfast, lunch, and dinner, which were organized under the watchful eye of Lyana the Forgotten, but other than that they just sat around and talked and slept and stared out the window. Hours felt like days.

Martin volunteered to take a message to the commander telling her where they were, and though Jonah tried to take his place, he refused.

“We need you here, Jonah,” he said. “Just in case something happens. We need to use our special recruit wisely.”

With that, he crept out and vanished down the hallway. He returned some time later and proudly boasted that he hadn't been detected by the crew or the Shrieker. He'd found the commander and the others by quietly calling out through the second-floor shafts. A small tunnel door had opened, and he'd been escorted by Erna the Strong to a very secret room where some power lines met at a small grid. Apparently they were very safe there, and the commander had sent a message for them to stay
strong and be ready for the Dark Zone. This was met by smiles and purposeful nods in the Bubble.

The Space Raiders would be ready for their true mission.

Sally Malik came and went fairly regularly, sometimes disappearing for hours at a time. Whenever Jonah asked where she was going, she would just say that the Bubble was only her second-most secret lair and that she had business to attend to elsewhere.

Then she would give him a mock salute and disappear. Jonah just stopped asking.

He spent most of his time with Jemma. Victoria seemed too embarrassed to speak with him again, and Willona was deliberately avoiding him, though she did occasionally give him a dirty look. Jonah didn't mind. Jemma had a way of making him feel better, even if he was always half expecting Red Eye and Space Witch to burst through the door and arrest them all.

He also had several meetings with Lieutenant Gordon, who seemed at a loss as to what to do now. He didn't like waiting here without guard duties and food schedules and official meetings with the commander. But Jonah didn't have any answers for him.

He was just as lost.

At one point he wandered over to Ben the Brilliant, who was sitting with a group of his friends. He looked at Jonah in surprise.

“Yes?” he said.

“I just wanted to say thanks,” Jonah said. “For saving my life. That was pretty brave. You're good with a bonker.”

Ben's cheeks flushed just a little. “Well, it was nothing. Duty.” He paused. “Next time move faster, curtain rod.”

“See, I don't think that's an insult,” Jonah said.

“Of course it is, you floating space rock.”

Jonah shrugged. “All right. Well, thanks again.”

“Yeah,” he said, turning back to his friends. “Any time.” He paused. “I mean last time. I mean I won't save you again. You owe me now.”

Jonah just smiled and walked away.

The hours continued to roll by. The fourth-level hallway had bathrooms, so the only break anyone got from the Bubble was when they crept out in twos and threes to use them. The sleep shifts started becoming a little less restless in the Bubble as the Space Raiders got used to their new home, and even Jonah started to get a little sleep. His dreams were mostly filled with the Shrieker and EETs and Captain White Shark, but it was a start.

He was having a dream about shrieking monsters when Sally woke him.

“Jonah,” she whispered. “Jonah!”

“What?” he said groggily.

“We have a problem,” she said. “I was just in the
Haunted Passage. I heard shouts. Not the Shrieker. Space Raiders. Shouts for help.”

Jonah quickly sat up. Most of the other Space Raiders were asleep. Lyana the Forgotten was watching them curiously from where she sat by the glass.

“Do you think—”

“They found them,” she said grimly. “Definitely. I ran up here as fast as I could. I don't think we'll be able to save them this time, but if they found them, they're going to close in on the rest. Some might even talk. We need to tell the others before—”

She was interrupted by the loud crackling of the PA system. The Space Raiders all jerked awake, looking around in confusion. A commanding voice spoke.

It was Captain White Shark. And he sounded very pleased.

“Attention, passengers of my ship. Things have gone too far. You have shot a crew member. Destroyed a power line. Freed my prisoners. When I went to find the guilty parties, I learned that you had all run off and hidden on my ship. I was not impressed. My crew has been searching for you unsuccessfully, until now.”

Jonah could almost hear him gloating.

“We have just captured forty-two of your little friends. I was only interested in my prisoners and in the fools who rescued them, Jonah Hillcrest in particular.”

Everyone in the Bubble looked at Jonah. He tried to look brave.

“But now I've taken all of them. The brig will be very full,” Captain White Shark said. “It will be very, very unpleasant. So here's the new plan. Bring me all my prisoners, and the leaders of your groups. All of them. At that time, I will release the others. I assure you, we will find all of you soon. But if you do not, and we do not find you, I will start eliminating prisoners one at a time. I want order on my ship. If that means blasting a few troublesome children into space to get it, then that's what I'll do.”

Terrified murmurs filtered around the room. Even Sally looked afraid.

“And to my crew,” the captain continued, “if you see Jonah Hillcrest, shoot him on sight. I repeat: Shoot him on sight. Make a choice, children. You have one day.”

The announcement ended. Everyone was looking at Jonah again. Some looked like they might cry. Others were trembling. Some just looked like they couldn't move at all.

Jonah wasn't sure which one he was. He had been afraid. But this was different. Now the captain had ordered his crew to kill Jonah. He felt his hands shaking. But looking around, he knew they were waiting for him. Not Lieutenant Gordon. Jonah had been called out, and if he broke down, they all would. Jonah Hillcrest would have.

But not Jonah the Now Incredible.

He slowly stood up and looked over the room. His eyes fell on the lieutenant.

“Send a message to the commander,” Jonah said quietly. “It's time to take over this ship.”

T
HE BUBBLE FELL SILENT. JONAH
looked around, expecting a swell of pumping fists and salutes and cries of challenge. Instead he saw disbelief. Fear. Even scorn.

“That's impossible,” Lieutenant Gordon said, shaking his head.

Jonah looked around the room. “Why? Has anyone tried?”

Ben snorted in derision. “His one little rescue has gone right to his head.” He stood, staring at Jonah from across the Bubble. “How would we take over the ship? The crew has guns. You told us yourself: They're pirates. Criminals. They'd kill us all and ruin our mission. We have a job to do. And it's not get killed by space pirates, pig stink.”

“Why do Space Raiders have to answer to a bunch of pirates?” Jonah asked, meeting his gaze. “We were sent to save the universe from the Entirely Evil Things from the Dark Zone. The crew has now threatened to kill us. Us. Space Raiders. They're the ones who declared war. We're just going to fight back. We don't need them.”

Lieutenant Gordon was still shaking his head. He stood up and started pacing around the room, clearly agitated. “We don't even know how to pilot the ship.”

“We'll learn,” Jonah said. “If pirates can do it, so can we.”

Ben threw his hands up in the air. “So, what . . . we just ask them to hand over the bridge? To lock themselves up and give us the ship?”

“No,” Jonah said. “We take over the bridge and lock them up ourselves.”

“He's crazy,” Ben said. “He's got space madness!”

“I thought it was sadness?” Jonah asked, frowning.

“There's both,” Willona murmured.

Jonah looked at his friends. Willona and Jemma looked uncertain. Afraid. Victoria was glancing at her brother uncertainly, though Matty looked determined. Martin the Marvelous looked like he was ready to go off to war that instant. He gave Jonah a grim nod.

And in the far corner, Sally Malik was just grinning and shaking her head, her arms folded across her chest. If anyone knew their chances, it was Sally Malik.

“Can it be done?” Jonah asked her.

Sally hesitated. “By me? No. By any Space Raider I've ever seen? No. But by Jonah the Now Incredible? Nothing surprises me anymore.”

Everyone turned from her to Lieutenant Gordon. He was still pacing. “It can't be done,” he said finally. “If it
could have, the commander would have done it already.” He hesitated. “I think.”

“Well, this is her chance,” Jonah said. “Just call a meeting. I'll do the rest.”

Martin stepped forward. “I'm with Jonah.”

“Me too,” Willona said, “even though I hate him.”

One by one, Space Raiders stepped forward. Victoria and Matty. Daniel the Ninja and Kyla the Courageous. Ria the Smart and even Eric the Excellent. Soon more than half had stepped forward. Lyana the Forgotten even joined him, though she refused to look Jonah in the eye. Ben looked around in shock as his friends stepped forward.

Jonah turned to Sally. She gave him a fleeting smile.

“Sorry, Jonah,” she said. “I'm a space rat. I just survive.”

Jonah nodded. He was disappointed, but he understood.

Lieutenant Gordon scanned over the room, counting the Space Raiders who had backed Jonah. When he finished, he met Jonah's eyes and nodded.

“Then there's no point in waiting. Martin the Marvelous . . . show us the way.”

•  •  •

Jonah crawled through the cramped tunnel, led by Erna the Strong. Her dirty white sneakers were perilously close to his face. Behind him were Lieutenant Gordon,
Martin, and Willona. She'd asked to come along in case they needed an official announcement when they entered. He had a feeling she'd started to regret it as they snuck through the shadowy service shafts, following the fleet-footed Martin.