Warlord's Revenge (7 page)

No one spoke. Wide-eyed, the students took a step backward.

“Good,” Ogun said, grinning. “On this one occasion, I will overlook your disobedience as youthful high spirits.” His grin turned to a growl. “
If
you join with me. I have no more time to play games with children, so make your decisions now.”

Emmie stepped forward, her face stern.

John’s mind whirled.
She’s going to attack him. He’ll kill her.

“Don’t, Emmie! Get back!” he shouted, reaching out to pull her away from the insane warlord.

Emmie pushed his hand away. Ignoring John, she looked up into Ogun’s face. “I will come with you,” she said.

John blinked. Seconds slipped by. He tried to speak. Nothing came out of his mouth but a choking noise. “Emmie... Emmie – you can’t do this,” he finally managed to gasp.

“Please, Emmie, no,” Kaal echoed. “What about your friends? What about us?”

Behind him, shocked murmurs ran through the students.

“Is she serious?” John heard Lishtig groan, “Why does she want to go off with that waste of molecules?”

“Beats me,” Gobi-san-Art replied, shaking his head. “I always thought Emmie Tarz was, you know, pretty cool.”

“Well, I’m not at all surprised,” Mordant Talliver interrupted in a whisper loud enough for everyone to hear. “Why would the stupidest girl in school want to stay? She made a complete mess of the inspection, too. Dropping out before she’s thrown out is probably the cleverest thing she’s ever done.”

John fought down an urge to turn round and punch the black-haired boy. Instead, he glanced at Kaal. The Derrilian’s face was frozen in horror. As if the destruction of his planet’s knowledge wasn’t bad enough, his friend had just betrayed them. John guessed at how he must feel. Like his world was crumbling around him. He had always admired the Silaran girl’s strength and courage. Even though he’d only known her for a handful of weeks, he couldn’t begin to imagine life without her. It just didn’t seem possible that Emmie would walk away from Hyperspace High, and all her friends, so easily.

“Emmie,” he choked again, reaching towards her. “Don’t go.”

His friend didn’t seem to hear. She ran a hand through her silvery hair, hooking a wayward strand behind a pointed ear. Then she smiled up at Ogun. “I just realized in the last few minutes,” she said, “I’m useless at learning and sick of coming bottom of every class. Every day I try my best, and every day I do worse than before. Why should I spend years feeling like a failure when I could help conquer the universe with a great warlord?”

John’s heart sank further. He had known that Emmie struggled with most of her classes, but never guessed that she was so unhappy.
Why didn’t she say something? Kaal and I could have helped.

John watched miserably as Ogun smiled down at Emmie. “You are wise beyond learning,” the warlord said. “At my side you will rise to greatness and glory above anything Hyperspace High could offer.”

“Thank you, Master Ogun,” said Emmie. “I may not be a good student, but I am an excellent pilot.”

“Then perhaps one day you shall command my fleet.”

Emmie bowed her head. “It would be an honour.”

“Your classmates would do well to follow your example,” Ogun continued, staring around. “Who else will join this wise young Silaran? Who else will follow me and write their name across history?”

Lishtig was the first to speak. “I wouldn’t follow you anywhere,” he snorted.

“That’s right!” spat John. “Emmie can do what she likes, but I would
never
join up with a thug like you.”

“That goes for me, too,” said Kaal. “I’d rather die.”

“And very soon, you
will
!” roared Ogun, flames of anger spouting from his nostrils once more. “Until then, you will watch as the knowledge of Kerallin falls into my grasp.” The warlord turned away. “Move the scholars onto my ship,” he commanded, pointing at four of the droids. “The rest of you continue your packing. I will
personally
ensure that these children do not escape.”

As four soldier droids clanked through the library doors, Ogun gripped Emmie’s shoulder. “Your first task will be to help pack up this library,” he said. “And then we will load the globes onto my ship.”

“Certainly, Master Ogun,” said Emmie, bobbing her head again. “After the test the scholars put me through earlier, it will be a pleasure to steal their globes.”

The warlord roared with laughter, as Emmie climbed a row of shelves and began throwing planets into his waiting hands.

“You and I are going to get on famously!” he called up to her. “The half-Gargon boy thinks you’re stupid, but they said that about me when I was at Hyperspace High. We will show them how stupid we are when we rule the skies.”

Emmie threw more globes. Ogun caught them, gently placing each into a packing crate. “No one could say you are stupid, Master Ogun,” she said. “Robbing the Library of Kerallin is a stroke of genius. They say that knowledge is power. If that’s true, you’ll become the most powerful being in the universe in one stroke.”

“None but me would dare hatch such a plan,” replied the warlord. “It is good that you see the simple brilliance of it.”

“You’re right, Master Ogun. At Hyperspace High the teachers make everything so
complicated
. Real genius is always simple.”

John frowned. Why was Emmie talking like this? Fawning over Ogun, his friend sounded exactly like Mordant’s Serve-U-Droid, G-Vez.

As if reading his thoughts, Kaal quietly stepped closer. “What’s she doing?” he whispered in John’s ear.

“I don’t know,” John whispered back. “I’ve never seen her act like this before.”

“It doesn’t change anything. We still have to stop Ogun. Afterward maybe we can talk to Emmie. Make her see there’s still a place for her at Hyperspace High.”

John nodded his head slightly. “You’re right, this isn’t over yet.” Carefully, he looked around. Emmie and Ogun were emptying shelves rapidly. Further away, the remaining six soldier droids were doing the same. Hundreds of planets had already been boxed, waiting to be taken to Ogun’s warship.

“We could take out the droids,” John said from the corner of his mouth.

“Too dangerous,” Kaal replied. “How many globes will get broken if we start fighting in here? Plus, we’d still have
him
to deal with.” He nodded at Ogun.

“And Emmie, too,” John whispered sadly. “I don’t want to fight Emmie.”

“If we can get out of the library, we could sabotage Ogun’s ship, take the scholars, and fly the pyramid into orbit. If they managed to get a message out to Hyperspace High, the Galactic Council fleet will be on the way. Ogun will be stuck here until they arrive.”

John bit his lip thoughtfully. He had to admit that Kaal’s was a good plan, even if the idea of leaving Emmie behind horrified him.

She’s made her choice. If Ogun gets away, the entire galaxy might fall. How long until he gets to Earth?

“OK,” he whispered. “Let’s do it. Put the word out.”

John’s eyes remained fixed on Ogun, as Kaal leant over behind him and whispered instructions in Lishtig’s ear. In turn, Lishtig whispered to Gobi, who passed the message on to Mordant.

Within a few minutes, Kaal leaned forward. “Ready,” he hissed. “We’ll go slow. Run for it if he sees us.”

Without replying, John began moving silently towards the door. Risking a look away from the warlord, he glanced at the exit.

Miles away.

Quickly, he returned his gaze to Ogun. The warlord was busy, placing globe after globe into crates while boasting of his exploits to Emmie.

“On Jaheera-Six, we faced an army of 200,000,” he said, chuckling. “They quickly fell to my forces. I took the rest of the planet within days and destroyed every one of their capital cities as a punishment.”

John took another step. Then another. Slowly, quietly, the small group of students was moving towards the door.

Emmie looked down. “Forgive me, Master Ogun,” she said, sounding slightly ashamed. “I can’t quite reach the next shelf. Could you give me a boost?”

“By my hands, you will be lifted to ever greater heights. Why not begin now?” Chuckling, the warlord reached up a taloned hand for Emmie to step into.

Instead, her hand gripped his wrist. In a breathtakingly fast blur of movement, Emmie swung down, using her own momentum to twist the warlord’s arm up behind his back.

“If you think I would ever abandon Hyperspace High for
you
, you really are stupid!” she yelled in the warlord’s ear, pulling his arm up with a creak of bones.

“Fool! I will kill you for this!” Ogun bellowed, his voice a mixture of pain and fury. “You will die. You will all
die
.” A sheet of flame billowed from his scaled snout, pouring onto the shelves. The fire caught, spreading along the shelves. One by one, globes shattered in the heat.

In the centre of the fire, Emmie clung to Ogun’s arm, twisting his arm higher up his back, her face a mask of anger. “I learnt this move in Plutonian Karate lessons at Hyperspace High!” she shouted. “Looks like not everything they teach there is useless.”

“Get off me, you miserable traitor!” roared Ogun, heaving beneath her, plunging dangerously close to the flames.

Emmie jerked his arm up another few centimetres, making the enraged warlord squeal in agony. “On your knees or I’ll break it,” she commanded.

“I will never surrender to a
child
.”

For a few seconds, John and the rest of the class were frozen, stunned by the ferocity of Emmie’s whirlwind attack. Now, they leapt forward to help, coughing and choking on the thick smoke engulfing the library.

Kaal’s foot lashed out, cutting Ogun’s legs from beneath him. The warlord slammed face-down on the floor with an “
Oof!”
as air was forced out of his lungs. Still, Emmie gripped his arm, her legs either side of his broad back.

John jumped, adding his weight to Emmie’s and pinning the warlord’s body to the ground. “Good to have you back, Emmie!” he yelled. “I really thought we’d lost you for a moment there.”

“As if!” Emmie yelled back. Looking down at Ogun, she shouted, “Will you just keep
still,
you space thug!”

On either side of them, Lishtig and Gobi-san-Art leapt past the thrashing, bucking figure on the marble floor. Dodging flames and yelling, “Hyperspace High!” they launched themselves at two soldier droids that were rushing to help their master. With a crash, both went down. Through the smoke, John heard more fighting as the students moved into the library to deal with the rest of the droids.

“Idiot children!” the warlord screeched. “Even if you defeat me, the Library of Kerallin will burn. All the scholars’ knowledge will be lost.” With another roar, more flames belched from his snout. Another shelf caught fire.

Coughing, John looked around. Ogun was right: the library was rapidly turning into an inferno. Already, the smoke was making it difficult to breathe. Within a few minutes, it would mean death to remain inside. Higher up the shelves, globes shattered, sounding like gunshots and raining splinters of glass. Further along the shelves, he could hear more shouting. For a split second he remembered Professor Raydon’s class, wishing he could flick a zero-gravity switch. The deafening noise would soon put the fire out.

Pushing the thought out of his head, he bellowed, “We have to get out of here, Emmie!” over the roar of fire. “The library’s lost.”

Emmie looked up at him, her face lined with the strain of keeping Ogun locked in the Plutonian Karate hold. Her navy-blue eyes reflected dancing flames. “No,” she said. “It’s not lost yet. Use the Earth, John.”

Through thickening smoke, John stared at Emmie blankly.

The Silaran girl shifted her weight, pushing Ogun’s arm higher up his back. “Remember what you said about Earth in Space Survival class,” she said urgently as the warlord cursed her. “About putting out fires.” She twisted Ogun’s arm, hissing, “Keep still, you intergalactic slimeball!”

In a flash, John understood. “What about you?” he asked, glancing around at the raging fire. “Will you be OK?”

Emmie nodded. “I don’t know for how long, though. You need to be fast.” She coughed as fresh smoke billowed. “
Go
.”

The smoke thickened by the second, as the shelves became walls of fire. John hesitated. He hated leaving Emmie to deal with the huge warrior on her own, but the rest of the class was fighting droids. He had no choice.

Falling to his hands and knees, John crawled back towards the centre of the library, where he had last seen the Earth globe. Flames licked the shelves to either side of him. Smoke stung his eyes and throat: the blaze was burning brighter by the second. After a few metres he looked back over his shoulder. Emmie had already disappeared behind a wall of smoke. Hearing her cough, he forced himself to move faster.

Another two metres.

To one side, a broken soldier droid reached out to clutch at his ankle with a metal hand. John kicked it away, thanking his lucky stars that Gobi had crushed the machine so badly, it couldn’t move. Over the roar of flames he could hear the sounds of fighting further into the library. There was no time to wonder who was winning, though.

Keeping close to the ground where the air was slightly less thick with smoke, John crawled on. Flames bloomed around him. He could feel his hair crisping, heat beginning to scorch the skin on his face.

Ten metres from where John had left Emmie, the smoke cleared a little. John looked around as he rose to his feet. There was no sign of his classmates, but he could hear shouting as they fought Ogun’s soldier droids in a distant part of the library. So far the fire had only taken hold of a part of the library, but it was spreading rapidly.

There’s no time. I’m too late.

John paused. Part of his brain was frantically telling him to run back to Emmie, to drag her away from danger. He stopped himself. Emmie wasn’t the only one whose life was at risk. If the blazing shelves at the entrance to the library collapsed, all the students would be trapped inside. Covering his mouth and nose with one hand, he sprinted through smoke. He skidded to a halt as he got to the centre of the library, spinning around in horror.

The Earth had gone.

So, too, had Silar, Gargon... all the students’ home planets had been packed up. John looked around desperately, hands balled into fists, sweat dripping down his forehead. A few packing crates lay open close by. He checked them. All were empty. Panic rising, John tore the gag from Aristil’s mouth and started untying her.

“Leave me,” the old scholar gasped. “There’s no time.”

“I need the Earth,” John told her.

“That way.” Aristil nodded towards an aisle. “Row twenty-three. A droid took all the planets.”

Following her gaze, John saw a soldier droid through wisps of smoke. Following its master’s orders, it was carrying globes to a crate as if nothing was happening in the library. In its hands was a familiar blue planet.

“JOHN,
HURRY
!” Emmie’s shout ended in a hacking cough.

There was no time for hesitation. He raced towards the droid, throwing himself into a flying kick. Warned of his approach by Emmie’s shout, the droid turned and swiftly dodged away. John sailed past, landing in a crouch.

He glared up at the robot. “Your master is defeated. Give me the globe.”

“You will surrender. Any attempts to escape will be met with extreme force,” the droid droned.

Cursing under his breath, John launched himself at the droid once more, hands reaching out for the wires at its neck.

Transferring the globe to one hand, the robot smashed a metal fist towards him. John tried to turn aside but the blow grazed his cheek, reopening the cut another droid had given him earlier. Blood dripped from his chin. Wiping it away with the back of his hand, he circled.

“You will surrender.”

“I will
not
.” Dropping, John lashed out with his foot again.

The droid clanked backward.

One last chance
, John told himself. Lifting his head, he yelled. “
KAAL
!” with all the strength in his lungs. “Get in the air. Catch this!”

With a massive surge of energy, he threw himself at the droid again. It dodged to avoid the blow, but misjudged John’s target. This time John wasn’t aiming for the droid itself, but for the globe in its hand.

Striking like a football player, John caught the Earth globe on his foot, launching it straight up into the air. The droid spun round angrily, unsure how to respond to this new attack. John ignored it. He was already running backward as he landed, his eyes following the globe as it flew upward, up towards the top of the shelves. Then it stopped and began to drop.

On thrashing wings, Kaal rocketed into the air.

“YES. GO ON, KAAL!”

Green hands reached out and held the globe. And like a goalkeeper, Kaal hugged it to his chest, hanging in the air on flapping wings.

John ran back towards the flames, back towards Emmie. “TO ME!” he bellowed over his shoulder.

Kaal darted forward, soaring over John’s head and dropping the globe into his friend’s outstretched hands.

“Too small,” John muttered to himself as his hand moved across the surface. Instantly, the globe grew to the size of a large beach ball. “Still not enough.” He passed his hand over it again, lifting the swirling globe above his head to balance it. Now continents could be seen clearly, rippled with mountain ranges. Clouds swirled beneath his hands. He made it larger still.

“
HURRY,
JOHN
!” In the centre of the blazing inferno, Emmie screamed.

“I’m coming, Emmie!” he shouted back. Keeping the enormous ball balanced on one hand, he looked up. Beneath his fingers was the map of Britain. Quickly, John tapped on the Pacific Ocean, focusing in on it until the ocean’s grey waters filled the globe. Taking two steps, he flung the huge sphere with all his strength. The massive ball spun in the air for a moment.

“I hope you’re right about this, Emmie!” John shouted, as he watched it fall.

With a crash that shook the ground, the Earth shattered at the centre of the flames. Water flooded from its broken shell in a tsunami-like crash. The Thames emptied in a rushing wave that smashed along the shelves, drowning the fire and smashing the few globes that remained. John braced himself as the wave swept towards him.

The torrent of water swept him off his feet, pulling him underwater. Another shelf stopped him – painfully. Clambering to his feet, John strained forward to remain upright, as the water dropped to chest height, then waist height. Great clouds of steam hissed upward, creating a thick, hot mist. The damage was terrible. As the water settled into an knee-deep pool and the mist cleared, John saw ruined empty shelves, blackened by fire and now dripping wet.

“
EMMIE
!” he spluttered, coughing water as his senses returned in a rush. Splashing forward, he found her huddled at the centre of the wreckage. With one hand, she still held grimly onto the unconscious warlord’s arm. Her wet uniform clung to her; her hair hung in soaked strands over her face.

“Emmie. Are you OK?” John panted, grabbing her shoulder.

Emmie lifted her head. With her free hand, she brushed hair out of her eyes. “Like I said, you’re lucky to live on a planet with so much water,” she said, grinning.

“That was a brilliant idea!” John shouted. You are brilliant, Emmie.
Brilliant
!”

“You weren’t bad, either,” she told him. “A bit slow on the uptake, but not bad.”

Around them the water was rapidly disappearing. Like the other smashed globes, the contents of the Earth had become a thick multi-coloured liquid before evaporating into nothing.

Beneath Emmie’s knees, Ogun stirred. “What?” he croaked in a dazed voice. “What’s happening?”

“You’re finished is what’s happening,” John replied, furiously. “Thanks to Emmie, the fire’s out. You’ll be staying right here while we wait for the Galactic Council fleet to arrive. I’m guessing there’s a prison cell somewhere with your name on the door.”

“Never. The Galactic fleet will never take me alive.” The warlord began struggling. John dropped, quickly twisting Ogun’s other arm up his back.

“Curse you!” shrieked the warlord. “I am Ogun, emperor of six worlds. I will
never
be defeated.” He snorted, trying to breathe fire. A few pathetic puffs of steam trailed from his damp nostrils.

John and Emmie looked at each other.

“I don’t know about you, Emmie,” John said, “But I can’t believe I ever thought this guy was terrifying.” He added, “Plus, I’ve got a feeling he might be wrong about the whole never-be-defeated thing.”

Emmie nodded. “Yeah, from where I’m sitting – which is on his back holding him in an armlock – he looks
totally
defeated.”

A few metres away a droid crashed to the ground, sparks hissing from its ripped armour. “Sorry about that,” Gobi said. He nodded at the two of them sitting on Ogun’s back. “That looks like fun. Can I have a turn?”

John looked up at the craggy boy, eyes wide. In the excitement of drowning the flames, he had forgotten the rest of the class was still fighting the remaining droids. Relief flooded through him as he saw what was happening further along the row of wrecked shelves. Behind Gobi, Lishtig held a soldier droid in a tight grip from behind, while Mordant ripped out its wires with strong tentacles. Not far from them, Kaal’s heavy muscles bulged as he ripped a soldier droid’s head from its body.

“That was the last one,” Kaal said with satisfaction in his voice, as the metal remains clanked to the ground. “Good work, everyone. That’s game and match to Hyperspace Hi—”

The sentence went unfinished. Once more, the sound of a wailing alarm filled the air.