Deadly Mission (5 page)

“Here we are!” Otto stopped them at an intersection. “According to my sources, the prince may be locked in a cellar!”

What sources?
Peri wondered, as Otto pulled off his cloak and uncrossed his arms. He stomped up and down the orange-tiled corridor until he heard a
hollow thud. He traced the tile with his finger and levered a trapdoor open. A rancid smell of dampness and decay wafted up from the dark hole. It smelled worse than the farting swamps of Venus.

“You two go down and rescue him!” Otto ordered them.

“You're not in charge,” Diesel sneered. “And he's
your
prince. Why don't
you
do it?”

Otto shook his head. “I will search for the prince too, but I must stay up here in case the guards unfreeze! I will fight the Xions!”

“Fine,” Diesel growled, seeing that Otto did have a point.

Peri followed the gunner down the slime-covered rusting metal rungs.

If only it was galactic glow-in-the-dark slime
, thought Peri.
This cellar's darker than a black hole.

Peri stepped off the ladder into something very soft and sticky. “Eeeew!”

That explains the smell
, he thought. His space boots glowed for an instant as they automatically burned away whatever he had stepped in. Expedition Wear rocked!

“Here, Prince, Prince, Prince,” Diesel called.

“He's royalty, not a cat,” Peri hissed.

“With the Meigwors, anything is possible,” muttered Diesel, before bellowing, “Your Royal Highness, you-hoo?”

Yooou-hoooo-hooo-hoo.
The sound echoed through the cellar.

Peri stumbled forward in the dark. He couldn't even see if he was walking in a straight line. He bumped into something.

“Hey, lamizoid, watch it!” Diesel snapped.

“I'm not Martian. I can't see in the dark.”

There was an awkward silence. Something wasn't right. “Wait a minute …,” Peri muttered, staring through the blackness at where he thought Diesel was.

“Why aren't your eyes glowing?” he asked. “Don't Martians have illumovision? Shouldn't you be able to see in the dark?”

“Um, well …,” Diesel muttered. Peri couldn't see Diesel's face, but he could hear a squeak of embarrassment in the gunner's voice. “Just because illumovision isn't part of my half-Martian blood doesn't mean I'm not all Martian where it counts. I could beat you any day with both eyes shut and—”

“Hey, space-monkeys!” Otto bellowed. “We can leave now! I've found the prince!”

Peri shook his head.
It figures. Otto sent us down here for nothing.

Diesel didn't seem to mind. They stumbled through the darkness until they spotted the slimy rungs of the ladder. As Peri climbed out, he found Otto wrestling with a large silver blanket. It thrashed around in his arms, mumbling and cursing.

“Otto,” Peri demanded. “What on Neptune is going on?”

“Nothing!” Otto shouted. He prodded the blanket, threatening whatever, or whoever, was inside as he did. “You can shut up, or I'll let the Earthlings blast you.”

Otto glanced at Peri and Diesel. “It's for his own safety! He's been brainwashed by the evil Xions!” Otto's lipless mouth slid into a sheepish smile. “Just a moment!”

Otto pulled a rope from a utility pouch and looped it around the blanket. The rope encircled the prince, tying the silver material into a bundle that Otto flung over his shoulder. “We go now!”

But Otto didn't even manage a single step.
Eeeerrraaaa-eeerrraaa!
Alarms blasted from every direction. Metal gates crashed between the archways in the corridor, sealing them off from the rest of the palace.

Eeeerrraaaa-eeerrrraaaa.
The palace alarms were screeching at full volume.

One of the gates had jammed halfway down. Peri, Diesel, and Otto ducked under it and ran.

They passed a picture of the Xion king in full battle gear. Instead of black, his shell was a brilliant gold. He held the suit's helmet under his arm, but his hands were pincher claws and the suit's scorpion tail curled behind him. Peri couldn't help feeling their daring rescue was about to end badly.

Peri urged his crew on, turning this way then that, down the twisting corridors. It was getting so hot and stuffy that even the Expedition Wear struggled to keep them cool. They raced around the next corner, and another portrait of the king of Xion greeted them. It was the same as the last one.

“Don't they have any other pictures of the king?” Diesel wondered aloud.

“Wait a minute,” said Peri, trying to catch his breath. “We're running in circles.”

“Nonsense!” snapped Otto, adjusting the silver bundle over his shoulder. “Meigwors have a keen sense of direction!”

“Listen,” Peri panted, supporting himself against the corridor wall. “We've seen this picture twice already.”

Otto licked the sweat off his forehead with his tongue. “No, we haven't!”

“Yes, we have,” panted Diesel. “It's a self-repeating maze.”

“We're trapped,” Peri said. Anger pulsed through him, as a computerized voice rang out inside his head:
Fight-or-Flight—activated.

That had never happened before. Peri's Expedition Wear tightened as his muscles swelled. His feet tingled and his arms throbbed. He didn't know what was happening. His circuits buzzed with energy.
His bionic abilities obviously extended beyond the
Phoenix
, but it was no time to test them! He didn't know what he'd activated, or how to switch it off.

“I'm going to get us out of here,” Peri told Otto and Diesel. His legs powered forward. Without hesitation, he grabbed hold of the metal bars that were blocking their way and twisted.
Snap!
Peri gasped at his superhuman strength, but continued to pull bars from the gate as though they were nothing more than matchsticks.
Snap! Snap!

Before either of the others could react, Peri heard the sound of the palace guards' heavy boots thundering along the marble corridors behind them. The effects of Otto's freezing trick must have worn off. Peri grabbed Diesel and Otto and pulled them through the gap in the gate.

“Run!” Peri sprinted down the marble corridor.

The corridor ahead was clear, so he put on an extra spurt of speed. As he reached the next junction his body stopped so suddenly he thought his eyes would pop out. One moment he had been zooming down the corridor, the next his muscles were fighting to keep him upright. His heart was pounding fast enough to explode. What if he had overdone it and snapped some internal wiring or tripped a switch?

He glanced behind him. Diesel and Otto were still struggling to catch up. The palace guards were in hot pursuit. He tried to move forward again, but his legs were frozen. Instead, he heard the calm computerized voice inside his head say:
Flesh-vaporizing trap, calculating optimal route to avoid. Calculation done.

Suddenly, he could see the red beams of the deadly rays crisscrossing the junction.

Ready in three, two …

Peri could do nothing to stop his body from crouching. He couldn't even close his eyes.

… one
!

He leaped higher into the air than he had ever done outside of a 3-D game or zero-gravity training. He soared up, his hair brushing the ceiling. He felt so powerful and skilled. He tucked into a double somersault, tumbling perfectly through the gaps in the flesh-vaporizing rays.

Not even Diesel could do that!

His body knew what to do next. Instantly, it twisted and launched him into a backflip, followed by a perfectly controlled forward roll. Peri landed in front of a control panel, and his hand smashed into it. Sparks flew as a jolt of energy burst from his arm into the wall. Smoke poured out between the cracks in the plaster, and the beams crisscrossing the room flickered and faded away.

“All clear!” Peri shouted as he super-charged down the final corridor to the palace courtyard.
I could get used to being bionic
, he thought. But as he did, the floor slid away to reveal a pit lined with deadly spikes. He skidded to a stop a half inch from the edge of the trap.

“The guards have powered up their lasers!” shouted Otto. He and Diesel were getting closer.

Zap-zap-zap-kaaapowww!
Laser fire blasted the walls around him, raining down fragments of stone.

Otto sprinted ahead of Diesel. He squealed when he saw the pit for the first
time. Peri grabbed the Meigwor by his ammo belts and threw him and the prince clean across.

Zap-zap-zap-sssizz.
The laser fire was getting closer.

“Come on, Diesel,” Peri urged.

“I'm coming!” The gunner put on an extra burst and raced toward Peri. When he saw the pit, his eyes widened and his band of hair turned plasma white.

“Don't stop. Keep going!” Peri called. “I'm going to catapult you across!”

“Are you crazy?” yelled Diesel.

“Just trust me!” Peri grabbed Diesel and tossed him over the deadly spikes.

Peri took one last look at the approaching guards, glanced across the pit, and hoped his bionic body wouldn't let him down. He prepared himself to take a running leap.

Zap-zap-boom!

The ceiling began to crumble and rain down around him. He had to go now. He fixed his eyes on Diesel and went for it. As he jumped, it felt as though he was leaving his stomach behind. He couldn't help but imagine falling onto the spikes.

But he made it. He rolled as he landed and then stood up.
Phew!

Zap-zap-fhizzz.
A laser blast punched against his shoulder, knocking him down. Peri was ready for burning pain to rip through his circuits, but nothing happened. He pressed his hand against his shoulder, but found only a small hole burned into his jacket.
I'm bionic
and
lucky!

As he crawled toward Otto and Diesel, his suit began to buzz, changing color from blue to the same dusty orange as the marble in the palace. The suit's material began to
harden. Peri stood up. Another laser blast hit him, but this time it ricocheted off, almost hitting Otto.