STAR FIGHTERS BUMPER SPECIAL EDITION: Stealth Force (8 page)

‘Sure we know,’ Spike said, giving the thumbs-down sign again.

‘Then why –’ Peri began, but Selene interrupted him.

‘Here comes the coach!’

Peri saw it on the horizon, racing along in a cloud of dust. He made out four armed men on the roof, as well as two riders galloping alongside. Clearly, news of Wild Will’s gang had spread, and the mail coach company wasn’t taking any chances in his territory. That was a good sign – it meant there would be even more of them to fight the outlaws.
We need them
, Peri thought.

He looked towards town and saw Wild Will’s men advancing. He quickly counted that there were twenty riders.
Wild Will must have sent almost the whole gang!
Even with the extra mail coach guards, the Star Fighters’ posse was going to be heavily outnumbered.

‘I’m heading into town,’ Peri said. ‘You sort out these guys, and I’ll take down Wild Will and rescue Diesel and the sheriff – OK?’    

‘Good luck, Peri!’ Selene said.

Gunner grinned and gave a thumbs-down sign.

Oh, right
,
Peri realised.
Thumbs down is a
good
sign on Westrenia!
It felt strange, but he returned the thumbs-down sign. Then he set off, running along the ditch as fast as he could and keeping his head down.

Soon he heard shouting and gunfire behind him. He forced himself to keep running without looking back.

When Peri got near the town, he checked over the top of the ditch, then jumped out of it.

One of Wild Will’s gang was standing by the Buckskinville town sign. The alien was leaning on a rifle.
A lookout
, Peri thought.

The alien’s lizard-tongue ran over his lips and cheek. Peri had to get past him somehow. He felt an electric tingling in his chest which spread to his arms and legs. His bionic powers were kicking in. He decided not to bother with anything too subtle. He didn’t have much time.

He ran straight towards the Westrenian at superhuman Fight-or-Flight speed.

‘What?’ Startled, the outlaw picked up his rifle and took aim.

Peri zigzagged around the bullets that whizzed towards him. Nanoseconds later, he had reached the bandit. Peri gave a bionic kick to one of the tottery wooden legs that held up the Buckskinville sign. The wooden board crashed down on to the bandit’s head. He collapsed in the dust, out for the count.

Peri ran into town, staying as low as he could in case the townsfolk were keeping a lookout on Wild Will’s orders.

He quickly made his way to the far end of the town square, where he found the Hole of Death. It smelt pretty bad: a horrible mix of sweat, mud and rubbish that the bandits had thrown in. Flies hovered above the hole, buzzing hungrily. Diesel and the sheriff looked up at him. Up close, Peri could see the sheriff’s resemblance to Dexter – they shared the same fair hair and the same square, determined jaw.

‘About time!’ Diesel said. ‘I’m parched and I’m starving!’

‘I got here as fast as I could!’ Peri said. ‘I’ll get you out after I’ve dealt with Wild Will.’

‘Be careful, lad,’ said the sheriff. ‘He’s more dangerous than you might think!’

‘Don’t worry about me,’ Peri said. Then he straightened up and walked into the centre of the square. ‘Wild Will!’ he shouted. ‘Where are you hiding, you coward?’

Heads popped out from upstairs windows as there was a crash from within the saloon.

Wild Will stood on the step, a cigar in his mouth. His frill of scales fanned out from his neck, making his head look three times its normal size. His lizard-grin made Peri uneasy.

‘Well, what have we here? Aren’t you the boy on one of those Wanted posters? I could do with that hundred zorn reward. Now, the poster says, “Dead or alive”, but I don’t think I’ll bother with “alive”. Dead prisoners are much easier to control.’

Wild
Will slid his rifle from his shoulder and clicked off the safety catch. Before he could take aim, Peri whipped out his laser lasso and flicked it on. The glowing laser rope flew out and coiled round the barrel of Wild Will’s rifle.

Wild Will’s shot blasted harmlessly into the sky, scaring the birds from a tree at the edge of the square.

Peri tugged, trying to jerk the rifle from Wild Will’s grasp, but the outlaw held on tight. Peri felt the strength of his resistance. Wild Will was heavy and powerful – he wouldn’t let go unless he had to. The alien outlaw threw back his head and darted his tongue at the laser lasso, trying to break Peri’s hold. Peri switched off the device’s power. This caught Wild Will by surprise, causing him to stumble backward and crash into the wooden rail outside the saloon.

There was a murmur from the watching townsfolk – and Peri was sure he heard laughter.

Wild Will was getting to his feet. ‘Why, you little –’

‘Listen,’ Peri said, ‘why don’t we settle this once and for all? How about a good, old-fashioned duel? Let’s see who’s fastest on the draw.’

Wild Will began to raise his rifle again. ‘No, I’d prefer just to shoot you down in cold blood!’

‘What’s the matter, Wild Will?’ called a voice from one of the houses. ‘Scared you’ll lose to a boy?’

There was an excited mutter from the watching crowd. More lizard-heads were appearing at windows and peeping round corners.

Wild Will laughed harshly. ‘I’m the fastest draw in these here parts. The graveyards are filled with the bones of those who have challenged me and lost. A kid like him doesn’t stand a chance. He doesn’t even have a weapon!’

‘I have this,’ Peri said, brandishing his laser lasso.

‘All right, then!’ Wild Will said. ‘Let’s see if you think your fancy-dan lasso can help you against a pistol.’ A look of cunning came over the outlaw’s face. He began to walk back towards the saloon. ‘Guess I won’t need my rifle. I’ll just put it in here for safe keeping. My six-shooter should take care of you just fine. Wait there, boy – don’t you run away!’

‘Running away isn’t my style,’ Peri said, squaring his shoulders.

Wild Will went up the step and disappeared into the saloon. He was gone a little longer than Peri had expected. While he waited, Peri looked at the faces watching him through the windows around the square. Several smiled encouragingly. Others gave the thumbs-down sign. He heard someone whisper, ‘Good luck, stranger boy!’

The sun was directly overhead now. Peri’s shadow was a small black blob at his feet.

It was high noon.

Wild Will reappeared from the saloon, without his rifle. He strode into the square, hands hanging by his scaly sides. He stopped and stared at Peri. A wide stretch of dusty ground lay between them. Peri calculated that his laser lasso would just about reach the alien outlaw.

‘You know the rules, boy?’ Wild Will asked. ‘Keep your weapon in its holster. I’m gonna count to three, then we’ll see who’s fastest on the draw!’

Peri nodded. He felt a tingling in his chest.

Wild Will cleared his throat. ‘One . . .’

Peri watched the bandit’s hands carefully. He wouldn’t put it past Wild Will to draw and shoot before the count was completed.

‘Two . . .’

Peri caught a tiny movement out of the corner of his eye. He glanced and saw the barrel of a rifle poking through the shuttered window of the saloon.

It was pointing straight at him!

Chapter 9

The tingling in Peri’s chest spread to his arms and legs as his bionic powers took hold again. He threw himself to the ground just as Wild Will said, ‘Three!’

The rifle in the window fired.

The bullet passed over Peri’s head and thudded into a building on the far side of the square. Peri rolled, feeling dust spray his face. A bullet from Wild Will’s six-shooter had struck the exact position where Peri had been lying just a second before.

He saw sunlight glint off the rifle barrel.
It’s tracking me!

Fighting out in the open was very different to firing weapons from the Bridge of the
Phoenix
.
Peri knew he was going to need all his super strength and bionic speed to survive an attack from two armed, alien outlaws.

From his position on the ground, Peri drew his laser lasso and whipped it towards the window. The loop settled and tightened around the rifle barrel and jerked it to the side just before it fired again.

The bullet zipped past Wild Will’s ear, making him jump and upsetting his aim. Wild Will’s shot went skywards.

Using his Fight-or-Flight speed, Peri jumped up and ran, holding his laser lasso tight. He pulled the rifle clean through the saloon window, dragging one of
Wild Will’s bandits out with it. There were cheers and laughter from the watching townsfolk as the bandit crashed to the ground.

Peri threw himself to one side, feeling the rush of air as a bullet from Wild Will’s six-shooter zoomed past his arm, only narrowly missing him. It splintered a veranda rail. Peri ran at bionic speed across the square.

Wild Will had drawn a second pistol now. Bullets followed Peri, ricocheting off the fronts of the houses.

Peri made it to the edge of the square and dived behind the stone well just as another bullet rebounded off the side.

‘Come out and fight, you little coward!’ Wild Will snarled.

‘
You
’re the coward!’ Peri shouted back. ‘You cheated!’

‘It’s true!’ shouted a man who was leaning out from an upstairs window. Peri chanced a look around the square and saw that it was the same bald man, with the timid expression, who had called out yesterday. Only he didn’t look so timid now. ‘Wild Will
did
cheat. He got Stinky Stan to snipe at the boy – because he knew he couldn’t beat him fair and square!’

There were shouts of agreement from the onlookers.

Wild Will raised his gun and the bald man hastily withdrew from sight.

‘I’m going to teach all you folks a lesson!’ Wild Will bellowed, his tongue snapping angrily at the air. ‘I’m going to make sure I get the respect I deserve from this one-horse town – right after I finish with this pesky kid!’

Wild Will continued marching towards the well, both guns at the ready. Peri could just see him by peeking round the side of the well – if he leaned out further to fire his laser lasso, he’d be giving his enemy a clear shot.