Star League 6 (8 page)

iRis begins to crackle with electricity and I hold my breath, wondering if I managed to disconnect the explosives in time. She sags in her seat, but there's no explosion.

‘She's gone,' says Jay. ‘Her programming has been wiped.'

I nod. I can't help but feel a little bit sad, even though I know iRis was never really my friend.

‘It's not a total loss,' I say. ‘We can still recover some data from her systems.' I pull out her data chip and plug it into a nearby computer. ‘It's encoded,' I tell the others. ‘We have to crack the password.'

‘Look, there's a clue,' says Leigh, reading the computer screen over my shoulder. ‘ “Earning it is
good, but it's better shared. Once it's broken it can't be repaired.” What's that supposed to mean?'

‘Earning money is good, right?' asks Roger. ‘Doesn't everyone want to be a bazillionaire? Maybe the answer is money?'

‘Yeah, but most people don't exactly want to share their money, do they?' says Asuka.

‘Plus I don't see how money can be broken,' adds Leigh.

‘It could be a window!' says Connor. ‘I broke a window once and I got into so much trouble. I had to do chores for months to pay it off until it was repaired.'

‘So it can't be a window,' points out Jay. ‘Those can be repaired.'

We all fall silent as we run out of ideas.

It's starting to feel like we'll never defeat Professor Pestilence. He's come close to finishing off the Star League a few times now, and thanks to me he almost succeeded this time. My heart sinks so
low it feels like it's in my shoes.

‘This is all my fault,' I say miserably. ‘I put the rest of you in danger for nothing! The professor still got away!'

‘Sam, it wasn't your fault,' says Jay. ‘Professor Pestilence was using you through iRis. We know the real Sam wouldn't hurt us. We trust you, and you should learn to trust yourself too.' The others nod in agreement.

I smile at Jay's words. My guilt lifts, and the answer to the riddle is right there.

‘That's it! I know the password! What's good earned and better shared? And once it's broken it can't be repaired!'

‘What?' asks Roger. ‘Tell us already!'

‘It's trust,' I say with a grin.

‘Password accepted,' beeps the computer. ‘Replaying last transmission.'

A woman's evil cackle plays through the speakers.

‘What fools the Star League are! Tricked by my robot! They'll never guess who I really am! I could be under their noses right now and they wouldn't know. I, the great Professor Pestilence, will remain undefeated!'

The transmission ends, and we look at each other in confusion.

‘Professor Pestilence is a woman?' asks Connor.

‘But that's impossible!' says Asuka. ‘We've seen him.'

Jay shakes his head. ‘Who knows if we've ever seen the real Professor Pestilence? He or she is a master of disguise. We don't know anything for sure.'

‘Well, one thing is certain,' I say.

‘What's that?' asks Leigh.

‘We're going to catch Professor Pestilence, no matter what.'

I glance at iRis, who I thought was my friend but turned out to be my worst enemy.

‘Sayonara, iRis,' I say.

‘Hey, looks like you're finally getting the hang of it!' says Jay. I laugh with my friends and we head towards the labs to try to crack the real identity of Professor Pestilence.

H.J. Harper isn't sure if books are stalking her, or if she's stalking books. Either way, she's had various jobs in bookstores and libraries, and now works as an author. Her favourite part about being an author is that staring out the window and imagining things is no longer something she can get in trouble for – in fact, it's required! When she's not writing books about werewolves, zombies and ninjas, she's usually playing video games … about werewolves, zombies and ninjas. She lives in Melbourne with her partner and a very spoilt cat who cannot be controlled by animancer powers.

Nahum Ziersch was born and raised in the Clare Valley in South Australia. From a very young age he knew he wanted to draw for a living, surrounded by very artistic parents who encouraged and nurtured his passion. As a kid he would watch
Astro Boy
and stacks of other cartoons in his PJs, devour comics and draw his own imaginative worlds and characters. Nahum works as a freelance illustrator in Adelaide. While his main areas of work include editorial, advertising and educational illustrations, he still has a mad passion for creating quirky and expressive characters.