Phoenix

  ‘It is?’ He gaped at her, trying to make sense of this. ‘But – then – why—’

  ‘Lucky,’ she pleaded, ‘I can’t answer your questions now. There’s no time, and there’s so much I haven’t told you, so many things I hoped you’d never need to know. But you’ll get the truth, I promise. Once we’re safely away, I’ll explain it all—’

  ‘But I don’t want to go with Aliens!’ he cried. ‘Have you gone completely insane?!’

  ‘It’s all right: we can trust them. Now please trust me, like you said you would. Show the Captain that astrolabe, and let’s get out of here!’

  There were so many things he wanted to say to her. But he bit his lip, and faced the table. He unzipped his kitbag, and held it open a crack so the Aliens could see inside.

  They all peered into it.

  The astrolabe looked dull and dark this time; not a glimmer of light. But Captain Nox was transformed at the sight of it. His eyes widened, and the fires inside them flared with something that looked like desperate desire.

  ‘By all the Twelve Astraeus!’ he whispered. ‘So it’s true . . .’

  Frollix’s chest puffed out proudly. ‘See, Captain? I found us a way outta here! Now we can go see the Professor, like Mystica wanted—’

  ‘Come, then,’ said the Captain. ‘We must go, quickly.’

  ‘Captain!’ warned Bixa, her needles changing colour, glowing deeper shades of red, scarlet, crimson. ‘Trouble—’

  The front door smashed open. The men who’d been fighting Frollix burst into the bar – and this time, they were all armed with cannon. Lucky’s mother reached for her kitbag, but before she got to it, Bixa unholstered her own cannon.

  ‘No guns, Bixa!’ thundered Captain Nox. ‘No killing.’

  Lucky was surprised to hear an Alien say those words, but Bixa didn’t look at all surprised. She just ran her fingers through her hair, making her needles shimmer. ‘Fine,’ she said. ‘How about this?’

  Her needles bristled at the door, like they were almost alive – and then, incredibly, a crimson needle shot out of her hair and soared towards the men.

  KAA-BOOSHHH!!!

  The needle exploded right in front of them.

  Everything in Lucky’s head went weird. His senses scrambled, all mixed up. Sounds became colours. Shapes had tastes. I can’t think straight, he realized. I’m going to be sick –

  – and across the bar, the men were throwing up, sinking to their knees, clutching their heads and weeping.

  ‘What was that?’ gasped Lucky, barely holding down the nausea.

  ‘Sensory Dazzler!’ whooped Frollix. ‘Remember I said I wasn’t the person to do the combat? Well, that was a Bixa Quicksilver special!’ He pulled away the curtain to reveal a hidden back door. ‘Now run, you guys, run! Let’s get back to the ship!’

  Chapter Six

  Lucky’s mother grabbed his hand, and dragged him through the door. He strapped his kitbag to his back as they sprinted away from the bar.

  Captain Nox led the way, running swiftly and gracefully on his hooves. Frollix loped along beside Lucky and his mother. Bixa Quicksilver brought up the rear, guarding them from attack. Lucky looked back at her. She was no older than him, yet she moved like a warrior, with deadly purpose in every step.

  ‘What you felt,’ said Bixa as they ran, ‘was the flash from the other side of the room. Those Groundlings got it in the face. They’re not hurt, but they won’t be leaving that bar for a while.’ She spoke without gloating or glee; just the assurance of someone who was expert at their job.

  Lucky’s mother smiled. ‘That girl!’ she said. ‘She’s good.’

  Lucky glanced back again – and his mouth went dry. Because it looked like there was someone leaving the bar.

  Or rather, something.

  A shadow. The shadow he’d seen on the wall. It was moving, all on its own. And now it was coming after them.

  His mother turned, and saw it too. ‘Come on!’ she urged.

  They accelerated away from the refugee camp, running out beyond the edge of the spaceport. Here, far from all the other ships, they came to a derelict runway. Its flight tower was abandoned, its surface strewn with weeds. It was the worst patch of ground imaginable.

  ‘This is where they let us land,’ said Frollix. ‘And over there: that’s our ship.’

  There was a very surprising structure at the end of this runway. It was the size of a starship, but it was shaped like a silver crescent moon, with wires criss-crossing between the points – more like some strange sculpture than any ship Lucky had seen before. It looked battered, burned and badly beaten up. It certainly didn’t look like it could fly.

  ‘The Sunfire,’ breathed Frollix. ‘Didn’t I say she was the best ship in the galaxy?’

  A hatch opened on the side of the ship. A warm light shone out from within.

  ‘Good enough,’ said Lucky’s mother. ‘Let’s go.’ But something made her hesitate. She turned round –

  – and there was the shadow, coming closer and closer. As Lucky watched, it seemed to grow even darker. Thicker. It was taking shape, becoming solid –

  – becoming a guard –

  – a Shadow Guard.

  ‘Are they – are they coming to protect us?’ gulped Lucky, throat constricting with fear. His mother shook her head. Her long red hair flowed behind her in the night.

  The Aliens turned, and saw the approaching shadow. Bixa’s needles went pale. But she clenched her fists and touched her cannon.

  ‘Bixa, no,’ commanded Captain Nox.

  ‘It’s us he’s after,’ Lucky’s mother told the Aliens. ‘You go to your ship. Get ready for takeoff. We’ll join you in a minute.’

  The Aliens glanced at each other, and then ran towards their starship. Lucky and his mother stayed on the runway. In a heartbeat, the Shadow Guard caught up with them. He stood there silently, watching them, darker than the darkness.

  Even this close, it was hard to see him clearly, because he was wearing some kind of stealth armour that sucked up the light, leaving only shadows. Lucky couldn’t see his eyes, his mouth, or any of his features – almost as if he didn’t have a face at all. But there was a coldness coming from him that was unmistakable.

  Then the Shadow Guard spoke, in a voice Lucky felt in his bones as much as heard with his ears. ‘Diana Ashbourne,’ he said. ‘We know who you really are. We know your real name, and we know what you’ve done. Come with us, and by the authority of President Thorntree’s government, no one will be hurt.’

  ‘And Shadow Guards are famous for telling the truth, aren’t they?’ replied Lucky’s mother. ‘Leave us alone.’

  ‘That boy beside you,’ said the Shadow Guard. ‘The boy with the astrolabe. Is that your son? His son?’

  ‘I won’t tell you anything,’ she said.

  ‘Then we’ll rip his brainscan, and yours. We’ll find out everything we want to know.’

  Lucky backed away, legs like jelly. His whole body was shaking. But his mother squared up to the Shadow Guard, fearless.

  ‘You’ll never even touch the boy,’ she said in her iciest voice. ‘You know what I’m capable of. Don’t make me do it. There’s only one of you, and—’

  ssssshh

  That soft hissing sound again. Directly above them. Lucky looked up –

  – and there it was. The V-shaped shadow in the sky. Even bigger than before. So big now, it filled his entire field of vision.

  Then blinding lights flared at the tips of the V, like floodlights coming on – so bright that Lucky’s nose began to bleed – and now at last he knew what he was looking at.

  A shadowship. A vast black starship, hovering in the air above them, blocking his view of the sky. There was no crack up there. That was an illusion caused by the ship’s stealth armour. Because these were the ships of the Shadow Guards. Attack craft, sleek and deadly, their wings meeting in a sharp V at the front.

  The shadowship descended to the ground, hissing softly as it displ
aced the air around it. Dust and weeds swirled in the wind. Lucky’s hair blew across his eyes.

  ‘OK,’ said his mother, under her breath. ‘Come on, Lucky. Let’s go!’

  But he couldn’t move. He just stood there, frozen in the blinding nosebleed glare.

  Shadows began to stream out of the black ship. Shadows darker than the darkness, blotting out the world. Shadow Guards. He couldn’t see their faces, because they were hidden behind stealth armour. But they were carrying shoulder cannon, ground-blasters, weapons he couldn’t even name –

  – and they were coming to get him.

  Lucky’s mother grabbed his hand and dragged him down the runway, towards the Alien ship. There was a low rumble at the edge of his hearing. He thought it might be the sound of weapons powering up, preparing to fire—

  BOOOM!!!

  A massive blast. A crater opened up in the ground just behind him. The force of it flung him into the air, and for a moment he felt like he was flying—

  ‘Aaaargh!’ he screamed as he smashed into the ground, knees first. Excruciating pain ripped through his kneecaps. He tried to get up, but couldn’t. He flailed as flames scorched the air around him, and heat crackled his hair. Behind him, that low rumble powered up again.

  ‘Hold onto me,’ said his mother. She scooped him up in her arms and carried him to the abandoned flight tower.

  She kicked open the door and went through. Inside, everything was shrouded in dust, like a tomb. She put Lucky down under a flight controller’s terminal, beneath rows of old starmaps, and they sheltered there together, gasping for breath. His knees throbbed with pain. They were grazed and bleeding.

  His mother took a quick look at them, frowned, and unshouldered her bag. But already, the Shadow Guards were firing at the tower. A window exploded. The door blew off its hinges. Cracks appeared in the old starmaps – and then they shattered, one by one, as flames engulfed the walls around them.

  ‘Why are they shooting at us?!’ cried Lucky, cowering under the terminal. ‘Is it my fault?’

  ‘No, my love, of course not,’ said his mother, over a shockwave that blasted his eardrums. ‘Now, can you be very brave, and hold on a minute before I treat your knees?’

  He nodded. She took off her jacket, rolled up the sleeves of her white shirt, and reached into her bag. Inside it, under the Medikit, Lucky glimpsed a hand cannon, some ammunition clips, and a couple of fist-sized metal objects that he thought might be grenades, but he couldn’t be sure, because he’d never, ever seen such things before.

  ‘I hoped it wouldn’t come to this,’ she said as she loaded the cannon, fingers moving without hesitation. ‘But if that’s how it has to be . . .’

  She took up position by the door. Cocked the trigger. And blasted back at the Shadow Guards as they tried to rush the tower.

  Her first shot stopped one of them.

  Her second dropped another. Then three Shadow Guards were down.

  She was brilliant. Perfect precision. Aim. Fire. Reload.

  She unleashed another round. Every shot hit its mark.

  ‘Where did you learn to shoot like that?’ whispered Lucky, stunned.

  She raised an eyebrow. ‘Beginner’s luck?’ she replied, the ghost of a smile in her eyes. But she didn’t move like a beginner. She’d gone into another gear, reloading her cannon again like it was the most normal thing in the world.

  I wish I could help her, thought Lucky. I wish I could blow those Shadow Guards to hell—

  BLAMMM!!!

  Her cannon clattered to the ground. She was hit! Her hand – it was bleeding!

  With her other hand, she flung one of the grenades back at the Shadow Guards. There was a soft whining sound – and then a huge explosion. And then there was a deafening silence in Lucky’s ears.

  His mother paused, panting, listening. No shots came back from the other side. But already, more shadows were swarming down from the great black ship, surrounding the tower.

  ‘We’re trapped!’ he said.

  His mother moved swiftly through the burning room, checking every surface. She found a lever in the corner, pulled it, and a rickety ladder dropped down before her.

  ‘A way out,’ she said. ‘Come on.’

  He tried to stand, tottered on legs that felt like liquid, and slumped to the ground again. He lay there, terrified, clutching his bleeding knees.

  His mother came back for him. Very gently, she picked him up in her arms, and carried him to the foot of the ladder. ‘You first,’ she said. ‘I’ll be right behind you.’

  Lucky’s heart was pounding. His knees were screaming with pain. But they were going to get away. She knew what she was doing. They were going to be OK.

  He put a foot on the first rung. It wobbled beneath him, and the ladder lurched before his eyes.

  ‘I’m holding it for you,’ said his mother. ‘Keep going.’

  He tried another step; it felt more stable now. But behind him, outside, he heard the rumble of weapons powering up again. Taking aim. A volley of shots slammed into the tower, and he heard his mother cry out.

  Because she was hit. Again. Her shoulder this time.

  ‘Don’t look,’ she gasped. ‘Come on, Lucky. Climb!’

  With a desperate surge of fear, he hauled himself up another rung, then another, and another, forcing himself higher and higher, though he was tiring with every step he took towards the top. He climbed up, and up, and up – until finally he came to a trapdoor. He pushed it open, and hauled himself onto a platform at the top of the flight tower.

  Cold night air whipped into his face. He caught his breath, steadied himself, and offered his mother a hand up.

  She shrugged it off. ‘I’m fine,’ she said, though there was blood dripping from her wounds. Already, she was scanning the layout at the top of the tower. The Alien ship was on the ground directly below them now. The Aliens had climbed on board, and were preparing to take off. Frollix and Bixa were staring up at them from the open hatch.

  Lucky felt giddy. He backed away from the edge of the platform, and turned round. Behind them, a Shadow Guard was coming silently up the ladder. Out of the trapdoor. Onto the platform . . .

  ‘Help!’ screamed Lucky, fear finally freeing his voice.

  His mother reared up like a lioness, and let loose a ferocious blow that knocked the Shadow Guard back down through the trapdoor.

  ‘You got him!’ cried Lucky, hugging her and hugging her, not wanting to let go.

  She hugged him back, full of pride and joy. ‘Not too bad for a beginner, am I?’ she said. Above their heads, the black sky was shot through with red streaks from Aries One.

  ‘Who are you?’ he said.

  ‘You know who I am!’ She smiled, ruffled his hair, and led him back to the edge of the platform. ‘Now there’s only one way out of here. We’ve got to jump down, onto the Sunfire. It’ll hurt, but I promise you, it’ll be OK. Can you do it?’

  The view lurched before Lucky’s eyes. He felt sick. ‘No!’ he whimpered. The wind shook the tower; the metal groaned beneath his feet. And already, he could hear engines spinning up. Could see the Alien ship beginning to shift and hum and move.

  ‘Wait!’ his mother called down to the Aliens. ‘We’re coming!’

  BLAMMM!!!

  A shot rang out behind them. Something strange appeared on his mother’s shirt. It was like a little flower, blooming there on the white fabric. Then its petals opened, shocking wet and red, and Lucky knew it wasn’t a flower.

  Blood. It was her blood. And it was seeping from her chest.

  ssssshh

  The shadowship hovered in the air behind them, dwarfing the flight tower. A hatch at the front was open. More Shadow Guards stood inside, bristling with cannon.

  ‘Surrender,’ one of them called. ‘You cannot win.’

  Lucky’s mother turned away from the black ship in the sky, and whispered softly in his ear. ‘Lucky, my love,’ she said, as if she was putting him to bed on some very ordinary night, back
home in the suburbs, ‘you keep yourself safe, OK? Because everything that I’ve done . . . I only did it to protect you.’

  And with that, she lifted him in her arms – and hurled him off the edge of the platform.

  ‘No, wait – what are you doing?!’ he screamed as he fell away from her, and plummeted feet-first into the night.

  Down, down, down he plunged, helpless, screaming, clawing the air, trying to slow his fall – but he couldn’t – he just fell –

  and fell

  and fell

  until

  WHUMP!

  – he landed in Frollix’s massive arms as the Alien ship lifted off from the ground.

  ‘The kid’s in, Captain!’ called Frollix. He put Lucky down, just inside the ship. ‘But his mom – I don’t know what she’s doing . . .’

  Lucky stared out of the Sunfire’s hatch, as it rose into the air – and was horrified to see his mother still up there on the flight tower. She wasn’t coming after him.

  No. She was going the other way. She was running straight at the huge black ship in the sky.

  The Shadow Guards fired at her, all guns blazing – but she was moving in that mesmerizing way again – twisting and turning and flowing like water.

  BLAMMM!!! BLAMMM!!! BLAMMM!!!

  She hurled herself off the tower, into their line of fire, but not one of their shots hit her. Even now, she was that fast. That good.

  She pulled her last grenade as she dived right into the shadowship’s open hatch. There was a soft whining sound –

  – and then a huge explosion that tore the black ship to pieces, fire and light bleeding out as the blast obliterated it, and everything in it and on it and around it –

  – and all the time, Lucky was watching from the Sunfire, waiting for his mother to somehow leap aside to safety and come after him –

  – and even as the Sunfire rose above the apocalypse of smoke and flame, he was calling for her – he called again and again and again –

  ‘Come on, come on – where are you? Please COME ON!!!’

  – but his mother never came.

  Chapter Seven

  His world shattered into pieces. Afterwards, he could only remember flashes: memories of moments, seared into his mind.