that. Metal Boy.
Henry had mentioned a monster on the island, but monsters weren’t real.
Were they?
He peered into the hallway. He couldn’t see anything, but he was sure he could hear breathing. It couldn’t be Henry. He was still outside and the breathing was too guttural anyway. Dan stepped out cautiously, the piece of metal floating in the air next to him. It was dark here and there was still no sign—
Something crashed into his legs, sending Dan flying. He heard a wild grunting and a squeal. The metal beam fell onto his head. Yelling, he spun about in horror as a hairy, brown creature bolted past him and out of sight.
A pig! That’s all it was. Some sort of wild boar. The creature must have been rooting about in the broken remains of the ship. He remembered hearing that early sailors would often leave pigs on remote islands so there would be fresh meat for them when they later returned.
Dan felt a flush of embarrassment. What sort of superhero was he? A wild pig just scared him half to death! He swallowed hard. Henry probably heard the racket and was wondering what was happening.
He returned to the upper deck, but Henry was gone. Dan crossed to the edge of the water. From here he could see up and down the coast.
‘Henry!’ he called. ‘Where are you?’
Silence. Then the roar of a beast rang out from deep inside the jungle. It wasn’t the snort of a wild boar. It wasn’t like anything that Dan had ever heard in his life. A flock of birds broke cover and sailed away towards the setting sun.
What had Henry told him?
There’s a monster and it comes at night.
Chapter Fifteen
‘There it is,’ Mr. Brown said. ‘ Olympus .’
Ebony and I were sitting on Liber8tor ’s bridge. It was surprisingly clean although quite different to the Liber8tor we knew. Most of the reptilian Tagaar consoles had been removed and replaced with sleek stainless steel panels, and someone had whitewashed the walls, a strange thing to do to an alien spacecraft, but these were strange times.
Old Axel had gone below to check a shudder in the engines while Mr. Brown controlled the helm. It was strange seeing him there instead of Dan. I wanted to ask him what had happened to Dan and the others over the years, but I was sure he would give the same answer as Old Axel.
It would cause irreparable damage to the space/time continuum.
The space station known as Olympus filled the view screen. Covered in green metal, it was shaped like a giant donut with a one-eighth section cut out. Cannons ringed the circumference. The size of it was hard to determine at first, but then I spotted a ship entering one of the cut ends of the donut. Olympus was massive. Miles across.
‘How on Earth did something like that get built?’ I asked.
‘I can’t say much because it—’
‘I know. Space/time continuum. I get the idea.’
‘Suffice to say, James Price was able to lasso a passing asteroid and transform it with nanites into a space station.
‘You’re kidding.’
‘I wish I were.’
Nanites were tiny machines only a few atoms in size. They were already being used in some basic applications in our time, but it sounded like they had been fully exploited by James Price and the Agency.
Mr. Brown continued. ‘After the station was completed—’
‘Shut up,’ Old Axel said, appearing in the doorway with a box. ‘You know better than to blab.’
Mr. Brown clamped his mouth shut. ‘Just giving them some warning. That’s all.’
‘They less they know the better.’ He glared at me. ‘The things I could say would make your blood boil.’
I stared back. There was a terrible darkness in him, a deep hurt that had twisted him into something unrecognizable. Were we really the same person?
Old Axel produced belts with holsters attached. ‘I’ve got these for everyone,’ he said. ‘They’re simple laser pistols. You just point and shoot.’
‘We don’t normally use guns,’ Ebony said.
‘You might need them this
Henry had mentioned a monster on the island, but monsters weren’t real.
Were they?
He peered into the hallway. He couldn’t see anything, but he was sure he could hear breathing. It couldn’t be Henry. He was still outside and the breathing was too guttural anyway. Dan stepped out cautiously, the piece of metal floating in the air next to him. It was dark here and there was still no sign—
Something crashed into his legs, sending Dan flying. He heard a wild grunting and a squeal. The metal beam fell onto his head. Yelling, he spun about in horror as a hairy, brown creature bolted past him and out of sight.
A pig! That’s all it was. Some sort of wild boar. The creature must have been rooting about in the broken remains of the ship. He remembered hearing that early sailors would often leave pigs on remote islands so there would be fresh meat for them when they later returned.
Dan felt a flush of embarrassment. What sort of superhero was he? A wild pig just scared him half to death! He swallowed hard. Henry probably heard the racket and was wondering what was happening.
He returned to the upper deck, but Henry was gone. Dan crossed to the edge of the water. From here he could see up and down the coast.
‘Henry!’ he called. ‘Where are you?’
Silence. Then the roar of a beast rang out from deep inside the jungle. It wasn’t the snort of a wild boar. It wasn’t like anything that Dan had ever heard in his life. A flock of birds broke cover and sailed away towards the setting sun.
What had Henry told him?
There’s a monster and it comes at night.
Chapter Fifteen
‘There it is,’ Mr. Brown said. ‘ Olympus .’
Ebony and I were sitting on Liber8tor ’s bridge. It was surprisingly clean although quite different to the Liber8tor we knew. Most of the reptilian Tagaar consoles had been removed and replaced with sleek stainless steel panels, and someone had whitewashed the walls, a strange thing to do to an alien spacecraft, but these were strange times.
Old Axel had gone below to check a shudder in the engines while Mr. Brown controlled the helm. It was strange seeing him there instead of Dan. I wanted to ask him what had happened to Dan and the others over the years, but I was sure he would give the same answer as Old Axel.
It would cause irreparable damage to the space/time continuum.
The space station known as Olympus filled the view screen. Covered in green metal, it was shaped like a giant donut with a one-eighth section cut out. Cannons ringed the circumference. The size of it was hard to determine at first, but then I spotted a ship entering one of the cut ends of the donut. Olympus was massive. Miles across.
‘How on Earth did something like that get built?’ I asked.
‘I can’t say much because it—’
‘I know. Space/time continuum. I get the idea.’
‘Suffice to say, James Price was able to lasso a passing asteroid and transform it with nanites into a space station.
‘You’re kidding.’
‘I wish I were.’
Nanites were tiny machines only a few atoms in size. They were already being used in some basic applications in our time, but it sounded like they had been fully exploited by James Price and the Agency.
Mr. Brown continued. ‘After the station was completed—’
‘Shut up,’ Old Axel said, appearing in the doorway with a box. ‘You know better than to blab.’
Mr. Brown clamped his mouth shut. ‘Just giving them some warning. That’s all.’
‘They less they know the better.’ He glared at me. ‘The things I could say would make your blood boil.’
I stared back. There was a terrible darkness in him, a deep hurt that had twisted him into something unrecognizable. Were we really the same person?
Old Axel produced belts with holsters attached. ‘I’ve got these for everyone,’ he said. ‘They’re simple laser pistols. You just point and shoot.’
‘We don’t normally use guns,’ Ebony said.
‘You might need them this
Similar Books
