Free Martin King and the Space Angels (Martin King Series) by James McGovern Page B

nodded.
    Slater smiled. ‘Thank you.’
    The teacher opened the exit hatch, and he climbed out of the ship, followed by Martin and the others.
    The ship had landed on a large, damp lawn. Two once-grand fountains lay nearby; now they were covered in moss. A Georgian manor lay fifty meters away from them; the house, too, was run-down.
    ‘So where’s the trouble?’ said Darcy.
    Slater peered around the lawn. Everything was eerily quiet. There was no danger in sight.
    And then they heard the scream.
    ‘I think it came from that direction,’ said Martin, pointing towards the hall.
    Without wasting a second, Mr Slater, Martin, Darcy and Tommy started to run towards the crumbling manor, their feet slipping on the saturated grass. As they got nearer, they heard another scream, and realised that it didn’t come from the hall.
    ‘This way,’ said Slater breathlessly, pointing towards a massive greenhouse that stood next to the house. The greenhouse was about a third of the size of the main building, but equally grand. Twisted glass spires rose up towards the sky like crystal smoke.
    As they reached it, Slater glanced through the glass.
    ‘Oh no,’ he said. ‘It’s a Pendulum Officer.’
    Martin looked. Inside, standing amongst thick vines and plants, was a sleek robot, covered in a gold floral pattern. Inside its head, spinning cogs were visible. Martin had seen one of them before—it was the same kind of robot that had attacked Levanté at the end of his magic show.
    Martin told Mr Slater this, and he sighed.
    ‘I should have known. The Pendulum Officers are—effectively—policemen. Or at least they were.’ Slater sighed again, and turned to face them. ‘Fifty years ago, the Pendulum project was discontinued throughout the Axis Belt. The thing is, the technology inside each Pendulum Officer is extremely advanced and extremely dangerous. When the project was ended, the remaining droids were captured and reprogrammed by various groups all across the Blue galaxy.’
    ‘What kind of groups?’ said Martin.
    Slater grimaced. ‘Mainly criminal gangs and terrorist cells.’
    ‘So how do we stop it?’ said Tommy.
    Mr Slater reached into the pocket of his tweed jacket, and pulled out a gun.
    ‘We don’t stop it. We destroy it.’
    The teacher pushed open the greenhouse door and marched inside. The teenagers followed. A woman was cowering on the soil floor of the greenhouse, behind a makeshift barricade of plant pots, watering cans and other gardening equipment.
    The Pendulum Officer’s eyes burned red, and a laser beam burst out at the sobbing woman. A bubble-like shape shimmered around the woman; Martin realised that it was a shield or force field of some kind.
    ‘You will come with me,’ said the robot. ‘You will come with me, or be obliterated.’
    Slater approached the robot and held the gun towards it. Before it turned around, he pulled the trigger. A thin blue streak of laser light shot out; the metal creature cracked open and burst into flames. Slater fired the laser again, and the robot completely disintegrated.
    Martin stared at the Mr Slater. He was becoming more suspicious of the teacher every day. Why was he carrying a gun?
    ‘Are you all right?’ said Mr Slater, hurrying to the woman on the floor. She was wearing a bizarre dress that looked as if it was made from leaves. She got to her feet.
    ‘You are not taking me,’ she muttered. ‘You are not taking me!’
    Mr Slater reached out to her, but she pulled away.
    ‘I am not here on behalf of the Axis Lords,’ said Slater, ‘I am on this planet by choice. I am looking for something here.’ Mr Slater turned to Martin and the others. ‘We Axis Lords and Ladies always recognise a fellow member of our species. It is a kind of instinct we have.’
    The woman looked slightly more relaxed. She held out a hand towards Slater. ‘My name is Kara. Thank you for saving me.’
    The teacher shook her hand. ‘I am Michael Slater, and this is Martin, Darcy