Free Galactic Battle by Zac Harrison

top!”
    Mordant must have poisoned her mind against us somehow, he thought. And if there was one thing the half-Gargon boy was good at, it was competitiveness. John had thought the Galactic Battle team, Zero-G Acrobatics team, and all the other teams were all on the same side, and everyone would get a chance to shine at the Space Spectacular. But now Mordant was trying to make it all about one-upmanship and my-team’s-better-than-yours.
    John punched his pillow angrily. “She’s my friend, you doofus! Leave her alone!”
    Kaal wandered out of the bathroom. “Are you having a fight with your bed?”
    â€œJust wishing it was Mordant’s face,” John grumbled. “Listen to this . . .” And he told Kaal about the message.
    â€œBut we’re friends!” Kaal said, looking hurt. “She couldn’t possibly believe we’d hurt her on purpose — could she?”
    â€œShe sounds pretty convinced to me.”
    â€œI wish we could speak to her,” Kaal said. He sighed. “We could talk it through, sort it all out.”
    â€œMe, too,” John said. “But we don’t have time to chase her down now. We need to practice.”
    Do we ever, he thought, as he activated the team sheet. The team needs all the practice it can get. Tomorrow all the families will be arriving for the Space Spectacular, and we’re still a total mess.
    â€œSo what are we practicing with today?” Kaal asked. “LaserPros again, I hope?”
    â€œNo,” John said, “the team sheet says we’re supposed to practice something called SonicArrows. Look.”
    The screen showed a holo-image of a slender, platinum-colored spear, covered with the imprint of fine circuitry. It began to vibrate, its entire length becoming a blur.
    â€œLooks more like a SonicJavelin,” Kaal said uneasily. “How do they work?”
    John clicked on the HELP icon, and Ton-3 appeared, holding one of the weapons. “The SonicArrow is one of the coolest weapons ever invented, an energy weapon that takes the ancient technology of the spear to new heights! Like the old-fashioned spear, it has to be thrown by hand, but once in the air, it flies using the power of refluxing diatronic sound waves, which are so high-pitched, you can’t hear a thing! SonicArrows speed up after they are thrown, so be careful where you launch them.”
    â€œThat does sound pretty cool,” John said. “So you just pick them up and lob them at the target?”
    â€œIt’s not as simple as that!” said Ton-3, wagging a cautionary finger. “SonicArrows have to be thrown in a single steady movement, so they do not wobble down their length. A wobbling SonicArrow is bad news!”
    â€œWhy?” Kaal asked, suddenly looking very worried.
    â€œIt sets up a feedback wave in the SonicArrow’s flight path. And it sounds like this.”
    The screech that came out of the team sheet made John’s knees buckle. It sounded like a cat eating a chili pepper while dragging its claws down a blackboard.
    â€œUgh,” he said, turning off the sound. “Okay, I get it. If we throw them properly, we can’t hear them flying, but if we screw it up, they burst our eardrums.” That should encourage the team to learn pretty quick, he thought.
    â€œCome on, Kaal. It’s almost nine. Let’s go and meet the others.”
    â€œDo you think Kritta is still speaking to me?” Kaal asked. “After yesterday?”
    â€œOf course she is,” John reassured him. “We’re all part of a team!” He really hoped that what he was saying was true.
    Kaal paused as they left the dorm room. “Did you get oil on your hands down in the Belly last night?”
    â€œNo, I don’t think so. Why?”
    Kaal pointed at their dorm door. There were smudgy, oily handprints around the control panel. “I guess one of us must have gotten our hands dirty and not