Free Mutiny! by Jim Ladd Page B

the main mast.
    The crew of the
Apollo
watched in open-mouthed amazement as the stranger swaggered around the ship as if he owned it.
    “Hi,” said Sam. “So, erm, what’s your name?”
    The stranger spun round, stared at Sam and smiled broadly.
    “They call me,” he paused dramatically, “Goldstar.”
    There was a gasp and a thump as Comet struggled over the rails with Goldstar’s cases and landed in a heap on the deck.
    “Why do they call you that?” asked Barney, completely ignoring the captain and staring atGoldstar excitedly.
    “Who knows?” Goldstar replied with a wicked smile. “It might be because I always wear gold…” he flicked his cape. “It might be because of this…” he tapped his golden peg leg on the deck. “Or it might be because of this!” With a flourish he opened the bag he’d been holding and revealed a solid gold bowling ball.
    The crew gasped as one with a sound like a Paloovian snotwhale about to sneeze.
    “What?” Sam asked. He knew bowling was every space pirate’s favourite sport, but he’d never seen a gold ball before.
    “A golden ball!” Barney explained in a hushed whisper. “It’s the prize for winning the Interstellar Bowling Championship!”
    Goldstar lifted the ball from the bag and turned it so that everyone could see five diamonds glinting on its surface. “Five years in a row,” Goldstar grinned at the awed audience. “Eventually they had to ban me so others could have a chance. One of my strikes in the last championship wasvoted Shot of the Millennium by the Tri-Galaxy Federation. They carefully pulled up the bowling lane and re-installed it in the Hall of Fame.”
    Everyone looked on in dumbstruck awe. Vulpus and Piole exchanged amazed glances; Jonjarama, the gassiest member of the crew, trumped loudly with excitement; even Pegg, the grumpier head of the first mate, looked amazed.
    Only Comet didn’t seem impressed as he bent against the ship’s rail, trying to catch his breath.
    “Now, how about a glass of grum to celebrate being rescued!” said Goldstar.
    Everyone cheered. Grum, a sort of lemonade milkshake, was a pirate’s favourite drink. The only thing they enjoyed as much as bowling was a tankard of grum and a singsong.
    “Actually,” wheezed Comet, “we’ve got lots of chores to do today to get the old girl space-shipshape—”

    “And if you guys point me in the direction of a bowling lane,” said Goldstar, ignoring Comet, “then I can show you how I did that strike.”
    With another cheer Goldstar was rushed below decks by the crew. Comet and Sam were the only ones left. They stood looking at the empty deck in stunned silence.“Well,” Comet muttered to himself, “I suppose a little glass of grum would be fine, just this once, welcome him aboard and all that…”
    “You all right, Captain?” asked Sam.
    “What? Yes, yes, absolutely fine. Come on, come on, let’s get a move on or all the best lanes will be taken.”
    Sam followed Captain Comet down to the lower deck where the bowling lanes were. All space pirate ships had at least one bowling lane, but the
Jolly Apollo
had more than most. That was because the
Apollo
used the space that other pirate ships used for storing treasure and laser cannons – two things that Captain Comet’s ship didn’t really have – for extra bowling lanes. They’d never been successful enough to find any treasure, and they’d managed to lose most of their laser cannons years ago in an unfortunate incident involving Comet and the oozing quicksand of planet Swampiola.
    But when Sam and Comet got to the bowling deck no one was bowling; instead everyone was crowded around Goldstar, who was regaling the crew with his stories.
    “So that’s how I ended up being marooned,” said Goldstar as he finished another story. “And I believe Admiral Mercury is still trying to find his telescope – and his trousers!”
    The crew burst into laughter and someone raised a toast to Goldstar. Comet sniffed