Free Space Wars! by Max Chase Page B

to the weapon’s massive hall. But that wasn’t the only problem. The Exo-Scanner could not see inside the vessel. Peri knew what this meant. The radioactive armour-plating was so thick, even the X-cite detonators wouldn’t be able to penetrate it.
    As if reading his mind, Otto boomed, ‘This is crazy! Every viper is loaded with ultracombat craft! As soon as you fire, it’ll be like flying into an astro-wasps’ nest! You’ll be obliterated in seconds!’
    Anger built up inside Peri like static electricity. It was as if the Extractor had sucked out all the good ideas from his brain. He slammed his palm against the control panel in frustration.
    ‘Everyone think!’ he shouted. ‘The Extractor must have a weak point. Everything has one weak spot.’
    ‘We could try to hack into their computer systems,’ Selene exclaimed. She flipped a control panel to reveal a touch-screen keyboard and started typing. She stopped suddenly. ‘It’s no good – their cyber-defences are too strong. We’ll never get inside the system this way.’
    ‘Inside the system!’ Peri exclaimed. ‘Remember how we defeated the Xio-Bot? We found a way to crawl inside its brain and rip out its circuits.’
    ‘Crazy space-monkeys!’ Otto boomed. ‘The Extractor’s nothing like a Xio-Bot. For a start, it hasn’t got a brain, it’s a ship!’
    ‘Forget the brain part,’ Peri said. ‘We just need to get inside the Extractor and find the nerve centre which controls the whole weapon – then we can figure out how to destroy it.’
    ‘You make it sound easy,’ Diesel scoffed. ‘I don’t remember being taught how to sneak aboard enemy ships back at the Academy. I mean, not that I need lessons, but how do you think we can get aboard that ? Through the front door?’
    Peri glared at Diesel. ‘It’s got to have vents or something like that,’ he said, ‘otherwise it would overheat. It can’t be completely sealed, right?’
    Selene punched some buttons and started zooming into the 3-D hologram to show larger areas of the ship. She scanned along the vessel’s armour-plated surface. ‘Ah-ha!’ she said. ‘Look here, a ventilation shaft at the base of the cylindrical hub.’ She paused. ‘Oh, but it’s too small for the Phoenix .’
    Peri peered closer at the hologram. ‘There are space-rafts and life-pods on the Phoenix . We could adapt them into attack-pods.’
    Selene pressed a button next to the touch screen. As she scrolled through the entries, she read out. ‘Pods . . . A-pods, pod-beetle-repellent, expansion pods, Expedition Wear survival pods, J-pods, K-pods, medical pods, mini-pods –’
    ‘Wait,’ Peri interrupted. ‘What are mini-pods?’
    ‘“ Mini-pods ,”’ read Selene. ‘“ One-person craft designed to fly short distances, limited weapon capacity .” That’s what we need.’
    Peri’s fingers tingled as he stretched over the control panel. ‘I think I can take it from here.’ He closed his eyes and listened to his instincts. He was part bionic, built to interface with the Phoenix . His fingers twitched over a striped dial. He twisted it five times and gave it a good thump.
    Whoooooooooosh!
    Five long silver tubes extended out from the Phoenix ’s hull. The ends swelled until, finally, pop! Five egg-shaped pods appeared. Each was a miniature version of the Phoenix . Five portals rose under the 360-monitor, glowing yellow.
    ‘ Ch’açh ,’ Diesel said. The band of hair across his head spiked with excitement.
    With a whirl, mechanical arms swooped down and pushed the ship’s crew into their Expedition Wear. Another set of arms strapped double-barrel blasters to everyone’s hips, apart from Otto’s. The Meigwor had ammo-belts criss-crossing his chest, and five different kinds of weapons tucked into his snakeskin belt.
    Diesel pressed a button on the gunnery station and a pack of Eterni-chew gum dropped into his pocket. Peri looked at him, puzzled. The half-Martian grinned. ‘Remember last time? That