Free Lethal Combat by Max Chase

 
    Chapter 1
     
     
    Purple.
    That was all Peri could see. He closed his eyes. He opened them again and turned 360 degrees. One moment they had been cruising in the Phoenix , watching the stars shining like tiny diamonds in space, and then this purple haze had descended.
    Purple all around. It was bright and blinding. Peri screwed his eyelids tightly shut. He could hear Selene, Otto and Diesel stumbling around the Bridge.
     

     
    ‘ S’fâh ! ’ Diesel shouted. ‘What did you do, Otto?’
    ‘I did nothing!’ boomed Otto. ‘Everything’s just gone purple!’
    Peri felt a change in the motion of the Phoenix . It speeded up, and shifted course.
    ‘Something’s taken control of us!’ Selene shouted.
    ‘How?’ Peri asked. ‘How could they get past our shields?’
    Selene cleared her throat. ‘That may be my fault,’ she said. ‘I sent Boomerang messages on Ultrawave – to find out if anything’s left of the Milky Way after the Xion attack. It’s supposed to come back with replies attached. Something must be piggybacking on the return signal, using it to hack into our computer and control us.’
    ‘Who would do that?’ Diesel asked.
    ‘Take your pick,’ Peri said. ‘The Xions and the Meigwors have both sworn to destroy us.’
    ‘I don’t think any Meigwor is smart enough to pull this off,’ Diesel replied.
    Peri heard a swish and crack , then a bellow of pain from Otto. He must have swung a punch at Diesel and hit the wall – in retaliation for the comment about his home planet.
    ‘Missed!’ Diesel jeered.
    ‘We don’t have time for fights,’ Peri said. ‘We need to take back control of the Phoenix .’
    Peri had only recently discovered that he was part bionic with a special connection to the Phoenix . He would have to trust his instincts. Blindly, he beckoned to where he thought the control panel was hovering. He cheered when he felt it bump against his hands.
    Then he felt a bigger bump at his back. Otto, Selene and Diesel were jostling him – and each other.
    ‘Give me some room,’ Selene said. Peri felt her hands grabbing for the control panel. ‘I have to shut off the Ultrawave, so they can’t pinpoint us any more.’
    ‘Let’s go Superluminal,’ Diesel suggested, elbowing his way in.
    Peri brushed Diesel’s hands aside. ‘It’s not safe when we can’t see.’
    ‘Let’s give it a shot anyway!’ Otto boomed. Peri felt the Meigwor’s long, thick fingers fumbling over the control panel too. ‘Which one’s the Superluminal touchpad?’
    ‘It’s the red one,’ Diesel said.
    ‘But everything’s purple!’ Otto shouted.
    ‘Exactly,’ Peri said, holding the control panel close to his chest. ‘Just back off, and let me and Selene figure this out.’
    Otto and Diesel stepped back, muttering to themselves, one in Meigwor, the other in Martian.
    Peri forced his eyes open. His eyeballs ached. He squinted through the purple fog at the control panel in his hands. All the controls were shades of purple. The ship was pulsing forward under someone else’s command.
    They hadn’t come so far and escaped so many dangers just to be reeled in like a helpless fish. There had to be something he could do.

 
    Chapter 2
     
     
    Come on , Peri said to himself. You can do it.
    He nudged Selene aside.
    ‘Hey!’ Selene said. ‘What are you –’
    Peri’s hand touched a small lever at the bottom of the control panel. He didn’t know what it did. But his bionic half seemed pretty sure it was the right one.
    He pulled it.
    The ship juddered with a horrible, shrieking, grinding noise.
    Peri, Selene, Otto and Diesel were flung back across the Bridge. They landed in a heap against the far wall.
    ‘ Ch’açh ! ’ Diesel shouted. ‘What did you do?’
    ‘Look!’ Peri said. He got to his feet. The purple mist was thinning. Soon there were only a few wisps of it left.
    Through the 360-monitor, Peri saw the stars zooming away from them.
    Away from them?
    Suddenly, Peri realised what