SPACE RATS
Jacqueline Kirk
Copyright 2011 Jacqueline Kirk
www.jacquelinekirk.com
Prologue
“Strap yourselves in!” Mary Argonaut shouted to the two children who stood staring with wide-eyed terror at the screen as their pursuer came closer. Their mother struggled to control the damaged ship as they tried to escape.
She punched a button on the console in front of her, “Rob! Can you fix it?”
A voice came back over the intercom sounding very worried, “There’s too much damage! I can’t fix it here!”
“I’ll have to land on the planet! It’s our only chance!”
“They’re firing!” a voice said behind her.
“I said strap yourselves in!” Mary shouted over her shoulder.
The two boys scrambled to their seats and quickly fastened their safety straps just before the ship was knocked sideways.
“Rob!” Mary shouted over the intercom, “Rob?”
“Is Daddy okay?”
Mary looked round at her two sons, two sets of blue eyes looked fearfully at her from under their mop of black curls.
“I’ll have to land on the planet, hold on tight,” she said, turning back to the helm.
“But what about Daddy?” her youngest asked.
“Troy!” Tristan said, “Let Mum concentrate!”
Mary grasped the helm and steered the crippled ship towards the planet’s atmosphere as fast as it could. Tristan leant forward as far as his straps would let him to peer at the monitor.
The massive ship that had decided to use them for target practice was closing fast but they managed to stay ahead long enough to get to the planet’s atmosphere. The large ship veered away, too big to attempt a landing, and Tristan sighed in relief.
But landing a space ship, even one as small as Star Chaser, was tricky. But landing a badly damaged one was almost impossible. Mary Argonaut was a brilliant pilot, however, and she had her children to save.
ONE
Troy sleepily poked his head out from under the duvet as a noise from the window woke him. He’d tried to stay awake and catch his brother as he snuck out but he had fallen asleep after twenty minutes. He had woken up in time to see his brother quietly sliding the window back down and turning to go to his own bed.
“Where have you been?” Troy demanded as loudly as he dared, looking round at the other beds in the dormitory.
Tristan jerked in surprise, “Why are you still awake?”
“Waiting for you,” Troy retorted, “So, where were you?”
“None of your business!” Tristan hissed irritably.
“Oh, come on!” Troy said, getting out of his bed and following his brother, “Every night you sneak out of here for hours. If Calhoun catches you we’re all in trouble!”
“He won’t catch me!” Tristan said as he started undressing, “And I’m not going to tell you, so go away! I need to get some sleep before breakfast.”
“But…” Troy started.
“Go back to bed before you wake the others!” Tristan said with all the superiority of his extra three years then climbed into his own bed.
Troy hovered as he debated whether or not to keep on at his brother but a noise from one of the other beds made his mind up. With a sigh he turned back to his own bed, promising himself to find out tomorrow what his secretive brother was up to.
Morning came only a few hours later. The usual alarm sounded with a soft, feminine voice sounding over the tanoy system announcing that it was 7AM. Lights came on automatically with a soft hazy glow that gradually grew brighter. The children grumbled as they sleepily pulled on their clothes.
As well as Tristan and Troy there were six other children in this dormitory. Troy’s bed was by the window furthest from the door; across from his was Tristan’s. Next down the line on Troy’s side was his friend Ziggy.
Troy’s best friend was the same height as him but his slightly plumper frame made him look bigger. The one difference Troy had noticed straight away about Ziggy was the four short digits he had instead of the five slender ones of humans. But the best difference in Troy’s mind was Ziggy’s great strength. Many times the boys had got into trouble because Ziggy had forgotten how strong he was and broken something. Although Troy had asked the adults no one knew where Ziggy was from. No one there had seen his like before. His hair was a red-gold colour and continued in a line down his spine. His golden brown eyes were always bright and merry. There wasn’t much that got Ziggy down.
Opposite Ziggy was William Poe, an older boy who delighted in sucking up to Calhoun and trying to make the other kids’ lives a misery. If it weren’t for Tristan, who was the oldest, he would have succeeded.
Next down the line was Poe’s cronies Bill and Bob. That wasn’t their real names but the other kids called them that because they were too hard to pronounce. They were tall and thin and looked almost identical except one had red hair and the other blond. Their cheekbones stood out sharply and their fingers were extra long, something that was common of Uldanians.
Uldania was a planet not too far away that was populated with tall, thin humanoids that lived in high, narrow houses made of a strange dark stone only found there. It was a cold planet that had a thriving mining community with people from all over wanting the strange iridescent gems they could find there. It was a rich planet with people that doted on their children and yet no one had claimed Bill and Bob.
Two eight year olds that had recently been moved into the older boy’s dormitory from the nursery occupied the other two beds. They had been excited at first but a couple of run-ins with Poe and Co had subdued them somewhat until Tristan had stepped in and now they hero-worshiped him much to his embarrassment.
Troy tried to question his brother again but Tristan was dressed and out the door before he had his trousers on. He hurried as fast as he could, urging Ziggy to be quick. The younger boys had already run out of the door with the insatiable appetites of the young.
“What’s up with you?” Ziggy asked, hurrying after Troy while pulling a t-shirt over his head.
“I tried to catch Tristan last night when he came in but he wouldn’t talk to me.”
“So you don’t know where he was?”
Troy looked at his friend and said, “No, I just said, he wouldn’t talk to me!”
Ziggy looked at his friend apologetically and Troy couldn’t help grinning at him. They went into the dining room and Troy looked about for his brother ready to tackle him again.
Fairfax Home for Displaced Children on the planet of Goramir was a large house on the outskirts of the town of Andrea. It was home to about forty children and a Sir Andrew Fairfax who very rarely visited owned it and when he did the children were warned not to say anything to him. Marcus Calhoun who ran the place and he was a vindictive sadist who seemed to hate children.
Apparently he got the job because he had saved the life of Sir Fairfax’s son during some war and he made sure that he ingratiated himself every time the owner was here. The children knew that half of the money that was given to the home never made it to them.
Calhoun fed them enough so they weren’t starving and their clothes were kept clean if not mended as often as needed. He devised punishments that didn’t physically harm the children, since they would be too easily detected, but he had a way of making sure they stayed afraid of him. Bullies were also given free rein, as they were usually Calhoun’s pets. If it weren’t for the other two members of staff there would be no joy in the place.
These two were Patience and June, sisters, who had been there for many years and they took great delight in thwarting Calhoun as much as they could. They never made it obvious because he would have them fired but did it in ways he wouldn’t notice. They mainly minded the little
ones but there were not many children in the home that they took care of all of them and everyone loved them.
The dining room had several tables and Troy could see his brother sitting at one of the far away ones, he grabbed Ziggy’s arm and dragged him over. Before he got there, however, a tall blonde girl had sat down beside him with her plate and they began talking in hushed tones.
Troy stopped and sighed in annoyance. He couldn’t question Tristan when Krista was there too. Now that he thought about it, Tristan and Krista were together an awful lot these days, always whispering and talking quietly.
Sighing again he turned towards the kitchen where Patience was serving out the food. Sir Andrew always insisted that growing children needed fresh food prepared for them and Patience especially was a brilliant cook. He took his plate of food with a smile for the cheerful Patience and he and Ziggy sat down at the end of the nearest table.
It wasn’t long before a girl with very long silky black hair of their age and a girl of about ten joined them. The ten-year-old, Orla, was a very unique looking girl. She had long silvery blonde hair and large violet eyes that watched everything and missed nothing but she hardly ever spoke, only to say ‘thank you’ to Patience or June. The only other person she spoke to was Lena, the black-haired girl, who had adopted her as her little sister and Orla went everywhere with her.
Lena was a dark contrast to her adopted sister. Her hair and dark brown eyes stood out starkly against her pale skin so that she looked like a doll. Some of the older boys found her very pretty but she was more likely to give them a bloody nose than a kiss.
“So?” Lena said as soon as she sat down across the table from them.
“So what?” Troy asked her, frowning.
“So,” Lena repeated leaning in closer, “What has he been doing?”
Troy frowned again but this time at Ziggy who blushed and shrugged his shoulders, “It just slipped out, honest.”
“It’s none of your business,” Troy told her, “Keep your nose out of it!”
Lena tutted and rolled her eyes. “This place isn’t that big! It’s only a matter of time before Calhoun finds out and then we will all be in trouble! So I think it is my business!”
Troy opened his mouth to say something but then shut it again. Lena was right; he knew it was only a matter of time before his brother would be caught. He was surprised Poe and Co hadn’t found out already and told on him.
“He wouldn’t talk to me. Now he’s with Krista again. I think she must know what he’s doing, I just can’t get him to talk to me these days.”
Lena and Ziggy looked at each other as Troy played with the food on his plate. They knew what was bothering him most even though he had never said it. Since he and Tristan had arrived here three years ago after they had practically crash-landed they had been inseparable. It had been particularly hard for little Troy. Their father was already dead but their badly injured mother had lived for a week before she too passed away and then it was just the two of them.
They had learned after arriving at the home that the man responsible for the death of their parents was called Red Raven. An infamous criminal who was well known for being particularly violent and for attacking lone spaceships, robbing them of everything. He had recently been in the news quite a bit because of an attack on a small space station not too far away. Troy had tried to talk to his brother about Red Raven but Tristan didn’t seem to want to.
But lately, for the past two months or so, Tristan had been sneaking out of the Home and hadn’t been telling his little brother, and his friends knew that it was this that got to him most. Lena played with her food for a while watching Troy as he ate silently. Ziggy watched him too, his usually bright open face subdued as he tried to figure out how to help his friend.
“You know,” Lena said, “You could follow him, see where he goes.”
“What?” Troy said, “Are you crazy? How can I follow him? I’d be seen!”
“You just need to make sure Poe and Co don’t see you,” Lena said.
Troy looked at her as if she was mad but then Ziggy spoke, “We could drug them I suppose.”
Both Troy and Lena looked at him completely shocked. “What?”
Ziggy blushed as he saw their faces. “I didn’t mean with real drugs! But what about June’s cough syrup, it always makes me sleep like a baby!”
Lena and Troy looked at him then looked at each other. At the same time they began to grin and quickly they thought up various ways of doing it until they finally decided on the perfect one.
The plan worked remarkably well. They kept it simple not wanting to make it too complicated in case something was forgotten. Having tasted some of June’s cough syrup they knew it tasted like Patience’s famous Jam Roly Poly so they decided to persuade her to make it for the evening dinner.
Lena offered to help so they could somehow get the cough syrup in with the jam. It was very easy, Patience being the jolly, trusting person that she was. All Lena had to do was tip in the medicine as she stirred the pot.
Of course it meant that they couldn’t eat it themselves and luckily Tristan found it too sweet so never ate it which meant he was wide awake for his midnight escapade. Troy watched his brother slip out of the window then looked over to Ziggy. Sighing, he got out of bed and shook his friend awake. Ziggy grunted and tried to roll over but Troy just shook him harder.
“What?”
“You were supposed to stay awake!” Troy whispered in disgust.
Ziggy blushed slightly, “Sorry, I got tired!”
“Come on!”
They tiptoed to the window then froze as a whimpering noise came from behind them. One of the younger boys was having a nightmare, thrashing about in his bed.
“He might wake the others!” Troy hissed to Ziggy.
Ziggy hurried over to the youngster and crooned softly to him and he quickly quieted and snuggled into his blankets. Ziggy noted the look on his friend’s face and shrugged self-consciously.
Poking his head out of the window Troy saw his brother heading out the gate and down the street. Looking out over the nearby rooftops he could make out the neon lit network of roads that a few cars glided along easily in the town centre. Troy quickly clambered out of the window and climbed down the drainpipe. He only paused long enough to make sure Ziggy was keeping up.
As they ran out of the gate they saw Tristan turning the corner up ahead and they went as silently as they could to keep up. Peeking around the corner Troy watched his brother as he slipped down an alleyway into the darkness.
“What’s down there?” he whispered to Ziggy.
Ziggy thought for a moment. “As far as I can remember that alley only leads down to the docks.”
“The docks? What would he be doing at the docks?”
“The ship yard is down there.”
Troy looked at Ziggy who was doing his best not to look at him. “You think he’s been going to the shipyard?”
Ziggy shrugged, “I can’t think of any other reason, can you?”
Troy stood undecided as to what to do. He knew what was at the shipyard but he wasn’t sure if he was ready to see it again. Ziggy, watching him with a worried expression, forced a smile on his face.
“Come on!” Troy said finally.
Tristan by this time had disappeared but as they knew where he was probably going they didn’t need to follow him. Ziggy led the way as he knew the streets better having lived here all his life so it wasn’t long before they reached the gates of the local shipyard.
“How do we get in, it’s locked?” Troy asked.
“You followed me,” a voice said behind them.
They spun around in fright to see Tristan standing watching them, arms crossed over his chest and a frown on his face.
“Do you realise what will happen if they find you missing?” he continued.
“They won’t,” Troy said hurriedly then frowned, “Besides, you snuck out too!”
“Having three people missing is a
lot different than just one! Someone will notice!”
“No they won’t, we made a plan so no-one would know.” They explained their plan and Tristan seemed genuinely impressed.
“I wouldn’t have had to follow you if you had told me what you were up to!” Troy said accusingly.
Tristan sighed and looked at his younger brother who was scowling at him. “I was going to tell you eventually. In fact, I was going to tell you tomorrow because I’ve finished.”
“Finished what?” Troy asked suspiciously. He could see his brother was excited about something from the way he grinned as he spoke and the gleam in his eyes.
“Come on, I’ll show you!”
He led them around the side of the yard until they came to a small hole in the fence. Pushing the plank of wood beside the hole Tristan made it large enough for them to squeeze through into the yard. He took them along the fence past huge dark crates and strange metallic shapes until they came to a large open space and Troy came to an abrupt halt as he saw what stood there.