Space Runners #3

  Dedication

  For anyone who has ever felt lost in space

  Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  Dedication

  My Dearest 2085 EW-SCAB Winners:

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  About the Author

  Books by Jeramey Kraatz

  Back Ad

  Copyright

  About the Publisher

  My Dearest 2085 EW-SCAB Winners:

  * * *

  Welcome aboard the Alpha Maraudi ship! I know you have many, many questions, likely beginning with “Why am I on some kind of alien spacecraft and when can I go back to Earth?”

  As soon as most of you were evacuated to the city carved out far beneath the Lunar Taj, the Grand Dome was shattered by an Alpha Maraudi assault. Shortly after, a group of American forces—code-named Project New Apollo—arrived, and a battle between them and the Alpha Maraudi broke out. From what we can tell, the fight is now winding down, with the humans victorious.

  So, if the Alpha Maraudi destroyed the dome, tried to take the Taj, and fought against forces from Earth, then why are we on their ship now? Simple: in order to save both our species, we’re going to have to learn to work together. Let me be the first to say that the Alpha Maraudi on this ship, led by Commander Vala, have not been hostile toward us (thanks, in part, to a spirited speech by the Moon Platoon’s own Benny Love, who assured them that we want only peace). Remember that their world—their entire population—is in the path of an exploding star that threatens to completely obliterate it. The lives of their people are on the line as well. Together, we’ll try to find a solution that will save both the aliens and our own species. That, I think you’ll agree, is the right thing to do.

  Given the delicate nature of our relationship with the extraterrestrials, though, it would be advisable to take communications slowly. Since this mother ship has more than enough space for all of us, I’d ask that those of you arriving from the Lunar Taj remain in the hangar for now. The Pit Crew will lead you through the ship and help get you settled in once everyone has arrived.

  I know many of you are frightened. I understand that, and as soon as we’ve put more distance between us and the Moon, we’ll be organizing a caravan home. Also, for those of you worried about Elijah West: never fear! We’ve received word that he is alive and well! Unfortunately, he will not be joining us for the time being. (Hopefully soon, though!)

  Please also keep in mind that my presence on this ship is in a much more limited capacity than what you were used to back at the resort. In fact, I’m currently restricted to a single swarm of nanotech projectors with a reduced ability to communicate with those outside my immediate vicinity. As such, if you need assistance, I urge you to please contact one of the members of the Pit Crew.

  Finally, I’d like to thank all of you for your patience, your bravery, and your commitment to remaining calm during these stressful times. The Elijah West Scholarship for Courage, Ambition, and Brains has attracted the most exceptional youths from Earth for five years running now, and I believe with all my programming that the 2085 winners truly do represent the best of humanity.

  Here’s to saving a few worlds.

  Pinky Weyve

  Lunar Taj intelligence and executive assistant to Mr. West

  1.

  Benny Love stared at the Moon, a small satellite covered with mares and pocked with craters. For thousands upon thousands of years humans had gazed at it, dreamed of it, and even worshiped it. He himself had spent many nights lying on top of his family’s RV in the Drylands—the desert that had once been the western United States—unable to tear his eyes away from the glowing orb, wondering what secrets and marvels might be hidden across its rocky landscapes. What possibilities. He’d often fallen asleep imagining what it might be like to visit the little gray ball’s most famous attraction, the Lunar Taj, humanity’s first off-world resort. In his mind, the place was all chrome and dazzling lights and luxuries he’d never be able to afford on Earth: a shining beacon among the drab, seemingly endless sea of dust and rock that made up the Moon’s surface. The most spectacular human achievement ever built. A place where anything was imaginable, designed by the smartest, most incredible human who ever lived—Elijah West.

  At least, that’s what he’d thought several weeks ago, before he’d actually landed on the Moon and everything had gone so wrong. It had started with the asteroid assault on the resort that sent him and his new friends racing across the dark side in a stolen car. Soon after, they’d realized that an alien species called the Alpha Maraudi was planning to take Earth, and that Elijah West was going to let that happen. It had been left up to the newly formed Moon Platoon to attack the mother ship of Commander Tull, a fearsome alien leader, in order to stop a deadly asteroid storm speeding toward Earth. Before anyone had much time to celebrate, though, the Lunar Taj was invaded first by alien forces and then by human ones. Benny and the rest of the scholarship winners fled to Commander Vala’s ship—but only after they discovered that hidden somewhere on the dark side of the Moon was a superweapon the humans had created, one that could apparently annihilate the Alpha Maraudi completely.

  Now, the resort was in shambles, and all the sense of wonder he’d once felt for it was gone, replaced by a knot in his stomach that seemed to throb every time he thought about how what was supposed to be a fun-filled two-week trip to the Moon had turned into a mission to save his home planet and everyone on it—including his brothers, grandmother, and the caravan family he’d left behind.

  Benny took a deep breath as the hologram of the Moon being projected in front of him flickered and zoomed in, giving him a better view of the Taj as it currently looked. He could just make out the human and Alpha Maraudi ships fighting above the resort. Below them, the courtyard that had been perfectly manicured earlier that day was now a cratered battlefield. He watched an alien ship crash near the mangled remains of the fountain that had once welcomed elite guests from Earth. Human soldiers charged past the wreckage and through a gaping hole in the front of the resort where giant chrome doors had previously stood, before the aliens had blown them away. Nearby, a cloud of smoke was visible above the garage, where Elijah West had promised Benny and a hundred other EW-SCAB winners the vacation of a lifetime their first day on the Moon.

  Benny was so consumed by the vision of the Taj that for a moment it was easy to forget where he was. But then the accordion wheeze of an Alpha Maraudi rang out from somewhere behind him, echoing through the big rock chamber that served as the bridge of Commander Vala’s ship, reminding him just how far from home he and his friends were. A few seconds later, Drue Bob Lincoln the Third walked through the lifelike hologram of the Moon, pausing in the middle of it. The image rippled, distorting around him.

  “Dude,” Drue said, putting his hands on his hips and sticking out his chest. “Look at me. I’m like some kind of planet-destroying giant. Do you have your HoloTek on you? Take a pic.” He sucked in a breath through his teeth and nodded to the other end of the room. “Uh, quick warning, by the way: Those aliens are not cool with being in the background of holo-selfies. One of them yelled at me
when I tried to snap a few.” He paused. “At least, I think it was yelling.”

  “Seriously?” Hot Dog Wilkinson asked, shaking her blond curls as she stepped up beside Benny. “That’s what you’re worried about right now? Not, like, the fate of Earth and all of humanity?” She got quiet, leaning in. “Not these aliens turning on us?”

  “Please,” Drue said. He raised a hand and made a fist, showing off one of the silver gloves he and Benny’s small group of refugees from the Taj had used to fight the Alpha Maraudi. The aliens had metal bones, and the electromagnetic gloves had turned out to be incredibly effective at neutralizing them.

  Drue brought the glove to his lips and blew across his knuckles. “Don’t you worry. I’ve totally got us covered.”

  As the two of them started squabbling over who was better equipped to protect the EW-SCABers if something went wrong, Benny took a deep breath and looked around the bridge, the reality of their situation sinking back into him. On the other side of the room, Jasmine Wu and Ramona Robinson—the brains among his friends when it came to strategy and technology, respectively—were hunched over what looked like a control panel. Beside them, inspecting the glowing strands of lights floating above the terminal, was the hologram of Pinky Weyve, the disembodied AI from the Lunar Taj. An alien wearing long red metallic robes, the fibers of which seemed to be alive and constantly in motion, approached her. It stared at Pinky, the tentacles on the back of its head flicking in the air, until she noticed.

  “Oh,” the AI said. “Don’t let me get in your way.”

  Pinky walked right through the alien, who shuddered, though Benny couldn’t tell if it was out of fear or annoyance. Possibly both.

  At the far end of the room, the giant mother ship’s commander, Vala, sat on an egg-shaped throne made of gold and deep purple rock and pored over what looked to Benny like holographic readouts floating in the air. A guard stood beside the Maraudi leader. Benny couldn’t see its eyes behind the metal mask that the aliens all seemed to wear, but he could feel that the guard was watching him and his friends closely, ready to protect Vala if necessary. Tentacles tipped with blades hung down to its waist, and Benny took a deep breath as he watched them swing back and forth.

  Earlier that day as they’d tried to sneak through the Taj while the Maraudi invaded, he would have been terrified to stand in the same room as these aliens. And deep down, he was still uneasy—not just about being there but about the looming fate of his home planet and his family. Even though he and Vala were working together to find a way for both their peoples to live, they were just two groups among their species. Plus, they didn’t really have a plan yet.

  They had so much work to do, and fast. But Benny knew that if he let fear get the better of him, everything they’d fought for so far would be for nothing.

  Benny’s dad had been the one to teach him that fear only holds you back. And though he couldn’t imagine what his father would say if he could see Benny now, he was determined to live by the man’s words. For the past few days Benny had denied that he was the leader of the Moon Platoon—it had seemed like too much to take on, given everything that was at stake. But now, despite how scared he was and all the pressure that came along with people looking to him for answers and guidance, he was ready to at least step up to the plate and try his best. It felt like the right thing to do. And so he took a deep breath, trying to steel himself, and turned his attention to his friends.

  “You should have seen the way I worked this electro glove back in the courtyard when Benny and I were after those stealth drives,” Drue continued, taking fake shots at Hot Dog as he walked out of the hologram. “I was unstoppable! There were aliens flying left and right! Not to mention, the way I handled the Galaxicle was—”

  “Guys,” Benny said, glancing at the guard again and then back at his friends. “Maybe now’s not the time?”

  Drue let out an exaggerated sigh as Hot Dog shrugged.

  “I know I can’t blame him,” she said, nodding to Drue, “but he really does bring out the worst in me.”

  Drue rolled his eyes and turned back to the hologram, where the few remaining alien ships above the resort continued to fight, despite being obviously outgunned. “Uh, so, should we be worried that my dad’s forces are gonna come after this ship once all the little ones are taken down? Because he definitely does not know I’m here and that he shouldn’t try to blast us out of the sky.”

  “We’re far enough from the Taj that we should be safe for now, but we can’t get going until all the Space Runners from underground are on board,” Benny said. “Actually, can you guys go to the hangar and see how we’re doing with that? Most of the EW-SCABers have got to be here by now.” He looked back at the hologram. “And I’m guessing it’s kind of a long flight to Jupiter.”

  Vala had told them that the moons of the gaseous planet were their next destination. There, more Alpha Maraudi—mostly scholars and researchers, according to the commander—were collecting samples and running tests, though what those tests were Benny couldn’t imagine. All he knew was that the faster they got on the move, the sooner they could start talking and figuring out their next step.

  “Maybe it’ll be a short trip,” Hot Dog said, a glimmer of light in her eyes. “A mother ship like this has probably got insane engines, right?”

  Drue’s mouth dropped open. “Light speed!” he half shouted as the two of them started toward the bridge’s exit. “Like a Star Runner times a million!”

  A few steps away, Hot Dog paused and turned back. She looked at Vala and the guard, then at Benny. “You sure you’re okay here without us?”

  “Positive,” Benny said. He reflexively clenched both fists. On one hand was the same silver electromagnetic glove that his friends had. On the other, he wore a gold glove he’d swiped from another Maraudi mother ship, one that somehow gave him the ability to manipulate certain alien rocks. Without the two gloves, they never would have made it off the Moon or been able to infiltrate Vala’s vessel.

  Hot Dog nodded. “Aye, aye, cap’n.” Her eyes lingered on the Maraudi guard a few seconds more, and then she hurried to catch up with Drue.

  Benny took one last long look at the hologram of the Moon before walking across the bridge. “Pinky,” he said as he approached the AI. “How are we doing?”

  “Do you have any idea how frustrating it is to go from being the all-seeing, all-knowing central intelligence of the Lunar Taj to being tethered to a handful of projectors from your hologram bracelet and the processing power of a datapad?” she asked, her voice piping through the speakers in his space suit collar. She didn’t wait for him to answer. “I don’t even have the power to get in contact with the Taj servers from here,” she continued. “But I’m getting used to it.” She nodded to the nearby alien in red. “I’ve been watching Griida here operate the ship’s controls. The Alpha Maraudi technology is . . . well, it’s far different from anything we ever conceptualized on Earth.” She leaned closer to Benny, her voice quieter. “Honestly, it’s not just in another language, it’s built on an entirely different realm of thinking.”

  “Great.” He sighed.

  Pinky gave him a little smile. “Don’t look so down, Benny Love. I am still the most sophisticated program humanity ever created. Even without the full resources of the Taj, I have no doubt this is something I’ll become accustomed to.” She cracked her knuckles silently. “You know, this ship could really use some sort of artificial intelligence running it.”

  Griida let out what sounded to Benny like a groan. The two dark brown tentacles hanging from the back of the alien’s head swung to one side before twisting around each other. Each was as thick as Benny’s wrist and almost touched the blue stone floor.

  “Once everyone’s on board, Griida will kick us into high gear. Jasmine and I have already double-checked the plotted course.” Pinky hesitated, adjusting her black-rimmed glasses. “Speaking of the new arrivals, I think it would be best if you addressed them. They believe in you. Half of t
hem followed you out into space to blow up an asteroid storm a few days ago. They’ll want to hear from you again. Or at least see your face.”

  “Sure,” Benny said, nodding. The idea made it feel like he had an engine sputtering in his chest—he’d discovered recently that public speaking was not something he particularly enjoyed—but he told himself he’d power through. He didn’t have time to worry about it: there was too much at stake.

  “It’s all so fascinating,” Jasmine said, not taking her eyes off the thin ribbons of light filling the air above the alien controls, looping and weaving around each other. She frowned. “I just wish I could read it.”

  “You and me both, Jasmine,” Pinky said. “I’m dedicating much of my limited computing power to analyzing both this and the complexities of the spoken language of the Alpha Maraudi.”

  Beside them, Ramona shrugged, her face buried in the datapad strapped to her left wrist. “Letters. Numbers. ET scribbles. It’s all just patterns and coding, hologhost.”

  “I find it hard to believe that you’re not interested in all this,” Jasmine said, eyeing their tech wiz.

  Ramona looked up at her, grinning. “Don’t be a troll, J. I’m doing max research here.”

  Movement from the other side of the room caught Benny’s eye. Vala descended the few stairs that led down from the throne and walked to the hologram of the Taj battlefield in the center of the bridge, as if entranced by the image.

  Jasmine noticed, too. “Vala’s people are being defeated. Left behind so this mother ship can escape. I know we thought they were the bad guys, but, well . . . This is all really complicated. Maybe . . .” She bit her lip for a second. “Should we say something?”

  “Like, ‘I’m sorry the humans are shooting your people out of the sky, but you did attack the Taj’?” Benny asked. He paused. “Did I sound like Drue just then?”

  “A little,” Jasmine said. “But it’s not like you’re wrong, exactly.”

  “If open communication is your intention,” Pinky said, “perhaps it would be a good idea to offer your condolences. It would further show that you are not of the same minds as those who are destroying the alien soldiers.”