Deadly Mission by Max Chase

Chapter 1
    â€œYou are astro-bug stupid!” Diesel yelled. His yellow eyes flashed, and the band of hair that stretched across his head flamed crimson. “There’s no way DeathRays can work inside a nebular cloud.”
    â€œTake me to a nebular!” Otto’s voice boomed through the two lumps on either side of his neck. “And I’ll show you!” The Meigwor bounty hunter’s voice was unnaturally loud, as if he was always shouting.
    Peri tried to ignore their argument, whichhad started the moment they left the Meigwor battleship. He focused on the image filling the
Phoenix
’s 360-monitor. According to the ship’s computer, their destination, the high-tech mining planet of Xion, was less than one million miles away.
    â€œ
Phoenix
, magnify image,” he said.
    The giant, pulsing orange-and-blue orb expanded to fill the screen. Xion was surrounded by a gigantic space highway. Over twelve hundred lanes of silver-and-purple astrophalt twisted and slithered around the planet like a tangle of space-snakes.
    Peri flexed his fingers. The
Phoenix
’s floating control panel slid closer, as if it knew what he wanted. It felt like he’d been flying the ship all his life. Yesterday he had been just an average first-year Intergalactic Force Academy cadet, lucky to be selected for even a simple training mission. Now he was on a mission to rescue a kidnapped prince. But the biggest shock was that he had found out he was part bionic, modified by his parents to operate the
Phoenix
.

    He activated his most recent discovery, the Space Spotter’s Guide. Instantly, over a dozen arrows appeared on the 360-monitor, pointing to different dangers. Peri scrolled past the micro-mines, then hovered over the space-pods guarding the entrance to the space highway and clicked. An InfoBox popped up on his screen:
    Xion toll takers, third class
    DESCRIPTION : Flying tollbooths, guarding entrance to Xion space highway.
    HAZARDS : X-cite lasers, ship-deep scanners, cloaking detectors.
    WARNING : “Strictly no Meigwors.”
    â€œThey’re going to
love
Otto as much as we do,” Peri muttered. “We need a way around all that security.”
    Peri tapped the monitor and zoomed out. The entire space-highway system was surrounded by a giant dark-blue bubble. The Space Spotter’s Guide flashed another warning:
    Cos-Moats
    DESCRIPTION : Thicker than rock-eating slime. More corrosive than sun-worm snot. Standard shield useless.
    HAZARDS : Acidic ooze.
    RECOMMENDATION : Avoid.
    Now what
? Peri asked himself, wishing Selene was with them. She had been sneaking on to the
Phoenix
for years and had stowed away when Peri and Diesel were launched into space. She would have known how to activate the
Phoenix
’s antimoat shields. But she was stuck on Meigwor as insurance that Peri and Diesel would complete their “mission.”
    â€œDon’t touch me!” Otto screeched.
    Thud!
Peri spun around to see Diesel sprawled on the floor. The half-Martian bounced back up. His yellow eyes flashed as he assumed the cosmic-combat position. But even with his hair standing on end, Diesel barely reached the ammo belts crisscrossing Otto’s chest.
    â€œWastoid,” Diesel shouted. “I’m the best cadet gunner in the history of the Intergalactic Force. I can reassemble a blaster in ten galactic seconds.”
    The two lumps protruding from Otto’s freakishly long neck throbbed with anger as he yelled, “I can reassemble it with one hand, and squash you with the other!”
    Peri sighed. They didn’t have time for this. He turned the ship’s internal com-unit volume to maximum and blasted through the speakers, “Stick an asteroid in it, both of you!”
    Diesel and Otto turned to face Peri. Their arguing stopped.
    â€œWhy didn’t you tell me we’d reached Xion?!” demanded Otto, using his massive body to force Peri from the control