well... good luck, I suppose.”
“And to yo—”
The hatch slammed shut.
John wriggled into the space. It was dark and there was barely room to move. With one hand, he powered up the navigation screen. Through a speaker by his head, John heard Mordant’s voice: “Disengaging dock.”
For a second John held his breath, trying to calm the rising fear. Part of his brain was raving that it was madness to fly into the burning heart of a nebula in such a tiny craft. But it was quickly followed by an image of Kaal laying in his hospital bed, skin sagging and changing colour. Letting out his breath in a hiss, John stabbed at the ignition button.
With a blast of rocket boosters, the nebula-diver moved away from the underside of the Talios.
John felt his stomach lurch. Through the small viewing window, he could see the fierce glow of the nebula’s core. Gritting his teeth, he headed towards the heat and radiation. There was no turning back now.
Chapter 15
John twisted the throttle, sending the nebula-diver rocketing towards the nebula’s core. Immediately, a swirling blast of gas caught the tiny, bullet-shaped craft, blowing it off course. Pulling the steering control this way and that, John struggled to regain control. It wasn’t easy. Flying the pod was nothing like piloting a normal spacecraft. The little machine felt as light as a feather and was totally at the mercy of the flurries of gas outside. And the heat was rising steeply, too. John’s fingers felt slippery and sweat ran down his forehead as he fought to steer the pod.
“Automatic temperature controls engaged,” said an electronic voice in his ear. Immediately, John began to feel somewhat cooler and he realized that the flightsuit he was wearing had inbuilt technology that adjusted to keep him comfortable in all environments.
John glanced at the navigation screen, which Mordant had remote programmed from the Talios. It showed a thirty-minute countdown and a flashing light marked the rendezvous point. John needed no help finding the core; its glare filled the pod’s small viewing window.
Suddenly, another gust of hot gas sent the craft tumbling back the way it had come. Giving the jets more thrust, John swerved crazily through the thick mist. Through the viewing screen, he caught a glimpse of Mordant Talliver in the pilot’s seat of the Talios, a smug look on his face as he touched the control panels.
Mordant’s arrogant look brought back a flood of memories. All the times the black-tentacled boy had schemed to get John into trouble hit him at once. As the pod surged back towards the nebula’s core, he felt a rising surge of panic, realizing that his survival depended solely on Mordant Talliver, who – only two weeks earlier – had tried to turn Emmie against him and sabotaged deadly Defendroid robots that might have killed him and Kaal at the Space Spectacular show. In his haste to get to the Zaleta Nebula, John hadn’t stopped to dwell on why Mordant had volunteered to come along. Now, it was quickly dawning on him how strangely the half-Gargon boy was behaving. Of all people, why would Mordant Talliver offer to join him on a life-threatening mission?
What possible reason would he have?
He’s trying to get rid of me.
“You’re doing OK, John,” said Mordant’s voice through a speaker by John’s head. “Follow your current heading. See you in twenty-nine minutes.”
An icy chill crept down John’s spine. Would Mordant be there when he got back? It would be easy for him to fly back to Hyperspace High, claiming that John had never returned from the nebula’s core. No one would ever be able to prove otherwise.
No, he wanted to take the pod himself , John reminded himself. He would have trusted me to stay for him. I have to trust him.
Pushing these fears to the back of his mind, John jerked the throttle. The tiny pod roared forward.
Another squall of gas hit, threatening to throw him off course once more. John wrenched the steering
“And to yo—”
The hatch slammed shut.
John wriggled into the space. It was dark and there was barely room to move. With one hand, he powered up the navigation screen. Through a speaker by his head, John heard Mordant’s voice: “Disengaging dock.”
For a second John held his breath, trying to calm the rising fear. Part of his brain was raving that it was madness to fly into the burning heart of a nebula in such a tiny craft. But it was quickly followed by an image of Kaal laying in his hospital bed, skin sagging and changing colour. Letting out his breath in a hiss, John stabbed at the ignition button.
With a blast of rocket boosters, the nebula-diver moved away from the underside of the Talios.
John felt his stomach lurch. Through the small viewing window, he could see the fierce glow of the nebula’s core. Gritting his teeth, he headed towards the heat and radiation. There was no turning back now.
Chapter 15
John twisted the throttle, sending the nebula-diver rocketing towards the nebula’s core. Immediately, a swirling blast of gas caught the tiny, bullet-shaped craft, blowing it off course. Pulling the steering control this way and that, John struggled to regain control. It wasn’t easy. Flying the pod was nothing like piloting a normal spacecraft. The little machine felt as light as a feather and was totally at the mercy of the flurries of gas outside. And the heat was rising steeply, too. John’s fingers felt slippery and sweat ran down his forehead as he fought to steer the pod.
“Automatic temperature controls engaged,” said an electronic voice in his ear. Immediately, John began to feel somewhat cooler and he realized that the flightsuit he was wearing had inbuilt technology that adjusted to keep him comfortable in all environments.
John glanced at the navigation screen, which Mordant had remote programmed from the Talios. It showed a thirty-minute countdown and a flashing light marked the rendezvous point. John needed no help finding the core; its glare filled the pod’s small viewing window.
Suddenly, another gust of hot gas sent the craft tumbling back the way it had come. Giving the jets more thrust, John swerved crazily through the thick mist. Through the viewing screen, he caught a glimpse of Mordant Talliver in the pilot’s seat of the Talios, a smug look on his face as he touched the control panels.
Mordant’s arrogant look brought back a flood of memories. All the times the black-tentacled boy had schemed to get John into trouble hit him at once. As the pod surged back towards the nebula’s core, he felt a rising surge of panic, realizing that his survival depended solely on Mordant Talliver, who – only two weeks earlier – had tried to turn Emmie against him and sabotaged deadly Defendroid robots that might have killed him and Kaal at the Space Spectacular show. In his haste to get to the Zaleta Nebula, John hadn’t stopped to dwell on why Mordant had volunteered to come along. Now, it was quickly dawning on him how strangely the half-Gargon boy was behaving. Of all people, why would Mordant Talliver offer to join him on a life-threatening mission?
What possible reason would he have?
He’s trying to get rid of me.
“You’re doing OK, John,” said Mordant’s voice through a speaker by John’s head. “Follow your current heading. See you in twenty-nine minutes.”
An icy chill crept down John’s spine. Would Mordant be there when he got back? It would be easy for him to fly back to Hyperspace High, claiming that John had never returned from the nebula’s core. No one would ever be able to prove otherwise.
No, he wanted to take the pod himself , John reminded himself. He would have trusted me to stay for him. I have to trust him.
Pushing these fears to the back of his mind, John jerked the throttle. The tiny pod roared forward.
Another squall of gas hit, threatening to throw him off course once more. John wrenched the steering
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