Otto demanded, then laughed. ‘Our entire fleet is attacking Xion! You think this puny ship can stop them?’
The viper-ship banked suddenly. Peri slammed on the steering-thrusters. He steered hard, following the craft towards the dark side of the planet.
As the glare from the sun vanished, Peri’s jaw dropped. Instead of viper-ships lined up for attack, he saw a huge black cylinder like a gigantic, armour-plated Saturn Soda can. It was orbiting Xion slowly. Peri felt a cold shiver through his circuits.
The viper-ship stopped and another pulled alongside. Tentacles sprang from the second craft and latched on to the first one. The two ships locked together like a jigsaw puzzle. More thin tentacles then lashed the vessels into a massive cylindrical mega-hull. There has to be more than a thousand ships already in the mega-cylinder , Peri thought. And hundreds more are joining it.
Whatever it was, Peri knew it had to be bad news for Xion. The Meigwors had created some sort of unspeakable weapon. And Otto was right. There was not a space-puppy’s chance in a meteorite storm that the Phoenix could destroy it alone.
Peri leapt from his chair. ‘What is that thing?’ He grabbed Otto by the lumps on his long neck. ‘Why didn’t you warn us?’
Otto’s face had lost the smirk. The black patches around his eyes had shrunk in absolute terror as he stared at the mega-cylinder. ‘I didn’t know,’ he said. ‘I can’t believe it . . . It does exist.’ He seemed genuinely shocked at what they were seeing.
Peri could feel the Meigwor’s muscular body trembling. ‘Otto, talk to us!’ he said.
‘It’s not possible,’ Otto gasped. ‘The Extractor . . . It’s a myth. It’s not real . . . It’s just a story to scare primitive species! But . . . But . . . There it is!’
‘Just tell us what an Extractor does !’ Peri yelled at Otto.
Otto shivered and took a deep breath. ‘You don’t understand! The Extractor is the ultimate piece of Meigwor technology! It can completely drain a planet of carbon dioxide and then store it! But . . .’
‘But what?’ Peri pressed.
‘The force of the extraction will make the planet implode!’ Otto replied. ‘The Meigwors have talked about it for more than a hundred years, but I didn’t know we’d constructed one for real!’
‘Something’s happening,’ Selene shouted.
Peri looked out through the monitor. A hatch opened from the base of the Extractor. A massive tentacle whipped through the Cos-Moat as if it was nothing more than jelly. It latched on to the Xion atmosphere with suction cups the size of the Earth’s Moon.
Chhuuunnhhhuuunnnhhh! A deafening hum rattled the atmosphere like a mega-turbo engine. Green light pulsed down the tentacle towards the planet. Comet-sized bubbles boiled up the tentacle’s skin as carbon dioxide was pumped into the Extractor.
‘We should run,’ Diesel said. ‘Get out of here before the planet implodes.’
‘The space-monkey’s right,’ Otto said.
‘I hate agreeing with either of them,’ Selene said. ‘But the Meigwors will vaporise us before we even make a dent in the armour-plating.’
‘You’re giving up?’ Prince Onix shouted. ‘Look at my planet! All those innocent people! If it was your home, wouldn’t you try anything to save it?’
Peri stared at the pulsing tentacle. The Extractor was the most terrifying thing he’d ever seen. But he knew he couldn’t run away
‘Listen,’ he said. ‘At the Intergalactic Force Academy we’re taught to do the right thing. We’re going to help save Xion – even if we have to risk our lives to do it!’
Chapter 2
Peri’s hands darted over the control panel, selecting the Exo-Scanner to get a closer look at the Extractor. A 3-D holographic projection of the monstrous ship appeared in front of him. Even at a greatly reduced scale, the Extractor was ridiculously big.
And it was growing .
Viper-ships were still flocking towards it and locking on
The viper-ship banked suddenly. Peri slammed on the steering-thrusters. He steered hard, following the craft towards the dark side of the planet.
As the glare from the sun vanished, Peri’s jaw dropped. Instead of viper-ships lined up for attack, he saw a huge black cylinder like a gigantic, armour-plated Saturn Soda can. It was orbiting Xion slowly. Peri felt a cold shiver through his circuits.
The viper-ship stopped and another pulled alongside. Tentacles sprang from the second craft and latched on to the first one. The two ships locked together like a jigsaw puzzle. More thin tentacles then lashed the vessels into a massive cylindrical mega-hull. There has to be more than a thousand ships already in the mega-cylinder , Peri thought. And hundreds more are joining it.
Whatever it was, Peri knew it had to be bad news for Xion. The Meigwors had created some sort of unspeakable weapon. And Otto was right. There was not a space-puppy’s chance in a meteorite storm that the Phoenix could destroy it alone.
Peri leapt from his chair. ‘What is that thing?’ He grabbed Otto by the lumps on his long neck. ‘Why didn’t you warn us?’
Otto’s face had lost the smirk. The black patches around his eyes had shrunk in absolute terror as he stared at the mega-cylinder. ‘I didn’t know,’ he said. ‘I can’t believe it . . . It does exist.’ He seemed genuinely shocked at what they were seeing.
Peri could feel the Meigwor’s muscular body trembling. ‘Otto, talk to us!’ he said.
‘It’s not possible,’ Otto gasped. ‘The Extractor . . . It’s a myth. It’s not real . . . It’s just a story to scare primitive species! But . . . But . . . There it is!’
‘Just tell us what an Extractor does !’ Peri yelled at Otto.
Otto shivered and took a deep breath. ‘You don’t understand! The Extractor is the ultimate piece of Meigwor technology! It can completely drain a planet of carbon dioxide and then store it! But . . .’
‘But what?’ Peri pressed.
‘The force of the extraction will make the planet implode!’ Otto replied. ‘The Meigwors have talked about it for more than a hundred years, but I didn’t know we’d constructed one for real!’
‘Something’s happening,’ Selene shouted.
Peri looked out through the monitor. A hatch opened from the base of the Extractor. A massive tentacle whipped through the Cos-Moat as if it was nothing more than jelly. It latched on to the Xion atmosphere with suction cups the size of the Earth’s Moon.
Chhuuunnhhhuuunnnhhh! A deafening hum rattled the atmosphere like a mega-turbo engine. Green light pulsed down the tentacle towards the planet. Comet-sized bubbles boiled up the tentacle’s skin as carbon dioxide was pumped into the Extractor.
‘We should run,’ Diesel said. ‘Get out of here before the planet implodes.’
‘The space-monkey’s right,’ Otto said.
‘I hate agreeing with either of them,’ Selene said. ‘But the Meigwors will vaporise us before we even make a dent in the armour-plating.’
‘You’re giving up?’ Prince Onix shouted. ‘Look at my planet! All those innocent people! If it was your home, wouldn’t you try anything to save it?’
Peri stared at the pulsing tentacle. The Extractor was the most terrifying thing he’d ever seen. But he knew he couldn’t run away
‘Listen,’ he said. ‘At the Intergalactic Force Academy we’re taught to do the right thing. We’re going to help save Xion – even if we have to risk our lives to do it!’
Chapter 2
Peri’s hands darted over the control panel, selecting the Exo-Scanner to get a closer look at the Extractor. A 3-D holographic projection of the monstrous ship appeared in front of him. Even at a greatly reduced scale, the Extractor was ridiculously big.
And it was growing .
Viper-ships were still flocking towards it and locking on
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