STAR FIGHTERS BUMPER SPECIAL EDITION: Stealth Force by Max Chase

 
    Chapter 1
     
     
    ‘I’ll tell you something interesting,’ Anurack said, his four heads bobbing enthusiastically. He held up his fork. ‘Something very similar to this green vegetable – which you call a “pea” – grows on Torganora, one of the planets of the Shantanian system in the Crab Nebula. But on that planet it’s called a “blarp”. That’s very interesting, isn’t it?’ One of his heads looked at Peri, another at Diesel and another at Selene. The fourth just smiled at nothing in particular.
    ‘Erm,’ Peri said. ‘That’s quite interesting.’
    ‘Yes, I knew you’d find it interesting,’ Anurack said. He popped some chips into the mouth that had just spoken and began speaking from a different head. He was always switching his voice from one head to another. Keeping track of them made Peri dizzy. ‘Now, you see this fork? On the planet Sklomp, they don’t use forks – they use hollow wooden tubes to suck their food up. Of course, they eat porridge mainly. Isn’t that just fascinating?’
    Diesel rolled his yellow eyes. Selene snorted, trying to suppress a giggle.
    Peri shot her a warning look. It was very important not to offend Anurack: General Pegg, the head of the IF Star Fighters, had told them that Anurack’s Galactic Federation were old allies of the Milky Way. The Star Fighters’ assignment was simply to return him to his home planet of Koring, keeping him safe and happy. At cruising speed the trip to the Clajoxti galaxy took five days, but there were times when it had seemed more like five months to Peri. Anurack talked non-stop, and was surely the most boring life form in the universe. And that was including the Talking Worms of Betelgeuse.
    They had almost reached Koring and were having their last meal together in the Phoenix ’s restaurant: a classic Earth-style feast of steaks, chips, peas and ketchup, with fruit and ice cream to follow.
    ‘This tomato ketchup,’ Anurack said, as he dipped a chip, ‘is red, which I believe is the colour of Earthlings’ blood. On Jangananx they have a strange superstition that they can’t eat anything the colour of their own blood, which is yellow. That means they can’t eat bananas. What do you think of that?’
    ‘I think it’s really boring,’ Diesel muttered.
    Oh no! Peri thought. Diesel’s cracked – and we’re so close to the end of this endless journey!
    General Pegg had promised the crew of the Phoenix that if they carried out this mission on time and without incident, there would be another, much more exciting mission for them. But if they offended Anurack, they’d probably all be grounded indefinitely.
    All four of Anurack’s heads swivelled in Diesel’s direction. One of the heads looked puzzled, one looked suspicious and one looked hurt. The fourth looked all those things at once as it spoke. ‘What did you –’
     

     
    ‘Diesel said it was really, really enthralling !’ Peri cut in, with a burst of inspiration.
    Anurack’s four heads smiled.
    ‘That’s it!’ Diesel said. ‘And very useful. If I ever go to Jangananx, I’ll know not to go around offering everyone bananas!’
    ‘Oh, but you could offer them bananas if they were peeled,’ Anurack said. ‘They love fruit on Jangananx. Do you know, it’s been calculated that they eat 5,734 varieties of fruit there?’
    Peri stole a look at his watch. They would be docking in fifty-three minutes. Fifty-three long minutes, each filled with sixty long seconds.
     
    ‘Here we are!’ Peri said, fifty-two minutes later. The grey-and-brown sphere of Koring filled the 360-monitor. ‘Soon we’ll be landing on planet Boring – I mean, Koring .’
    Selene snorted, just managing to contain her laughter. Diesel had gone and locked himself in his sleeping quarters on Peri’s orders because they couldn’t risk him upsetting Anurack. Diesel was the spaceship’s gunner and much better with weapons than people.
    ‘Koring’s a very interesting planet,’ Anurack