Starstormers 2: Sunburst by Nicholas Fisk

Author:Nicholas Fisk
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Hachette
Published: 2014-04-30T00:00:00+00:00

Charge

Shambles clicked and gibbered. Illuminated numbers tracked across his flanks. Ispex blinked and glared at them, wiping his eyes. ‘Go on . . .’ he said. ‘Yes. No. Tell me again . . .’

‘What’s he saying?’ Makenzi demanded.

‘Is it something good?’ Vawn pleaded.

Tsu kicked Shambles’s side. ‘Talk,’ she said. ‘Shout it out!’

‘Complex solar radiation,’ Shambles gabbled, ‘with many components . . .’

‘Is any of it useful to us?’ Tsu shouted.

Ispex said, ‘Let me listen. Ah . . . I think I get it . . . This solar radiation: it’s all kinds of stuff. Most of it’s deadly but it can’t get through to us. Not yet. Starstormer shields us. We’re just getting the heat—’

‘So we’re going to be burned to death, not poisoned,’ Makenzi said. ‘That’s nice.’ He glistened blackly. He had found towels and had thrown them to the others. He used his own constantly but the sweat poured out.

‘Shut up,’ Ispex said. ‘Listen! This bit’s interesting. Very interesting. Shambles says the radiation’s mostly energy. Pure energy . . .’ He bit his lower lip and stared. ‘Surely that could mean . . .’

Without another word, he began to make his way to the centre of the ship. The others followed him wearily, leaving wet footprints. Now they stood in the core of the ship, where the power and drive units were housed.

‘Look at that!’ Ispex gasped. ‘Just look! It can’t be true!’ He pointed to the fuel readouts.

Vawn said, ‘But it’s impossible! Only a short time ago, we’d got nothing! Nothing left at all! We’d burned all our power! And now—’

‘Impossible or not,’ Makenzi said, almost in a whisper, ‘we haven’t got flat batteries any more. We’ve got power. Maximum power!’

Ispex began to laugh. He laughed till he choked and spluttered. ‘Don’t you see?’ he gasped, ‘the sun’s energy was going to kill us – and the same energy has saved us! It’s been cooking the whole ship, and us with it – but it’s also topped up our power supply! That’s quite a joke, when you come to think of it!’

‘No time to laugh,’ Vawn said. ‘Look at the spinwheels! Look how they’re moving!’

They looked. The spinwheels, the small indicators that showed the power levels, were turning: turning too fast. ‘We’re got power all right,’ Vawn said. ‘Too much power!’

‘We can try blasting off,’ Makenzi said. ‘What am I saying? We’ve got to blast off! Before we burst!’

‘Everyone into the padded cell,’ Ispex said. ‘Hurry. I’ll programme Shambles, he can run the blastoff. Everyone get strapped up. Tight!’

They ran clumsily to the padded cell, sliding on their own sweat, and strapped themselves in. Until the very last moment, Ispex muttered and prodded at Shambles, trying to understand the readout. ‘Quite unnecessary,’ said the robot. ‘Quite un-un-unun . . . Secure your person. Hurry, please.’

In the core of the little ship, pre-drives grumbled and whined. Vawn wiped her brow. Makenzi said, ‘Don’t do that! Get your arms under the straps! And wriggle down, the restrainer’s got to be right over your forehead!’

Even as she grumbled and obeyed, Starstormer went mad.

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