The Armoured Ghost by Oisin McGann

Author:Oisin McGann
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781409096788
Publisher: RHCP

Snow slapped a hand over her mouth to cover her giggles. Most of the other cadets in the canteen had to do the same. Rake actually had to bite his sleeve. Oddball quickly hid the earphone from sight and started munching on one of the tasteless crackers.

‘Who did that?!’ Stamper roared, as he wiped food from his face and hair. ‘I’ll find out who did that and they’ll be eating floor tiles for the next month of training. You got me? Own up, you rumps! Who was it?’

Nobody else knew who it was and Oddball and his friends weren’t about to say anything. Stamper glared around the canteen, but he was out of luck. Rake saw Salt standing near the door on the opposite side of the canteen, watching what was going on. But he didn’t step in to help Stamper.

Everybody was talking about the prank as they finished their dinners and left the canteen. Rake, Snow, Oddball and Hoax were careful not to, until there was nobody else around them and Oddball had dumped his remote control. They still had an hour’s training to go in the hologram room. Finally, they were alone in the corridor on the way to the holo-room.

‘That was brilliant,’ Rake said. ‘You’re a genius.’

‘Thanks,’ Oddball replied. ‘It was just a bit of fun, really. It’s amazing what you can do with just junk – two old instructors’ earphones and some spare machine parts. I love blowing stuff up.’

‘Pity you had to blow up that cute little robot,’ Snow said to him. ‘But I’d give a month of dinners to see that look on Stamper’s face again. He’s going to be a complete demon in training now, though. Rake, don’t go volunteering for anything, OK?’

‘I don’t have training today,’ Hoax told them. ‘I have some work to finish off. We’re making a jacket for the Princess of Jupiter’s pet dinosaur.’

‘Jupiter doesn’t have any princesses or dinosaurs,’ Snow pointed out. ‘The whole planet’s made of gas.’

‘Right,’ Hoax muttered, as he walked off down a different corridor. ‘Well, maybe I’m just scrubbing the wardrobe floors then. Meet you for the Games when I’m done, yeah?’

The cadets were normally allowed to watch the Games from the windows of one of the empty changing rooms. They got to stay up late too, because the fights were on past lights-out in the Academy. There was the usual Saturday rumble of excitement in the huge complex as the spectators started to arrive. Singers and dancers put on a show while the crowd waited for the competition to begin.

But tonight, Rake was happy to miss the fights. Careful to avoid Hoax and the other cadets, he joined Salt, Oddball and Snow down in the Old School. There, they got on with their Armouron training. It was still a bit strange for them, after life in the Academy. No electric light, no simulators or holograms or robotic opponents. They were forbidden to bring any kind of technology down there – even an earphone or a torch.

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