The Particle Beast by Ian C Douglas

Author:Ian C Douglas [Douglas, Ian C]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: science fiction, middle grade
ISBN: 9781925496321
Publisher: IFWG Publishing Australia
Published: 2017-05-21T00:22:11+00:00

Chapter Nineteen

Zeke’s Room

The suitcase floated up. The suitcase floated down .

Zeke yawned. He had three days to kill before leaving for the Space Catapult. So he was sitting on his bed, bored to hell. He telekinetically raised and lowered the case again.

The buzzer rang. He couldn’t be bothered to peer through the spy-hole.

“Open,” he said to the door.

Mariner Alistair Knimble entered. “G’day there.”

Zeke smiled. Knimble’s nose was a little swollen. Then Zeke saw his sombre expression and the smile waned.

“Anything wrong, Sir?”

“Kinda. We just got news from Yuri-Gagarin Freetown.”

Zeke looked at him blankly. “Lutz Senior passed away.”

“Oh,” Zeke said. A darkness passed through him.

Knimble sat down. “She slipped away quietly. No pain or discomfort.”

Zeke didn’t know what to say. After a pause he said, “That’s good.”

“That’s life, I’m afraid. People get old,” Knimble said, more to himself. His voice sounded croaky. Zeke wondered what the Mariner was really thinking.

“I guess so,” Zeke replied. The fact that everyone dies suddenly seemed rather cruel. But nobody could change that, anymore than they could stop the planets from spinning .

Knimble moved the chair nearer. “I understand she made one final prophecy. To you.”

Zeke shivered. He didn’t want to dwell on Lutz’s final words. Surely, the ravings of a sick mind. He kept telling himself she was wrong.

“So what did the old goose say, mate?”

Zeke gazed into those electric blue eyes. “Nothing,” he mumbled.

Knimble grimaced. “Don’t fib, Hailey. I can read your thoughts like text messages.”

Zeke’s back stiffened. “Unsolicited telepathy is illegal.”

“Correction. It’s against the Mariners’ Code of Conduct. But it’s not a crime. And as a teacher, I’m allowed to browse your brainwaves. As long there’s good cause.” His voice oozed confidence.

Zeke flushed redder than a Martian beetroot. “Try it,” he snapped.

A sudden image of bricks sprang into Zeke’s mind. His forehead tingled, as if hardening into concrete.

Knimble rolled his eyes in amusement. He focused on Zeke’s head. His cocky expression gave way to concentration. Then a frown. His faraway eyes began to glow. They grew brighter.

Zeke felt imaginary fingers flicking through the contents of his mind. But every synapse they examined was as blank as copy paper. Sparks sizzled around Knimble’s shining eyes. He was sweating.

“Open up, mate, I’m on your side,” he cried.

“Gkngza ytran ii,” Zeke replied, Hesperian words too insulting to be translated.

Knimble threw up his hands. “Enough!”

His sockets dimmed, revealing red eyelids. He laughed uneasily. “Sorry mate, didn’t mean to go off the deep end. Never could resist a dare.”

“Alright,” Zeke said, a little angry.

“Your firewall was gobsmacking! Where’d you learn a trick like that?”

Zeke shrugged. “Don’t know, I just do.”

Knimble stroked his beard. “And why so secretive about Lutz Four?”

“She didn’t say anything that made sense, Sir,” Zeke said. “May I ask why you want to know?”

“I’m not a complete dipstick,” Knimble replied. “First you and your little mates go walkabout up at Noctis Labyrinthis. And one of them still hasn’t come back.”

Zeke stared intensely at the floor.

“Then we rescue you and that wrong’un Crawley in a cavern full of floating rocks.

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