Deadly Mission by Max Chase Read Free Book Online Page B

the gag back into his mouth.
    â€œDiesel!” Peri objected.
    â€œWhat else am I supposed to do?
Listen
to him?”
    Peri shrugged. He couldn’t argue with that. “Sorry, Your Highness,” Peri said to Prince Onix, giving a little bow. “We’ll think of something. We won’t let Otto get away with tricking us into cosmic kidnapping.”
    Peri turned to Diesel. “Help me cover him up and let’s get out of here. We’d better go back to the Med Center in case Otto gets curious.”
    Diesel nodded. The prince squirmed and protested, but Peri and Diesel finally covered him just like they had found him. Peri sealed the door to Otto’s quarters.
    As they stepped through the portal back to the Med Center, Diesel asked, “Who’s really our enemy—the Xions or the Meigwors?”
    â€œThey both are. We’ve landed in the middle of a galactic war,” Peri said. “And one side is as bad as the other. The Meigwors are holding Selene hostage. The Xions have attacked Earth! There’s only one side to be on now—our own!”
    â€œSo what’s the plan, Peri?”
    â€œI’m tired of being pushed around. It’s about time we did what was right for
us
,”Peri replied. “We’ve got to rescue Selene, then get out of this galactic conflict without the whole thing going supernova!”
    Peri realized this was going to be their most difficult mission yet.
    Â 
    Will Peri and Diesel make it back to
Meigwor to rescue Selene?
    Can they outsmart the double-crossing Otto?
    Find out in

    Read on for a sneak peek …
    Â 
    â€œThat treacherous double-crossing snake in the grass!” Diesel slammed his fist into the wall as he and Peri walked along the corridor that led to the bridge of the
Phoenix
.
    â€œI don’t think they have grass on Meigwor,” Peri said.
    â€œWhat do they have?” asked Diesel.
    Peri shrugged. “Trees, mostly. It’s a jungle planet.”
    â€œSnake in the trees, then. Let’s push Otto into the air-lock and out into space and let the space-sharks chew on his big, long, rubbery neck!”
    The strip of hair on Diesel’s head was bristling like a Betelgeusian pinfish’s spines and glowing bright orange, as it always did when the half-Martian was really angry.
    They had just survived a dangerousmission on the planet Xion, supposedly to rescue a kidnapped Meigwor prince. The Meigwors had sent Otto, a bounty hunter, to lead the mission, but he had lied to Diesel and Peri. They had raided the Xion palace and captured someone, but it wasn’t a
Meigwor
prince.
    They hadn’t rescued anyone. They had in fact
kidnapped
a
Xion
prince!
    â€œLet’s give Otto what he deserves,” Diesel said.
    Peri held up his hand. “If we throw him to the space-sharks, the Meigwors will take it out on Selene.” Their friend was being held on Otto’s home planet. “It’s time we stopped letting Otto boss us around. We need to rescue Selene and then return Prince Onix to Xion.”
    â€œOtto won’t back down without a fight.”
    â€œThen we’ll give him a fight!” Peri said. “There are two of us—we should be able to disarm Otto and take back our ship.”
    They were nearly at the bridge now. Peri touched a button on the belt of his Expedition Wear. Diesel did the same. The surfaces of their suits became hard and shiny, like armor. Steel gauntlets emerged from the sleeves and covered their hands. Plastic helmets rose from the necks of the suits, encasing their heads in identical transparent, armored bubbles.
    â€œWe might need more protection,” Peri said.
    He touched the wall, and a section slid smoothly aside to reveal a chamber filled with vaporizers, blasters, phasers, and jellifiers in countless different shapes and sizes.
    â€œLook,” Peri said. “Otto’s been here.” He pointed to a silver flask on a shelf. It