Martin King and the Prison of Ice (Martin King Series) by James McGovern, Science Fiction, Teen Books, Paranormal, Fantasy Romance, Magic, Books on Sale, YA Fantasy, Science Fiction and Fantasy, Science Fiction Romance, aliens, cyberpunk, teen Read Free Book Online Page A

his loupe. Inside, the tiny light was glowing
faintly.
    “The power
source inside the device has become very weak,” said Slater. “It will not be
strong enough to send a signal to Abaddon.”
    “Can’t we boost
it somehow?” said Darcy.
    “This is very
old technology,” said Mr Slater. “A recall device like this hasn’t been seen
for thousands of years.”
    “There must be
something we can do,” said Martin.
    “Imagine, for a
second, that it is the year 10,000 on Earth. Do you think it would be possible
to find technology capable of reading a floppy disk?”
    Martin sighed. “I
see what you mean. So it’s hopeless?”
    “I did not say
that. As luck would have it, I have already considered the possibility that the
recall device was faulty. I believe that I have a solution.”
    Mr Slater
pulled out his pocket watch and activated a few tiny switches. Valiant Star ,
with a roar of engines, began to move.
    “I have been
meaning to set up the remote activation for a long time,” said Slater, smiling.
“Let me just check the coordinates…”
    Darcy looked
out of a circular window; the clouds were rushing past vertically. They were
travelling upwards .
    “Where are we
going?” said Darcy.
    “The Planet
Wormwood.” Slater laughed. “Well, the official Axis designation is Planet
9320B, but the first colonists called it Wormwood.”
    Mr Slater took
out another cigarette and lit it. He took a deep drag, and faced Martin and
Darcy.
    “A few hundred
years ago, the Axis Lords were using Wormwood as their main communications hub.
The planet lies almost directly in the centre of the Blue galaxy, so it was a
convenient spot. All communications were channelled through the planet—it was a
sort of relay station. However, one day the Axis Council announced that
Wormwood was no longer to function as a communications base. The circumstances surrounding
the closure are shrouded in mystery, but it is well-known that none of the Axis
Lord workers ever left the planet.”
    Darcy
swallowed. “So something killed them?”
    “Perhaps,
Darcy, perhaps. And I must warn you that visiting Wormwood is likely to be
extremely dangerous. If it were not for the approaching ships, I would never
ask you.”
    Martin paused.
“So, I assume that Wormwood is still hooked up to the Axis communications
network? All we need to do is connect the recall device and we can use the Axis
network to send a signal to Abaddon?”
    “I could not
have put it better myself,” said Mr Slater, smiling. “Oh, you might want to see
this. We are about to break through Earth’s atmosphere.”
    Martin and
Darcy jumped up and approached the window. They were high above the clouds.
Suddenly, they were in space. The ship climbed higher and the Earth beneath
them became smaller.
    Martin gazed
out. “It’s beautiful.”
    Mr Slater, who
hadn’t gotten out of his armchair, smiled.
    “Yes, it
certainly is.”
    Darcy looked
down at the Earth. Now it was barely visible—nothing but a blue and green
marble floating in space.
     
    *
     
    Planet Wormwood was darkening
when Valiant Star landed. The ship door opened, and Mr Slater climbed
out, followed by Martin and Darcy. Alien birds were singing in the thick
jungle, and strange insects were chirping in the undergrowth. Martin could hear
the burble of nearby water. Darcy glanced around at the jungle. It was so…
fresh, so untouched. The air smelled wild and exotic. The last few slivers of
sunshine were pushing through gaps in the canopy.
    “It’s almost
night-time,” said Mr Slater. “I always seem to get the timing wrong.” He
paused. “That’s interstellar travel for you—jetlag like no other.”
    Martin grinned.
His old teacher seemed much happier, much more relaxed, now that he had left
Gateway School.
    “It’s good to
see you again, sir,” said Martin.
    “Likewise. But
please—enough of the sir . Michael is my name, or at least, my human
name.”
    It was always
weird when you met teachers when they