Star Blaze by Keith Mansfield Read Free Book Online

hieroglyphics scattered across it. This changed everything. He wanted to shout out, to open the doors and drag Nicky away, but instead he sat paralyzed and invisible within the
Jubilee
. Three tall men in dark suits burst out of the Krun ship—aliens, masquerading in human form. Nicky was in terrible danger—Johnnycouldn’t let his brother be taken. He prepared to drive the
Jubilee
into the aliens but, before he could act, each of the Krun knelt in the rubble in front of Nicky and said, “My Lord.” One of the three was Stevens—or
a
Stevens anyway. This was the Krun who had kidnapped Johnny and Clara, and shot dead their father. Once, Johnny believed he had seen this particular alien die, but now he knew there had been nine, each identical, apparently hatched from a single egg.
    Nicky shouted at the Krun in their own language, but Johnny could understand. Spread thinly across the Milky Way were ancient, noble creatures called Hundra that acted as the galaxy’s translators. The first one Johnny met had given him a unique gift—a tiny fragment of its own soul—which now lived inside Johnny. It meant he could translate anything he heard spoken and make himself understood in whatever language he chose. Right now he half-wished he couldn’t tell what his brother was saying.
    â€œTell me,” sneered Nicky. “Who is the most important being in this wretched galaxy?”
    â€œYou, my Lord,” mumbled the three aliens in unison, their heads bowed.
    Johnny’s brother kicked out and one of the Krun was sent flying through the air backward, unconscious even before it hit the ground. “Then why do I find myself abandoned in this dreary wasteland?” screamed Nicky.
    Memories Johnny didn’t know he had began bubbling up inside him. This place reminded him of when he was little, of being crushed and frightened as he was swept along in the middle of a vast, chanting crowd. It had been Nicky who’d lifted him up, placing Johnny on his shoulders so he could see above the fray and wouldn’t be scared. Another time, he was in a pushchair, rocking back and forth when the brakes must have failed and he’d careered down a hillside toward the top of a seawall. Again, it was Nicky sprinting to his rescue who’d saved him, diving onto the back of the chair and sliding along behind to bring it to a stop, just as the gaping ocean promised to welcome Johnny in. In those long-ago moments Johnny had loved and idolized his older brother more than anything. It was hard to believe it was the same person standing before him now. The Krun kneeling beside Stevens mumbled something Johnny couldn’t quite catch because the mosquito started buzzing again—but it sounded like it was Nicky’s orders. Focusing his thoughts more precisely than he’d ever needed to before, Johnny directed the shuttle to create a tiny opening through which the annoying insect could escape, before sealing itself shut again. As he had hoped, the
Jubilee
was able to remain shielded.
    â€œMy orders? To be abandoned here?” Nicky snorted derisively, lifting his head so his mane of thick black hair shook. “I don’t think so. You have failed me once too often.”
    With that he held out his right hand toward the alien, who fell forward onto all fours and pleaded, “No, My Lord, no!” The Krun pawed at Nicky’s boots, until a bolt of bright light shot from the ring and engulfed the alien in an orange halo. For a brief moment, the creature’s true insect-like form was revealed—the head like a fly, the long snout that dripped sticky mucus and four elongated arms, made human only by the Krun’s DNA showers. Then the creature vanished, leaving behind the slight hint of a shadow on a singed patch of ground.
    Nicky, his hand still outstretched, sneered at the bowed figure of Stevens. “Stop groveling, slave. Return me to my ship.”
    Hesitantly, the