Star Blaze by Keith Mansfield Read Free Book Online Page A

Krun stood up. Still with his head bowed, he asked, “Did my Lord acquire what he wanted?”
    As though mollified, Nicky turned his hand over so the ring was no longer a threat. Lost in thought, he stared at his open palm for some time before his fingers closed and he raised hiseyes to Stevens. “The plan has worked perfectly,” he said. “If I allow you to live, it may be you shall teach the boy. Come—the
Astricida
awaits us both.” With that he walked toward the Krun shuttle which opened before him. At the entrance he paused and turned around. Despite the shuttle’s shields, Johnny froze. His brother was looking straight toward the
Jubilee
, a curious expression on his face. Once more, Nicky raised his right hand to display the ring, but the orange death it promised came to the unconscious Krun on the ground. Its body disappeared into nothing, before Nicky turned again and entered the ship. As soon as he and Stevens were inside, the black sphere shot skyward at incredible speed, disappearing behind the clouds.
    Johnny sat in the shuttle pilot’s seat unable to understand what had happened. He’d found his brother who, for almost all of his life, he’d thought dead. Yet Nicky only seemed himself when that light wasn’t shining out of his horrid mask, and even when he was himself Johnny wasn’t at all sure he liked him. He certainly didn’t want to rule the galaxy—that was Bram’s job and, from what Johnny had seen, the Emperor was welcome to it and all the Phasmeers that came with the territory. He didn’t know how long he stared at the area of the sky where he’d last seen the Krun ship, but was finally roused by someone speaking in his ear.
    â€œMaster Johnny,” said Alf’s familiar voice. “We have landed safely. Where on Earth are you?”
    â€œI had to go somewhere,” said Johnny quietly, deliberately vague. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.” In his mind he focused on his destination, 30 St. Mary Axe in London, and the
Jubilee
lifted into the air.

    Johnny was in the sickbay while Alf tried to heal his burned face. When the android started asking difficult questions such as,“Whatever were you thinking going off on your own like that?” and “Why did you not ask Kovac to monitor the
Spirit of London
’s signals so you would know as soon as we were back in Earth orbit?” Johnny covered the red-faced wristcom with his sleeve and diverted the topic of conversation to the latest
Times
crossword. Because other city workers sometimes did puzzles around the entrance to the
Spirit of London
, Alf had taken to joining them. Much to his frustration, the android sometimes found them impossible to solve. Despite his enormous intelligence, the answers to the clues needed something more than logic. Johnny was trying to help with four across: “E” (thirteen letters) when the door swished open and in walked Clara.
    â€œWhat happened to you?” she asked, sitting down on the bed next to Johnny’s.
    He took a deep breath as he wondered how to answer the question. The
Spirit of London
had returned to Earth before his message reached Pluto, so neither she, Alf nor Sol knew about Nicky’s transmission. After everything that had happened this year, Johnny wasn’t sure it was fair to tell Clara about a new brother just now, especially when that person seemed in league with the Krun. He needed to find out more. “Louise got in touch,” he said, “and I found Stevens.” It wasn’t a lie—it just wasn’t the whole truth.
    Clara gasped. “What about Louise? Is she OK?”
    â€œYeah, she’s fine. And she says the Krun have left Yarnton Hill completely. Stevens was in Derby.”
    â€œDerby? What was he doing there?”
    â€œNo idea,” said Johnny, which at least was an honest answer. “I got this burn and he flew off in a Krun