Dear Spacetravellers,
First of all, Happy Easter! Hope you are having a well-earned break...
And hey! Quick heads-up — my sci-fi novel Attack on Planet Falrus will be FREE on Amazon for 2 days next week (April 7–8) 🚀
If you like fast-paced sci-fi, it’s a great time to grab it — and I’d love your feedback afterwards 🙏
Yes, please review it if you want to, that would be much appreciated, and ask your friends and family to do the same!
To whet your appetite, here is another excerpt (Chapter 12):
Friday, 14th August: Two p.m.
The trip to Iniswam had been uneventful so far. Professor Potty's speed was constant and the robot was showing no signs of fatigue. Just as well. There was no room for error on this mission. Their lives depended on it.
Hainay Kiutish and Bentel Vosh were seated comfortably in the robot's arms as he flew steadily over Yoda's Palace. There was a tough task ahead, but they were certain they could handle it.
Professor Potty was with them after all and he could do just about anything.
Yesterday, Hainay had received instructions from Commander Bonzok by nucleoradio waves to kidnap Bundash Hepwat, the Prince of Falrus. Since he could not destroy Professor Potty because the monitor would respond only to Square's or Kefra's fingerprints, Commander Bonzok had said over the nucleoradio that he was to use Professor Potty for the job. And he was to take Bentel Vosh alias Giren Demba with him. He was to lure Bundash to a safe place until he, Commander Bonzok gave him further instructions.
Yoda's Palace was majestic as well as dreamlike. Built by Yoda, the first king of Falrus, thousands of years ago, it stood tall and glorious next to the equally majestic and beautiful Yoda's mountains; partly separating the region of Bai-Tersloh from Anparia. It was now the home of Haibok Hepwat, the present King of Falrus.
The palace was surrounded by a huge gate and a twenty- foot wall, not to talk of a hundred soldiers spanning its whole perimeter. The two boys knew their flying robot would be spotted, but they were not worried. They could handle it.
As they had hoped, Bundash Hepwat was outside in the palace grounds playing with his dog. All they had to do was swoop down and grab him. Professor Potty was so fast no-one would realize what had happened till they were far away in a safe place.
They descended cautiously. A soldier spotted them and came running up, calling his colleagues via a nucleoradio as he did so.
“Hey!” What do you think you're doing?” he shouted. Professor Potty prepared himself for a bumpy landing. Bundash Hepwat looked up.
“Wow!” he exclaimed. “A flying robot!”
“Come and join us!” Hainay shouted to him.
The soldier approached Bundash.
“Get into the house, Bundash,” he shouted, reaching for the boy's hand.
Professor Potty kicked the soldier's helmet off. Other soldiers came running. They had their rifles at the ready.
“Quick, Professor Potty, take the boy,” Bentel shouted to the robot.
Shots were fired. A wire in Professor Potty's leg cut as smoke escaped. An alarm sounded and more soldiers appeared. Professor Potty used his other leg to kick the soldier who was holding Bundash. He fell and the robot grabbed the boy with his legs.
“Fly, Professor, fly!” Hainay cried.
The robot began a tentative ascent. More shots were fired at his body. A wire in his chest blew up.
“Running out of energy!” the robot reported, as more leads blew up in his legs.
“Let me go!” Bundash was wrenching free from the weakening legs of the robot.
“Put me down!”
Professor Potty looked down onto the ground below. Sparks were flying all over him as the bullets from the soldiers' rifles hit him.
“Watch out, children,” he cried, with one last effort as he came crashing down on the ground just outside the palace, missing the crowd of soldiers below by inches.
Hainay Kiutish felt himself somersaulting in the air. He was no longer tugging onto Professor Potty. He remembered this feeling of being weightless. Where had he felt this way before?
Ah. Yes, in the interplanetary nucleomagnetic transportron. That's how he had got to Falrus. His head was reeling and visions of his home in the Fifth District flooded his mind. He was back at home sitting on the veranda eating ice cream with Vishthah, Judinsta and Prish. Uncle Lokrum was there too, with Auntie Dehri and baby Ganikin. Daddy was smoking his pipe as usual and watching a wrestling match on n-TV. He and Uncle Lokrum were shouting at the little portable n-TV while Mama sat on her special garden chair doing her knitting in the sun. The frogs in the pond croaked noisily while Ganivi slept like a log. He remembered the day the police had come for him. He had been so scared. Now he was scared for a different reason. Commander Bonzok had given him further instructions last night. He was to destroy the quantoscope on the Lokho Hills. Now that there were many more of these quantoscopes all over Planet Falrus, they had no more need for the prototype. Bonzok wanted it destroyed to prevent anyone using it to reactivate Professor Potty. It was a top job, Commander Bonzok had said sternly.
‘Mess it up and you are in trouble, kid' had been the curt parting line.
Hainay looked slowly down. He was getting nearer and nearer to the ground. It was blindingly fast. Thoughts of Commander Bonzok's threats flooded his mind. What was he going to do?
Help!
Help!
He was still thinking of that awful day in the transportron when he fell heavily to the ground. He saw a flash of light and then complete darkness engulfed him.
Commander Bonzok's face showed signs of stress.
“Try again,” he said to the young man at the microphone. “Maybe he is in a room full of people and he can't talk,” he said.
“No sir,” the young man said. “There is a harsh tone which indicates interference, sir. I am simply not getting through and Hainay appears not to hear me. Either there is no reception, or his receiver is malfunctioning.”
“Try Bentel Vosh,” the commander suggested.
“Alright, sir,”
The young man worked at the keys on his desk for a few minutes. Commander Bonzok looked on in silence.
A few garbled sounds came over the microphone.
“I can hear something,” Commander Bonzok sucked in his breath.
“It's the same tone as before, sir.”
“Again, no contact with Bentel.”
“Is it the ozone-block? Have they completed the sound block?”
“No sir, not yet. They still have nine hundred thousand square miles to go. We should still be able to communicate with our agents in Falrus until next Thursday. I have calculated the time it should take to complete the sound barrier, sir. It seems to me if the Falrusians work 24 hours a day using all their resources, they should finish around midnight, give or take a few minutes.”
“Then what's going on? Why can't we contact our ‘agents' as you so eloquently put it?”
“I have no idea, sir, maybe..
“Find out! What do we pay you for?”
“But sir, there is.”
“No buts! Do as I say!”
“Yes sir.”
Commander Bonzok left the Svstems Control Unit in a rage. Without Bundash Hepwat, thev were doomed. The Falrusians would see it as a national insult if their precious prince were kidnapped. He could not understand why he had lost contact with those kids. What were they up to? He blamed Commander Nellit. It was his fault his so-called trainees were useless. He should bear the consequences of this mess, not him. He had personally done a lot more for this half-galaxy than all the other officers put together.
He took the elevator to his private study. He came here whenever he needed to clear his head and find fresh ideas. He sat on his favourite chair and smoked a cigar. Maybe that Demba boy would know something. He had been cooperative so far, the most useful child out of all those who'd been snapped up from Falrus. That Takenan boy was as tough as nails. He just wouldn't budge. He was not exactly forthcoming with information, but he had his best men working on him.
He had warned The President about him. That boy hadn't uttered a word since he got here. He had sent him back to the Kiutishes in the Fifth District after many hours of questioning. They would send for him again and this time, the boy would talk. Oh yes, he would talk. Commander Bonzok would personally see to that.
Meanwhile, it was high time Giren Demba paid him another visit. There had to be a way out. He dialled the Voshes' number. Mr.Vosh picked up.
“I'm sending my men over to get the boy,” was all he said. There was no need to introduce himself. Everyone in the Districts knew his voice well.
Half an hour later, Giren Demba was before him. He looked frightened, but his chin was high. Commander Bonzok smiled in spite of himself. He liked this boy. He had something of the proud warrior about him. He wished he had a son like this boy.
Stopping himself from thinking these ‘soft' thoughts, the commander stood up from his comfortable chair and tucked his truncheon under his arm. He had to look authoritative, frightening even. This boy had to be shown that he, Commander Bonzok was in charge. He was the boss, answerable to no-one except The President.
“Giren,” he said, in a business-like voice.
“Yes sir?” the boy said, his voice betraying his inner fear.
“What can you tell me about this robot of your friend's?” “Professor Potty?”
“Is that his name? How amusing.” Commander Bonzok smiled in spite of himself.
“So what do you know about Professor Potty? What can he do to help us?”
“I don't know what you mean, sir.”
“I mean, how can I get Professor Potty over here from Falrus?”
“I don't know, sir,” Giren replied. “The only thing I know is his code number.”
“Yeah?” Commander Bonzok said. “What is it?”
“XL 444358. Anyone who enters that number into his programmer could get him to obey specific orders, sir.”
“What if the programmer cannot be found?”
“Then I'm afraid there is nothing anyone can do, sir.”
“That will be all, Giren,” Commander Bonzok said, satisfied that the boy was telling the truth.
“Yes sir.”
Giren walked to the door and opened it. A guard standing outside stepped aside to let him pass. More guards followed him outside to a waiting car. Soon he was on his way back to the Voshes'. He couldn't believe his luck. That went smoothly, he thought. He let out a huge sigh of relief.
He thought of his family in Falrus. How he missed them!
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All my love,
— Joanna
StoryPlanet