Treasure Read online

  Inside the wormhole the pulses of light swirled hypnotically round and round and ferocious flashes of lightning ripped this way and that. Wherever Sam looked all he could see was the spiralling walls of the wormhole, great intense flashes of lightning and the mountainous waves of blue energy that swept the Apollo and the Revenge along like they were on the Universe’s biggest roller coaster.

  FIZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!

  An energy wave broke across the deck, coating everything it touched in a ghostly blueish light and crackling with electricity.

  “OWWW!” cried Sam as the wave hit him and gave him a static-electric shock. It felt a bit like being stabbed with lots of tiny pins.

  FIZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!

  Another wave broke over the Apollo and this time Sam and the crew jumped out of the way of the bolt of electricity, abandoning the ropes and leaving the sails to take care of themselves.

  “TURN THE SHIP TOWARDS THE WAVES!” shouted Comet to Pegg and Legg, who were struggling with the ship’s wheel. “IT’S THE ONLY WAY TO RIDE THEM!”

  “WHAT?” Pegg barked back. “FERNS NIP AT THE GRAVES?”

  “NO,” snapped Legg, “CHURN AND SLIP AND BE BRAVE!”

  Sam scuttled across the pitching deck to explain.

  “STEER THE SHIP TOWARDS THE WAVES!” shouted Sam urgently.

  “WHICH WAVES?” Legg replied.

  Sam looked up and saw the blue pulses of energy were coming from all directions – it was like sailing the ship through a washing machine.

  “HAVING THE REVENGE HANGING ON TO US ISN’T HELPING,” shouted Pegg as he battled with the wheel. “WE SET OFF IN ONE DIRECTION AND THEY GET PULLED IN ANOTHER. SOMETHING’S GOING TO GIVE SOON, AND I RECKON IT’LL BE THIS OLD TUB THAT FALLS APART FIRST!”

  Sam looked back at Gravity’s Revenge, still attached by the traction beams, and could see Black-Hole Beard bellowing orders and his crew running around frantically. The huge Minocerous first mate, Yarr, was struggling at the wheel as much as Pegg and Legg were on the Apollo. One-Hand Luke was hanging on to the rigging by his hydraulic hook, laughing as the ship spun. The huge energy waves were too strong for both the Apollo’s and the Revenge’s rocket boosters – they were as helpless as leaves in a hurricane.

  The two ships were deep in the wormhole now. The solar winds were howling past them, as they were sucked in by the wormhole’s gravitational pull, and combining with the energy waves to make the ride even choppier. Sam clung on as the ship pitched and shook.

  Everything loose on deck was being blown overboard.

  A huge energy wave swamped the Apollo’s deck.

  “OWWWWW!” everyone shouted as they were given a static-electric shock.

  “WHOSE STUPID IDEA WAS THIS?” shouted Comet as his moustache stood on end like an electrocuted Hawkinseon Hair-slug.

  Before anyone could answer, the Apollo lurched up the side of another gigantic wave then plunged down the other side. It was so steep it was like sailing down the side of a cliff. Suddenly the air around them turned bright white and there was a huge CRACK as the biggest flash of lightning Sam had ever seen streaked past them – and smashed straight into the Revenge!

  For a moment the spaceship glowed with a fierce, bright white light. Then the lightning flash was gone and the Revenge went completely dark. There was a deadly silence from their engines, and there wasn’t a booster flare to be seen.

  “WHAT’S HAPPENED?” cried Sam.

  “THEY’VE LOST POWER,” shouted Comet in reply. “THAT LIGHTNING BOLT MUST HAVE BLOWN THEIR CIRCUITS.”

  “WILL THEY BE OK?” asked Sam.

  “NO! THEIR ATOMIC STABILISERS WILL BE DOWN. THAT’S WHAT KEEPS THE SHIP UPRIGHT!” Legg shouted back. “THEY’RE A DEAD SHIP SAILING!”

  The Revenge was already leaning awkwardly to one side.

  “AS LONG AS—” Comet started to yell, then trailed off as the noise of the wind and lightning died down slightly. He cleared his throat. “As long as the traction beams are still attached, they’ll be all right…” he finished doubtfully.

  “LOOK!” shouted Sam. The laser-traction beams linking the Apollo and the Revenge were beginning to flicker. “They’re starting to go out!”

  Sam could hardly bear to watch. The only thing that was standing between the Gravity’s Revenge and destruction were the six laser-traction beams that linked Black-Hole Beard’s ship to the Apollo – and now they were beginning to fail. The beams were flickering and flashing, losing the bright intensity of their colour.

  “Looks like the traction-beam generator has been damaged too!” Legg guessed.

  “Excellent!” Comet replied. “Pegg, Legg, full speed ahead. We should be able to break free if those beams are underpowered.”

  “No!” shouted Sam.

  “Excuse me?” said Comet.

  “I mean, no, Captain,” said Sam.

  “That’s better— Hold on, what do you mean, no? I give the orders around here!” said Comet, waving his arms around wildly.

  “You can’t just abandon the Revenge!” cried Sam. “You can’t just order us to fly off!”

  “I can and I did,” smiled Comet.

  “But they’ll be torn to pieces in this wormhole!” protested Sam.

  “And the problem is…? That is Black-Hole Beard, you know,” said Comet.

  “But … but…” Sam was at a loss for words. True, it was Black-Hole Beard, but leaving him to certain doom still felt wrong.

  “They’ve lost one of the beams, Captain!” shouted Pegg. “No, make that two. Shall I fire up the engines?”

  Sam had an idea.

  “But what about the Pirate’s Code?” he said.

  “What?” Comet paused, then flipped up his eye patches to stare at everyone with all three of his eyes.

  “Surely the Code says you can’t abandon a ship in distress?” Sam said.

  “Ignore him, Captain,” shouted Pegg. “Black-Hole Beard doesn’t live by the Code, so why should we?”

  “The Code is the Code,” said Legg. “It doesn’t matter who it is.”

  Comet looked torn. “Yes, but the Code isn’t really a strict set of rules, it’s more like guidelines…” he said.

  “Guidelines!” said Sam disgustedly. “That’s the sort of thing Black-Hole Beard would say.”

  Comet looked shamefaced. “Yes, you’re right,” he muttered, embarrassed. “I don’t know what came over me. Pegg, Legg, ignore that order. Keep the Apollo on as straight a course as possible and maintain our speed.”

  “That’s not going to be easy,” grumbled Pegg. “It was bad enough trying to fly when they had power; now it’s like doing it with a giant gravity anchor swinging round behind us.”

  As if to prove the point, the Revenge was buffeted by an energy wave and started to spin. The Jolly Apollo was pulled round after it so fast that the ship’s wheel spun out of control.

  Pegg and Legg grabbed it, but it wasn’t until Sam clutched on as well, putting all his weight on the wheel, that the ship was back under control. The roller-coaster ride had just got a whole lot worse.

  “Another one of those could knock us into a lightning storm and that would be the end of all of us!” said Legg.

  “Captain, we’ve got to do something about the Revenge!” said Pegg.

  “That’s it!” said Sam.

  “Oh, good.” Pegg and Legg high-fived. “I knew you’d see sense about the Code. I’ll increase the power, Cap’n – we’re going to break free.”

  “No. There’s a way of restarting the Revenge!” said Sam.

  “At least, I think there is. If the lightning knocked the power out, maybe it can kick-start it back again.”

  “Well, I suppose…” said Comet doubtfully.

  “If we fly over to that side of the wormhole we should hit that storm over there,” Sam continued, pointing at a dark cluster of energy waves, where lightning was sizzling. “There’s enough energy over there to power fifty ships! All we need to do is channel the lightning into the Gravit
y’s Revenge.”

  “We’re going to fly into a lightning storm?” Pegg shook his head in disbelief.

  “And take the Apollo on a loop-the-loop?” Comet stuttered. “Are you mad? There’s no way the old girl can handle that!”

  “Has anyone got a better idea?” Sam asked. The rest of the crew muttered and stared at their feet. “Come on!” Sam said enthusiastically. “What have we got to lose?”

  “Our lives, our ship, our breakfasts…” Comet started.

  “Captain…” pleaded Sam.

  “Oh, all right then,” said Comet. “But it’s not like Black-Hole Beard is even going to be grateful! Pegg, Legg, steer us to the side of the wormhole. We’re heading for that storm.”

  Riding the crest of an energy wave, the Apollo changed direction and plunged towards the curved wall of the wormhole. The waves sparked and spat as the Apollo charged headlong up the side of the blistering energy wall.

  “Hold on tight, me hearties. We’re in for a choppy ride,” shouted Comet over the din.

  With a great whoosh the Apollo hit the wall of the wormhole and shot up the great fizzing curve, dragging the Revenge behind it. Great flashes and sparks erupted from the hulls of the ships as they sped up the side of the wormhole, the pulsing energy rattling the Apollo like a meteoroid in a can. Above them, dark clouds boiled and lightning licked angrily at the air.

  “What happens if we get hit by one of those lightning bolts?” asked Zlit, clinging to the rigging with both claws.

  Comet suddenly looked panicked. “I knew there was a good reason not to do this!” he wailed.

  Too late now, thought Sam.

  He looked back to see how the Revenge was doing, just in time to see the third and then fourth traction beams flicker out. Now there were only two left, and they were fading fast. The Apollo dragged the Revenge closer and closer to the crackling lightning storm.

  As the ships were swept round the wormhole they tilted more and more.

  “HOLD ON, ME HEARTIES!” Comet bellowed as the ship twisted and turned. Sam looked round desperately for something to grab hold of. Pegg and Legg were tying themselves to the ship’s wheel, Romero had clamped himself to a mast, and Captain Comet was trying to stuff himself into the mouth of a laser cannon. The whole ship tilted as the energy waves carried them up the side of the wormhole.

  Sam was out of time. He quickly grabbed the edge of the deck rail. The Jolly Apollo twisted again, turning so much that Sam’s feet were now hanging in mid-air

  The Apollo neared the top of the wormhole, but Sam could feel his hands beginning to slip. He held on as tight as he could, but it was no use, his fingers were slipping.

  “NOOOOOOOOO!” cried Sam as his grip gave way and he dropped into the twirling vortex of the wormhole.

  SLAP! A tentacle caught him around the waist! Barney was swinging from the front mast, holding another three pirates in his tentacles. One, Jonjarama, seemed to be quite enjoying himself and gave Sam a thumbs-up. Barney gave him a wink.

  CRRRAACCCCCKKKK!

  A huge flash of lightning scorched past the Apollo.

  PAZZZAAAAPPPPPPP!

  It smashed into the traction beams and zapped along to the Gravity’s Revenge. Immediately their rocket boosters fired up again. There was a great shower of sparks as power surged back into the Revenge, then the traction beams exploded in a flash of neon light as the sudden electrical hit overwhelmed the machinery. The blast sent the Revenge spiralling away down the wormhole.

  “It worked!” shouted Sam. “And we’re free!”

  “Ha! Those planet-lubbers can look after themselves now!” crowed Comet, climbing out from the cannon. “Full speed ahead!”

  The Jolly Apollo blasted along, riding the waves much more easily without the other ship dragging behind it. There were fewer energy waves in this section so the ride was much smoother and the noise wasn’t as loud – much to everyone’s relief. At the far end of the wormhole was the darkness of space and it was getting nearer by the second.

  “The dark at the end of the tunnel!” said Comet, peering through his telescope at the light. “We’ll be there in no time now, me hearties!”

  The crew cheered and the rocket boosters roared. Sam smiled so much that his face ached. He couldn’t quite believe it; after all this time, and against all the odds, he was actually going to get to Planet X to rescue his parents.

  With a WHOOSH the Apollo shot out from the Lightning-Bolt Wormhole. As they cleared the mist around the mouth of the wormhole they could see it… Directly ahead of them, in the middle of deep, black space, was the magnificent, legendary, beautiful Planet X!

  It was everything the legends said it was; a great glowing, golden ball that gleamed and shone like a beacon. A planet made of solid gold!

  For a while the pirates stared in awestruck silence. Sam could hardly believe it – they had done it! In their battered old spaceship they had managed to do what no other pirate crew had done – they had ridden the lightning and found Planet X!

  “Rich!” Comet crowed. “I’m going to be rich! And famous! I’m going to be the most famous pirate in the Universe! Rich and famous!” He fired his laser pistol into the air in celebration.

  “Hey! Careful down there!” shouted Vulpus from the crow’s nest. “That nearly took my tail off!”

  “What are you going to buy with your share of the treasure?” Romero asked Zlit.

  “A ginormous heated grum pool!” Zlit replied.

  “I’m going to get a diamond-encrusted bowling ball,” said Romero. “No wait, a diamond-encrusted bowling alley!”

  “Think of all the food we’ll be able to buy!” said Piole in wide-eyed, drooling-mouthed anticipation. “Zeeper burgers, Antovian roasted booglers, jum-jum pancakes, jellied spim-spams, scottle cakes, wispy angel chimneys – and that’s just for starters!”

  Pegg and Legg were arguing about what they would spend the money on.

  “I’m going to hire a chef,” said Barney, to the stunned amazement of the crew.

  “How about you, Sam?” the Kracken asked.

  Sam didn’t reply. A horrible thought had taken over his brain.

  “What’s wrong, Sam? You look worried.”

  “What if my parents aren’t here?” Sam gulped. “What if they’ve been picked up by someone else? What if… What if they’re not alive?”

  Barney put a comforting tentacle on Sam’s shoulder.

  “Sorry, Sam, I keep forgetting that Planet X means more to you than the treasure. I’m sure they’re going to be fine. Their spaceship had emergency provisions, and your mother was well enough to draw a map and write you a message. Just you wait and see, soon you’ll be giving them the best surprise of their lives!”

  Sam smiled. He certainly hoped Barney was right.

  The excitement on board the Apollo was almost unbearable as the spaceship drew closer to Planet X. Soon it was breaching the outer layers of the planet’s atmosphere. Although the Apollo was buffeted this way and that as it descended down to the planet’s surface, it was nothing compared to the nightmare of the Lightning-Bolt Wormhole.

  “Turn the rocket boosters off and fire the reverse thrusters,” ordered Comet as the golden surface rushed towards them.

  “Aye aye, sir,” said Legg.

  The rocket boosters went off, but nothing else came on.

  “Reverse thrusters, p-please, Pegg and Legg,” said Comet, a small note of desperation in his voice.

  “We’re trying!” said Pegg. “But the button isn’t working. Again.”

  Below them the ground was approaching at a frightening speed.

  “Batten down the hatches. This might be a bumpy landing!” shouted Comet.

  Might be a bumpy landing? thought Sam incredulously. They’re always bumpy landings!

  Seconds later the Apollo was screeching across the surface of the planet, bouncing and bumping over lumps and rocks. With a final CRUNCH it stopped, nose first, in a wide ditch. A great cloud of dust rose up and settled over
the ship.

  “Well, that wasn’t so bad,” said Comet, dusting himself down and looking round the ship, which seemed to be in one piece. “Nothing valuable damaged!”

  “He must have landed on his head,” snorted Pegg.

  “Right me hearties, it’s time to go for gold!”

  The pirates rushed for the ship’s rails, but Sam stayed sitting on the deck. Something wasn’t right. The dust that had been thrown up by the crash – it was dirt.

  “Erm, Captain,” he said, but it was too late; the pirates had already leapt over the side. Immediately he could hear their disappointed cries.

  Sam jumped over the ship’s rail and joined the rest of the crew.

  “What happened to all the gold?” wailed Comet, holding two handfuls of dirt.

  “It’s up there,” said Vulpus, pointing to the golden-coloured sky.

  “It’s just an illusion made by the planet’s atmosphere!” Comet cried.

  “So the legend was wrong,” sobbed Jonjarama.

  Sam wasn’t listening though. All he could think about was his parents. He raced up the nearest hill and frantically began to look around. Immediately he saw a metallic glint, not far below him. There was a large purple-coloured pool … and next to it was a spaceship. In front of the ship was a small, neatly tended garden. He couldn’t believe it! Surely there were only two people who would make a garden next to a space-wreck – space scientists who studied alien plant-life. Space scientists like his parents!

  “Dad! Mum!” he yelled as he charged down the hill, his feet sending up great clouds of dust.

  Out from the spaceship came two figures: one, a woman, in a tattered spacesuit; the other, a man, with a matching spacesuit and a bushy beard. They peered at the boy running towards them for a moment.

  “Sam!” they shouted, and began running towards their son.

  They met halfway in the biggest, and quite possibly the best, hug imaginable.