Frozen Enemies Read Free Page B

John felt like he was in a washing machine. But worse was the shame, as he realized that once again he’d crashed a ship on Jegger’s deck. Screwing his eyes closed, he let out a loud groan.
    By the time he opened them again, Emmie and Kaal’s Privateers hovered a few metres away. His friends peered down at him, concern on their faces. Jegger was still bellowing into his headset. “Riley, report. Report now ! Are you all right, boy? If you’ve damaged that ship, I’ll have you scrubbing the entire deck with a toothbrush.”
    “Sorry, sir,” John replied at last, his voice shaking with shock and anger. Knowing that if he told the truth, it would look like he was trying to shift the blame, he continued, “I must have been going too fast.”
    “Do you think so, Riley?” Jegger shouted, stomping across the deck on his three legs. His face was bright red and his moustache bristling. “I thought you were shaping up to be a good pilot, but it turns out you’re just a speed demon looking for thrills. Well, not in my ships, Riley. And not on my hangar deck.”
    The tongue-lashing lasted several minutes, by which time the whole class had lowered their Privateers. Cheeks burning, John tried not to look at Mordant, wearing a grin so wide, it looked like the top of his head might flip off.
    Eventually, the sergeant calmed down enough to give orders again. “Line up,” he told the class. “As some of you obviously want to crash every single one of my ships, the rest of the lesson will be devoted to emergency landings,” he croaked, voice ragged from shouting.
    “Safety Code Violation.”
    Every head swung around.
    At the far end of the hangar a hovering shape was framed in the doorway of the TravelTube. Completely white, it looked like a white ball on top of a larger egg. Blank-faced, and with no trace of emotion in its electronic voice, the Examiner somehow managed to seem threatening. Even Sergeant Jegger was silent as the machine floated forward. “John Riley,” the Examiner continued, making itself heard inside every Privateer, “you have failed to acquire the minimum flight competency required for the Archivus Major field trip.”
    John gulped.
    “Your status is under review. Failure will result in the cancellation of your participation.”
    “Errr... what?” John asked, still shaken by his crash and not following what the white machine was telling him.
    “You crashed, John Riley. Now you must be examined,” the machine said, floating back towards the TravelTube. “On the morning of the trip to Archivus Major your flight skills will be tested. If you fail, you will be kept behind.”

Chapter 3
    Sprawled across a deep, black sofa in the dormitory room he shared with Kaal, John stared moodily at a large entertainment ThinScreen. He was trying to watch a Sillaran show called Black Star 360 but couldn’t understand the plot. It involved a Sillaran woman dressed in black, flying around the galaxy trying to find the Holy Chalice of P’rawn and killing lots of aliens along the way. Why she was looking for the chalice and what the aliens had done to upset her wasn’t explained. No matter how hard John tried to concentrate, his thoughts kept returning to his earlier crash.
    The Examiners were notoriously harsh; it wouldn’t be easy to get through any test they set. John was certain he’d messed up his chances of seeing the museum planet.
    With a sigh, he looked around his room for something to take his mind off the problem. Outside the floor-to-ceiling viewing window, stars streamed by as Hyperspace High powered its way through the galaxy. It was a sight of incredible beauty, but John’s gaze moved onto the long desk against the opposite wall. There, two ThinScreens were currently switched off. He thought about making a start on the extra work that Ms Vartexia had set him, but decided he wasn’t in the mood.
    Next to the desk was a door to the bathroom, which contained a jet bath the size of a small swimming