Hollow Moon by Steph Bennion

“It’s
what you do with it. At least, that’s what your girlfriend told me.”
    “Whatever,” snapped Xuthus.
    “It’s a shame you couldn’t come on our flight,” said the
other boy, a short and rather rotund figure, who addressed Endymion with mock
sympathy. “We’re on the Fenghuang III , a
proper interstellar cruiser with separate cabins and everything.”
    “I’ve heard of that ship,” said Philyra. “The captain is
a pirate who dumps his passengers into the nearest black hole if they don’t
laugh at his jokes. Oh, don’t worry, Lodus,” she added, as the boy looked
worried. “There isn’t a black hole in the universe big enough to throw you
into.”
    “Did you get my message?” asked Maia, leering at Bellona.
    Bellona gave her a withering look. Endymion heard her
mutter something about a freak falling planetoid dislodging Maia’s smug smile,
or perhaps even doing it herself.
    “Maia, my dear,” Bellona said sweetly. “You really should
get a new wristpad. The holovid you sent me did not do justice to your beauty.”
    “Really?” Maia tossed her immaculate blond coiffure,
genuinely flattered.
    Bellona nodded. “Close up you’re far more ugly.”
    “Girls! Calm down!” cried Endymion, as Maia leapt angrily
towards Bellona. Behind him, Philyra winked at Lodus, then giggled. The boy
responded with a grin. “Put your claws away! See, even Lodus can see it was
just a joke!”
    “Were you laughing at me?” Maia asked fiercely, turning
on Lodus.
    Lodus shook his head, suddenly very nervous. “Me? No.
Never!”
    “Yes you were!”
    “I was laughing with you, not at you.”
    Endymion gave Bellona a nudge. “I think it’s time we
left,” he whispered.
    Leaving Xuthus to deal with the squabbling Maia and
Lodus, Endymion led Bellona and Philyra towards the sliding doors at the far
side of the departure lounge. He was almost at the exit when he paused, then a
mischievous grin crept upon his face as his eyes fell upon a touch-screen
terminal on a nearby wall. After quickly checking to make sure there were no
spaceport personnel about, Endymion retrieved a short cable from his pocket and
connected his wristpad to the terminal.
    “Xuthus is quite cute,” said Philyra dreamily. “For a
Bradbury Heights boy.”
    “I’d like to shove his violin where the sun doesn’t
shine,” Endymion muttered. There was a rebellious glint in his eye. His fingers
were a blur upon his wristpad.
    “What are you doing?” asked Bellona. On the wall-mounted
screen, the holovid advert for rock-climbing tours of Mars’ Olympus Mons
changed to a floor plan of the spaceport. She looked down at his wristpad. “Oh
no,” she murmured. “You wouldn’t.”
    A hissing of running water suddenly filled the air, a
sound quickly drowned by loud screams from the departure lounge behind. Moments
later they saw Maia run past, her blond hair now extremely bedraggled and
dripping wet. More of the Bradbury Heights party followed to escape the sudden
downpour inside the lounge. As Endymion, Bellona and Philyra watched, a
spaceport security guard ran past them into the fray, getting soaked in the
process. Philyra was helpless with laughter, leaving Endymion to grab the
dumbstruck Bellona and hustle them away through the doors. The grin on his face
grew wider by the minute.
    “That was fun!” he exclaimed.
    “What did you do?” asked Philyra, once they were out of
sight of the guard.
    “I set off the sprinklers!” Endymion said gleefully. “I
thought I’d dampen their spirits a little. Give them a proper send off.”
    “You are awful,” Bellona told him. Her brother caught her
secret smile, as if she regretted not getting a picture of Maia running past
with her expensive hairdo ruined.
    “How did you manage that?” Philyra inquired. Endymion
could tell she was trying not to sound impressed. Her wristpad was no different
to his own.
    “I have a whole load of hackware hidden on the servermoon,”
he told her, coming to