The Battle for Earth (Teen Superheroes Book 3) by Darrell Pitt Page A

Invaders from Mars!
    They reached a closed door. The alien unlocked it and motioned them inside. Ebony was about to protest when she peered into the chamber.
    “Brodie!” she screamed.
    They rushed into the cell. Brodie threw her arms around them as the alien watched impassively from the doorway.
    “I will return shortly,” T’bar said. “One of you will be chosen to fight.”
    “Ferdy will fight you,” Ferdy said. “Ferdy is not afraid.”
    T’bar levelled his gaze at him. “You will be, boy.”
    “The first flight of the Wright Brothers was one hundred and twenty feet,” Ferdy told him.
    “The fear has addled your mind,” the alien said and slammed the door shut.
    “I’m so glad to see you guys,” Brodie said. “But how did you get here?”
    They all spoke at once. Brodie held up her hands.
    “One at a time,” she said. “Please.”
    Ebony explained the rapid sequence of events that had led them to the alien craft. Brodie listened in silence until she finally nodded.
    “That explains a few things,” she said. “Some sort of communications window opened up in here briefly. I could see and speak to Axel.”
    “The Agency is treating him like a criminal,” Dan said.
    “The Tagaar are blackmailing him,” Brodie said.
    “Who are the Tagaar?”
    Brodie explained what she knew of the alien race.
    “What happened to your face?” Dan asked.
    Brodie gingerly touched her bruised cheek. “The Tagaar love nothing more than to fight. I’ve fought three times so far.”
    “And she has succeeded,” a voice came from the rear of the darkened cell. “She is more of a warrior than any of them.”
    They turned to see two aliens step from the shadows.
    “This is Zena and Bax,” Brodie introduced them. “They have been my companions here.”
    “Your friend is strong,” Zena said. “You will need to be strong to defeat the Tagaar.”
    They sat around in a circle in the middle of the cell as Zena related her tale of what had happened to her world. The more Ebony looked at Brodie, the more she realised how battered her friend looked. Finally she asked Brodie about the fights.
    “The Tagaar are tough,” Brodie said. “And they know how to fight.”
    “We’ll beat them,” Dan said.
    “That is unlikely, friend Dan,” Ferdy said. “The Tagaar appear to have technology far more advanced than any developed on Earth.”
    “We can’t give up, Ferdy,” Ebony said.
    “We will not give up,” he said. “But the way ahead will be difficult and our goals will not be achieved without sacrifices.”
    “You sound like you can see the future,” Dan said.
    “Ferdy is very smart,” he said. “Ferdy can extrapolate many possible versions of the future. We must wait and see in what direction our path lies.”
    “The first thing we need to do is get back to Earth,” Brodie said.
    “There’s about a million Tagaar warriors between us and our ship,” Dan said.
    “Plus they’ve got their tractor beam,” Ebony added.
    Brodie turned to Ferdy. “Can you work out a way to deflect their tractor beam?”
    “Ferdy has been thinking about this,” he replied. “Ferdy has also been thinking about the role of superstring theory when contemplating the –”
    “Ferdy,” Ebony interrupted.
    He nodded. “A modulating pulse can be transmitted through the hull that will deflect the Tagaar tractor beam. It has an eighty percent chance of success.”
    “What about the other twenty percent?” Dan asked.
    “There is a seventeen percent chance the pulse will fail and the ship will not escape,” Ferdy explained. “And a three percent chance the ship will explode, killing everyone on board.”
    “Always with the good news…” Brodie murmured.
    “I’ve got a plan,” Dan said.
    “What is it?” Brodie asked.
    “It always works in the movies,” Dan said excitedly. “We’ll pretend you’re sick and you need a doctor. When the guards come in we’ll overpower them and steal their guns.”
    Ferdy crossed to