This time: a SF short story for young readers by fantasy novelist Jill Williamson.

THE MERAK GALAXY

Rigil Kentaurus jerked his gravitational lasso out of its holster and swung it hard above his head. It whirred, drowning out the rumbling engine of his space bike. With the missing space-rangers and his increased workload, Rigil didn’t have time to baby-sit Merak. Captain Vega had assigned Rigil and Merak a few high-energy stars out past the Sombrero Galaxy. But Merak was goofing off as usual, and his jetbike stunts were dangerously close to a black hole.

The yellow lights blazed as Rigil’s lasso spun faster and faster. The lights turned green, and Rigil flung the lasso toward his friend. It fell around Merak’s jetbike, and the lights turned red.

“Gotcha,” Rigil said.

“Hey!” Merak’s voice buzzed though Rigil’s headset. “What’s the big idea?”

Rigil flipped the switch to reel in his catch. The gears on his lasso churned as they heaved Merak and his jetbike toward him.

“I was fine,” Merak said.

“Right.”

The gears halted with a loud click, and Rigil poised his finger over the release button.

“Are you going to behave?” he asked.

Merak’s scowl appeared angrier in the red glow of the lasso-lights. “Just let me loose.”

Rigil pressed the release button and the light went out. The lasso retracted and Rigil holstered it.

He lassoed the assigned star and began the tow back to base. Merak followed slightly behind. It felt wrong, flying with only two people. Space rangers always flew in threes, but there were too few rangers now to have three per team. Rigil steered to the right of the Sombrero Galaxy. The glow was magnificent in the center of the spiral, and the arms of light wound tightly around and around. Staring at it too long made him dizzy. His friend Cora had nearly fallen off her jetbike once for staring at it too long.

An ache to rose from the pit of his stomach at the thought of her. Where was she? He prayed that she was alive. Being a star-ranger was a dangerous job. But it was only recently that the academy had recruited cadets. Since all the senior star-rangers had mysteriously vanished, the academy had no choice but to train cadets. The space station needed the energy from stars to support life.

But now the cadets were disappearing as well.

The space station came into view. At first it looked like a tiny star in the distance, but as they neared, the station took the shape of a silver teardrop floating on black velvet.  Rigil rounded the side and lowered his eyeshades before entering the blinding starport. Here the captured stars burned, providing energy for the space station.

He flew to the loading dock and released the star into a stall. Once the star was secure, he backed out of the loading dock and revved his engine. Now where had Merak gone to?

“Merak Wezen, this is Rigil Kentaurus. What’s your location? Over.”

Rigil waited, but there was no response. Merak was goofing off again, no doubt. Rigil’s stomach growled. His hunger was a higher priority than waiting all day for Merak. Besides, Merak could reach him on him com-link if he wanted to.

After a hearty meal, Merak still hadn’t checked in. Rigil jumped on his bike and jetted down to computer central where he could track Merak’s jetbike on the system.

He parked at a port and plugged his com-link into a jack. After a few minutes of searching, the system confirmed Merak wasn’t on the charts. Rigil squeezed the rubber grips of his handlebars until they left imprints on his palms.

Merak was missing like the others.

Rigil took in a sharp breath. His panic grew and he was about to loose it completely when he saw his message light blinking in the corner of the monitor. Someone must have left a communication when he’d been eating lunch.

Rigil dialed up the message.

Static crackled in his ear, then Merak’s panicked voice yelled, “Rigil! It’s a magnetic hole and it’s… past The Great Wall… south of… come quick and remember…”

Rigil played the message again, trying to hear Merak’s words through the static. He’d only heard rumors of magnetic holes existing. No one had ever seen one. Past The Great Wall and south of what? The universe went on for billions of light years past The Wall.

Suddenly Rigil knew. Merak had been bragging about a possible supernova just past The Wall. He’d probably gone looking for it while Rigil had been unloading the star. Since magnetic holes were magnetic, if Rigil was going to go after Merak, he’d have to loose the metal.

Rigil jetted home. His little sister, Alya, was still at the academy, so he could borrow her plastic jetbike without her knowing. A button on his bike triggered the garage door, and Rigil flew inside and parked. Once the outer door was secure, he went inside and took off his helmet. The sweet vanilla of mother’s air fresheners was a pleasant change to his refiltered jetpack air. He took a few deep breaths before taking off his utility belt. He also changed into a workout suit and sneakers, leaving his heavy, metal gear on the floor. Once he was dressed, he grabbed an old compass off his father’s desk, and went back into the garage.

Alya hadn’t ridden her jetbike in a while. Rigil checked the oil and fuel. When he was satisfied, he grabbed her pink helmet from its hook on the wall and lowered it over his head. It was a tight squeeze, but he was able to clamp the strap snug under his chin.

He settled awkwardly on the tiny seat and gunned the engine. He steered around in a small circle and jetted out of the garage. The tiny plastic motor whirred like his dad’s electric razor. He swallowed his pride. His friends were all missing anyway, so at least no one would see him riding a girl’s toy.

The bike droned away from the space station, and he headed towards The Great Wall. A giant interstellar cloud covered the section he approached. Brilliant colors of the dust and gas swirled and popped around him like fireworks in slow motion.

He zoomed into a clear patch, carefully steering around the baby stars. Space plastic wasn’t magnetic, but it would melt if it touched a star.

Once he passed The Wall, Rigil relaxed. Several minutes later he passed a growing red giant. Merak was right. Another couple days and...pow! Supernova. Rigil hoped he was long gone by then.

No sign of Merak.

Rigil pulled out the compass. The needle twitched and spun, stopping suddenly to port south. He sped along in that direction for hours until he came upon an uncharted galaxy. He saw something in the distance. As he neared, a magnetic hole came into view. Dozens of jetbikes complete with their riders were piled against it, unable to free themselves.

Merak’s bike was the newest addition on the outside of the pile. Rigil’s heart thumped at the sight of Cora’s silver jetbike. He zipped over to it and pulled to a stop.

“Rigil!” Cora said. “We’re stuck.”

“Duh,” Rigil said. “I’ll get you out.”

Merak smirked. “Nice bike.”

“The radios won’t work,” said a senior star-wrangler. “You’ll have to demagnetize the hole.”

“Can you stand the heat?” Rigil asked. The only way he knew to demag a magnet was to heat it above Curie. Everyone’s spacesuits should withstand the temperature, but it was risky.

“You’ve got no choice, kid,” the senior said.

Rigil gave the man a cynical smile. “I’ve also got no fire, as you can see.”

And Alya’s jetbike would roast if he tried to hook a star. Maybe he could tow Merak out and let him lasso one.

Rigil explained his plan to Merak and flung the pink lasso out. The girlie lasso glowed purple. It spun faster and faster, turned pink, and Rigil tossed it over Merak’s bike. The lasso lights turned red.

Rigil towed Merak to the backside of the magnetic hole. That way, the star would heat it up from behind and hopefully release everyone from the front.

Rigil took a wide loop around a medium sized star. When the star was between the magnetic hole and them, Rigil was ready to release.

“Act fast,” he said.

Merak nodded.

Rigil released the lasso, and Merak’s bike instantly pulled away.

Merak revved his engine and threw his lasso at the star. “Bull’s eye!” Merak yelled.

Merak and the star floated away, in that order. Rigil followed at a safe distance. He dispensed the toy lasso again, letting idle by his side, ready to jerk Merak free at the last moment.

Merak closed in on the hole. Rigil flung his lasso out just as Merak unlatched his safety harness. Alya’s bike jerked hard as the lasso lights turned red. Rigil cranked the motor to full speed and backed away just as Merak’s bike hit the hole’s surface. Seconds later the star hit.

For a moment everything remained the same. Rigil’s heart sank. It hadn’t worked.

Then a roar burst forth. A fleet of star-rangers zoomed away from the magnetic hole like a retreating army.

But this was victory.

“Yahoo!” Merak yelled.

“You did it!” Cora’s voice buzzed in Rigil’s earpiece.

Rigil steered after the herd, the toy engine purring like a Robo-kitten. Merak floated along, slightly behind, safely stuck in the toy lasso where he couldn’t get into any more mischief.

To show their gratitude, the space council asked Rigil to name the new galaxy.

An unstable galaxy deserved an unstable name. Merak.

[END]