Space Plague Read Online Free Page B

her pointing finger to a machine that looked like a freestanding door frame. The machine buzzed quietly as he walked through, a pink light quickly wrapping around him and disappearing just as rapidly. A light mist hissed over his skin.
    “Disinfection complete,” said the voice.
    John dressed in a new jumpsuit and peered into Kaal’s room. Dr Kasaria was leaning over Kaal’s bed, checking the machines around him. Knowing there was nothing else he could do, John took one last look at his friend and left the medical wing.
    “John, where have you been?” Emmie cried, as John stepped out of the TravelTube. “There’s only a couple of minutes until the exam...” Seeing the expression on John’s face, she stopped. “What’s the matter?”
    “It’s Kaal,” he said. “He’s got Zhaldarian Flu.”
    Emmie stared at him, her eyes wide in shock. For a few moments, she seemed unable to speak. Her golden skin paled. “Oh no,” she said, her voice quivering. “I saw the Meteor Medics disinfecting the dormitory level but just thought someone must have eaten the wrong thing... but this... this is awful .” As John watched, tears formed in the corners of Emmie’s eyes.
    “You know about Zhaldarian Flu?” John asked quickly. “No one’s told me anything. Is Kaal in danger?”
    Emmie nodded dumbly, a tear trickling down her face. “My great-great-grandmother had it when she was a girl,” she answered. “For six months the doctors didn’t know if she was going to live or die. There’s not much the doctors can do. No cure... nothing.”
    By now, other students had noticed the tears rolling down Emmie’s face. A few of Emmie and John’s classmates pressed in around her, concern showing on their faces.
    “Hey, Tarz. Are you OK?” asked Lishtig, a boy from the planet Slarce, whose long, purple ponytail fell almost to the floor. When Emmie didn’t answer, he turned to John. “What’s up, John? Where’s Kaal?”
    “Attention, all students,” a droning electronic voice interrupted.
    Every student looked up. An Examiner was gliding along the corridor. The machine was white, with an egg-shaped body. A red light flickered across its round head as it spoke. In front of it floated a large tray. “A case of Zhaldarian Flu has been confirmed on board Hyperspace High. Each student will wear a medical mask until further notice,” the robot continued.
    A shocked murmur ran through the crowd of students. “But Zhaldarian Flu was eradicated centuries ago,” said Raytanna, her smooth white forehead creasing in concern and her six eyes blinking.
    Lishtig stared hard at John. “It’s Kaal, isn’t it?”
    John nodded.
    “What about the exams?” asked Emmie, reaching into the tray to take a mask. “Have they been cancelled?”
    “Negative. The case has been contained. School activities will continue as normal.”
    John slipped the medical mask over his face. Immediately, the material moulded itself to his skin. It felt a little like he was wearing a spider’s web.
    A chime sounded. At the same time, a door slid open a few yards down the corridor. A pink, snake-like alien slithered through the door. Ms Skrinel – the Cosmic Languages teacher – always left a thin trail of slime behind her wherever she went.
    “Good morning, students,” she said. “The examination will start in ten minutes. Please queue quietly until your name is called, then wait for the Examiner to relieve you of your personal belongings and make your way to your exam cube.”
    John’s eyes widened as he walked through the door into what had been one of Hyperspace High’s sports halls the day before. Now, transparent cubes had been arranged in a square around the giant room.
    “John Riley.”
    John stepped forward. An Examiner scanned him with a beam of blue light. His pockets emptied. The ThinScreen stylus and an old watch he’d brought with him from Earth vanished. His possessions had been broken down into their individual atoms, to be