Attack of the Intergalactic Soul Hunters [Paperback]

Grade 3-6-Conrad and Knowlton are the ultimate sci-fi geeks. They are beyond obsessed with the TV show Infinite Destiny (clearly a Star Trek rip-off) and know each episode by number. Conrad's recurring dreams in which he is a space hero named Hestar could be a product of his imagination. But it turns out that he and Knowlton were alien soldiers in a past life, and the dreams are memories. To complicate matters, a stock villain known as Cyscope shows up on Earth (in Toronto) to get his vengeance: Hestar has something called the Shadow Matrix, a powerful object that he stole and for which he is still accountable. The story alternates between Conrad and Knowlton's journey with the help of a psychic to find out who they are, and Cyscope's adjustment to his new bodies while searching for his old nemesis. While the story moves briskly enough, this is all pretty generic stuff. There is no real depth to the characters or setting, and a cheesy cover doesn't help the appeal, but the breezy writing may engage reluctant readers who are sci-fi geeks themselves.-Tim Wadham, Maricopa County Library District, Phoenix, AZ
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When not fending off school bullies, Conrad and his best friend Knowlton are wrapped up in Infinite Destiny, their favorite sci-fi television show. It's no wonder Conrad often dreams about aliens and space chases, but one day the two science fiction geeks discover that these dreams are actual past-life memories.

Long ago Conrad and Knowlton were alien soldiers battling evil forces of Deltran Prime. Now a villain from Conrad's dreams, Cyscope, has come to Earth to track him down. The cruel admiral of the Deltran galactic empire will stop at nothing to find the Shadow Matrix, a monumental object powerful enough to upset the balance of the galaxy . . . and only Conrad knows where it is. With help from Lysta, a psychic, and Pakfrida, a wise spirit from their former lives, the two boys escape the clutches of Cyscope and his Hunters, but can they outrun the galactic enforcers forever?

Timothy Carter's (Ontario, Canada) short stories have appeared in several magazines throughout Canada, the United States, and Ireland. Attack of the Intergalactic Soul Hunters is his first full-length book.

Chapter One

"I had the dream again," Conrad said as he took his usual seat at the front of the school bus the next morning.

"You did not," said Knowlton Cabbage, a dark-haired ten-year-old, as he took the seat beside him. "You're such a phony."

"I did!" Conrad said, pulling a toy helmet out of his schoolbag and putting it on his head. "And I would know. I was there."

"If you did," Knowlton put on his own plastic Police Force helmet, "you'd be in a good mood instead of your normal grumpy self. The dream always puts you in a good mood."

It was true, Conrad had to admit. Being an intergalactic hero for a night was an awesome thrill and usually filled Conrad with excitement.

"Not today," Conrad said, wincing as the first ball of paper missed his helmet and bounced off his cheek. "It was weird this time. I died, I think. And there was this face."

"Was it the face of death?" Knowlton asked, looking over his shoulder to spot the thrower. Dean Trowler, a brute of a boy in a leather jacket, waved at him.

"How the heck should I know?" Conrad said, sinking lower in his seat. "It didn't look like anything I've ever seen before . . . wait," he paused. "I have seen that face before."

"You've seen the face of death?" Knowlton asked. "Was it scary and creepy and stuff?"

A ball of paper pinged off his helmet and landed in the aisle. Behind them, Dean snickered.

"No, not the face of death!" Conrad said, smacking his friend on the leg. "The face I saw, the alien face. I knew I'd seen it before."

"So you know an alien," Knowlton said. "Maybe you are an alien. Maybe he's your real father. It would explain a few things."

"Don't talk about my father, Knowlton."

"Know," Knowlton said. "Call me The Know."

Knowlton liked it when people called him Know, or The Know, which he encouraged them to do when talking about him. Conrad was the only person who made an effort, and when most people talked about Knowlton they used a different name.

Several, in fact.

"I felt like I was going to die, and then I saw an alien face," Conrad said, pausing as an orange bounced off his helmet and landed on the seat behind him.

"I don't know why I recognized it, but-"

"Take your orange back, loser," said one of the two boys sitting behind them, tossing the fruit over the seat back and into Knowlton's lap.

"You take it, one-cell," Knowlton shot back, tossing the orange over his shoulder at them.

"Hey!" snapped the bus driver. "No throwing stuff."

"They started it," Conrad said, pointing over his shoulder as an apple bonked him on the nose.

"I know what I saw," the driver said. In fact he had seen all the objects thrown at Conrad and The Know, but he didn't care about that. In his opinion, geeks deserved whatever they got.

"Sit still, an' don't go makin' noise," the driver said. "I mean it."

"Whatever," said Knowlton.

"And pick up all the trash when we get to the school," the driver added, sick monster that he was, knowing full well what would come next.

"Oh, help," Conrad said as everyone on the bus stood up and whipped paper balls, pens, rulers, lunch supplies, or anything else that was handy. The two ten-year-old boys ducked down in their seats and tried to shield themselves from the attack while the driver watched their plight in the rearview mirror. He laughed. The other kids laughed, and the barrage lasted all the way to school.

"Tomorrow," Conrad said, "we're gonna need umbrellas."

"I hear that," Knowlton agreed.

The bus pulled up beside the school, and the students started filing and pushing and shoving their way off. The driver waited until they were gone, then he turned to the first seat.

"Okay, you geeks, start cleaning up this . . . what the-?"

Conrad and The Know were long gone.

"That worked well, didn't it?" Knowlton said as he and his friend made their way through the crowd of students into the school.

"Brain over bus driver," Conrad said as he limped along behind him.

Conrad had a limp. No one knew why. His leg was fine; his family doctor hadn't found anything physically wrong with it. His parents had assumed it was a ploy to get attention, so they'd ignored it.

It wasn't a ploy. Conrad felt real pain in his leg. He just couldn't figure out why.

"It's as if we'd engaged stealth mode," Knowlton continued, walking slower than he could have so his friend could keep up. "Wouldn't you agree?"

"I would say," Conrad replied, "it was more like the stalking of Ninja Officer Bryne in Episode 37."

The school was L-shaped, dark-colored, and oppressive. The walls seemed to leer at them as they approached, and they always felt their mood drop when they entered its fluorescent-lit corridors.

"Why do you think that?" Knowlton asked as they walked down a crowded, noisy, and fluorescent-lit hallway to their homeroom. "In Episode 37, Ninja Officer Bryne was infiltrating the Xaxon Base, which was empty of all other beings at that time."

"Yes, but," Conrad said, "he had to evade the sensor drones in...(Continues)