Synopsis - Helium3

Fourteen year old MERVYN BRIGHT (POV)is inquisitive, stubborn, and a fighter. Which is why he makes enemies when he confronts injustice and corruption at the prestigious Space Academy where he, and his best friend Loren, have unexpectedly landed scholarships. Mervyn’s main rival at the Academy is the devious RUFUS DRACON, son of Scheming LORD DRACON, the Patriarch’s adviser. Mervyn and Rufus fight for supremacy in the Swot arena and the Academy’s Sledding league.

When STARLIGHT, Mervyn’s home world and the main source of Helium3 (Helium-three) – the raw material that provides energy for the whole sector – is destroyed by space pirates Mervyn suspects LORD DRACON is involved. But how can he prove it? Together with his Academy friends; LOREN, a brilliant but despised out-worlder, TARUN, heir to a once powerful dynasty, and AURORA, niece to the embattled Patriarch, they set out to prove Dracon’s guilt.

The friends fly straight into a trap set by the NAGA OF PERSHWIN, the most feared pirate in the sector. How did he knew exactly were to find them? Dracon again? The friends, however, are a slippery crew. Working as a team, and by applying hard scientific principles, the ingenious friends escape from the Naga’s warship, but not before Loren has set up a high security access code.
“Tut, tut, someone’s left their account unlocked,” Loren tapped away on the virtual keyboard, “and they have administrative privileges too. Do we want ship, sector or empire-wide security overrides?”
Mervyn peers over her shoulder, “Just tick the lot – we don’t have time for this.”

Their racing sleds will not take them far. They land on the carnival-like crime world of REVLON, “Look,” Mervyn shouts, “an air-stream, I’ve always wanted to ride an air-stream.” But Revlon has a dark side. Determined to prove a link between Lord Dracon and the Naga of Pershwin the friends follow a trail of clues through the underbelly of the galaxy. They discover that the attack on Starlight was only the first act of a far more sinister plot. Lord Dracon intends to use the Naga’s marauders to destroy the fledgling Space Republic, replace the Patriarch with himself, and forge an alliance with the all-conquering Centaph Swarm.

The revelation, comes at a cost, and the friends must leave Revlon in a hurry. Mervyn knows there is only one way to raise the required credits that fast.
Tarun follows the rushing crowd, “Some fool with a death wish is taking on Killer Keno in the Swot arena. Where’s Mervyn?”
Aurora searches the crowd, “You don’t suppose ... Oh no, not Killer Swot.”
Mervyn barely escapes with his life, but again the friends are betrayed to the pirates.

This time the Naga sends Mervyn and his friends to work as slaves in his own Helium3 mine on the beautiful planet of Pershwin, where the Ureg trees jostle each other for the best light. The Naga is planning his own alliance with the Centaph – plans his human marauders fear they have no part in. GUTHRIK, leader of the humans, offers Mervyn a deal: he will get the friends off Pershwin if they warn the Republic of the Naga’s impending attack. In return Guthrik wants Mervyn to use his father’s influence to gain Pershwin for the humans.

“To stand any way chance inheriting Pershwin,” Mervyn challenges, “you will have to make the Republic eternally grateful. Take out the Naga before he attacks the Republic.”
The human scowls, “That is an act of suicide – it would require a miracle to disable that warship. Now, do we have a deal or not?” The plan goes disastrously wrong. The Naga is already one step ahead and the friends are swept up by the Naga’s invasion fleet. Following a frantic, and deadly, game of chase through the wonders of the galaxy, the Misfits finally outwit the Naga and escape – they are free, all they need to do now is turn for home.

But Mervyn knows something the others don’t: when Starlight was destroyed so too was the shipment of Helium3 meant to power the Republic’s planetary defence grid. The Republic is defenceless and Mervyn’s family are in danger. Mervyn refuses to stand by and watch another world be destroyed – he must save his family if he can. He has a plan, a plan to achieve the impossible. All the pieces are in place, but the chances of success are slim and failure means certain death.

“Let me guess,” Aurora snaps, “another plan without an ending.”
"They’re the best.”
“No, Mervyn, they are not. We will make contact, give our warning, and go home.”
“It will be too late,” Tarun reasons, “the entire fleet is on the border waiting for a Centaph attack – we are the only hope their families have.”
“Oh, Quarks,” Aurora sighs. “If I live to regret this, Mervyn, I will kill you.”

The friends sneak up on the Naga’s warship and abandon their sleds. This is a one-way trip. Marooned on the hull of the warship they unlocked a service hatch using Loren’s security override. Leaving Tarun with the injured Aurora to man the access code, and mislead their pursuers, Mervyn and Loren ride the ventilation system’s air stream deep into the heart of the warship. Together they find the ship’s fuel core, but again the Naga is one step ahead.

Loren, using her access codes, locks the Naga’s troops out of the engine room. Mervyn faces the pirate chief alone. In a zero-gravity confrontation, an environment similar to the swot arena, Mervyn releases the warship’s super-luminal drive; one locking pin at a time. The Naga pursues him with a gun, blasting out white-hot fragments of the core. The drive is unlocked, the countdown is over. The power core flushes into the vacuum of space, together with the Naga. It is over.

A grateful Republic presents Pershwin to the humans as their new home world. Mervyn and the Misfits receive their own rewards, but evidence linking Lord Dracon to the Naga and the destruction of Starlight has mysteriously disappeared. Mervyn does not care, he has beaten Rufus Dracon in the Academy’s sledding league and his family have found a new home on Pershwin.