Bruce Coville - 6th Grade Alien 08 - Snatched From Earth.pdf - Bruce Coville - widez2

SNATCHED FROM EARTH

Illustrated by Tony Sansevero

Minstrel®

book

Published by POCKET BOOKS

New York London Toronto Sydney Singapore

CHAPTER

[TIM]

Stowaways

It's late, and the others are asleep.

Page 1

Judge Wingler's assistant came in a while ago to pick up the material we had already written, all the

chapters telling how we first got involved in what the galactic media are calling "The Earth Based

Catastrophe that Nearly Ended Life as We Know It."

I would have liked more time to work on my chapters. I was completely honest about how upset I was

when Pleskit's friend Maktel came to earth for a visit, but I'm afraid I didn't sound very mature.

On the other hand, given what happened toLinnsy, maybe it's just as well I'm not all that mature. If I

was, I might be in her situation right now.

The weird thing is, sometimes I almost wish I were.

The pages we had finished covered the first half of the story, beginning from the time Maktel arrived on

Earth from Hevi-Hevi for a visit with Pleskit and started driving me nuts. They talked about our

suspicions regarding Ellico vec Bur, the strange two-part being who arrived on the same

ship with Maktel to visit Pleskit's Fatherly One, Meenom Ventrah. We had gotten

right up to the point where Pleskit, Maktel, Linnsy, and I sneaked onto Ellico vec

Bur's ship to see if we could find any clues to what the Trader(s) were up to.

I still remember the horror I felt when Ellico vec Bur came aboard. We quickly hid in a

storage space, hoping the Trader(s) would leave before they found us.

They left all right, but not in the way we expected. They blasted off and left the planet— with the four of

us still hiding on the ship! I have always wanted to go into space, but I never planned on making the trip

by being snatched from Earth by someone(s) who seemed to be total villains.

I'm too wound up to sleep. I guess I might as well keep writing.

It was pitch black in the storage room until Pleskit's sphen-gnut-ksher began to spark. Its purple

light illuminated the terrified faces of my companions.

Linnsy was standing directly to my right. I felt bad that she had gotten dragged into this mess—though if

I had a choice of who I'd want to have by my side when I was in trouble, she would be the one.

Next to her stood Pleskit himself, his pet Veeblax clinging to his shoulder. I could tell the little animal was

as scared as I was, since it couldn't choose a shape to settle in, but kept shifting from one form to

another.

Next to Pleskit was Maktel, his pudgy face wide-eyed in horror.

I wondered if I looked as frightened as he did. I sure felt that way.

"What are we going to do, guys?" whispered Linnsy.

I've known Linnsy since before kindergarten, so I could tell how hard she was working to keep the

quaver out of her voice. Her nervousness increased the fear wringing my own gut. I realized it was

possible we might never see Earth again.

Earth? Heck, I wasn't sure we would live to see another day once Ellico vec Bur found out we

were aboard.

Page 2

"This is all your fault, Maktel," said Pleskit bitterly. "If you hadn't insisted on checking Ellico vec Bur's

ship, we would still be back at the embassy with the rest of the class, enjoying the

party."

"And if you had believed my suspicions to begin with, I would not have needed to insist on that

checking," replied Maktel, sounding equally bitter. "I did say those Trader(s) were up to something,

didn't I?"

"Actually, we still don't know if they're up to anything," I pointed out.

"Stay out of this, Tim!" snapped Pleskit, which was so totally unlike him that I blinked and took a step

back. I might have backed up more, but one step was as far as I could go into the tiny chamber we were

trapped in.

Of course, in a way I had been feeling trapped ever since Maktel arrived from Hevi-Hevi— trapped by

the nagging fear in my gut that I would be left out of things when he and Pleskit got back together.

Well, I'd managed to keep myself included— and look where it had gotten me!

A sudden movement at my shoulder distracted me. I put a protective hand on the mesh pouch I wore

there. Inside the pouch was a "purple pickle" that, with luck and proper care, might turn into a Veeblax

like Pleskit's. I suddenly wondered if the stress of blasting off would be bad for it.

"This won't hurt the oog-slama, will it?" I asked nervously.

Maktel puffed out his cheeks in a Hevi-Hevian sign of exasperation. "By the Seven Moons of Skatwag!"

he snapped. "We've got more to worry about than that stupid Veeblax in the making!"

"Will you shut up!" I hissed. I kept my voice low so that Ellico vec Bur wouldn't hear us—

then remembered that the Trader(s) couldn't hear us anyway, since the room was soundproof.

Maktel looked at me angrily.

His sphen-gnut-ksher began to spark.

I pressed myself to the wall, wondering if he was about to zap me.

CHAPTER

Page 3

[LINNSY]

Way-outward Bound

I couldn't believe Tim and Maktel were about to get into a fight. What a totally boy thing to do—waste

time fighting when what we really needed to do was figure out how we were going to survive!

It made me wonder if males are the same everywhere in the galaxy.

"All right, that's enough," I said sternly, stepping between them. "You, too, Pleskit. I don't care whose

fault this is, or how stupid each of you thinks the other is. What I want to know is: What are we going to

do now?"

Pleskit blinked. "Sorry, Linnsy," he said softly. "You are correct. I was exhibiting inappropriate

behavior."

I was so surprised I probably would have fallen over, if there had been enough room. Obviously males

across the galaxy were not all alike. I can't imagine any Earthling guy I know settling down

so quickly—much less apologizing that way.

"You and Pleskit are correct," Maktel said, bowing his head. "I apologize for my sharp tongue."

Tim looked from one to the other, then back again. He closed his eyes and shook his head, as if trying to

make sense of this. "Uh, I'm sorry, too," he said at last. Then, quickly, as if he found the act of

apologizing supremely uncomfortable, he said, "Okay, let's try to think. What do we actually know about

our situation?"

"Well, we know that Ellico vec Bur have kidnapped us for nefarious reasons of their

own," said Maktel.

"Actually, we don't even know that," said Pleskit mildly.

"What are you talking about?" cried Maktel. "Didn't they just snatch us into space?"

"They certainly did," said Pleskit. "But did they do that on purpose, or did we just happen to be aboard

when they took off? The real question right now is, do we try to let them know we're here, or do we wait

until the ship lands and try to sneak away, hoping we can find some way to get back home?"

This was a tough one. The longer we delayed letting the Trader(s) know we were on board, the farther

we got from Earth. But if we did manage to let them know, who was to say they wouldn't just zap us, or

fling us into space, or something?

When I brought this point up, Pleskit said, "I'm sure they are far too civilized for that."

"Pleskit, you are a dreamer," said Maktel, shaking his head. "The members of the Trading Federation

are not as universally upright and moral as you would like to think."

Page 4

"Based on our experiences since you came to Earth, I'd have to say Maktel is right," said Tim. I had to

give him credit for saying that, since I knew it would gall him to admit Maktel was right about anything,

much less take his side in a dispute with Pleskit.

"Let me check something," said Pleskit. He went to the door of the little room where we were hidden.

When he turned back, his face was grim. "We're still locked in. I had hoped that once takeoff was

complete, the lock would do an automatic release."

"So we couldn't tell Ellico vec Bur we're here even if we wanted to," I said. "All right,

what do we do instead?"

"Let's start by listing what we know," said Tim.

Unfortunately, the answer to this question turned out to be: almost nothing. Sure, Ellico vec Bur were

a suspicious twosome, and Maktel was convinced they were involved in some

horrible plot. But if so, what was it? Not to mention: Where were we going—and

how long would it take to get there?

I glanced at my watch. It had been fifteen minutes since we took off.

"Don't count on that for an accurate display of time," said Maktel. "The ship is going fast enough by now

that time will be passing differently for us than it does back on the planet."

I knew—mostly from Tim babbling about his science-fiction shows—that the closer you get to the speed

of light, the slower time actually passes for you. But I hadn't really thought about that weirdosity applying

to us.

"How much time has really gone by back on Earth?" I asked, feeling a new surge of panic as I wondered

if our classmates were now in tenth grade or something.

"It's hard to say," answered Pleskit. "Reality is a tricky concept. It's possible a few years have passed.

More likely it has not been more than a few hours. It depends on how quickly the ship has been

accelerating."

As I was trying to wrap my mind around this idea, and wondering how oldJordan would be when we

got back (assuming, of course, that we did get back), the ship began to vibrate. A sudden

shrieking sound seemed to split my head. My body seemed to be picking up the

ship's vibrations, as if I were some giant tuning fork.

Then I felt a stretching sensation, as if I had been turned into elastic and some huge creature had

grabbed my head, while some other creature had grabbed my feet, and now both of them were running in

opposite directions.

I heard Tim screaming.

Then I realized I was doing the same thing.

"Whhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaat'sssssss goooooiiiiii-innnnnngggggg ooooonnnnnnnn?" I cried.

Page 5

Bruce Coville - 6th Grade Alien 08 - Snatched From Earth.pdf

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