Stowaways

by Matt Phillips

  "You two need to stop playing around and get in here," she said, annoyed. The brothers ignored her for another minute of spinning until they both begin to feel nauseous.

  "Serves you right," Ani said to them when they were beside her in the shuttle's cargo hold.

  "You aren't my mother," Ernie said defensively. He tried to steady himself against the shuttle window.

  "I wonder what is happening in Dad's cabin," Daniel said thinking about Nathan.

  Nathan Learns a Secret

  "Yes, yes, Captain," the short, round, human said. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Manford Mann, assistant to Ambassador Lineus. The Ambassador is deeply sorry that he cannot be here in person to greet you."

  "That is alright, Mr. Mann," Dad replied. "Is the Ambassador doing some scientific research?"

  "Yes, yes. Very busy doing research. He is just completing the final calculations needed for a great experiment. The equipment you brought is arriving just in time. We must get it to his residence very quickly."

  "What sort of experiment is he doing?" the XO asked curiously.

  "Yes, yes. Very secret experiments," Mr. Mann said again.

  Dad and the XO glanced at each other. The Kappaquillians appeared to be following the discussion, although none of them spoke English as far as Dad knew.

  Nathan eyed them closely from behind the wall. The Kappaquillians were as short as he expected. They were about the same size as he and his brothers even though this group appeared to be full-grown adults. They all wore long flowing robes that reached the ground and hid their wide feet. Their facial features were similar to humans, although their eyes bulged outward a bit, and their noses were stubbier than anything Nathan had ever seen. Still, they walked on two legs and otherwise were very much like weird-looking humans. They communicated through a wide range of whistles, trills, and similar sounds. Nathan noticed the sounds seemed to come from deeper in their throat, not through their lips like human whistles.

  Nathan had his eye pressed up against the small hole ever since the visitors arrived in Dad's cabin. Two things immediately surprised him. First, it was not the Ambassador who had been on the shuttle. Instead, the man said he was the Ambassador's assistant. Second, for reasons Nathan did not understand, the assistant brought five Kappaquillians with him.

  "Excuse me, Captain," Mildred's voice interrupted. The voice came over Dad's wrist comp instead of over the normal room speakers.

  "Yes, Mildred, what is it?"

  "The Cargo Officer reports a problem with the latching mechanism on one of the cargo containers," Mildred reported. "I am unable to release it, and he reports trouble with the manual release as well."

  Dad shook his head and looked at the XO. "That's the same latch we had trouble with last year on Mars. Mildred, tell him I will be right down to take a look."

  "Message relayed," Mildred said.

  "Mildred, how is that translation program coming along?" the XO asked.

  "It does not appear to be providing any usable translation," Mildred answered. "Kappaquillian language is extremely hard to decipher. Also, I am not able to detect any sound from the Captain's cabin."

  "That's okay, Mildred, we can take a look at it later," Dad said. He turned to Mr. Mann. "I will personally supervise the cargo offloading. We will do our best to expedite the delivery."

  "Yes, yes. The Ambassador would appreciate no more delays," he said nervously. "We are already behind schedule. There is no time to lose."

  "Well, I wish I understood what was so urgent about this equipment but since your experiment is a secret there is not much more I can say. Would you like to update the Ambassador from here?"

  "Yes, yes. I think that would be best."

  Dad stood to leave. "Mildred, open a channel for Mr. Mann to communicate with the Ambassador," Dad ordered.

  "I will give you some privacy," Dad said. He and the XO left the room and the door slid closed behind them.

  Mr. Mann stood in the spot where the stowaways had talked to their mothers a few days earlier. Suddenly a Kappaquillian appeared on the display. He whistled and a number of his colleagues with Mr. Mann whistled back. A moment later the Ambassador appeared on the screen.

  "Do not tell me there is a problem with the shipment," the Ambassador said humorlessly.

  "Yes, yes. The equipment is all here. I have expressed to the Captain the need to expedite the unloading," Mr. Mann said.

  "You did not tell him why we need it so urgently, did you?"

  "Yes, yes. I did not tell him why." Nathan thought the man had a peculiar way of speaking. "I only told him that time is of the essence if our experiment is to be successful."

  "If we are successful, we will combine the dimensions of space and time in a portal that will make travel to Earth as easy as walking through a door. It will fetch us riches beyond our wildest Earthly dreams. Every planet will pay us for our creation."

  "Yes, yes. And the danger is no concern of ours," Mr. Mann agreed.

  "But they must hurry with the equipment. The plasma accelerator on Earth will stabilize within a few hours of coming on-line. It is only while it is unstable that we can hope to match the quantum acceleration and open the portal for our experiment to succeed."

  Nathan watched intently. Mom is working at a plasma accelerator lab, too, he thought happily.

  "Yes, yes. As long as our calculations are correct, there will be no explosion at the lab like last time."

  The Ambassador seemed to consider that for a minute. "A miscalculation would be very unfortunate for the Magellan University plasma lab," he admitted. "I admit the loss of life would be great..."

  Wait, they are talking about Mom's lab! Nathan realized.

  "Yes, yes. The explosion would destroy the lab. Kill everyone."

  "Which is why I must get back to my calculations. And you must make sure everything is delivered as planned."

  The image of the Ambassador disappeared without any further conversation.

  Nathan fell back to the floor. An explosion at Mom's lab would kill everyone? His head spun. He felt nauseous. Mom was in danger. But who knew beside him? None of the crew was in the room while the Ambassador and Mr. Mann spoke. Suddenly Nathan remembered Mildred!

  Mildred would have heard the conversation. Her cameras and microphones were not everywhere, but they already knew there was a working camera in Dad's cabin.

  Nathan started to feel better. She would definitely report what she heard to Dad. He would stop unloading the cargo. Maybe even arrest the Ambassador.

  Nathan sat back down by the hole in the wall. He looked at the junction box where the cable for the camera connected into the ship's system. The same cable they had already disconnected several times on the trip. There it hung, disconnected from the junction box. They must have forgotten to plug it in the last time. Mildred would not be telling anybody. Nathan's heart sank.

  Nathan wished Daniel was there with him. Daniel would know what to do. Nathan heard Dad come back. Quickly Nathan plugged the cable back into the junction box, hoping they would say something else to reveal their secret. But nothing else was said about the secret experiment and then the visitors were gone.

  Nathan knew he was supposed to sit quietly and keep an eye on things while his brothers visited Kappaqilla but that was before he learned that a madman was planning an experiment. An experiment which, if Nathan understood correctly, might go wrong and blow up his Mother's lab with her in it.

  We Have to Warn Dad!

  Daniel, Ernie, and Ani floated in the cargo hold of the shuttle. There was not much to do as they waited for Dad to go to the surface. They heard the shuttle door slide open and the three stowaways held their breath with excitement and anticipation. They were startled to hear a scratching sound at the access panel. Someone knew they were in there.

  "Hey guys, it's me. Open up! Quick!"

  Daniel recognized his brother's whispered voice. He began opening the latches that held the access panel in place. He pulled it to the
side and, with Ernie's help, pulled their youngest brother into the cargo hold. They had barely replaced the access panel when the shuttle's door opened again.

  Dad, his XO, and another member of the crew floated expertly into the shuttle.

  "Daniel, I have to tell you something," Nathan whispered as quietly as he could.

  Daniel shook his head no and raised a single finger to his lips. He was curious about what made his brother suddenly join them, but they could not risk making noise now. He placed his eye at the seam in the shuttle's bulkhead and watched his Dad and the XO sitting at the shuttle's controls. The other crew member was the cargo officer. He reviewed calculations about the unloading on his comp.

  "Captain, the first cargo container has been placed on the planet's surface," the ship's cargo officer, reported.

  "Very well," Dad said. "That docking connection cost us a couple of hours. We need to make sure we get that repaired when we get back to Earth."

  "Yes, sir," the ship's cargo officer said.

  "I would not have expected such a high-pressure delivery for science equipment," the XO remarked.

  "Well, this Ambassador is not your average scientist," the cargo officer replied. "The cargo we are delivering is extremely rare. Built to very specific requirements. I'm not exactly sure what he intends to do with it."

  "My wife knows him from his days at the University of Madrid," Dad said. "I guess he had a reputation for doing reckless experiments. Sometimes even dangerous."

  "Well the delivery location is on the far edge of the city," the XO said. "If that tells you anything."

  Nathan forgot all about his terrible news when he joined Ernie at one of the cargo bay windows and stared with wonder as Kappaqilla came into view. The shuttle piloted itself, while Dad and the XO supervised.

  In the cargo area, the four stowaways peered out the shuttle's two narrow windows as it descended toward the surface of Kappaquilla. They were more excited than any of them had ever been in their entire lives. From orbit, the planet appeared to be a reddish-gray ball. As they drew closer, the planet's features became clear. Daniel thought back to what he learned from Dr. Camberly. Kappaqilla was much closer to its sun than the Earth was to its sun. Somehow, the distance created yellow plants instead of green ones, and excess oxygen everywhere. The trees were brittle and lightweight, but Dr. Camberly had never mentioned the fires.

  The red fires and smoldering canyons twisted in the yellow wilderness that stretched beyond the city limits. Small fires and smoldering ash created dark gray smoky clouds, which trailed across the planet's sky in wisps.

  Daniel examined the city as the shuttle descended in a spiral. Kappaqilla's capital city did not look much different than a city on Earth. Tall buildings dominated the center of the city, with smaller buildings stretching out in every direction. Ground transportation was evident by veins of light snaking among the buildings. The shuttle descended further still, and Daniel took in the stark contrast between the bustling city and the fiery yellow wilderness that surrounded it. The Kappaquillian Forest was made up primarily of the same broad yellow leaves that he had seen in biology class a few days before. The yellow trees and bushes, dark rocks, ashy gray soil and glow from the fires, made the surrounding wilderness look like one big autumn leaf.

  "It looks like the whole planet is covered in lava," Ernie whispered.

  Daniel held a finger to his lips, reminding Ernie to be quiet, and checked the front of the cabin through the bulkhead crack. Dad and the other officers were just as fascinated with the view as he and his brothers. Daniel floated back to the window as the shuttle circled lower.

  In no time, the shuttle was descending below the tallest buildings as the computer-guided the small ship to the Ambassador's residence just outside the city. Daniel thought it was an odd location for an Ambassador's house. The difference between the bustling city and the fiery wilderness was stark. Outside the city, what Ernie thought was lava was actually fires burning from the planet's deep crevices and canyons. Each canyon looked like a finger of smoke and red embers wove through the forest. Occasionally a ball of fire would flare up from the canyon's deep crevices into the atmosphere.

  A second ship came into view and Daniel knew it must be one of the cargo tugs from John Glenn. He could see the pilot, strapped to a seat in front of the large bubble window at the top of the tug. A single-engine, much larger than the small ship needed, ensured the tug could handle large heavy cargo in space and on any planet that needed the delivery. The pilot kept a close eye on his cargo and the surrounding area as two large arms held the oddly shaped freight container in front of him.

  Their shuttle circled lower, heading toward a clearing that was just outside of a huge house surrounded by a high wall. The wall was tall for Earth standards, but was unnecessarily tall for the much shorter Kappaquillians. Inside the walls, a half-finished house loomed impressively over the rest of the compound and Kappaquillians swarmed around the large structure as the construction continued.

  A team of Kappaquillians was fastening two sections of curved silver pipes together with enormous bolts. The pipes formed a large loop, perfectly circular, that ran around an empty area within the compound walls. The entire loop seemed to be maintained in a perfect horizontal condition, held in place by hastily constructed pillars made from Kappaquillian wood. At one end, two large machines connected to the pipes. Daniel noticed thick black cables and various sized colored tubes running to the two machines from the air, but once the shuttle landed, Daniel could no longer see inside the compound.

  A minute later Dad and his two officers stepped onto the planet's surface. Daniel watched them through his window but no one spoke until the shuttle door closed again and the four stowaways were alone.

  "This is so cool!" Nathan said.

  "I thought you were staying on the ship?" Ernie said, looking at his younger brother with annoyance.

  In all of the excitement, Nathan had forgotten about the secret!

  "He's going to blow up Mom's lab!" Nathan exclaimed. The others all looked at him in confusion.

  "Who?"

  "We have to warn Dad!"

  "What are you talking about?"

  "Wait, Nathan," Daniel said finally. "Slow down. Take a deep breath."

  Nathan did as his brother instructed. He exhaled and then began again. "After you left, I heard the Ambassador talking to his assistant, Mr. Mann. They're using the equipment Dad is delivering for some kind of bad experiment. If it doesn't work, Mom's lab might explode!"

  "What did Dad say?"

  "He was gone. Everyone left the room. And Mildred was still unplugged from when we had disconnected the cables."

  "Are you trying to tell me that the experiment the Ambassador wants to do here, is going to affect something back on Earth?" Ernie asked. "And you are the only one who heard it?"

  Nathan began to cry.

  "You have to believe me, Daniel," Nathan said through tears. "I heard them talking in Dad's cabin. This experiment will make them rich if it works. But if it doesn't work, Mom's whole lab might explode."

  "You probably just misunderstood," Daniel said.

  Ernie rolled his eyes. "How could something done here affect another solar system?" he said annoyed.

  Ani put her arm around Nathan's shoulders. He put his head against her and cried again. She looked at Daniel, then Ernie, then back at Daniel. "What if it's true?"

  Daniel looked out the shuttle's window and thought. The first cargo container was already being unloaded by Kappaquillians. Large metal computer cabinets were quickly removed from the container and carried through the gate of the compound. Mr. Mann was supervising. The second container was hovering above them, waiting to land and Daniel knew that another cargo tug would be coming soon with the final container.

  "We can't just go out there and tell Dad," Ernie reasoned.

  "But what if it's true?" Ani asked again. "You can't take that chance with your Mom's life! I know I couldn't."

  Danie
l had too many problems to think about right now. Nathan might have misunderstood what was said. Sometimes Nathan overreacted about things. This was probably one of those times. It was probably nothing. If they warned their father, they would be in enormous trouble. But how could he risk Mom's life or the others at her lab just to keep himself out of trouble?

  If it was true, they had to tell their Dad. Daniel watched the equipment being unloaded while he thought about what to do. Most of the equipment from the first container had already disappeared inside the walls of the Ambassador's compound.

  The walls looked like they had been built in a hurry. They were ragged and rough, and the pieces did not fit together well. There were discarded pieces of wall and large empty cans piled nearby. Close to the gate, where metal canisters were stacked neatly against the wall, Daniel recognized English words glue and adhesive as well as a variety of symbols and words that he did not recognize.

  As Daniel contemplated what to do, more Kappaquillians arrived to help unload the next large cargo containers. The workers were fascinating to watch. Daniel watched them take off their hats and long colorful robes. Underneath the robes, each one wore identical work clothes, similar to overalls. The shirts they wore underneath matched their robe. They carefully laid their robes on top of a pile of rocks near the shuttle and went to work unloading the cargo, construction equipment, and scientific instruments for the Ambassador's experiment.

  Daniel moved to the opposite side of the shuttle. The yellow forest was thick with trees. An eerie smoke rose from a series of deep crevices which ran haphazardly throughout the property and on into the wilderness. Daniel went back to watch his Dad and the other officers on the left side of the shuttle with the others. "If he doesn't get the equipment, then he can't experiment, right?"

  "Right," Ani answered. “So what do we do?"