Keep talking, you creep! I thought. Keep talking!
BKR was so wound up in his little speech, in trying to terrify Mom and the others, that he didn’t even notice Seymour slipping out of the room.
“Now, Mrs. Allbright, if you’ll just step into this suit.”
Hurry, Seymour! I thought desperately. Hurry!
Through Snout’s eyes I could see Mom approach the space suit that BKR had offered her. She stopped, turned, looked toward my father, toward the twins.
Simultaneously, through Seymour’s single eye, I could see the corridor rush past as he galloped down to where my body lay waiting.
“I love you, Art,” said my mother softly.
“Come, come, Mrs. Allbright,” said BKR. “This is no time for sentiment. There’s science to be done here. Unless, of course, any of you care to tell me where Rod’s brain patterns have been hidden.”
“We don’t know!” said Mom defiantly. What she was really saying, of course, was “Don’t tell him. I’ve made my choice.”
And I’ve made mine, I thought. Now if I can only follow through on it! Hurry, Seymour! HURRY!
Stay calm, thought Snout. Prepare yourself. Remember the Warrior Science you have learned from Tar Gibbons. You will need all your skills once you are free.
Mom began stepping into the space suit.
Seymour came skidding into the room. I could see myself through his eye, see my body floating in the stasis tube.
Now what? he thought. How do I get you out of there?
I don’t know! I thought desperately. Pull the switch. Push the button, Just get me out!
But through his eye I could see a bewildering array of buttons and switches all around the base of the stasis pod.
Stay calm, Rod, thought Snout. If you keep calm, you can let me see what Seymour is looking at, and I can help you. Panic, and it will disrupt the flow of information from him to you to me.
I tried to empty myself of fear, of any thought at all, to make myself a clear tube so that the images could flow through me, from Seymour to Snout. I tried to imagine myself in my secret place, but my mind, frantic with concern for my mother, kept pulling me back to the moment and the urgent need to get out.
I can’t do it!
You’re generating negatrons! thought Snout. You have to stop, or you will never be able to break free.
I can’t! I replied.
You must! Remember the things I taught you, Rod. Calm yourself. Calm yourself.
Panic fluttered like a bat through the chambers of my mind. Cold terror lurked behind me, whispering of my mother’s death.
Let go, I whispered to myself. Let go, Rod.
I envisioned my secret place again, remembering how I used to go hide there when I was younger, when life was simpler, before I had met these aliens and found out the truth about my father. I began to examine it in tiny detail, remembering all the things I loved about it—the feel of the grass, the smell of the air, the sound of the wind rustling around me.
And suddenly I was free. I could move. I flexed my fingers in astonishment.
I had my body back! I wasn’t simply inside it, it was mine to use again.
Reaching up, I pushed against the crystal lid that covered me.
It wouldn’t move.
New panic surged through me. Stay calm! whispered a deeper, wiser voice—not Snout this time, but actually some part of me.
Seymour, I thought. Find the latch. Get me out of this thing.
Through Snout, I could see that my mother was now fully suited up. BKR was guiding her to the air lock.
I can’t find a switch! thought Seymour.
There’s only so long you can stay calm. A wave of fury swept through me, and I began to pound against the crystal lid. That was useless, stupid.
Then I caught the rage, caught it and channeled it, as the Tar had taught me to do what seemed a lifetime ago. “Will you let the anger devour you, or will you devour the anger?” he had asked. “Do not throw your power away. Focus it, my krevlik. Focus it.”
I caught the anger. I channeled it, funneling all my rage at BKR, and all my fury at what he had done to me and my family, into one mighty thrust. Pulling my feet back, slamming upward, I sent the lid of the stasis tube flying.
All right, Uncle Rod! thought Seymour.
I knelt and took the ring from his paw. “See you later, buddy,” I said, as I slipped it onto my finger. Then I bolted past him, out the door.
Well done, Rod, thought Snout. But don’t forget yourself. It will do no good to burst in here unarmed!
He was right, of course. In my rage I had been ready to do just that, as if I could have somehow fought off BKR and his thugs barehanded.
I headed for the weapons room, which I had found when Seymour and I were exploring the fortress. I grabbed two blasters from the wall and tucked them into my belt, then grabbed another pair, checked their loads, set them on megastun, and headed out of the room.
BKR was guiding my mother into the air lock when I got there. “I want to be with her when she goes out,” he said to the others. “Just in case she has a little secret that she wants to whisper to me. Don’t worry, Mrs. Allbright; I’ll be able to hear you. I’ll be wearing a suit of my own, of course. Only mine will be attached to the wall, so I don’t get sucked out into space.”
I wanted to burst into the room, both guns blazing. I wanted to shout, “Beware the wrath of Rod Allbright, you alien scuzzball!”
It would have felt great. But odds were good that if I actually did it, Arly Bung and the others would blast me before I could get within ten feet of BKR.
So I pressed myself to the wall, and inched forward until I could peek around the corner of the door.
All eyes were focused on BKR and Mom—including those of the guards.
I took a deep breath, centered my strength, tried to remember everything the Tar and Snout had taught me. A bit of Warrior Science came to mind, and I slid silently to the floor.
Then I fired both ray guns at once.
Arly Bung and Quince dropped like bricks. Smorkus Flinders and Bonzetta spun at the sound. Two more blasts from my ray guns, and they were flat out, too.
Now it was just me and BKR.
Except he didn’t know I was there. And though every fiber of my being wanted to rush into the room and shout my defiance and my anger at him, I slid backward.
Good boy, thought Snout. Let him come to you.
“What’s going on there!” screamed BKR.
No one answered.
I had pulled back so far I couldn’t see into the room. But I was still connected to Snout and Seymour. Through their eyes I could watch BKR. My great fear was that he was going to use my mother as a shield. If I had burst into the room, I know he would have done exactly that.
But my silence, my pulling back, did the trick. He was furious and frightened.
And he forgot to stay calm.
Flinging my mother aside, he started toward the door.
I slithered back down the corridor, around a corner. Still on the floor, I pressed myself against the wall.
BKR darted into the hall. Once he left the room, he was out of sight of Snout and Seymour, so I couldn’t see him, either. But I could hear him—hear him coming down the hall, cursing in his fury.
I wanted to leap out, to face him, to grab him and shake him until he snapped.
I wanted him to see me, to know that I, Rod Allbright, the “pudge-boy” he had tormented back when he was disguised as an Earthling, was the one who was defying him, the one who was going to stop his evil plans.
But I waited.
I kept still.
I stayed calm.
And then he was there, looking around the corner, looking at eye level for someone standing there to fight him.
“Beware the wrath of Rod Allbright,” I whispered from my spot on the floor.
Then I blasted him with the ray gun.
CHAPTER
23
Homeboy
THE VOYAGE HOME WAS A bittersweet trip. It took about a week, and as we traveled, I transferred several times from ship to ship, traveling about half the time in Dad’s ship, and half the time in the Ferkel.
BKR and his gang were in Suspended Animation in the Ferkel and would eventually be delivered to Galactic Headquarters for justice.
“Probably go back in Sus-An after the trial,” was Grakker’s prediction. “Except for Smorkus Flinders. He may get sent back to Dimension X. Be a stupid thing to do, but the way the court works these days, you can never be sure.”
There would be another trial, too—a trial for the crew of the Ferkel, who were still considered renegades.
“I suspect it will come out fine,” said Madame Pong, trying to reassure me. “We will probably be put on probation and have letters of censure placed in our records. That’s for the public record. Privately, we may even be commended for finally bringing BKR to justice. The bigger question, Rod, is what to do with you.”
What to do with me, indeed.
I am Deputy Rod Allbright of the Galactic Patrol, and crew member of the renegade ship Ferkel.
And I like being part of the Patrol, like traveling with the crew. It feels good, and real.
On the other hand, I’m only a kid.
And I wanted to go home.
And yet . . . and yet I wondered if I would ever truly be at home on Earth again, or if part of me would always be longing for the stars, and the good ship Ferkel, and the crew I had come to love.
* * *
The first thing we did when we got back to Earth was go into the swamp to see if we could find Grumbo, Nanda, Mir-van, and Krixna.
To my relief, they were still alive, though fairly frightened, since they thought they might be stranded on Earth as two-inch-high aliens forever. But they had made the best of things, building a shelter for themselves in one of the old willow trees. And Grumbo and Mir-van were having a good time studying all the creatures in the swamp.
Even so, they were thrilled when we showed up with the materials to repair their ship.
“I knew you would come back!” cried Krixna, running over to give Elspeth a hug. (We were at two-inch size at the time, too.)
She looked over at me. “Who’s that?” she asked.
“My cousin, Rod Allbright,” said Elspeth. “He’s a member of the Galactic Patrol. We just got him back.”
“I’ve met you before, haven’t I?”’ said Grumbo, looking at me shrewdly. His worm crawled out of his nose and waved around, as if sniffing at me.
“Yes, sir, you have,” I said.
Grumbo glanced at Seymour, then back at me, and I nodded. We didn’t need to say anything else.
They were eager to get on their way. But before they went, Grumbo handed Madame Pong a business card. “In case you’re ever looking for an interesting pet,” he said. Krixna sidled up to Elspeth and handed her an envelope. “This is a picture of me and those giants I told you about,” she said. “So you’ll know I wasn’t lyin’.” Then she dropped to her knees and threw her arms around Seymour and whispered, “G’bye, Mr. Eyeball Guy. I’m gonna miss you!”
“Come along, dear,” said Nanda. “It’s time for us to be leaving.”
Then they all climbed into their ship and flew away.
* * *
“Soon it will be time for us to leave as well,” said Madame Pong the next morning. The crew had spent the night in our house. (They had remained at their two-inch size, so there was plenty of room.) “You will have to make a decision now, Rod.”
“I have to stay here,” I said, a little sad, but very sure.
Madame Pong nodded. “We will put in an application for leave for you. I’m sure it will be granted with no problem.”
“Galactic Ordinance 143.78.92b makes it a certainty,” said Grakker gruffly.
* * *
We went back out to Seldom Seen, the field behind the swamp behind our house. The crew enlarged the Ferkel.
Then, one by one, they came to embrace me and Elspeth.
The two of us knelt, so that we would be about the same height as the crew.
First to say good-bye was Phil the Plant. Putting his leaves on my shoulders, he said, “Fly straight and fly true, Deputy Allbright.”
Plink, peeking out from beneath his leaves, squeaked in agreement.
Next Snout wrapped his long arms around me.
“It has been a pleasure to work with you, Rod,” he said gently. Then he winked and added, “Stay calm.”
“I’ll do my best,” I promised.
Selima Khan, who had been standing by his side, took my hand. “It has been my pleasure to serve your father during his time in exile,” she said. “I believe you are a worthy son to him.” Turning to Dad, she said, “Farewell for now, Ah-rit. May your heart be at ease.”
“Farewell, Selima Khan,” said my father, bending down to embrace her. “May you, too, find that which will put your heart at peace.”
Snout closed his eyes, and a shadow seemed to cross his face. But he said nothing.
Next to speak was Tar Gibbons. “I shall miss you, my krevlik,” said my beloved teacher, stretching its long neck forward and resting its head on my shoulder. “Warrior Science teaches us to rejoice in our comrades, and I have had much joy in your companionship and your courage. You have a Warrior Heart, strong and true. Once again, I release you from your bond to me. Yet this Warrior hopes that we may meet again some day.”
“For all you have taught me, my thanks,” I murmured. “You will always be my teacher.”
Madame Pong had been standing with her arm around Elspeth’s shoulder. Now she came to me and said, “As for me, Rod, I think you have the potential to be one of the Galactic Patrol’s finest. When you are ready to rejoin us, all you have to do is call.” She took my hand in hers and slipped the ring she had given me from my finger. “No need to have this in lethal mode now,” she said, deactivating it. She handed it back to me. “Even so, it is a good thing to have. Possession carries certain . . . privileges.”
Then she taught me how to use it to send a signal that would eventually reach the Ferkel, a signal that would say, “I’m ready.”
Clenching the ring, I put my hand over my heart and made a slight bow. Madame Pong tapped her forehead against mine, which I guess is something they do on her home planet.
At last it was Grakker’s turn. He stared up at me for quite a while, then finally growled, “If ever I have a ship again, there will be a place in my crew for you, Deputy Allbright.”
“There is no captain I would rather serve,” I replied.
Grakker nodded, then backed away without hugging me. It wasn’t the way he did things.
He said his farewells to my mother and my father and Elspeth, then led his crew into the Ferkel. A moment later they started for Galactic Headquarters, taking a piece of my heart with them.
Then it was just us, my family, home again together at last. My father hoisted Little Thing One onto his shoulders. I did the same with Little Thing Two. Then all of us, Mom and Elspeth, Seymour and Edgar, Dad and me and the twins, with Bonehead tagging along behind, walked out of the swamp and back to the house.
Back home.
At last.
About the Author and the Illustrator
BRUCE COVILLE was born in Syracuse, New York. He grew up in a rural area north of the city, around the corner from his grandparents’ dairy farm. In the years before he began to make his living as a writer, Bruce had many jobs, including grave digger, toy maker, elementary teacher, and magazine editor. Now he mostly writes, but spends a fair amount of time traveling to speak at schools and conferences. He also produces and directs full-cast recordings of fantasy novels.
In addition to more than sixty books for young readers, Bruce has written poems, plays, short stories, newspaper articles, thousands of letters, and several years’ worth of journal entries.
He lives in Syracuse with his wife, his youngest child, three cats (Spike, Thunder
, and Princess Ozma Fuzzybutt), and a jet-propelled Norwegian elkhound named Thor.
Some of Bruce’s best-known books are My Teacher Is an Alien, Goblins in the Castle, and Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher.
KATHERINE COVILLE is a self-taught artist who is known for her ability to combine finely detailed drawings with a deliciously wacky sense of humor. She is also a toy maker, specializing in creatures hitherto unseen on this planet. Her other collaborations with Bruce Coville include The Monster’s Ring, The Foolish Giant, Sarah’s Unicorn, Goblins in the Castle, Aliens Ate My Homework, and the Space Brat series.
This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
ALADDIN PAPERBACKS
An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division
Aliens Stole My Body Page 13