Chapter 7
Once the craft had landed, Mr. Hipobaum turned towards the boys. Nick was frozen in place, staring at his teacher in absolute shock. Bill meanwhile was trying to clean up the mess he had made of himself, not giving a second thought to the suitcase he had ruined. Both the boys were trembling from the ordeal of landing on an alien planet.
“Ha!” snorted Mr. Hipobaum, “Bet you didn’t know I could fly, did you?” He got up from the pilot’s chair and walked over to them.
“Wh- wh- where are we, sir?” stuttered Bill.
“Your new home boys,” he told them. “This is Nibiru, the legendary Planet X. Scientists have been searching for this place for centuries.”
“What do you mean our new home?” asked Nick with dread.
“I think that the Earth would be far safer for me without the two of you!” huffed Mr. Hipobaum. “But don’t worry. As you will see, Nibiru does support life.”
“But Sir!” moaned Bill. “What is this place?”
“Planet X,” replied Mr. Hipobaum simply, as if expecting the boys to know exactly what he was talking about. They just stared in astonishment, not sure what to make of it. With a sigh, he tried to give them a brief explanation. “Planet X, also known as Nibiru, orbits the sun every 3,600 years. The last time it was here, it smashed into the Earth, taking a large chunk with it. That chunk carried the seeds of all the life you will see in a moment. In the beginning, there was enough vegetation to create a very thin atmosphere that allowed more plants to grow. What you will see is the result of thousands of years of evolution, and that explains why everything here is so similar to Earth. You can’t see it from here, but do you remember the bubble that surrounded the atmosphere as we entered? That is a barrier that the Niburites constructed to make this place invisible. Unfortunately for them, they made a slight miscalculation on the effects of the Earth’s gravity, which made the shield flicker when it got too close. It only lasted for a fraction of a second but I happened to be looking in the right place at the right time. Now if you don’t mind …”
Nick just wanted to keep Mr. Hipobaum talking so that he could come up with a plan to escape. “Where is the gold that you came here for,” he asked. Mr. Hipobaum looked like he was just about to answer when he suddenly stopped himself.
“Aha! That would be telling!” he sniffed. He opened one of his suitcases and pulled out a huge machete. Nick’s blood turned into ice water. Mr. Hipobaum spun around and glared at his captives. He walked slowly towards them. Nick closed his eyes, expecting the worst but Mr. Hipobaum just walked past them. “I’ll decide what to do with you when I get back, toodle-doo!” he said, stepping out into the sunshine and locking the door behind him. He plodded away with the machete over his shoulder, leaving the boys tied up and disappeared into the thick forest that lay just beyond the clearing they had landed in.
"Come on Buddy, we have to figure out how to get out of here," said Nick.
"OK Sherlock, how?" asked Bill. "He's locked the bus, you saw him."
"We managed to get ourselves in, getting out should be easy. Come on!" said Nick, letting out his breath again and wriggling out of the ropes. "Saw that in a movie once." Nick quickly untied Bill and they headed to the front of the bus.
"What's this knob do?" said Bill, reaching for a lever.
"Easy Tiger!" warned Nick, grabbing his hand. "For all you know that could be a self-destruct button or something."
"Nope," said Bill with a grin. "It says right here 'Main door release'." He pulled the knob and sure enough, the door opened once again. They ran out of the bus and into the clearing.
"Now what?" asked Bill.
"We go after him, of course," replied Nick. "He's up to no good, I'm sure of it."
Mr. Hipobaum was easy enough to track. He had hacked his way through the thick vegetation and the boys could walk side by side along the rough path. The jungle was rich with colour and with each step they took, could smell the strong odour of mulch and fertile ground. Nick stopped suddenly and held his arm out in front of Bill.
"What's up Nick?" he asked.
"Something isn't right."
"What do you mean, this is a jungle. It looks like a jungle and it sure smells like a jungle."
"Yes, but listen," said Nick.
"What? I don't hear anything," said Bill.
"Exactly, neither do I."
"What is your point?" asked Bill, at a complete loss as to what Nick was going on about.
"There should be crickets chirping and birds singing, but there is nothing, not a sound."
Bill realised that Nick was right. The jungle was eerily quiet. "Don't forget, we are on another planet," he said, trying to reassure himself.
"I know but I still don't like it. I get the feeling that we are being watched," said Nick looking around him warily.
"Well we can't just stand around here," said Bill. "Let’s go." He pulled Nick by the arm and the boys continued on the path.
They were not sure whether they heard it first or felt it, but after a few minutes, both of them sensed a humming vibration that seemed to come from up ahead.
"What is that noise?" asked Bill.
"Sounds like a pylon," said Nick.
"A what?"
"A pylon, you know, those huge metal structures that carry power lines. They make that buzzing sound when you go near them."
"Oh yeah," said Bill. "It's sounds just like that."
Then the noise started to change from a buzzing to a crackling and then from a crackling to a low whine that changed pitch and was interrupted by bursts of static. It sounded like someone tuning an old radio.
“Cool, polyphonic!” said Bill.
As they walked, the noise grew louder. Part of Nick wanted to turn back but his curiosity and his determination to stop Mr. Hipobaum urged him on. Soon the noise was so loud that it actually made their teeth buzz. It was no wonder there were no animals in that part of the woods, thought Nick. Soon they arrived at the edge of another clearing. Nick stopped dead in his tracks and Bill, who was studying the lush alien forest canopy as he walked, bumped right into him.
“Oi, why did you stop?” asked Bill rubbing his chin. Nick stood motionless, just staring into the middle distance. When he turned to follow Nick’s gaze, he found the answer to his question.
There before them in the clearing, stood a massive, four hundred foot tower made out of solid gold. It gleamed in the sunlight and even seemed to be radiating a light of its own. The base of the tower was about as wide as a small house and it tapered up to a point that looked as sharp as a needle. Balanced impossibly at the very top was a curious crystal ball that seemed to be rotating slowly. As the boys looked more closely, they realised that the tower was not solid, but made from tiny golden bricks. Movement near the base of the tower caught their eyes and as they looked, they saw small furry creatures jumping towards Mr. Hipobaum. Well, not exactly jumping. They were moving with a curious combination of bouncing and flying. With each bounce they flapped their very large ears, which allowed them to cover short distances at an alarming speed. Each one wore what looked like ski goggles and the ones closest to the tower carried long sharp spears. They swarmed around Mr. Hipobaum and pointed their weapons at him, shouting in high-pitched voices. They looked like cute teddy bears pretending to be fierce. Nick and Bill crouched out of sight in the undergrowth at the edge of the clearing.
Mr. Hipobaum suddenly stopped and took his greedy little eyes off the tower. He looked down at the creatures, put his hands on his hips and started tapping his foot impatiently. The little aliens were only as tall as his knee and clearly did not threaten him. Suddenly, from within the throng of these strange beings, came one that was dressed in bright red armour. The tip of his spear not only had a wickedly sharp point, but also a brightly coloured tassel that seemed to shimmer in response to the vibrating tower. The creature addressed Mr. Hipobaum in a loud voice. The language that he spoke was full of grunts, clicks and sounds that he made by rolling his tongue. His ears were flat against his head and he was extremely agitated. Mr. Hipobaum tried to step aside but the alien guard sprang into action. He leaped into the air with his spear and flapped his ears wildly. With great agility, he turned in mid-air, and came crashing downwards, stabbing Mr. Hipobaum right in the foot. The rest of the creatures gasped and then became still. Mr. Hipobaum meanwhile was hopping about in pain swearing. He kicked at the guard with his uninjured foot and sent the poor thing flying through the air towards the boys. With a satisfied grunt, Mr. Hipobaum turned around and hobbled back towards the golden tower.
Nick and Bill looked on in amazement from their hiding place. The poor creature had landed a few feet in front of them, unconscious. His goggles had fallen off his head and lay in the grass a short distance away. The rest of them, instead of attacking Mr. Hipobaum as you might have expected, jumped backwards and allowed him to pass. Then an even more peculiar thing happened. The alien creatures started giggling like a group of school-girls.
“What are they laughing about?” asked Bill in a whisper, but as he looked to his left, he discovered that his best friend was gone. Bill looked around in a panic but then saw Nick leopard-crawling towards the unconscious guard. Bill was too scared to shout because he did not want to draw any attention to himself so he bit his bottom lip instead and let out a soft whimper. Nick grabbed the goggles and wriggled back like a lightning snake to their hiding place. Luckily he had not been seen. The furry creatures were too busy laughing and pointing at the man hobbling towards the tower.
“Why aren’t they trying to stop him?” whined Bill. “And what on earth is so funny?”
“Don’t forget, we are not on earth any more,” said Nick dryly, putting on the goggles. “Oh my goodness gracious me! You have got to see this!”
Bill took the goggles from Nick and put them on himself. Through specially modified lenses, he could now see the same multi-coloured bubble that they had seen from the space bus, radiating outwards from the crystal ball on the top of the tower. In a glorious beam, it shot skywards and then opened up in a swirling mass that covered the entire planet. “So this is how they made the shield!” exclaimed Bill.
“Yes,” said Nick. “And if Mr. Hipobaum takes any of that gold, he will destroy the tower and the shield.”
“So why aren’t they trying to stop him?” asked Bill again.
“Maybe they already have,” said Nick, turning his attention to the commotion at the tower once more.
As Mr. Hipobaum limped closer to the tower, the guards started nudging each other, pointing and giggling with excitement. Then, just as he reached out to the tower, they all stopped what they were doing and just stared. As his finger touched the first gold brick, there was a blinding flash of light and a very loud bang. When the boys looked again, their Geography teacher had turned into a solid gold statue. The creatures fell about laughing and dropped their spears on the floor. Some of them took off their goggles to wipe away their tears of delight. One of them tried to copy what Mr. Hipobaum had done. He bounced a short distance, reached out his hand and shouted ‘Bang’. Then, with a completely blank expression, toppled over like a giddy garden gnome. The rest of them thought this was very funny indeed and rolled about in fits of laughter.
“How did they do that?” asked Bill, trying very hard not to laugh himself.
“My guess is that it had something to do with his spear,” said Nick pointing to the guard who had stabbed Mr. Hipobaum in the foot. “It was probably poisoned or something.”
The unconscious guard that lay in front of them started to stir. In a riot of noise, the mob of laughing creatures came hopping and flapping to cheer as he got up. The guard looked around for his goggles and suddenly stopped and turned. He peered into the undergrowth where the boys were hiding and instantly spotted Bill who was still wearing them.