Chapter 8
Two more armour-clad guards made their way to the edge of the clearing and pointed their spears at Nick and Bill. They gestured for them to stand with their hands up which they did without argument. One of them babbled orders to the group and about twenty of them rushed off to get the golden statue that used to be a Geography teacher. With tremendous effort, they finally managed to pick him up and put him on the floor next to the two frightened boys. A look of stupid surprise was frozen on his face and when one of the creatures mimicked the expression, the rest of them began laughing all over again. The boys, however, did not find it funny at all. The guards motioned for them to turn around and marched them back the way they had come. Behind them, Nick and Bill could hear the others as they picked the statue up and followed them into the forest.
When they finally reached the space bus, Nick and Bill were ordered inside. With amazing coordination, the Furry Flappers, as Nick had come to think of them, shoved the statue in after them. Nick looked around him and then realised with a sudden rush of panic that, with Mr. Hipobaum turned into gold, there was no way for them to get back to Earth. Just then, there was a loud tapping sound. An old Nibirian creature was knocking his long, gnarled cane against the side of the open door. He had a long shabby beard that was the colour of dark chocolate, streaked with silver. By the string of bones around his neck, Nick guessed that it was the medicine man or the shaman of the clan. Nick could somehow sense that all it wanted was for them to leave in peace. He couldn’t explain how he sensed that, he just knew they were no longer in any danger. The creature held his gaze and, all of a sudden, Nick felt a strange sense of calm, as if he had been magically hypnotized. The shaman gave Nick a large rusty disc that had small glass beads embedded around the edge and a shiny chrome button in the middle. The creature smelled awful, rather like an old mangy dog. Nick held his nose as it explained to him using gestures what to do with the disc. Nick couldn’t help but notice a sly grin behind the old thing’s beard but had no choice but to trust him.
He assumed that by following the shaman’s instructions, he could somehow bring Mr. Hipobaum back to life. With one final grunt, the old shaman slammed the door behind Nick and pointed his cane to the sky. The rest of the group copied what the shaman had done by shaking their fists and pointing to the sky, chanting for them to leave.
“What was that all about?” asked Bill, beside himself with worry. “We have to get out of here fast, but how are we going to fly this thing? And what are we going to do about him?”
“Everything will be OK,” said Nick and walked slowly over to Mr. Hipobaum with the disc in his hand.
“Wait!” urged Bill. “What is that?”
“The shaman gave it to me. I think that this contains the antidote for the potion that turned him into gold. He knelt down and placed it on Mr. Hipobaum’s forehead.
Nick very carefully pressed the chrome button and dragged Bill to a safe corner of the space bus, behind the pilot’s chair. The glass beads flickered as an amber light flashed through them in a circle going faster and faster, emitting a series of deafening beeps. The boys hid behind the chair, covering their ears. Through the glass they could see the Nibirians bouncing around outside, holding their flapping ears, trying to copy them and laughing uncontrollably once more. They seemed to think that everything was terribly funny.
Then everything went deathly quiet, and just as Bill opened one eye and peeked around the chair, there was another very loud bang and a puff of blue smoke filled the inside of the bus. Bill screamed in horror because he thought he had just witnessed his best friend blow the head off their Geography teacher. The events of the day proved far too much for him and he collapsed in a faint. Nick ran over to see what had become of Mr. Hipobaum. The man still had a sore foot but was otherwise unhurt and fully back to himself again. Mr. Hipobaum shot up and without a word, ran to the pilot’s chair, frantically trying to get the space bus started.
Nick was relieved that they were finally going home. Bill was starting to come to, so Nick helped him up into the co-pilot’s chair. Bill gave Mr. Hipobaum a groggy look and then turned to face Nick.
“Panic mechanic,” he said with a smile and promptly passed out again.
Meanwhile, Mr. Hipobaum got the space bus started. Before long, they blasted off from the surface of Planet X, leaving a crowd of very happy Niburites behind them.