Chapter 5
With pulses racing, both Nick and Bill struggled to keep still. The space they had climbed into was cramped and they were almost on top of each other. The darkness was so complete that they couldn’t see a thing. There was a strong new-carpet smell mixed with a faintly musty odour that seemed to come from the suitcases behind them. “Where are we?” whispered Nick.
“Luggage compartment,” answered Bill. “There was a switch on the dashboard.”
They could hear the shed door open and footsteps approaching. Although they had to strain hard to hear, they could just make out what their teachers were saying.
“… I’m telling you those brats are making it up!” insisted Mr. Hipobaum.
“Well, that’s quite a story, even for those two,” said Mr. Winiger. “Why would they make it up?”
“Who knows with the kids these days,” said Mr. Hipobaum, trying to sound calm.
“So what is all this then?” asked Mr. Winiger, waving the piece of paper the boys had found in Mr. Hipobaum’s face.
“I really have no idea, Wally,” insisted Mr. Hipobaum. “It’s nothing, really.” He took the paper from the Headmaster and quickly stuffed it into his pocket. “Do you realise what this discovery will mean for the school?” he asked, eager to change the subject. “There will be journalists and scientists from all over the world here at the St. Thomas School. We’ll be famous!”
A vague dreamy look drifted across the Headmaster’s face as he thought of the certain fame their discovery would bring. “To think that two lowly teachers actually found the 10th planet, Nibiru! I can’t wait to see the look on the faces of the NASA scientists!” said Mr. Winiger gleefully. He had totally forgotten about his earlier suspicions but then he looked at Mr. Hipobaum suddenly. “Nobody else knows about this do they?”
“Of course not,” said Mr. Hipobaum, trying to be as reassuring as possible.
“I don’t want to look like an idiot if it is just a deep space comet that they already know about!”
“Relax, Wally. That is why we built this baby, remember?” he said, patting the side of the gleaming bus. “In two weeks it is half-term and you and I will go and see Nibiru for ourselves. When we get back with proof …”
“It’ll be the Nobel prize!” finished Mr. Winiger.
Mr. Hipobaum gently steered the beaming, starry-eyed Headmaster to the door of the shed. “Don’t you worry, my old friend. I’ve got it all under control. Just have to fine-tune the thrusters and we’re ready for take-off!”
Mr. Winiger walked off into the afternoon dreaming of shaking hands with the Prime Minister and having dinner at Buckingham Palace. Mr. Hipobaum meanwhile, shut the shed door and faced the beautiful bus, rubbing his hands together like Wile E. Coyote. “Recognition from NASA? Hah!” he snorted. “And let those filthy scavengers get their hands on my gold? NEVER!”
Inside the luggage hold, the boys could not believe what they were hearing. Suddenly the bus began to rock gently and they realised that Mr. Hipobaum was climbing the stairs. Bill’s leg started to cramp so he clenched his teeth, hoping it would pass. Nick, however, remained perfectly still. He could hear a very faint humming and thought he felt the bus tilting very, very slowly. Bill was too busy trying to control the pain in his leg to notice but eventually, Nick was sure.
“Bill, we’re moving!” he said.
“Arghh, my leg!” said Bill, through gritted teeth. “Got. To. Stretch!”
“Did you hear me?” whispered Nick loudly into the darkness where he guessed Bill’s ear might be. “This bus is MOVING!”
As he said that, a spasm ripped through Bill’s leg and he kicked out, his heel, stamping hard on Nick’s foot. Nick jerked his head to the left in pain and screamed as the side of his head hit something hard on the otherwise carpeted wall behind him. He would have surely been heard had Mr. Hipobaum not started the engine. The faint hum grew into an awfully loud grumbling noise. The bus was also tilting more noticeably now and with both boys in pain, it took them a few seconds to realise that they were no longer in darkness. Nick struggled to turn around and saw what he had hit his head against. It was a switch for the interior light.
“Hey Nick, you’re a genius!” shouted Bill over the noise that now seemed to come from everywhere. He needn’t have bothered because Nick couldn’t hear a thing. From inside the luggage compartment, the noise was a deafening roar. The bus continued to tilt upwards. Bill was right on top of Nick, squashing him into the suitcases beneath him. Struggling under the weight of his friend and ignoring the pain in his foot, Nick struggled to block his ears. He managed to wriggle slightly to his right to allow Bill some room. As Bill slid down next to him, he noticed a small lever just above his head. He tried to lift his arm to reach it but the whole bus started to shake violently and he had a strange sensation of sinking. He realised that their worst fears had come true. The bus was taking off and they had no time to escape.
“What does this thing run on, Supersonic Tonic?” shouted Bill, right into Nick’s left ear. Nick could see Bill’s lips moving but still could not hear a thing. Bill tried again to reach for the lever again but his arm seemed to be glued to his side. The bus crashed through the roof of the shed and the G-force of the take-off squashed the boys into a little heap at the bottom of the luggage compartment. After what seemed like an eternity, the force eventually subsided and they found that, instead of being glued to the floor, they were actually floating around the tiny space.
“We must be in orbit now,” said Nick with a mixture of wonder and dread.
“This would be cool if we had a bit more space,” moaned Bill. He elbowed one of the suitcases out of his way and once again saw the lever that he could not reach before. “What do you think that is for?” he asked.
“My guess is that it opens the hatch into the main part of the bus,” said Nick but as Bill reached for it, shouted, “Wait!”
“I don’t want to stay in here for the whole trip,” said Bill. “So what if Hippobottomus sees us? What’s he going to do, kick us out?”
“I guess not,” said Nick. “But let’s be careful OK?”
“OK,” said Bill, pulling the lever. “Here we go!”