Chapter 6
The hatch slid open silently and the boys, followed by the suitcases, floated out into the main part of the bus like a bunch of strange helium balloons. Nick swam over to the back window and could see the earth getting smaller and smaller. “This is incredible!” he said.
“Scenic!” said Bill simply.
They turned around and pulled themselves along a railing towards the front, where they could see Mr. Hipobaum strapped into the pilot’s chair. He was concentrating so hard on what he was doing that he didn’t notice the activity behind him. Suddenly he reached for a switch on the panel in front of him labelled ‘gravity simulation’. As soon as he pressed it, Nick, Bill and the suitcases came crashing to the ground. Mr. Hipobaum spun around in surprise. “What on earth …?” he said angrily. He tried to get up but forgot that he was still strapped into his seat and flopped down again. This only enraged him further. He unbuckled himself and charged down the aisle at the boys who were trying to sit up, still dazed from the fall. “What are you two doing here?” he thundered down at them. “And how in heaven’s name did you sneak onto my bus?”
“Mnemonic!” said Bill proudly.
“You think you are so smart, don’t you?” snarled the now livid Mr. Hipobaum. He opened one of his suitcases and pulled out a length of rope. He shoved Nick onto the nearest seat and glared at him, daring him to move. Nick took a huge gulp of air, inflating his chest as much as he could and held it while Mr. Hipobaum wrapped the rope around him tightly. “There!” he grunted. “Let’s see you get out of this one!”
“Where are we going, Sir?” asked Bill, hoping to distract him but failing miserably.
“You’ll see soon enough,” said Mr. Hipobaum, turning around. He grabbed Bill by the collar and pushed him onto the seat next to Nick. “I really think you’ll like it!” An evil grin touched his thin, waxy lips as he tied Bill up as well. “In fact, I think I’ll just leave you there when I go back to earth with my treasure. The world will be a much better place without a couple of meddling monkeys like you two!”
A loud beeping noise summoned Mr. Hipobaum back to the pilot’s chair and, satisfied that the stowaways were secure, he once again strapped himself in.
“Approaching destination,” said a tinny female voice. “Landing sequence initiated.” Nick looked at his friend and could see the terror in his eyes. He was about to say something comforting when the robot voice squawked again “Activating atmospheric shield, destination reached in T minus twenty minutes!” Nick let out the breath he had been holding and felt the ropes loosen. He winked at Bill and showed him how easy it would be for him to wriggle out of the bond. Just then, Mr Hipobaum turned his head and Nick inhaled again quickly. The teacher cast a suspicious glance at his new travelling companions and turned his attention back to the business of landing the space bus.
“Destination reached in T minus fifteen minutes,” said the voice. The bus began to shake violently as they began their descent. Nick noticed Bill staring out of the window, his eyes were as wide as frisbees and his mouth was hanging open.
“What is it?” asked Nick, but at that very moment the space bus tilted and out of the small window next to him, he saw for himself. The planet they were approaching looked like a giant soap bubble. Masses of brilliant kaleidoscopic colour swirling and inter-mingling over the surface, creating new hues and shades neither of them had ever imagined. Towards the centre, the filmy surface of the bubble was drawn down to the middle of the planet, creating an effect that looked like a massive hurricane spout. Nick could only gape in wonder as the space bus approached.
When the tip of the bus touched the surface of the bubble, it lurched forward in a sudden burst of speed, as if the planet itself was sucking them in. Neither of the boys were prepared for it. Nick felt as if his feet and stomach were trading places and Bill actually threw up all over one of the suitcases in the aisle. Mr. Hipobaum was shrieking in delight as he expertly guided the craft through the multi-coloured sky at a tremendous speed.
“T minus ten minutes,” said the robot voice. Mr. Hipobaum responded by frantically pushing knobs and pulling levers and typing away at the keyboard near his armrest. Nick clenched his fists in terror as the bus started shaking once again and thundered down towards the surface of the planet.
The last thing he can remember thinking was that, except for the brilliant sky, the planet looked very much like Earth.