Stowaway Boys by Gary Whitmore - HTML preview

PLEASE NOTE: This is an HTML preview only and some elements such as links or page numbers may be incorrect.
Download the book in PDF, ePub, Kindle for a complete version.

 

Chapter 9

It was the next day in France. In the south part of that country was a secret French government facility. It was for the HariAnne Rocket Programme.

Inside the HariAnne facility was a huge building the size of an airplane hangar. South Korean, Italian, German, Spanish, and French scientists worked in lab coats. They flew into France under secrecy after last night's talks with President Barnaby. They worked throughout the night.

Near them was a rocket engine on the floor next to a large "Asteroide" wooden box. A seat with a control stick was at one end of the wooden box. This wooden box was a simulation of the asteroid so they could practice their mission.

Near the box was a robot with two mechanical legs; four mechanical arms with fingers, and it wore a French beret.

The scientists studied the robot as it walked over and picked up the rocket engine off the floor with one of its right arms.

The robot walked over to the front of the box.

The robot grabbed a reel of cable with the other right arm. The robot grabbed a roll of Duct tape with one of its left arms.

The robot climbed up wooden stairs to reach the top of the wooden box.

It installed one end of the cable to the front of the box with Duct tape using its two left arms.

The robot walked down the entire length of the wooden box laying the cable with that other right arm while holding onto that engine with the other right arm. The robot then Duct taped the cable to the top of the box using the two left arms.

After the robot arrived at the rear of the wooden box, it climbed down a wooden ladder installed on the rear of the box. When the robot got halfway down the rear of the box, it installed the small rocket engine using its two right arms.

The robot installed the other end of the cable to the engine using its two left arms.

All the scientists cheered and patted each other on their backs for a well-done job.

There was a large field near some woods in the middle of China.

The field was quiet. The roar of trucks filled the air ruining the quietness of the woods.

Three Chinese military trucks with nuclear missiles on the back drove into the field. Two military troop-carrying trucks and a supply truck trailed behind.

The trucks with nuclear missiles stopped in the field.

The troop-carrying truck stopped, and all the Chinese soldiers jumped out.

The supply truck stopped at another location in the field one hundred feet away.

A Chinese military helicopter landed in the field four hundred feet away.

A Chinese Major General hopped out of the helicopter with two Captains.

The general rushed fifty feet away from the helicopter. The two Captains tagged along like obedient servants.

The general watched while soldiers worked on the nuclear trucks. Other soldiers started offloading supplies from the supply truck. He was happy with the progress his soldiers made in preparing the missiles.

There was a secret military base in Russia. Military personnel ran start-up procedures for their nuclear missiles in the control room.

Outside the control room, eight hundred feet away, four missile silos opened up. The tips of the nuclear missiles were visible.

Up in outer space inside the Lunar Module, Scoota relaxed with his boots up on the console. He waited for his rescue craft. He opened up a plastic tube and squeezed some food into his mouth. It was a pasty substance. Today's cuisine was Moolian with barbecue sauce. Moolian was a creature that resembled a cow on his planet.

He was clueless that the asteroid he created was sinking to Earth.

He finished his cuisine in a tube and then turned on his Space Pad. He punched a few buttons then the hologram of Litta appeared.

"Why haven't you called me or answered my calls?" Litta asked, a little upset.

Scoota hesitated on whether he should tell her the truth. "Ah, well, ah," he stuttered.

"What did you do now?" she asked, as this was a familiar story with Scoota.

He looked at her hologram and didn't notice the Magellan 5 capsule while it orbited toward the Lunar Module.

"I bumped into some space junk around Earth and damaged my spacecraft," he confessed.

"Sounds like something you would do," Litta replied disappointedly.

"I know. I know. But don't worry, Senior Space Knight Tockka is sending out a rescue craft to bring me home," he told her.

“Well, they better hurry up; I made reservations for the Royal Galaxy Space Cruise. We leave in one week," she said.

Scoota didn't see the Magellan 5 capsule when the front fairings opened up. The docking adapter was visible. The capsule headed straight for the Lunar Module.

"I'll be there on time. I promise," he said, then turned off his Space Pad.

He kicked up his boots on the console and closed his eyes. He fell asleep.

Out in space, the Magellan capsule with Payload Stage Module flew above the Lunar Module.

Inside the Magellan 5 capsule, Todd and Ricky floated by the windows. They stared outside while Jake, Lance, and Clint worked the controls in their seats.

From their windows, Todd and Ricky saw Earth down below. They stared in awe, and Todd was no longer depressed since he finally got a trip into space. They placed arms around each other's shoulders staring at Earth below.

Down at Space Camp, Tater, Lilly, Louie, and Rose sat inside Henry Michael's office, and they were furious! Henry sweated bullets.

"I'm going to sue and own this stupid camp! And my attorney is good," Louie screamed and sprayed spit which Henry was able to duck.

"Yeah, sue!" Tater yelled out.

"Please, we don't need to go that far. It's not our fault your boys snuck aboard the rocket," Henry said, hoping that would ease the situation.

Tater, Lilly, Louie, and Rose pondered for a few seconds over his comment. "We're going to sue!" they all yelled out in unison. They got up and stormed out of Henry's office.

Henry sank lower in his chair, depressed, and he looked like he wanted to cry.

Out in space, the Magellan 5 capsule and Payload Stage Module flew above the front part of the asteroid.

It slowed down and then hovered five feet above some space junk.

Two small doors opened up on the right and left sides of the Payload Stage Module. A metal cable with a hook attached lowered from the Payload Stage Module. The cable lowered until the hook latched onto a piece of space junk.

The capsule separated from the Payload Stage Module with small puffs of white smoke.

The capsule moved away from the Payload Stage Module. The smaller engines maneuvered the capsule into a 180-degree turn.

It headed back to the front of the Lunar Module.

Inside the Magellan 5 capsule, Jake, Lance, and Clint undressed down to their long underwear. They got inside their white space suits.

Todd's stomach growled, and Clint heard him.

 "Hungry?" he asked.

"Starving," Todd said, and Ricky nodded in agreement.

Clint floated over and opened up a cabinet door. He reached inside, pulled out two silver packets, and floated over to Todd and Ricky. He handed the packets to Todd and Ricky.

"Here's some food. It's mac cheese," he told them.

"You can sit in our seats. Don't touch any of the controls. We'll be back after we install the robot and control box in the Lunar Module," Lance told the boys.

Jake floated over to the storage cabinet while Todd and Ricky floated over to the seats.

Jake opened up the cabinet and removed R1D1 and a roll of Duct tape.

Todd and Ricky sat in the two seats and strapped themselves down. They opened up the tubes and squeezed mac cheese into their mouths. They thought it was cool that they were eating authentic astronaut food.

Clint floated over and pressed a couple of buttons on the console.

"The computer will dock us with the Lunar Module," he told Todd and Ricky, who watched with interest.

Inside the Lunar Module, Scoota was still sound asleep.

The Lunar Module shook while the Magellan 5 capsule docked with it.

Scoota woke up concerned, then he floated up and looked out his windows. He sat back down in his seat. He did a double-take and floated back up to the windows. He saw the Magellan 5 capsule outside the front end of the Lunar Module.

He got scared to death. "The Earthlings are going to dissect me!" he cried out.

Inside the Magellan capsule, Lance opened the hatch. Jake floated with R1D1 through the hatch into the Lunar Module. Lance and Clint followed.

Todd and Ricky continued to swallow their mac cheese while they stared at the hatch.

Inside the Lunar Module, Scoota heard someone enter. He floated to the other side of the module. He cringed and shook in fear.

Scoota saw Jake secure R1D1 to the floor with Duct tape, and then he saw Clint and Lance.

They looked and saw Scoota cowered on the other side of the module. Their eyes widened in shock, and they had to do a double-take to ensure they saw what they thought they saw.

Scoota screamed in fear, and his scream sounded like a Whale. "Don't dissect me!" he cried out while his body trembled.

Todd, Lance, and Jake all screamed in a panic.

Scoota screamed louder, and it was two octaves higher than his original scream.

From the Magellan capsule, Todd and Ricky dropped their tubes, hearing the screams.

Their tubes floated away.

"What are you?" Clint screamed from inside the Lunar Module.

Todd and Ricky looked at the hatch.  They saw Jake, Lance, and Clint trying to squeeze through the hatch simultaneously. Fear had their eyes as big as baseballs.

They got stuck in the hatch. They fought with each other to be the first to get out of the Lunar Module. They succeeded but ripped their spacesuits on the hatch. They tumbled in the air into the Magellan capsule.

They floated to the other side of the capsule and cowered by the console.

Todd and Ricky looked baffled at their behavior.

"What's wrong?" Todd asked.

Todd, Lance, and Clint shook in fear.

"There's, there's an alien in there," Lance said and pointed to the hatch.

"Cool! An alien!" Ricky said. He unbuckled his straps and floated away to the hatch.

Todd couldn't resist the opportunity to see an alien. He unbuckled his straps and floated after Ricky.

Inside the Lunar Module, Scoota stayed cowered in fear by the other side of the module.

Ricky floated through the hatch into the module.

Todd floated through the hatch into the module.

They saw Scoota cowered at the other end of the module.

"Cool!" Todd said.

They noticed Scoota was trembling, scared to death.

"It's all right. We're friendly," Todd said to Scoota to calm him down.

Todd and Ricky floated closer to Scoota.

"We won't hurt you.  We want to be friends," Ricky said in a calming voice.

Scoota's instincts kicked in, and he felt safe, so he floated up. "My name is Scoota, and I'm from the planet Stardonia," he said.

"Wow. You speak English," Todd responded.

"Yes. We've been studying your language for years," Scoota replied.

"My name is Todd, and my friend here is Ricky," Todd said while he stuck out his hand.

Scoota didn't know why Todd's hand was out there, and Ricky sensed it.

"This is how we greet," Ricky said, then shook Todd's hand.

Scoota watched and stuck out his hand. Ricky and Todd took turns and shook it.

“I like this greeting,” Scoota said with a smile.

"Come, we'll introduce you to our astronauts," Todd said, then floated around and floated back to the hatch.

Ricky and Scoota followed.

Inside the Magellan capsule, Todd floated into the capsule from the hatch. Ricky and Scoota floated through the hatch after him.

"There's Lance, Jake, and Clint over there. They're astronauts from the United States of America," Todd told Scoota.

Jake, Lance, and Clint gave Ralph a little cautious wave but still looked scared.

"This is Scoota, and he's from the planet Stardonia. He's friendly," Todd said, then placed an arm around Scoota's shoulder. Scoota put an arm around Todd's shoulder.

Jake, Lance, and Clint felt brave. They got up and floated over to Todd, Ricky, and Scoota. They all shook hands.