The
Space Dreamers
By
Gary Whitmore
This story is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
Any resemblance to events or places or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
Copyright 2014 by Gary M. Whitmore
Image courtesy of pupunkkop /
FreeDigitalPhotos.net.
This story is dedicated to all those young minds across the planet that dream of being Astronauts and going on space adventures.
It is also dedicated to all those young minds that want to design, build, process, and to launch all the rockets of the future for mankind’s adventures into outer space.
The story was originally written with the intent of it being a 3-D animated screenplay.
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Outer space is so beautiful and peaceful, with millions of twinkling stars sprinkling the background of the full Moon and the beautiful Earth.
A small space probe from the planet Neila raced through space.
The probe zoomed toward the Moon from the direction of Mars.
The probe was elliptical in shape that was approximately four feet long and two feet thick.
It had four ports at the backend. These are the exhausts for its highly advanced engines. The four engines emitted a purple flame, and the probe zoomed through space at super, super high rates of speed.
The probe zoomed around the Moon and then zoomed toward Earth.
It reached one thousand miles from Earth. It slowed down.
The probe traveled for another one hundred miles and stopped. It moved around with sensors in the front of the probe targeting a location on Earth.
It zoomed off to Earth and maneuvered around all the orbiting satellites.
It was now 2019 down at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
It was dawn and the start of another hot and steamy July day.
The space center came alive as employees began showing up for work.
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Up in the sky, ten buzzards circled two hundred feet above the front grassy area of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) headquarters building.
The buzzards soared in circles loving the air currents.
The Neila space probe raced out of the sky toward the space center.
The Neila space probe raced down between the circling buzzards causing them to tumble down to the ground. They tumbled and appeared they would slam into the ground. But they regained flight five feet above the grass. The buzzards were relieved and flew back two hundred feet above the ground and continued to circle.
The Neila space probe raced over to the brand-new fancy NASA headquarters building.
The probe suddenly stopped in the middle of the headquarters building. It started to hover quietly by some third-floor windows.
A yellow beam of light shot out of the front of the probe. The light scanned all the windows of the third floor.
A couple of windows were now of interest. The probe moved over and the yellow beam concentrated on those windows.
The ten buzzards flew down and perched on the roof of the headquarters building. They looked below at the probe and curiously watched it scan the windows.
Inside one of those third-floor windows was a conference room. In this room were ten NASA employees sitting around a table with pads of paper and pens in front of them. They drank coffee and ate donuts, typical for a NASA meeting. They also eyed an old NASA employee who sat at the end of the table.
His name was Joe, and he was seventy-three years old.
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He began working for NASA during the Apollo program.
A chubby NASA worker named Wallace sat to the right of Joe. Wallace licked his chops, eying a jelly-filled donut in the box in front of him. He reached over and snatched the donut before anybody else could steal his prize.
“Our deep space probe using our new ion propulsion is ready to find….” Joe explained to the room but suddenly stopped when jelly squirted from Wallace’s donut and splashed Joe in his eyes.
Wallace’s face turned beet red with embarrassment when he saw what he had done. He quickly shoved the rest of the donut into his mouth.
The other workers discreetly chuckled at the sight of Joe.
“I’m sorry,” Wallace mumbled with a mouth full of a jelly donut.
Joe glared at Wallace, then wiped the jelly out of his eyes. “Anyway, the probe will look for signs of life on another planet in a universe far, far away,” Joe addressed the room. He turned around and used a remote to turn on a huge flat-screen TV mounted on the wall.
On that TV appeared a picture of a universe that was the probe’s destination. The image then zoomed on the planet Neila, which resembled Earth.
Inside the Neila space probe, a monitor recorded the NASA employees inside that conference room.
Above the monitor was the “Property of King Tona”
label. The monitor also recorded the TV that showed the planet Neila.
“Our space probe will launch on the Delta rocket in one week,” Joe explained. He paused and glanced at his watch. “Speaking of which, the Magellan seven rocket will be launching later this afternoon.”
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The monitor inside the Neila probe went blank.
Outside the Headquarters building, the yellow light from the Neila space probe turned off.
The probe turned around and zoomed away from the window.
The probe flew toward the launch pad where the Magellan VII rocket was poised for launch on Launch Complex 39C. This was a brand new launch pad for the Magellan Rocket Program.
The Magellan rocket was similar to the Saturn V
rocket. Still, it was more extensive in diameter and included an eight-man capsule. The capsule was named the Cousteau after Jacques Cousteau, who explored the deep sea. NASA planned on using the Cousteau capsule to explore deep space with Astronauts.
Later that afternoon, on the space coast in the nearby small community of Palmetto.
The community of Palmetto was located just south of the Kennedy Space Center, nestled in the Florida woods. It had a few stores, but most of the area was a residential neighborhood home to forty space center workers.
At a house off Atlantis Street in Palmetto lived a blonde-haired and blue-eyed fourteen-year-old boy named Timmy Watson. He was full of dreams with a strong desire to be an Astronaut.
Timmy raced his Huffy bike out from his backyard and down the side of his house. He looked excited, racing his bicycle past an airboat on a trailer parked beside his garage.
He raced his bike down the driveway where a 2011
Ford F-150 pickup was parked.
Timmy raced his bike down Atlantis Street.
The house’s front door opened, and blonde-haired forty-year-old Rodney Watson, who used the nickname 8
Scooter, exited. He was a technician at the launch pad at the space center and worked the second shift.
Scooter rushed out of the house with his lunch box in hand. He also wore his favorite T-shirt that promoted the famous country and western band –
Bubba and the Pot Belly Boys.
Scooter rushed over to his pickup. The second he opened his driver’s door, a white 2010 Toyota Corolla pulled into the driveway. Driving the Corolla was red-haired forty-year-old Leslie Watson, who wore her Target store work clothes. She parked next to Scooter’s pickup, where he waited.
She got out of the Corolla and walked over to Scooter. “Where’s Timmy?” she asked.
“He’s off to watch the Magellan launch with Frankie and Monica at Kirk’s place. Then they’ll probably hang around there and pretend to be Astronauts,” he replied and kissed her quickly.
“Such space dreamers. Okay, honey, have a good day at work,” she said and headed to the front door.
Scooter got in his pickup, started it up, and backed down the driveway while Leslie went inside the house.
Scooter drove his pickup down the street and tooted his horn at the house.
Back at the space center’s Magellan launch pad tower, an old Owl flew over and sat on a steel beam of the tower.
A camera turned and looked at the bird five feet from the Owl. The Owl noticed and glanced back at it.
The camera turned around and pointed at the Magellan rocket.
The Owl looked below at the gangway that led to the capsule. The Owl watched three Astronauts walk down the gangway to the capsule. They looked so excited about going into space while walking into the White Room.
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The Owl flew away and headed south.
At the NASA security guard gate on SR 3, Scooter drove his pickup to the guard shack. He stopped and flashed his badge.
“Hey, Scooter,” Tim, the security guard, said, walking up to the pickup truck.
“How’s the count going, Tim?” Scooter replied.
“Smooth without a hitch,” Tim answered, then glanced down at Scooter’s tee shirt. “Have you heard their new song, I’m Gonna Buy My Bride A Double-Wide?”
“I heard it the other day. I’m going to buy the CD
this weekend,” Scooter replied.
“It’s terrific,” said Tim.
“Well, I better git off to work,” Scooter said, then drove his pickup away with a goodbye wave out his window.
Meanwhile, a fenced-off area was at the southern edge of the space center property just north of Palmetto.
This area belonged to tall and lanky white-haired eighty-one-year-old Kirk Dakota. He had plans to turn his property into a small space museum. Kirk retired from NASA and worked during the Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, and Space Shuttle programs. He retired from NASA in July 2011, just after the last shuttle launch with the Orbiter Atlantis.
Kirk had worked in logistics and developed some excellent connections over the years. Because of these connections, he was legally allowed to purchase numerous pieces of old space items. Some of these also included rocket engines and a Cousteau capsule used as a trainer.
Then his money got tight, and the big NASA Visitor’s Center crushed his dreams of owning his own museum.
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But Kirk would allow some local kids to hang out on his property to check out his collected space items.
Kirk would also tell them stories of past Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, and Space Shuttle memories.
Timmy and his friends Frankie and Monica were some of these more frequent visitors. Kirk labeled them “The Space Dreamers” since they dreamed of traveling in outer space as Astronauts.
A few minutes passed, and Timmy rode his bike through the opened fence of the entrance to Kirk’s property.
He rode his bike past that Cousteau training capsule poised twenty feet in the air on a stand.
He rode past numerous old rocket engines and then headed to the two-story white concrete building.
It looked like a typical government building.
This building was meant to be the museum, but Kirk converted it into his living quarters.
On the side of the building were stairs that led to the flat roof. Part of this roof was converted into a viewing area for launches.
Already on the roof were Kirk and Timmy’s two friends, Frankie and Monica.
Frankie Blake was a fourteen-year-old African-American kid full of dreams and a strong desire to be an Astronaut.
Monica Hernandez was a fourteen-year-old Mexican-American gal full of dreams and a strong desire to be an Astronaut. She always wore blue jeans and a T-shirt and looked tomboyish.
Frankie held his iPhone in hand with live coverage of the Magellan VII launch.
“T-minus nine minutes and holding,” a female’s voice said from his iPhone with a live feed of the rocket poised at the launch pad.
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They all looked excited while Timmy rushed over to them from running up the stairs.
“What’s the count?” Timmy asked out of breath.
“Nine minutes and holding,” Frankie replied.
Kirk, Timmy, Frankie, and Monica kept their eyes aimed at the northern area of the space center.
Above Earth in outer space, the Neila space probe ascended up from Earth and split in half.
One half orbited Earth.
The other half flew off in the direction of the Moon.
The half that orbited Earth was aimed at Florida.
In the space center’s parking lot of the Operations Support Building (OSB) II, Scooter drove his pickup truck into an available spot.
All the launch pad workers hung out in the OSB
II building until it was time to head into the pad to safe it after launch. Scooter liked these days since he could get paid to sit around and goof off.
Scooter got out of his pickup with his lunch box in hand and rushed to OSB II. He craved a cup of coffee and hopefully could play cards with some buddies.
“T-minus nine minutes and counting,” the sound of a female voice came over the loudspeakers from the nearby press site.
Back at Kirk’s place, he, along with Timmy, Frankie, and Monica, kept their eyes toward the northern area of the space center while on the roof.
“T-minus three minutes and counting,” the female’s voice echoed from Frankie’s iPhone.
Those three minutes had passed, and it was the longest three minutes of your life.
“Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one,” Timmy, Frankie, and Monica called out along with the female’s voice from Frankie’s iPhone.
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“Blast off!” they cried out the second they saw the engines of the Magellan VII fire from the live view on the iPhone.
They turned their eyes to the north and soon saw the Magellan VII rocket ascending into the sky, leaving a fiery smoke trail. They watched in awe while the rocket got higher and higher into the sky.
They kept their eyes while the rocket’s path arced higher in the sky until it was a small fiery dot in the sky.
“I can’t wait to be an Astronaut,” Monica said with a gleam in her eyes.
“Me too,” Timmy replied with a gleam in his eyes.
“I wonder what kind of missions we can go on as Astronauts?” Frankie asked with a gleam in his eyes.
“The type where we help mankind,” Timmy replied with a smile.
Monica and Frankie nodded in agreement.
Kirk looked proud of the Space Dreamers.
Thirty minutes had passed, and Timmy, Frankie, and Monica still hung around Kirk’s place.
Kirk, Timmy, Frankie, and Monica went inside the building for some ice tea and more of Kirk’s stories.
“Did I ever tell you about when some Space Shuttle Astronauts claimed to have seen an alien spaceship?” Kirk asked while he stroked his white goatee.
“No!” Timmy replied while he and his friends all looked highly interested.
Kirk told them this story, and it kept the Space Dreamers on the edge of their seats.
After Kirk finished that alien story, the Space Dreamers decided to play inside the Cousteau training capsule.
The stand that held the Cousteau capsule twenty feet up in the air had stairs that led up to a platform.
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Kirk built this so visitors could view the inside of the opened hatch of the capsule.
That wise old Owl watched from a nearby pine tree while Timmy and Frankie headed up the stairs to the capsule.
As soon as Timmy got to the platform, he opened the capsule’s hatch. Frankie waited on the platform next to Timmy.
They both crawled through the hatch and went inside the capsule.
Down at the bottom of the steps, Monica looked up at the capsule and looked a little nervous.
Her legs shook while she cautiously and slowly climbed up a few steps. She quickly backed down and sat on the first step, too scared to do the climb.
Timmy poked his head out of the capsule and saw Monica down below. “Monica, what’s the matter?”
Monica looked up at Timmy. “I…ah… I’ll be the ground crew. Someone has to be the ground crew,” she answered with a shameful look in his eyes.
Timmy looked concerned about Monica’s fear of heights. But if truth be known, he secretly liked her and wanted her as a girlfriend.
He closed the capsule door.
Inside the Cousteau capsule, Timmy and Frankie sat in two of the four seats. The Cousteau capsules that would travel in deep space utilized eight seats. But the trainer capsule only had four installed.
They playfully flipped switches and turned knobs.
“Engine firing sequence activated,” Frankie told Timmy.
“Final destination locked into the directional guidance system,” Timmy replied.
“Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one,” they both simultaneously counted down.
“Blast off!” they all yelled out.
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Timmy looked at the capsule windows, which showed the blue Florida sky.
“Here we come, Duke Spacewalker, to help you smash those evil aliens and to,” Timmy yelled and sounded like a hero.
“Save the universe!” they both yelled out in unison.
They stared out the capsule window at the sky.
Suddenly, a buzzard peeked in the window. The sight of this buzzard scared them.
“Ugly Alien!” they all screamed out in fear.
They calmed down after they realized it was a Buzzard that was now gone.
Frankie looked at this watch. His eyes widened.
“I need to get home. I have karate practice in an hour.”
Timmy and Frankie got out of their seats and headed to the capsule hatch.
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Far, far away in another universe were five planets that orbited around a different Sun. Most of these planets had numerous Moons of various sizes.
The planet Ronrevog housed the Governing Council for all the planets in this beautiful, peaceful universe.
Amongst those planets existed Neila. It has seasons similar to Earth; it was a smaller scaled version of Earth but with two continents and two massive oceans.
The aliens that inhabited this planet were called Neilas and had human-like bodies. But they all had green skin, blue, purple, orange, or other colored hair.
They all had large black eyes twice the size of human eyes. They were intelligent and peaceful beings. But they were shorter than Earthlings, where being five feet was considered tall on their planet.
The one-half of the Neila space probe that visited Earth raced toward Neila and descended down to it.
Later down on Neila, the space probe raced over mountains, lakes, and beautiful exotic plants.
It flew over a massive stone Palace.
The Palace belonged to King Tona, who was the ruler of Neila. It was nestled in the middle of some woods and was surrounded by grounds full of exotic plants, shrubs, and flowers.
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The probe flew off toward the city of Neilaville, the planet's capital. The city had businesses, stores, apartment complexes, and a green river that ran through it. The rest of the planet had smaller villages scattered around the two continents.
The probe landed in the Neila Science Complex on the outskirts of the town Neilaville.
From the sky above the Palace was Prince Luna.
He was a young adult with short spiky blue hair, very cute and adorable. He wore blue jeans, a white T-shirt and a black leather jacket. He sat on a futuristic-looking "Sky Doo" jet ski that soared fifty feet in the air. Sona, his girlfriend, was a beautiful young adult with long flowing purple hair. She wore blue jeans and a shirt with something stuffed in her right pocket.
She stood on a board that resembled a surfboard called "Sky Boards." These were so advanced and would soar through the air. Sonia grasped a handle at the end of a rope. It led to the backend of the Sky Doo while it soared in the air. She loved sky skiing!
Sona performed a loop, flew upside down, and made steeply banked turns. "Yahoooo!" she screamed and filled the air with the joyful sounds of her fun-filled ride in the sky.
Luna continued to fly the Sky Doo around the sky.
Inside the Palace was King Tona. He was an old overweight Neila with a long white flowing beard and always wore his crown.
He sat at his desk reading paperwork. His Holophone bee booped. He pressed a button on it.
A hologram of a nerdy Neila scientist appeared.
"King Tona. Our probe just returned from its visit to Earth," the scientist hologram said.
"What did you learn?" King Tona asked.
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"It appears the Earthlings are planning to send a probe to our planet in search of other forms of life,"
the Scientist hologram stated.
"Well, that's very interesting," King Tona said.
"Thank you for your report," he added and turned off his Holophone.
King Tona kicked back, thinking about the scientist's report.
Luna landed the Sky Doo down to the ground on the Palace grounds, with Sona trailing behind on the skis. She landed her skyboard seconds after his Sky Doo landed. Luna shut down the Sky Doo and remained seated in his seat.
Sona got off her sky board, which hovered inches above the ground. "You did a fantastic job flying this Sky Doo Luna," Sona complimented while rushing over to him.
He got a proud smile while she gave him a hug and kiss on his cheek.
She removed a small wrapped package from her right shirt pocket. "Happy Birthday, Luna!" she said, then handed him the package with a huge smile.
Luna quickly ripped off the wrapping and saw a small screen with two small "Space Pad – Private Video Holophone" devices. Luna didn't know what to make of it. "Ah, thanks Sona," he responded.
She snatched one of the Space Pads. "We can always stay in touch," she said, glancing at Luna. She opened her mouth to say something, then paused.
"Luna, I can't wait until you become King, so I can be your Queen," she said with love in her eyes.
Luna got nervous and shook as marriage scared terrified him.
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She waited for his response; he wanted her to be his Queen. But a monitor on the Sky Doo console turned on and saved him.
King Tona appeared on the monitor. "Luna, playtime is over. You have thirty minutes to get ready for tonight," King Tona ordered from the monitor.
Sona looked at the monitor. "Hello, King Tona,"
she said with a little wave.
He smiled and waved back then the monitor went blank.
Luna didn't look thrilled, then screams of joy came from above and diverted his attention away from the monitor.
"Sky-a-bunga, Luna!" Lon yelled about twenty feet above them.
Luna and Sona looked up at the sky and spotted four young adults. They surfed the skies on sky boards.
Lon had blue hair, Saul with orange hair, Lorge with pink hair, and Bingo had neon green hair. They were called "The Surfers" and always wore baggy shirts, sneakers, and oversized T-shirts. The Surfers purchased the "Surf the Sky" shop in Neilaville three months ago. Their shop sold and rented sky boards and other accessories, including Sky Doos.
They surfed down and landed near Luna and Sona. Their boards hovered inches above the ground near him.
"Come on, Luna, the clouds are producing some awesome currents," Bingo told Luna.
Luna looked up at the sky and back at the Surfers.
"Sorry, I can't. I have a meeting to attend," Luna answered with a depressed look.
"That's what you get for being a Prince. Let's go, dudes!" replied Lorge.
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The Surfers hopped on their sky boards and pushed off with their right foot. Their boards ascended, and they surfed up and away.
The monitor on the Sky Doo console came back on, and King Tona reappeared. "Hurry up, boy!" he barked. The monitor went blank.
Luna glanced up at the sky. His shoulders drooped, and his mouth turned down as he watched the Surfers surf through the clouds. He turned back to Sona, who eyed him with tender expectation. Luna gave her a nervous smile.
"I'll call you later," Luna said. She gave her a quick kiss on her cheek.
Sona looked disappointed, but she knew down deep he would ask her to be his Queen.
Luna watched Sona run over to her skyboard that still hovered inches above the ground. She hopped on it and pushed off with her left foot. She ascended into the sky and soon soared away between the clouds.
Luna turned his Sky Doo back on and flew it over to the detached garage at the rear of the Palace.
Luna was in his bedroom a little while later. He got out of his jeans and a white T-shirt.
He walked to his closet, removed a fancy one-piece silver suit, and slipped it over his body.
He walked back over to his bed and sat down.
"My life is over!" he said, glancing at his sky board hovering inches above the floor across the room.
Later that night at the Neilaville grand auditorium, King Tona stood at a podium on the stage in front of hundreds of Neilas who anxiously waited.
This same event happened forty years ago when King Tona was a young adult. Luna sat by King Tona's right side, and to King Tona's left sat Meena, his cousin. Luna wasn't thrilled with this tradition.
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His cousin Meena was short and stout compared to all the other Neilas. He also had stubby legs. He wore the standard Neila green Army uniform with four big stars on each shoulder and was the General of the Army for Neila. Meena's father was the General, as were his father and grandfather. But Meena wanted something else, as being the General was too dull.
And if truth be known, the Neila Army would not fair well during a battle. So Meena wanted more power to use his Army and get them trained to be natural killers.
The audience was on the edge of their seats, waiting for the start of this critical tradition. Sona sat in the front row on the edge of her seat.
"Welcome, my fellow Neilas. I would like to thank you for attending this special meeting," he addressed the audience.
They all clapped and followed with a strange seal sound standard for these beings.
King Tona waited until the clapping subsided.
"It has now come time to press on with Neila tradition. So like my father, I will retire. Prince Luna will become King after the initial and final ceremonies performed by the Governing Council," King Tona told the audience, who replied with mediocre claps with seal sounds.
Sona was the only Neila who was loud with her clapping and seal sounds.
In the audience, an old Neila man leaned over to his old wife. "How can he rule a planet while sky surfing?"
"I know. Luna still acts like a playful teenager," his wife responded.
Most of the surrounding Neilas heard their comments. They nodded in agreement, as they did not have faith in Luna's ability to lead their planet.
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On the stage, Luna sat and lacked the confidence to become King. Plus, he sensed his people did not have faith he could lead them.
Meena sat with clenched fists and bulging eyes.
He hated this tradition.
"Now, keeping up with tradition, I will perform one last assignment which Prince Luna will be required to complete," he told the audience.
They all looked curious.
Luna fidgeted in his seat.
"My last assignment will be establishing contact with a planet in another universe. Luna's assignment will be to establish trade relations with such a planet,"
King Tona said.
The audience's eyes widened with curiosity.
"And the planet I choose will be," King Tona said and paused.
The audience inched forward.
"The planed I choose will be Earth," King Tona said. "Earth?" numerous Neilas said to each other in the audience, as they were a little leery of that planet.
"Yes, Earth. Our probe relayed data that planet Earth will send a probe into space searching for other life. We will contact their probe and let them know that Neila contains other life forms. Friendly life forms," he told the curious audience.
All the Neilas stood in the audience and clapped with their seal sound.
"The initial ceremony will start in a couple of days in this auditorium. The final one will follow," King Tona addressed the audience.
They all clapped and cheered in their seal sounds.
On the stage, Meena noticed Luna looking nervous. He schemed a plan. An evil plan.
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Later that night, in Luna's bedroom, he stood by a bookcase where his sky board hovered close-by inches above the floor.
He had his new Space Pad birthday device in his hand. He glanced at his dresser. He saw a hologram picture of himself, years younger, sitting on King Tona's knee with Luna wearing the King's crown with a tremendous proud smile.
On the small Space Pad screen, a small hologram of Sona appeared.
"Luna, I can't wait until you become King," Sona's hologram said.
"I can't be King!" he told Sona's hologram.
"Just think, we can visit other planets as King and Queen and spread Neila goodwill all over different universes," Sona's replied from his Space Pad.
"What am I going to do?" he replied, then paced around his room.
"I'll be a loving and caring queen!" Sona replied, and it did not dawn on her that Luna was upset.
"Establish trade with Earth? That's a huge responsibility!" Luna told Sona.
"I wonder what the Earthlings need help with?"
she said.
He paced by a wall with a hologram of a blueprint drawing for a new water board, which was half the size of a sky board but skimmed the tops of waves in the ocean. It was Luna's creation, and he hoped the Surfers would sell it at their shop.
"I need to sky surf and clear my head, Sona!"
"Are you listening to me, Luna?" she replied.
Luna did not notice Meena standing in the doorway of his bedroom.
Meena rubbed his Ching with a scheming glare as he heard everything. Meena strutted away with a smirk.
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Luna turned off his Space Pad and tossed it across the room. It landed on his bed next to his black jacket.
He grabbed his skyboard and rushed out of his room.
Ten minutes later, Luna surfed the sky with his sky board while trying to figure out how he could get out of this Neila tradition of becoming King.
Later that evening, Meena sat behind his desk inside his office at the Neila Army base. He was in deep thought. An evil smirk grew on his face. The more he schemed, his evil smirk grew more prominent.
Boe, a small and mean-looking Neila soldier, entered Meena's office with a vast "Neila Law" book under his arm.
Burpy, a chubby soldier who constantly burps out his words, and Dopey, a skinny soldier with a droopy stupid look and accent, rushed into the office after Boe.
The three goofs all wore the standard green Army uniforms with no stripes. They marched up to Meena's desk and immediately snapped to attention.
"Here's the book you order, General Meena," Boe barked.
Boe handed Meena the book, and he quickly grabbed it. "Get out of my office," he ordered, shooing them away with a hand.
Boe, Burpy, and Dopey turned around, and they got tangled up with each other and plopped to the floor.
Meena rolled his eyes, displeased over these goofs while they untangled themselves and quickly left.
He couldn't stand these goofs, but they were loyal and always obeyed his commands without questions.
And they knew how to keep their mouths shut.
Meena opened the law book and scanned through a page. He turned a couple of pages and then scanned through another page. His eyes lit up, and he got an evil smirk.
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"That's it!" he cried out in joy.
Meena jumped up from his desk with the book.
He danced away from his desk and did a victory dance over to a bizarre-looking copier machine. Meena placed the open book on the machine.
"One copy," Meena ordered the machine.
The copier hissed and made a few jingling sounds then a piece of paper shot out of a slot onto a tray. He snatched up the paper and kissed it.
He did a victory dance with the paper and returned to his desk.
He looked at his watch. "Oh, I better head to the Palace," he said, then rushed to his door.
It was dinnertime at the King's Palace. King Tona, Luna, and Meena sat starving at the dining room table.
Albie, an old Butler with white hair who wore a tuxedo-looking jumpsuit, entered the room. He carried a tray with three plates that contained strange-shaped and colored vegetables. He had been the butler at the Palace ever since King Tona was a young boy.
He walked over to the table.
"Just think of the endless possibilities with Earth!
You could become more popular as a King than me,"
King Tona said to Luna. King Tona glanced at the ceiling. "Your mother will be proud of you up in heaven."
Luna fidgeted over King Tona's comment while Albie set the tray down. It hovered at table height.
Albie grabbed a plate of vegetables and placed it in front of King Tona.
"King Tona, trading with Earth is a fantastic idea!"
Meena said with a fake smile sucking up.
"Thank you, General Meena," King Tona said, then noticed Luna's sad, drawn face while Albie placed 25
a plate of vegetables in front of him. "Is there a problem, Luna?"
"No, father," Luna lied.
Meena glanced at Luna and knew his sad look meant an opportunity for him.
Albie placed a plate of vegetables in front of Meena and then left with the tray.
"Okay then, let's eat," King Tona said.
Meena ate with an evil smirk on his face while he watched Luna pick at his food.
King Tona ate and was concerned about Luna, as he knew something was bugging him but couldn't figure it out. Young adults are too moody! King Tona thought to himself while he ate.
Luna was quiet during the rest of the dinner.
Later that night, in Luna's bedroom, he nervously paced around his room with his Space Pad in hand. He stared at the Space Pad, and the small hologram of Sona was visible.
"That's easy for father to say since he's a great King. I don't want to be friends with Earth. They're horrible creatures. They blow things up, and they might eat us! I can't be King. I just can't attend the initial ceremony!" he told on the Space Pad.
"What's wrong, Luna? You've talked about being King since you were a lad," Sona answered with a concerned look.
"That was then. But now I need to delay this for a couple of years!" Luna replied while he looked at his waterboard design. "Yeah, I need time to get my water board produced and sold," Luna said, and that suggestion made him feel better.
At the doorway of Luna's room, Meena stood and watched with an evil smirk. "Hey, cuz, I overheard your dilemma. I can help you!"
26
Luna saw Meena in his doorway, and his ears perked up.
"Luna, are you listening to me?" Sona questioned from the Space Pad.
Luna turned off his Space Pad and tossed it onto his bed. "I'm listening."
Meena strutted over to Luna.
Meena glanced over his shoulders, making sure nobody was nearby. "Here's what needs to be done. I know for sure that the Governing Council on the planet Ronrevog doesn't want any dealings with Earth.
In fact, all of the Council members hate the Earthlings as they feel they're warriors that want to destroy our universe," Meena told Luna.
"I didn't know that," Luna said, inching closer to Meena.
"Now, if you were to, you know, by chance, to fly over to Earth and blow up their so-called Delta rocket after it's launched into space," Meena said.
"Why blow up their rocket?" Luna questioned, as that did not make sense.
"Because that will destroy their space probe that they're sending to our planet," Meena said.
"Space probe?" Luna questioned as he forgot what his father stated in the meeting. "What space probe?"
"You know, our space probe returned with data from Earth. Data that told us the Earthling's probe will venture to our planet for data for a future attack,"
Meena lied through his teeth.
"Didn't father know that?" Luna said, a little shocked.
"I tried to tell him, but he's hung up, believing the Earthlings are a friendly species. But I know they are warriors. Very dangerous warriors," Meena said, looking dead serious.
27
Luna thought about Meena's comment and knew his father could be stubborn. "That sounds like father."
Meena glanced over his shoulders at the door to ensure nobody was around. He glanced back at Luna.
"Now, I know that the Governing Council will grant you a delay on becoming King as your reward for saving our planet. Because they're also concerned Earth will attack Ronrevog afterward," Meena added.
Luna's eyes lit up overhearing his proposal, but something seemed wrong. "Won't the Earthlings send up another probe?" he questioned.
"Oh no. Earthlings take a long time to get a new rocket going," Meena answered. "They're a slow species."
"I thought you liked father's idea?" Luna asked.
"I had to agree. It's my job as General," Meena answered with his best poker face.
"Won't the Earthlings get mad if I blow up their rocket? And come after me?" Luna asked worriedly.
"Naw! They're always blowing up things. They'll think it's their fault," Meena replied and looked confident.
Luna thought about Meena's proposal for a few seconds. He smiled, loving the idea. Then he looked a little confused. "Why are you helping me? And why don't you send out one of your fighter ships?" Luna wondered.
"Because you're going to be my future boss one day. I want you to know that I'll always support and protect you," Meena answered. He extended out his hand. "Plus, many Neilas don't feel you're fit to be King, so when you feel the time is right, they'll accept you with open arms after they learn you saved our planet," he added.
28
Luna thought about what he said and then nodded in agreement. He held out his hand, and they made a seal sound while they slapped their hands together for the traditional Neila handshake.
They stopped.
"Come to the hangar at the base first thing in the morning. I'll have our fastest ship prepared for the flight. But for security reasons, this has to be tippy-top secret level," commented Meena and winked at Luna, who nodded in agreement.
Later that night, in Meena's office, he sat at his desk reading his "Galactic Idiots Guide to Ruling a Universe" book.
Boe, Burpy, and Dopey stumbled inside, almost tripping over each other while they rushed over to Meena's desk.
They snapped to attention and saluted the second they got to his desk. "Boe, Burpy, and Dopey reporting as ordered, sir," Burpy burped out.
"I have a big promotion opportunity for you three. But it's tippy-top secret level!" Boe, Burpy, and Dopey's eyes lit up with excitement about being promoted.
29
It was early in the morning and still dark in Neilaville.
At the flight line on the Army base, the area was peaceful, with no activity.
Two massive doors slid open from the hangar where parked inside were ten sleek silver four-seater fighter spaceships.
Each of the spaceships had side wings supported by three landing struts. One strut in the front and a strut under each wing.
The cockpit was under a bubble type of glass canopy that provided the pilot an excellent three hundred and sixty-degree view.
The spaceships each had three small but powerful engines with rectangle nozzles that would race them through outer space. This could allow the spaceships to travel at warp drive and go faster than the speed of light. The engines contained a tank with special fuel that would get thirty billion miles per gallon.
They also had their own markings of “Neila 1, Neila 2, Neila 3, and so on near the engines’ rear section.
A hovercraft that resembled a Jeep flew up to the hangar with Meena at the controls and Boe, Burpy, and Dopey wearing green flight suits in the backseat.
The Jeep stopped and hovered by the opened hangar door.
Boe, Burpy, and Dopey hopped out of the Jeep.
30
“Do you understand your orders?” Meena asked.
The three goofs all snapped to attention and saluted. “Yes, sir!” they all yelled back in unison.
“Good, now I want you to take Neila three. It’s fully loaded,” Meena told them.
They remained at attention. “Just don’t stand there; move it!” Meena barked out his order.
The three goofs jumped up and ran to the sleek fighter spaceship inside the hangar.
They got inside Neila 3, closed the canopy then started it up with a whirl and a whine.
Neila 3 lifted up, the three landing struts retracted back inside the ship, and it hovered above the hangar floor. Neila 3 slowly flew out of the hangar.
Neila 3 slowly flew down the flight line. The engines whined and whirled louder, and light-colored purple flames emitted from the nozzles.
Neila 3 zoomed up into the night sky.
Meena watched from his hovering Jeep while Neila 3 zoomed away into outer space.
Meanwhile, the Palace was dark as King Tona and Albie were both sound asleep.
Luna wore his standard jeans, a white T-shirt, and a black leather jacket. He grabbed his Space Pad and shoved it into his jacket pocket.
He rushed over, grabbed his sky board, and ran out of his room.
Luna snuck out of one of the rear exits of the Palace. He snuck around to the backyard, hopped on his skyboard, and was airborne in seconds.
He surfed away high into the sky.
Five minutes later, Luna sky surfed over Neilaville, dark as everybody was still sound asleep.
Three minutes later, Luna sky surfed over the Army base and was soon over the flight line.
31
Meena watched from his Jeep while Luna sky surfed down and landed by his vehicle. He stepped out of the Jeep and walked up to Luna just as he hopped off his skyboard.
“Are you ready for this secret mission?” Meena asked Luna.
“I believe I am,” Luna asked, unsure if he was doing the right thing, and Meena sensed it.
“Luna, Luna. You know that if you don’t perform this mission, you’ll be King in a short while. If you perform this mission, you can delay it for two more years. Just think of the things you can build and accomplish in two years,” Meena reminded him and smiled warmly.
Luna looked at the fighter ships inside the hangar and noticed one was missing. “You’re missing one of the fighters,” he said.
Meena looked at the hangar and pondered for a second. “Oh, Neila three is in the maintenance hanger for its monthly checkup,” he fibbed.
“Oh,” Luna replied, then glanced at the other fighters.
“Take Neila one. I had her checked out, and she’s in tip-top shape for your flight,” Meena said, then paused for a few seconds. “And make sure you configure the ship so you won’t be detected,” he added.
“I will,” Luna said.
“Good, here are the instructions you’ll need to complete your mission,” Meena said and removed a piece of paper from his shirt pocket. He handed it to Luna. Luna grabbed the paper and then picked up his sky board.
“I’ll take your board and bring it back here when you return,” Meena said.
32
Luna reached down, grabbing his sky board. He handed it over to Meena, who tucked it under his right arm. “You’re doing our planet a great service. You’ll be deemed a hero,” Meena said and saluted Luna.
Luna saluted back and rushed over to the hangar.
Meena watched with a smirk while Luna opened the door on the right side of Neila 1 and stepped inside. The door closed.
Inside Neila 1, Luna sat in his seat and closed the canopy. He reached and pressed the “Engine Fire Sequence” button on the console.
Luna grabbed the joystick on the right arm of his seat. Meanwhile, the fighter Neila 3 was in orbit above the planet up in outer space above Neila. The engines quieted while the light-colored purple flames turned into dark-colored purple, and it raced off toward deep space at warp drive speed.
Back at the hangar on the planet, Neila 1 started up with a whirl and whine. It rose up, and the three landing struts retracted back inside the ship while it hovered above the hangar floor.
Neila 1 slowly flew past Meena, where Luna waved at him from the canopy from the inside.
Meena snapped to attention and saluted Luna to give a false impression he really cared.
Neila 1 slowly flew down the flight line. The engines whined and whirled louder, and light-colored purple flames emitted from the three engines.
Meena watched Neila 1 race away into the dark sky. Meena released Luna’s sky board out from under his right arm. The board dropped and then hovered four inches above the flight line.
33
He removed a laser pistol and fired a red laser beam at the board. It vaporized in a matter of seconds.
Meena got back inside his hovering Jeep and then slowly flew down the flight line with an evil smirk and stare. In outer space inside Neila 1, Luna set the automatic pilot for planet Earth.
He gazed out the canopy enjoying the view of the vast outer space.
Inside the Neila spaceships, the pilots and passengers did not float around as the Earthlings do in their spacecraft. The Neila spaceships are far more advanced, providing gravity inside their crafts.
Luna reached and pressed a “Nobody Can Track or Find You” button on the console.
He pressed the “Get There Quick” button, and the engines quieted and it raced away at warp drive speed.
He pressed another button and a hologram map emitted from a small port on the console.
The hologram map showed a red dashed line from Neila, past a brown desert planet called “Deserta,” and then the line went into a black hole. At the other end of the black hole, the red dashed line went past the planets Saturn, Mars, and the Moon and stopped at Earth.
Luna looked at the hologram map and was satisfied that the automatic pilot had his ship on the correct path. So he pressed another button on the console. A hologram of four shaggy-haired aliens rock band called “The Neatles” appeared. They played rock and roll type of alien music. The classic song “All You Need Is Peace” was played.
Luna glanced at the instructions Meena gave him.
He kicked his feet up on the console and started to study them.
34
A few minutes later, he set the instructions down and removed a weird-looking harmonica from his jacket pocket. He played along with The Neatles’ song.
Meanwhile, Neila 3 flew past the Deserta planet way ahead of Luna.
Back inside Neila 1, Luna watched The Neatles while they performed another song called “Spaceship to Ride.”
He glanced over the instructions again and hummed along with the song.
Neila 3 raced into the black hole.
Neila 1 raced past the planet Deserta.
Neila 3 raced out of the black hole and raced toward Saturn.
Neila 1 raced into the black hole.
Inside Neila 1, Luna watched from his canopy, where psychedelic colors were visible while his fighter raced through the black hole.
Out in outer space, Neila 3 raced past the planet Saturn.
Neila 1 flew out of the black hole and raced toward Saturn.
Neila 3 raced past the planet Mars.
Neila 1 raced toward the rings of Saturn.
Back inside Neila 1, Luna pressed another button, and a new Alien band called “The Rolling Rocks”
started their song, “Jumping Alien Flash.”
He reached over and pressed the “Outer Space Position System (OSPS)” button. “You are eight hundred and eighty-six million miles from your destination,” the computerized female OSPS voice said.
He looked out his canopy and saw the beautiful rings of Saturn while his fighter skimmed over the tops of them.
“Cool!” Luna beamed, checking out all the colors.
Neila 3 raced past Mars and headed toward Earth.
35
Neila 3 raced towards the Moon.
Neila 1 raced past Mars.
Neila 3 slowed down and headed to the Moon.
On Neila inside Sona’s bedroom, she finished her morning shower and got dressed into her jeans and T-shirt; she grabbed her Space Pad off her dresser and turned it on.
“Good Morning, Luna,” she said, holding her Space Pad.
She waited for a hologram of Luna to appear.
Nothing. She gave a heavy sigh.
Back in outer space, Neila 3 slowly descended down to the surface of the Moon. It stopped twenty feet above the surface. Three landing struts extended from the ship. It slowly settled down to the rocky surface.
Inside Neila 3, Boe, Burpy, and Dopey looked out the canopy and stared into space.
Boe pressed a button on the console.
Back on Neila, Meena sat behind his desk in his office, tapping his fingers while looking at his Holophone on his desk. His Holophone turned on, and a hologram of Boe, Burpy, and Dopey inside Neila 3
with the Moon surface appeared.
“General, we’re at the Earth’s Moon and waiting for Luna’s spaceship,” Boe’s hologram stated.
Back inside Neila 3, Boe, Burpy, and Dopey watched a hologram of Meena inside his office emitted from the console Holophone.
“Good job, and he’s on his way. Keep me informed when you complete your mission,” Meena’s hologram stated, then it disappeared.
The goofs puffed out their chests, as this could be the first time they had successfully completed a mission.
36
They continued to stare out the canopy.
Ten minutes passed.
Neila 1 while it raced past the Moon and headed toward Earth.
Inside Neila 1, Luna dozed off while the alien band “The Rolling Rocks” finished their third song,
“Wild Spaceships.”
“You are two hundred, thirty-eight thousand and eight hundred and fifty-seven miles from your destination,” the computerized female voice said from the OSPS.
Her voice woke Luna up.
He glanced out his canopy.
He spotted the beautiful planet Earth up ahead.
He was nervous, knowing his mission would start soon.
From the surface of the Moon, the engines of Neila 3 whined and whirled louder. It slowly rose above the surface, kicking up Moondust. When it got twenty feet up, the landing struts retracted back inside the ship and zoomed into space.
Neila 1 raced to Earth at a slower speed.
It stopped and hovered in space, with America visible down below.
One hundred thousand miles behind Luna, Neila 3 hovered in space to keep a safe, discreet distance.
Inside Neila 1, Luna pressed a “Spy On Them”
button on the console. A monitor turned on the console and showed America’s Delta rocket poised at the launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center.
Luna watched the monitor while the Delta’s engines fired and lifted off the pad.
Luna smiled, pressed the “Activate Weapons”
button, and grabbed the weapons joystick on the left arm of his seat. He glanced out his canopy for the Delta rocket to ascend into view.
37
Kaboom! A bright red flash illuminated Luna’s canopy, and his spaceship violently shook. Luna’s frantically looked around and quickly checked the console. The instruments all had nominal readings.
Neila 3 fired another red laser beam at Neila 1.
Kaboom! Smoke poured out of the console of Neila 1. A loud irritating squeal sound caused Luna to cover his ears. He quickly pressed six buttons on the console, and the squeal stopped.
Luna quickly pressed the Holophone button then a hologram of static TV snow emitted from the console.
“Father! Help! The Earthlings are firing at me!”
Luna screamed at the Holophone body, trembling.
“Father?” Luna saw the hologram still showing static snow.
Kaboom! Luna’s spaceship violently shook with alarms and sirens blaring.
Neila 1 rolled uncontrollably, sending Luna out of his seat, where he slammed into the console.
Luna fought to get back at the joystick, but another jolt of the laser beam caused him to slam head first into the console again. He passed out.
In outer space, Neila 1, with the left-wing missing and a burnt rear section with two engines destroyed, flew wildly down to Earth toward America. It missed the Delta rocket by inches while it ascended into space.
The Delta rocket continued to ascend into space.
Two Delta boosters at the bottom fell off and tumbled down to Earth.
The Delta’s front fairings opened up and fell down to Earth.
The NASA space probe fired its rear engine and raced off toward Neila 3.
38
Inside Neila 3, Boe, Burpy, and Dopey sat at the controls and watched while Neila 1 tumbled widely down to Earth. They all got very excited.
Boe pressed a button on the console. Burpy clapped and burped.
“Send a report to General Meena, Dopey,” Boe ordered Dopey who replied with a salute.
Back on Neila in Meena’s office, he sat behind his desk, tapping his fingers and staring at his Holophone.
His Holophone turned on, and a hologram of Boe, Burpy, and Dopey appeared of them inside Neila 3 in outer space with Earth visible.
“Duh. .Mission a success. .duh. .Earth probe is on its way, and…duh…Neila one was disabled and…
duh…tumbling down to Earth,” Dopey’s hologram said. Meena got a substantially satisfied grin on his face.
“Great job! Come back home,” he said, then pressed a button on the Holophone, and the hologram disappeared.
He got up from his desk and performed a goofy victory dance around his office.
Inside Neila 3, Boe, Burpy, and Dopey did a goofy victory dance around their spaceship.
They looked at the canopy and saw that the Earth probe was coming straight at them. They freaked out and screamed an ear-piercing alien scream.
Burpy and Dopey dove at the joystick on the pilot’s seat.
Boe looked sad, as he knew trouble was brewing.
In outer space, Neila 1 flew wildly to the Moon and missed NASA’s space probe by inches.
Inside Neila 3, Boe, Burpy, and Dopey got tossed around while it rolled uncontrollably. They fought to get at the joystick.
39
In outer space, the NASA space probe flew off toward the Moon.
The other half of the Neila space probe, which previously hung around Earth’s orbit, zoomed up from behind and flew over the top of the NASA space probe. A small door opened on the Neila probe, and a rod with a suction cup at the end shot out. It attached itself to the NASA space probe.
The Neila probe flew the NASA space probe away toward the Moon.
Inside Neila 3, it still rolled uncontrollably. Boe, Burpy, and Dopey fought to get to the joystick while tossed around.
Boe was finally able to grab the joystick. He moved it around and pressed seven buttons on the console.
The spaceship quit rolling and got upright. Burpy and Dopey fell from the ceiling and slammed into the floor with a loud thud.
Boe pressed four more buttons on the console, and the engines whined and whirled louder and jumped into warp drive speed.
Neila 3 raced toward the Moon.
Neila 1 tumbled down toward the State of Florida.
40
Chapter 4
Back on Neila in Sona’s bedroom, she sat on her bed, looking concerned at her Space Pad.
“Luna. Are you there?” she spoke into the Space Pad. Luna’s hologram did not appear.
“Please come in, Luna!” she pleaded into her Space Pad. Luna’s hologram still did not appear, so she turned it off.
A bee boop was heard from her bedside table, where a Hologram emitted from her Holophone.
A hologram of Sona Senior appeared. She had purple hair with white streaks. “What are you doing, Sona?” asked Sona Sr.
“Oh please, Mom! I’m not a kid anymore; you don’t need to always check up on me,” Sona replied.
“I’m your mother. It’s my job,” Sona Sr.
responded in her normal motherly tone.
“If you must pry, I’m okay and getting ready for bed. So you and daddy go have a great time on your space cruise. I’ll see you when you get back,” Sona replied, then blew her mother’s hologram a kiss. Her mother’s hologram quickly responded with a kiss in return.
Sona turned off her Holophone.
She got in bed, worried about Luna not responding from her Space Pad.
Meanwhile, it was nighttime back on Earth, and the space center was quiet.
41
Back at Kirk’s place, Timmy, Frankie and Monica were on the top of Kirk’s building. They checked out the full Moon with Kirk’s telescope.
Inside Neila 1, Luna was still out cold while his ship tumbled down toward central Florida.
Luna became conscious, looked out his canopy, and saw the ground coming up fast. He frantically got back to his seat.
He flipped switches, turned knobs, pushed buttons on the console, then moved his joystick around.
The tumbling slowed down, and after some more control stick maneuvering, the tumbling eventually stopped.
Luna looked relieved but noticed he was heading straight to the ground. He quickly pushed the buttons for the smaller thruster engines.
Above the space center grounds, Neila 1 slowed down but not enough to where it landed hard on the ground. It bounced back up in the air, landed, and slammed into an area full of muck thick with scrub brushes.
Half of the front end of Neila 1 sunk into the muck covering half of the canopy. Since the area was thick with vegetation, the branches of scrub brushes, pine trees, and other vegetation covered the spaceship from view in the air. It was quiet again.
Timmy, Frankie, and Monica looked around the area on the roof of Kirk’s building.
“I know I heard something. It sounded like a crash way over there,” Monica said and pointed in a northwestern direction.
“I didn’t hear anything,” Frankie replied.
Timmy nodded in agreement that he did not hear anything.
42
“What wrong?” Kirk asked while he walked over from walking up the steps.
“Monica thought she heard something crash over there,” Frankie said while he pointed in the direction Monica pointed.
“I know I heard something crashed,” Monica added.
Timmy, Frankie, Monica, and Kirk looked around the area and could not see any signs of anything that might have crashed.
“She does have eagle ears,” said Timmy while they continued to look in the direction she pointed.
They shrugged it off and returned to looking at the Moon through the telescope.
Kirk stayed there but got this nagging feeling in his stomach that something had happened. He waited and continued to scan the area over.
Inside Neila 1, Luna was slumped over the console, out cold.
His Space Pad beeped from his jacket as it turned on during all the tumbling.
“Speak to me, Luna!” cried Sona in a panic from his Space Pad.
Luna stayed out cold. His Space Pad beeped off.
A NASA Huey helicopter was heard outside above the spaceship.
Inside the NASA Huey helicopter, two NASA pilots, Rodney and Jake, sat at the controls and looked out their windows. A searchlight illuminated the ground below, and they only saw trees, scrub brushes, and other vegetation while they hovered.
On Kirk’s roof, he and the Space Dreamers saw the NASA Huey helicopter hovering about fifty feet above the ground.
43
They watched the Huey’s searchlight illuminate the ground about five hundred feet northwest of Kirk’s place. “I told you something happened over there?” said Monica.
“Maybe a plane?” replied Timmy, now believing Monica.
“Maybe a meteorite?” added Frankie.
Kirk stroked his goatee while watching the Huey.
“It could have been a meteorite.”
They continued to eye the Huey while it searched the ground with its searchlight.
Jake and Rodney illuminated the ground with the searchlight inside the NASA Huey helicopter.
“What do you think it was?” Jake asked Rodney.
Rodney pondered for a second while he looked down below. “I’m thinking a meteorite, which probably buried itself in the muck.”
“Maybe or maybe just nothing. Let’s go back to the runway. I want some coffee,” Jake responded.
“Yeah, I also think it was nothing. I don’t want to spend the entire night filling out those lengthy incident report forms,” Rodney added.
“I agree. It was nothing,” Jake replied.
Rodney pushed forward on the cyclic control and lifted up on the collective.
Their Huey ascended up into the night sky with its searchlight turned off.
Meanwhile, way off in outer space, Neila 3 flew back into the black hole by Saturn.
Back on Neila at the King’s Palace grounds, King Tona searched the grounds over and was worried.
“Luna! Where are you, Luna!” he yelled out while looking up at the sky. He figured Luna might be sky surfing since he could not find his skyboard in his bedroom. The sky was clear.
44
King Tona looked in the direction of the garage.
He got an idea and rushed over to it.
King Tona went inside the garage and saw Luna’s Sky Doo parked inside. He left the garage worried about Luna as his instincts told him something was wrong.
King Tona removed a smaller version of the Space Pad outside the garage and pressed a button.
“General Meena, come to the Palace immediately. I’ll meet you in the rear grounds by the garage,” King Tona said into his Space Pad.
He paced back and forth in the grass, worried.
Ten minutes later, a small two-seater green spaceship labeled General 1 descended from the sky. It had a bubble glass canopy and four stars painted on both sides of the craft.
General 1 landed twenty feet from King Tona.
The spaceship door opened, and Meena got out.
He rushed over to King Tona, who looked worried.
“Sir, you wanted to see me?” Meena said.
“Yes, Meena, I can’t find Luna. He wasn’t in his bed and looked like he didn’t sleep in it. His sky board is gone, but his Sky Doo is still here. Therefore, I want you to send out some troops to find him. Today is the day where he has to sign some paperwork for his Kingdom,” King Tona said.
Meena snapped to attention and saluted. “Yes, sir.
I’ll put that order in effect immediately,” he said and rushed back to his spaceship.
“You know, if you find Sona, you’ll find Luna,”
King Tona yelled at Meena as he stepped and set foot inside his spaceship.
Meena cringed as he forgot about Sona. “Yes, sir,” Meena called back, then got entirely inside his spaceship and closed the door.
45
King Tona watched while Meena’s spaceship ascended, then took off and flew back to the Army base. King Tona walked back to the Palace, worried to death about the whereabouts of Luna.
Back on Earth inside Neila 1, Luna was still out cold and slumped on the console.
He stirred a little and became conscious. He looked around his ship, dazed and scared.
He got up and turned a few knobs on the console.
“Father? Can you hear me, father? I need help!”
he talked into a microphone. Nothing but silence; then he realized the communications portion of his console was dead.
He looked at the door and got curious.
He slowly walked over to it.
He opened the capsule door and cautiously peeked outside.
He saw nothing but a thick scrub brush and other vegetation in the dark. He got scared and closed the door, but it did not close all the way. He rushed over to the console and sat down on the floor. He remembered something and reached inside his jacket pocket. He removed his Space Pad and turned it on.
“Sona! Please come in, Sona!” he said into the Space Pad. The monitor remained blank, and Sona’s hologram did not appear. Luna shoved it back into his jacket pocket.
“Why did I go on this stupid mission?” he said while he looked around his spaceship scared to death.
It was later that morning across Florida.
Over in the northern area of the space center, Scooter drove his pickup truck into the parking lot of the Support Building at Launch Complex 39C.
46
He parked his truck and got out with his lunch box in hand. He walked to the entrance of the building.
Meanwhile, Timmy, Frankie, and Monica rode their bikes down Atlantis Street after picking up Timmy.
“There was nothing on the news about a meteorite hitting the space center last night,” said Frankie.
“I know I heard something crash last night,” said Monica looking serious.
“I believe you,” said Timmy.
The Space Dreamers rode down the end of Atlantis, then turned down SR 3. They rode north down that road.
A little while later, the Space Dreamers rode their bikes through Kirk’s opened gate of his place.
The Space Dreamers rode their bikes and parked them by the Cousteau capsule stand.
“Hello, dreamers. What brings you back here so early in the morning?” Kirk asked, stepping out of his building with a fresh cup of coffee.
“We want to check out that area where the Huey searched last night,” said Timmy.
“We believe a meteorite might have impacted there,” added Frankie.
Monica nodded in agreement with her two buddies.
Kirk sipped his coffee and glanced at the Space Dreamers. He knew their intense curiosity was something he remembered having when he was a lad.
“Let me unlock the back gate,” he said. He reached in his right pants pocket and removed a key ring.
Kirk headed off to the rear of his property with the Space Dreamers right trailing behind.
47
After Kirk and the Space Dreamers walked through numerous rocket engines, pieces of rocket sections, and a four-wheeler named “Lil Darlin” with a hitched wagon, they arrived at a back gate near a large tool shed.
Kirk unlocked and opened the gate. “Be careful of those vicious space center critters,” he warned them.
“We will,” replied Timmy walking through the gate. Monica and Frankie followed behind Timmy.
“I’ll leave it unlocked for your return,” Kirk said.
He turned around and headed back to his building, drinking his coffee.
The Space Dreamers walked through the opened gate. Timmy, Frankie, and Monica strutted through the woods like they were going on a hunt.
After twenty minutes of searching the woods, they walked upon the rear section of Neila 1, sticking out of the muck at a ten-degree angle.
They stopped in awe at what they saw sticking out of the muck.
The Space Dreamers cautiously walked up to Neila 1 and checked it out.
“That doesn’t look like a meteorite,” Monica said.
“You’re right,” Frankie added.
“You know something, it sorta looks like a spaceship,” Timmy studying the spaceship’s rear section. “Neila 1. What’s that?” he said the second he saw that marking.
The Space Dreamers looked at Neila 1 in awe but were still clueless.
Timmy’s eyes lit up with excitement. “Duke Spacewalker! Maybe Duke Spacewalker is inside and needs our help,” he jokingly said.
Frankie and Monica chuckled.
48
“Yeah, Duke Spacewalker is here to learn from us Earthlings,” Frankie added in a sarcastic tone.
Timmy and Monica chuckled.
Duke Spacewalker was a movie character for the series of movies called “Wars In Space,” which the Space Dreamers watched on the movie channels.
“Maybe it’s some secret NASA spaceship they were testing last night. It crashed, and they couldn’t tell the news people,” Monica said.
Timmy and Frankie thought about her comment for a few seconds.
“I wonder why NASA isn’t out here by now, digging out their spaceship?” Frankie said.
Timmy looked up and could not see much of the sky from all the vegetation. “This area is thick, so maybe that Huey couldn’t see it last night,” he said.
Monica and Frankie glanced up and nodded in agreement with Timmy’s response.
Timmy walked closer to Neila 1 and saw a door on the right side of the spaceship. “Mister Spacewalker. Are you home?” he jokingly said while he knocked on the door.
Inside Neila 1, Luna shook in fear by his console over the sound of the Earthling voices he heard outside.
“Hello, Mister Spacewalker,” Timmy said from outside the ship while he knocked on the door again.
Outside Neila 1, the door moved from Timmy’s knocking.
Timmy got curious and opened the door. He got brave. “I’m going inside,” he told his friends.
“I don’t know if that’s a good idea. NASA might arrest you,” Monica said, suddenly getting scared.
“That’s right. It’s probably a secret,” Frankie added.
49
Timmy cautiously stepped a foot inside Neila 1.
“I’m still going in. Duke might need our help,” he jokingly said and looked brave.
Inside Neila 1, Luna cowered by the console and shivered with fright over the sound of the Earthlings outside.
Timmy stepped inside the ship. “What are you?”
Timmy asked Luna the second he saw him.
Luna saw Timmy and screamed out, “Earthlings!”
Luna’s eyes crossed; he passed out and fell over to the floor. “Hey guys, I think we have an alien inside this thing,” Timmy called out and was not afraid of Luna for some strange reason.
Then after a few seconds, Frankie cautiously entered Neila 1 along with Monica.
They did not know what to do then and stared at Luna passed out on the floor.
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Luna became conscious and rolled over on his back. He looked up to find the two Earthling boys and a girl curiously staring down at him. His mouth opened in shock. Luna screamed an alien sound, which caused the Space Dreamers to scream along in sympathy with him. They stopped screaming after a few seconds.
Luna quickly sat up and cowered tight against the console, scared. “Please don’t eat me, Earthlings!” he pleaded for his life.
“Mister alien, we come in peace! We won’t eat you. I promise!” Timmy said in a peaceful tone.
“I’ve never eaten an alien. I promise,” Frankie added in a peaceful tone.
“Me neither,” said Monica and stepped back, fearful of Luna.
“I’m Timmy, and these are my friends Frankie and Monica,” he said while introducing all his friends.
Frankie and Monica gave Luna a little friendly wave.
Luna suddenly had the instinct these Earthlings were friendly and started to feel safer. “My name is Luna, and who is Duke Skywalker?” he said.
“Duke Spacewalker is a movie character. We were joking he might be in your spaceship when we found it,” Timmy replied; then it dawned on him. “You speak English.”
“Doesn’t everybody?” Luna replied.
“No,” Frankie answered.
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“Where do you come from?” asked Monica.
Their eyes lit up with anticipation of his answer.
“I’m from the planet Neila,” Luna responded and stood up.
“Wow! He’s from another planet!” Monica said.
“An alien. How cool!” Frankie added.
“What happened to cause you to crash here?”
Timmy curiously asked.
“You Earthlings shot me down,” answered Luna.
The Space Dreamers looked a little surprised.
“We did? I wonder why?” Monica questioned.
“I guess you found out I was going to shoot down your Delta rocket,” said Luna.
“That belongs to NASA and not us. We don’t have any rockets,” said Frankie.
“Why did you want to shoot it down?” Timmy asked.
“It’s a long story,” Luna told the Space Dreamers, who looked interested in hearing it.
“Well, we have plenty of time to hear it,” Timmy said. Luna’s stomach growled.
Timmy looked at Monica. “Go get some food from Kirk,” he said.
“Wait to start the story until I get back,” Monica said. “I will,” Luna replied.
Monica rushed out of the ship.
“Let’s go outside, and we can show you our home,” Timmy offered.
“I would love to see Earth,” Luna said, then stood up. They all walked to the door and went outside.
While Monica ran off in the woods towards the direction of Kirk’s place, Timmy and Frankie started to show Luna the Florida countryside. They showed him 52
the Pine trees and Palmetto bushes. It was nothing exotic like Luna’s planet, but he still found it interesting.
A little while later, Monica ran through the back gate of Kirk’s place.
He ran past the rocket engines and other parts and made a beeline to Kirk’s building.
He ran to the front door and started pounding on the screened door.
Kirk appeared at the screened door with a glass of iced tea. “Something wrong, Monica?” he asked. “Is someone hurt?”
“We found an alien spaceship with an alien inside.
We need some food,” Monica blurted out her words and was still out of breath from running.
Kirk looked at Monica, who had a straight face.
He chuckled. “Wait, and I’ll get you some snacks,” he said, then walked to his kitchen.
A few seconds later, Kirk appeared with a bag of Lays potato chips, a bag of Chips Ahoy chocolate cookies, and three cans of Coke.
“I need another Coke for our alien friend,”
Monica said after she grabbed the snacks from Kirk.
“Okay, and I’ll get you a bag,” Kirk said, then chuckled, thinking these kids were playing a game. He headed back to his kitchen.
A little while later, Monica returned to Neila 1
with a Publix cloth bag containing those snacks.
Timmy, Frankie, and Luna relaxed in the dirt by Neila 1.
After Monica dumped the contents of the Publix bag into the dirt, Timmy, Frankie, and Monica showed Luna the snacks, and they started to munch down.
Ten minutes later, the Space Dreamers and Luna sat on the ground outside his spaceship. They finished with their snacks and cans of Coke.
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“You Earthlings have some delicious food,” Luna said, licking his chops and drinking the rest of his Coke. Then his eyes widened a little. Something was brewing inside his body.
Back in Kirk’s building, he sat in his Laz Boy chair and watched a news channel on his TV. He had his front door and all his windows opened. This allowed the breeze to cool down the inside of his building.
All of a sudden, he heard a loud roar that came from the woods. It sounded like a loud burp. “Kids will be kids,” he chuckled, then returned to watching his TV.
Back at Neila 1, Timmy, Frankie, and Monica laughed at the loud burp from Luna’s mouth.
They all tried to burp that loud but could not get the volume or distance.
Luna chuckled over the sight.
“Let’s hear your story, Luna,” Timmy said, looking anxious.
Luna looked at the anxious eyes of his new friends. “Well, it first started the other day when my father, King Tona.”
“You’re a Prince?” Timmy said and interrupted Luna. “Yes,” Luna replied.
All the Space Dreamers looked highly impressed.
“Anyway, we’re at a ceremony in our town called Neilaville. Father told everybody that he would retire and I would become King,” Luna said, then he looked sad. “But I don’t want to become King,” he added.
“Why wouldn’t you want to be King?” Frankie asked.
“I thought a Prince was a King in training?”
Monica commented.
Luna thought about Monica’s comment for a few seconds.
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Frankie puffed out his chest. “If I were the King of the Forrreeest,” Frankie sang to the Wizard of Oz tune, trying to sound like the Cowardly Lion.
“You’re the product of watching too much TV,”
Timmy jokingly said.
Monica and Frankie chuckled.
Sona’s voice was heard from Luna’s Space Pad inside his jacket pocket. “Luna! Where are you?”
Timmy, Frankie, and Monica glanced around and wondered where that female voice came from.
“Luna! Speak to me! Please!” Sona cried from his Space Pad.
Luna removed his Space Pad his pocket and pressed a button. The Space Pad monitor came on, and Sona’s hologram appeared.
The Space Dreamers got extremely curious and walked over and checked out Luna’s Space Pad, thinking it was fantastic.
“Where are you? I’ve been calling and calling,”
asked Sona’s hologram.
Luna looked at his Space Pad, “The Earthlings shot me down.”
Sona looked confused. “Earthlings? What are you talking about?”
“Well, I took one of our fighters and flew to Earth,” he told Sona’s hologram.
Sonia at first thought he was kidding and decided to play along. “Why would you do that?” her hologram asked.
“Because General Meena told me that if I flew to Earth and shot down the Earthlings Delta rocket, the Governing Council would reward me by delaying the start of my Kingdom. But I didn’t anticipate the Earthlings shooting me down,” he said.
The Space Dreamers inched closer to Luna’s Space Pad with extreme interest.
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Back on Neila inside Sona’s bedroom, she sat on her bed, upset, glancing at her Space Pad, which showed a hologram of Luna.
“I can’t understand why you’re scared to be King,”
Sona scolded him with her arms crossed. “And pretending to be on Earth isn’t funny!” she said with glaring eyes.
Luna’s hologram looked ashamed of himself from her Space Pad. Then the hologram heads of Timmy, Frankie, and Monica peeked into view behind Luna’s hologram. They all looked curious.
Sona saw them. She did a double-take. It dawned on her. Luna was telling the truth! He’s really on Earth! She cried out in her head. Her eyes widen with fear. She screamed. Her eyes crossed, and she fainted.
She fell back on her bed with her Space Pad still in her hand.
Back on Earth at Neila 1, Luna stared at his Space Pad, and all he could see was the covers of her bed.
“Sona? You okay?” Luna asked into his Space Pad.
The Space Dreamers stepped away, concerned about what they had just seen.
On his Space Pad, Meena’s hologram suddenly appeared.
“Luna! I see you survived being shot down. I’m surprised,” Meena said and looked disappointed.
“Meena, you need to send a rescue ship after me,”
Luna said then it hit him like a ton of bricks. “How did you know I was shot down?”
“Well, Luna, you don’t want to be King, so I got rid of you,” Meena answered with a smirk.
“I want to be King, but not right now,” Luna replied; then he thought about something Meena said.
“Wait, you said you got rid of me? Why? How?” Luna questioned and looked confused.
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“I had one of my fighters follow you, and they took you down,” Meena said, then paused for a few seconds. “And now that you won’t be able to show up at the ceremonies, I get the crown by default! And I’m not afraid to be King and implement my plans,” Meena told Luna.
“Your plans, what plans?” Luna asked.
“I guess it won’t hurt to tell you since you’re gone forever. First, I’m going to take over Earth. Then I’ll use the Earthlings as slaves to make my weapons of mass destruction,” Meena bragged while he puffed out his chest.
Back on Neila in Sona’s bedroom, Meena looked at the Space Pad and saw Luna’s hologram looking shocked. Then Timmy, Frankie, and Monica’s hologram heads poked back into view behind Luna, and they looked scared.
Meena cringed with displeasure at the sight of them.
“Second. I think I’ll use those ugly creatures, like I just saw, to test my new weapons. Maybe have a big barbecue, with them as the meal, to celebrate my victory with taking over Earth,” Meena said.
He paced around the room while he looked at the hologram of Luna and the Space Dreamers.
“You know something? I’ve always wanted to try Earth meat,” Meena added, then licked his lips. “And finally, I’ll use selected crooked Earth leaders as my deputies. I know they will help me use my new weapons to take over other planets. I’ll be King of the universe!” Meena called out and got an evil smirk on his face.
Back on Earth at Neila 1, the Space Dreamers nervously stepped away from Luna’s Space Pad.
“That wasn’t Father’s intention, and when he finds out, he’ll stop you!” Luna yelled at Meena’s hologram 57
“Ah, he won’t be a problem. Trust me!” Meena replied with a smirk.
“You can’t do this, Meena!” Luna yelled.
“Ahhhh!” Sona screamed from Luna’s Space Pad.
“Sona!” Luna cried out.
“Don’t worry about her. She’s going to be my beautiful Queen. Goodbye until the invasion. I hope you find some good cover!” Meena boasted from Sona’s Space Pad.
Luna heard Sona scream from his Space Pad and saw her Space Pad drop to the floor. His Space Pad screen went blank and dark.
Meena smashed her Space Pad onto Neila’s floor in Sona’s bedroom.
Boe and Dopey had a grip on Sona’s arms. She trembled in fear.
“Keep my future sweet Queen under lock and key!” Meena ordered Boe and Dopey.
Meena walked up to Sona with puckered lips.
Sona closed her eyes and looked sickened at the thought of his lips touching her. She could not stand that thought anymore and barfed pink vomit all over Meena the second he got to her.
Boe and Dopey quickly stepped away while pink vomit dripped off Meena’s uniform and formed a puddle on the floor.
Meena got furious, yet Sona looked satisfied.
Back on Earth at Neila 1, Luna looked worried at his Space Pad.
“This thing is now useless,” Luna stated, and he threw it in the air.
His Space Pad landed in some muck twenty feet away. Luna stood up. He paced by Neila 1, visibly upset. “What have I done? I always mess things up!”
Luna muttered out loud while he paced back and forth.
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He paced around in a circle while running his hands through his hair.
The Space Dreamers started pacing in sync behind Luna.
Luna stopped. He glanced up at the blue sky, worried. He thought for a second and suddenly felt brave. “I can’t let Meena get away with this. I may not make a great King, but I’ll be better than him!”
Luna paced with the Space Dreamers hot on his tail. Luna stopped, and the Space Dreamers stopped.
“What’s Meena going to do with father?” Luna said.
“He can’t do anything until the final ceremony, so there’s still time!” Luna looked at Neila 1. He got depressed while he sat down on the ground.
The Space Dreamers sat down, depressed by Luna.
“I can’t get home! What am I going to do? I’m stuck here on Earth,” Luna said and looked like he would cry any second.
Luna and the Space Dreamers scratched their heads about how to help him out of this dilemma.
Timmy’s eyes lit up. “Does any of your engines still work?” he asked Luna.
“Why?” Luna answered.
“If they do, I have an idea that might work,”
Timmy responded.
Monica and Frankie looked clueless.
Luna looked at Neila 1.
Luna walked over and opened the door. “Stay away from the back end of my ship,” he told the Space Dreamers, then stepped inside his spaceship.
The Space Dreamers quickly moved away to a safe distance.
Inside Neila 1, Luna walked over to the console, pressed buttons, flipped switches, and turned knobs.
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The console powered up. He pressed the “Engine Start” button.
Outside Neila 1, the Space Dreamers waited in anticipation of seeing a real Alien spaceship fire its rocket engines.
Whine! Varoom! A light-colored purple flame shot out of one engine while the other two sputtered and gurgled. Neila 1 sunk a little farther into the muck.
“This is so cool!” Timmy called out, all excited.
“Wow!” Frankie replied and looked all excited.
Monica nodded in agreement and was excited to see the purple flame.
The purple flame extinguished, and the only working engine whined down.
Luna stepped out of his spaceship.
“Only one engine fired,” Timmy told Luna.
Luna walked around to the rear of his craft and saw all the damage.
Luna walked around and saw that the wing on the left side of his spaceship was missing.
He walked around to the other side of his spaceship to the Space Dreamers.
“It’s no use,” said Luna with a concerned look, then sat down on the ground.
“Why?” Monica asked.
“I could get back home with only one engine, but I’m missing a wing,” Luna said, then sat down in the dirt, depressed. “It won’t work.”
The Space Dreamers all pondered for another solution.
Frankie’s eyes lit up with another great idea. “I got it! Why not remove the engine that works and install it on that Cousteau capsule at Kirk’s place?” he said with a sparkle in his eye.
Luna thought about Frankie’s comment for a few seconds.
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The Space Dreamers nodded, indicating they thought it was a grand idea.
“Is this capsule something you Earthlings designed to travel in space?” Luna asked.
“It is,” Monica replied.
Luna rubbed his chin, looking at his engine.
“That just might work,” Luna said, then looked around the area. “But we’ll need something to haul the engine to that capsule.”
They all pondered a solution.
Monica’s eyes widen with an idea. “Kirk has a four-wheeler and wagon!”
“Lil Darling! She’s perfect,” Timmy replied.
Luna looked lost with their comment but figured they might have the only solution to get him back home.
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Frankie and Monica ran through the woods and returned to Kirk’s place.
They ran through his back gate, making a beeline to Kirk’s building.
Frankie pounded on the screened front door.
A few seconds passed, and Kirk appeared at the door drinking a can of Coke. “What now?”
“We need to use Lil Darlin,” Frankie blurted out of breath.
“Lil Darlin? Why?”
“Because we want to bring the engine from the alien’s damaged spaceship and install it on the Cousteau capsule,” Monica blurted out, still out of breath.
Kirk thought about their request for a few seconds. “Sure, you can use Lil Darlin,” he said, then chuckled, thinking these kids were really having a great time playing make-believe.
Frankie and Monica rushed off and ran over to Lil Darlin.
Frankie got behind the controls and started it up.
Monica sat behind him.
Frankie drove Lil-Darlin off.
Kirk watched from his screen door while Frankie and Monica drove Lil Darlin and its wagon over to his back gate. “I could write a movie about these kids,” he said with a chuckle, then sipped his Coke while he watched Frankie and Monica drive away.
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Ten minutes later, Frankie and Monica arrived at Neila 1 with Lil Darlin and the wagon. He turned off the engine, and they dismounted.
“Let’s get this engine disconnected and removed,”
Luna told everybody.
Timmy, Frankie, and Monica nodded in agreement. Still, he did not know how to remove a rocket engine from a spaceship. Let alone from an alien spaceship.
Luna stepped inside Neila.
Timmy, Frankie, and Monica followed.
Inside Neila 1, Luna spent the last two hours disconnecting the wireless controller box for his engine and the OSPS. His toolbox that was previously stored under his console was by his side.
Timmy, Frankie, and Monica would carry the items and place them in the wagon of Lil Darlin.
“That’s all from the inside my ship,” Luna told the Space Dreamers; then, he picked up his toolbox and headed to the door.
The Space Dreamers all followed Luna out the door of Neila 1.
Once Luna got outside, he went to the rear section of Neila 1.
He opened up his toolbox and grabbed some weird-looking Neila wrenches.
He proceeded to disconnect his flyable engine with his wrenches.
The Space Dreamers watched with intense interest, as they had never seen humans remove a rocket engine.
Thirty minutes had passed.
Back at Kirk’s building, he looked out his screened front door. He started to get concerned. “Where are those kids?” he asked himself.
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He opened up his screened door and stepped outside.
He walked off through his property and headed toward his back gate.
Kirk saw the tire tracks in the dirt of Lil Darlin once he walked out his back gate.
He followed the tire tracks and headed off into the woods.
Back at Neila 1, Luna stood and glanced at the rocket engine. “Okay, gang, she’s ready to take out,”
Luna said, placing the wrenches back in the toolbox.
Luna grabbed the nozzle and pulled hard on the engine.
Timmy, Frankie, and Monica rushed over, and each grabbed a piece of the nozzle. They also pulled hard on the nozzle.
The engine started to move and then was freed from the spaceship.
The Space Dreamers staggered while they helped Luna carry the rocket engine over to the wagon of Lil Darlin.
They set it down ever so carefully inside Lil Darlin’s wagon.
“Let me double check the inside of my ship,”
Luna said, then he headed back to Neila 1 and went inside.
“I forgot about Kirk. How do we tell him?”
Timmy asked Frankie and Monica.
The Space Dreamers all looked at each other and realized they had reached another hurdle to jump over.
“Tell me what?” Kirk asked, walking up behind the Space Dreamers.
Timmy, Frankie, and Monica’s mouths dropped open when they saw Kirk walking over to them.
“Ah, we, ah,” Timmy stuttered as he was clueless about what to say to Kirk.
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Kirk’s eyes widened when he saw the rocket engine in Lil Darlin’s wagon. “What is that?” he asked as this was an engine he was unfamiliar with based on his experience.
“Ah, it’s, ah,” Timmy stuttered again.
“It’s a rocket engine from that Alien’s spaceship, Monica blurted out and pointed to Neila 1.
Kirk walked over and checked out the rocket engine in the wagon. “This is weird looking,” he said while he checked out the engine.
Timmy, Frankie, and Monica are speechless about what to say to Kirk.
“I secured the inside of Neila one,” Luna said while he stepped out of the ship, then turned around and closed the door. He waved his hand over the middle right side of the door, and the sound of it automatically locking was heard. Luna turned around and saw Kirk standing by Lil Darlin’s wagon.
Kirk had his mouth opened and was speechless at the sight of Luna. It dawned on him. “You kids are outstanding. Taking one of your friends and using makeup makes him look like an alien. You’re like Hollywood good,” he said, then chuckled while he walked over to Neila 1. “Did you guys use plywood to make this pretend spaceship?”
“He’s a real alien, Kirk,” said Timmy.
Kirk looked at Timmy and saw he was serious.
“Naw, that’s green makeup on that kid’s face and hands,” he said while he walked over to Luna.
Kirk licked the fingertips of his right hand and then wiped them on Luna’s left cheek. He expected to see green makeup on the tips of his finger. None appeared. “Huh,” Kirk said while he licked the fingertips of his right hand again. He wiped them on Luna’s left cheek and looked at his fingers; no green 65
makeup appeared. He grabbed a handful of Luna’s hair and tugged. He expected a wig.
“Ahhhh!” Luna screamed out in his high pitch Neila squeal.
Kirk released his handful of Luna’s hair. He stepped back, unsure of what he had in front of him.
“He’s really an alien,” said Monica.
“From the planet Neila,” Frankie added.
Kirk looked at the kid’s serious faces. He glanced at the rear end of Neila 1 sticking out of the muck. He walked over and touched some of the metal of the spaceship. He tapped on it again, and it did not sound like metal he was familiar with. He looked back at Luna. His eyes crossed, and he passed out and dropped to the dirt.
Timmy, Frankie, Monica, and Luna rushed over to Kirk. Back on Neila, Meena had Sona locked up in a secret location on the Army base.
Sona stared out a window in her locked secret room with bars just installed so she wouldn’t escape.
She glanced up at the starry-filled night and other planets. Tears ran down her cheeks while she silently prayed for Luna.
Over at his Palace, King Tona sat in a plush chair in the vast den at his Palace. He was in deep thought while wondering where Luna could be located.
He pressed a button on his Holophone on the table next to his chair. A hologram of Meena emitted from it. “Meena, have you sighted Luna yet?”
“I’ve sent out numerous squads. And his girlfriend doesn’t know where he’s located, and she’s upset,” Meena lied.
“Keep on searching for my son,” King Tona said softly while he fought back his tears.
“Yes, sir,” Meena’s hologram saluted.
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He pressed another button on the Holophone, and Meena’s hologram disappeared. He pressed another button on the Holophone, and four holograms of some nearby planet leaders emitted from it. They were all human-looking aliens, but one had blue skin, one had purple skin, one had light red skin, and one had orange skin.
“Gentlemen! I’m looking for my son Luna. Have you seen him hanging around your planets? Maybe sky surfing with some of your youngins?” King Tona inquired.
All the leaders shook their heads, indicating they had not seen Luna.
“King Tona, do you want us to send him home if we do?” the orange-colored leader’s hologram asked.
“Yes, send his sky surfing butt home immediately!” King Tona responded and started to look a little pissed.
All the leaders’ holograms shook their heads in agreement. Their holograms disappeared, leaving King Tona with an upset stomach while he worried about Luna. Back in Meena’s office, he sat at his desk and tapped his fingers while pondering the events he had just created. He wondered what had to be changed to achieve his goal.
“Boe!” he yelled out.
A few seconds passed, and Boe, Burpy, and Dopey ran into his office.
“You rang, sir?” Boe asked the second they made a sliding stop at Meena’s desk, snapped to attention, and saluted.
“The initial ceremony is tomorrow, so don’t forget your assignment,” Meena ordered.
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Boe saluted, indicating he understood. Meena laughed an evil laugh. Boe, Burpy, and Dopey followed and laughed an evil goofy laugh.
Meena gave them a mean glare. “Shut up and leave my office!” he yelled at them, throwing out a little spit. They stopped laughing, got frightened, turned around, and ran out the door.
Way off in outer space, a vast spaceship resembled a cruise ship like you see on Earth. It slowly went past some strange colored planets.
In a cabin inside that spaceship, Sona’s mother wore a sparkling evening gown while she sat on a bed.
She started to press a button on a Holophone, then saw her husband, Fona. He had a substantial white handlebar mustache and wore a tuxedo jumpsuit. He saw Sona Senior and knew what she was up to.
“Let her be dear. When she becomes Queen, she cannot have her mother checking up on her all the time,” Fona lightly scolded Sona.
She thought about what he said, realized he was right, and stopped her call.
“Come, we need to hurry, or we’ll miss the Tooma Jones show,” he told Sona while he offered her his hand. “I hope he sings his “What’s New Alien Cat”
song.”
She took his hand, got off the bed, and walked to the door arm in arm.
Back on Earth at Neila 1, Kirk became conscious and finished listening to Luna’s story.
“I can’t believe it. An alien. An actual alien. And another alien wants to take over Earth,” Kirk said while he looked at the rocket engine in Lil Darlin’s wagon.
“And you think you can use the Cousteau capsule?” he asked Luna.
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“I’m pretty sure. We studied that capsule in my ancient rockets history class,” Luna replied.
“Ancient rockets history class. I see,” Kirk replied, then chuckled. He got up and walked over to Lil Darlin. He got on behind the controls. “Let’s go. We have a spaceship to build for Prince Luna,” he said, then started up Lil Darlin.
Luna picked up his toolbox.
Timmy, Frankie, and Monica walked behind Lil Darlin’s wagon while Kirk drove back to his place.
Luna rushed after his friends.
Back on Neila, it was another huge social event in the Neilaville grand auditorium. It was the initial ceremony for Luna becoming King and the start of King Tona’s retirement.
The auditorium was packed with Neilas while they anxiously waited with King Tona on stage. Meena sat in a chair to his left with an empty chair to his right.
King Tona looked sad while he stared at the empty chair. He looked to the side of the stage and prayed Luna would suddenly appear. He did not, and Meena had a massive smirk as with that empty chair.
Governing Council member 1 entered the stage.
Governing Council member 2 entered the stage and carried a shiny crown on a fluffy red pillow. It was King Tona’s crown that he had to surrender so they could have it cleaned and polished.
They walked over and stood by King Tona, who stared at the side of the stage.
Council member 1 saw Luna was missing. “If Luna doesn’t arrive in two seconds, the default clause goes into effect,” Council member 1 informed King Tona, who nodded that he understood. He did not like it, but he knew that rules were rules.
They waited two seconds then Council member 1
addressed the audience.
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“Since Prince Luna failed to attend the initial ceremony, King Tona is officially retired, and Neila law forty-three dash thirteen is now in effect. The King’s crown will be presented to Meena, the King’s first cousin. This means Meena must keep the crown in his possession until the final ceremony. Then he’ll officially be King Meena of Neila and may pick a Queen of his choosing,” Council member 1 said to the audience.
Council member 2 walked the fluffy pillow over to King Tona.
An unhappy King Tona reluctantly removed the crown from the pillow and walked to Meena. He handed the crown to Meena’s waiting hands and a huge smile.
The two Council members left the stage.
Meena held up the crown, incredibly proud of his evil achievement.
The Neilas in the audience gave Meena a mediocre clap, as they never thought highly of him.
Meena noticed and looked at the audience. He saw four ugly female Neilas in the front row. They gave him little waves and blew him kisses while winking in hopes of being his Queen. He did not like those potential Queens.
Boe rushed over to Meena from the side of the stage, bent down, and faked a whisper into Meena’s ear.
He rushed off the stage.
Meena turned to King Tona. “King Tona, may I speak to you in private?”
King Tona looked curious while they walked to the back of the stage.
“Sir. My intelligence guys intercepted some radio transmissions from Earth. They learned that the Earthlings are claiming they shot down a Neila 70
spaceship that Prince Luna piloted,” Meena informed King Tona, who looked shocked over the news.
“What! Is my son alive?” King Tona responded, and his stomach immediately got upset.
“The Earthling transmissions stated they are holding Prince Luna as a prisoner,” Meena lied through his teeth.
“Earth? Why would he go to Earth?”
“Well, sir, a private told me he overheard Luna boasting of flying to Earth to establish relations as you wished. He took a fighter spaceship,” Meena responded, hoping King Tona believed him.
“I didn’t mean for him to go right now! And a fighter spaceship sends the wrong message,” King Tona said. Then he pondered how to get Luna out of this mess. “I better handle this myself. I’ll fly to Earth and talk with the head Earthling. They seem like reasonable aliens. After they realize this was a huge misunderstanding, they’ll free Luna,” King Tona told Meena.
“Are you sure they won’t shoot you down?”
Meena asked.
“I’ll use my limo. It looks harmless,” King Tona replied, then rushed off the stage. Meena had a smirk as he still schemed.
The Neilas in the audience looked shocked as they heard their conservation. They all rushed out of the auditorium.
On a sidewalk at the main street of Neilaville, called Neilaville Parkway, numerous Neilas walked down the sidewalk. They stopped at a stand that emitted a hologram newspaper with “Prince Luna Shot Down By Earthlings. Held Prisoner! King Tona will Rescue Him!” headlines.
They all couldn’t believe their eyes.
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“Poor little Luna! Why did he go to Earth?” one female Neila asked.
“You never know with that kid,” a male Neila replied.
“King Tona will save the day. He always does!” a male Neila commented with confidence.
All the surrounding Neilas nodded their heads in agreement.
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Back down on Earth in Florida, Kirk drove Lil Darlin and the wagon through the back gate of his property. Timmy, Frankie, Monica, and Luna tagged along behind the wagon.
He drove Lil Darling over and parked it by the Cousteau capsule.
"Timmy, you and Frankie go inside my tool shed by the back gate. Get some pruning shears and cut some tree branches and other vegetation. I want you to cover up that spaceship. We don't want NASA to find it. If they do, they might come after our Prince Luna friend," Kirk told the two boys.
Timmy and Frankie rushed off toward the tool shed by the back gate.
While Timmy and Frankie opened up the tool shed, Kirk looked at Neila 1's rocket engine. He was clueless about how to install this piece of advanced technology. "I guess you're in charge, Prince Luna. I don't know how to work on this engine type," he said.
"Show me the tools you Earthlings use," Luna told Kirk.
Kirk motioned for Luna to follow him.
Luna and Monica followed Kirk to his tool shed.
Timmy and Frankie stepped out of the tool shed with large pruning shears.
They rushed through the back gate and headed off into the woods.
Kirk and Luna stepped inside the tool shed.
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Luna looked around the inside of the shed.
Kirk walked over and opened up a sizeable red Craftsman toolbox. "I should have everything you need," he said and motioned for Luna to come over and check out his tools.
Monica waited outside the shed while Luna checked out Kirk's tools.
While Luna gathered up the tools, he felt he could use them.
Timmy and Frankie were busy cutting off small tree branches with leaves and using them and other vegetation to hide Neila 1 from view.
Back at Kirk's place, Monica and Kirk were inside the Cousteau capsule and assisted Luna. At the same time, he installed the controller box with wiring.
Back at Neila 1, Timmy and Frankie continued to cover the rear section of Neila 1 with different types of vegetation they could locate. They almost had it half covered out of view.
An hour passed, and the sun settled below the horizon.
Timmy and Frankie were dirty and exhausted while walking back through Kirk's place's back gate.
They placed their pruning shears in the tool shed and rushed over to the Cousteau capsule.
Timmy and Frankie walked up to Monica, who stood down by the steps to the capsule.
"What are they doing?" Timmy curiously asked while he looked up at the capsule, hearing the noise of them installing something.
"Installing the controller and some other items,"
Monica replied while she looked up at the capsule.
Luna and Kirk came out of the capsule and headed down the steps.
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"We'll be working during most of the night. You kids better get home before your parents yell at me,"
Kirk told the Space Dreamers.
"When are you going to fly back home?" Timmy asked Luna.
"First thing in the morning," Luna replied, then looked at the Space Dreamers and pondered for a few seconds. "I can't thank you enough for all the help -
and I hate to ask for more - but - Meena's pretty crafty, so I need you to come along as proof Meena shot me down," Luna asked them.
Timmy, Frankie, and Monica looked at Luna, unsure they understood his request.
"What?" Timmy asked Luna.
Frankie and Monica nodded that they also were unsure of Luna's request.
"I want you to come back with me to Neila. I can't stop General Meena alone. I need you to prove he shot me down so my father will believe me. That's the only thing that will ensure I become King," said Luna, who looked dead serious.
Timmy, Frankie, and Monica looked at each other in disbelief.
"I'd go, but I'm too old, and that ride just might do me in for good," Kirk replied. "But for you young kids, this is an opportunity of a lifetime that may never come around again," he added.
Timmy, Frankie, and Monica's eyes lit up with the idea of traveling in outer space.
"We'll be Astronauts," Monica said with sparkles in her eyes.
"Yeah, Astronauts," Frankie added with sparkles in his eyes.
Timmy glanced up at the sky started to get dark.
He saw the Crescent Moon. "Astronauts," he said with sparkles in his eyes.
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"Wait, how will we get home?" Monica asked, looking concerned.
"I'll fly you back in one of my spaceships. You'll love it," Luna replied.
Timmy, Frankie, and Monica looked at each other.
"I'm in," said Timmy.
Frankie and Monica nodded their heads in agreement.
"Don't forget to tell your parents that you'll be going with Luna to his home planet," Kirk said with a chuckle, knowing that wasn't going to happen. He felt the kids would chicken out.
Timmy, Frankie, and Monica looked concerned about how to tell their parents.
"How long will we be gone?" he asked Luna.
"Oh, I would say a week in your time. At the most, but I might have you back sooner if we immediately stop General Meena," Luna replied.
"What can we tell our parents? I mean, we'll be gone for a week," Frankie asked and looked concerned.
"A week in outer space," Frankie replied and looked concerned.
Monica nodded in agreement.
Luna thought of a solution for a few seconds, and his eyes lit up. "When I bring you back, I'll tell them I kidnapped you. I can tell them from my spaceship after I depart for Earth so your other Earthlings won't eat or dissect me," he said.
Timmy, Frankie, and Monica thought about Luna's solution. Their eyes all lit up, loving his idea.
"We'll be here at eight in the morning," said Timmy.
Luna looked at Kirk and was clueless.
"Don't worry, I'll let you know when that time comes around," Kirk replied.
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"Okay, I'll see my friends at your eight in the morning," Luna said, looking happy they were coming along with him.
"You kids better get home and get some rest.
We'll see you in the morning," Kirk said and motioned at Luna; they should start installing the rocket engine.
Luna smiled at Timmy, Frankie, and Monica.
They smiled back and rushed over to their bikes by the building.
Luna and Kirk started working on installing the rocket engine while Timmy, Frankie, and Monica rode off on their bikes.
It was a quiet ride for the Space Dreamers while they rode home on their bikes.
It was dinner time at the Watson home, and tonight Leslie cooked fried chicken with mashed potatoes and cream corn. Scooter was not there, as he was at work at the launch pad.
"So Timmy, did you do anything exciting today?"
Leslie asked.
Timmy looked at Leslie and really wanted to tell her the truth. "Oh, nothing too exciting. Kirk told us stories about aliens that the space shuttle Astronauts claimed to have seen," he replied. He silently prayed she would not ask any more questions about his day.
"That sounds exciting," Leslie replied.
Timmy was quiet during the rest of their dinner.
At the Blake home, Frankie's father was forty-two-year-old Ernst. He was a software engineer for NASA and worked on the software for launching the Magellan rocket. His wife was Elaine, and she worked as a nurse at the Cape Canaveral Hospital.
The Blake's ate a nice steak dinner.
"So Frankie, what did you do today?" asked Ernst.
"Oh, Timmy and Monica and I listened to Kirk Dakota tell us stories of the old days at NASA,"
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Frankie replied. He silently prayed they would not ask any more questions about his day.
"How is old Kirk doing?" I haven't seen him in years," asked Ernst.
"He's doing good and just loves telling us stories about the old days," Frankie replied and ate some steak.
Frankie was quiet during the rest of their dinner.
At the Hernandez home, they ate a nice spaghetti dinner.
Monica sat at the table with Ricky Hernandez, her forty-one-year-old father, and Rose, her forty-year-old mother.
Ricky was an avionics system engineer with NASA, while Rose worked for an accountant's office.
"How was Monica's day? Exciting, I hope," Ricky asked.
Monica was dying to tell the truth. "We listened to stories about aliens by Kirk Dakota," she replied and silently prayed they would not ask any more questions about her day.
"Good old Kirk. He told me stories about the Apollo days I started at the space center. He's a good man," Ricky replied.
Monica remained quiet during the rest of their dinner.
Back at Kirk's place, he and Luna finished installing the rocket engine from Neila 1 onto the bottom of the Cousteau capsule. It took some engineering, but Kirk had enough materials to make a bracket to tie the engine to the bottom of the capsule.
They next started to work on landing struts out of some angle iron he had stored in his tool shed.
Over at Timmy's home, he sat in his bedroom and stared at his computer monitor. He had the Internet up and stared at some pictures taken by the Hubble telescope. He started to get a little nervous.
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Over at Frankie's home, he sat in his bedroom and stared at his computer monitor. He looked up a website that mentioned the hazards of traveling through deep space. He also started to get a little nervous.
Over at Monica's home, she also sat in her bedroom and watched a DVD movie on her TV. She was halfway through the Star Wars movie. She also started to get a little nervous.
Back at Kirk's place, he and Luna finish installing four landing struts made of angle iron. They angled outward so the capsule could clear the stand during its launch.
Kirk and Luna went back inside the Cousteau capsule to see what other modifications needed to be performed.
Two hours had passed.
Timmy tossed and turned in his bed, as he could not sleep a wink with tomorrow in his mind.
Frankie tossed and turned in his bed, as he could not sleep a wink with tomorrow on his mind.
Monica tossed and turned in her bed, as she could not sleep a wink with tomorrow on her mind.
Back at Kirk's place, Luna and Kirk installed the batteries from Neila 1 to power the Cousteau capsule.
They also removed and reinstalled other instruments and gauges Luna deemed necessary for the flight back home.
They were exhausted and figured they had to disconnect the Cousteau capsule from the stand.
The sun rose above the horizon for the start of another morning on Earth in Florida.
He slept in his bed at Kirk's building while Luna slept on the couch.
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They both woke up, and Kirk started to make Luna an excellent fashioned Earthling scrambled egg breakfast. Luna loved it!
Back at Timmy, Frankie, and Monica's home, they got up and had their breakfast.
After telling their parents they would be off playing all day, they jumped on their bikes and headed to Kirk's place. They were quiet while they rode down Atlantis Street.
A little while later, Kirk and Luna conducted a final inspection of the Cousteau capsule. They stood down by the steps on the stand.
"It's ready for the flight back home per my inspection," Luna told Kirk.
"You know better than me," Kirk replied.
Timmy, Frankie, and Monica rode up on their bikes. "My friends are here and ready to help me become King!" Luna said with sparkles in his eyes. "I'll start the process," he said, then headed up the stairs to the platform and went inside the capsule.
Timmy, Frankie, and Monica walked over and looked at the Cousteau capsule with the four added landing struts.
"Ah, Luna, we decided it might be safer if we stay here on Earth," Timmy said and looked a little ashamed.
Frankie and Monica nodded their heads in agreement.
"But I need you!" Luna told them with disappointed eyes.
"We might die!" cried out Frankie with fear in his voice while he recalled last night's Internet article.
Timmy, Frankie, and Monica waved goodbye to Luna while he sadly closed the capsule's hatch.
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Kirk walked up to the Space Dreamers. "You know, even if you applied, you might never get accepted into NASA's Astronaut program. This here is a sure way to travel in outer space. You'll go where no other NASA Astronaut will ever go during your lifetime. You'll actually go to another planet," he said, looking dead serious. "I wished I had the opportunity to go to another planet."
Timmy, Frankie, and Monica looked at each other, then at Kirk.
"Plus, it sounds like you'll save Earth. I think your parents will forgive you for that," Kirk added.
Inside the capsule, Luna sat depressed in his seat as he needed help. He actually took a liking to his newfound Earthling friends.
Loud banging echoed inside the capsule.
Luna quickly opened the hatch. His eyes lit up seeing Timmy, Frankie, and Monica, with her eyes closed, on the platform.
"Will you promise to bring us back home and tell our parents why we came along?" asked Timmy.
"Yeah, I don't want to be grounded for the rest of my life," added Frankie.
Monica nodded in agreement with closed eyes.
"Cross both of my hearts," Luna said and made two cross movements with a finger across the middle of his chest.
He noticed Monica looked scared with her closed eyes and started to shake, and she had a death grip on the handrails of the platform. "Are you feeling ill, Monica?" Luna asked.
"I'm afraid of heights," she replied, then quickly crawled through the hatch before she changed her mind.
Timmy and Frankie crawled through the hatch.
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Luna quickly closed the hatch and then looked happy.
He rushed over and got in the middle right seat where the joystick from Neila 1 was installed.
Timmy sat in the outer left seat while Monica sat in the middle left seat.
Frankie sat down in the outer right seat.
Luna reached over to the console where his controller box was installed. He pressed the "Engine Fire Sequence" button on the modified console.
The Neila 1 rocket engine ignited from the bottom of the Cousteau capsule with a light-colored purple flame.
The Cousteau capsule lifted off the stand.
Kirk watched from the roof of his building while the Cousteau capsule soared into the morning sky. He saluted the soaring capsule.
Inside the Cousteau capsule, the G-force pushed Luna and the Space Dreamers back against the seats.
"Yahoooo!" Timmy and Frankie screamed out in joy. Monica looked scared to death and clung to her seat with white knuckles.
Outside Timmy's home, Leslie walked out of the front door in her Target store work clothes. She noticed numerous neighbors standing in their driveways and staring at the sky.
She got curious and looked up at the sky. She saw the Cousteau capsule while it soared up high.
"I didn't know NASA was going to launch a small rocket today," a male neighbor called out to Leslie from his driveway.
"Me neither," Leslie replied while she still looked at the Cousteau capsule while it raced toward outer space.
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She could care less about a rocket launch while she scanned the neighborhood. She walked over and got inside her Corolla, as she was more concerned with being late for work.
The Cousteau capsule ascended toward space, and the whole state of Florida was visible below.
The whole United States was visible below.
The whole Earth was visible while the capsule zoomed into outer space.
Inside the Cousteau capsule, Luna and the Space Dreamers floated inside, and they loved the feeling of being in Zero-G.
Timmy and Frankie had their faces glued to some of the capsule windows.
Monica was still scared to death while her nails dug harder into the seat so she would not float away.
"Can you fly us around Earth?" Timmy asked Luna.
"It would be my pleasure!" Luna responded while he maneuvered the joystick around a little.
From the capsule windows, they saw Europe.
They saw the Middle East.
They saw India, Russia, China, and Asia.
They saw Australia.
They see the middle of the Pacific.
They saw the Hawaiian Islands.
They saw the West Coast of America.
They saw the entire United States and ended up back over Florida.
"There's home down there," Timmy said while staring at Florida.
"Yep," Frankie replied and could not believe he was up in space.
Monica clung to her nail digging in her seat, scared to death.
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Luna monitored the console and moved the control stick, and the capsule left Earth's orbit.
He pressed the "Get There Quick" button, and the engine quieted, zooming away at warp drive speed.
Frankie and Timmy slammed against the back wall.
Monica almost peed her pants.
"Man, that was a blast!" Timmy yelled out while he and Frankie floated back the windows.
An hour had passed
The Moon came into view for Timmy and Frankie.
"You're missing a cool view of the Moon, Monica," Timmy called out.
"That's alright," Monica replied and kept her eyes closed.
After the capsule flew past the Moon, they floated around and still loved the feeling of weightlessness.
Monica still stayed in her seat with her eyes closed.
Luna monitored the console gauges.
The Earth probe with the attached Neila probe flew toward Mars.
The Cousteau capsule zoomed toward Mars and flew above the two probes at a faster speed.
The Cousteau capsule soon zoomed to Saturn and its rings.
Inside the capsule, Timmy and Frankie stared out the windows, loving Saturn's view and its rings.
Monica still sat in her seat with her eyes closed.
Luna monitored the console gauges from his seat.
The Cousteau capsule turned and flew over the rings of Saturn.
"This is so cool!" Frankie called out while he stared out the window.
Timmy nodded in agreement while he stared out another window.
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He glanced over at Monica, who still had her eyes closed. He felt sorry for her and wanted her to see these beautiful sights.
The Cousteau capsule zoomed in the direction of a black hole.
The capsule zoomed into a black hole.
Inside the capsule, psychedelic colors filled the windows and the capsule while it raced inside the black hole. Timmy and Frankie loved the colored show from the windows, except for Monica, who still had her eyes closed and shivered in fright.
Luna sat back and monitored the console gauges from his seat.
The capsule started spinning.
"Yeah!" Timmy and Frankie cried in unison, loving this feeling.
The capsule raced out of the black hole.
The spinning stopped, and everybody started floating around. Monica clung to her seat with her death grip on the arms of the seat.
"That was so cool!" said Timmy with a huge grin.
Frankie nodded in agreement.
"Are we there yet?" asked Monica with one eye open. Luna looked out a window.
"Almost," Luna answered.
Monica looked relieved.
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It was nighttime back on Earth in Florida.
Leslie walked down Atlantis Street with her arms crossed. She was worried while she scanned up and down the street.
“Timmy! Where are you!” she cried out, wondering why he had not come home for dinner.
Over on Apollo Street in Palmetto, Ernst and Elaine walked down the street worried.
“Frankie!” Ernst called out while they walked down the street searching for their son.
Over on Mercury Street in Palmetto, Ricky and Rose walked down the street and looked worried.
“Monica! It’s time to come home,” Ricky called out. This was the first time these three kids did not come home on time for dinner from a day of playing.
These parents were worried to death.
It was the middle of the night, back on the planet of Neila.
Back in the driveway of King Tona’s Palace, a big fancy shiny black limo was parked, on four landing struts, near the front entrance with its front hood up.
It resembled a Cadillac.
Boe, Burpy, and Dopey fiddled around the inside of the limo’s engine compartment with some strange tools. They quietly closed the hood and snuck away with some engine parts in hand.
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They gingerly snuck away down the driveway into the darkness with snickers of a well-done job.
When they were safely away from the Palace, they raced to their small four-seater spaceship hidden in a small clearing in the woods.
The sun rose above the horizon near Neilaville.
At the driveway of King Tona’s Palace, the rear trunk of the Cadillac limo spaceship was opened, and Albie placed two suitcases inside it and slammed the trunk closed.
Albie walked away from the limo and headed to the front door of the Palace.
King Tona stared at one of the shelves of a bookcase while inside his Palace den.
He stared at a hologram picture of King Tona and a much younger and smaller Luna pretending to be King and flashing a proud smile.
Albie entered the room. “We’re ready to proceed, sir,” Albie told King Tona, who turned around and looked at Albie with tears flowing from his eyes.
King Tona left the room with Albie.
At the driveway of the Palace, Albie and King Tona walked out of the front entrance, then walked up to the back of his Cadillac limo spaceship.
Albie opened the back door.
King Tona got inside then Albie closed the door.
He rushed over to the driver’s side and got inside.
The engine started up with a whirl. The engine whined louder, and the limo rose up from the driveway.
The limo was six feet off the driveway, and the four landing struts retracted inside the craft.
The limo spaceship flew down the driveway and quickly whooshed into the sky.
Meanwhile, he sat behind his desk in Meena’s office, admiring the King’s Crown.
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He picked up the crown and stroked it like it was a puppy. He kissed it. He hugged it. He heard someone at the door, so he quickly laid the crown on his desk.
Boe, Burpy, and Dopey rushed into his office beaming with joy. Their uniforms now had three strips on their sleeves, meaning a promotion for a job well done. They walked up to his desk and snapped to attention.
“Did you fix it?” Meena asked with hopeful eyes.
“Yes, boss. His ship will quit when it gets to Deserta,” Boe responded.
Meena looked extremely happy. “Great! I’ll let the press know the Earthlings have King Tona, and after I’m King, I’ll declare war on them,” Meena laughed an evil laugh as he picked up the crown and smooched it.
Boe, Burpy, and Dopey laughed an evil laugh.
Meena got irritated by their laughter, jumped up from his desk, and ran over to them. He slapped them across their faces. Their heads spun around with Burpy burping.
“Leave!” he ordered.
Boe, Burpy, and Dopey did an about-face and ran out of his office.
Meena walked back, sat down behind his desk, and continued admiring his crown.
Five minutes later, Meena daydreamed…
King Meena was given a ticker tape parade down Neilaville where aliens from different planets cheered.
Meena sat on the back of a Jeep that Boe drove with Burpy next to him. It flew down Neilaville Parkway, but Meena changed the name to “Meena Parkway.”
“King Meena! We love King Meena,” the aliens chanted and waved while Meena’s Jeep flew past them.
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Meena sat at his desk with sparkles in his eyes while his daydream continued.
“I’m going to change the name of our capital to Meenaville,” he said out loud. “Yep, I’ll change it to Meenaville.”
He continued to daydream of all the changes he would implement.
Later that day, way off in outer space, King Tona’s Cadillac limo slowly flew toward the planet Deserta.
Way above King Tona’s limo, the Cousteau capsule whizzed over the limo flying in the opposite direction, and headed toward Neila at four times the speed of the King’s limo spaceship.
Later that day, the Cousteau capsule flew around Neila’s orbit and then descended to it.
Inside the Cousteau capsule, the Space Dreamers were seated in the seats while the craft descended down to the planet. Monica still had her eyes closed shut.
The woods were quiet by King Tona’s Palace.
The roar of an engine was heard.
The Cousteau capsule was visible, slowly descending into the woods surrounding the Palace grounds.
The capsule made a soft landing in a small clearing in the woods on Kirk’s four-angle iron landing struts.
The capsule sat ten feet up in the air once it landed on the ground.
The engine shut down, and the capsule hatch quickly opened.
Luna jumped out and landed on the ground on both feet.
He looked up at the capsule. “Welcome to Neila, my friends,” he yelled at the Space Dreamers.
Timmy cautiously poked his head out of the capsule and scanned the area over. He glanced back inside the capsule.
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“Hey guys, it sorta looks like home,” he said.
Timmy jumped out of the capsule and landed on his feet on the ground.
Frankie poked his head out of the capsule and smiled, as he liked the planet so far. He jumped out and landed on his feet.
Luna, Timmy, and Frankie looked up at the capsule.
“We’ve landed, Monica. You can open your eyes,”
Luna yelled at him.
After a few seconds of silence, Monica cautiously poked her head out of the capsule. She glanced down at the ground and shook with fright at the height.
“You can do it, Monica,” Frankie coached her.
“Come on, Monica. Jump,” Timmy added and held out his arms.
Monica’s legs shook while she glanced down at Luna. She closed his eyes and jumped out.
She landed in Timmy’s waiting arms. She cautiously opened his eyes and felt safer.
Timmy and Monica gazed into each other’s eyes.
Timmy had the urge to give her a quick kiss on the lips.
Monica had the same urge. But they both resisted.
Frankie noticed.
Timmy got embarrassed having that urge and carefully set her down on her feet.
“Thanks,” she said to Timmy and was also embarrassed for having her urge.
“Let’s go find father,” Luna said, then made a mad dash through the woods.
The Space Dreamers admired the woods of Neila, then realized Luna ran off and got nervous being alone on this unfamiliar planet. They ran off after him.
At the military base inside Meena’s office, he sat behind his desk whistling a happy tune. At the same 90
time, he reviewed paperwork with the crown in front of him.
A Holophone bee booped, and a hologram of a soldier emitted from the phone.
“General. We’ve picked up an unidentified spaceship on the radar. It landed near the King’s Palace,” the soldier’s hologram told Meena.
Meena stopped whistling, and his smile quickly vanished. He got mad and pressed a button on the Holophone, and the hologram image disappeared.
“Boe!” he screamed in the direction of his office doorway.
A few seconds passed, and Boe, Burpy, and Dopey raced through the doorway simultaneously.
They got stuck in the doorway and strained to enter.
They strained harder, and there was a loud pop sound when they were set free. But they landed on their faces.
They jumped up, snapped to attention, and saluted.
Meena shook his head in disgust with the goofballs. “I want you bozos to get Squad Alfalfa over to the King’s Palace! I got word that a spaceship landed in the woods over there. I’m afraid the worst has happened,” he ordered.
“Yes, boss!” barked out. Boe followed with a salute.
They turned around and ran out of the room.
Meena got up and stormed out of the room.
Ten minutes later, Luna and the Space Dreamers ran out of the front doors of the Palace.
They walked through the front yard of the Palace grounds.
The sound of rocket engines was heard in the sky.
Luna’s eyes widened with fear, and he stopped dead in his tracks.
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The Space Dreamers bumped into each and ended up in a pile.
“Hurry! Back in the woods!” Luna quietly cried out while glancing at the sky.
He turned around, ran up and over the top of the Space Dreamers, and headed back to the woods.
The Space Dreamers wondered what was wrong while they got off each other.
They ran back into the woods after Luna.
Luna peeked around a tree and saw three troop-carrying spaceships land on the front grounds of the Palace. The doors opened, and thirty armed soldiers from Squad Alfalfa rushed out.
Ten soldiers all went in separate directions and started searching the grounds.
Twenty soldiers rushed to the front doors of the Palace.
Luna sat down by that tree, upset, and knew the Cousteau capsule was detected when it came down to the planet.
“Father’s limo is gone, so he probably went somewhere, and Meena has guards searching the Palace. He’s probably searching for me,” he said with a worried look. “Maybe we should fly off to Ronrevog and go ahead and talk with the Governing members,”
Luna told the Space Dreamers, then thought about that plan for a few seconds. “It’s my only choice. Let’s go back to the capsule,” he said. He stood up.
Luna and the Space Dreamers ran deeper into the woods.
Monica’s ears perked up. “Shhh!” she quietly told everybody, and they immediately froze in position.
“There’s someone over there,” she quietly said, pointing straight ahead.
They cautiously followed Luna to a big bush and hid behind it.
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They peeked through some leaves and noticed Meena, Boe, Burpy, Dopey, and three soldiers walking around and checking out the Cousteau capsule.
“Luna came back! I knew it!” Meena commented while he stared at the American flag on the capsule by the Cousteau marking. He took out a laser pistol from his belt and turned around. He aimed the pistol at a tree near that big bush they hid behind. A red laser beam fired out of his pistol and instantly split the tree in half.
Luna and the Space Dreamers watched while the one half of that split tree fell toward them. They froze with fear. Boom! The tree landed and missed them by inches. They looked relieved and peeked through the bush leaves, where they saw Meena pacing by the capsule with Boe, Burpy, and Dopey at his heels.
“Nothing will stop me from being King and taking over Earth. Tell Squad Alfalfa at the Palace that Luna is somewhere in the area,” Meena ordered.
Luna and the Space Dreamers anticipated getting caught when they saw the three soldiers running in their direction.
A freaky-looking fluorescent green and pink bug landed on Frankie’s nose. His eyes crossed while he stared at it, and the bug started to freak him out.
Luna saw Frankie getting ready to scream, so he quickly swatted the bug off his nose.
Frankie was relieved.
“Wait! First, move this antique thing to the spaceship show and sell it,” Meena yelled at the soldiers.
The three soldiers stopped at the other side of that bush, turned around, and ran back to Meena.
Luna and the Space Dreamers wiped their foreheads, relieved it was safe. Luna motioned for them to follow him.
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He crawled away in the opposite direction, and they crawled after him.
When it was safe, they got up and ran away through the woods.
A little while later, Luna and the Space Dreamers snuck along the edge of the woods with the Palace visible behind them. The soldiers were not visible as they went inside the Palace, searching every room.
They snuck twenty feet down along the edge of the woods when all of a sudden, Luna sensed something.
He looked up in the sky and saw Lon, Saul, Lorge, and Bingo surfing on sky boards.
Luna made a dolphin sound up in the air at the Surfers.
The Surfers looked down from the sky and waved, noticing Luna below.
They quickly descended and landed near Luna.
They stood on their sky boards while they hovered inches above the ground.
“Luna, we thought you were on….” Lon said but immediately stopped when the Surfers noticed the Space Dreamers. They all took a step back, leery of them, and fell off their boards, landing on their butts.
“What are those creatures?” Lorge asked, a little scared.
“They’re my friends from Earth and are harmless,” Luna said.
“We heard you were held prisoner there! What happened?” asked Saul but was still leery of the Space Dreamers.
“We thought the Earthlings would dissect you,”
said Bingo.
“It’s a long story, but these Earthlings helped me come home,” replied Luna, who looked sincere.
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“And we don’t dissect aliens. Promise,” Timmy added with a friendly smile.
The Surfers looked the Space Dreamers over and then felt comfortable with them.
“Their skin are strange colors,” said Lon.
“White, and dark brown and light brown,” Bingo added.
“Who cares. They are friendly, and that’s all that matters,” Luna replied.
The Surfers thought about his comment for a few seconds, then nodded in agreement.
“We need to get out of here now! Meena has Alfalfa Squad searching for me. Plus, my father is gone, and Meena took Sona,” Luna pleaded with the Surfers.
Lon motioned for them to jump on their sky boards.
Luna hopped on Lon’s board behind Lon.
The Space Dreamers all looked unsure.
“Don’t worry, it’s safe,” Luna assured them.
Timmy hopped on Saul’s board behind Saul.
Frankie hopped on Lorge’s board behind Lorge.
Monica looked scared, and her knees shook, thinking of soaring up in the air.
“We don’t have a choice, Monica,” Timmy pleaded with her.
Monica stood, and her still knees shook while she looked at the sky boards and then back at the sky.
“Come on, Monica, hop on. You’ll be safe with me,” said Bingo.
Monica furiously shook his head in disagreement.
“Get on Monica before we all get arrested!” cried Timmy.
Monica furiously shook her head harder in disagreement.
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Boom! A tree split in half close to them from a laser beam fired from a pistol.
This scared Monica to leap on Bingo’s skyboard behind Bingo. She closed her eyes and hugged Bingo’s chest.
The Surfers pushed off and soon ascended into the sky with the Space Dreamers clinging to the Surfers’ chests for dear life.
The Surfers surfed in the sky.
They surfed around the clouds.
A laser beam zapped past them. They turned around and saw a spaceship with a clear canopy.
Boe, at the joystick, was inside the spaceship, and Burpy and Dopey sat next to him. Meena was steaming the backseat while he watched the Surfers, and everybody soared through the sky.
“Hang on! It’s time to show them what we got!”
cried out Lon.
The Surfers each made different evasive maneuvers in all different directions, with the spaceship attempting to keep up. It could not.
The Surfers all made other evasive maneuvers.
On Lorge’s skyboard, Frankie lost his grip on Lorge’s chest. He fell backward and fell off. He quickly grabbed the back of the board with both hands and dangled in the air, scared to death, while Lorge sky surfed. Frankie lost his left grip and hung on by his right hand. His right hand was sliding off the board.
Timmy turned around, saw Frankie hanging on by his fingers, and freaked out. “Frankie!” Timmy screamed out, scared to death he was going to lose his friend.
Lorge looked behind him and saw Frankie, with eyes as big as baseballs, hanging on for dear life with his fingers. He reached down and tried to grab his left hand.
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Frankie lost his grip and tumbled down to the ground with eyes still as big as baseballs.
“Rescue time, dudes,” Lorge said with a brave, determined look.
The other Surfers and Luna looked and saw Frankie tumbling down to the ground, scared to death.
They all quickly got into a loop with the Space Dreamers clinging on for dear life, looking sick.
Meena’s spaceship went into a loop after the Surfers. A red laser beam fired from their spaceship and missed the Surfers by inches.
The Surfers came out of the loop, and Lorge caught Frankie, who hugged Lorge for dear life.
While the Surfers surfed away, Timmy and Monica turned pale.
Timmy barfed in the air.
Monica barfed in the air.
Barf splattered, covering the canopy of Meena’s spaceship. More barf splattered on the canopy covering it with zero visibility.
“I can’t see!” Boe cried out while he frantically moved the joystick around.
“Duh. .let me…duh. .fly it…duh,” demanded Dopey.
“No, let me!” Burpy burped out.
Burpy and Dopey tried to grab the joystick away from Boe, who resisted. They fought over it.
The spaceship turned upside down.
The spaceship turned right side up.
The spaceship turned upside down.
The spaceship turned right side up.
Boe pushed Dopey away, knocking him into Burpy, and they both fell on their butts.
The Surfers turned around and looked below.
They saw the spaceship flying widely all over the sky.
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The spaceship suddenly dove to the ground.
It crashed with dirt and grass flying everywhere.
The Surfers surfed away higher in the sky toward a mountain way off in the distance.
Back on the ground, Meena’s spaceship was all banged up. The door creaked open, and Meena appeared in a daze. He stumbled out of the spaceship, falling flat on his face.
Boe, Burpy, and Dopey stumbled and fell on Meena. Burpy burped by Meena’s ear, and he immediately pushed the three goofs off his body and jumped up with fire in his eyes.
“Alert the press, Boe!” Meena ordered while getting up on his feet.
Boe ran off with Burpy and Dopey following.
Back at that mountain, the Surfers with Luna and the Space Dreamers are clinging to the waists of the Surfers. They sky surfed to a ledge at the top of that mountain. The ledge was approximately three thousand feet up in the air.
“We’re gonna die! I just know it!” Monica quietly muttered to herself.
The Surfers all landed on the ledge.
“Welcome to our home,” Lon told the Space Dreamers.
“Monica, you can open your eyes now. We’re on the ground,” Timmy told her while he and Frankie stepped off the sky boards.
Monica slowly opened her eyes and noticed that she was, in fact, on the ground. She stepped off the skyboard, relieved.
The Space Dreamers looked the area over and saw a grass hut near some vegetation and a trail leading down the mountain’s backside. They liked what they saw except for Monica, who was still nervous about being this high up.
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“Okay, this is Timmy, Frankie, and Monica, my Earthling friends,” Luna said while he pointed at them during their introduction. “And these dudes are Lon, Lorge, Saul, and Bingo,” he added to introduce the Surfers.
The Surfers bowed to indicate they were happy to meet the Earthlings.
“Lorge, why don’t you scout out the town, and maybe you’ll hear where King Tona and Sona might be located,” Lon requested.
“Sure thing,” Lorge said, then hopped onto his sky board and soared off the ledge.
He disappeared then suddenly reappeared while he sky surfed.
He soared away and headed toward Neilaville, way down below.
Three Brevard County Deputy Sheriff cars were dispatched back on Earth in Florida to the Watson, Blake, and Hernandez’s homes. The deputies filled out the paperwork to report three missing kids.
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Later that day, on a Neilaville Parkway sidewalk, numerous Neilas stared at a newsstand that emitted a hologram newspaper.
The newspaper had the “General Meena Report –
Prince Luna Returned With Deadly Earth Creatures.
Neila In Grave Danger!” headlines.
They read the news and scanned the area with watchful eyes, fearful of those Earth creatures ready to kill them.
“Did the Earthlings brainwash Luna?” a female Neila asked, trembling.
“Does it hurt to have your brain washed? Do they use a special kind of soap?” a young boy Neila curiously asked, rubbing the top of his head.
“Do you think the Earth creatures will try to eat us?” another female, Neila asked, trembling.
All the Neilas around the boy shrugged their shoulders, indicating they didn’t know but were terrified of being either eaten or having their brains washed with soap. They craned their necks, scanning the area, making they were safe at the moment.
Another hologram headline stated, “Meena Activates Army Draft Effective Immediately For All Males 15 Years And Older. More Soldiers Needed In Case Earth Attacks!”
All the young males appeared nervous. “I don’t want to be in the Army,” he whined.
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Lorge saw the hologram’s headlines and overheard this young male’s comment amongst the crowd.
He ran off with his skyboard and jumped on it.
He was soaring off into the sky.
He sky surfed toward the mountain.
The ledge at the top of the mountain had a spectacular view of Neilaville.
Not far from the ledge was a campfire. The Surfers with the Space Dreamers sat around the fire relaxing.
Monica sat over by the hut but kept an eye on the ledge, terrified she might fall off.
Luna finished telling his Surfer friends about his experience of being shot down and stranded on Earth.
“I can’t believe Meena did that!” said Lon with a surprised look.
“And he wants to take over Earth!” said Timmy with a scared look.
Lon felt sorry for the Space Dreamers and patted Timmy’s shoulder to comfort him.
“Do you know where my father is located?” Luna said. “We heard he left for Earth to rescue you,” Bingo answered.
That upset Luna. “If I only stayed on Earth a little while longer. Then father could have rescued me, and he could have stopped Meena,” Luna replied.
“I wanna go home!” whined Monica from the hut.
“Home? If Meena gets his way, we won’t have a home. We’re in this for the long haul!” Frankie answered.
Monica’s eyes welled up.
Luna noticed Monica was upset, so he sat down by her right side and walked over.
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“It will be alright. Don’t worry,” Luna told Monica, then placed his left arm around her shoulder for comfort.
She rested her head on his shoulder.
Timmy looked jealous, so he got up and walked over to Monica. He sat by her left side.
Lorge sky surfed out of the sky and landed on the ledge. He looked upset.
“Hey guys, Meena just declared that every male over the age of fifteen will be in the Army right now,”
Lorge broke the bad news to his buddies.
Bingo, Saul, and Lon all frowned.
“Why?” Bingo asked.
“Because he thinks Earth might attack us, and he needs a bigger Army,” Lorge replied.
“Army stuff hinders us from owning our surf shop,” said Bingo.
“And I don’t want to wear their stupid green uniform,” Saul added.
“We can hide up here. I’m not putting on an ugly green uniform. No way!” Saul told Luna, who was in deep thought.
“I can’t allow him to attack another planet!” Luna insisted.
“What are we going to do, Luna? I can’t bear the thought of not having a home,” said Timmy who looked like he wanted to cry.
The rest of the Space Dreamers looked at Luna for hope.
Luna pondered for a few minutes while he tried to figure out how to save everybody. His eyes lit up.
“First, we rescue Sona, come back here and try to contact father in his limo. He can stop Meena and put him in jail,” Luna said. “Lon can you get me a Holophone?” he asked.
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“We’ll help anyway we can!” Lon immediately responded.
The other Surfers nodded their heads in agreement. They raised their arms in the air and linked pinky fingers together. Luna joined them. “Friends!”
they all yelled out.
The Space Dreamers smiled, indicating they liked what they saw.
“Now, where would Meena keep Sona?” Luna pondered out loud.
They all racked their brains, then Saul’s eyes lit up with an idea.
“There are two Army Surfers that frequent the sky shop. I bet I can find out, as Surfers don’t keep secrets from other Surfers,” Saul said, then stood up.
“I’m going to put that to work now,” Saul said.
He walked over to the hut where all their sky boards were up against the wall.
He grabbed his skyboard. He dropped it to the ground, and it hovered inches above it. He jumped on the board and took off toward the ledge. “I’ll be back,” said Saul the second he flew off the ledge and was soon out of sight.
Timmy’s tummy growled with hunger.
Monica and Frankie’s tummies growled with hunger in unison.
Luna looked at them and felt ashamed. “Where are my manners? Let’s get some grub,” Luna offered.
The Space Dreamers all loved that idea!
Meanwhile, at this exact moment in outer space, inside King Tona’s Cadillac limo spaceship, Albie sat behind the joystick in the front while King Tona sat in the backseat. He stared out his window, looking ever so sad.
“I wish my spaceship could travel faster,” King Tona said.
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“Sorry, sir, I have it at full speed. This isn’t one of your fighter spaceships,” Albie said from the controls.
King Tona nodded in agreement and stared out his window.
Albie stared out the front windows and watched while the planet Deserta was coming closer and faster.
Suddenly, the engine of the limo spaceship sputtered.
“What’s wrong? Did we hit something?” King Tona asked.
Albie scratched his head while studying the console instruments for the problem. “No, sir. We had another spaceship fly over us a while back, but it flew way above us and at a faster speed,” Albie replied.
The sandy Planet Deserta was visible from the front windows, getting closer.
The spaceship sputtered and shook.
It took a sudden dive down to Deserta.
Albie flipped switches, turned knobs, and tried to steer the ship away from the planet.
It continued to dive to that desert planet.
King Tona looked scared. He quickly tightened his seat belt and pressed a “Holophone” button on a small console in front of him. A hologram of nothing but static TV snow emitted from the console.
“Everything’s going horribly wrong!” said King Tona. At the same time, he looked out his window seeing the planet Deserta getting closer and closer.
Back on Earth in Florida, a Brevard County Deputy Sheriff ’s car pulled into Kirk’s place.
Two Deputy sheriffs named Billy and Kent got out of the car and saw the front gate was locked.
After a few seconds, Kirk appeared from the front of his building.
“May I help you, deputies?” Kirk asked while he walked over to the gate.
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“We got a report of three missing kids. Timmy Watson, Frankie Blake, and Monica Hernandez. Their parents reported that the kids were last known to hang out with you,” said Billy.