The Wishing Stone (6 page)

“You'd look good with a deep tan, a wig, and a pair of colored contacts,” Watch said.

“But we'll have to break free of the asteroid to get to the moon?” Adam asked.

“Yes,” Fur said. “Only then will we be able to turn on the force field and make ourselves invisible. The force field draws a lot of energy, so we can't keep it on too long.”

“How are we going to blow up their computers?” Watch asked.

“We're not going to blow them up,” Fur said. “But we have to erase those debt records,” Adam protested.

“There is no way we can use heavy fire power around this moon and not be destroyed,” Fur said. “We would be spotted in a moment. My plan is to sneak onto the surface of the moon, find a terminal, and hopefully erase your friends' names from the computers. Raster systems are always interlinked. Any terminal should give us access to all their records.”

“And I suppose we can wear lizard makeup so that no one notices us?” Watch said sarcastically.

Fur was offended. “I have thought of that. Not everyone who works on Tallas Four is a Raster. They have off-world help. That's what we will be.”

“It sounds like a good plan to me,” Adam said, trying to be supportive.

Fur took a while to find a suitable asteroid, one that was heading the right away and one that was bumpy enough to hide their small ship. They actually set down on the back side of the asteroid, and for a long time they couldn't see the red planet, Tallas, or the other four moons. But during that time Fur carefully applied the power of the ship's engines to the rear of the asteroid.

“This far out we only have to change its course slightly to cause it to fly inside the perimeter of the force field,” he explained.

“Could the force field destroy the asteroid?” Watch asked.

“The asteroid should be able to absorb the energy and save us the shock. As soon as we're through we'll race toward Tallas Four.”

Many hours later, as the asteroid finally began to contact the Raster force field, the ship began to shake violently. It felt as if the ground where
they had anchored were ready to explode. A wave of shimmering blue energy glittered in the space all around them. Adam hung on to his seat for dear life.

“This is a rough ride!” he shouted over the noise.

Fur laughed heartily. “This is nothing!”

The roller-coaster ride stopped a minute later. They were through the main force field. Yet they were still far from the moon, although for the first time they were able to see it, a dull orange-colored globe that was cold and uninviting. Fur continued to work the controls.

“We are turning on our invisibility cloak now,” he said.

The view outside changed only slightly. It was as if a thin sheet of filmy material had been placed over the viewing screen, dulling the sky but not blocking it out. Fur fired the
Fruitfly's
gravity engines and slowly they lifted off the asteroid. The feeling of slow motion may have only been an illusion. Because quickly enough the dull orange moon began to grow in size. Everything was going according to plan when suddenly there was a massive explosion behind them. They didn't hear
it—because they were in the vacuum of space, which did not transmit sound waves—but they sure saw it. The explosion was blinding.

“What was that?” Adam gasped.

Fur sounded worried. “The asteroid. They fired on it.”

“But why shoot at a rock?” Watch asked.

“Probably because they sensed someone was using it for the very purpose we just used it for,” Fur said. “To get through the force field. If we hadn't taken off when we did we would be dead now.” He paused. “I told you this was a risky mission.”

“Risk is our middle name,” Adam said proudly.

“I don't have a middle name,” Watch said. “I can't even remember my last name.”

“They will be alert now,” Fur said. “Our only hope is that they assume we perished in the explosion.”

“How come they can't penetrate their own cloaking device?” Watch asked.

“They could if they knew where to look,” Fur said. “But they are probably not expecting anyone to try to land on Tallas Four.”

“Why not?” Adam asked. “Because of the food?”

“Because no one would be that stupid,” Fur said grimly.

The orange moon continued to grow outside the view screen. Soon it dominated the sky, and Fur's hands were glued to the controls. He passed over what looked like a highly advanced city but shook his head when Watch asked if the computers could be located there.

“We will never find the computers themselves,” Fur said. “They could be anywhere. We just need one terminal to tap into.”

“Then why don't you just land anywhere?” Watch asked.

Obviously the tension was getting to Fur.

“Why don't you just sit quietly and let me do the flying, OK?” he snapped.

“I was just trying to make conversation,” Watch muttered.

Fur dropped down low a few minutes later. For a moment it seemed they would crash, he was going in so swiftly. But at the last second he pulled up, and Adam felt his stomach go down to the floor. The orange terrain was now a blur. There were canyons and there were tall buildings. Moving so fast it was hard to tell one from the other. But just
as quickly Fur brought them to a halt in a place so dark they could literally see nothing.

“Where are we?” Adam gasped.

“In somebody's garage,” Fur said. “I spotted it on my instruments. They left it open and hopefully they're not home right now.”

“You mean, we just landed in somebody's house?” Watch asked.

“Why not?” Fur asked. “All the houses here will have terminals.” He stood up from his chair. “Let's hurry, we won't have long before we're spotted.”

Of course the home Fur had chosen was not empty. Two irritated crocodile creatures rushed at them the moment they stepped inside the Kaster home. Watch had to draw his laser pistol and stun them. Yet the Kaster creatures continued to flap their tails even in their unconscious state. Fur stepped over them nonchalantly.

“You can say what you want about them,” Fur said, “but they are neat housekeepers.”

The home was gorgeous, in fact, the towering rooms filled with frequent waterfalls, dark pools. It seemed the Kasters liked to spend a lot of time in water, like crocodiles back on Earth.

Fur found a computer terminal and sat down.
He turned the machine on and slipped what looked like a high-tech floppy disk in a side panel. The computer screen and the keyboard were much larger and more complex than human components. Fur explained as he worked.

“The software I have inserted into their system was written by a form of bacteria on Demavon One Hundred Twenty-three. Those bacteria are really smart—everyone goes to them for their computer games. This program will trace back to the Kasters' main computers. The program is great at getting into supposedly impenetrable files.”

“We could use that kind of bacteria on Earth,” Watch said. “Our computer games are getting boring.”

“They tried to visit your world once,” Fur said. “But they just ended up giving a New York cab driver a chest cold. He went to the doctor and got a shot of penicillin and that wiped out the whole Demavon One Hundred Twenty-three expedition.” Fur stopped and laughed. “I bet the cab driver didn't realize what kind of money he gave up with that one shot. The bugs could have taught him how to program his yellow cab to make hyper-jumps.”

“It is upon such small and insignificant incidents that the destinies of worlds turn,” Watch observed.

Fur let out a sound of joy. “I'm in their records! Quick, how do you spell Sally and Cindy's full names?”

“Sally is officially Sara Wilcox,” Adam said. “That's Sara without an
h.
Cindy is Cynthia Makey. Do you need help with any of those spellings?”

“No,” Fur said, still excited. “I'm calling up their records now. And in a few seconds I should be able to erase them from the system by putting in another Demavon One Hundred Twenty-three program designed for just such a purpose. Then we can be out of here and on our way to Amacron Thirty-seven with a clean slate for your friends.”

“Both Adam and I have a little debt as well,” Watch said.

Fur nodded. “I suspected as much. How do you spell your last name, Watch?”

“I don't think even the Kasters know that,” Adam muttered.

Five minutes later Fur was not so confident. He had put in another program and gotten trapped in a complex web of information. It was only after
minutes of fighting with the computer that realization struck and Fur leapt to his feet.

“They must be on to us!” he exclaimed. “They are just feeding me this garbage to make me think I'm getting closer to getting rid of the records. But it's hopeless, we have to get out of here.” He turned in the direction they had entered. Adam grabbed his arm, stopping him.

“But we have come so far,” Adam pleaded. “We can't quit now.”

Fur brushed off his hand. “Don't you see, Adam, they are tracking us this very moment, back to this terminal. If we don't get off this moon in the next few seconds we will all end up on a slave planet.” Fur suddenly stopped. There was a banging outside. “What was that?”

“Sounds like a gang of Raster police pounding on the front door,” Watch said.

Fur stuck out his hand. “Give me your laser pistol.”

“What will you trade me in return?” Watch asked.

“Our lives,” Adam said. “Just give it to him. What are you going to do, Fur?”

Fur grabbed the weapon from Watch and began to fiddle with the controls. “This can be set to
overload. When it does, it makes a respectable blast.” He stalked toward the door to the bedroom. “When you hear the explosion, run for the ship. Don't look left or right, just keep running.” Fur opened the door. “It's time to show the Kaster cops what your human trick-or-treat means.”

Adam and Watch looked at each other.

“How do we get in situations like this?” Adam asked.

“We keep poor company,” Watch replied.

“Sally?”

“Sally is dangerous,” Watch said. “She's worse than the Kasters.”

“But she does make our lives more exciting.”

“That's true,” Watch agreed.

There was a massive explosion. It was so powerful, so deafening, that Adam and Watch were sure Fur had perished trying to stop the Kasters. But they remembered his last instruction, to run for his ship no matter what, and that's what they did. But they had to run through smoke and fire to get there. The two Kaster homeowners were just reviving but were still unable to chase them. They were more than a little relieved to find Fur already at the controls of
Fruitfly
when they got safely aboard.

“What happened?” Adam gasped.

Fur grinned. “I answered the door and politely asked them what they wanted. They didn't even reply. They immediately opened fire.” He added, “I didn't tell you that I had removed the force field generator and carried it into the house in my pocket. Their laser beams bounced back on them and caused their whole load of weapons to explode.”

“You carried the force field on your own body so that you would be safe,” Watch said.

“Hey,” Fur said. “I'm the only one here who can fly this ship. That makes me the most valuable person. Anyway, I have hooked the generator back up to the ship.” Fur nodded at the mess out the forward viewing screen. “We're going to need it like we never needed it before. Especially in the next two minutes.”

“If we fly into orbit they'll just blow us out of the sky,” Adam said as Fur started the ship's engines. Fur's hands flew over the controls.

“We're not going to stay around long enough for them to take aim,” Fur said.

“You're going to hyperjump as soon as we're in space,” Watch said, excited at the prospect.

“Exactly,” Fur said. “Hold on.”

“But you said such a jump is uncontrollable!” Adam shouted as he was pressed back into his seat by the force of the acceleration. They roared out of what was left of the Kaster garage. The haunting orange sky loomed above them. But very quickly it began to darken, as they plowed beyond the atmosphere and into space.

“Better an uncontrollable jump than certain death!” Fur yelled back. He glanced above as they broke completely free of the atmosphere. Mixed in with the stars were three Kaster warships rushing toward them. “Prepare to jump!”

“But we still need to get to Amacron Thirty-seven!” Adam yelled. “We have to rescue the girls!”

“We rescue ourselves first!” Fur yelled.

And with that they jumped into hyperspace.

With no idea where they would end up.

S
ally stood in Teeh's office and wondered what she was going to tell the Raster boss. So intent had she been on just getting to the heart of the compound's power that she hadn't planned how she was going to get out of the office. Teeh, still slobbering and still wearing his cheap sunglasses, sat down across from her. There was no other chair and he didn't offer to get her one. The crocodile boss put his scaly feet up on his dirty desk and looked at her as if she had better have a good reason for requesting a private audience.

“Well?” he said. “Where are your friends?”

Sally swallowed. “They're not here.”

“I know they're not here. Do I look stupid or what? Where are they?”

“They're on their way here,” she said.

“What are you talking about?”

“Has the Collector you sent to fetch us returned?”

“I ask the questions here!” Teeh paused. “No. It hasn't.”

“Adam and Watch destroyed it.”

Teeh sat up straight. “How do you know this?”

Sally felt herself getting in the mood to tell some really great lies.