Akiko on the Planet Smoo (7 page)

With a terrific
splash the ship plunged into the water and immediately began to sink like a rock. The water was icy cold and very clear. I could see Spuckler and Gax in the seat in front of me. Spuckler's hair was waving around like seaweed, and Gax had little air bubbles pouring out of every crevice in his body. Mr. Beeba's head was pressed against my arm, and Poog was floating near my face like some kind of round purple fish. I was just about to pull myself out and start swimming away when I saw that we had crashed, ship and all, into the middle of a gigantic net that had been dragging through the sea. In a matter of seconds the sides of the net swept up around us and began lifting us above the water.

There was nothing we could do at first but cough and spit water out of our mouths as the seaweedy net pulled us up into the air. Our ship was now like a big bathtub, with all of us up to our shoulders in water. Fortunately it was tipped a little, allowing the water to slowly drain out over one side. Gax was bobbing up and down in the front seat like an old tire, and Spuckler was trying his best to aid the draining process by splashing water out with his hands.

I was so relieved just to be breathing again that I kind of forgot to be scared for a minute or two. There was plenty to be scared of, though. The net we were caught in belonged to the Sky Pirates, and we were all slowly but surely being hauled up to their ship as prisoners. The net was so thick with seaweed and other muck that it was hard to get a good view through it, but I could see enough of the sky above and the sea below to realize that we were already hundreds of feet above the water's surface.

Spuckler brushed his thick, wet hair away from his eyes and looked at me with an expression of extreme embarrassment. He had obviously lost a little of his confidence during the fall.

“I'm sorry, Akiko,” he said as he leaned over and started emptying the water out of Gax's many compartments. “I guess I didn't know as much about these Sky Pirate fellers as I thought I did.”

“Don't worry, Spuckler. We'll be all right,” I told him, “so long as they don't make us walk the plank or anything.”

“Walk the
plank
?” Spuckler said with a chuckle. “Akiko, you've been readin' too many children's stories.”

I turned my attention to Mr. Beeba. He was slumped over next to me in the backseat with pieces of seaweed all over his head. I think he'd kind of fainted right around the time we went into the water.

“Mr. Beeba,” I said, giving him a shake, “are you okay?”

“Better not wake him up, Akiko,” Spuckler cautioned me. “He's gonna be plenty angry when he comes to.”

But it was already too late.

“Don't worry, Spuckler,” Mr. Beeba said, suddenly very alert. “You'll get the throttling you deserve for this fiasco. But I'm going to save
that
little treat for a more suitable occasion.”

“Now, come on, Beeba,” Spuckler responded, regaining a bit of his confidence, “you gotta give these Sky Pirates a little credit. They coulda blown us all to smithereens, but instead they just shot us down into the water. Heck, they even made it so as we'd land in one of their nets.”

“Oh yes, they've been true gentlemen,” Mr. Beeba said in a very sarcastic voice. “Shall we
thank
them first or just give them a good
handshake
?”

I already knew enough about Spuckler and Mr. Beeba to realize that they could go on like this for
hours
. Judging from what I could see of the Sky Pirate ship above us, there wasn't much time left to prepare ourselves for dealing with them face to face.

“What are we going to do once we get up there?” I asked.

“Don't ask, Akiko,” Mr. Beeba replied, still fuming. “Spuckler might give us another one of his brilliant suggestions. He's quite an expert
strategist
when it comes to Sky Pirates, you know.”

“Yeah, well, I know more about Sky Pirates than
you
do,” Spuckler responded.

“The expertise you've displayed thus far has been
most
enlightening!” Mr. Beeba exploded.

I didn't think I'd ever met anyone who could be so angry and still use such big words.

Suddenly Poog interrupted with one of his weird high-pitched announcements. We all turned to Mr. Beeba, waiting for the translation he usually provided at such times. Unfortunately Mr. Beeba just sat there with his lips firmly shut as the net pulled us ever closer to our captors. He was obviously no longer in a very cooperative mood.

“Well?” Spuckler demanded. “What did Poog say?”

“Hm!” Mr. Beeba snorted, crossing his arms and turning away. “You seem awfully keen to find out, considering the fact that you've ignored every piece of advice Poog has ever given us!”

“See, Akiko?” Spuckler said, as if Mr. Beeba had just proved his point. “I
told
you he'd be angry.”

“Please tell us, Mr. Beeba!” I pleaded. I was as anxious as Spuckler to find out what Poog had said. Poog seemed to always know what was going on. It was like he could even predict things that hadn't happened yet.

“Poog says the Sky Pirates have no intention of executing us,” Mr. Beeba explained at last, clearing his throat in a very dramatic way, “but what they
do
have in store is scarcely better!”

“Cheery little feller, ain't he?” Spuckler said, staring disapprovingly at Poog.

I swallowed hard, hoping that just once Poog might be wrong.

The net was
raised to the deck of the ship by this machine that looked like an enormous fishing reel, which was slowly and steadily cranked by dozens of men on either side. Then the net was pulled over onto the deck by an elaborate system of ropes and pulleys. The whole effort was coordinated by a single Sky Pirate leader who kept barking orders at everyone involved. Finally our ship was lowered onto the deck and the net was pulled open by the huge crowd of Sky Pirates who surrounded us.

This was my first chance to get a close look at the Sky Pirates. There were hundreds of them crowded around us, glaring and jeering. All of them were dressed in dirty, ragged clothes, and each held a small curved sword. They had tiny orange glowing eyes and wore enormous helmets with horns on top that stuck out in all directions. They were all speaking to each other in a strange hissing language that made them sound like a bunch of snakes. I kept reminding myself that Poog said they wouldn't execute us, but somehow that didn't make me feel much better.

After their leader called out a few more brief commands, a number of Sky Pirates stepped forward and began pulling us out of the ship. Mr. Beeba quivered and whimpered a little as he was led away into the crowd by a pair of Sky Pirates, one on either side of him. Spuckler didn't look scared at all. He actually looked more angry than anything else as they led him away after Mr. Beeba. Two Sky Pirates escorted me and Poog into the crowd, and three or four Sky Pirates carried Gax along after us. I was so scared I almost wanted to cry, but I did my best to stay calm. At least it looked like they were taking us all to the same place. If they had separated us, I think I'd have really lost it.

They took all of us to an area of the ship where there were giant piles of rope. A second team of Sky Pirates came in and began tying us up. They forced me to keep my arms by my sides and began winding the rope around me again and again, until finally it was impossible for me to move my arms even an inch. They did the same to Spuckler and Mr. Beeba, and in Gax's case they just wound the rope around his long, spindly neck. Out of all of us I think Poog had it the worst: The Sky Pirates just tied rope all around him any way they could until he ended up looking like a big ball of yarn.

Finally they hauled us off to another area of the deck, where they attached hooks to us from behind and slowly hauled us up so that we were hanging from the masts. We all ended up about twenty feet above the deck, one next to the other, slowly twirling around like pieces of a wind chime. No one was more than ten feet from anyone else, so we could still talk to one another if we needed to. I wasn't really in any pain, apart from the rope digging into my skin a little.

Spuckler was getting more and more angry. These Sky Pirates weren't turning out at all the way he'd expected them to be. I guess all the Sky Pirates he knew lived by a different set of rules. For one thing, they must have had a nicer way of dealing with their captives.

“You call yourselves Sky Pirates?” he shouted down at them. “This ain't no way to treat prisoners!”

“Don't waste your breath, Spuckler,” Mr. Beeba said. “These Sky Pirate friends of yours seem to speak a language all their own.”

“Oh,
great
,” Spuckler said angrily. “More people I can't understand.”

While half of the Sky Pirates stood there gawking at us, the other half took an interest in our spaceship. They poked it and prodded it and finally just started tearing it apart. I guess they figured they could sell the spare parts or something. By the time they were done with it, there was nothing left but a few nuts and bolts and a couple of broken headlights.

“Well, Gax, there goes our transportation,” said Spuckler. “Any ideas?”

“
TO BE HONEST, SIR,
” Gax replied with an electronic whine, “
I'M JUST HOPING THEY DON'T HAVE A SIMILAR FONDNESS FOR ROBOTS.
”

“Don't you worry, Gax,” Spuckler said, sensing Gax's nervousness. “I wouldn't let anyone rip you apart but me.”

“
I APPRECIATE THAT, SIR.
”

Meanwhile, the Sky Pirates were passing around our rations and other supplies, eating whatever was edible and destroying everything else. When some of the Sky Pirates discovered Mr. Beeba's bag of books, he went into a panic.

“My books!” he cried, whirling in circles as he tried to free himself.

Two of the Sky Pirates opened the bag and turned it upside down, allowing the books to tumble onto the deck in a big messy pile. The Sky Pirates briefly examined the books to see if they had any value. After a few minutes of discussion they started tossing them overboard, three or four at a time.

“No!” Mr. Beeba shouted, spinning wildly. “This can't be happening!”

“Relax, Beeba,” Spuckler said calmly. “Those books were just deadweight anyway.”

“
DeadWEIGHT
?” Mr. Beeba cried, struggling to remain face to face with Spuckler. “I'll have you know those books contained the maps we needed to get to Alia Rellapor's castle!”

Suddenly it dawned on me just how desperate things had become. Not only were we at the mercy of these horrible Sky Pirate guys, but we were also completely lost! I'd have given anything to go home at that point. Even a bad day at school was better than this!