Jacob Wonderbar and the Cosmic Space Kapow (12 page)

The spaceship Swift was their only shot.

M
oonman stared at the controls of the spaceship Swift, his hands uncertainly hovering over the buttons and dials. Jacob and Stargirl stood behind him, watching to see if he could get the old ship to lift off. The cockpit of the Swift looked like an antique compared to Lucy's and Praiseworthy's consoles, and some of the lights inside flickered and sputtered. Numonian dust filled nooks and crannies. Jacob wasn't sure the tub of steel and glass would ever be able to lift off into space again.

“Now, let's see here,” Moonman said. “I think my grandfather told me to . . .” He pressed a button and stood up quickly, rubbing his backside. “Nope. Seat warmer.”

Jacob looked over at poor Moonman, trying so desperately to get him off Numonia, all because they thought his insides were going to burst with space dust. They were so worried, and all for nothing. And what if Moonman wasn't a good enough pilot to get back home? What if he fell asleep and flew the spaceship Swift into an asteroid?

Jacob nervously tapped his foot. He wasn't in the habit of admitting when he hadn't told the truth, but the deception had gone far enough. He blurted out, “It was a lie.”

Moonman shook his head. “No, son, that really was the seat warmer button, and I just wish—”

“I didn't eat the food. I made it up, and I dumped it on the ground, and I'm so sorry that I made you so worried.”

Jacob winced as he awaited their reply. He couldn't even imagine what they would think of him now that they knew the truth.

Stargirl stared at him in confusion. “You didn't eat the food?”

“No, ma'am.”

Moonman stood up and peered into Jacob's face. “Son, do you know what this means?”

Jacob shook his head and swallowed nervously.

“It means you can stay on Numonia!” Moonman and Stargirl let out a whoop and began dancing around the spaceship Swift, raising their fists and chanting, “Numonia! Numonia! Numonia!”

Jacob tried to smile, but when he saw their excitement he knew it meant that the spaceship Swift would never fly off the planet. They wouldn't try to leave and he would be stuck on Numonia forever. They loved their planet so much, and it made him miss nice green and brown Earth, which suddenly felt so far away. It may have been a planet filled with detentions and principals and interminable groundings, but it was still his home and he wanted to go back and make sure it was safe.

They heard a loud whooshing noise outside the ship and Moonman whispered, “Shhh.” He cocked his head and said, “I've never . . .” And then night came and he fell asleep.

In the Numonian darkness, Jacob walked to the rear of the spaceship Swift, the nighttime stars shining through the portholes. He opened the hatch door, stepped out, and saw one of the most wonderful sights he had ever seen in his life: the lights of the spaceship Lucy, a soft glow shining through the dome of the cockpit, the cargo door open and Dexter standing there waiting for him in the hold. Jacob nearly fainted with relief. Lucy, the ship that had taken them so far from home, had come back for him. His mind raced with what would now be possible. He could leave Numonia and try and find a way home. Moonman and Stargirl could stay on Numonia, and they didn't have to fly the spaceship Swift.

The winds stirred, the sun rose. Moonman and Stargirl woke and stood beside Jacob, looking at Lucy with their arms around each other.

Moonman grabbed Jacob's shoulder with one of his strong hands.

“Son, I want you to know something. You're probably going to leave us now, and I think Stargirl and I both know it. And that's because where you come from is special to you. It may not be as good as Numonia, but it's your home and you'll love your home no matter what. No one can take it away from you.”

Jacob looked up into Moonman's and Stargirl's twinkling eyes. “I don't even know if I have a home to go back to,” he said quietly.

Moonman smiled. “Well, whatever happens, I just want you and Dexter to know that you'll always have a home on Numonia.”

Jacob said, “Thank you,” and hugged them. They felt like his grandparents, soft and warm and kind, and he felt a pang of sadness and anger that his dad wasn't even there for him as much as the Numonians had been.

He made his way over to Lucy and climbed aboard, taking a deep cleansing lung full of air that didn't smell like burp breath. As the cargo door closed he turned back to say one last good-bye to Numonia, but the sun set, night fell, and Moonman and Stargirl were fast asleep.

“Sarah!” Jacob turned and shouted as Lucy blasted off into the sky. “Sarah! Where is she? I knew she'd come back for us!”

Dexter shook his head. “She's not here.”

“What?”

“It's just me. Lucy showed up out of nowhere, so I hopped on board and told her where to find you.”

“I don't understand.”

Dexter shrugged and handed Jacob a ration bar. Jacob tore into it, and as he was chewing he suddenly remembered their fight.

“Thanks for coming back for me,” Jacob said.

Dexter stared at the wall for a long time before answering. “That's what friends do.”

“You were right, Dexter.”

Dexter gave him a shaky grin, “Aw, you know. It happens once in a while.”

“Children,” Lucy said, “as much as I am enjoying this excruciating display of emotion, I need to know where I should set my coordinates.”

“I missed you, Lucy!” Jacob shouted. “Thank you for coming for us.”

“Oh dear, well, I suppose I'd rather be commanded by you lunatics than be held captive by a bore of a spaceship, but don't let that go to your heads.”

Dexter said to Jacob, “Let's find Sarah and get home.”

“Lucy,” Jacob said. “Can you take us to Sarah? Where is she?”

Lucy didn't speak for a moment. “I can get you there quickly,” she said. “But I don't think you're going to like it.”

S
arah heard the scientist's shout just as they rounded a corner and ran directly into his large belly. He was huge, and his massive white lab coat could have covered a horse. His skin was ghostly white and he was wearing mechanical binoculars that covered his eyes and were constantly expanding and retracting.

“Halt!” he cried, waving his head around trying to see the children. “Wait. Back up. I can't see you. This is just a prototype.” His binoculars retracted. “Oh. That's better. Now, don't move! I have you in my sights, and ... why . . . Mick Cracken! I should have known it would be you.”

Sarah rolled her eyes, knowing that Mick's ego was pumping up like a balloon.

“We're here to steal the Dragon's Eye,” Mick said with a confident smile.

The giant scientist smiled right back and took a menacing step toward the children. He readjusted his binoculars. “I do not think that is within the realm of probable outcomes.”

Sarah could tell Mick didn't have a plan for this. He had just waltzed them in and thought he could steal the Dragon's Eye without any difficulty whatsoever, and now that they were caught by a scientist, they really would end up in an interplanetary jail.

“You are under arrest and you may be placed under a slide for microscopic evaluation.”

The scientist stepped closer, his huge gnarled hands reaching out toward them. Sarah flinched and prepared to scream.

“One side twenty-eight meters, one side sixty-eight meters, what's the hypotenuse of a right triangle?” Mick shouted.

The scientist stopped, his face turning red. “What . . . what did you say?”

“One side twenty-eight meters, one side sixty-eight meters, what's the hypotenuse of a right triangle?”

The scientist's hands started shaking. “But that's . . . Why, that would require the Pythagorean Theorem. That's . . . that's my favorite mathematical equation!”

The scientist looked at the children.

He looked over at a nearby chalkboard.

He looked at the children. A few quiet seconds passed.

And he ran over to the chalkboard. He furiously started scratching out numbers.

“Go! Go!” Mick shouted.

Sarah stared in disbelief as the scientist worked on the problem. Mick grabbed her by the arm, and she followed after him.

They rounded a corner and screeched to a halt. A small lab mouse rose up from the marble floor of the museum and raised its claws and bared its teeth. The mouse must have thought it was an intimidating gesture, but it couldn't have known that Sarah wasn't scared of mice in the slightest. In fact, she found this one darling and rather dignified.

“Ahh!” Mick yelled. “Mouse! Oh please oh please no.” He raised his hands in surrender.

“It's just a mouse! What in the world is wrong with you?” Sarah peered closer at the mouse and saw a small yellow piece of metal on its head. “Is that a crown?”

Mick's entire body was rigid and his eyes were squeezed shut. “They worship those . . . beasts on this planet. They are allowed to roam free when they're not participating in experiments, and everyone is supposed to bow and pay their respects. Oh please oh please. Is it looking at me? I think it's looking at me.”

Sarah stared at the mouse and smiled. It was so cute and regal. She bent down and said, “Hi little guy, I'm—”

The mouse launched itself at Sarah's head. Its claws dug in upon impact, and it began running over her scalp, pricking her head like a hundred small needles.

“Ahh!!” she shrieked.

“I told you! ” Mick yelled.

Sarah reached for the mouse but it grabbed a piece of her hair and swung down so that it was right in front of her eyes. She screamed and swiped at it, but it jumped onto her shoulder. She heard a small voice say, “I command you to leave at once!” Sarah froze, wondering for a moment if she had only imagined this violent mouse talking or if it had really ordered her to leave. Her mind raced. If the mouse could talk, that meant it was intelligent, and if it was intelligent . . .

“One side twenty-eight meters, one side sixty-eight meters, what's the hypotenuse of a right triangle?”

The mouse stopped scurrying and clung to her back.

“One side twenty-eight meters, one side sixty-eight meters, what's the hypotenuse of a right triangle?” she said again.

She felt the mouse pause for a few seconds. Then she felt it run down her leg. It scurried up to the chalkboard, grabbed a piece of chalk, and worked on the problem along the bottom of the chalkboard. The scientist watched the mouse start its calculations and realized he had made an error. He erased his work and started over again.

Mick's mouth hung open for a moment. “I'm impressed,” he said finally.

“Not much time,” Sarah said with a smile. She ran on ahead into the exhibit, and . . .

There it was. The Dragon's Eye. It glittered and glinted in the light that streamed through the large windows into the museum. It was bigger than a car, it was sparkling and brilliant and incredible. Sarah ran over to it, pressed her face against it, and smiled. It felt cool and diamond-y and it was their ticket home. She couldn't wait to see the expression on Jacob's face when he saw that she'd gotten the Dragon's Eye and wished them all to safety.

“Now I just have to call Praiseworthy and we can get out of here.” Mick stepped toward a window and talked into a small piece of black plastic. “Come in, Praiseworthy. We have it and we deactivated the alarms. Let's get out of here. I'm sending the coordinates.”

Sarah pressed her hand against the Dragon's Eye. She closed her eyes.

“Praiseworthy, come in. Praiseworthy, do you read?” Mick began pacing.

Sarah took a deep breath. “I wish I were back on Earth with Jacob and Dexter,” she whispered. She swelled with pride and readied herself to be whisked through the universe at astonishing speeds.

Slowly, she opened her eyes and saw Mick Cracken staring at her. She was still on Planet Archimedes.

Her heart skipped a beat. Maybe she couldn't wish herself back to Earth because Earth didn't exist anymore. She closed her eyes and tried again. “I wish Jacob and Dexter were here with me right now.” She opened her eyes. No Jacob and Dexter. “Nothing happened! How does this thing work?”

Mick scratched his head. “Oh. Uh ... About that . . .”

J
acob and Dexter stared at a building shaped like a giant beaker on a strange planet called Archimedes, where Lucy said they would find Sarah. The planet was full of scary insects and people wearing white lab coats. Jacob peered at the banner in front of the building, which declared that the museum contained the world's largest carbon allotrope.