by H. Badger
They look like plants, Kip thought. But if they’re trying to talk to us, they must have brains.
These aliens were very different to any Kip had seen before. They didn’t seem to have houses or vehicles. They couldn’t move around easily. And they all looked and spoke exactly the same way.
What does a flower being even eat? Kip thought. He had so many questions!
The nearby flowers leant in toward Kip and Finbar. They came closer and closer, making a circle. Kip felt their sticky leaves brushing his spacesuit.
‘This doesn’t feel friendly to me,’ Kip muttered to Finbar.
The flowers began to sway. Their eerie, moaning voices filled the air.
Finbar yawned and stretched.
‘You can’t nap now!’ Kip exclaimed.
CRASH!
Finbar had fallen face-first onto the ground! He was fast asleep.
Suddenly, Kip felt incredibly tired too.
The field swam before his eyes. I’ll just lie down…for a minute…he thought.
‘Kip! Kip! Wake up!’ whispered a voice in his ear.
Slowly, Kip opened one eye. Finbar’s furry face was an inch away from Kip’s.
‘We fell asleep!’ Finbar said. He scratched a flea bite behind his ear with his foot. ‘Luckily, this itching woke me up.’
Kip snapped awake. The field was in darkness. The giant flowers had their petals closed, and their heads drooped like they were asleep. Soft rain was pattering down all around.
‘How long were we asleep?’ Kip whispered.
It had been day when they arrived, and now it was night. But every planet’s day was a different length. A day on Botanicus-1 might last an Earth hour, or a whole Earth week!
Finbar shrugged.
‘And why did we suddenly fall asleep in the middle of the day?’ Kip added, feeling suspicious.
‘I do that sometimes,’ Finbar admitted.
‘But I haven’t had daytime naps since kindergarten!’ Kip replied.
He remembered the circle of identical flowers. Their strange, musical language. Their single, unblinking eyes.
They’re almost…hypnotic, Kip thought. A chill of fear shot through him.
Kip suddenly had a very bad feeling about this mission.
There was a Space Scout missing on Bontanicus-1. Talking, thinking aliens that looked like flowers were all around them. And these flowers were anything but pretty.
CHAPTER 5
Kip thought for a moment, planning his next move. The flowers’ hypnotic song had confused him. It looked like these flower-like aliens could be dangerous. But it also looked like they slept at night.
‘I think night-time’s our best chance to search Botanicus-1 for Zara,’ he whispered to Finbar.
They’d have to search at top speed, since they didn’t know how long the night would last. And they’d have to do it without waking the flowers.
The night was so dark and rainy that Kip couldn’t see a thing. As quietly as possible, he rummaged in his backpack. He pulled a gadget from the very bottom.
A brand new UV-Trak!
The UV-Trak was a short, stubby wand with a UV light on the tip. The UV light picked up traces of a chemical called phosphorus. Every human had it in their body, and left traces of it behind.
Kip flicked the UV-Trak on. Immediately, a purple light trail blazed in the air behind him. It started near the ground, where Kip had woken up, and led to the spot where he was standing now.
‘We can see where you’ve been,’ said Finbar softly.
Waving the UV-Trak in front of them, Kip and Finbar tiptoed quickly through the field of sleeping flowers. Their spaceboots made no sound in the wet, silver soil.
They crept deeper into the field. Kip’s eyes began to puff up and feel itchy.
‘Pollen in the air,’ Finbar whispered, scratching a flea bite. ‘In fact, it’s kind of odd – so much pollen, but no insects…’
But Kip was concentrating hard on finding Zara. He ran on ahead, waving the UV-Trak back and forth.
A faint purple trail appeared in the night air. Kip and Finbar rushed toward it. The trail blazed even brighter.
Zara’s been here, Kip thought. And by the look of that trail, she’s close by!
There was a large patch of bare, silvery sand just up ahead. Something about it looked wrong to Kip, and he stopped short. But before he could say anything, Finbar stepped right into the middle of it.
SQUELCH!
In the gloom, Kip could just make out Finbar’s furry white shape disappearing into the silver soil.
Oh, no, Kip thought, trying not to panic. Quicksand!
He grabbed Finbar’s paw and pulled as hard as he could. But Finbar was too heavy.
‘I – can’t – hold – you!’ Kip’s voice was strained with effort.
Finbar’s shoulders sank beneath the soil. Then his neck disappeared to! And even though Kip was pulling as hard as he could, Finbar’s paw was slipping away.
Kip clutched desperately at Finbar’s paw. Then he remembered something.
‘Your Hummingbird Pros!’ Kip said. ‘They’re your only hope.’
Kip and Finbar wore Hummingbird Pro spaceboots, which had carbon-fibre, water-repellent mini-turbo jets fitted to the sides of the heels.
Normally, they were used for flying in humid, zero-gravity conditions. But they might also be able to lift Finbar out of the quicksand.
Finbar kicked his legs to activate the jets. He gasped and spat out a mouthful of silver sand.
Kip pulled Finbar’s wrists as hard as he could. The jets were just powerful enough to help drag Finbar upwards.
‘Almost there!’ Kip panted.
With one final, massive effort, Kip hauled Finbar out of the quicksand. The force sent Kip stumbling backwards.
KER-RUNCH!
Kip’s foot landed with a sickening crunch on something. He glanced around, worried that he might have woken the flowers. But it looked like they were still asleep.
With a deep breath, Kip glanced down.
If he didn’t have heaps of experience staying cool in creepy situations, he would have screamed.
Kip had stepped on a gigantic bug!
It had six bulging eyes, eight black furry legs, razor-sharp fangs and a metre-long sting.
Kip tore his foot off the massive bug like it was burning hot. He didn’t know if it was still alive, but he wasn’t waiting to find out!
‘The spiderbee can’t harm you now,’ said a smooth, calm voice. ‘It’s dead – just like all the others.’
Kip whipped around. In front of him stood a woman dressed in a green spacesuit like Kip and Finbar’s. She had blonde hair and violet eyes with a blank, faraway look in them.
Kip recognised her from her Planetary Points Leader Board photo.
It was Zara Zadora!
CHAPTER 6
‘Kip Kirby, Space Scout,’ Kip said, sticking out his hand.
Kip knew all about Zara from Space Scout gossip. This was the first time they’d actually met.
‘We’re here to rescue you,’ Finbar said.
Zara blinked slowly, but she didn’t take Kip’s hand. ‘You want to rescue me?’
Her eyes had a glazed look, as though she didn’t understand.
‘Yes!’ said Kip, raising an eyebrow. ‘You’re a Space Scout, like me. You work for WorldCorp. You’re supposed to be finding the next Earth, remember?’
Zara’s expression was still blank. ‘I only serve the Beautiful Ones,’ she said softly. ‘They’re the wondrous beings of Botanicus-1.’
‘I suppose she means the flowers,’ Finbar whispered to Kip. ‘You wouldn’t call those dead bugs beautiful.’
Kip stared at Zara, his mind racing. How could Zara break the first rule of Space Scouting so carelessly?
A Space Scout
never abandons a mission.*
* Even when being slimed by an angry alien.
No Space Scout in her right mind would do that! he thought.
&nb
sp; But then again, maybe Zara wasn’t in her right mind.
Kip reached into his backpack. He had a theory. And he knew just the gadget to test it out. WorldCorp’s Disco Disc!
The Disco Disc was the size of an old-fashioned 20-cent piece, money that people had used centuries ago. When snapped in half, it released powerful flashing lights. It also sprayed white smoke and pumped old-fashioned disco music.
The Disco Disc was supposed to help Space Scouts break the ice with stand-offish aliens on new planets. When WorldCorp had tested it on humans, they found that it was impossible to resist the urge to dance to the Disco Disc. If Zara was completely with it, she’d have to dance.
The only problem with the plan was that it might wake up the flowers. But Kip was running out of options. Hopefully the flowers were heavy sleepers. The sun was almost up and they would wake up soon anyway.
Kip snapped the disc in half. At once, flashing lights and music pumped into the night air. Kip’s feet started tapping and he spun around to the catchy beat. He looked over at Finbar, whose human side couldn’t resist bobbing along too. But when Kip looked at Zara, she was still staring blankly into space without moving.
Kip shook his head grimly. He turned off the Disco Disc quickly, glancing around at the still-sleeping flowers.
‘Just as I thought!’ he whispered to Finbar. ‘She’s been hypnotised, or brain-washed or something.’
‘Well, she should be very open to suggestions,’ said Finbar. ‘We could command her to come home with us!’
‘Good idea,’ Kip said. ‘As long as we can figure out how to break the hypnosis back on Earth. I’ll dial MoNa and get her to send down three Scrambler Beams.’
DIALLING.... MoNa 4000
ERROR – No response
Why isn’t she answering? Kip thought, his forehead wrinkling with worry.
‘The Beautiful Ones ordered your starship out of the sky,’ murmured Zara.
‘What?’ Kip said.
‘That’s what happened to my starship,’ smiled Zara. ‘There she is, over there.’
Kip could just see a starship’s nose cone sticking out of the silver soil. One side was almost buried under a mound of dead spiderbees. The gross bugs were everywhere.
Kip shivered. If MoNa was wrecked and they couldn’t contact her, it meant they were stranded!
Sooner or later, he’d have to solve that problem. But at that moment, he had something even worse to deal with.
Dawn was breaking, and the flowers were waking up!
Kip wasn’t giving them the chance to hypnotise him and Finbar all over again.
Kip’s brain churned. He hadn’t been able to talk to the flowers and explain his situation. They were living, thinking creatures just like he was. Maybe if they understood why Kip needed Zara back, they’d let her go.
It didn’t seem likely. The flowers had been nothing but creepy so far. But it was worth a shot!
Kip flicked his SpaceCuff to Translate mode. The chip inside was very powerful. By now, it should have worked out some of the flowers’ strange language.
The flowers began talking in their musical voices, perfectly in time with each other.
Kip checked the translation on his SpaceCuff screen.
Translate mode:
Flowerspeak to English
One worker good. Three even better.
The flowers hypnotised Zara so she’d work for them! Kip guessed. Now they want us to do the same. But what job are we supposed to do?
Kip felt a sticky stem winding around his legs. Leaves rustled against his spacesuit. The flowers were closing in again. Kip tried to find a gap in the circle of flowers around them, but there was no way through.
The flowers’ musical language filled the air. Finbar yawned, and Kip fought to keep focused. The hypnosis was starting again!
Desperately, Kip punched his question into his SpaceCuff. He hoped it could translate from English to Flowerspeak.
Translate mode:
English to Flowerspeak
What job do you want us to do? Is there another solution? Zara is needed on Earth.
ERROR: Translation failed
The SpaceCuff hadn’t totally finished learning Flowerspeak. Kip couldn’t make the flowers understand him!
The flowers continued their eerie song. Kip struggled as hard as he could, but his eyes were slowly closing. I’ve...got...to... stay...awake! he thought desperately. But how?
CHAPTER 7
‘The Beautiful Ones are hypnotising you again,’ Zara said dreamily. ‘And if you’re hypnotised long enough, you’ll be brainwashed forever.’
At once, every cell in Kip’s body snapped awake. ‘Brainwashed forever?’ he yelled. ‘How long do we have to be hypnotised before that happens?’
‘A while for highly trained people like Space Scouts,’ Zara replied. ‘With others, well…you just never know.’
She looked at Finbar. His eyelids were lowering.
Finbar’s wolf hearing is extra-sensitive! Kip realised. He fell asleep before me last time. And he hasn’t had all the special Space Scout anti-hypnosis training I’ve had.
Still, Kip knew even he couldn’t resist the flowers forever. He had to stay awake – and make sure Finbar did too.
When did I last feel super-awake? he asked himself.
It was during Space Scout training. Those vertical wall sprints and rocketboot- assisted high jumps had been tough.
I couldn’t have done it without EarTunes!
EarTunes were songs played directly into the eardrum. All Space Scouts had EarTunes chips implanted in their earlobes on the first day of training.
Kip gave his earlobe three firm squeezes. At once,‘Space Rambler’ by the Screeching UFOs flooded his brain. Since it was played inside Kip’s head, only he could hear it.
It totally blocked out the flowers’ eerie song, waking him up faster than a cold slime shower.
Now the only problem was Finbar. He didn’t have EarTunes because he was 2iC, not a Space Scout.
‘Just…gonna…rest…for a…while…’ Finbar muttered, sinking to the ground.
‘No!’ yelled Kip, shaking Finbar’s arm to keep him awake.
But Finbar didn’t answer.
Waving his arms, Kip rushed toward Finbar. The flowers shrank back in surprise.
‘Wake up!’ Kip yelled desperately.
There was a snuffling sound from Finbar’s wet black nose. Then…
Finbar opened his eyes. They were normally a piercing pale blue. They looked different to Kip now. Softer somehow.
‘I want to serve the Beautiful Ones,’ Finbar said slowly. ‘Where do I begin?’
Finbar had only been asleep for a second. Was he brainwashed already?
I’ve got to test him! Kip thought. Finbar said earlier that brainwashed people are easy to order around.
‘Finbar, I want you to purr like a cat,’ Kip said, trying to keep his voice steady. Finbar really hated cats.
But instantly, Finbar started purring loudly. He even rubbed his paws on his head, like a cat cleaning its ears!
He really is hypnotised, Kip thought miserably. Although…
For a second, Kip thought Finbar had winked at him. But when he looked closer, all he saw were Finbar’s glazed eyes.
I guess I saw what I wanted to see, Kip thought.
He needed a plan. With his EarTunes playing, he was safe from the flowers’ hypnotic powers. But he had to work out how to save Finbar and Zara!
Zara linked arms with Finbar. The flowers swayed apart. Zara led Finbar away through the field.
Kip raced after them. He didn’t want to lose Zara and Finbar in the huge field.With a brainwashed 2iC and no way to contact MoNa, Kip was on his own.
Maybe if the flowers think I’m already under their spell, he thought suddenly, they’ll stop trying to hypnotise me.
‘I want to serve the Beautiful Ones too!’ Kip said slowly, trying to make his eyes glaze over like Finbar’s.
Zara and Finbar
turned slowly and waited for Kip to catch up, then the three of them continued across the field.
Kip hadn’t noticed before, but the field sloped downwards toward the middle.
Zara was definitely heading for some-thing in particular. Something in the very centre of the field that was hidden behind the tall flowers in the field.
It looked like the shimmering silver structure Kip had glimpsed when they first landed on Botanicus-1.
He had no idea what the building was or what would be inside. But he desperately hoped it would help him unlock the flowers’ secrets and figure out how to get Zara and Finbar home.
CHAPTER 8
Kip, Zara and Finbar were standing in a clearing in the middle of the field. There were only a few flowers nearby.
In the clearing stood the shimmering dome-shaped building. It was almost transparent, glittering in the blue sunlight. It was a bit taller than the flowers, and very long.
‘First, we must harvest the golden grains,’ Zara was explaining.
She tapped a nearby flower on the stem. The flower leant down. It shook its head into Zara’s cupped hands. Tiny specks of yellow pollen tumbled from the centre of the flower. Zara caught every speck like it was gold dust.
With a frozen smile, Finbar tapped another flower. He collected the pollen grains in his white, furry paw. For a moment, Kip thought he saw Finbar give his leg a quick scratch with his foot.
But then Finbar smiled blankly and said, ‘I love serving the Beautiful Ones.’
Kip gagged. He wanted the old Finbar back! Still, he tapped a flower and collected some pollen himself. He had to pretend he was brainwashed too – as well as use his Space Scout logic to figure out what was happening on Botanicus-1.
When all three had their hands full, Zara led them into the shimmering building.
Kip touched the side of the building. Up close, he saw it was made of billions of criss-crossing threads. It felt sticky, like the silk that was spun by insects.
They stepped inside the building through an arched doorway. Inside, Kip saw an almost endless stretch of silvery green soil. Growing in perfect rows were more flowers the size of seedlings.
