Watch held the stone close to his heart and closed his eyes. For a moment he concentrated deeply. Then he spoke. “I wish for a six-inch refractor telescope with clock drive and computer-assisted star finder.”
The telescope appeared just off the path.
“Cool,” Watch said.
“Let me try!” Cindy exclaimed.
“It’s my turn,” Sally snapped. “Watch, give me the stone back.”
“Just a moment,” Watch said, closing his eyes once more. “I wish for a laser pistol.”
A black pistol-shaped device materialized at his feet.
Watch knelt and picked it up. He pointed it at a nearby rock and pulled the trigger. There was a flash of red light. The rock exploded into a thousand pieces. The gang jumped, except for Watch. He studied the weapon closer.
“It’s interesting,” he muttered.
“It’s very powerful,” Adam gasped.
“What I mean,” Watch continued, “is that the Wishing Stone was able to materialize something that doesn’t even exist on this planet. That’s proof that it must be from another world.”
“I’m waiting,” Sally said with her hand outstretched.
“Just a second,” Watch said, closing his eyes once more. “I wish for the finest portal power shield generator in the entire galaxy.”
A small black, oval-shaped object appeared at his feet.
Watch knelt and picked this up as well. There were a series of buttons on the side and he experimented with them for a moment. Then he handed the laser pistol to Adam.
“I want you to shoot me,” he said.
Adam shook his head. “No way. Do you think that force field generator will protect you? What if it doesn’t? You’ll die.”
“I have set the laser pistol on stun,” Watch said.
“How do you know for sure?” Adam asked.
“Shoot Sally and see if it knocks her out,” Watch said.
Sally jumped back and held out her hands. “Don’t shoot me! Shoot Cindy!”
Cindy didn’t look too happy about that suggestion. “Don’t shoot anybody!” she shouted.
“Shoot a tree then,” Watch said. “It really is set to stun.”
“You can’t stun a tree,” Sally said. “They’re permanently stunned.”
Nevertheless, Adam turned and shot the nearest tree. Once again a red beam of light struck out, yet it left no noticeable impression on the tree bark. Adam decided it was safe enough to fire at his friend.
“You sure you have the force field on?” he asked Watch, taking aim.
“Pretty sure,” Watch said. “The force field must be invisible. But the worst that can happen is I’ll be knocked out.”
“Give me the Wishing Stone first,” Sally said, moving to retrieve the stone from him. But as she neared him it was as if she smashed into an invisible wall. She bounced back in midstride. Adam and Cindy laughed.
“The force field is definitely working,” Cindy said. “Watch, you should leave it on all the time.”
“That way Sally will never get the stone back,” Adam added.
“Don’t worry,” Watch reassured Sally. “You’ll have it back in a second. But stand back right now. Adam, fire away.”
Adam once more took aim with the laser pistol and fired. The red beam sprayed over a point two feet from Watch’s body, but it didn’t touch him. Adam ceased firing and Watch turned off the force field. Adam handed the laser back to his friend. Watch admired the two instruments.
“I’ve always wanted gadgets like this,” Watch said.
Adam was happy for him even though he continued to be afraid of the Wishing Stone. “I’m sure they’ll come in handy living in this town,” Adam said. “Especially if the Cold People or the demons come back.”
“Thank you very much,” Sally said, snatching the Wishing Stone from Watch’s hands. “You already have more than I do, and I’m the one who found it. Stand back, all of you. It’s Christmas time in Spooksville.”
“But what about my new clothes?” Cindy asked.
“You’ll get those when I’m through,” Sally said.
She then proceeded to order new clothes for herself: a new bedroom set, a new TV and CD player, and another million dollars—in hundred-dollar bills. When Cindy finally got her hands on the Wishing Stone she didn’t hold back, either: more clothes, a new bike, hundreds of CD’s, boxes of books, and every known computer game. Soon the path was littered with so much stuff it would have taken several large moving vans to haul it all away.
Adam said as much. “Most of this is just going to go to waste out here. You should have made your wishes back in town.”
“We can bring the stuff back piece by piece,” Sally said, stuffing her pockets with hundred-dollar bills. “That reminds me, Adam. What do you want?”
Adam shook his head. “Nothing.”
Sally held out the Wishing Stone. “Come on, don’t be a moralist. At least get yourself some new clothes. You look like your mother dresses you.”
Adam was insulted. “My mother does buy all my clothes.”
“There you go,” Cindy said, trying on a sweater over her T-shirt.
Adam was even more insulted. “You really think I dress like a nerd?”
“I didn’t say the nerd word,” Cindy said quickly.
“But she was obviously thinking it,” Sally said, still holding the stone out to him to take. “Improve your image, Adam, what can it hurt?”
“You might want to get yourself a laser pistol,” Watch said. “We could play war games together.”
Adam reluctantly accepted the Wishing Stone. “I’m not going to wish for anything for myself,” he said.
“But it only works if you really want what you’re wishing for,” Cindy said.
“I can really want something and it doesn’t have to be only for myself,” Adam said. Holding the Wishing Stone tight, he closed his eyes and said with as much feeling as possible, “I wish for galactic peace!”
Nothing happened, of course. Nothing that they could see. The others stared at him as if he had lost his mind.
“What good is a wish like that?” Sally asked.
Adam shrugged. “It’s something I’d like. For everybody to live in peace.”
“Wasn’t world peace big enough for you?” Watch asked.
“We’ve been talking about people on other planets,” Adam said. “Why should I leave them out?”
“But get something for yourself,” Cindy said. “A new skateboard at least.”
“Yeah,” Watch said. “You’re making the rest of us feel guilty.”
Adam handed the Wishing Stone back to Sally. “Maybe later,” he said. “I don’t need anything right now.”
For the time being that settled that discussion. They spent the next ten minutes trying to figure out how much they could carry back to town. Even though it was a warm day, Cindy had gone behind a bush and dressed herself in two new outfits at once. Sally was mainly preoccupied with carrying away as much cash as possible. And Watch quickly discovered he couldn’t move his telescope very far, and ended up taking only the laser pistol and the portal force field generator with him. Adam helped Cindy with her new bike.
“Next I’m going to wish for a gold credit card,” Sally said as she skipped in front of them with the Wishing Stone in her hand.
4
They were ten minutes on their way when a man in a red, hooded robe appeared on the path in front of them. The shadow cast by the hood obscured his face, making it a black well of mystery. But in the shadow two eyes glittered out at them with a wicked red light. The man was tall with exceptionally long arms. He raised a hand as they stood stock-still, stunned by his sudden appearance. It was only then that Sally and the others realized his hands were identical to the one they had found sticking up from the granite boulder where the Wishing Stone had been.
“I am the Collector,” he said in a strangely mechanical voice. “I am here to collect on your debt.”
“I was
worried something like this would happen,” Adam muttered.
“This character surpasses the worst fear I had,” Sally whispered, her voice shaking. “What are we going to do?”
“Maybe you could give him some of your cash,” Cindy said anxiously.
“I don’t think this guy can be bought off,” Watch said.
“Let me try talking to him,” Adam said, hesitantly taking a step forward. He waved to the figure and cleared his throat. “Hi, my name’s Adam Freeman and these are my friends. What exactly is this debt you’re talking about?”
The cloaked figure lowered his right hand and a metallic scroll mysteriously appeared in it. He read from it in his peculiar computer-animated voice. It didn’t sound as if he were living, but rather something built in an alien laboratory.
“Sara Wilcox—ten thousand and sixty-four gratoms,” he said. “Cindy Makey—one thousand and eighty-two gratoms. Watch—With No Known Last Name—nine hundred and forty-one gratoms. Adam Freeman—you owe . . .” The dark figure’s speech trailed off. “Your debt has yet to be totaled, but it looks as if it will be large.” He paused. “These were all placed on the same order.”
“This is from the stuff we wished for with the Wishing Stone?” Adam asked.
“Yes. The debt is due immediately and must be paid in full.”
“We didn’t know that,” Adam said.
“It does not matter. I am the Collector. I am here to collect your debts. Now.”
“Ask if we can just give the stuff back,” Cindy suggested.
“Maybe not all of it,” Sally muttered.
“Can we pay off the debt by returning the goods?” Adam asked.
“There is a no-refund policy. Your debts are due immediately. Hand over the gratoms now.”
“But we don’t have any gratoms,” Watch said. “We don’t even know what they are.”
The Collector moved his fingers and the metallic scroll vanished. In its place was a small spherical-shaped object lined with numerous glowing buttons and flashing lights. It hummed as it sat in the Collector’s hand, filling each of them with an ominous feeling.
“The debt must be paid immediately,” the Collector said in his robotic voice. “If you cannot pay, then you must work off the debt on a slave planet.”
Adam held up a hand. “Now wait a second. This isn’t fair. This Wishing Stone was just sitting in the middle of nowhere. No instructions came with it. There wasn’t even a warning label on the side. We can’t be responsible for debts we had no idea we were piling up.”
“I am a Collector,” the hooded figure repeated. “I am here to collect your debts. I do not argue over how you accumulated these debts. And since you have made it clear that you have no gratoms to pay for these debts, you will now be transported to a slave planet where you will spend the rest of your lives working off these debts.” He fiddled with the controls on the sphere in his hands. “Stand ready to be transported to Amacron Thirty-seven.”
“Wait!” Adam pleaded. “We’re not ready to be transported anywhere. We need to talk about this some more.”
“We should at least be allowed to talk to a lawyer,” Sally said, stepping forward and angrily pointing a finger at the Collector. “You show up here, saying you’re a Collector and we’re supposed to pay you. How do we know you’re not a fake? You haven’t even shown us ID. You haven’t even—” Sally was cut off in midsentence.
There was a flash of green light. It came from the sphere.
And Sally was gone. Just gone.
“Oh no,” Cindy cried.
There was another flash of green light.
Then Cindy was gone.
“Get out of the way, Adam!” Watch shouted.
Adam wasn’t even given a chance to think. He dove to the side of the path. This time there was a burst of red light. Adam felt sure he was on his way to some forsaken slave world. But then the Collector collapsed on the path and the transporting sphere rolled lazily into the bushes. Out the corner of his eye Adam saw Watch lowering his laser pistol.
“I wish I was a faster draw,” Watch said.
Adam understood. They had lost the girls. Adam stood and brushed off his pants. Together they stepped to where the Collector had fallen. He lay facedown covered by his hood. Watch reached down to feel for a pulse at the guy’s neck, then he jerked his hand back.
“I think I killed him,” he whispered. “But, I promise, the laser was set to stun.”
Adam shook his hand. “I don’t think this guy was ever alive. You heard his voice. He’s got to be a robot.”
Watch stood and nodded grimly. “You’re probably right. Maybe the stun was enough to destroy his positronic brain.” He pointed to the sphere that had rolled into the bushes. “I wonder if we can figure how to use that.”
Adam stepped over and picked it up. Although it was small, there were at least twenty controls on the object. “It would take a genius to understand how to operate it.”
“I’m supposed to have a genius IQ,” Watch said. “Give it to me.”
Adam handed it over. “What is your IQ?”
“One hundred and sixty.”
“I’m impressed.”
“I try not to brag about it,” Watch said.
While Watch was examining the device, Adam studied the spots where Cindy and Sally had disappeared. There were no burn marks on the ground, nothing to show that they had been beamed away to another planet. Amacron 37—it sounded awfully far from home to Adam. He was about to turn back to Watch when a flash of light in the grass nearby caught his eye.
Sally had dropped the Wishing Stone.
Adam brought it over to Watch. “It must have fallen from her hand during the transportation process,” Adam said.
“We might want to order up a few more laser pistols before the Collector’s pals come looking for him,” Watch said.
“I think that would just bring his pals quicker.” Adam gestured to the fallen Collector, who had yet to move an inch. “I don’t think we have all that much time. Have you been able to figure out how it works?”
“I know how to turn it on. I watched what the Collector did when he zapped Sally and Cindy. But that isn’t the same as knowing how to operate it.”
“Maybe we don’t have to know everything. The settings should be the same as when the Collector zapped the girls. If we zap ourselves, we should go to the same place.”
Watch was doubtful. “Maybe.”
“We have to give it a try.”
Watch hesitated. “Do we want to do that? I mean, that slave labor planet didn’t sound like a vacation spot.”
“We have no choice. If we don’t save the girls, who will?”
“If we can’t save the girls, then who’ll save us?”
Adam was astounded. “I can’t believe you’d leave the girls to suffer lives of torment and misery.”
“I didn’t say that was my first choice. I was just reviewing all our options.”
“What other options do we have?” Adam asked.
“We could go home and pretend none of this ever happened.” Watch stopped and scratched his head. “But I don’t suppose we’d be able to live with that decision.” He gestured Adam closer. “Get right beside me. I’ll try to zap us both at the same time. That might increase the odds that we go to the same place.”
Adam pressed up against Watch and stared at the mysterious sphere, which Watch held out at arm’s length. “What if it beams us into deep space?” he asked.
“Then we’ll have a hard time catching our breath.”
“Should we bring the Wishing Stone with us?”
“Yes,” Watch said, his finger on a purple button. “We might be wishing for a couple of space suits in the next ten seconds.”
“I knew you were going to say that,” Adam replied, stuffing the stone in his pocket.
Watch pushed the button and the Earth vanished.
5
Amacron 37 was desolate and miserable. A desert planet with two yellow moons
and a purple sun, the wind blew thin and dry fifteen hours a day, which was the length of Amacron 37’s day. Yet the air was not particularly hot—just unsatisfying. The world was obviously old and burnt out, with barely enough oxygen to support life. When Sally and Cindy first materialized on the planet, they wondered if they’d survive the night.
There had been no transition for them. One minute they were on the path with Adam and Watch—and the Collector—and the next they were being herded toward a desolate barracks by a couple of robots with electric prods. When the prods touched the girls, they were given sharp jolts. They neither argued with the robots nor put up a fight, although Sally got shocked once just for stumbling in the sand. The voltage wasn’t excessively high but it did hurt. But basically they were too confused to do much of anything except what they were told.
The inside of the barracks was dusty and dark. They were shown to a couple of hard mats and told to rest until their shift began. Apparently they had been transported at the end of the work day. The tiny purple sun was still in the sky, along with the two tired moons. Glancing around the dim barracks, they could see that not all the inhabitants were humanoid. There were a couple of huge bearlike creatures and one guy who was a cross between a spider and an overgrown butterfly. Yet they all seemed to be resting as no one stood to greet them.
One of the robots gestured with its electric stick. “You will be called to labor in five zomas,” it said.
“How long is a zoma in human hours?” Sally asked.
“Forty minutes,” the robot said and turned away with his companion, leaving them alone.
Sally and Cindy sat on their respective bunks. They had left home only minutes ago but already they had sand in their ears from the short walk outside. Both looked as miserable as they felt.
“I wonder where the guys are?” Sally said finally.
“Maybe they were transported to another planet,” Cindy said.
“The Collector implied that we were all going to Amacron Thirty-seven.” Sally paused. “Maybe they escaped somehow.”
“I doubt it. They were probably just transported to another part of this planet.”
The Wishing Stone Page 2
