by Mark Crilley
“. . . In a different galaxy, in fact,” the other continued. “This will all be explained to you later, Akiko. Right now we’ve really got to go. We’re late as it is.”
Now, it may be hard to believe, but when something like this happens to you, you don’t have time to make sense of it. I mean, I’m sure if I’d had an hour or two to sit down and think it all out, I could have come up with all sorts of questions to ask them. As it was, I had to say the first thing that popped into my head.
“Look, guys. I can’t go to another planet. I’ve got a geography test tomorrow!”
“We thought of that, Akiko,” said Bop, “so we brought a robot with us to replace you while you’re out of town.”
And he wasn’t kidding. There behind them in the backseat of the ship was a robot girl who looked exactly like me in every way. She had my eyes, my nose, even my pigtails! And she was dressed exactly the same as I was that evening: in blue jeans and a light blue T-shirt. There was no doubt about it: She was plenty realistic enough to fool people. I have to admit, it was pretty cool seeing an identical robot version of myself, but also a little creepy. I couldn’t help wondering if she actually thought the way I did.
“Pleased to meet you, Akiko,” the robot said. She even had a voice like mine! Well, maybe just a little higher pitched.
“Nice to meet you, uh, Akiko,” I answered.
“With this robot here to take your place, no one will ever know you’re gone,” Bop promised.
“This is just way too weird,” I said, backing away from the window.
“Really now, Akiko,” protested Bip, “we’re going to get into a lot of trouble if you don’t come back to Smoo with us.”
“Just think of the expense that’s gone into creating this robot,” Bop continued. “You wouldn’t want it to go to waste, now, would you?”
I stood there with one hand on my forehead, staring first at Bip, then at Bop, and finally at the robot behind them waiting patiently to take my place on Earth. I could tell they weren’t going to leave unless I was in that ship with them.
Now, I know that the really sensible thing would have been to stay right where I was. Flying off to a planet you’ve never even heard of before is a pretty crazy thing to do. But believe me, when two guys from another galaxy hop in their spaceship and fly all the way to your bedroom window with orders to take you somewhere, you listen to them. And you think good and hard before saying anything that might disappoint them.
I cleared my throat and asked the one question that really seemed to matter to me at the moment.
“Will she do well on my geography test?”
“But of course she will!” Bop chuckled. “Straight A’s every time, I guarantee it!”
“Come now,” Bip chimed in, “run and get your toothbrush. We’ve got quite a distance to cover before the night is through.”
And that was all there was to it. Half a minute later I was carefully climbing out of my bedroom window into the back of that little round ship. Bip helped me in while Bop helped the Akiko robot out.
As soon as the robot was safely inside my bedroom, Bip pushed a few buttons on the dashboard and made the ship float slowly up to the top of the apartment building. The cool evening air blew across my face as we rose over the rooftop and continued high up into the air. Bop pushed a few more buttons, and within seconds there was a rumbling burst of fire from the engines. I took one last look over my shoulder at Middleton and caught a brief glimpse of its streets and rooftops before we blasted off into the sky.
Lucky for me I’m not afraid of heights, because we were as high as an airplane in no time. But as we shot up over the clouds, I suddenly remembered something that I wished I’d thought of earlier. You see, this ship wasn’t really a convertible. It just didn’t have a roof. Permanently.
“Hey, guys, shouldn’t I put on a helmet or something?” I asked, leaning forward from the backseat. “I mean, there’s no air in outer space.”
“What are you talking about?” Bip asked, laughing. “There’s plenty of air out here.”
And there was, that’s the funny thing. No matter how high we flew, there was still lots of fresh, clean air. Pretty soon we were surrounded by stars, and Earth fell away and got smaller and smaller until finally it was nothing more than a tiny blue ball in the distance behind us. But still there was plenty of air. I took a deep breath and leaned back into the soft red cushions of the backseat.
“Wow,” I said to myself. “Wait till my science teacher hears about this.”
It only took us a couple of hours to get to the planet Smoo, so either we were flying pretty fast or else they took a shortcut or something. We passed a lot of interesting stars and asteroid belts and stuff like that on the way, so I definitely didn’t get bored. I still couldn’t get over the fact that I’d really left the world behind and was zooming through outer space. It was pretty exciting but also a little scary. I wondered a little about the robot Akiko sitting back there in my room, and my parents getting ready for bed down the hall. Would she really be realistic enough to fool them? I knew I wouldn’t find that out until I got back home again.
Finally we began to slow down and I realized that we were getting closer to Smoo. I leaned my head out to get a better look. The first thing I noticed about Smoo was that it wasn’t round. Not even close. It was like the whole planet had been smooshed down from the top and the bottom until it was nearly flat. The middle of the planet was still pretty thick, and the edges were round and smooth, like an M&M. It was pretty big, though. Probably just a little smaller than Earth, and almost the same color, too. As we flew in closer and closer, I just stared at everything with eyes wide open.
“This is it, Akiko,” Bip said. “What do you think?”
“Very cool,” I answered.
“First we’re taking you to see the King,” Bop explained. “He has some important business to discuss with you.”
“Is it okay if I’m wearing blue jeans?” I asked.
“Well . . . ,” Bip answered, thinking it over, “not really. But he’s making an exception in your case.”
“Just make sure you laugh at all his jokes,” Bop added, as if there had been some sort of royal decree on the matter.
“Gotcha,” I replied, trying to sound as if I knew exactly what they were talking about.
By that time we had glided down to the surface of the planet, which was covered with big smooth-surfaced mountains and short round trees, with very little sign of towns or cities. It was nighttime on Smoo, just like it was on Earth, so it was hard to get a very good look at anything. Soon, though, our little ship approached the King’s palace. It was made up of hundreds of towers and white, spherical buildings that spread out across the land like a cluster of mushrooms. Little red flags waved from the rooftops, and people who were dressed very much like Bip and Bop strolled about far below as we moved in toward the tallest tower in the very center of the complex. There at the top of the tower were the King’s living quarters, positioned like the observation deck in an amusement park. Bip and Bop pulled the little spaceship into a parking spot deep within the tower and escorted me up to see the King.
I swallowed hard and hoped he’d turn out to be nice.
After passing through a number of different corridors, we finally arrived at a splendid hall with giant dark pillars on either side and a shiny marble floor. There were tall windows and a huge glass ceiling, and I could see that we were in one of the grandest parts of the palace. The night sky of Smoo was visible through windows in almost every direction, making for a very dramatic backdrop. Bip and Bop led me to the very center of the hall and indicated that we were to stop there and wait. A moment later a big door at the far end of the hall opened and out stepped a most peculiar man.
He was tall and lanky, with a giant white mustache that stretched out well past his enormous ears and was a bit frayed at the ends like a couple of dogs’ tails. His eyes were small and squinty, but his smile was big enough to fill the whole room
. He wore a big round hat and was dressed from head to toe in beautiful, silky clothing with metallic bands around his arms and waist. He looked old enough to be somebody’s grandfather but strutted around with the energy of a little boy.
“A pleasure to meet you, Akiko,” he said, taking my hand in both of his palms and giving it an enthusiastic shake. “I’m Froptoppit, King of Smoo.”
“I’m Akiko,” I replied, searching for an appropriate title, “. . . um, Fourth-Grader.”
“Sorry to request your services at such short notice,” he said. “I trust you had a pleasant journey out here.”
“Yeah, it was okay,” I replied, not really knowing what else to say. He was treating me like someone who was already very used to flying from one planet to another, as if I did this for a living or something.
“So how are things in the Milky Way?” he asked. The way he said it, you’d have thought the Milky Way was a familiar neighborhood a few miles down the road. “I hear they’re tearing down the Big Dipper and putting up a new constellation in its place.”
There was an awkward silence, as if the King was waiting for me to do something. I just stood there and blinked once or twice.
“That’s a joke, Akiko,” Bip whispered from behind me, reminding me of our little agreement.
I looked at the King, smiled, and then burst into laughter. I’ve never laughed so hard in my whole life. To be honest, I still didn’t really see what was so funny about somebody tearing down the Big Dipper, but I laughed as much as I could anyway. It just seemed like the right thing to do.
King Froptoppit grinned from one ear to the other, delighted that I’d enjoyed his joke so much.
“It’s good to see you’ve got a sense of humor, Akiko,” he said, leaning forward so that his face was just a foot or two from my own. “You’re going to need it on your mission.”
“M-Mission?” I asked, suddenly a little scared.
“I’m giving you a very important assignment, Akiko,” he began, now very businesslike as he paced back and forth before me, “one which will require the full benefit of your expertise and years of experience. I need you to rescue my son, the Prince. He’s been kidnapped, you see.”
“There must be some kind of mistake,” I interrupted. “You want me to rescue somebody? You’ve got the wrong person. I’m . . . I’m just a kid!”
“Don’t be so modest, Akiko,” he said, dismissing my protests. “You were very highly recommended to me by a gentleman in the Andromeda galaxy. ‘The Earthling Akiko,’ he told me, ‘she’s the one you need.’ ”
“But I don’t even know anyone in the Andromeda galaxy!” I cried. “He . . . He must have been talking about someone else!” I was really starting to panic a little now, and you could hear it in my voice.
“Really?” the King said, taking me a bit more seriously. “No expertise? No years of experience?”
“I’m only ten years old,” I told him. “I don’t have many years of anything.”
“Hm!” was all he could manage to say after a very long pause.
There followed a very awkward minute or two of silence while King Froptoppit continued pacing back and forth in front of me. I followed him with my eyes, hoping that he’d say something that would clear the whole thing up.
“Maybe I misheard him,” the King said at last.
“You’ve got to be kidding me!” I cried, throwing my arms up in the air. “This really is a mistake, then. A big, crazy mistake!”
“Now, now, Akiko,” the King said, putting his hands on my shoulders. “Just because we got the wrong person doesn’t necessarily mean that this is a mistake.” He stared into my eyes with a kindly expression that actually did calm me down a little. You could tell he was making up his mind about something.
“Why don’t you at least try to rescue my son for me?” he suggested. “Experience or no experience, I’ve got a very good feeling about you, Akiko. I still think you may be the best one for the job.”
He paced back and forth a bit more, slowly convincing himself of the idea. “I mean, we’ve already got the robot down there covering for you, and we did go to an awful lot of trouble to make that robot.”
“It’s a very good robot, too,” I said, trying to be helpful, “but—”
“That settles it, then. We’ll give you a try, Akiko. And if it doesn’t work out you can always go back home and continue on your merry way.”
“Now, wait a minute here,” I said, trying not to lose my cool. “You can’t just pull me out of my bedroom, fly me off to another planet in the middle of the night, and then . . . and then send me off to rescue somebody! What if I don’t want to?”
“Don’t want to?” King Froptoppit repeated, raising his eyebrows. “How could you not want to? He’s such a sweet little boy. . . .”
“Well, go rescue him yourself, then!” I cried, suddenly very, very desperate. “I mean, maybe you’re used to telling people what to do all the time because you’re a king and everything, but . . . but you can’t tell me what to do! Put someone else in charge, and let me go back home!”
“But—”
“But nothing! I want to go home, and I want to go home now!” I shouted. Suddenly I wished I’d never even gone to the window when Bip and Bop came to get me. I should have just jumped behind the bed and hidden there until they went away.
There was a long pause as the King looked me over.
“You’ve got quite a lot of spirit, little child,” he said, grinning, “and you’re quite right. I am very used to ordering people around. In fact, I believe this is the first time I’ve ever had someone refuse to do what I’ve asked.”
“So . . . can I go home now?” I asked.
“No,” he answered bluntly. “No, I’m afraid that’s quite impossible. For, you see, Akiko, the longer I talk to you the more I see that you are quite the perfect person for this job. You’ve got all the qualities I’m looking for in a rescue mission leader.”
“But—”
“But nothing!” he said decisively. “I need you to be in charge of this mission, Akiko.” He paused, then turned to face me.
“And what’s more,” he whispered, bending over until our noses very nearly touched, “you need you to be in charge of this mission.”
I swallowed hard and took a deep breath. Compared to this kind of responsibility, being in charge of the safety patrol seemed like a piece of cake!
“You’ll spend the evening in the royal guest chambers,” he announced, as if there was now no longer any point in my protesting. “In the morning I’ll introduce you to the men who will assist you on your journey. Try to get a good night’s sleep, Akiko.” And with that he strolled out of the room, leaving me alone with Bip and Bop.
My knees were shaking, and I felt like I might even start to cry a little.
“Don’t worry, Akiko,” Bip told me. “You’ll like it here on Smoo. And you’re going to be a very good leader, I can tell.”
“Yes, Akiko,” Bop said. “King Froptoppit is never wrong about these things.”
Bip and Bop led me to the guest chambers, which were very comfortable and warm. There was a big soft bed with dozens of fancy cushions, and a wide fireplace with a crackling fire. There was even a plateful of little cookies next to the bed and a warm mug of something that tasted a bit like eggnog. I suddenly remembered how hungry I was, since I hadn’t really eaten much dinner. I gobbled down the cookies, each of which had a pleasant sweet-and-salty flavor that was unlike anything I’d ever tasted before.
There was also a little picture book on the table, so I picked it up and flipped through it as I lay there on the bed. I couldn’t read any of it because it was all in this weird, squiggly alien language. But there were lots of interesting drawings of all kinds of bizarre-looking animals, so I just turned the pages and looked at the pictures.
By that time I’d figured out that the only way I’d ever get to go home again was if I did everything that King Froptoppit told me to do. The whole thing was comp
letely crazy and totally unfair, but there was nothing I could do to get out of it. And though I was already starting to miss my parents, and Melissa, and all the stuff in my bedroom back home, I decided that I’d just have to be brave and do my best to be a good leader. Or at least act like a good leader.
I closed my eyes, secretly hoping I’d wake up to find that the whole thing was just a dream. A minute or two later I was sound asleep.
When I woke up the next morning it took me a while to remember where I was. Then it slowly came back to me: Bip and Bop, the flight to Smoo, my meeting with King Froptoppit. I yawned and wondered what my parents were doing back home. I was a little worried that the robot might do something that would make them suspicious. My father probably hadn’t noticed anything, but my mom would be a little harder to fool. Still, that robot looked so much like me even I couldn’t see the difference!
I rubbed my eyes and got up to have a look out the window. The sun was just coming over the horizon of Smoo, and the whole palace was covered with a beautiful orange light.
Fortunately there was a small bathroom attached to the guest room. The funny thing was that there was a fresh tube of toothpaste near the sink but no toothbrush. I sat there scratching my head for a second before I remembered the sentence in the letter:
DON’T FORGET YOUR TOOTHBRUSH.
Luckily, I hadn’t. I’d packed it in this cute little carrying case my parents had brought me from Japan one time, and stuck the case into my back pocket. So I pulled it out and gave my teeth a good brushing.
There was a knock on the door. I washed the toothpaste out of my mouth and ran over to peek through the keyhole. It was Bip and Bop, of course. Though I’d hoped they were going to tell me it was time to go home, they were just there to escort me to breakfast.
“Good morning, Akiko,” said Bip.
“I hope you slept well,” said Bop.
