Read Online Akiko on the Planet Smoo by Mark Crilley - Free Book Online Page A

you’d hear at a football game or something. Finally they wheeled us through two gigantic doors. I squinted as we came out into the open air. It took a minute or two for my eyes to adjust to the sunlight before I could see where we were.
    There were stands on all sides, filled with the same noisy, dirty people we’d been seeing ever since we arrived at the Sky Cove. There were
thousands
of them! They were busy talking to each another, ordering food, and passing coins and pieces of paper among themselves. As our wagon was wheeled out into the open, the crowd became more excited. They stood up and elbowed each other aside to get a better look at us. I didn’t know what this was all about, but I was starting to get really nervous.

    â€œWh-What kind of place
is
this, Spuckler?” I asked.
    â€œWell, there’s an interesting old tradition here at the Sky Cove,” Spuckler replied, thoughtfully stroking his chin. “They get folks from different parts of the galaxy and toss ’em in a ring together, and then lay bets on who’s gonna beat the tar outta who.”
    â€œHow quaint,” Mr. Beeba sneered.
    â€œI don’t think I could beat the tar out of
anybody
,” I said.
    â€œAw, sure ya could, ’Kiko,” Spuckler said confidently. “Give yourself some credit.”
    By then the crowd was getting very noisy. Obviously they’d come to see a fight and were getting impatient for it to begin. There was a loud trumpet blast, followed by an announcement in that language of theirs. It echoed all around the arena, and there was an excited roar from the crowd.
    A big fat guy with a completely bald head came lumbering across the arena to our cage and unlocked a small door on one side. He reached in, grabbed hold of Gax, and pulled him out. I wanted to stop him, but I was too scared to say anything. Even though I was worried that something might happen to Gax, I was secretly relieved that I wasn’t the one who’d gotten grabbed. I’d never been in a fight in my whole life, and I didn’t feel like trying to learn right then. I glanced over at Mr. Beeba, who looked very agitated as he followed Gax with his eyes. Even Poog looked a tiny bit nervous.
    Spuckler didn’t have any doubts about Gax, though.
    â€œDon’t worry, Gax! They can’t hurt you!” he yelled. “I forgot to recharge your pain circuits!”
    â€œ THAT’S VERY REASSURING, SIR, ” Gax replied halfheartedly.
    The man put Gax in the very center of the arena and left him there. Gax wasn’t a particularly big robot, and in the middle of the stadium he looked even smaller. There was laughter and jeering from the crowd, and a lot of noise as people went to place their bets. I might have been just imagining it, but I’d swear I saw Gax trembling a little out there. I know it doesn’t make any sense for a robot to tremble, but that’s what I think I saw.
    There was a second trumpet blast, longer and louder than the first, followed by a much shorter announcement. The whole arena got really, really quiet, and all the spectators turned their attention to a huge pair of doors on one side of the arena. The doors were forty or fifty feet high, built entirely out of steel and covered with dents and scratches from many years of use.
    â€œWhat’s behind those doors, Spuckler?” I asked, not sure I really wanted to know.
    â€œI ain’t exactly sure,” Spuckler said, sounding a little nervous himself, “but judgin’ from the looks of this crowd it ain’t gonna be real cute an’ cuddly.”
    By then the arena was almost completely silent, and all we could hear was this horrible creaking as the doors slowly parted. It took about a minute for the doors to open all the way. Finally there was nothing to do but wait and see what would come out.

GA-GUNCH . . . GA-GUNCH . . .
    Whatever was approaching sounded like some sort of