as worried as an expressionless alien could.
âYes. The Hyperzoid Quartz can be tampered with so that the decay of Bostonians builds toward a critical mass.â
âWhat happens when critical mass is reached?â Sally asked.
âThere is a huge explosion.â
âWould the explosion be strong enough to destroy this space station?â Sally asked.
Ek hesitated. âYes. And many stations and vessels in the immediate vicinity.â
âCan you control the decay of the Bostonians sothat we donât accidentally blow ourselves up?â Sally asked.
âYes. But not well.â
âCan you stop the chain reaction once it has begun?â
âYes. If I am lucky.â
âIf you start such a chain reaction, will the authorities outside know what youâre up to?â Sally asked. âWill they be able to monitor it?â
âYes.â
âWill it scare them?â
The alien lowered his big head.
âYes. Very much. You could kill millions of my people.â
Sally smiled at his sad thought. âEk, I donât want to kill anybody. I just want to scare your people into giving us back Adam and Watch. But when it comes time to bargain, I have to give the impression that Iâm a crazy chick from Spooksville who would just as soon blow up this space station as go swimming in our reservoir at home.â
âWhat is Spooksville?â
âThatâs where we come from,â Sally explained. âAnd you and your pals are only one of the reasons it has earned that name. Youâre not even the worst reason. Now broadcast your telepathic messageabout Adam and Watch and get your Boston bomb ready. Work as fast as you can. Iâm still hoping to make it home in time for bed.â
Cindy shook her head doubtfully. âYouâre playing with fire, Sally.â
âYou donât understand me, Cindy.â Sally rubbed her hands together, excited. âIâm playing to win.â
12
H earing the knock on the door, and the telepathic message, Adam and Watch jumped up from the beds and huddled by the door. They could hear nothing outside.
âWho do you think it is?â Adam asked.
âEither Ekweel2 or another alien,â Watch said.
âI know itâs either Ekweel2 or another alien. Sally and Cindy havenât become telepathic in the last few hours. The question is, what should we do?â
âIf itâs someone come to rescue us,â Watch said. âWeâll never forgive ourselves if we donât answer.â
Adam put his mouth close to the door. âYeah, weâre in here. But who are you?â
The telepathic response was immediate.
âZhekee191.â
Adam and Watch stared at each other. âTheir names are kind of corny,â Adam said.
âImagine if there are hundreds of Zhekees,â Watch agreed.
Adam spoke to the door again. âWhat do you want?â he asked.
âAre you Adam and Watch? The two human beings?â
âYes,â Adam said. âHow did you learn our names?â None of the other aliens, with the exception of Ekweel2, had asked them.
âEkweel2 came on our youth network and explained that you two had been taken captive by our government, in violation of our laws. He wanted all of us to fan out and search for you. I know Ekweel2 personally. I am his friend and respect what he says. I know he would not joke about such a serious matter.â
âHow were you able to get into this place?â
âMy father works here. I have known for many years that we are not encouraged to visit here and it made me wonder if perhaps this was where you hadbeen taken captive. I am pleased to find you so quickly. I have my fatherâs passkey. It allows me to enter and exit this section.â
âCan you open this door?â Adam asked.
âYes. I just have to push the button beside the door and it will open.â
Again Adam and Watch stared at each other.
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