Everyone stood on the veranda of Arthur's house, looking at the spaceship. Arthur sighed.
"I couldn't come up with a name for it. It's supposed to be an eco name, right? Just like the Geocruiser and the Ecocopter? Well, I guess we could call this one, um, Terraship?"
"I don't think it even needs a name."
"How did you get this done so fast."
"Are you sure it's safe?"
"How long will it take us?"
At all these questions, Arthur tried to answer them one at a time.
"There was really nothing to it. It's just like any other spaceship. Of course I'm sure it's safe. Ain't I going to be going, too? Not to mention the fact that you guys are my best friends, and them my cousins. Would I be likely to put everyone here at risk. It should only take us a few hours, of course. It's much better than the spaceship the settlers used, you know. Some people do say I'm so smart, it's scary."
"It is scary."Wheeler told him.
"It would be to you, Yankee-Doodler."Linka told him.
"Um, what is everybody waiting for? I guess we have no time to lose, and the sooner we get to Isis, the better, right? So, everybody inside."
Everyone walked into the spaceship. It was very roomy, and it certainly looked comfortable. More like the private airplanes owned by Arthur's father, on which Arthur and the dectuplets traveled most of the time.
"There are enough snacks and everything, for everybody, and as for waiters, we're not taking anybody with us. Just ourselves, but the computer will cook anything for you, and I ask you people not to spill anything. I didn't designed this for you or anyone else to mess it all up."
"What's going to happen to this after the mission?"Wheeler wanted to know.
"It's probably just going to be an airplane, to take us to anywhere in the world. We should visit the tropics after this. I always did think that was the most beautiful place on the face of the Earth. Fortunately people don't really like those latitudes, they mostly like the temperate ones, even though they destroy the rainforests."
"And many species along with them."said Ma.Xulia.
"Guys, don't start. Is everybody in? First, of course, you will need to strap yourselves in, to escape the Earth's gravitational pull, and then the sun's. I'll go start the countdown meanwhile. The ship is pretty much automatic. It practically drives itself."
Arthur disappeared into another part of the ship.
"Things will go just fine. Won't they, Sissy?"asked Ma.Xacinta.
Sissy was looking out the window.
"I think I will miss the crickets and Mickeys."she said. "You don't think there are any on this planet Isis, do you?"
"I don't think there are, Sissy."
"I didn't think so, either. But hopefully, this will go fast, and we'll be back on Earth soon."
"Yes. We don't want to stay away from Earth for too long."
When they arrived on Isis, everyone noticed that they had landed on the mesa top, after Wheeler ran out of the spaceship, and threw up behind a rock.
"You shouldn't have eaten so much, Wheeler."Mati told him.
"I never want to see the stars ever again! I hate flying in space. Now I don't think I'll even be able to fly ever again! I hate flying!"
"No, I think you hate eating large amounts of junk food while flying, and then throwing up, Wheeler. Now you can't say that you need the energy, because there is no energy in it. It all came right back up!"Arthur said to him, laughing.
"Wait a minute. What are we doing on top of a mountain, or mesa. I thought you said on this planet, we had to stay in the valleys, because of the ultraviolet, and no oxygen. Does this mean I'll get a tan real fast. I don't want a tan! Not now, anyway."Ma.Xulia was complaining.
"No, no, no. You are not getting a tan. You see, before we came, well Gaia said that Isis will not harm us. We're here to help, so Olwen will protect us from this harsh climate. It's like we're the exception. For everybody, else, the uplands are dangerous. Very dangerous."
"And so now what are we going to do?"
"Well, I guess we wait for the hostess to greet us."
Everyone looked around.
"What a strange place."commented Linka. "Purple bird eggs! And so tiny, too!"
"Ah! Now those are beautiful bird eggs."cried Ma.Xochilt. "What a beautiful color. Now, if it were only a little lighter. You know, a few shades. Then you wouldn't ever need to paint Easter eggs. Well, you'd just need, like, pink flowers, or something. But the color is lovely. We should take some of these back to Earth with us. They're prettier the eggs the birds lay back on Earth."
"We're not taking anything!"Arthur said.
"We know. It was only a comment. Could we at least take a picture?"
Arthur sighed.
"I guess. I don't know if you have to ask permission."
"You're here."Olwen said, climbing to the top of the mesa. "More humans."she added darkly.
"We're not humans."Ma.Xitlalli told her. "We only look like them, but really we aren't. At least me and my sisters aren't the rest of them are different from other people. Gaia trusts them, you know."
"Well, I don't."said Olwen. "Just look what they are doing to my planet. My beautiful valley! It will never be the same after this. Even if they leave. Ever!"
Everyone walked to the edge of the cliff, towards the settlers' valley, and looked down. They could see the houses, the spaceship, and people walking in and out of the houses. They could see that before this, the valley had obviously been filled with high grasses, but now most of them were cut, where the village now stood.
"Gee."Arthur said. "Well, we'll see what we can do."
Olwen's eyes flashed.
"See? You will not see. You will do something about it, and get these creatures off my planet, and back to wherever they came from. Or else, your planet will suffer the consequences."
"Don't you think Earth has already suffered enough? I mean, having put up with stuff like this from these creatures for thousands of years? And all the creatures that have had to put with them? Don't you feel even a little, teeny bit sorry. Maybe you could kill them with you climate, or something."Ma.Xamila suggested.
"That would not be good for Isis and the creatures that live here. It could damage the ecosystem, such a rapid change in the climate."
"Yes, it could. Well, to work, people. We didn't come all this way just to look at the scenery. We came here to see what we could do. And I think we better get to it. Time stands still for no one, and those people are destroying Miss Olwen's planet, so let's go."
"How?"asked Wheeler. "Haven't you noticed how high this mesa is? How are we supposed to climb down?"
"Using your hands and feet."Ma.Xitlalli said, and she, her sisters, Sissy, and Olwen began to climb down the steep side of the mesa.
"Those guys would obviously climb, you know them. They can climb like goats, like spiders, and I suppose the fact that the cat went with them should be no surprise. Cats are very agile and nimble. And Olwen, well, it's her planet, isn't it? I guess she could go anywhere. But for us, no need to worry, back in the ship. It will also be our method of transportation around here."
Arthur and the Planeteers went back to the spaceship, and it descended to the valley floor. All eleven girls, and the cat were already waiting there for them.
"What took you guys so long?"asked one of the dectuplets. "We got here ages and ages ago."
"Well, the important thing is we're all here. Now, we just have to approach the settlers. Everybody, let's go."
They all walked toward the middle of the village. It was obvious that some of the settler suspected that they had not landed there with them. Some of them stopped them talk to them, but they simply said that they would explain later. When they got to the middle, Arthur was just about to start talking, but Ma.Xochilt spoke first.
"Listen to me, everybody,"she began. "Everybody needs to go back inside the spaceship and go back to Earth. We have a lot of hard work ahead of us, and the sooner we get started, the better. So, let's go."
"We can't go back!"cried one of the settlers.
"Yes, you will go back."said Olwen furiously.
"But we can't. Earth is too overcrowded now."
"That is really not my problem."
The dectuplets began to get angry.
"And who's fault is that? It's all your fault. It's your fault the planet is dying, and now what are you doing? Ha, you're running away, now that you've finished with one planet, you are going to ruin someone else's. Look, we don't really care about the other planets, but first, you are not going anywhere, until you clean up the mess you left behind on Earth!"
"Guys, I don't think you should be saying those things."Arthur was saying. He sounded worried.
"Maybe you should let Arthur handle this."Kwami suggested.
"I don't care who's going to handle this. I just want you all off my planet!"Olwen cried at the settlers. "Now. Go back to Earth. I don't care what you do there, or how you're going to solve these problems, just go back where you belong! You're spoiling Isis! Just look at what you've done! Get off my planet! Get off and never come back!"
"We can't go back!"
"Can't you?"asked Sissy, even though the settler weren't aware of what she said. Her eyes were bright, and they looked frightening, as the dectuplets' and Olwen's.
"Well, why can't everybody just go back?"asked Arthur.
"You know why."
"People, we've made too many mistake, and well, we have to act responsibly, don't we. We made a mistake, now it's time to deal with the consequences. We have to solve the problems, go back to Earth, and try to patch up all the mistakes."
"That's impossible. There's too many of them."
"Well, we have to try."
"You are the biggest bunch of babies."began Ma.Xamila. "I always knew people were weak and poorly adapted, I just never knew they were so weak and poorly adapted as this. They never grow up, and see things the way they are, do they? Ever. I thought people were supposed to reason. I've heard adults telling younger people about responsibility, that you should right your wrongs, face your problems and not run away from them, etc. Well, it's no wonder they get the message so clearly. The adults are giving them the perfect example. People are just hypocrites. It's in their 'nature', if you can even count such disgusting beings as a part of nature. We don't. Not only are you a bunch of weaklings, because you are. If you were to face a tiger, a lion, a dog, or any animal unarmed, you would obviously lose. The animals is much stronger than you are, you are also a bunch of idiots. You don't reason. Everyone else reasons better then you all do, because all other animals have hearts."