Jamie and Gertie rushed to join us. I think Jamie was just eager to see the world outside again.

We had been cooped up awhile, losing track of time. We stared at a dusky evening sky.

ET led the two inside.

The pink one pointed. "Royy Neeary."

"Ugh!" Roy groaned. "It had to be you guys, didn't it? How is the equipment working?"

"It had to be replaced."

"Two years ago."

"Great. It was an old hot tub anyway...Weird how you suddenly adopted a human. Speaking of which, do you know where Pete is?"

The appaloosa (Olxebak) shook his head.

"No," said the pink one.

"Fine. What can you do to help us? I don't especially want to track down...Sovirox and knock on his door."

"Why would you knock on his door?"

The pink one muttered something to the appaloosa.

"Oh. That would be unwise."

They muttered to each other some more.

"Peeeete likes eating ruzamhi." Olxebak glanced at Gertie's bracelet with an expression of disgust. She covered it self consciously. "...He often purchases things with our money."

"And he litters," the pink one added. "Very troubling and unusual."

"You just let him run around and buy things with your money?"

"We feel sorry for him, and we put limits on his Ahfobzu so that he cannot purchase things we don't want him to."

"We appreciate your taking him as part of your family unit. He needs others of his kind. From what we have observed, I and Yizewo had considered deactivating Ahfobzu and letting you take full responsibility, but it sounds as if we may need the device to locate him."

Roy rubbed his hands together. "Great. Show me what you've got."

Olxebak brought out a communicator, pushing a few buttons. He frowned. "No activity."

Yizewo sighed. "I hope he is not stealing things, or taking advantage of Qulpari and Abreyas."

"I thought you were trying to keep this place secret," Roy complained. "You know, so Soyvorox and his buddies can't find us?"

ET gave him a dismissive wave. "I trust them. When I told them what happened to Peeete, they wanted to help, so I gave them our coordinates."

"So far they haven't told us much that we didn't already know." Roy put his hands on his hips. "So what now? More music training? For them?"

ET shook his head. "We have used up too much time already. Olxebak and Yizewo have told me what abilities they bring. I believe they can help us in their own unique ways."

"Unique," Roy groaned. "Great."

"So you have no idea where Peeete has gone?" Olxebak asked.

"No. We were hoping you'd know something."

ET's expression became grave. "We only know he is pursuing Sovirox, and Sovirox intends to attack the Nulwahe."

"Perhaps we should go to Ubgexa, then. We will be near enough to the Nulwahe to possibly locate the human, but distant enough to avoid danger."

"He has Pabyeba, my mate. I will have to go there eventually."

"Remember the story of Jana Naka, Vorxora."

ET sighed. "I have found myself in disagreement with that tale. I love Pabyeba too much."

"Then you are like Etrelil of the legend."

"Perhaps, but such is my fate. You need not join me in my folly. Merely assisting us to find Peeete will be sufficient."

"As you wish."

"We have a hovercraft waiting. Follow us."

ET and Spike seemed confident enough in our musical skill to allow us to travel. We packed up our equipment in carrying cases, slowly climbing back down the mountain.

The twin moons of Jufuceri peeked from the horizon. Some time in the late afternoon, I figured. It felt like five or six o'clock, if that meant anything anymore.

Our visitors had brought along a sort of wagon full of contraptions, inventions and mechanical bits, its treads reminding me of the Attack Trak from He-Man. I suppose it helped them move its weighty contents up the shifting slate.

I stared. "Any particular reason why you brought along...all this...stuff?"

"We beautify the landscape by collecting things others don't want and making new things from them."

"Was that why you adopted Pete?" Jamie asked.

Olxebak's neck shrank. He didn't even answer.

I stared at the wooden container Spike now carried around. "We need to do something with that broken hoop."

"One thing at a time, Elliott," Jamie said. "Hopefully now that it's broken, it can't do anything anymore. Maybe we can just bury it or something."

Roy stopped in his tracks. "Hey. Those things are kind of a liability anyway. Can we just leave them back at the...music bunker?"

ET stopped and stared at him, as if annoyed, but then nodded. "Keep going. I will quickly put the things in a safe place." He levitated the objects out of Spike's hands, waddling north as we continued on.

Pete's Qulpari friends didn't seem very talkative. Spike told me they came from a religious sect that practices vows of silence. Apparently when not on a vow, they still tended to be quiet, and only speak after a great deal of thought.

"Sounds like they wouldn't be very helpful in a police report." Jamie remarked. "Maybe that's why Pete was so annoyed with them."

"They didn't say they were on a vow of silence at the time Pete got robbed."

"Yeah, but they're not exactly bursting with information."

I heard a squawk, and like a scene from that old black and white King Kong movie, a pterodactyl winged down from the sky, laden with a Qulpari. The rider swung a net, catching swarms of insects.

"Jamie," I said. "You think you can teach me karate sometime?"

Jame scoffed. "What good is it? Your sister can do better things with her mind, and so can everyone else on this planet." She cast Roy a nervous glance. When he looked away for a few seconds, she grabbed my hand, slipping something straw-like into my palm.

I turned my hand over to look, but a moment later, Roy looked our way, and she pressed against me, made like we were holding hands.

"What's this?" I whispered.

"Shh!" Jamie cast the Qulpari around us suspicious glances, gave Roy a cheesy grin.

Roy looked bored, glancing off into the foliage again.

Turning away from the others, I slyly checked my palm and found a white tube, kind of the shape of a ball point pen, but speckly and devoid of the writing piece.

"See?" Jamie hissed over my shoulder. "They're not cigarettes!"

"What is this?"

"Oxnizjel called it Rakigob. I don't know what it means, but it's...it's weird. Try it."

"Your Abreya friend gave them to you?" I frowned. "I...don't know...these are drugs, aren't they?"

Her face flushed red. "I'm not giving you friggin' marijuana or cocaine. This is an alien thing, okay? You're not going to snort it and have a heart attack and brain damage. They don't cover this kind of stuff in DARE."

"Yeah? Then what's it do?"

"It...makes you relaxed, and tingly. It's a little hard to describe. Try a snort."

I tried to sneak some up my nose, but Charlie had been spying on me. He used his power to whip the object out of my hands, floating it in front of Roy.

"Hey! Where'd you get that?"

Charlie pointed a fin in my direction.

Roy marched in front of me, arms crossed. "Why do you feel it necessary to repeat every mistake I've ever made?"

I goggled at him. "What?"

He waved the Rakigob in my face. "I'd stay away from these if I were you. It's only going to aggravate your sleepwalking problems. Last time I took a nip of this, I woke up naked in Nevnob. Had no idea where I was, or how I got there. You get random nightmares in the middle of the day, which is dangerous. It also makes for an interesting bathroom experience. If you like, I could paint you a colorful picture."

I gave my head a violent shake.

"Where'd you get them?"

I swallowed. The last thing I wanted to do was rat out my girlfriend after we'd just gained some rapport.

"Did I mention the stuff is super addictive? With drugs, that's not usually a good sign."

Roy tugged my eyelids back, examining...something.

He pulled my mouth open, staring inside, checked my nostrils.

His gaze turned to Jamie.

Roy didn't even bother examining her. "How many of those have you had, little miss?"

"I don't know what you're—"

"I'm not stupid, Jamie. I know I may look it, but I'm not. I see the spots on your corneas." He stuck out his hand. "Out with them."

Jamie grudgingly gave him a handful.

"Just because we don't pee the same doesn't mean that stuff isn't going to mess you up. The last thing I want is a bunch of Qulpari medics standing over your little dead body, documenting why their drugs are bad for humans."

Her facial expression teetered between fearful and fuming. She looked away from him, red faced.

I walked up beside Olxebak. "Hello. I'm Elliott. Pete's friend."

The alien's eyes had heavy lids that barely opened at all. The pupils turned toward me through a narrow crack. "Peeete."

"Yeah. Um...I was wondering about something. He doesn't like the Navnadbu. He seems to think they didn't do a very good job."

Olxebak nodded slowly. "A young Qulpari stole his toys. He was dissatisfied about how long it took to catch them, and that I only gave them a day's worth of Quarjabbe and did not give them the marking. They broke his toys, and he was upset about that as well. He complained that he had to serve Quarjabbe when he stole from me and got a scar, but they did not. I showed him Jana Naka, but I believe the lesson was lost on him."

"Wait," Jamie said. "Go back. He stole from you?"

"Yes. I do not know how long he existed alone on this planet, running around and stealing things like a mad acwami but we caught him and gave him the appropriate discipline."

"And that's why he lived with you."

"Yes. We felt it our duty to keep him out of trouble once his service had been served. Once provided with the appropriate nourishment and a building to stay in, he behaved adequately."

Jamie looked me in the eyes. "That could have been me!"

I shrugged. "If ET wasn't here, maybe."

"Imagine, living with that creep Yatgibi!"

I shook my head.

"About that stolen toy thing, I'd be pissed about that too!" Jamie showed Olxebak her scar.

"The thief was young."

"What do I look like, an old lady?"

"You do not understand. Quarjabbe is not administered lightly. I gave Peeete Quarjabbe because I felt concern for him. Pete did not wish to reform the thief. He only wished suffering upon them. That is not our way."

Jamie scowled. "That actually makes it worse. That means that Yatgibi guy wanted to change me. Or get free labor."

"I am not familiar with this individual, but I admit not everyone administering Quarjabbe has pure motives."

"And you show favoritism toward Qulpari...and Abreyas."

Olxebak didn't deny it.

"I guess that explains some things," I muttered.

We'd gained a fair distance by the time ET returned to our group. He seemed a little winded from trying to catch up, but he'd cheated a little by levitating himself.

I asked him to check on Rilquza again.

It turned out that the Abreya had come close to capturing Pete, but the boy eluded him at the last moment, slipping off into a crowd. He didn't know where the boy ran to after that, or if he hid somewhere. He couldn't find him.

"We think we know where he is going," ET said. "He is careless. Perhaps he will leave clues."

"We can only hope," I sighed. "...ET, Yatgibi had a store room full of pomegranates. I overheard his coworker talking to him about it. Do you have any idea about what he meant? Is it fruit or explosives or something? I mean, I'm sure that the word for explosive in our language can't be the same one that you use on your planet, right? Tell me I'm just being silly and scared for nothing."

ET frowned. "The word didowwa refers both to a type of fruit and a weapon due to its unusual shape. It's nothing so barbaric as simply exploding one's enemy. In some ways it's worse...it affects the mind."

I furrowed my brow.

He used his communicator to report it to the authorities.

Qulpari still partied in the village below. Multicolored lanterns glowed and floated all around us, things like massive fireflies buzzing in between. Glowing neon centipede things, like parade dragons, boogied past. Loud music prevented us from having much of any conversation, we gestured and pointed, weaving through the dancing bodies.

On the way back to the Larven's boat, we spotted a tentacled Parasaurolophus along the shore. The fin headed creature chased down and devoured a rolling tumbleweed, eyestalks casting us a bored stare as its beak mashed the plant matter.

We boarded the hovercraft, taking off in a direction opposite the shore we'd come from.

"Do you live around here?" Gertie asked Pete's guardians.

"We live on a small island nearby. The human hatchling was always stowing away on boats and—"

I shouted in alarm and dropped to the deck as a winged crocodile swooped down from the air, bearing straight for me. I looked up and saw the creature chomping on something with pink bat wings. It landed on the roof of our vehicle, lying flat on its belly as it gnawed on its meal.

Olxebak chuckled. "Only domesticated ones fly around this region."

Roy put a reassuring hand on my shoulder. "You know how earth has wolves and dogs that look like wolves? That thing is kind of like a husky. You'll be able to visually tell the difference after awhile."

We all did some music practice along the deck. Although not completely confident in my skill, I felt comfortable enough with the instrument to not accidentally injure someone.

"Gertie," ET said. "Can you play...Elvis?"

She laughed. "Um, I think so."

My sister plucked out the opening notes to Suspicious Minds on theWayutra. Shockingly, nothing dangerous or even supernatural happened.

"You're getting good at that," I said.

She smiled. "It's kinda easy once you figure out when to hold down the tilgepax and how to hold the cigifbay."

"You're a genius, Gertie."

"Hey, you're my brother. That makes you a genius too."

I smirked. "Hey. I noticed you've been chatting with Larven quite a bit. What have you been talking about?"

She shrugged. "Just regular stuff, his religious beliefs about spinning, his job and family...he says his god dances and spinning helps it communicate with him. He says you can feel the harmony with the universe..." She did a twirl, I guess to experience it herself. "Not sure I can do it right. He says it may take me awhile."

"Hmm."

Gertie pointed. "Look! It's Zaluxfa!"

I rolled my eyes. "Seriously? You thought the last—"

A glance over the prow and I couldn't finish.

Up ahead lay a long beach populated with hundreds of Qulpari with tents and boat houses. They strolled the shores with their arms around each other, played a telekinetic version of volleyball, sat around fires and talked, line danced, made crafts...Large groups of them did a sort of gambling thing with bones that resulted in them pairing off and going on walks.

Our craft docked along a rocky shore populated by more of those Parasaurolophus things.

We traveled inward, amidst large bushes of pine needles, like pine trees had decided to grow differently there. Instead of pine cones, spotty blue beets grew from their exterior. We nibbled a few as we walked...guess where the bean paste for all those insect pockets came from?

We got stares as we passed through the crowd. I heard quite a few mutters of boofsuru.

"It's like freaking Woodstock!" Roy remarked.

"Yeah..." Gertie's voice seemed to be saying `Isn't it dreamy?'

"Hey, you weren't even born yet. What do you know about it?"

"They talk about it on TV."

"Let me tell you something. It wasn't that great. There was mud everywhere. You couldn't get your car out, and you couldn't even hear Hendrix."

We climbed a hill, continuing inward for about a half mile until the mob thinned out. The ammonia scented trees fluted vague song fragments like wind chimes. At times, the sounds reminded me of the background to commercials you saw in movie theaters before the previews. Other trees fluted `Mary Had a Little Lamb, Little Mary had a Lamb, Lamb Had a Little Mary.'

"Elliott," Jamie whispered. "I've been worried about something. I...love you, but if we, um...what happens if a woman has a baby here?"

I frowned. "Jamie, what—"

"I mean, they lay eggs. All of them. Would they even know how to deliver a baby? They wouldn't know what they were doing, would they?"

"Jamie...we...we don't have to do anything. It's like Roy said. We're too young to do that stuff. Maybe we can figure out something eventually. Maybe they can study us, or find a textbook or something. They're a highly advanced race. Maybe they got a machine that can—"

I stopped speaking, mouth hanging open in shock.

The ground ahead of us had been scorched, the plant life reduced to blackened stubble. Here and there lay Qulpari, sickly, pale, moaning on the ground.

Olxebak dug a device out of his cart, waving it around the area. "I have not witnessed pollution like this in a very long time. I am even detecting radiation. It is as if someone studied our laws and caused this destruction in spite of them."

"Warkinde," ET sighed.

"That's terrible!" Jamie cried. "Can we...do something about this?"

Roy called someone on his communicator. "There's already an emergency unit on their way."

"You think they need some of that slime to cure them?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. I thought that had something to do with Gertie's fungal infection. This is different...I think."

ET touched a drooping plant and closed his eyes, attempting to revive it like he'd done with Gertie's geranium back on earth.

For a moment, it became restored to full bloom, but then, when he brought his hand away, the plant turned black and died.

ET clenched his fists and scowled. "There is something wrong with the ground. We need to find a Gomovo."

"I have made a device to help locate those." Olxebak took a large cockroach shaped machine out of his cart, clicking buttons on a remote control unit. The thing hopped a few times, then scurried across the ruined field.

About ten yards away, it stopped, flashing lights and hopping in apparent excitement. We rushed over to investigate.

We discovered a big white thing, half buried in the ground.

"What's that?" Jamie asked. "A plant?"

ET nodded. "The best plant on Jufuceri."

Boom.

Boom.

Boom.

It suddenly got dark.

At first I thought the sky had become overcast, but when I looked up, I didn't see clouds.

Two giants towered over us, big hulking masses of...oily, tar-like substance in the shape of men. Blisters, glowing like coals, swelled from every surface of its limbs and body, emitting great clouds of black smoke like pipes on a diesel semi.

"Uh...guys?" Roy gasped. "I'm up for running. What do you think?"

Nobody answered him. Us kids were all too horrified for words, the aliens' faces unreadable. Well, except for Olxebak and Yizewo, clearly showing fear.

"I think we should run. Unless you think a little band performance can knock these guys off their feet." Roy glanced uncomfortably at Spike. "You're...not seriously thinking about facing these guys, are you?"

The mustached alien blew on a pitch pipe.