George Brown and the Protector (22 page)

When he came to this part he proceeded
slowly, pausing often, reliving the amazement, the trust and peace,
and the joy that he had felt while his mind traveled through space
with the mind of the Uth stone. He told quickly of their going into
the black hole, and then of the wonder of being pulled out of it,
and from there all the way to the planet Uth. By the time he
finished, George found he was speaking in a reverent whisper so
that the protector and Emberly had to strain to hear him.

“Wow!” said the protector quietly after
George had finished. “That is absolutely amazing! Incredible!” He
began to pace the room again, shaking his head in wonder.

“Didn’t you know the stars can sing?” asked
Emberly unexpectedly. “We hear them all the time on my planet.”

“No,” said George, looking at Emberly in
surprise. “I didn’t know that.”

“Nor did I,” said the protector, looking at
Emberly with a suppressed smile. “Probably there are only a few
creatures in the universe who can hear them. Being linked through
the Uth stone while traveling through space, George had that
pleasure, at least temporarily.”

Turning to George, the protector said, “Did I
hear you right in saying that the entire Uth planet is alive?”

“Yes,” said George simply. “And it wasn’t
just a single life form, but billions and billions of them, all in
one place. And they all seemed to be singing …” Remembering the
brightness and beauty of the Uth planet, he could feel again the
incredible sense of joy and peace he had experienced there. It was
truly indescribable.

“They are tremendously powerful,” said the
protector quietly. “To generate enough energy to grab the fallen
stars and stop the earth’s rotation—that is an immense amount of
power! And then to pull you out of a black hole, and instantly
bring your body there from earth, and to preserve your life—since
there is no air to breath in space—and then to pull you all the way
to their planet! And finally to send you back home to your own bed
unharmed …” His voice trailed off, while he shook his head in
wonder.

“There’s one thing I can’t figure out,” said
George after a minute. “How did the Grak get the Uth stones in the
first place? The Grak aren’t pure in heart. I can’t imagine any of
them going to the planet Uth to get them, although my Uth stone
told me he had left his planet a long time ago.”

“That is a good question,” replied the
protector. “Who knows how the Grak somehow stumbled onto your stone
and five others like it, and knew enough about their powers to try
to use them in their plan? The Grak are cunning, and are always
searching for new weapons they can use to accomplish their goals.
They naturally wouldn’t pass up a chance to seize something as
powerful as the Uth stones. But how on earth they found them is a
complete mystery.”

George looked thoughtfully at the protector
for a minute. A single question had been stirring in the back of
his mind ever since his memory of the events of last night had
returned. Although the joy he had recently experienced had masked
it for a time, it could do so no longer. It was not a pleasant
question, and George had been avoiding asking it, as if the failure
to put it into words would somehow make it go away. Now however, he
knew he could delay no longer.

“What about my father?” he asked quietly.
“Where is he now? What will the Grak do to him?”

The protector looked somberly at George. “I
only wish I had an answer to give you,” he said in a whisper. “I
checked this morning with the intergalactic police, and they said
that all the Grak ships have left the area. All I know is that the
Grak almost never kill or physically harm their captives, although
they can abuse them mentally. While you say your father looked very
sad when you saw him, he must be very strong to have survived this
long.”

George was silent, not knowing what to say.
The thought of his father still in the hands of the Grak was almost
more than he could bear—especially when he considered how angry
they must be at the failure of their plan. What would they do to
him now?

“I suppose a bigger question,” said the
protector slowly as he began to pace the room again, “is why your
father and Jiu Na’s father and Tereza’s husband did not appear on
the planet Uth as you and the others did, to return their
stones.”

“That’s right!” exclaimed George in sudden
realization. “They had Uth stones too! Why didn’t they and their
Uth stones come as well?”

The protector shook his head. “I can’t say
for sure. Perhaps it was because they didn’t have the knowledge
that you and Jiu Na and Donna Tereza had of what was going on. The
Grak probably just told them they were doing some little experiment
here, and if they didn’t cooperate you would be hurt. So, they
didn’t know what the Grak were up to, or that their plan was to
destroy the earth, and therefore they didn’t know how vital it was
to stop them.”

The protector hesitated. Then he added
softly, “The only other explanation I can think of is that perhaps
the Grak have found a way to control their minds—although if that’s
true, I can’t figure why they wouldn’t have used the same mind
control methods on you and the others.”

George felt cold and uncomfortable, in spite
of the warm sunshine streaming through the window. The idea that
his father’s mind might be controlled by those horrible creatures
was more than he could stand. The beauty and joy of his recent
visit to the Uth planet seemed suddenly distant and far away,
clouded by worry for his father and fear of what he might be going
through.

“There’s one more thing you need to
consider,” said the protector softly. “The Grak don’t give up
easily. When one of their plans fails, they usually try another.
Although I hate to say this, perhaps it will give you some hope for
your father at the same time that it frightens you. I think the
Grak may try again in their scheme against the earth. It may not be
through you and Jiu Na and Tereza this time, but perhaps through
others. After all, they still have three Uth stones. Since the
three men know about earth and its customs, they will probably be
preserved and used by the Grak for this purpose. Hence, your father
could still be a key part of their plan, and they will probably not
hurt him physically.”

George said nothing, but looked quietly out
the window. A part of his mind was fighting what the protector had
just said, not willing to accept it, while another part was leaping
in hope. Perhaps the Grak would indeed preserve his father for that
reason. But that would also mean that the earth was still in
danger, and that the Grak could strike again. And this time, George
would not have an Uth stone to help him.

Emberly was standing by the window. Suddenly
she pointed to something they could not see.

“The ice cream store!” she yelled. “The one
on wheels that we went to yesterday! He’s right over there!”

The protector strode to the window. “You’re
right,” he said with a smile. “He must have turned his music off,
or we would have heard him. Do you want to try another bomb pop
today?”

Emberly screwed up her face in distaste. “It
might explode in my mouth,” she said loudly.

“But remember, we told you, it’s not really a
bomb,” said the protector. “It’s just food.”

“Well,” said Emberly, looking back out the
window at the ice cream truck. “Maybe I’ll try one of the funny
faces. Maybe they’ll talk to me before I eat them!”

The protector laughed, and even George’s lips
curved up in a smile.

“Let’s go!” said Emberly excitedly, racing to
the door.

“Hold on, now,” said the protector. “George
isn’t up and dressed yet.”

Emberly grabbed George’s shirt and pants and
threw them on his head. “He can get dressed on the way,” she said
simply. Then she opened the door and was gone.

The protector went to the door. “Well, I
guess I’d better follow her. There’s no telling what she might do
or say. Why don’t you get dressed and come along?”

“Sure,” said George getting slowly out of
bed.

“Remember,” said the protector, reaching out
and putting his hand on George’s shoulder. “Emberly’s world was
also attacked by the Grak. Her parents and all she knew and loved
were turned to stone. Yet she can still laugh and find joy in life,
somehow.”

George smiled at the protector weakly. “I’ll
try not to worry too much about my father,” he said slowly.
“Hopefully, he and the others will find a way to escape. They each
still have an Uth stone, which hopefully will help them find a way
to freedom, just like mine did.

“There’s a very good chance of that,” said
the protector with a smile. “When the time is right, it will likely
happen.”

“Come on out as soon as you’re dressed,” he
said, turning to the door. “After the ice cream, we’ll call on Jiu
Na and Donna Tereza and get their stories. Then we’ll dial up the
intergalactic police to tell them your story, and get an update
from them. Who knows? There still may be something we can do.”

The protector smiled back over his shoulder,
then disappeared through the door.

George slowly started getting dressed. The
protector was right. This adventure wasn’t over yet. His father
could still return. His father still had an Uth stone, and it was
inconceivable that its world would leave one of their own kind in
the hands of the Grak forever. When the time was right, perhaps
when it seemed there was no hope left, they would rescue it—and his
father too.

Tossing his pajamas on the bed, George
quickly went through the door to join his friends.

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