Space Hostages by Sophia McDougall Page B

defensive colors.
    My mind was racing. The only kinds of aliens I knew were Morrors and Vshomu. And Vshomu are only Space Locusts; they’re animals. They don’t have ships or energy cannons or anything like that.
    I knew so many people back home who were quietly scared the war wasn’t really over. What if they were right? Dad and Gran had never quite come out and said that they thought the Morrors’ motives for inviting me to Aushalawa-Mo raaa might be suspect and something terrible might happen when I got there, but of course I’d known they did think that. What if it was a trap? What if the Council of Lonthaa-Ra-Mo raaa wantedsomething they weren’t getting—more of Earth, or a colder climate—and thought they could use the Plucky Kids of Mars to get it?
    â€œI am afraid the other ship is hijacking my communi—” began Helen, and then broke off. A loud, unfamiliar voice rang out of the walls, and it was speaking the long, sighing syllables of Thly waaa -lay, Th saaa ’s language:
    â€œWathaaalal-vel-raya ath-shal vel athmalath.”
    There was a second of silence.
    â€œDon’t look at me like that!” cried Th saaa .
    â€œI’m not looking at you like anything,” I said.
    â€œYou are! I can see it! You would be violet-gray-yellow if you could!”
    â€œI know it’s nothing to do with you ,” I said .
    â€œThose are not Morrors!” Th saaa insisted . “Morrors would not do this!”
    â€œThey wouldn’t,” said Noel, his eyes enormous. “It can’t be them, Alice, not after everything.”
    I felt the knot of suspicion loosen in my chest, but there was plenty of new tension waiting to take its place. “No,” I said. “They wouldn’t. If they wanted to capture us, they’d just wait for us to land on Aushalawa-Mo raaa . There’d be no need for this.”
    But then, if it wasn’t the Morrors . . .
    â€œWhat did they say?” I asked Th saaa , thoughI was pretty sure I’d understood the words prepare and prisoners .
    â€œPrepare to be boarded,” said the walls suddenly, in loud, aggressive English. “You are now prisoners under the Grand Expanse Sovereignty Act, Clause Twelve, Year of the Forty-Third Golden Wave.”
    And then they said the same thing again in Spanish.
    â€œThere,” said Th saaa . “They are . . . speaking the languages of Earth.”
    â€œCome on,” I said, and we ran to the huge windows. And there was the ship, framed against the pale blue glow of the planet.
    It definitely wasn’t a Morror ship. For one thing, you could see it, and even if Morror ships weren’t invisible, they wouldn’t look like that.
    If there was a rhinoceros that was crossed with a wasp, this ship would have looked like its head: all armored plates and ridges and prongs, in shiny black and gold. There were huge golden banners, marked with great black suns, unfurled from its sides, billowing in plumes of gas that must have been generated just for the effect.
    It was absolutely enormous.
    â€œWeeela sssssplaflak!” moaned Th saaa. I knew what it meant, because swear words are always afun part to learn of any language.
    â€œYeah,” I agreed. “Splaflak.”
    â€œWhere’s Carl?” whispered Noel.
    â€œHello,” said the Helen ’s voice, sounding faintly sheepish. “Sorry for the interruption. My Captain and his precious and beautiful daughter, Christa, are descending from their deck. Mr. Carl Dalisay, Ms. Jerome, Miss Jerome, and Dr. Muldoon are in the laboratory. I would suggest you head there immediately; I’m being—oh, goodness.”
    The huge, terrible ship stayed where it was, but the planet behind it faded, and the stars began to change color.
    â€œWhat’s happening?” cried Noel as Ormerod bucked out of his arms and ran away.
    â€œI’m being dragged into hyperspace,” said the Helen .