"13 - Alien Invasion" - читать интересную книгу автора (Pike Christopher)

At lunch, the gang couldn't find Sally. That worried Adam.
'She was talking about confronting Mr Snakol,' he explained to Watch and Bryce. 'She promised me she wouldn't really do it, but you know Sally.'
'She can be so stubborn,' Cindy said.
'Or brave,' Watch said. 'It depends on how you look at it. I think we'd better check out that classroom again.'
The four of them hurried over to the science room. But even though the door was not locked, there was no one inside. Not even in the back room where they had found George's bloody clothes. But none of Sally's clothes lay about, and for that they were grateful.
'Is it possible she just went home sick?' Cindy asked.
'Sally gets sick as often as the moon runs into the earth,' Watch said.
'No,' Adam said. 'I think it is more than a coincidence that Mr Snakol is gone at the same time Sally is gone. He must have kidnapped her somehow.'
'And taken her where?' Watch asked. 'That is the most important question to answer. The same for George. We found his bloody clothes, but we found no body. Yet we must assume George was taken in the middle of the school day. Yet I am sure no one saw Mr Snakol carrying a body out to his car and driving away. I don't think he would have been that reckless.'
'I think we have to assume Mr Snakol is an alien of some kind,' Bryce said. 'And has access to technology we can't imagine.'
'Good points, both of you,' Adam said, looking around. 'We have never really torn this room apart. Maybe a few of his fancy devices are still here. Let's search every cabinet, every closet.'
For the next ten minutes that was exactly what they did. In the end they found a strange black box hidden beneath a bunch of papers in a corner closet. Something akin to an uncovered speaker jutted out one side, and on top was a row of coloured buttons and lights. Watch and Bryce studied it for a few minutes and then Watch pushed a couple of buttons. A faint humming sound started, and a wave of blue light projected from the side speaker.
Fortunately it was not pointed towards any of them.
But standing in the path of the beam was a hamster cage, with a hamster inside. It sparkled with all the colours of the rainbow for a moment before disappearing. The wave of blue light vanished. Watch and Bryce let go of the device.
'Did you see that?' Cindy gasped. 'That light vaporised that poor hamster.'
'Not necessarily,' Watch said.
'This device could be used for transporting objects,' Bryce said. 'We may have just sent the hamster to another location.'
'But to where?' Adam asked.
'I have no idea,' Watch said, reaching for the buttons again. 'But it might be possible to bring it back.' He fiddled with the controls for a moment and once more the wave of blue light shot out from the speaker-like apparatus. In a shower of colours the hamster and cage reappeared.
Only the hamster was not moving.
They gathered around it, and waited.
But the poor animal was dead.
'Why would the transporter kill it?' Adam asked.
'I don't think it was the transporter that killed it,' Watch said.
'I agree,' Bryce said. 'It was probably the place it was transported to that killed it I suspect we just sent the hamster into outer space, and then brought it back.'
Cindy grimaced. 'You mean we suffocated it?'
Bryce was grim. 'Yes. But we didn't know.'
'Not to sound cold,' Watch said, 'but it was better it was the hamster than us. Its death may have saved our lives.'
Adam thought he understood what Watch was saying. 'Is that because you think Mr Snakol used this device to take away George and Sally? Or because you plan on using it to go after him?'
'Both reasons,' Watch said. 'We must go after them. Do we have a choice?'
'But we will need the coordinates of the alien ship,' Bryce said. 'Obviously the transporter has not been left locked on to the ship.'
'Probably as a safety precaution,' Watch said, 'to keep people like us from accidentally or intentionally beaming aboard the ship.'
'You are both assuming there is a ship in orbit,' Adam said. 'Should we make that assumption?'
'It seems logical,' Bryce said. 'In fact, I bet the ship is in a stationary orbit above Spooksville.'
'That is assuming that Mr Snakol is the only alien that has infiltrated or planet at this time,' Watch said. 'But for all we know there could be hundreds of them in all walks of life. If that is the case, there is no reason to believe the ship remains directly above us. But, for the time being, I prefer to think you are right, Bryce. Tonight, when it is dark, I might be able to locate the alien ship in one of my telescopes.'
'And that will give you the coordinates to set the transporter?' Adam asked.
'Two out of three of the coordinates,' Watch said. 'Just seeing the ship will not tell us how for away it is. But I think we will be able to experiment with the distance. We can beam something towards it, see if it comes back alive.'
'No!' Cindy protested. 'We can't just kill a bunch of hamsters. There must be another way.'
'I will think about it,' Watch said.
Adam carefully touched the transporter. 'I don't like waiting until tonight. Sally could be dead by then.'
'We have no choice,' Bryce said.
'And Sally is not so easy to kill,' Watch added.


Eight

The first thing Sally saw when she regained consciousness was George's worried face. The second thing she saw was the planet earth. It was behind George, just outside the window. In a rush she realised that she was aboard a space ship, circling her world. Sitting up quickly, the blood rushed to her head and she felt as if she might faint. George put a steadying hand on her shoulder.
'Are you all right?' he asked anxiously.
'Of course,' she said brushing his hand off. 'I have been in outer space before. This is nothing new for me.' She glanced around. They were not chained in any way, but their room was relatively small, and she suspected that the door was locked. On top of everything else, she had on a white robe instead of the blue dress she had worn to school that morning. George wore the same. But at least she still had her own underwear on. She added, 'How did I get here?'
'Mr Snakol brought you in,' George said. 'That was hours ago. He just laid you down on the floor. You have been sleeping ever since.'