I inch closer. The cat swishes his tail but doesn’t back away. His tail has an odd green circle around the tip, like someone drew a ring around it with a green marker. He isn’t wearing a collar, so I can’t tell if he belongs to anyone. Holding on tight to the tree with one hand, I reach out the other so he can sniff it. He must not think I’m much of a threat because he lowers his head and lets me pet him. “How’d you get stuck in this tree?” I murmur as I scratch under his neck. He just purrs happily. Cats have always liked me. I should ask for one as a pet.

“How’s it coming, Archie?” Dad calls up between the branches.

I say a fast good-bye to the cat and keep scrambling down the tree.

Once I get low enough, Dad grabs me and lowers me to the ground. I’m finally standing on another planet! Pushing down gently, but firmly, on the top of my head to keep me from lifting off again, Dad stuffs what look like yellow marbles into each of my pockets. I can feel them tugging me toward the ground.

“Sorry, son,” he says, lifting his hand from my head. “I forgot to give you these gravity balls before we left the car. On Earth each of those would weigh a hundred pounds. You’ll need them to stay on the ground. There is slightly less gravity here.”

“I think I just found that out.”

He laughs. “Indeed you did! Now let’s go pick up Mr. Fitch. We’re a little behind schedule.”

I’m sure it’s my fault that Dad’s late. What if his fare is really mad? What if my trouble figuring out the map gets Dad fired?

But when we ring the bell, a man with tan skin and very white teeth opens the door with a smile and a cheerful “Good day!” I wonder if this is Mr. Fitch. He doesn’t look like the other people we’ve passed. This guy is large. Like, superlarge. Like, pro-wrestler large. The business suit he’s wearing looks like it’s about to split wide open.

“Are you ready, sir?” my dad asks.

Mr. Fitch nods and steps out onto the porch beside us. He’s carrying a long coat in one hand and a brown briefcase in the other. Except for his size, he could be any regular businessman from Earth. He whistles as he follows us out to the taxi.

“Mr. Fitch?” I ask. “There’s a cat stuck up a tree. Is he yours?”

Mr. Fitch stops walking. His smile vanishes. “A cat?” he asks. “I’m allergic to cats. You saw one?”

I nod and point up at the tree. “On that branch. He was white, mostly.”

Mr. Fitch reaches up and pushes aside the leaves, but the branch is empty.

“We’d better go, sir,” Dad says. “I don’t want you to be late for your meeting.”

Mr. Fitch takes one more peek into the tree, then shrugs. His smile reappears. “If it was there, it’s gone now.”

Mr. Fitch is so wide he fills up nearly all of the backseat. Dad calls Home Base on the com line and tells them we’re on our way to the drop-off.

Zooming into outer space is easier once you’ve done it already. Dad explains that Mr. Fitch’s business meeting is on Delta Nine, which is in this same solar system, so we won’t need the wormhole. He leans over and presses a small blue button in front of me. A keypad springs out of the dashboard. “All you have to do this time, Archie, is map out the most direct route, then program it in with the keypad.”

“No problem,” I tell him, trying to sound confident so Mr. Fitch won’t know I’ve never done this before. I lean over the map and whisper, “Map, show me Delta Nine.” And just like that, the map springs to life. I can see not only Delta Nine but the whole route between it and us. I hadn’t really expected that to work!

Apparently, we will have to avoid two solar storms, three asteroid belts, and what looks like a bus full of tourists, but other than that, it’s a straight shot. I use the keypad to type in the quickest and safest route. I’m amazed that I can do what I’m doing. I bet I totally ace my next math test.

“Can’t we go any faster?” Mr. Fitch asks. His smile is fully gone now. He sneezes three times in a row, blows his nose loudly, then he sneezes some more.

Uh-oh, I must be the reason he’s sneezing! I slowly slide down in my seat. Hopefully he won’t notice I have a few stray cat hairs on me. I look down at my pants. Okay, more than a few. I pull off one particularly puffy ball of fur and toss it to the floor. That cat sure sheds a lot!

Dad pulls a box of tissues from a hidden storage compartment between our seats. He closes the lid before I can see what else is in there. This car has so many secrets! I hope I get to see more of them soon.

Mr. Fitch scowls and grabs the tissues. The sneezing lasts the entire way to Delta Nine.

This planet is very far away from the two suns that were so bright on Delta Three. The dim reddish light makes the planet look kind of gloomy. The leaves on the thin trees are a gray silver, and the roads have deep cracks in them. Dad quickly drives us to a downtown area and pulls up to the curb in front of a row of gray, lopsided buildings. The people walking on the street wear gray clothes and gray hats, and have gray-colored skin. They don’t look unhappy, though. I guess they don’t know that their planet is kind of, well, gray. I won’t need my sunglasses here.

“You’ll want to leave your gravity balls in the car,” Dad tells me. “Otherwise you’d step out and sink deep into the ground.”

At least this time he warned me.

With one last sneeze, Mr. Fitch grabs his briefcase and pushes open his door. “I will be back in ten minutes,” he barks at us. “You will wait here.”

Mr. Fitch sure is bossy! He hurries out of the car and ducks into an alley between two buildings.

Dad picks up the bags from Barney’s Bagels and Schmear. “Time to eat!” We sit on the curb and dig into our sandwiches. We get some curious looks, and an occasional tip of a hat in our direction, but the people on the street mostly ignore us as they pass.

A glob of tuna falls out of my sandwich and onto the street. A second later a large cat appears out of nowhere and pounces on it. He scarfs it down in one bite. This cat is also white, like the one in the tree on the first planet. “You really do attract cats wherever you go!” Dad says, laughing.

Before I can pet this one, he must smell something he likes even better than the tuna, because he takes off in the same direction as Mr. Fitch. I swear I see a blur of green around his tail as he turns the corner. Must be a space cat thing.

Dad takes a swig from his coffee cup. “I have to check in with Home Base, Archie. Feel free to take a look around. Just make sure I can still see you, okay?”

“Got it,” I say, gobbling down my pickle. Space travel makes a guy hungry. A shiny, round object lying on the street near the alley where Mr. Fitch went catches my eye. A large coin maybe? No one else has passed by that way. I wonder if he dropped it.

I turn around to ask Dad what we should do, but he’s already in the taxi talking on the com line. He did say I could explore a little. With one last glance at the car, I step away from the curb and head toward the alley.

The silver object turns out to be bigger than I thought, and heavier. I turn it over in my hand. It looks like a giant locket with the letters ISF etched onto one smooth side. A groove runs around the edge, but I can’t pry it open. Whatever it is, I bet Mr. Fitch would want it back.

I peer into the alley but can’t see very far. It’s dark and even gloomier than out on the streets. A loud shuffling and crashing comes from the other end of the alley. Maybe that cat knocked over a garbage can?

“Unhand me, you fool!” a man shouts. “You have no idea who you’re dealing with!”

I know that bossy voice! Mr. Fitch is in trouble!