“Mr. and Mrs. Ix, and the new baby?” said President Ot, beside his wife on a ledge above the Magnifying Window. “Ah, yes, on the fridge!”
The people of Tyrra were being made as comfortable as possible in the various nooks and crannies of the Star Scout. Stanley and Arthur had cleared a cupboard where Tyrra High School students could study during the trip, and Mrs. Lambchop had cut up sheets to make hundreds of little blankets, and put out bits of cotton for pillows. “Makeshift, Mrs. Ix,” she said now, settling the Ixes on the fridge. “But such short notice. Back a bit from the edge, yes?”
“Short notice indeed,” said Mrs. Ix. “So many—”
“Not to worry.” Mrs. Lambchop smiled proudly. “My son, the Chief Pilot, will call ahead.”
From a nearby shelf, Captain Ik whispered an apology for attempting to paralyze Arthur. “Between you and I, I didn’t really think it would work,” he said.
“Between you and me,” said Mrs. Lambchop. “But thank you, Captain Ik.” She turned to Stanley. “We’re all ready, dear!”
Stanley checked his controls. “Let’s go!”
“Tyrrans!” President Ot called for attention. “Our national anthem!”
Everywhere in the Star Scout, Tyrrans rose, their right hands over their hearts. “Hmmmm …” hummed Mrs. Ot, setting a key, and they began to sing.
“Tyrra, the lovely! Tyrra, the free!
Hear, dear planet, our promise to thee!
Where e’er we may go, where e’er we may roam,
We’ll come back to Tyrra, Tyrra our home!”
The words echoed in the softly lit cabin. Many Tyrrans were weeping, and the eyes of the Lambchops, as they took their seats, glistened too.
“Be it ever so humble, there’s no planet so dear,
We’ll always love Tyrra, from far or from—”
Stanley pressed the “Start” button, and—Whroooom!—the Star Scout’s rockets roared to life.
The singing stopped suddenly, and Mrs. Ix cried out from the fridge. “Oh, my! Is this thing safe?”
“Yes indeed,” Mrs. Lambchop called back.
“Perhaps,” said Mrs. Ix. “But it is my belief that if Tyrrans were meant to fly, we’d have wings.”
Whroooom! Whroooom!
The Star Scout lifted now, gaining speed as it rose. Its mission was done. The strangers who had called from a distant planet were no longer strangers, but friends.
It was all very satisfactory, Stanley thought. The other Lambchops thought so too.