On the walk back to the research station Yasmin decided the alien was female, and named her Milly because she resembled a huge millipede. Luke and Yuri liked the name, and they also liked the way Milly scampered along beside them making her little yip-yip noises. In fact they were all having such a good time they burst into the research station laughing, and almost fell over each other.
‘Whoa, cool your jets, kids!’ said Chung, holding up her hands. ‘We’ve got a lot of delicate equipment in here…’ Then her eyes grew wide as she noticed the strange creature peering from behind Yasmin’s legs. ‘What in space is that?’
‘A completely new life-form!’ said Yuri, grinning. ‘We discovered her in – ’
‘What do you mean, we?’ said Luke indignantly. ‘I’m the one who found her.’
‘Crashed into her, more like,’ Yasmin said, bending down to stroke the little creature. ‘She’s called Milly and she’s really cute. Can we keep her, Chung?’
‘I don’t know about that,’ said Chung. ‘We’d better let Asimov and his team have a look at her first, just to be on the safe side. Come on, they’re over here.’
Chung headed to another part of the dome and the kids went with her. Milly, however, insisted on stopping to examine almost everything she saw. In the end Luke had the clever idea of tempting her to keep moving with one of the high-energy snack bars Mum had put in his backpack. It immediately did the trick, Milly following the treat obediently and gobbling it up with obvious pleasure.
Asimov was running scans of the planet’s weather, but the engineer quickly turned his attention to Milly. Soon he was putting her through a whole series of tests. She wasn’t too keen on his machines with their bleeping and flashing lights, and Luke had to bribe her with more energy bars to stay put. But he really liked the way she nuzzled at his hand when he gave one to her.
‘Fascinating,’ said Asimov at last, peering at Milly. She was sitting on the table in front of him, happily demolishing another energy bar. ‘I’d say she’s in the opening stages of a metamorphosis.’ Clarke and Yuri nodded but Luke, Yasmin and Chung looked blank. ‘Changing, like caterpillars into butterflies,’ Asimov added. ‘And as with that kind of life-cycle back on Earth, she could turn into something very different. Still, we’re fairly sure she’s harmless.’
‘That’s all I need to hear,’ said Chung. ‘OK, kids, you can keep her for now.’
The three friends grinned at each other. But before they could say anything they heard the sound of heavy boots. Luke looked round and saw that Quint and his cronies had entered the dome. They were advancing on the science team’s area, their faces even grimmer than before, their rifles pointing at Milly!
Luke went cold all over and grabbed the small creature from the table. Milly must have sensed his fear for her – she instantly coiled into a tight ball, making herself as small as possible. Chung leapt forward to stand between the children and the men, her hands raised. ‘Hey, what do you think you’re doing?’ she said.
‘We’re just trying to protect everyone, that’s all,’ Quint growled, reluctantly lowering his weapon. ‘That there alien could be a pretty dangerous beast…’
‘Well, you’re wrong!’ yelled Luke. ‘The science team say she’s harmless.’
‘Oh, it’s a she, is it?’ said Quint, laughing. Leon and Biff smirked. ‘Ah, how sweet, the brats have got themselves a little pet! Well, at least we know now there’s something we can hunt on this poor excuse for a planet.’
‘What do you mean?’ said Yasmin. ‘She’s the only life-form we’ve found.’
‘Well, she must have a few relatives around here somewhere,’ said Quint, shrugging. ‘I’ll bet your little pet has got parents and quite a few brothers and sisters. Don’t worry, though – we’ll bring you a nice trophy or two to cry over.’
‘But… but… you can’t do that!’ spluttered Yasmin, outraged. ‘It’s not right.’
‘So who’s going to stop us – brats like you?’ sneered Quint. ‘Besides, it’s what our species is all about – humans have been hunters since long before the Stone Age. Now we travel vast distances, discover new planets, find new life-forms – and kill them!’ Quint laughed, and the men high-fived each other.
‘It’s people like you who ruined Earth,’ muttered Luke, hardly able to believe what he was hearing. He was glad Milly couldn’t understand what Quint was saying, although she had begun to wriggle against his chest almost as if she did.
‘OK, Mr Quint,’ said Chung. ‘This is a restricted area, and I’m going to have to ask you to leave. I’ll also be speaking to Captain Riley about the way you – ’
She was interrupted by a deep rumbling sound that seemed to come from beneath the dome. The floor shook, and a huge bulge suddenly appeared in it, knocking over Asimov’s table, sending all his delicate equipment flying.
Luke staggered, holding on to Milly. But she had suddenly gone very still.