CHAPTER 20 [LINNSY] THE TRUTH AT LAST

Once I had the truth from Misty, it took me almost an hour to figure out how to get a message to the embassy. Finally I called Ms. Weintraub, who gave me the number for McNally’s cellphone.

Less than ten minutes after I had told him what was going on, the limousine squealed to a stop in front of Misty’s house.

While Misty left a note for her parents, I called my mother to tell her I would be at the embassy.

Then the two of us piled into the car.

“Man,” said Misty as we settled into the seat beside McNally, “what a car. You’ve even got a chauffeur! I feel like a movie star.”

I saw Ralph-the-Driver glance into the rearview mirror. But he didn’t say anything. According to Tim and Pleskit, he never does. I didn’t say anything either, even though Misty’s comment really annoyed me. It was as if she felt she were getting a reward, when what she deserved was… Well, I don’t know what she deserved, but it wasn’t a reward. But I was afraid if I said anything, she would get in one of her moods and refuse to cooperate.

So I kept my mouth shut.

Misty continued to be wide-eyed and astonished as we drove up to Thorncraft Park, where the embassy hangs from its great hook. We entered the tunnel that leads to the underground entrance, then, after getting out of the limo, took the “pipe” that carries visitors up the curve of the hook to the main hallway.

Ms. Buttsman was there to meet us. “The ambassador is tied up with an interplanetary call,” she said, her voice dripping ice. “After that, he has to speak to the president. He’ll be with you as soon as he can. Until then, you can wait here.”

She showed us to a couple of purple seats. They were more comfortable than they looked.

We waited.

And waited.

After a while Shhh-foop came in with a tray of snacks. The sight of a six-foot-tall orange alien with tentacles growing out of her head nearly sent Misty into hysterics, and she was not able to sample the snacks. I tried a couple. One was way too salty. The other was sweet, and I think I might have been able to learn to like it, but the way it wiggled on my tongue was a little too weird for me to want any more right then, especially since I was so keyed up.

Almost three hours dragged by before we were finally escorted into Meenom’s office.

He was sitting in his command pod. “Greetings, girls,” he said solemnly. “My apologies for making you wait so long, but we are in a state of deep crisis right now.” He paused, then said, “I understand you have some information for me.”

It wasn’t easy to get Misty to repeat her story, and I had just gotten her started when something in the command pod made an alarming sound.

“Wait!” said Meenom sharply. He touched a roller ball.

Misty gasped. Well, so did I. An image of Tim’s face had appeared in the air in front of us.

“Tim Tompkins, calling Meenom!” it said. “Emergency. Emergency!”

We heard some weird noises, and Tim’s face disappeared.

Meenom, looking terribly alarmed, shouted for McNally. Misty and I managed to stay attached to the group as we hurried to the limousine.

“Where are we going?” asked McNally.

“Follow the tracking device,” said Meenom, passing a round, purple object to Ralph-the-Driver.

“Quickly!”

I didn’t know limos could go that fast.

Misty told Meenom most of her story while we were riding. She was just finishing when the limo pulled up in front of the school.

McNally and Meenom shot out of the car and hurried toward the building. I glanced at Misty. She nodded, and the two of us took off after them.

By the time they reached our classroom, we were right at their heels.

We had to pick our way over the splintered remains of the door to get inside. Once we did, we found the most astonishing sight: Tim and Pleskit, sitting on top of an eight-foot-long woodchuck. The Veeblax was scampering back and forth between them, changing shape as it went, as if it were so excited, it couldn’t hold one form for long.

“What in the name of Skatwag’s Seven Moons has been going on here?” roared Meenom.

Pleskit immediately looked frightened. “You can’t take the Veeblax!” he cried, snatching up the little creature and cradling it to his chest.

“I don’t intend to,” said Meenom, though his voice was still stern. “We have some new information that has altered the situation. But what is this… this thing that you are sitting on? And where did you get that animal control device?” he added, gesturing to the ray gun that Pleskit was holding.

“Uh… we dropped it, sir,” said a voice from behind us.^I

Meenom swung aound. Standing just outside the doorway were two uniformed aliens. One looked rather like a fish. The other looked astonishingly human, or would have if it hadn’t been for her four eyes.