Back on Earth, Tip was ready to give up. She couldn’t find her mom. The settlement was just too big. She was sitting down with her back against a building when Oh found her.
“Oh! I can’t believe it!” Tip cried.
“You and Pigcat are my friends,” Oh said. “And also too: I gave you a promise.”
Oh held up his Boovpad to show her the tracking device. A tiny green dot was blinking on a map of the Happy Humanstown settlement. He had located Tip’s mom!
Minutes later, Tip was running down the street into the arms of her mom.
“Oh, Tippy! I thought I’d never see you again!” Lucy said tearfully.
“Oh, Mom! I never would have stopped looking until I found you!” Tip replied.
Seeing Tip and her mom hugging gave Oh an idea. He looked at his Shusher.
“They are still looking,” Oh said. “Gorg are not the takers. Boov are!”
The Gorg Mothership was now very close, about to land, and was blocking out half the sky.
“We must demonstrating our affections later,” Oh told Tip and her mom. “We still have one problem . . . but I haves a plan.”
“Is it a good plan?” Tip asked.
Oh looked at the Shusher in his hand. “I does not know. But I have hopes.”
Tip, Pig, and Lucy piled into Slushious. But instead of getting in, Oh locked them inside.
“I am sorry,” Oh explained. “Tip cannot come into the out now. I am fixing my mistake.”
“Please don’t do this by yourself,” Tip pleaded.
“I am sorry. This is too dangerous,” he said. He took a Gravity Ball from his fanny pack, turned a dial, and tossed it into the air. It surrounded the car with Tip, Lucy, and Pig inside, and floated into the sky.
Oh marched toward the huge Gorg ship. The ship was miles long and a mile high. It touched down and wicked-looking massive prongs churned under it, kicking up sands and high winds. At the top, a tiny window stuck out.
“Yes! It is the control deck!” Oh cried. “We can shows the Gorg we has their rock.”
Holding the Shusher high, Oh climbed onto a pile of rocks. He had to get the Gorg to see him somehow. But the huge ship rumbled forward, tearing up the earth as it moved.
“Goooorg!” Oh yelled, waving the Shusher.
Tip and her mom floated above the scene in the Gravity Ball.
“They’re not gonna see him!” Tip cried. “It’s not gonna work!”
Suddenly, she got an idea. She grabbed the Christmas present from the back of the car—the one her mom hadn’t opened yet. “Open it!” Tip yelled. “Merry Christmas!”
Lucy unwrapped a mirror that said WORLD’S BEST MOM on it. Tip grabbed it and stood up, holding it up through the sunroof. Then she moved it so it caught the light of the sun. First she shone it on Oh, then the control center, then back to Oh. . . .
There was a loud groaning sound as the Gorg ship started to slow down.
“They see him. It worked!” Tip yelled.
But the ship kept moving closer and closer to Oh. He bravely stayed on the rock, holding up the Shusher.
“It’s not going to stop in time.” Lucy realized.
Tip panicked. She started pushing against the walls of the Gravity Ball. “Mom, help me with this thing!”
Pushing as hard as they could, they turned the Gravity Ball toward Oh. The Gorg ship moved closer and closer. With the Gravity Ball near the ground, Tip slid down and ran toward Oh.
“Oh! Run!” Tip yelled.
Oh realized that he couldn’t get away in time, and threw the Shusher to Tip.
In seconds, the ship swallowed Oh!
Still holding the Shusher, Tip buried her face in her hands. Her mom jumped down from the Gravity Ball and took her daughter in her arms.
Then they heard it.
Beep . . . beep . . . beep.
The ship was backing up! It had sailed right over Oh, but it hadn’t crushed him. He was alive!
