The Wishing Stone by Christopher Pike Read Free Book Online Page A

if he had fallen into an alien’s dream. The Fruitfly was not a large ship—the control room was no bigger than Adam’s bedroom. The ceiling of the control room was clear as was the large viewing screen that Fur sat before. When Fur dimmed the lights it was easy to believe they were floating free without walls to protect them from endless space. Adam found the sensation exhilarating, as he did Fur’s explanation of how they would get to Tallas 4.
    â€œWe have to move there through a series ofhyperjumps,” Fur said as Watch and Adam listened closely. “Hyperspace is a region where the three dimensions of normal space can be folded into virtually no space. It makes interstellar travel possible. Without hyperjumps it would take centuries to journey between stars.”
    â€œWhy do we have to make a series of jumps?” Watch asked. “Why not just one huge leap?”
    â€œThat is theoretically possible,” Fur said, “but in practice it is dangerous. Gravity affects each hyperjump. That’s why we had to plow away from Globar Ninety-two for as long as we have before attempting our first jump. We needed to get away from the sun and the asteroids. If we had tried to make a jump as soon as we left the asteroid, there would be no predicting where we would end up.”
    â€œCould we have materialized inside a star?” Adam asked.
    Fur smiled. “It’s possible but unlikely. Most of space is extremely empty. Probably we would have just ended up lost.”
    â€œSo each time you make a jump,” Watch said, “you recalculate what your next jump will be based on the gravitational influences in the immediate area?”
    â€œExactly,” Fur said, reaching for his controls.“Now get ready, we are about to make the first jump. You might feel momentarily disoriented.”
    â€œI feel that way most of the time,” Watch muttered.
    Fur pushed a button and the stars outside suddenly rushed toward them at a dizzying speed. Then magically they vanished, and there was a moment of utter blackness, so deep Adam wasn’t even sure if he was still alive. Just as quickly, the stars returned, but now they were not nearly so bright. Fur explained that they were now closer to the edge of the galaxy, where the stars were not so dense.
    â€œTallas Four is not far from here,” Fur said. “The Kasters like to hide in places far from everyone else. We still have to make another two jumps to reach the moon.”
    â€œAre they ugly creatures?” Adam asked seriously.
    â€œNot as ugly as human beings, if that’s what you mean.” Fur laughed. “Ugly is a relative term. Why, when you first met me I bet you thought I was ugly.”
    â€œNo offense, but I still do,” Watch said.
    Fur stopped laughing. “I’ll have you know I have had many dates with women from yourplanet and most of them were happy to get to know me.”
    â€œWhere did you meet these women?” Adam asked.
    â€œAt Halloween parties.”
    â€œIt figures,” Watch muttered.
    â€œAnd you just invited them over to see your spaceship?” Adam asked.
    â€œSure,” Fur said. “I use that line. Works like a wonder.”
    â€œWhy do you call your ship the Fruitfly?” Watch asked. “On Earth that would be considered a demeaning title.”
    Fur was offended. “On my home world fruit flies are considered quite a delicacy.”
    Adam was grossed out. “You mean you eat flies. Yuck!”
    â€œThey don’t taste bad when you chase them down with a Coke,” Fur said, his skillful hands working the controls. “Prepare for another jump. I am almost ready.”
    Over the next thirty minutes they made two more quick hyperjumps. Finally the large red gaseous planet around which Tallas 4 orbited came into view. Yet they knew it was large only because Fur said it was. They were still so far fromit that it looked smaller than the