Mary G. Thompson - Escape from the Pipe Men!

C LARION B OOKS

215 Park Avenue South

New York, New York 10003

Copyright 2013 by Mary G. Thompson

All rights reserved. For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, write to Permissions, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 215 Park Avenue South, New York, New York 10003.

Clarion Books is an imprint of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

www.hmhbooks.com

The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:
Thompson, Mary G. (Mary Gloria), 1978

Escape from the Pipe Men! / Mary G. Thompson.

p. cm.

Summary: Ryan and Becky live as human exhibits in an intergalactic zoo until their father is poisoned and they must journey across the universe seeking the cure, aided by an odd assortment of other beings.

ISBN 978-0-547-85905-7 (hardcover)

[1. Adventure and adventurersFiction. 2. Human-alien encountersFiction. 3. Interplanetary voyagesFiction. 4. Brothers and sistersFiction. 5. ZoosFiction. 6. Science fiction.] I. Title.

PZ7.T37169Esc 2013

[Fic]dc23 2012022615

eISBN 978-0-547-85913-2
v1.0613

For my dad

R Y-AN. THE PIPE MAN spoke from its square silverish mouth near the ground, below all sixteen of its many-shaded purple eyes. The eyes were set in a vertical row down its tall, thin, body, a perfectly round, gray cylinder that made it look exactly like a giant, living pipe. I recognized this Pipe Man from the many times it had visited me in my zoo sector. Next to it, a little Pipe Man, only five eyes tall, stared at me with all five eyes wide open.

Hon-tri-bum, I said to the tall one. I smiled at them, trying to open my lips wide in a square shape, the way they did.

The five-eyed Pipe Man smiled back at me.

Hon-tri-bum blinked all sixteen of its eyes at the same time. It always blinked more than the others. I got the impression that it was thinking, really trying to study me.

Whats your name? I asked the little one, using their language.

The little one angled all five eyes upward and blinked at Hon-tri-bum. I wondered what their relationship was. All the many times Hon-tri-bum had come to visit me before, it had been alone.

Go on, Hon-tri-bum said.

The little one looked back at me. It closed all of its eyes at once, then opened them again. All of its eyes were bright blue.

Hon-tri-bum s top two eyes squinted, and its top several inches scrunched together like they were made of dough. I recognized the Pipe Man laughter.

Its scared. It has never seen a member of a from species before today. To the Pipe Men, everyone who wasnt a Pipe Man was a from. Hon-tri-bum turned to face its little friend. It wont hurt you. Anyway, it cant get out. See? It faced me again and leaned the top of its body toward me, exposing the faint pinkness inside the mouthlike opening. Though when they were standing up straight, their tops looked like hollow round holes, they were surprisingly malleable. The Pipe Men could open and close these holes like mouths. You could say they actually had two mouths, the one at the bottom of their bodies, which they spoke out of, and the one at the top, which they used to pick things up and eat. Of course, they called eating drinking, since they had no teeth and ate only their special soup. Now Hon-tri-bum rapped the outer edge of its top-hole gently against the invisible glass, making a slight ringing sound. When it lifted its top-hole up again, it left a tiny white line of drool that seemed to hang on nothing in the air.

As the two Pipe Men stood there watching me from outside the glass, I felt the cold brushing of the message wind across my back. It was saying that it was time for dinner, time to go home.

I took three even steps backward and raised my hands above my head.

Hon-tri-bum made a sucking sound and bent its top-hole toward the little one. The little one hopped a little and stretched out vertically, making its five eyes separate from one another.

I almost laughed, but caught myself. I could not ruin the departure ritual. I stood up on my tiptoes, closed my eyes, and pursed my lips. Then I brought my hands sharply down and pinned them to my sides. I bowed forward at the waist, as far as I could go. After a lot of practice, I was now able to make my head almost touch my legs. With my head still down, I shuffled backward as quickly as I could. After I had put the appropriate distance between myself and the Pipe Men, I pivoted 180 degrees, stood up straight, and walked at a respectfully slow pace toward the portal.

A minute later, I felt the light shock of the portal as I passed through it, and then the change in the texture of the air. The portal, now behind me, was black and solid-looking. You couldnt see through it from either side, but if you touched it, your hand would pass right through. I was now in the closet in my living room, in my house at 362 Ash Street, Forest Hill, Oregon, United States of America, Earth.

Ryan! It was my mom, calling from the kitchen.

Im back! I yelled. I opened the closet door and walked out into the living room.

My seven-year-old sister, Becky, was sitting on the couch, watching TV. It was a Pipe Man show. Becky was just starting to learn their language, so she was watching it in English. I heard the female announcers lilting computer-translated voice.

Sleep is no wasted time with idle dreaming for the Masters . The Masters perform a miraculous wealth of complex tasks while sleeping, including valuable scientific research...

Becky, Mom called, go ahead and pause that for now. You can finish it tomorrow. Its time for dinner.

Becky rolled her eyes at me, and I laughed. We had both seen the same show a million times. The Pipe Men made all the froms in the zoo watch each show a certain number of times, and all the shows had to be played in the right order. After the first few times, it got a little old.

In the kitchen, Mom had laid out our dinner on the table. Dad was standing next to his chair. I didnt need to see him because I had already smelled him from the living room. He stank with a weird metallic odor.

Hey, Dad, I said. How were the rats today?

Mom frowned. Call them Brocine, honey.

Dad shook his head. Well, they were their usual uninteresting selves. Lying around and doing nothing. After a second week in that sector, I understand even less why the Masters care about them. I guess its not for me to say, though.

Maybe theyll have you go back to the Horn-Puffs soon, said Mom.

Oh, that would be great, said Dad. Did you know, the Horn-Puffs eat only a single species of soft-bodied insect? Just one thing, every day for their whole lives.

Becky snickered, and I tried to hold back a smile. Dad had made that same comment almost every night hed come home from working in the Horn-Puff sector. After all that talk, I almost wanted to try one of these soft-bodied insects myself, just to see what all the fuss was about.

Now, take your places before it gets cold, said Mom.

Becky and I got behind our assigned chairs, and Mom laid the final dish down on the table before taking her place. She nodded at us.

We all turned abruptly around and raised our arms over our heads. Then we brought our arms down, tight against our bodies, and bowed low.

For all we have, we thank them, said Mom. For all we are, we owe them. For all they ask, we give them. Mom clapped her hands together once.

In unison, Dad, Becky, and I lifted our heads up, jumped 180 degrees, pulled our chairs out, and sat down.

W E WERENT SUPPOSED TO LOOK at the Pipe Men spectators who stood outside the glass while we were inside doing lessons with our Pipe Men tutors, and we werent allowed to talk to the spectators until it was time for the afternoon performance. But now that I was getting fluent in their language, it was impossible not to overhear.