Out of This World (15 page)

“Your time is up,” announced the Chief Justice in a stunned voice. “Zachary, you have two minutes.”

Jenna expected that her brother had already solved it during her two minutes and would immediately shout out the answer. But he did not. In fact he looked perplexed as he fought to come up with the answer. This should be an easy one, he told himself. But he was mentally exhausted and it somehow seemed impossible. What could the answer be? He couldn't fail now after they had come so far. Their lives depended on it.

“Your . . . time . . . is . . . up,” said the Chief Justice slowly, trying to give Zachary an extra moment to shout an answer just under the wire as his sister had done. But this time, no answer was given. This time, no last second heroics would save them from defeat.

There were gasps of dismay from the spectators. They had lost.

“The correct answer is that you add a slanted line to the first plus sign, turning it into a four. The equation would then read 5 4 5 + 5 = 550.”

Zachary and Jenna looked at each other in disbelief. It had been so simple. Like the answer to all riddles it seemed ridiculously obvious once it was given. They had been so close to victory that they could taste it. It would have been better to have missed the first one rather than fail just when total victory was finally within their grasp. They were devastated.

The Chief Justice was stunned. They had answered riddles more difficult than this one. The humans would have won their lives and that of the Swishmer if only the boy hadn't been so determined to fix the trespassing law. But they had ultimately failed. They had gone further than any contestants in history only to end up losing the Challenge in the end.

“Zachary and Jenna Lane, you have been found unworthy of becoming citizens of our world,” decreed the Chief Justice, knowing that no alien beings had ever been
more
worthy. “Your original sentence for the crime of trespassing stands, as does Lisgar’s.”

He frowned, clearly unhappy with the outcome. They had made him a believer and after answering nine riddles he knew they were deserving of citizenship. But it wasn’t his idea to add a tenth riddle—it was theirs. He had announced the rules of the Challenge at the very beginning. As much as he wished he had a way out, his hands were tied.

“But because of your excellent performance,” he continued. “I would like to bestow a high honor upon you.”

They brightened. That sounded good. Perhaps the Chief Justice had the power to give them a less . . . final . . . sentence.

The Chief Justice leaned forward. “I will give you the honor of choosing the method of your execution.

CHAPTER NINTEEN

A Method of Execution

“Bring the Swishmer forward,” commanded the Chief Justice. “She will stand with the humans.”

The guards prodded Lisgar to the front of the room. Her bulging compound eyes were moist with emotion. Eyes Jenna and Zachary had once thought were hideous had miraculously become warm and expressive as they had gotten to know her.

“You were wonderful,” she whispered softly as she approached them. “This is all my fault.” She lowered her head sadly and tried to gather her emotions. “If you hadn’t tried to help me, you’d be free. I’m so sorry.”

“It wasn’t your fault,” insisted Jenna. “You’ve become our friend. We couldn’t just let them execute you.”

“You two are very special,” said Lisgar warmly, now directly beside them.

The Chief Justice cleared his throat loudly to get the full attention of the three visitors standing before him. “We have two forms of execution here in Mesrobia,” he announced. “We can feed you to a Smorg or we can throw you over a cliff.”

Both kids gulped. Neither knew what a Smorg was but they sure didn’t want to find out.

He directed his attention at the two humans. “As is our custom, the next statement one of you makes will decide your fate. If it is
true
we will feed you to a Smorg. If it is
false
we will throw you over a cliff.” He folded his arms. “We await your statement.”

Jenna felt sick to her stomach. She glanced at her brother and could tell his mind was racing. What was he thinking about at this point? Was there some way to make a statement that wouldn't result in a choice?

There was
.

What if the Chief Justice didn't know if a statement was true or false? They could say, “There are exactly a billion grains of sand in all the beaches of Mesrobia.” The only way the Mesrobians would ever know if the statement was true or false would be to count.

“Oh, and one more thing,” said the Chief Justice, as if reading her mind. “I have to be able to easily determine if your statement is true or false.”

Zachary groaned. He must have had the same idea she had, thought Jenna. That was it, then. They were finished.

She looked over to her brother and could tell that he was continuing to think furiously, redoubling his efforts. She waited, holding her breath, hoping he would pull off a miracle and find some clever way to change their fate.

Wait a minute, she thought. What was she doing? They were moments away from being executed and she was leaving their fate entirely up to her brother. Hadn't she shown that she could think also? At least with the help of her parents’ generator. Hadn’t she, not moments before, even answered a riddle that had stumped her brother. She shouldn't just rely entirely on Zachary.

She put her mind back to the problem.

The Chief Justice was waiting for one of them to make a statement. What if she didn't make an absolute statement? What if she put a word in the statement like
might
, or
could?
It might rain tomorrow.

No, that didn't work. That was true. Even if the forecast didn't call for rain, it
might
rain anyway. She continued thinking furiously.

The Chief Justice looked at Zachary. “You have had plenty of time to decide your fate. Make your statement,
now
, or I will decide the method of execution for you.”

Zachary was horrified. He had been unable to think of anything to save them. This was really it then. He had finally run into a situation he couldn't talk, bluff, or trick his way out of. Well, he wouldn't go quietly, he resolved. Once he was outside the guards just might find him to be more slippery than they imagined.

Zachary opened his mouth to speak . . . and heard his sister's voice from beside him. “Lisgar, Zachary, and I will be thrown over a cliff,” she said robotically. Her eyes were closed and her face scrunched up in total concentration.

Zachary stared at his sister in confusion. Now that she had pulled this statement out of some deeply focused recess of her brain her face relaxed. She glanced at him and did something he wouldn’t have expected in a million years.
She winked
. Very quickly, but unmistakably. What in the world did she have in mind?

“A strange statement,” observed the Chief Justice. “But one that will suffice for our purposes.” He cleared his throat and using his loudest, most formal voice said, “For the record, the human girl, Jenna Lane, has made a statement on behalf of the condemned prisoners in accordance with our customs. Her official statement is, ‘Lisgar, Zachary, and I will be thrown over a cliff.’ This is a true statement,” he announced. “Take them out and execute them,” he said to the chief guard.

The guards began to escort the party to the door, but the chief guard stopped after only a few steps. “Uh . . . Chief Justice?” he said timidly.

“Yes.”

“Uh . . . how should we execute them?”

“What do you mean, how?”

“Should we feed them to a Smorg or throw them over a cliff?”

“Throw them over a cliff, of course,” barked the Chief Justice, annoyed.

“Uh . . . but Chief Justice. That's what she
said
we would do. So her statement is
true
. For true statements, don't we have to feed them to a Smorg?”

The Chief Justice raised his eyebrows. “I suppose you’re right, at that.” He paused. “Okay, so feed them to a Smorg,” he ordered.

“Uh . . . I'm not very smart, so you'll have to forgive me. But if we feed them to a Smorg, then the girl's statement is
false
. She said they would be thrown over a cliff. For false statements we have to throw them over a cliff. And you just said that we couldn't do that, because then her statement is
true
, in which case we would have to feed them to a Smorg—which we can’t do because then her statement is false.” The guard looked at the Chief Justice helplessly, scratching his head.

The Chief Justice frowned and began thinking about the problem. The girl
had
made a statement as required. And although the truth or falsehood of the statement flipped every time they tried to carry out the execution, one could easily tell if it was true or false as he had specified. He had to admit that the statement met all of the rules he had given them.

And yet it left them with no way to execute the three prisoners.

The girl had outsmarted them.

The crowd looked on intently. What would the Chief Justice do now? This was a contest that would live on in history. The room was deathly silent.

Suddenly, the Chief Justice began laughing. His laughter continued for a very long time before he was able to catch his breath and become serious once again. “These humans,” he announced to the crowd, “missed the very last riddle in their Challenge. But by making a statement that completely ties our hands with respect to their mode of execution, they have more than made up for this miss. Unless I hear strong objections from this gathering, by the power of this office, I deem them to be worthy of Mesrobia. And as such, I hereby award them and their Swishmer friend citizenship.”

The delighted spectators all stood and began cheering, roaring their approval.

They were free. Jenna grinned from ear to ear. She was glowing so much she was sure that she looked like a neon sign.

This time, it was
she
who had pulled off the miracle.

And it was an incredible feeling.

CHAPTER TWENTY

The Search Continues

Zachary smiled from ear to ear as if a death sentence had just been lifted from his shoulders—which it had been. “You did it Jen!” he exclaimed. “That was
brilliant
. Absolutely
genius!
”

Admiration? From Zachary? Incredible, thought Jenna, beaming.

“Thanks Zack,” she said almost shyly.

And then, taking her completely by surprise, her brother hugged her. He actually hugged her. It was a quick hug, but given that she and Zachary had been fighting and teasing each other since they could both talk, it had enormous significance. And then, as if this hadn’t been shocking enough, seconds later both she and Zachary were hugging Lisgar, who drew them close with her antennae; her affection for the humans unmistakable. She was cool to the touch, and while her red exoskeleton looked to be as hard and smooth as shell, thousands of nearly invisible hairs covered her body, so she was far softer than they had expected.

Incredible. Hugging an enormous wasp, whose appearance was far more terrifying than anything Jenna had ever conjured up in her worst nightmares, was not exactly something she thought she would ever be doing. And yet, it felt natural.

“I can never thank you enough,” said Lisgar, radiating joy. “I wish there was something I could do to repay you.”

“You don't owe us anything,” said Zachary softly, and Jenna nodded her agreement beside him. Both were surprised at the remarkable level of affection they had developed for Lisgar in such a short time. After having to fight for their lives seemingly every second since they had gone through the first portal, having a companion who was kind, gentle and understanding had been more important than they could ever have guessed. In fact, she reminded them a little of their own mom, and given her appearance, this was saying quite a lot.

“We’re just glad we could help you get back to your family,” said Jenna. “You’ve been wonderful to us, and I’m sure you’re the same way with your own kids.”

As she said it, Jenna realized just how awesome her own parents were, and that she had taken them for granted far more than she should have. She vowed that this would change if they were ever reunited. The possibility that she would never see her parents continued to be more frightening than anything she and her brother had gone through since leaving their kitchen.

Lisgar bent over and squeezed Jenna tightly, holding the hug for a long, long time. “Don’t despair,” she said softly, guessing exactly what Jenna had been thinking. “You’ll find your parents. I just know it. After watching you and your brother together, I know that
nothing
can stop you.” She paused. “And when you do find your parents, tell them for me that I think their children are very, very special—although I’m sure they already know that.”

Lisgar’s kind words could not have been more gratifying to Jenna. She had always been so sure that her parents were disappointed in her. Maybe this was something she needed to reconsider if her life ever got back to normal. They were always telling her they were proud of her. Maybe she should start believing them a little.

The crowd was still producing a loud roar of excited conversation. The Chief Justice had let the three new citizens embrace and celebrate for a few minutes but finally interrupted them. “The portal back to Lisgar's world will be appearing about three miles from here in just a short while and it won’t stick around long. If she misses it she won’t have another chance for two weeks.”

The Chief Justice instructed a guard to lead Lisgar to the portal. After a warm goodbye to her human friends and one last wave at the door, she was on her way.

It took nearly an hour for the crowd to clear the building. They stood in line, everyone wanting a chance to talk to the two humans. Finally the crowd was gone and they were alone with the Chief Justice, now their friend. The Challenge and its aftermath had been exhilarating, but it was nice to finally have a little quiet and calm in the room.