The Gismo Trilogy MEGAPACK®: The Complete Young Adult Series. Keo Felker Lazarus
the aerial.”
Carefully Jerry wired the gismo to Ron’s crystal radio. He picked the earphones up and slipped them over his head. He could hear the hum of the gismo as he moved the tuner across the coil.
Ron came back. “We should have brought your earphones along, too.”
Jerry started to take the headphones off. “I’ll go back and get mine,” he said.
Ron held his hand up. “No, don’t bother. I’ve got an old telephone in this junk box, somewhere. We can hook that on and listen through the receiver.” He bent over and rummaged about in a large box under the workbench. He pushed aside an old world globe, several broken plastic cars, and pulled a dusty old-fashioned standing telephone from the box.
Three wires of different colors, with spade clips on the ends, dangled from the telephone cord. Ron connected a checkered yellow-and-black wire and a brown wire across the capacitor of the crystal radio. The third wire, a checkered black-and-white one, hung free.
Ron jumped up and sat on the workbench. Placing the telephone beside him, he took the receiver from the hook and put it to his ear. The gismo hummed. “A okay,” he signaled to Jerry.
There was a crackle of static and the familiar high-pitched voice broke in. “XR…calling XR…we lost your signal for a short while, but it’s coming in loud and clear now. Please report back to Base Ship Plymo, if you are able. We repeat: if you are disabled, repair craft are waiting for you at crater 7 del 5, natural satellite, Planet Three, Sun G six zero eight, Syklo Galaxy…”
Jerry glanced at Ron. “Base Ship Plymo…that must be where the message is coming from! I wonder where it is?”
“What I’m wondering is how come this guy is talking in our language. It doesn’t figure.” Ron scratched his head. “All that the radio astronomers have been able to pull in so far are funny squeaks and blips from outer space. They can’t decode them yet, either. This still sounds phony to me!”
“It isn’t!” Jerry exclaimed. “Look, Ron, some spaceship named XR is in earth’s atmosphere with its communication system knocked out and…” Jerry glanced at the gismo, fading back to pink, and snapped his fingers. “Hey, wait a minute!” He pointed at the gismo. “Do you suppose that could be…”
Ron leaned forward. “The communication system to a spaceship?” He shook his head. “It’s too little.”
“But, Ron, every time we hook the gismo up the little guy says ‘we’re beginning to receive your transmitting signal loud and clear.’” The high voice cut in “XR…calling XR…we are waiting for your message… XR…calling XR…”
Ron shook his head again. “This is beginning to sound like an endless tape to me!” He was playing idly with the checkered black-and-white wire that hung free from the telephone cord. “XR…” Ron mimicked. “Spaceship XR, where are you?” Grinning, he slipped the spade clip of the black-and-white wire over the free knob of the gismo. He picked the telephone up and held it in front of him like a microphone. He lowered his voice until he sounded like a gruff policeman. “Look, Chief,” he said into the telephone mouthpiece, “we’re stuck down here on Planet Three in this crazy swamp.”
Jerry laughed. He took the phone from Ron’s hand and spoke into it. “Yeah, Chief, the sergeant, here, got to watching some majorettes practicing on the football field, and he ran smack into the swamp.”
Ron grabbed the phone back from Jerry. “He’s wrong, sir, it was the light from their batons that blinded me.”
Jerry grinned and leaned over to the mouthpiece. “But don’t worry, Chief, nobody’s bothered us yet. We’re pretending to be swamp gas.”
Ron threw his head back and laughed. There was a loud crackle of static. The voice from the radio sounded eager. “Calling XR… We read you! A swamp, did you say? Would you please repeat that message again…slowly…over.”
Ron was still chuckling. “Well, Chief, we’re…”
Jerry grabbed the phone from Ron’s hand. “Cut it, Ron!” His voice was sharp. He slammed the receiver onto the hook.
Ron looked at Jerry. “What did you do that for?”
Jerry’s eyes grew rounder as he stared at the phone.
Ron leaned forward. “What’s the matter?”
Jerry swallowed and pointed at the phone. “He heard us! That guy heard us!”
“So what if he did?”
“Don’t you know who that is?”
Ron shrugged his shoulders. “Who else, but some ham operator?”
Jerry’s voice was tense. “For gosh sakes, Ron, wise up! That’s no ham operator. That man’s from outer space!”
CHAPTER 4
Park Lane, Planet Three
Planet Three Ron was quiet while Jerry’s words sank in. He turned and grinned sheepishly at Jerry. “If he really is a man from outer space, I’ll bet our message really shook him, huh?”
Jerry smiled too. “Yeah. Maybe we’d better call him back and tell him it was just a joke.”
“You call him, Jerry, I don’t know what to say to a spaceman.”
“Well, neither do I, except tell him we’ve found the gismo.”
Ron reached over and stroked the furry wires with his fingers. “You really think it’s a communication system to a spaceship?”
“There’s one way to find out,” Jerry said and lifted the receiver on the telephone. “Calling Base Ship Plymo…calling Base Ship Plymo…over.” Ron grabbed the earphones and put them over his head.
The static crackled and the high-pitched voice had relief in it. “We read you, XR, go ahead…”
Jerry hesitated. “I’m sorry, sir, about that swamp thing. It was just a joke. This isn’t XR calling, this is…its communication system, I guess…what I mean is, I’m Jerry Cole, and I found this gismo, see, and hooked it up to a crystal radio, and that’s how I’m talking with you.”
“Jerry Cole?” The voice sounded puzzled. “Who are you?”
“Oh, I live here on Earth… Planet Three, that is…you know, near Sun G six zero eight in Syklo Galaxy?”
“An… Earth—ling?” The voice sounded surprised.
“Yes, sir, I guess that’s what you’d call me.
There was no sound from the receiver, and Jerry clicked it up and down. “Can you still hear me, sir?”
“Yes, yes… I can hear you… An Earthling, you say. A scientist, no doubt.”
“Well, not yet,” Jerry said. “I’m in seventh grade…so is my friend here, Ron Baily…he’s listening in, too.”
“You…you are children?”
“Well, not exactly. What is your name, sir?”
There was a long pause as though the listener was thinking and suddenly became aware of the question. “Oh, I’m sorry! My name is Monaal. But why…how…”
Jerry grinned at Ron. “You mean how come I’m talking with you?”
Monaal hesitated again. “Yes…as you say…‘how come?’”
“Well, you see I found this gismo in the weeds and…”
“Gismo?”
“Yes, this little rectangular thing. It has knobs on three sides, tiny wires all over the top, and it glows red when you talk.”
“Oh that!”
“So I hooked the gismo to my crystal radio