The spaceship shot high into the night sky and clear of Witch Mountain. Inside the cockpit, the four started cheering. Jack and Alex exchanged high fives while the kids manned the controls.
“You did it,” Jack proudly exclaimed.
“We did it,” Sara corrected.
But then the ship jolted from side to side. Seth looked down at the control panel.
“Air lock’s jammed,” he said. “I need to . . .”
Jack didn’t let him finish. Seth needed to fly the ship. He could take care of the air lock. Climbing down into the lower level, he heard the hiss of the open air lock. Jack shut it and turned to go, but just then an arm reached out and grabbed him by the throat. In the reflection of the shiny metal door he could see the Siphon’s face.
Jack broke free and the two fell to the floor. He saw that the Siphon’s weapon arm had been completely destroyed. His other arm, though, was ready to fight. The Siphon slammed into Jack, and the two started to trade punches, jolting the spaceship as they did.
Up in the cockpit, Seth turned to Alex. Jack was taking too long. Something must be wrong. “It takes two to pilot the ship,” he told her. “You take the controls.”
“What?” she exclaimed.
There was no time to argue. Seth bolted, and Alex nervously took his seat.
“I’m sure it’s like flying a plane,” Sara offered, trying to sound encouraging.
“Yeah,” Alex shot back. “I don’t do that, either.”
Down below, Jack was barely holding his own against the Siphon when Seth arrived.
“Hey!” Seth yelled, distracting the assassin.
The Siphon turned to Seth. With one of his targets in sight, he ignored Jack and started to attack Seth. He threw a powerful punch, but it phased right through the boy.
This bought Jack just enough time to jump on the Siphon from behind. He grabbed him in a choke hold and pulled with all his might, yanking the Siphon’s helmet off and revealing a hideously scary head.
“No wonder you’re so angry,” Jack said, moving away from the ugly creature.
The Siphon charged him, but Jack dodged the punches. With no helmet in the way, he was able to land a couple of punches directly on the Siphon’s head.
Knocking the assassin to the floor, Jack accidentally opened the air-lock door. The sudden change in pressure caused the ship to lurch.
The Siphon tried to lunge at Seth, but Jack whacked him across the face with the assassin’s own helmet. The movement caused him and the Siphon to fly out the door. Jack clung to the edge of the ship, while the Siphon clutched Jack. If they fell, it would be into the ship’s propulsion vortex and they would be killed instantly.
Jack held on to the ship with all of his strength and smiled.
“This ride’s on me!” he said as he
succeeded in knocking the Siphon loose. With an unearthly cry, the
assassin fell directly into the swirling vortex. They were
safe.
Standing on the ground next to the spaceship, Seth and Sara said their good-byes to Jack and Alex.
“Thankfully, the ship has only suffered minor damage,” Seth explained.“We should be able to lock onto our planet’s coordinates and return safely.”
Seth and Sara exchanged a look. When she read his mind she smiled and gave him a nod.
“Sara and I want you to have this,” Seth said.
Seth reached into his pocket and pulled out his prized compass and handed it to Jack. Jack took a deep breath.
“As long as it is in your possession,” Sara explained. “We will always be able to find you.”
“Thanks,” Jack said, choking up despite his best efforts.
“I want to apologize to you, Jack Bruno,” Seth added.“I once said we could never count on humans to help us. Especially you. I was wrong.”
Jack went to offer him his hand and thought better of it. He pulled him in for a hug. “You take care of yourself and your sister for me,” Jack instructed him. “Understand.”
“Yes,” Seth answered. “This I completely understand.” Then it was Sara’s turn. She asked them to take care of Junkyard—and each other. Jack started to say something. But Sara was able to read his mind and said it for him.
“I know,” she answered. “We love you, too.”