George just stood silently in his room, speechless. Finally, he said in a garbled voice, “Did you say your father came back?”

“That’s right!” said Jiu Na. “Or rather, he rescued my mother and I. Oh, George, it’s been awful! And I think something terrible is about to happen!”

“Hold it,” said George, trying to speak slowly. “Just calm down, and tell me what happened.”

“Well, it all started a few days ago. My mother and I had a visit from the strangest person. He was tall and handsome, and dressed very rich. He said he was from another world!”

“What?!” cried George. “Who was he, and why did he come to you? Was he working with the Grak?”

“No,” said Jiu Na. “I don’t know how he heard about us. Oh, George, he offered us money—lots of it! You know how my mother and I need money, since my father disappeared. He said if we would come with him to his world and take part in a simple food experiment, he would give us a huge amount of money. George, we were scared, but we felt like we had to go.”

George sat down on his bed. His stomach suddenly felt like it was tied in a knot. Somehow, he knew this was not going to be a pleasant story.

“So we went with him,” continued Jiu Na. “And, George, it was a terrible mistake! We got there and they put us in with all these other creatures from other worlds, and then one of them asked me if I was planning to escape. George, we learned that their food experiment was us. We were the food!”

“No!” cried George, standing up quickly.

“Oh, it was awful! And we waited, knowing it might be our turn next. And then night came—and George, that’s when my father came! He came to rescue me and my mother!”

George suddenly felt very cold. This story had a familiar ring to it …

“He said he had been rescued by some creatures called the Glosh,” continued Jiu Na. “They found out my mother and I were there, and so they came for us. They took us away, and—Oh, George! It was so good to be with my father again! Only he was sick! We couldn’t touch him!”

“Couldn’t touch him,” repeated George dumbly. His head was roaring.

“He said he got some terrible sickness from the Grak, so we couldn’t touch him. Then the Glosh—they looked just like the Grak, but my father assured us they weren’t—they took us to the planet Uth because—“

“—because the Glosh wanted some Uth stones to fight the Grak,” said George mechanically.

“Yes, how did you know?” said Jiu Na curiously. But before he could answer, she rushed on. “And when we got there, my father was too sick to go down to the surface, so I went down alone, and I got two Uth stones—two stones that volunteered to go, and the planet spoke to me, George! The Uth planet spoke to me!”

George moved his mouth, but no sound came out. Fear was gripping madly at his mind.

“Didn’t you hear me, George?” cried Jiu Na. “The planet spoke to me! And it said to remember what the Ziphon had warned me about—I forgot to mention that I had two visits from a Ziphon, telling me I had to learn to feel, and that the stones could heal or harm, and may bring danger to my people. But the planet told me it could be o.k. if the right choices were made.”

She was rushing on so swiftly now, that George couldn’t have interrupted had he wanted to. Not that he was able to do so. His mouth felt like it was filled with glue.

“And George, after I got back to the Glosh ship—it was terrible! They tricked us, George. They weren’t Glosh! They were Grak! And they captured us, and were taking us to their planet, and everything looked hopeless—and then we were rescued, George! By the intergalactic police! Right out in space! Somehow they knew the Grak had us! And they took us off their ship, and the Uth stones too, and brought us back to earth, and took us home, and everything was wonderful—except now my father’s gone again, George! He’s gone! We just got back earlier today, and we were home only an hour—and now suddenly he’s gone again! He just disappeared without warning!”

The roaring in George’s ears was getting louder. “He’s gone?” repeated George dumbly. “Disappeared?”

“That’s right, George,” said Jiu Na. There was panic in her voice. “I’m afraid the Grak have him again! Oh, George, what shall I do?”

A thought was growing in George’s mind. A thought so horrible that he dared not even consider it. A thought about his father.

“Jiu Na, I’ve got to go!” he cried. “I’ll call you right back!”

“But, George—“

“Sorry, but I’ve got to go now!” He popped the ring out of his ear, then quickly put it back in again. “Protector! Are you there? Please answer!”

There was a long pause. And then, the Protector’s voice came on the line—and George could tell instantly that something was wrong.

“George,” said the Protector hesitantly, as if afraid to speak. “I’m afraid I have bad news.” He paused. “I only stepped out for a minute to get a sandwich …” He paused again. George found that once more he couldn’t say a word, even if he had wanted to. But he knew before the Protector spoke exactly what he was going to say.

“George, I hate to have to tell you this, but … your father has disappeared!”