“A transporter?” said George. “You mean,” he said slowly, “they plan to transport themselves to the Sus ship when the time is right!”

“Exactly!” said the Protector. “Remember when I told you earlier that transporter technology was something the Grak didn’t have? Well now, thanks to me, I’m afraid they do. I don’t know how they got in here past all my extensive security devices to get your father and the transporter, but somehow they did. It’s a tragic loss, and a great gain for the Grak.”

Everyone was silent for a moment, lost in their own thoughts. Finally Jiu Na said, “What are we to do? Just sit and wait for the Grak to act? Even though they have our fathers?”

“Obviously, we must thwart their plans,” said the Protector. “That’s partly why I brought you all here. Their plan can only work if you are spread out, with one of you in China, one in Portugal and one here in California.”

“But with transporter technology, they could take us to those places very easily,” said George. “And since they broke in here somehow to steal the transporter and kidnap my father, they might be able to come back and capture us as well! If they do that, then only our taking the stones back to Uth will stop them—and you say they’ve figured a way around that!”

“True,” said the Protector. “Obviously, you all are in grave danger. To resolve this dilemma, I think we need to force their hand—to cause them to act sooner than they had planned. That’s another reason I brought you here, believe it or not. To use you as bait, so the Grak will be tempted to get you all at once.”

He got up and went over to a nearby table that had a bottle sitting on it. “Anyone care for some Vleck?” he said unexpectedly. “I’ve got a tasty new batch, that tastes like strawberry.”

“You brought us here to be bait?” said George, ignoring the offer for Vleck. “How could you?”

“Because he has probably set a trap for the Grak,” said Donna Teresa suddenly. “Is it not so?”

The protector smiled at her. “Exactly so.” He brought the bottle of Vleck over and set it on the table in front of them. “This bottle of Vleck contains an audio/visual device that allows the intergalactic police to watch everything we do and say. It’s a perfect opportunity to finally have some hard evidence that can be used in the intergalactic court against the Grak. They’ve been very slippery before, and it’s hard to get evidence on them. I’ve temporarily turned off my security devices here, so the Grak can come in here and expose themselves to the police.”

“That’s brilliant!” said George, picking up the bottle and examining it closely. It looked like an ordinary bottle, and George couldn’t imagine how they had managed to hide a listening device and camera inside it somehow.

“So, now we just wait,” said Jiu Na. “And once the Grak make their move, then the police will see what’s going on and will protect us. And they’ll rescue our fathers too, right?”

“That’s right,” said the Protector. “And that’s not all. The intergalactic police are also monitoring each of the asteroids, or fallen stars, in each of your countries. As you know, the Grak have to use these fallen stars to hook their energy beam onto, in order to stop the earth’s rotation. The police decided it’s less likely that the Grak will try to repeat their last attempt if there are lots of people around each asteroid. Therefore, they slyly submitted the right papers in China, Portugal and California to arrange for scientific teams to visit each of the rocks and give them a thorough examination. The teams are doing so right now, here, in China and in Portugal!”

“Fantastic!” cried George. “And it’s really the intergalactic police that’s doing the examining, right?”

“No,” replied the Protector to George’s surprise. “Believe it or not, they’re real scientific teams of you earth people. The intergalactic police are not on the planet at all—they’re not allowed to be, by intergalactic law, since your planet has not asked for their presence. Of course, that’s because your planet doesn’t have a single government, and is ignorant of the existence of the intergalactic police. It’s intergalactic policy in dealing with planets like yours to allow the people on them to remain in ignorance until they find us on their own. Otherwise the natives tend to get a bit overexcited.”

“So, how are the police monitoring the fallen stars?” asked George.

“From space,” replied the Protector simply. “Even your planet has cameras with enough power to identify a dime from an earth satellite in outer space. The technology being used by the intergalactic police is much more powerful. It’s not hard for them to keep an eye on things from a distance. And if the Grak intrude on your planet, the police will come swarming down, which is allowed by intergalactic law.”

“And the Sus ship,” said Donna Theresa. “Are they watching it too?”

“From a distance, yes” said the Protector. “By law, they can’t go on board the ship either, unless the Sus ask for them. So they’re watching from a vantage point nearby.”

“That’s a great comfort,” said Jiu Na.

A sudden very loud hiccup resounded through the room. “Goodness!” cried the Protector. It sounded again, louder this time. George looked all around, but couldn’t see where the sound was coming from.

“Someone is calling me!” said the Protector. He rushed over to a book on the lamp table, and opened it quickly, flipping through the pages.

The book hiccupped again, flapping it’s pages wildly as it did so. It was so bizarre to see a book hiccupping that George grinned. Some of the Protector’s devices were certainly unusual!

“Here, we are,” said the Protector. “Page 52. That’ll stop the hiccups. Hello!” he called loudly to the book. “This is the Protector.”

A soft voice came from the book. “This is Dogor. I am commander of the Sus ship. Could you please come up to our ship at once?”

“Me?” said the Protector in surprise. “Why me?”

“Because we heard from the intergalactic police that the Grak stole your transporter. We fear they may use it to come aboard our ship. Since you were the last owner of the transporter, you can help us put a disabling screen on our ship, that will prevent your transporter from being used to gain access here.”

“A disabling screen?” said the Protector curiously. “I’ve never heard of such a thing!”

“It’s a new technology for transporters like yours—a security device. The screen will read your presence when you come aboard, and identify you as the last owner of the transporter the Grak now have. After that, if they try to use that same transporter to come aboard here, our screen will recognize the transporter as being yours, and prevent its use!”

“What a wonderful idea!” said the Protector with a smile. “I’d be happy to come up for a minute, if that’s all you need. I’ll be there shortly.” He snapped the book closed and turned to look at them.

“Well, I guess the Sus are worried about the Grak too. I’ll just pop up there and be right back.” He went over and started entering the coordinates of the Sus ship into his transporter’s little black control box.

"I thought you said your transporter was stolen!" said George, looking in curiosity at the transporter sitting in the same corner of the Protector's lair as it always had.

"They did," replied the Protector simply. "This is my spare transporter, which I had stored away until now."

“What are we supposed to do now?” asked Jiu Na suddenly. “Won’t it be dangerous for us to be here without you, because of the trap you set for the Grak?”

“The intergalactic police are monitoring everything that happens here,” said the Protector, pointing at the bottle of Vleck on the table. “The trap may actually work better if I’m gone, since the Grak may be more willing to come here if they don’t detect my presence. Believe me, the police will be here instantly if anything happens. They heard the conversation I just had with the Sus, and know I’m going up to their ship temporarily. And anyway, I’ll be back in just a minute.”

He smiled at them, then said, “Now, remember—whatever happens, do not leave this room! It’s essential for you all to stay right here were the police can watch. Don’t go out the door or anything. Understand?”

George and the others nodded in agreement. Then the Protector waved to them, walked through the transporter door and was gone.

“I don’t like this,” said Jiu Na, walking over to examine the bottle of Vleck closely. “I keep thinking of the Ziphon’s warnings. In spite of how closely the intergalactic police are watching, I don’t feel safe.”

“I don’t like being bait either,” agreed Donna Theresa.

“But the Protector doesn’t seem to be worried,” George pointed out. “He knows how capable the intergalactic police are, much better than we do.”

“They are capable,” agreed Jiu Na. “When they rescued my father and mother and I from the Grak after I got the Uth stones, they swarmed on board so fast, none of the Grak had time to do anything!”

“Well, there you go!” said George in satisfaction. “We’re perfectly safe.”

A loud hiccup suddenly resounded through the room, startling all of them. They each turned to stare at the book the Protector had answered before.

“Should we answer it?” asked Jiu Na anxiously. As if in response, the book started to hiccup louder and more rapidly.

“I think we have to answer!” yelled George, trying to be overheard above the noise of the hiccupping. He ran over to the book and flipped quickly through the pages. The hiccupping was now so loud and rapid that his eardrums felt like they were being mauled by a grizzly bear.

He suddenly reached page 52. Blessedly, the hiccupping stopped. “Hello?” said George tentatively.

“George Brown?” came the soft voice out of the book once more. “This is Dogor, the Sus commander again. Your father and the other two men are here!”