Norby`s Other Secret

6. Opening The Hassock

"That was a piece of cake," Fargo said.

"Thank you," Norby said, ' 'but you can say that because you're not the one who had to do it. I had to work myself to death to get that stupid computer to do the right thing. Are you all right, Jeff?"

Jeff peered out from his blanket. "Well, I am tired," he said, "and hungry, too. Do you mind if I'm tired and hungry? Is there a law against that?"

"That's just like a boy," said Norby. "Always tired and hungry, and always getting short-tempered about it."

Fargo turned around in his captain's chair and fiddled with the computer. "A meal will be served shortly, Jeff, but it will be food and water in the brig if you don't tell me what's happened to you, and what Norby's other secret is; although after you talked about being lost in space and time, I guess I can guess the latter. "

"We don't have a brig," Jeff grumbled, "and first I want to eat." He watched the glass door where the food would make its appearance. He didn't care what kind of synthomeal the Hopeful would manage to provide, so long as she did it quickly.

With a slight sound like a burp, the Hopeful served up synthoburger, synthofries, and real, if reconstituted, applesauce.

Fargo's blue eyes were amused as Jeff dove into the food, "I see I'll have to wait a long time to hear the story."

Through a mouthful of fries, Jeff said thickly, "Get it from Norby-not that you'll get an unbiased story."

"He's communing with the ship's computer."

"And I can't be interrupted right now," Norby said importantly. "I'm making some very delicate adjustments on the computer so that maybe you'll be able to put the ship into hyperdrive even if I'm not with you. I've altered the antigrav engine slightly to fit, because you can't get into hyperspace unless your hyperdrive is based on antigrav."

"How do you know?"

"It's just a feeling I have. This universe is all tied up with gravity, and I don't think you can get out of normal space unless you get rid of gravity for a while. Or it could be vice-versa. Maybe antigrav works by tying ordinary space to a little hyperspace."

"Where are we now?" Jeff asked some minutes later, his mouth still full of food.

"I don't know," said Fargo…"Norby! Unplug yourself and tell us where you've brought us. That's a pretty planet out there, but it sure isn't Earth."

"Jamya," mumbled Norby.

"Oh, no! Not again!" Jeff suspended his labors over the applesauce and said, "Fargo, you'd better have the whole story."

Fargo listened quietly while Jeff recounted his and Norby's experiences on Jamya. "In summary," Fargo said, "we are faced with friendly dragons and villainous robots."

"Yes," said Jeff, "and the only mode of escape is a small robot who not only can't handle hyperspace with accuracy, but who also gets you to the right place at the wrong time and nearly freezes you to death."

"Well, I like that!" said Norby, leaving the computer. "And here I worked my circuits to the bone for you!"

"It seems to me," said Fargo, "that there's unfinished business on Jamya. I vote for landing."

"So do I," said Norby. "I keep yearning for that planet."

"I'm against it," said Jeff. "Never trouble trouble till…"

"Two against one," Fargo and Norby said simultaneously.

"The only trouble is," Fargo said, a couple of hours later, "that the computer informs me there's some sort of force barrier around the planet."

"Right," said Jeff with sudden satisfaction. "Zi told me the Jamyns weren't allowed to travel to other planets, and I presume people from other planets aren't allowed to travel to Jamya. She said we were the first visitors ever. So let's go somewhere else."

Norby said, "We got to Jamya before because we used hyperdrive and went past the barrier by going out of normal space. All we have to do is to use hyperdrive now."

"Wait," Jeff said. He knew Fargo and he knew Norby, and there wasn't much use trying to talk sense to either of them. The only thing to do was to place another problem before them and then, maybe, he could get some sleep. With his eyelids drooping on their own, what he needed very badly was a little unconsciousness. After that, he might be able to face Jamya. "Don't you think you ought to find out why the Mentors want that hassock?" he asked.

"Isn't the best way of finding that out simply to ask the Mentors?" Fargo asked.

"No," Jeff said earnestly. "They never thought about the hassock till Norby mentioned it. Maybe they don't know what's in it. And it's Norby who thinks he can open it if he can work out the meaning of all that stuff around the sides."

"You're right. Sensible boy! Norby, make a note-your young owner has the makings of a brilliant adult."

"Yes, Fargo," Norby said, "I have always suspected that. It isn't easy to decipher the designs on the hassock, though."

Jeff heaved a sigh of relief. "I'm sure it isn't, so just take your time Norby, and don't hurry it. And while you're working I'll catch up on some much-needed sleep. Fargo, please, don't do anything while I'm sleeping!"

Fargo yawned. "I won't," he said. "I could use a little nap myself." He leaned back in his chair, pushed his pilot's cap over his eyes and was, in fact, asleep almost before Jeff was.

Eight hours later Fargo and Jeff were eating breakfast while Norby was trying to explain that the Others' code was extremely difficult.

"But why?" asked Jeff. "You understand the Jamyn language, so why can't you read their writing?"

"Because it's not just writing. It's code!" said Norby, a bit shrilly. " And it may not be Jamyn. This is probably a code used by the Others-whoever they are-and it may not be coded from the Jamyn language. Anyway, I've got part of it. The first half says 'All-purpose.' At least, I think it does."

"All-purpose what?" asked Jeff.

"I don't know. I can't make out the second half."

Fargo grinned and took the last synthobiscuit. "All-purpose flour? All-purpose weapon?"

"It probably just means all-purpose cushion," said Jeff, discouraged. "That's what the hassock was used as. The dragons used it to rest their tails on. It was apparently very good for that. And I suppose you're no nearer to opening it now than you were at the start."

"No." The little robot's eyelids lowered halfway, and Jeff almost expected a teardrop of oil to come out.

"Any hints?" asked Fargo. "I mean, as far as opening it is concerned."

"Well, besides the words calling the hassock an all-purpose something, there are numbers. They come in batches in an odd pattern."

"Show me," said Fargo.

He and Norby huddled over the print-out from the computer, which represented Norby's attempts to solve the riddle of the hassock.

As for Jeff, he stared at the viewscreen while the other two muttered to each other. The planet, Jamya, seemed to swing in the black ocean of space, wreathed with clouds. He thought he could see blue ocean and green-brown landmasses beneath the clouds-or was it just one large landmass? Were the dragons the only intelligent creatures on Jamya? Jeff thought they probably were, because Zi had not mentioned any other civilized creatures besides the Mentors.

And what of the Mentors? Why did they want the hassock? And what task had they wanted Jeff to perform? They had never gotten around to describing that. What could one boy do that the Mentors and their powerful computer could not?

Jeff shook his head. He couldn't figure it out. He hoped Norby was doing better with the hassock.

Meanwhile Fargo said, "If that part of the code stands for numbers, it may be a double code with the numbers standing for words."

"If so, Fargo, it's too much for me," Norby said. "I'm just a small stupid robot and you mustn't expect too much of me."

Jeff realized that things were pretty bad for Norby to whine along those lines.

"Let up for a while, Fargo. Why don't we just sit and sing for a while until our brains clear."

There was a long pause while Fargo simply stared at his younger brother. Then he pounded his right fist into his left palm. "My brother is a genius."

"Why? What did I do?"

Fargo was too busy laughing to answer, so Norby answered for him.

"I think," he said, "that Fargo's decided that the numbers on the hassock stand for musical notes. I think he's right. As soon as you mentioned music, Jeff, my brain told me it was the solution. I'm surprised Fargo saw it, too. You both have your moments-for human beings."

It took another hour, but, with the help of Norby and the Hopeful's computer, Fargo decided he had the song.

"Shall I sing it?"

"Yes!" said Norby.

"No!" said Jeff. "Let me get a stun gun first, in case the hassock turns out to be a lethal robot machine of the Others."

"We don't have any stun guns," Fargo said cheerfully. "You know my motto 'clever words are all you need.' "

"Albany uses karate," said Jeff.

"Well," said Fargo, shrugging, "beautiful women have their ways. If there's a nasty little machine inside that hassock, we'll make it Norby's responsibility to deal with it."

"Why me?" asked Norby.

"Because you have your moments-for a robot."

Jeff laughed. "Well, then, go ahead, Fargo. Sing."

Fargo sang the coded notes. After the last note rang out, they watched the hassock. Nothing happened.

"Wrong rhythm, do you suppose?" Fargo asked.

"I think it should be in a minor key," said Norby, "now that I come to think of it."

"If you didn't have your thought processes mixed up," said Jeff, "you'd come to think of it beforehand instead of afterward."

"Better afterward than not at all," said Norby loftily. "My alien machinery has been a big help to you. How far would you have gotten on this hassock without me?"

"True enough," said Jeff.

Fargo sang again, a sad song this time, slow and melancholy, and Jeff wondered what the hassock might contain that had to be released in this sorrowful fashion.

The song ended. The three in the control room, and the ship's computer, too, were all silent. Outside, the planet Jamya was also silent.

But something began to happen. The hassock cover seemed to be getting thinner, lighter-and suddenly it cracked in two, the halves falling apart like a neatly struck eggshell.

"By all the satellites of Jupiter," said Fargo, "what is that?"

It was green and fuzzy-or maybe they were fuzzy scales, or scales so small and neat as to look like fuzz. Whatever it was, it looked like another dragon, all curled up with its head hidden.

The creature uncurled, shook itself, and the scales became much fuzzier. It was a small animal about the size of a cat, with a round head and tiny pointed ears, a thin gold collar, and an odd snout with fangs.

Fargo backed away. "Norby, do you think we ought to be protected from that fanged thing?"

Norby did nothing but stare at the creature.

"Is it familiar to you, Norby?" Jeff asked in Jamyn, hoping the creature would understand.

Its small ears pricked up, but the animal only yawned. It shook itself once more, stretched, and began to circumnavigate the control room-sniffing at everything and waving its long, very fuzzy tail.

"When cats wave their tails, it means they're angry," said Fargo.

"But when dogs do, they're happy," said Jeff. "If this is like the dragons, it ought to be able to understand when we speak Jamyn."

"As a matter of fact," said Norby, "it's a 'she,' and she doesn't talk. She's not very bright, you see, but she's not dangerous, either. I remember now."

"Why was she hidden away like that in the hassock?"

"I can't quite figure that out."

"How do you know it's a 'she'?" asked Fargo.

"They all are. Like the dragons. Only this type lays eggs."

The fuzzy green creature got as far as Jeff and stood on her hind legs to sniff him. He put out his hand and let her sniff that, too. She didn't bite, but bumped her head under his palm as if she wanted him to stroke her. Automatically, he did so, thinking that she acted just like a cat, even if she didn't feel like one. She felt both soft and bristly, a combination that Jeff couldn't find words to describe.

"I always wanted a cat," he said.

Under his hand, the creature began to change-the snout receding, the ears and tail lengthening, the fangs disappearing. "Meow!" it said softly.

"It is a cat," said Fargo. "Come here, kitty!"

The creature ran to Fargo.

"Nice kitty," he said as he stroked her, "Can you be a dog?"

It was even more amazing. She changed her body contours until she looked very much like a dog. "Woof!" she said.

"Now I remember," said Norby. "That's an All-Purpose Pet."

Jeff said, "The Others may not be so bad after all. I like their taste in pets."

"Let's hope she continues to like us, "said Fargo, cuddling the All-Purpose Pet, who now resembled a very green beagle (Fargo had always been partial to beagles). She licked his ear and purred.

"Beagles aren't supposed to purr," said Jeff, somewhat annoyed. He couldn't understand why females seemed to like Fargo best. He was glad he had Norby, who wasn't at all cuddly, but was his robot and never showed any signs of wanting to like anyone else instead.

Fargo said, "Let her purr. I'm going to name her Oola!"

"Why Oola?" Jeff asked.

"Because it seems to fit her," Fargo said.

The All-Purpose Pet pricked up her ears, now long and drooping, and whined a little.

Fargo chucked her under the chin and said, "How about that? Do you like your name-Oola?"

She patted Fargo's face with her paw-more like a cat than a dog-and grinned, with her tongue hanging out.

"See," said Fargo. "It's her name. She admits it."

"You've got a pet that's half beagle and half Cheshire cat," said Jeff, "and she'll probably change to fit everyone's mental wish and you'll never know what you've got." He still felt a bit jealous. "I wonder where the Others got her?"

"Made her, probably," said Norby. "Some day on our travels we'll find the animals the Others took genes from to do the biosynthesis of this one. And don't ask me how I know this!"

"We won't," said Jeff, while Fargo continued to play with Oola. "But I do think, Norby, it's time for you to tell us why you brought us back to Jamya-before we go down there to risk life and limb."

There was a long silence. Finally Norby spoke very softly.

"Because I think it's home," he said. "More and more, I think it's home-my home. and I don't want to be afraid of home."