My Teacher Glows in the Dark by Bruce Coville

Author:Bruce Coville
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub, pdf
Published: 2011-12-12T22:34:13+00:00

CHAPTER TWELVE

How to Use a URAT

So that was my first day on board the New Jersey. Is it any wonder I was exhausted?

Now you may have noticed that my “day” had started at night. But time on the ship was not related to time on Earth—or more specifically, time in Kennituck Falls. The ship had its own rhythm, and while there were times when more of its inhabitants were resting than others, in general it was busy twenty-seven hours a day.

According to Hoo-Lan, days on the ship were twenty-seven hours long because that was the schedule that made the most sense for the greatest number of beings on board.

Of course, since it was easy to control light and temperature, many of the aliens had private spaces to suit their personal needs. In some chambers the days were only ten hours long, and the temperature was like Death Valley during a heat wave. Some had long hot days, others had short cold days, and so on. Even so, everyone was able to function in the ship’s main area—though it did mean that some of them had to wear thick layers of clothing, while others were nearly naked.

After Broxholm left that first “night,” I used the URAT to get myself something to sleep in. The most interesting thing on the chart—at least, the most interesting thing that looked like I could actually sleep in it—was a kind of hammock device. The only problem was, I couldn’t figure out where to hang it, since the walls in my room were smooth, and I had a feeling I wasn’t supposed to put screws or nails in them, even if I had screws or nails, which I didn’t.

I should have known not to worry. Each end of the hammock had a rope. At the end of the rope was a ball. When you threw the ball at the ceiling, it stuck wherever it struck, and didn’t come down until you gave the rope three sharp tugs.

So I got myself a hammock and hung it from my ceiling.

It was like sleeping on a cloud—though by the time I got it hung up, I was so exhausted I probably could have slept on a bed of cold seaweed and hot rocks.

I had no clock, so I don’t know how long I had been asleep when I was awakened by a sudden loud buzzing.

“Who—what?” I sputtered. I tried to get up, but only succeeded in rocking the hammock sideways.

“It’s not Hoo-Wat, it’s Hoo-Lan,” said an offended-sounding voice that seemed to come from nowhere. “May I come in?”

“I suppose so,” I yawned, too groggy to think of just telling him to go away.

Almost instantly Hoo-Lan came walking through my wall. His blue shorts were covered with purple, red, and yellow flowers so bright that if I had still been asleep they probably would have woken me all by themselves.

“Ready to start your day?” asked Hoo-Lan cheerfully.

“I don’t think so,” I groaned.

“Tish-tush. We have too much to do for you to lie abed like this.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.