Sprockets by Alexander Key

with the Earth’s magnetic force. The two forces make it a simple matter to recharge through their hyper-sub-medio space inductors.”
    â€œOh, yes,” said the doctor. “Very simple indeed. And they are going on to the Moon from here?”
    â€œYes, sir,” Sprockets told him. Nor did he have to ask what the doctor was thinking. The doctor, he could tell, was fairly quivering with suppressed eagerness.
    â€œSprockets,” said the doctor. “Er, would you, ah—well, what I’m trying to say is—”
    â€œYes, sir,” Sprockets answered. “I understand, sir. Leave it to me, sir.”
    He turned to Ilium and sang: “Dr. Barnabas Bailey is one of the greatest scientists of our planet, but he has never visited the Moon. Would it be possible—”
    â€œWe would be delighted,” Ilium hastened to sing in reply. “It would be a purplely glowing pleasure to take all of you to the Moon.”
    â€œI am told,” said Sprockets, “that it is airless, and dismally cold on the dark side. I would not mind it myself, being only a little robot. But humans would have to have space suits and special atomic lights.”
    â€œWe can furnish those,” Ilium sang back. “Only our space suits are not regular space suits, as your people think of them. We have something much better. They are force globes. You will have to wear one yourself, otherwise you will get Moon dust in your joints, and be in an unpurplish pickle.”
    â€œThank you most spectrumly,” said Sprockets, in the polite manner of the Purple People. “I expect you should have some special violet smelling salts handy when I tell Dr. Bailey you will take us to the Moon, for he will be quite overcome.”
    Sprockets was wrong. The doctor was only half overcome, for he was so eager he did not want to miss a thing. But Don José Salazar, who was five times as excitable, was quite overcome and had to be revived with the special violet smelling salts. Jim was too young to be overcome, but he danced all over the saucer.
    By the time Don José was revived, and he and the doctor were beginning to burble with pleasure at the thought of visiting the dark side of the Moon (where not even a space chimpanzee had been), the purple saucer was ninety-seven miles, six hundred and fifty-two feet, and three and three quarters inches above the earth.
    Don José and the doctor looked out, gasped, and the doctor exclaimed: “Bless me, what a sight! What a tantalizing, titillating, terrigenous humdinger of a sight!”
    And before Jim could ask what he meant, or Don José could use his camera, he hastily added: “But we can’t go to the Moon until I’ve seen Miranda. She’ll be terrible worried, and there are some things I simply must get.”
    So it was arranged for the flying saucer to drop down quietly into the Bailey courtyard, which it did.
    It landed just at dusk, which is an excellent time for a flying saucer to land, because anyone seeing it would confuse it with the sunset colors and simply wouldn’t believe it.
    Mrs. Bailey was watching for the helicopter to return. When the saucer landed, and Dr. Bailey stepped out of it, she almost had a tantrum.
    â€œBarnabas Bailey!” she exclaimed. “What’s got into you? Gadding around willy-nilly in flying saucers! What’s happened? Where’s the ’copter?”
    Dr. Bailey told her.
    â€œNow, my dear,” he went on, “you mustn’t worry. We’re just going to the Moon—”
    â€œThe Moon !” Mrs. Bailey gasped.
    â€œYes, my dear. You are invited too.”
    â€œGoodness gracious, no! I wouldn’t dream of it. Don’t tell me you are actually considering going there with Jim and Sprockets!”
    â€œWhy, yes, Miranda. Now, you mustn’t worry at all. We’ll pop over, look around a bit, and pop right back.” He snapped his fingers. “Just like