CHRONICLES OF MERTH - MER'S DAY OUT CHAPTER FOUR

I sat there for ages, really bored. The criminals didn't even leave me a comic to read. I wondered where it was we were going, and when we were going to get there.
Eventually, after what seemed like three moonshines, I felt the ship landing. Then, after about half an hour later, I heard the key turning in the lock, and Felps came in.
"The boss wants to see you," he said.
Without another word, he seized my hand and dragged me out of the attic. As we exited the ship, I could see the wop quite clearly; it was turquiose today, and about three metres above it, I could see the suns, all six of them, all next to each other, like the marbles on an abacus.
Felps stopped, and I saw that we were standing in front of a large Bubble Building. Felps pushed me inside and suddenly we were inside a very large and beautiful, the kind you might get in a posh countryside mansion.
In the far corner, a very bald and beefy man was sitting at a desk, with Dibs standing next to him like a bodyguard. Felps menaced towards him, dragging me along. "This is he, boss," he said to the bald man.
The bald man got up from his seat, walked over to me; started caressing my face with his bulky hands.
"He feels very strong, he might do to join you two in your job, yeah?"
He smiled at me. Not a particularly nice smile, but I guess he was trying to be friendly. Or pretend to be.
"What's your name, son?" He inquired.
"Mer," I answered.
"Mer what?"
"Mer Landry."
He gaped. He gasped. Then he said: "Oh, sweet Mer, it's happened at last!"
As I looked up at him innocently, he pointed a long finger at me, and yelled: "GET HIM A SLICE OF PIZZA, THE BEST KIND!"
Dibs bowed and left the room.
The Boss turned to Felps.
"Felps," he said. "I am entrusting you to be this boy's bodyguard. It will be a dangerous universe out there for him if the word gets out."
Felps nodded.
The Boss clapped a strong hand on me, which made my shoulder buckle.
"My boy, how would you like to take a walk with me?"
Feeling there was no choice, I nodded, feeling a little scared. What was going on? What would happen if the word got out? What was this word? What has happened?
The Boss took me outside the Building, to a stately garden, round the back of it.
"My boy. Are you telling the truth when you say your name is Mer Landry?"
I swallowed. "Yes."
"Are your parents called Karina and Mitha?"
"Yes."
He blew upewards.
"I have been waiting for this day to come for a long time," he told me.
I looked at him, nonplussed.
He noticed I was confused and added: "Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Rubean Harpwit. Pronounced Ru-be-an. Anyway, I am a dealer. Not drugs or anything like that, I mainly deal with other stuff. Whatever people need or want, they contact me, and I get it for them, in exchange for cash. Felps and Dibs deliver the goods and bring the cash back to me."
"I got the impression you was someone evil," I told him. "They nicked my dad's spaceship, plus they kept on about getting the money back to you before the suns hit the Wop."
Rubean breathed out. "Ah, yes, that. Felps and Dibs like to believe they're gangsters. Their ship had broken down, you see, and as they couldn't fix it, they thought the best thing to do is to nick another one. Don't worry, I gave them such a good telling-off," he chuckled.
"But what about the suns hitting the Wop? That sounded really sinister, like you'd kill them if they didn't deliver in time."
"Oh? I don't know anything about that. Like I said, Felps and Dibs like to pretend they're gangsters."
He sighed. And looked at me.
"Where was I? Ah, yes. Your name is Mer Landry. And your parents are called Karina and Mitha Landry."
"I know all that already."
"I'm getting there. So anyway, I was on holiday on a planet far away called Tiblet. Ever been there? Very exotic planet. Anyway, one day on my holiday, I met a fortune teller who I paid to read my fortune. She specialized in palm-reading. She told me that one day, fifteen years from now, meaning back then, of course, I would meet someone named Mer Landry, whose parents called Karina and Mitha fought in in so manty wars against so many alien races. I would go into partnership with him, and we would wind up being famous warrors together, fighting against a big foe who would come to Merth to destroy us all!"
I stared at him, unable to believe it, believe it all. 'This is a wind-up, right?' I thought to myself.
Rubean seemed to read my mind. "You may think this is an eloborate joke," he said. "But it isn't. It's all true."
"Do my parents know about this?"
Rubean thought for a moment. "No," he replied. "No, they don't. I have never met anyone called Karina and Mith Landry before in my life."
"They're going to be so worried when they find I'm gone." I ralized. "In fact, they've probably already discovered I've gone, and have sent out the Poons to look for me!"
"Maybe it was fare the made Dibs and Felps sreal your ship - with you inside," Rubean mused.
"I have to get in touch with my parents," I told him.
"Why?"
"Well, just to let them know I'm OK."
"Ah, I understand. OK, let's find my CT, shall we?"
Felps turned up with a box. "Here's your pizza," he said.

Meanwhile...

Karina came out of the house.
"What are you babbling about, Mitha?" She asked.
"My spaceship's gone," answered Mitha. "And the last time I knew, Mer was inside there, rreading comics, to cool off from the day's heat."
"Well, I'm sure he couldn't have gone far. He probably got bored of comics and decided to take the ship for a spin."
"I hope not," answered Mitha. "He hasn't got his licence."
"Oh, don't worry so much, Mitha, He'll be back soon, you'll see."
Five hours had gone by, and still Mer wasn't home. Now, Karina was getting worried as well. "I hope he hasn't been kidnapped." She said tearfully, as she scraped Mer's cold and uneaten dinner in the bin. She put the last plate in the sink, and jumped, startled as a loud ringing erupted from nowhere. She heard Mitha's voice boom out from somewhere above.
"KARINA! COULD YOU GET THAT! IT'S MY CT! I'M EXPECTING A VERY IMPORTANT CALL FROM SPINX FROM THE GARAGE!"

Find out what happens next for Mer in Chapter Five...