This is a short story that my little brother (10 years old) wrote.  The Jupiter Mission.  When I read it I couldn’t believe how good it was!  It bears more than a few similarities to my favorite Sci-Fi author, Philip K. Dick.  I will pass on any comments to Robertson.  Enjoy!

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Far into the Arizona desert, the super secret military base, also known as Area 51 is currently testing an experimental rocket prepared for travel to Jupiter.  Not far, maybe one mile away, is a small wooden worn down shack, and the contents of the shack would be four orphans.  Tim, Alex, Robert, and Billy are all around the age of 10.  As they sat helpless, Robert sprung to his feet and said, “We can’t just sit here! We need to find food!” The other agreed with a nod.

Soon they all were outside and were scavenging the ground for as much as a beetle.  Tim stumbled upon a small rock.  But it was too shiny to be a common rock.  It looked even new, and nothing is new in the Arizona desert.  Tim tipped it over.  He now knew the rock was on hinges and a huge opening with a ladder went down into a pit.  The rest of the group exclaimed, “What did you do now?”  Tim raised his shoulders in a gesture-like way.  As they looked into the pit, it was not made of rock, but made of metal.  In curiosity, all of the children went in to the dark tunnel.

As they went down the ladder, they came to a floor.  The room they were standing in consists of several lights, a large table with a few buttons and a huge world map engulfing it, a wall of monitors, and a few doors.  Around the table were a tall strong man in uniform, and a skinny old sir in a lab coat with glasses and a white beard.  As the men were talking amongst themselves, Alex said “Excuse me, but where are we?”  As the men turned to their amazement, there were four children in the lab.

The strong man came to the kids and said, “What are you doing here?”

In confusion, Billy said” Who are you?”

The man said, “I am General Gladwin, and this is Professor Pongo.  You must leave.  We have business to attend to.”

“Like what?” Alex exclaimed.

“We are trying to find recruits for… General, I think our search is over.” said the professor.

“Why?” General Gladwin said.

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Tags: Philip K. Dick, Robertson, Sci-Fi, Short Stories, The Jupiter Mission