Jack Strong and the Red Giant

Chapter Five: All Change

There was nothing different about the room at first. It was like all the other rooms on the spaceship being white, large and rectangular. But as Jack was still dirty and a little bloodied from his fight with Gaz he found himself thinking about taking a shower. The next thing he knew, he heard what sounded like a hot, steaming shower right next to him.

He turned around and instead of an empty room there was now a row of cubicles, each one three times as big as the ones they had at school. Each of the cubicles had one shower head, complete with golden nozzles and silver taps. They looked fit for a king. But though he could see huge plumes of steam, he couldn't see any water. He could hear it crashing and swirling around the white, marble floor, but he couldn't see it. It was completely invisible.

It took a long time but eventually Jack managed to persuade Grunt to enter one of the cubicles. Judging from his smell he wondered whether this was the first time he'd even seen a shower. Then he took off his clothes and stepped into his cubicle as a wave of warmth flooded over him.

Though it didn't look like water - it sure felt like it as it bounced and tumbled off his skin. It was the cleanest, freshest and warmest non-water ever. He didn't even need any soap. It seemed to be already in the water. He was clean in a matter of seconds. Even so, he stood there for what felt like ages as the invisible jet rushed and roared around him, hot steam billowing throughout the cubicle.

Then Jack felt a strange, brushing sensation over his teeth.

Up and down it went, back and forth, in front and behind, up all the little nooks, crannies, gaps and cavities. There also seemed to be some invisible toothpaste/mouthwash solution (it even tasted minty!) swilling about his mouth. When it had finished, not only were his teeth cleaner but a persistent toothache in one of his front teeth had disappeared too, and they even felt straighter.

Next he felt a pair of invisible scissors cutting away at his long, brown hair, little tufts of which were now falling to the floor. Jack watched as these were then sucked up by an invisible hoover one strand at a time. In seconds it was all over. Though he couldn't see what it looked like, it still felt like it was the best haircut he had ever had.

Stepping out of the shower, Jack walked over to where he had thrown his dirty clothes, only to see that his clothes were now hanging in mid-air as if held by some unseen hand. Not only were they the cleanest they'd ever been but they even smelled nice too. Even the thin layer of dirt that had been caked on the bottom of his trainers had gone - sucked up by some invisible machine. He put them on one at a time, each piece of clothing ceasing to float as soon as he gave it a little tug.

No sooner had he got dressed when a large floating mirror appeared from out of nowhere. It seemed to be able to sense his every movement, following him wherever he went.

Jack stared at his reflection. Staring back at him was the whitest, cleanest face he'd ever seen. Not only had his pimples disappeared but his bust lip and all the other bruises had completely healed too. He even felt different, more confident somehow. What would the other kids at school say if they saw him now? Would they finally be his friends? Would he be popular, just like he'd always wanted to be?

Jack watched as steam billowed out of Grunt's cubicle. He could hear a medley of grunts, gasps, growls and whistles.

When he finally came out Jack couldn't believe it. Instead of a sticky, sweaty ball of hair he was now a clean, young, pale-skinned boy dressed in a light blue spacesuit. Most of his hair and fur had gone, as had the bloodshot from his bright, orange eyes. He even looked like he'd grown an inch or two.

Grunt smiled. Gone were the yellow, broken splinters and in their place was a set of sharp white teeth that would go well on a wolf or a lion.

Where Grunt had got the spacesuit and boots from Jack had no idea. But he seemed to like them judging by the huge smile on his face and by the fact that he couldn't stop running his hands over them. You'd think he'd never worn clothes before from the way he was acting.

Jack wondered if the magic shower had fixed his speech too. "Can you understand me?" he asked.

Grunt looked at him for a long time. Then finally he opened his mouth. His nose twitched, his tongue danced, his lips quivered. And then he...

Grunted.

He tried again.

Another grunt.

And again. It seemed like he would never be able to speak. What am I going to do with him? How are we going to communicate? Are we ever going to find a way off this floor?

After eventually leaving the shower rooms (Grunt went back for two more showers!) they made their way back down the corridor. They had only walked several feet when suddenly the whole corridor disappeared before their eyes, replaced by the infinite, bottomless depths of space. For an instant Jack thought they were going to fall, that space was going to suck them up like strings of spaghetti. But nothing happened.

It was only when he lost his balance and almost fell over that he realised the corridor was still there, it was just that he couldn't see it. He looked at what surrounded him. He had never seen so many stars before. There had to be billions upon billions of them, glinting and glimmering, clustered in all kinds of swirls, shoals and spirals. Not all were white either. Some glowed red, some orange and others neon blue.

That was when he saw it.

Beneath his feet was a giant blue planet, surrounded by several rings as well as many moons of various colours and sizes. Some were grey, cratered and lifeless, whereas others were a swirl of green and turquoise. The gas giant's surface was pockmarked with an array of storms, each one as big as a small moon.

Then as if someone had flicked a switch, it all disappeared, leaving only an empty corridor and a screaming Grunt. Jack was busy telling him that everything was okay when they started to float.

Jack and Grunt were helpless as they drifted up and down the corridor, bumping and banging into each other like a couple of dodgems at the fairground. They went on like this for a couple of minutes, flapping and flailing, until without warning the gravity returned to normal, causing them to plummet down to the floor.

"What's going on?" shouted Jack, Grunt howling in agreement.

But before he could gather his breath he found himself lifted off his feet and stuck to the ceiling. He couldn't move. He was paralysed. It was like his entire body was magnetic. He would've screamed but he couldn't so much as twitch his vocal chords, let alone form words.

Then as if someone had pressed a button the hold on them ceased and they went crashing down to the floor.

Jack was getting to his feet when he saw a brown-skinned girl crouching a little further off down the corridor. He was about to say something when she suddenly disappeared in a crackle of electricity. Where had she gone to? Had he imagined it?

"Hello, is anyone there?" he asked.

Silence.

"My name is Jack, this is Grunt," he said.

Again there was no reply.

He tried again and again, but the girl never answered, nor did she return. Eventually he gave up, dragging a confused-looking Grunt back down the corridor.

It was after their second round of showers that they smelled the food.

Jack and Grunt instantly rushed down the corridor, led by their hungry noses. They followed the fragrant smell into a room on their left.

The whole room had been transformed.

Gone was the bleached white interior and in its place were walls of stone, with beams of wood hanging from the ceiling, complete with a flying chandelier, hovering candles, a roaring fireside, and a huge mahogany table complete with a hundred delicious, mouth-watering dishes. That and a huge, green boy shoveling handfuls of food into his wide, gaping mouth.