Emma's Six- New Adventures

They've Switched Off The Sun

'Sarah Jane, I've just picked up this report from an American news channel,' Mr Smith says, and he displays the visual.
'There's a massive loss of power on the West Coast of North America. Los Angeles has gone dark.'
'It's starting,' Mum says.
'And I told them how to do it,' Luke says, down-heartedly. 'The day I was born, I saved the world. Now I helped to destroy it.'
'Mr Smith, give us everything you have on the inhabitants of Raxacoricofallapatorious.'
'You're making that up,' Clyde says.
'I don't make the names of planets up,' Mum retorts back. 'Any weaknesses, anything we can use to fight them.'
'Accessing...' Mr Smith says.

'Anybody could've made that mistake,' Maria says.
'No, only he could.'
'Stop rubbing it in!' I growl at Clyde. 'It's not about the type of mistake Luke made, but about trusting the wrong people.'
'You should be able to trust teachers, though.'
'I've had teachers that were aliens before.' I fold my arms.
'What?!'
'Clyde's right; there's no way a teacher could work out that diagram,' Luke says.

'And the power loss is spreading westwards. China is now without power, and it may be only a matter of time before the effects spread here.' The power in the news studio goes out. 'Oh, boy,' the news reporter says, and the feed disappears.
'I have lost the signal,' Mr Smith reports.
'Anything on the Slitheen yet?' Mummy asks.
'Accessing.'
'Why does Mr Smith like taking his time?' Joan groans. 'We haven't got much time before the effects spread here.'

Mr Smith bleeps. 'Raxacoricofallapatorians,' Mr Smith says, displaying a visual of the Slitheen. 'Calcium based life forms.'
'Give us the weaknesses!' Joan cries.
'Weaknesses. They are a naturally hardy race. However, their bodies are hypersensitive to—' Mr Smith is cut off as the power shuts off.
'No!' I yell.

We all sit on the stair in the attic. 'We can't stop them without the sonic lipstick,' Mummy says, holding it up. She presses the button, and it doesn't work.
'It's real, the end of the world,' Clyde says, depressed.
'No Mr Smith, no sonic lipstick, no plan B. But we are the only people in the world who can stop them, and we will.'
'I think it's time we head to school,' Mum says, and we all jump up before racing out of the attic and down the stairs.

'The Slitheen will kill us if they let us in the school,' Joan says.
'Not helpful, Joan,' Maggie snaps.
'The Slitheen, Jeffrey, he took my lunch in science,' Clyde says. 'He sniffed it. You saw it, Luke; he was scared.'
'Yeah,' Luke agrees. 'You had a cold chip sandwich.'
'So, Slitheen are allergic to what, potato, bread, butter?' Maria asks.
'No, the Slitheen at the office, she was eating a sandwich,' Mummy says. 'Clyde, what was on your chips?'
'Classic salt and vinegar. Slitheen are made from calcium, so it must be the vinegar.'
'Kitchen, everyone!' Mummy says. She starts hunting in the cupboards for anything with vinegar in it.
'If they are allergic to vinegar, wouldn't anything acidic work?' Mum asks.
'It's worth a go, and I guess I can't stop either you or Emma.' I pull my stomach out of my body, and Mum hurries down to the cellar.

'What the—?' Clyde begins.
'I'll tell you later,' I say. 'Now is not a good time for questions!' Mum returns with her stomach, and she places it in her pocket.

Mummy gathers everything we need as well as some plastic squeezies. 'Get it all into these,' she says. Clyde hurries over to the table to help us sort everything out.
'The car's not going to start; how will we get there?' Maria asks.
'We run, simple as that.'

We begin running through the street once we sort everything out. 'So, your mums fought aliens for years?' Clyde asks.
'That's right,' I nod.
'Did they actually go up to a career guy and said "We want to defend the planet from alien invaders."?'
'The story's more complicated than that, and it's one that Mum and Mummy should tell you, not—' I stop talking as the light starts turning blue. I look up to see the sun turning cold. 'Fuck, they switched off the sun.'
'We've got about thirty-two and a half minutes,' Luke says.