Trapped Read Online Free Page B

slightly, remembering how close he had just been to that planet, even if it hadn’t actually been real.
    Had it?
    â€œSomeone could have told them,” said Sarah.
    â€œYeah,” said Marco. “But then they spoke about Sirius B.”
    â€œWhat’s that?” asked Sarah.
    Leo spoke up. “The object we saw orbiting Sirius.”
    Marco nodded. “And it wasn’t photographed until 1970. But the tribe knew about it long before then.” He met Leo’s gaze.
    Leo smiled a little. “Because they had been told by my people.”
    Something nagged at Marco, some other detail from the show that he couldn’t quite remember, something even odder than the rest. He wished Nacho were there. His brother would know.
    Sarah asked Leo, “But that was it? They told the tribe some stuff and went back home?”
    â€œNot exactly. My people were on a mission.”
    Sarah glanced at Marco, who asked, “What kind of mission?”
    â€œOur planet is very similar to Earth,” said Leo.
    â€œYou already showed me that.” Sarah looked down at the sand.
    Marco wondered if she had the same weird feeling about Leo that he did. Because the boy was obviously on some kind of mission himself.
    Leo said, “Your planet has limited resources. Which your people are beginning to realize.”
    Sarah said, “Nacho explained to me about the exoplanets.” She bit her lip. “He would be excited to learn that it’s all true. But he’s not here.”
    Marco frowned. His little brother was there, just not able to walk or talk or be with them, because he was frozen. His frustration bubbled up. “Can you get to it? Tell us why my brother is frozen and you can’t let him out?”
    Leo glanced over at Marco and sidled away from him slightly. “The history of my people is getting to it.” He reached up and wiped sweat off his face, then took a deep breath. “This is what you may find hard to believe. Because your civilization isn’t there yet. But my people created the progenitor .”
    â€œWhat’s that?” asked Sarah.
    â€œIt allowed us to replicate whatever we wanted.” Leo walked down toward the water. He took off his shoes and let a wave lap up over his feet.
    Sarah followed him. “You probably shouldn’t get that close to the water.”
    Marco caught up too. “I don’t get it. You can just make whatever you want? Like the grilled cheese?”
    Leo backed away from the water a bit and stepped back into his shoes. “The food center on my ship was created from the same technology.”
    Sarah asked, “What else could you replicate besides food?”
    Leo shrugged. “Objects. Plants. Animals. Whatever we chose.”
    Marco thought out loud, “So it’s like a 3-D printer.”
    â€œOnly times like a million!” added Sarah. “How cool is that.”
    â€œThere were problems.” Leo scratched his head. “It was so much power and caused fights over who should control it. Eventually, the leaders decided it was too much power for anyone to have. So they split it in two.”
    Sarah snapped her fingers. “You left half on Earth.”
    Leo smiled at her. “Yes. We entrusted the tribe with it.”
    â€œBut why give it to them?” asked Marco. “I mean, seven hundred years ago there were other more advanced civilizations.”
    â€œBut we weren’t seeking the most advanced .” Leo held up a finger. “Do you know one of the most important pillars of that tribal society?”
    Marco shrugged.
    â€œHarmony.” Leo explained, “The power to create walks hand in hand with the power to destroy. We needed a hiding place for half of the progenitor. But not just to keep it safe. To keep your planet safe from its powers. In the wrong hands, it could be a weapon.” Leo looked down at his feet. “As we learned.”
    â€œIs that what