Free Dinosaur Boy Saves Mars by Cory Putman Oakes Page A

Plutonian.”
    â€œThey don’t care,” Venetio said quietly to Elliot. “Some people just hate all Plutonians. BURPSers or not. They think we’re troublemakers.”
    â€œHas it ever occurred to you,” Sylvie said to him, “that if your planet stopped causing so much trouble, people would be nicer to you?”
    Venetio shrugged.
    â€œMaybe if people were nicer to us, we’d stop causing so much trouble.”
    Sylvie looked like she was about to respond, but she cut herself off when a new picture appeared on the screen.
    It was a short, nondescript Martian with glasses and a bad comb-over. Just a few inches to my right, Sylvie went rigid. When the English headline popped up underneath the Martian’s face, I understood why.
    MISSING: Asaph Juarez, former Chancellor in Charge of Martian-Human Affairs. Please contact the Martian Council with any relevant information.
    â€œThat’s a good thing, isn’t it?” I said uneasily, patting Sylvie on the shoulder. “The more people who are looking for him, the better. Right?”
    Sylvie swallowed.
    â€œI guess so. I just…I was hoping it was all some sort of misunderstanding. That I’d get here and he’d be sitting in our kitchen with no idea anything was going on. But if the Martian Council doesn’t know where he is, that means he really is missing.”
    â€œWe’ll find him,” I assured her. We both looked down at my wrist, even though neither of us had heard a beep. No dot yet.
    â€œYou were probably right about the lab not being downtown,” I told her. “Once my grandfather gets the long-range scanner up and running, we’ll find your dad.”
    Sylvie nodded and a shrill beeping sound filled the air. We looked around in confusion, and it took me almost a full minute to realize that every watch on every Martian in sight had just started beeping.
    Every watch except mine.

The Debate
    â€œNug time!” exclaimed Chancellor Fontana, quieting her watch and pulling a Nutri Nugget out of her purse.
    Every Martian around us (except for Sylvie) was doing the same thing. There was a great crinkling of plastic as everyone opened their nuggets at once.
    Sylvie wrinkled her nose.
    â€œI can’t believe those got popular,” she sniffed. “They’re disgusting!”
    â€œYou’re right about that,” Venetio muttered. Then he pursed his lips, looking mildly horrified that he had agreed with Sylvie about something.
    â€œThe one I had this morning wasn’t too bad,” I admitted. And I realized, to my amazement, that my stomach had been quiet for some time. I hadn’t even thought about food since shoving the nugget into my mouth that morning. Now that I did think about it, I realized that I still felt full. But in a weird, hollow sort of a way. Like I could still eat a giant meal at any moment but I just didn’t want to.
    â€œI have extras,” Chancellor Fontana offered, reaching into her purse again and handing me several different flavors. There was a chocolate-flavored nugget like the one I had eaten that morning. There was also a strawberry-flavored one, a root beer–flavored one, and a chocolate-peanut-butter-swirl one.
    â€œWhat are they?” Elliot asked, looking doubtfully at the packages in my hand. He had slept too late that morning to hear anything about the nuggets.
    â€œThey’re a revelation,” Chancellor Fontana replied, licking her fingers. “Do you have any idea how much time and energy is wasted in the growing of food? To say nothing of harvesting, preparing, and then consuming elaborate meals three times every day?”
    â€œOf course they don’t,” Ms. Helen reminded her, taking a bite of her own nugget. “Plants and animals grow by accident on their planet, remember?”
    â€œOh right,” Chancellor Fontana said. “Well, just take my word for it. You’d be amazed at how freeing