Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Stinker's Return
    Stinker's Return
    Stinker's Return
    Ebook89 pages1 hour

    Stinker's Return

    By Pamela F. Service

    4/5

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    The little stinker is back! This sequel to Stinker from Space recounts the return of the alien who crash-landed on Earth and crawled from the wreckage to assume the form of the only available host—a skunk. Nicknamed Stinker by his new friends Karen and Jonathan, the outer-space pilot was obliged to borrow a NASA shuttle to get back to his own planet.
    Now Stinker's returned the shuttle but he still needs help. He's been charged with an urgent mission to find something uniquely "earthly" for a galactic ruler's collection. Even though Karen and Jonathan are still in trouble from last time, they can't refuse Stinker. The trio plunges headlong into a madcap quest through Washington, D.C., with the police and NASA officials hot on their trail. Their funny, fast-paced adventures will charm science fiction and fantasy lovers of all ages.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDover Publications
    Release dateJan 10, 2018
    ISBN9780486828237
    Stinker's Return
    Author

    Pamela F. Service

    Born in Berkeley, California, Pamela F. Service grew up loving to hear, read, and tell stories—particularly about weird stuff. Pamela earned a BA in Political Science from UC Berkeley followed by an MA in history and archaeology from the University of London. She spent many years living in Bloomington, Indiana, writing, serving on the city council, and being curator of a history museum. She has a grown daughter, Alex, who is also a museum curator. Pamela is now living in Eureka, California, where she writes, works as a museum curator, and acts in community theater.

    Read more from Pamela F. Service

    Related to Stinker's Return

    Related ebooks

    Children's Science Fiction For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      The Growing And Weeding Of Dandelions

      Dec 10, 2021

      The boardroom looked like it belonged in an office building, not a spaceship. The chairs had rolling wheels, there was a cup full of pens on the table, and the floor was carpeted. Spin gravity wasn’t a luxury on the Dandelion, it was a given. Faux wi

      10 min read

    • Article

      In Search Of ...

      Apr 1, 2019

      Fifteen-year-old Tay lives on Rannoch, a distant planet covered with water, where undersea pods or living chambers provide life support for up to three people—usually two adults and one child. Tay learns that her parents are expecting another child a

      8 min read

    • Article

      In Search Of . . .

      Mar 1, 2019

      In Search Of . . .
      7 min read

    • Article

      The Bargain

      Dec 10, 2022

      “Which one of you owns G2V3889?” Cygnus glided through a luminescent star field suspended in the center of an otherwise dark, oblong studio, then turned in a slow circle to survey the twenty Agents surrounding him. “Come on, speak up.” Vega shuddered

      16 min read

    • Article

      Roger’s PROFANISAURUS

      Jan 5, 2022

      Roger’s PROFANISAURUS
      5 min read

    • Article

      Letters

      Jul 15, 2021

      Regarding ‘Hunting Bigfoot’, in “Creatures on the Loose” [FT405:26]: adopting Justin Humphrey’s position on the reality of Bigfoot, surely one would be required to establish its nature before designating it a suitable subject for the huntsman. If it

      12 min read

    • Article

      In Search Of . . .

      Feb 1, 2019

      In Search Of . . .
      7 min read

    • Article

      Letters

      Nov 3, 2022

      When I read David Hambling’s article ‘Listening to the voice within’ [FT423:16], I became conscious that my ‘inner voice’ was reading the piece aloud in my mind. Obviously I’ve had this realisation before; I decided to ask my wife if she also had an

      10 min read

    • Article

      Judges

      Mar 10, 2024

      The doctors assured me the shrapnel in my leg would do no further harm if they “let sleeping dogs lie,” or at least less harm than trying to take it out would cause. “Hey,” I asked them. “What if it decides to cut its way out all on its own?” My grea

      12 min read

    • Article

      Lungs Of The Earth

      May 7, 2020

      Lungs Of The Earth
      10 min read

    • Article

      Good Vibrations

      Mar 4, 2024

      Good Vibrations
      6 min read

    • Article

      Ark Life

      Feb 22, 2023

      Ark Life
      6 min read

    • Article

      Cicada

      Aug 10, 2023

      Dr. Kamilah Zhang failed to turn up for her eight o’clock physics lecture on a cold Tuesday morning, leaving her students to grumble about unprofessional conduct. One student, a philosophy major, even went so far as to suggest — unethical. By nine o’

      9 min read

    • Article

      Elf Quest

      Nov 30, 2022

      Elf Quest
      11 min read

    • Article

      Vietnam My Son, The Soldier

      Sep 1, 2021

      Vietnam My Son, The Soldier
      9 min read

    • Article

      Roger’s PROFANISAURUS

      Jun 22, 2023

      Roger’s PROFANISAURUS
      7 min read

    • Article

      Six Bestiary Poems

      Nov 1, 2020

      The world, is it finite? Pliny the Elderon what he saw and heard, 37 “books” toround that up, early C.E. as heproceeded to be infinite. His Naturalis. His Historia.First bestiary ever in Book 8. Land lifeand sea life and through-the-air and undergrou

      4 min read

    • Article

      Letters

      Sep 8, 2022

      An account of the Angels of Mons appears in Great British Ghosts by Aidan Chambers in the chapter “Ghosts at war”, along with the following account by a (unnamed) British lieutenant-colonel: “On the night of 27 August 1914, I was riding along in the

      7 min read

    • Article

      Letters

      Aug 11, 2022

      Walter Sickert was a painter of extraordinary artistic prescience and skill and took an interest in the Jack the Ripper killings as well as many other aspects of working-class London. The Ripper killings were a very pertinent working-class issue at t

      8 min read

    • Article

      If You Go Down To The Woods Today

      Oct 4, 2019

      If You Go Down To The Woods Today
      3 min read

    • Article

      We Are All Made Of Stars

      Oct 7, 2022

      We Are All Made Of Stars
      27 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Stinker's Return

    4/5

    1 rating0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Stinker's Return - Pamela F. Service

      Rainbow

      Prologue

      The creaking of the porch swing mixed with the chirping of insects. Sitting side by side, Jonathan and Karen watched evening creep into the yard. A firefly flickered in the lilacs, another in the shade of the apple tree. A third wavered upward into the deepening blue sky to join the first faint stars.

      It’s beautiful, Karen thought.

      It’s peaceful.

      It’s incredibly boring!

      Suddenly the yard exploded with barking: happy, frantic barking. Sancho, Karen’s cocker spaniel, burst from the lilac bush chasing an animal. A black-and-white animal. A skunk!

      With happy squeals, Karen and Jonathan jumped to their feet and in two bounds were off the porch onto the lawn. Then they stopped short, their smiles fading.

      The skunk was standing stiffly still. Baring its teeth, it hissed at Sancho. The dog barked in confused little yips. Slowly the skunk raised its tail.

      Wrong skunk! Karen yelled. Here, Sancho! Quick, boy!

      Whimpering, the dog turned and ran toward them, and all three dashed onto the porch. On the lawn, the skunk slowly lowered its tail. With a final glance their way, it trotted back into the bushes.

      Whew! Jonathan said. If we don’t get over thinking that every wild skunk might be Stinker, we’re in for a majorly stinky life.

      Kneeling down, Karen was patting her shivering dog. Well, he did say he might come back. It’s not our fault all skunks look pretty much alike.

      Yeah, Jonathan said. He gave an angry kick to the porch swing, setting it jiggling. A lot of things aren’t our fault, but they make life stink just the same.

      You can say that again, Karen agreed, rubbing Sancho’s ears. Here two kids who didn’t even like each other last year have had the most incredibly cool adventure ever, and bigwigs from NASA and the Pentagon tell everyone it’s a lie or a hoax.

      Jonathan plunked himself back on the swing. Right. I mean, the press and TV people were here. They saw all those alien Zarnk with their clattery pole legs. They saw how Stinker and his army of skunks destroyed them with skunk spray. They even saw all the skunks climb into the hijacked space shuttle and take off. And then those government guys don’t let the press use any of it after those first live TV shots. They pour on a bunch of garbage, saying it’s a hoax and a danger to national security. Give me a break!

      Well, garbage or not, they managed to convince everyone at school we’re a couple of lying troublemakers.

      That’s for sure, Jonathan said, kicking idly at Sancho’s chew-bone. The way other kids treat us now, we might as well have the plague. I mean, it would have been hard enough convincing people that this crash-landed alien took over a skunk body and talked into our minds. But after the government people got through, no one would believe us if we said the sky is blue.

      Karen nodded. And then they had the nerve to question us for hours about what we learned from Stinker—about his weapons and spaceship and stuff. Their cover-up pretty well wrecked our lives, and they still expect us to help them with information we don’t even have. And it won’t be any better once school starts again next fall. For the rest of our lives, the world will brand us as a couple of lying weirdo freaks.

      Angrily, Jonathan stood up and threw Sancho’s chew-bone onto the lawn. The dog looked hesitantly into the gathering shadows, then scampered down after it.

      Which just goes to show, Jonathan said, that life can stink even when you don’t have a skunk in it.

      1

      Presidential Audience

      Tsynq Yr’s skunk nose twitched nervously. In many ways he was happy with his current body, but just now he would have preferred something more impressive. It was not often that an ordinary Sylon Space Corpsman had a private interview with the president of the Sylon Confederacy. He was scared witless.

      With his black-and-white plume of a tail spread proudly behind him, Tsynq Yr hoped he looked confident and dignified. The others in the waiting room ignored him.

      He tried to imagine what this meeting would be like. No doubt the president would be full of praise. After all he, Tsynq Yr, had brought back that vital information about the planned Zarnk attack. As a result of that unexpected stop at a little out-of-the-way planet, he had also brought back a shipload of animals that have a natural defense against Zarnk, a disintegrating spray, unknown to the Sylons. Now several colonies of these animals had been set up and were happily reproducing themselves. What a boon they’d be on Sylon worlds near the Zarnk border.

      This body of his had been plenty useful while arranging that. Tsynq Yr tried to sit up taller and ignore the Sylon next to him whose current body looked like a huge scaly burrito.

      He wondered what the president would look like. The only time he’d seen the president before, at a ceremony, he’d been in the body of an elderly Trith. That had been a while ago, so he’d probably moved into something else by now. What would be a useful body for the leader of one of the biggest interstellar governments in the galaxy?

      Tsynq Yr’s thoughts jolted to a stop as the receptionist called him. Trying to hold his tail in a confident arch, he waddled into the president’s office.

      Blinking in the bright bluish light, he looked around the large room. In its center stood an oval desk. Behind it spread a cluster of silver rods like a frozen bush, a chair for the creature floating upon it. A Nralshi, Tsynq Yr realized. Not a very practical body for a life of

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1