Mera, Matt, and David are sixth graders who won first place in a State Contest of the Arts. The prize is a week on Planet Zenia. What a surprise when they hear about strange things that happen when Earth kids come to Zenia: a talent, skill, or an unusual interest of a child suddenly becomes enhanced. The rangers have screens in the Control Center where they watch students for unexpected behaviors. On the swamp boat Mera screams at a hawk that grabs a baby croc by the tail. When she yells, "Drop the croc" three times, an unusual thing happens: the hawk drops the croc. She says she mind-connected to the hawk, but her friends won't believe it - unless it happens again with another creature in the jungle. Mera loves making and flying her skyplane, activated by a remote control, and the group use it to fly David's tree house and place it in a tree across the river from the dragon's cave. All three of the friends want to be the first to release the dragon from the cave in the mountains. Matt doesn't care about danger when he walks in the jungle alone. When a panther attacks, he jumps to a limb of a tree and finds himself sitting on the top branch. Later, when they visit the Weejees, the native people on the land, he rushes to save a child who climbs on Mera's skyplane and smashes it into a tree in the dragons' grazing field. The village people watch Matt save Leema, and they say, "Must be miracle. Who can jump that high?" When David visits the native people, they discover he has communication abilities that will change the people's lives forever.