Alien in My Pocket #4 (5 page)

“I know,” I said, feeling the top of the knot loosening and my patience fading.

“You simply miscalculated,” he said, pointing at me. “If your balloon had been bigger, contained more helium inside, well, then, maybe you'd have something.”

“I know,” I said as the knot finally gave way and came unraveled.

Amp turned away and spoke into the device on his wrist.

“Council Note: The element helium is used here on Earth to make balloons float. Ha! Sort of a waste of a very useful gas. Although it is the second most abundant element in the universe after hydrogen, it's fairly rare here on Earth, and seems to be used only for making children's toys float. Very curious indeed.”

“Do you do that just to bug me?” I asked. “If you do, it's working.”

“Now you're going to try a parachute, aren't you?” Amp asked, ignoring my irritation. “Zack, I've been thinking.”

“Oh no,” I said.

“That switch you helped me with the other morning . . .”

“The one that made me late for school and ended up breaking my arm? That switch?”

“Dislocated, not broken. Yes, that switch. Anyway, my power booster is now working, thanks to you and that switch. That means I am very close to leaving.”

“Really?” I said. “Huh, that's great, Amp. When can you go?”

“Well, that's just it. I may be able to get to Erde, but I wouldn't be able to stop. That crash into your bedroom wall would be nothing compared to how I'd hit planet Erde. I'd go splat, like a pancake.”

“Bummer,” I said. “Then fix your braking system. I'm kinda busy right now—”

“Which is why, Zack, this parachute idea has me so excited. See, it's all so simple: we could install a parachute like this one on my ship. The air on Erde is thicker than the air here on Earth. With the right entry angle into the Erde atmosphere, a parachute would work great.”

“I'll let you know how this works,” I said, standing.

“Well, that's just it,” he said. “Let me take over this experiment. With my training, experience, and smarts, I think I could arrive at a solution much faster than with someone of your, your limited—”

My hand shot out and grabbed Amp. I cut him off mid-sentence. I had totally surprised him. Now he struggled to get free. His three-fingered hands pounded harmlessly on my fingers. He started to blink on and off in my sight, using his old disappearing trick in his panic, but it wasn't working.

“Actually, I don't need your help, Amp,” I told him. “If I need a complete disaster, I'll call you. But this is my idea and I'll handle it on my own, without your meddling.”

“Release me this instant,” he demanded in his squeaky voice.

I was about to put him in my desk drawer when I saw Olivia's hamster ball sticking out from under my bed. What a great idea! Mike certainly wouldn't mind if Amp spent a few hours wandering around my room inside his plastic ball. The fact that it probably smelled like hamster poop wasn't my fault.

I placed Amp inside, and as quickly as I could, I replaced the cover and spun it back into place.

Now Amp put his hands on his hips and gave me his best Erdian stinkeye. “You wouldn't dare leave me in here, Zack. I am from an advanced civilization!”

“What? C'mon, you'll have a ball in there,” I said, smirking.

“This isn't funny!” he cried. “It stinks in here.”

I rolled the ball a few inches and Amp had to take a few steps so he didn't fall over. He looked so ridiculous I had to laugh. I rose to my feet, grabbed my toy parachute, and dashed to the door. Amp rolled after me, with a hilariously angry face. I closed the door before he got to me. I heard the plastic hamster ball bump off the other side of the door.

I smiled.

Maybe this weekend wasn't going to be so bad after all.

I headed down the hallway for a test that I was now thinking would put me back on top of the McGee Family Egg Drop Derby.

Runaway

I
plucked an egg out of the carton on Taylor's bed. It took only a few seconds to yank out another piece of tape and attach the toy parachute to the egg.

“What are you doing?” Taylor asked suspiciously. “Is that a parachute?”

I ignored him and walked over to the window. Taylor pushed his way next to me. He pulled on my arm. I laughed. Science was even more fun than it looked!

“Stop wasting eggs,” he cried.

I felt like one of those crazy scientist guys with the wild hair who always appear in Frankenstein movies. My laugh actually sounded a bit like a loony cackle.

“Dad, tell Zack to quit it.”

My dad had just come through the backyard gate. He was carrying a folding chair, which I think was for me to sit in while I filmed Taylor's egg drop.

“Watch this!” I called out.

I tossed the egg in the air. It went up as high as the roof, the parachute fluttering behind it. Then it began to fall. And like magic, the parachute popped opened beautifully, with the egg swinging comfortably underneath the parachute's umbrella.

“HA!” I shouted. “LOOK AT THAT, SUCKERS!”

Then something happened that had not occurred to me: the parachute started to drift. A sudden breeze blew my parachute off course.

“NO!” I cried as the parachute drifted away and across the backyard. The three of us stared wide-eyed as my helpless egg went on the ride of its life.

The parachute picked up speed as it continued to the other side of our backyard. I gasped as I saw it heading directly for our barbecue.

With a satisfying splat, the egg exploded against the barbecue as the parachute was blown out of sight.

Nobody moved.

“You really don't like eggs, do you?” Dad said.

My mom appeared behind us. She had her work laptop in one hand and the laundry in the other. “Look at my boys, working together.”

“Zack has turned this into more of a food fight than a science experiment,” Taylor complained.

I looked at the stack of Taylor's underwear that my mom was carrying.

“Wait, did you go into my room?” I blurted out.

“Yes, I did,” Mom said, taken aback. “Why?”

“Did you close my door?” I said, grabbing her arm.

I could tell by her face she hadn't.

I ran out of Taylor's room and looked down the hallway toward my door. I saw Amp emerge from my doorway and start running in the opposite direction, inside Mike's hamster ball. He was trying to escape!

Amp stopped for a moment, looked over his shoulder at me, then continued even faster down the hallway, the ball rotating around him. Without warning, he took a sharp left-hand turn toward the stairs.

I gasped. “No!”

“What was that thing!?!” Taylor whispered from behind me.

I heard the plastic ball bouncing violently down the stairs.
THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

I stood frozen. Mike's ball bounced down the stairs. Then . . . after a few seconds of silence . . . I heard the ball hit the wooden floor. It bounced off the wall opposite the stairs and then . . . silence.

I turned and looked at Taylor and Mom. “Uh . . . nothing,” I said.

“That was the loudest nothing I ever heard,” Mom said.

I had just witnessed my third egg fall to its death. And now I was terrified that I'd find my alien houseguest splattered all over the inside of his plastic egg prison!

Before I could start moving, I heard the front door open downstairs. My dad made an odd noise. “Zack McGee! You need to get down here right now!” he hollered.

From the sound of his voice, I feared that my secret alien roommate had just become a whole lot less secret.

Doodles

I
shot down the stairs so fast I don't actually remember my feet hitting the floor.

I hit the bottom step, slipped, bounced off the wall, and winced in pain.

My eyes wildly scanned the floor. There was no sign of Olivia's plastic hamster ball or its helpless blue prisoner.

“Zack, you need to see this!” Dad hollered from the front doorway.

I gulped. Even if Amp were able to make himself invisible, a ball rolling around under its own invisible power would surely cause a panic.

I tore off down the hallway. The sooner I started lying, the better.

My dad was leaning into the front doorway when I came shooting down the hallway. But he was smiling.